The Story of A Church
Hebrews 11:1-3, Psalm 127, Matthew 25
Central Presbyterian
Church, Mobile, AL…………………………………………….……Rev. Karen Bullock
For the last two Sundays, Chris and I have been
sharing some of our story with you, the ways God has intersected our lives with
grace. But since we have been here in Mobile, we have been listening to your
stories too. The Scripture passages selected for today seem to me to be a
thread running through the story of Central Presbyterian Church. I realize Central
has been around for hundreds of years and I’ve only been here for a few
weeks—so I only see small glimpses of the story—while many of you see a bigger
picture. Still, I would like to share a few reflections about what I have come
to see at this church so far. Feel free to help me fill in the blanks later on
this week or to correct me where I may be mistaken. But now, let us attend to
the Word of the Lord.
Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house,
they who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman
stays awake in vain.
Hebrews: 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Matthew 25: The Lord will say to you, Just as
you did unto the least of these, you did unto me.
Phil 1: I am confident
of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to
completion in Jesus Christ.
I’m
not really sure why I selected psalm 127 for our call to worship for today. But
it always amazes me the way God is at work without our even knowing it. On
Friday, we were walking around looking at houses and we saw some youth walking
down the street. We said, “Hey,” and they all greeted us. One whose name is
Christian introduced himself and talked a little about the mission they were
on—offering free yard work for folks as an outreach ministry of their church.
When we told him we were ministers he said that he wasn’t about just growing
his own church but about building up the body of Christ, and right there on the
street he asked if we had a prayer request for our church, for Central. And we
told him about some of the wonderful things you all are already doing here and
told him we hoped that the church would continue in those things but reach even
deeper into the surrounding neighborhoods and communities with the grace of
Jesus Christ. So right there on Church Street, we gathered and held hands—me,
Chris, Noah, our realtor, and Christian as Christian--prayed God’s blessing
upon Central Presbyterian Church and our ministry here—that we would together,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, build up the body of Christ; and as he was
praying he said, “for unless the Lord
builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” And I just thought, wow, how amazing is
that—here we are using that scripture this very Sunday and a stranger is
praying for us in the middle of the street using those very same words! What a
blessing. I ask that you all remember Christian and the other youth throughout
this city in your prayers today.
For faith is the assurance of things hoped
for…. those youth, they didn’t know whether they would get doors slammed in
their faces, or be greeted with a back-breaking clean up job, whether people
would just use them for their free services while never planning to set foot in
a church… they didn’t know what would happen, they were just walking the
neighborhood wanting to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to both rich and poor,
Christian and non-Christian. They had
faith that God would bring to completion the good work begun in them, that God
would build up not only their church but our church too, that God would
fill this entire city with His Spirit and His blessing. They had faith that, just as they did unto the least of their
neighbors, they did unto Christ. These
kids were a walking sermon. I kind of wish they were here with us today.
But
this church, Central, has a long history
of living by faith as well, of doing
unto others as we would do unto Christ. We support missionaries in
Madagascar and send missionaries to Merida, reaching out to those living in
poverty to share with them the love of Jesus Christ. We welcome our neighbors
to the food pantry, remembering that Jesus said, “When I was hungry you gave me
food and when I was thirsty you gave me drink.” When we host friends from Family Promise, or even just offer our
friendship to folks visiting the church, we are reminded of Jesus’ saying,
“When I was a stranger you took me in,” and when we visit people in the
hospital we know that Jesus said, “When I was sick you visited me.” That is
part of the story of this church.
Look at Hebrews 11 for a minute, at all the
people whose faith made such an impact on THE church.
Just as
Abraham was called to a place of promise, and not even knowing where he was
going, obeyed in faith—so, I quote, (Mrs. William Winter) “We, at Central Presbyterian Church, are descendants of that bold group
of Presbyterians in 1842 who were seeking to spread the good news of Jesus
Christ further into the city.” Perhaps
that bold group of Presbyterians had no idea where this church was going, or
who would be gathered here today… but they had faith in God’s promise, they had
assurance in things not seen, for God promises us a future with hope and in
that they believed.
Some
of you are familiar with the book, “Irresistible Revolution,” by Shane
Claiborne, where Shane shares the story of a group of homeless people about to
be evicted from a vacant and abandoned cathedral in the inner city. He and some
fellow Christians were praying about the situation and not knowing what the
outcome would be, or what would happen to them, whether they might wind up in
jail or worse, in faith, they went and moved in with the people living in that
building to stand by them waiting on the
Lord for a future with hope.
In much the same way, I have heard that
Skeeter’s dad, N.D. McClure, though he
was not at all the marching type, or so I was told, when he heard that Pastor
Crowell was going to join in the march for civil rights, N.D. talked to some
fellow elders and said, “Our preacher is not marching alone,” and not knowing
what would happen—for surely that was a time of frightening and
life-threatening violence in our country’s history, he and Billy Winters
marched alongside their pastor, in
faith, with the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet
seen. I hope we will continue in
that tradition, that we will continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ
throughout this diverse city in all that we do, every moment of our days.
If
you read the entire chapter of Hebrews 11, you’ll be reminded of all the folks who believed in things not yet seen, who by
faith lived in obedience to God’s call on their lives, who did not see the
completion of their good work or the entire fulfillment of God’s promises in
their lifetimes but remained confident in our God who is faithful in all
things, confident, even during times of hardship.
By
faith, Abraham, offered up his son Isaac, trusting in God’s promise that this
son of his would be the first in a long line of descendants as numerous as the
stars in the sky. Surely, in that moment, Abraham took a mighty risk. Surely,
in that moment, he experienced overwhelming personal hardship, and yet he
believed in the assurance of things hoped for, that God would be faithful, that
God’s promise would stand fast, that God would provide the Ram, and Isaac would
live to have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.
