A sermon for the fourth Sunday in Eastertide given at the United Church of Acworth, Acworth, NH on April 29, 2012.
Acts 4:5-12
Psalm 23
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
These are words that we need as individuals. When we are burdened by stresses and difficulties of modern life. When we are tempted to think that world is out to get us,or that nothing we set out to do will succeed, that all our efforts are in vain. When changes in our lives make us feel like everything is falling apart and the future is not at all what we imagined it would be like or feel like. When we find ourselves in that place where we realize more than ever how much we are not in control, we need to remind ourselves of this basic truth in which we live as those who have put our faith in God:
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
When we started this journey together in September, I think we all were very excited for what God would do in this new chapter of our life as a church.
And God has done much in these 8 months through our ministry together and despite our ministry together. I’ve found myself praying before Sunday morning worship not that God would speak through me, but that God would speak despite me.
Now we look around us now and we can rejoice in all of the growth and positive change that has taken place. And like little children in the back of the car on a long trip we ask (so innocently yet nonetheless intolerably annoyingly) “Are we there yet?”
And the truth is that we are not “there” yet. “There” is for us a future place when the kingdom of God will be more fully manifest in our midst. We are not there yet. We are on a journey, we’re hoping to get “there” in the near future.
We are not “there.” But we will get “there” by the grace of God. And here, now, where we are at this moment is not sitting down, it’s walking on the road. On the road to find out what God has in store for us in the future. And while we walk and talk with God and with each other we keep in our heads the song, the refrain of the faithful throughout the ages:
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
We are a church in Acworth, NH. We are THE church in Acworth, NH.
I think it’s one of the most interesting things for people when I tell them I am a Pastor.
The United Church of Acworth is not just A church in Acworth, NH -- it is THE church in Acworth, NH. And we all need to remember that. We are the one-stop shop for doing church in this town.
What does it mean to have this privilege, to have this responsibility?
It means much. It is a weighty privilege, it is a heavy responsibility.
Our next few years together will continue a conversation here in this place and in this time that has been going on in many places and many times wherever there have been Christians in churches to ask it.
What does it mean to be a church here? What does it mean to be a church now?
What does it mean to be a church in Acworth, NH in 2012?
This is the question that I continue to ask myself as I think about our ministry together.
As walk and talk together on this journey, we need to recognize that God often surprises us by the answers that God gives us.
This church is a product of evolution.
I don’t mean the Christian church in general, though that’s also true.
I mean here in Acworth.
Once there was one church, then there were two, then there were three, then there were two again, and once again only one.
We are here a result of historical changes that forced a change in identity.
This was a baptist church, the building on the hill was congregational, the grange hall was methodist.
Now we’re all here. In order to survive, Christians in Acworth have adapted. They’ve adapted and successfully survived various changes that have come over time.
This is what I mean by evolution. We are a church with a story rooted in pivotal events.
This building was hauled down the hill with oxen!
Why? Because that’s where people lived.
When the 1930s came along and there were tough times for everyone, the churches felt it too.
It seemed quite reasonable to consider changing the way things are done if it meant staying solvent.
Instead of each hiring a minister separately, Rev. Danforth was hired by both churches and served them both, doing services in both buildings at separate times.
This was a big change. but the times called for it.
Slowly it seemed to make more and more sense to united and so the process was begun whereby two churches became one united one. And here we are.
But even since that time we’ve been through plenty of changes.
Through all of these changes, what has remained the same?
What is the constant that remains in the midst of change?
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
When we experience times of difficulty, when we are faced with challenges that we never thought existed, we have mustered up incredible strength and courage and all throughout the country there are people who heard about the steeple project are telling the story of how David slew Goliath in a small New Hampshire town.
but what about churches that are less fortunate -- churches like S. Londonderry, Vermont where overnight a malfunctioning heating system engulfed the entire building in flames.
They’re now meeting in the town hall. They are starting a process of rebuilding that will take a long time.
The future of the church, the life of the church is something other than its buildings -- otherwise there would be no church anymore in S. Londonderry.
So what sustains the church? What is the rock in the sea of change?
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
One of the things that it means for us to be led by God as our shepherd is that we don’t know the future and that we walk by faith not certain knowledge. What it also means is that we can’t tell God how things should or shouldn’t be. We must be open to what God will give us, to what God will make known to us.
How do we go forward in this way?
Our statement of purpose in our by-laws reads:
“The purpose of this church shall be to maintain services for the worship of God for the teaching and the preaching of the Gospel and in all its work to promote the interests of the Kingdom of God according to the teachings of Christ.”
one thing I think that we will struggle with in the future is this last phrase: “in all its work to promote the interests of the Kingdom of God according to the teachings of Christ.”
I think the reason that this will be one of the most difficult things for us is because we are constantly tempted to call “the interests of the kingdom of God” what are really our own interests.
But this is not my church, this is not your church. This is not the deacons church, this is not the trustees church, it’s certainly not the UCC’s church or the Baptists’ church -- it’s not Acworth’s church -- it’s Christ’s church. Christ is the good shepherd.
Which means that Christ will grow us, Christ will guide us into the future -- but the strong and sure and good voice of the good shepherd does us no good if we cover our ears.
With eyes and ears of openness and faith we need to allow God to speak anew to us in our new situation in the 21st century.
And this is troubling because while Christ’s yoke is easy and burden light, it’s not easy to put on that yoke and give up our own.
But this is what it means to be the church, it means to serve something much bigger than our own interests, it means to be willing to change and adapt whenever the good news requires it.
But change is hard. Change means giving up the way we’ve always done things.
But change is possible and bearable because we are a building built not on sand but on the rock of God’s providing care:
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
Our Good Shepherd is with us. That is our constant through the change.
And our good shepherd will be with us as individuals, as a community. Our good shepherd will lead us on. He will not leave us to our own devices, he will not abandon us in the times ahead. He will lead us to green pastures, beside still waters.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I have all that I need.
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