St. John’s UCC, Prescott
Sept.11, 2016
Luke 15:1-10
Rev. Rob MacDougall, Associate Conference Minister, WI Conference, UCC
I bring greetings to you from the UCC churches of the Northwest Association, and from the staff of the WI Conference, and from our Conference Minister, Rev. Franz Rigert
I am glad to see that all the rain this summer hasn’t washed away this little country church. I saw on the news recently that a community down south opened a kind of shopping center/museum built to the specifications of the biblical Noah’s ark. It seems that we in WI aren’t the only ones experiencing a rise in rainfall and river levels.
I grew up in Racine, WI. My neighborhood was an old blue collar part of the city. Back then it was called “West Racine,” now that neighborhood seems almost like it is a first ring out from the downtown. When we had summer rain showers in my neighborhood all the kids would gather up little boats that we constructed in our basements with odd scraps of left over wood, nails, rubber bands and plastic, and we would run outside to see if enough rain had come down to make rivers in the gutters. When there had been a good strong shower we had boat races down the street. We didn’t care if we got wet, the rain was usually warm and we would laugh and cheer for as long as the waters ran.
One of the best parts of my neighborhood was the presence of three amazing Danish bakeries – Larson’s, Ostergaard’s and Bendtsen’s. Better than any candy or ice cream you could find, these bakeries had cookies, bear claws, elephant ears, carmel pecan rolls and all kinds of kringle. My family’s favorite was and is Bendtsen’s Bakery. They continue to have the best kringle in Racine. Everytime I visit Racine I stop into Bendtsen’s and pick up several raspberry and pecan kringles.
Besides the three bakerie I think there is only one store remaining in West Racine that was present when I was growing up. The Piggley Wiggley is gone, the dime store with the soda fountain is gone, my barbershop is gone, the shoe repair shop is gone and even the Loom of Denmark furniture store is gone. But all three of those bakeries are still there. Bendtsen’s has just past owndership into the forth family generation’s hands. The bakery is a little bigger than it was during my childhood, but not by much. It’s on the same corner and has the same entrance and display cabinets. I know they have learned to market their baked goods over the internet because they just don’t have as much foot traffic any more. Instead of selling more and crazier items I think they have actually reduced their variety of baked goods, focusing on what they do really well. I think they want their business to do well, but I also think they want to stay relatively small. They want to continue to be a neighborhood bakery and offer something good, and because of this they are a real gift to many people and the community.
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In my role as Associate Conference Minister I visit lots of churches, especially in the Northwest Association. I worship with congregations and work with search committees, pastors and other leadership groups.
When I was talking with your pastor, Rev. Bill Colby-Newton, he mentioned some conversations you have been having here at St. John’s about your life and ministry. Pastor Bill mentioned your desire to invite more people into your church, but he also pointed out that your remote location isn’t conducive to casual, drive-by visitors. For all of you, and anyone else who might visit here, it takes intentionality to get here and be involved here.
When your church was founded way back in 1860 it was part of a rural community where people knew each other , supported each other and deepened each other’s lives. People were friends and family and they counted on each other for survival and fun. These people would go down the road to visit, attend church, help out, but their circle of life was significantly centered right here. Daily life and much of their world was contained in this part of western WI. But your world and most people’s worlds are much larger now – this isn’t news to you. The question you seem to be asking as a church, which is the same question that many other small UCC churches in the NWA like Arpin, Phelps, Three Lakes, Owen, Bruce, etc., are asking, is “What is God’s purpose for us today, in this place?” As churches you know something of where you have been, but the present and future of your church seems precarious and unchartered.
There is much to say and pray about regarding these concerns, and obviously this question about God’s purpose won’t ever be fully answered, but there is wisdom that God offers for the journey.
Let us listen again to the gospel passage for this morning. Luke has strung three parables about lost things and people together, this morning we focus on the first two of these parables:
Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until you find it. When you do, you put it on your shoulders and rejoice, calling all your neighbors together saying rejoice with me… Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one does not light a lamp, sweep the house and search until she finds it. And when she does find it calls her friends together saying rejoice with me.
