I have been preparing and presenting sermons most every week for the past 28 years

Pentecost 20 A COVENANT OF ACTION 9/29 & 10/2/05

I have been preparing and presenting sermons most every week for 28 years. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of parish ministry for me…reading and praying about God’s written Word toward the mission of sharing it and enabling our congregation to apply it to our daily lives. I am well-aware that this occurs more effectively some weeks than others, as I endeavor to share a message of meaning to the youngest and the most elderly among us…to our infants and our blessed seniors! Occasionally, throughout the years, a person will approach me after worship and say: “Pastor, that sermon really hit home today. I felt like you were speaking directly to me today!” Not sure whether this is a compliment or complaint, I often say, “I hope that’s good!” When we believe someone is talking about us, it is not always pleasant. Have any of you ever heard people conversing in a foreign language, only to uncomfortably wonder: “Are they talking about me?”

In our Gospel Jesus shares a parable about a vineyard owner and his greedy servants. In Matthew 21: 43-44 Jesus makes the application. Notice the response by the “chief priests and the Pharisees”? “They knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him.” Unlike the compliment a person might offer following a sermon, these listeners did not appreciate the direct application.

There is something increasingly upon my heart in recent months and I want to share it with you tonight/today. I pray, fervently, that all with “ears to hear” will acknowledge that I am speaking to them and join me in a covenant of action. The reality is not unique to Grace. Perhaps like diabetes, we may not “cure” it, but it can be monitored and managed. I am referring to the reality of people who, once active at Grace, choose to distance themselves from the living, learning, and loving occurring through Grace. I choose not to use the term “inactive member,” because I do not believe there is such a person! Can there be an “inactive participant”? We either participate or we don’t. Again speaking medically, presently I am more interested in the “treatment” of the condition, than in the “cause”! Specifically, “What do we do when people distance themselves from Grace?” and “Who’s job is it?”

Is it the Pastors’ job? Sure! It is the staff’s job? Sure! Is it the Church Council’s job? Sure! Answer me this: Is it your job? ___________. When people make the decision to stay away from Grace, they, alone know the reason why and they, alone, know the actual duration of their absence. I believe, then, that people choosing to absent themselves bear primary responsibility to initiate conversation toward the shared and Godly-goal of reconciliation and renewed growth through Grace. When people, on the other hand, initiate a “game” of “hide-and-go-seek,” no one comes out a “winner”! When people choose to stay away, waiting for a response, even the most caring congregation will nearly always appear uncaring. That’s a fact, a sad fact!

I want to also go “on record” saying this: A person’s membership or involvement at Grace is a secondary concern! God, through Scripture, describes the local congregation as “the body of Christ.” Jesus, recorded in Matthew 18: 20, assures us: “For where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” In John 15: 4-6 we read Jesus’ teaching: “Abide in me, and I in you…for apart from me you can do nothing…if a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and thrown into the fire and burned.” Again, a person’s membership or a person’s involvement @ Grace is a secondary concern. My primary concern, and I believe I am not alone, is a person’s relationship with Jesus Christ and the salvation available to each person only through the sacrificial death and resurrection of this same Jesus Christ! A person’s chosen distance from Grace, or any congregation, nearly always means that person’s faith is dying, or at least diminishing. Grace does not have some “program” for responding to this reality! What we do have, though, is people who care and this is far more effective and valuable than any program! When you miss someone, let them know. They may have been on vacation or suffering illness…but, regardless of “why” they’re absent, you have missed them and this is the message we must convey!

Can you bring to mind someone you’ve not seen at Grace this summer? Can you picture someone you used to see at Grace, but have not seen in recent weeks? If so, stand up with me! If you know of someone recently absent, stand up with me right now? Let’s us pray for all who are standing: “Gracious God, Challenge and empower us right now! May all who are standing immediately enter a covenant of action through which we promise to personally contact the brothers and sisters You have brought upon our hearts & minds. Hold us to this covenant. May we be able, through You, to lovingly communicate our love for them. And, as we do, we trust the results to Your Holy Spirit. To God be the glory! In the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Amen.” “The chief priests and the Pharisees…knew he was talking about them.” AMEN.