By
faith, Moses returned to Egypt to set God’s people free. It was a time of trial
for him, a time of personal risk, and a time of hardship for the people of God
as they lived through all the plagues and through a time of brutal slavery. Yet
Moses had assurance of things hoped for,
evidence of things not yet seen and God was faithful, bringing the people
into freedom through the miraculous journey through the red sea.
I
know you all have endured some times of hardship here. I’m still just learning
about those things. I heard about Tom preaching up a storm during the midst of
a hurricane and all the windows of this beautiful sanctuary blowing in. I heard
about some disagreements relating to worship and concerns about how decisions
have sometimes been made, about how it is tempting to grumble and say, ‘If only
we had a larger youth group’ or “If only we had larger attendance”, or ‘if only
so and so would just cooperate and do things my way, things would be better.’ I
heard about members leaving at particular times in this church’s history.
I
have heard, too, about how as individuals you have suffered through times of
personal trial, that some here have gone through the loss of a loved one, the
loss of a job, a difficult divorce, a long illness, an accident, challenges in
school, a painful situation with a beloved family member, a time when you
desperately needed to turn your life around....
But
amidst the challenges, I have heard people say again and again that God has been faithful, that this church feels like home, like a place built up by the Lord. We
heard just this week a story about a conversion experience . It was one of
those moments when you are in a room full of people and you can just hear a pin
drop because the story is so powerful and full of God’s grace. We also met a
wonderful young lady named Charday, and listened as she told us how you loved
her and cared for her in a way she had never known. And just a few weeks ago we
rejoiced in celebrating the baptism of Jessica James. God’s grace is all around
us.
When
I’ve asked people what they like best about this church, over and over again,
they’ve said, “The people. Oh, sometimes we disagree.” They say, “And we come
from all different walks of life. But we love each other and welcome people
when they walk through the doors.”
Another answer I have often heard is this: “I
believe we are here for a purpose,
here waiting on God’s Spirit to guide us as a Church, on how we can better
reach into the neighborhoods around us with the grace of Jesus Christ. We are
situated here at the corner of Dauphin and Ann for a reason.” Perhaps that reason is not yet clearly
visible… but what I see all around me is faith, faith in God, and assurance in
what may be as yet unseen but in what is surely hoped for.
And I
do believe that unless God builds this
church, we who build labor in vain and yet, labor we must. As tempting as
it may be sometimes to let other folks carry the load, to say we’ve done
enough-- now it is time for someone else to step up to the plate; or to wait
for visitors to come streaming through the door just because we’re here, or to
hope that a pastor or an elder or a deacon or someone here will bring about
miracles of transformation—we know that really only God can do that. And we, as
the people of God, great and small, young and old, Drs, lawyers, farmers,
single moms, retirees, families, immigrants, youth, people with big homes, and
people without a place to call home… we as the people of God are called to
participate in that work, with prayer, with listening, with faith. Friends, I
am confident that He who begun a good
work in you will bring it to completion in Jesus Christ.
And
yet, I want to share with you a cautionary tale, a story my pastor (Rev. David
Miles) once shared with me.
He
said, “There was once a life saving station, with people who kept a constant
watch over the sea and gave their all to search and rescue. Many lives were
saved and those saved responded by supporting the life station; some
volunteered for search and rescue, others gave money.
One
day someone offered to re-decorate the place and update the equipment. Those
who had been saved began to gather there regularly. It became a kind of
clubhouse for all its members. There, they shared their stories of being saved
at sea and sang songs.
Ironically, they began to lose interest in life saving, thought about
hiring other people to do the work. And one day when a large ship lost control
on the jagged rocks, a stream of foreigners came in, cold, frightened, alone.
It was uncomfortably crowded.
The
next day someone suggested installing an outdoor shower so people could clean
up before they came in and eventually, a separate facility for life saving was
set up down the road—away from the clubhouse. And before long, the entire
seacoast was lined with honorary life saving stations while too many ships,
struggled, searching for real ones.
That
likely doesn’t describe this church but it describes many. I have seen churches like that. The story
serves as a caution to us, a reminder, that as we walk with Christ, as the Holy
Spirit pours through us, we are indeed in the life saving business—called to share the gospel in word and
deed with our neighbors right here in Mobile and all across the world, rather
than just singing songs about how good things were way back when as some
churches do.
Oh,
don’t misunderstand--we are called to rejoice in our blessings, to give honor
to traditions, to give thanks for all the good work done in this church, to
celebrate the ongoing ministries and missions, to give thanks for leaders in
this church—about those things let us sing, let us sing!
Yet
let us also lift up our arms and reach out our hands, walking the walk,
offering all that we are to the Lord, our various talents and gifts, and
perhaps even the things that are beyond our comfort zone because we are called
to take risks in the building up of this place—like Abraham, like Noah, like
all those faithful listed in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, like that
bold group of Presbyterians from 1842.
I was
talking about Moses earlier…how in faith he participated in God’s mission to
set his people free. And yet, we remember, before his death, Moses looked into
the promised land knowing he himself would never set foot in it—yet he stood
there believing that God would bring to completion every one of His promises,
that one day all God’s children would live in the promised land.
We are here for a purpose. We are here
to labor along with the Lord in building up the body of Christ, just like those
youth I met on Church Street on Friday, like N.D. McClure and others, perhaps
not knowing all the things we may encounter along the way, perhaps not ever
even seeing the final outcome of our work but moving forward in faith
nonetheless. We are here as a sign of
God’s grace, as evidence of things hoped for, as assurance of things not yet
seen… So ‘let us hold fast to the
confession of our hope without wavering, knowing that He who promised is
faithful.’
Let
us pray.