Luke adds an introduction and closing interpretation to these parables that focus on repentance and forgiveness, but in her study of these parables Prof. Amy Jill-Levine helps us recognize that the parables are most concerned about making whole what had become incomplete. Prof. Levine points out that the shepherd/owner and the woman had to recognize that something was missing before they determined that they needed to go looking. There was a sheep missing from the flock, there was a coin missing from the purse. The concern was for the lost item, but it was also for the whole group – the flock and the purse were diminished without the sheep and the coin.
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What Prof. Levine wants us to notice is not just the concern for the individual item, but also the concern for the group, the flock, the purse, when the single item is missing.
Those of us who feel lost or alone find great consolation in these parables. Instead of being forgotten when we have strayed, instead of being so insignificant that God would forget us like the world forgets us, these parables reveal the extent to which we are searched for even in our darkest hour.
Scripture proclaims again and again that God does not forget the smallest of creatures or smallest community. The hairs on our heads are numbered; the grains of sand along the shoreline are counted; the mother and son with only a bit of oil and corn meal are counted; the slaves in Egypt are counted; Ruth and Naomi – the Bible is comprised of stories about people and places, with and without names that are remembered and sought after even when they seem insignificant.
When people and congregations tell me how small they feel, or how un-noticed they feel, I remember the biblical stories and parables that proclaim the importance of small things to the heart of God. I remember that our story of life is not measured in terms of greatness, it is measured in faithfulness – the lame person who gets up and walks, the imprisoned person who cares for his captor, the exiled son who grows and prospers in a foreign land.
But the parables of the sheep and coin are not just about how the sheep and coin feel, they are parables about the flock and purse as well. The greater story is not told without all the small people, places and moments that comprise the story. We participate in a story that is greater than our individual lives, and greater than our individual church. That is why Matthew’s gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus that includes women, men, the rich and poor, kings and the homeless – it is a genealogy filled with surprises, the unsuspecting, the lonely, the immigrant, the judge.
When I am with people and churches who speak of their smallness and lostness, I remember that their story is not just about them, it is also about the larger story that they and we are part of. When a coin or a sheep, or a person, or a church is lost, the community of God’s people and all of creation becomes incomplete. The fullness that God hopes for and seeks only comes about when what is lost, is found.
Let us return then to that question we posed earlier about God’s purpose for this congregation, at this time. The place to begin is a place of faith – first, the faith that proclaims that nothing and no one is truly far from God’s heart; and second, faith that proclaims the value of what is lost for the completeness of the body of Christ. To answer the question about the purpose of St.John’s Church today there must be deep faith and trust in God’s love for you and in your vital participation as members of Christ’s body. This is faith that casts out fear and worry, and opens people to God’s ways and spirit.
Let me say what I think you might begin to hear when your worry diminishes and the spirit becomes intelligible.
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I think you will hear that you have all you need to be God’s faithful people. You will hear that you are rich enough in heart, spirit, body, mind and community to discover who God is calling you to be. What you will hear first is God’s call to recognize who you are and the gifts that you possess. There is little hope when people dwell on who they are not or on what they do not have. Few visitors will come and find life here if you point to what is absent instead of what is present. I saw on your website that you like to think of yourself as “God’s family room.” I thought that was a great image and as I was getting ready to come here I wondered what “God’s family room” would be like. The family rooms I have been in are welcoming, they are comfortable, people laugh and talk together, friends and visitors are made to feel at home, food is shared, there’s no need for pretense or to prove oneself. If these are the things you offer visitors I think they will return.
Earlier I said a few things about the Danish bakeries that are still around in my old neighborhood. I said they seem to like being small and that they have really focused on a few things they do best and don’t try to be all things to all people. I also said they had to learn some new ways of reaching out to customers that might not be walking by their front door. I think these elements are all essential to small churches like St. John’s. There needs to be a sense of joy in being a small country church; there needs to be clarity about and commitment to the ministry you feel called to, a ministry that has focus and doesn’t try to be all things to all people; and there needs to be new ways of reaching out because people won’t know you are here if you don’t.
I am glad to be here with you today. I am glad to serve as your Associate Conference Minister. I give thanks for your ministry and for your pastor who has many gifts to offer. I look forward to conversation in the ”family room” following worship. There is much rejoicing in heaven when what was lost is found – I pray that we realize when we have been found and that we seek others when we realize what and who have been lost.