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For Heaven’s Sake, Where is God?

Hebrews 11:1-3,8-1

James 1:1-4

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The K= alamazoo Gazette reported this morning that the recession has now taken up residence= in the city of South Haven, that playground of western Michigan that serves us= so well. Rentals are down 18%, and rental prices are down 20% for the season! = The recession has also come to church! In fact, all over the country, in faith community after faith community, the recession has arrived. Tithes and offerings lag, causing congregations to postpone and eliminate ministries a= nd staff. Such reductions in giving are not evidence of pettiness or lack of faith; people cannot give what they do not have. Yes, the recession has tak= en up residence in our churches, dumping its fear and anxiety on staff, leader= ship and congregational members without regard to location, church size or commu= nity standing. This is cause for concern, for if congregations become disabled by fear and anxiety, the church cannot be a beacon of faith in the community f= or tough times, nor speak words of healing to despairing people, or become a p= lace of comfort, a place to complain and whimper a bit, or even a place to vent anger at God! For heaven’s sake, where is God in all of this?

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So wh= at is happening at First Church? We are feeling the change and the financial anal= ysis has taken place. We are fortunate to have people who do that well. We need = to know what the near future will look like. And it doesn’t look good. B= ut when all is said and done the analysis does not reduce anxiety or fear. If anything, the anxiety increases. Leadership is not about to abandon its responsibility, so something must be done! Draconian measures of reducing ministry and staff are contemplated. But such measures need to be approached with care and thoughtfulness. If we gut the church’s ministries of nurture, education, outreach and healing, we cease to have a reason to exis= t, save taking care of a building.

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Is th= ere any chance of thinking theologically about this in the church? Thinking theologically, of course, may take us to the prayer room before the boardro= om. Asking where God is in all of this inevitably beckons us to holy conversati= on with…God! If we are going to seek God’s strength to deal with hardship and difficulty, to talk with God first! My goodness, what a concept…= in the church no less! Obviously the situation calls for change. The recession= is what it is, and we know not for how long. That is going to be our new reali= ty for awhile. We need to be bracing ourselves for a season of less. Two centu= ries ago Wordsworth spoke to our present materialistic predicament:

        =             &nb= sp;   The world is too much with us;

        =             &nb= sp;        late and soon,

        =             &nb= sp;   Getting and spending, we lay

        =             &nb= sp;       waste our powers;

        =             &nb= sp;   Little we see in Nature that is ours;

        =             &nb= sp;      We have given our hearts away,

        =             &nb= sp;          a sordid boon!

        =

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A few= little known verses from the letter of James seek to lead us into a holy conversat= ion with God. “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challeng= es come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get o= ut of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed , not deficient in any way.” And here is the clincher! “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father.= He loves to help. You’ll get his help…ask boldly, believingly, wit= hout a second thought.” (Eugene Peterson, “The Message”)<= /o:p>

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Of co= urse, one could also resort to the reading of scripture! The prophets of Israel would proba= bly point out that our society’s values around money, the acquisition of wealth, and the distribution of the world’s resources are so contrary= to the values of God’s creation that there can be no other result in our time rather than a huge disruption in our corporate life in America and aro= und the world. The disconnect between what is and what God intended for communi= ty and the nurture of the human family is huge. Then you could go to the New Testament and read the hundreds of references of Jesus and the authors of t= he New Testament concerning humans and the use of money!

It wi= ll absolutely turn your stomach inside out if you take this stuff seriously! B= ut we will come to understand that where we area is not where God wills the Ch= urch to be!

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The a= uthor of the book of James is not suggesting that God causes the situations that test us, but that we are given the opportunity to respond to the testing by sharpening our values, increasing our compassion, our caring and nurture of others. We are to demonstrate faith to the world; and what is faith, but assurance, endurance, firm hope in the goodness of God from which we do not shrink back. We work harder to discern what is the will of God for the Chur= ch in tough times. What if this is God’s judgment on our greed and carelessness? Is it a wake up call to stop doing “church work” = and to spend more time doing “the work of the church?” Someone has put it in these words: “The more we invest our time, energy and money in gospel work, the le= ss we will need to worry about our own survival as a church. That is, if we ci= rcle the wagons, we’ll die; but if we strike out toward mission in somepla= ce important, we’ll live.”

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What = has God been calling you to do and be as a congregation over the past six years? Wh= at is the source of your being? = Where is your worth? Was the call to the renovation of the Church House only a ca= ll to beauty and not a call to ministry? What does God call us to this day, in= the midst of testing?

It ma= y call us of course, to make tough and unpopular decisions. For we live always in = that tension between what the world calls reality and what the community of faith calls staying in enduring trust in God during tough times.

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After= all, what does it cost for the church to become community with those who are fea= rful and hurting? Where can we respond? We love to see all the children in the front of the sanctuary during worship. Would that more of us would like to engage our lives with theirs on the third floor of the Church House. What if we really took seriously our active partnership in Martha’s Table, and Ministry with Community, Lo= aves and Fishes, the Rickman House, the Edison School project, and we always had= our complement of people there to serve others? For a season we may not have as much to share in financial resources, but what about human resources, every= one bearing their portion of the ministry? Is this our opportunity to really be= come community to all of those fearful and hurting people in our city? We are experiencing increasing numbers of people from the neighborhood at Celebrate the Vision on Wednesday evenings. They are with us for the meal and our wor= ship together. We had intended that the program would be

̶= 0;on vacation” for the summer months. Some of our members have said we sho= uld not do that given that neighborhood people are beginning to join us.

What = will it cost us to continue, and who knows what mission priority might emerge from = the building of this particular community?&nbs= p; It costs only the price of a simple meal for those who have no money. You see, we do exist in a neighborhood! The neighborhood may be invisible to us, but we are very visible to the neighborhood!

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Let&#= 8217;s talk together as much about what God is calling us to do, as we do about wh= at we believe we can no longer afford to do! This may be the very change the Spirit is seeking in our midst. Perhaps you will not be able to share a balanced budget with your new pastor or the typical affluence of a larger Presbyterian congregation. But you will be able to share a community that is vibrant and full of hope; people engaged in bringing healing, light and hop= e to the neighborhood where God has places us.

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So fo= r this time, let us rest in the promise of God who has called us to this place, and said to us: “Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by n= ame, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and thro= ugh the rivers, they shall not overflow you.”   Amen.