They Need You

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Just before the 2004 General Conference that met in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Lyle Schaller, a lay member of the United Methodist Church published a book entitled: “The Ice Cube is Melting.” In that book Schaller speaks about the continual loss of members and attendance in our United Methodist Churches. Schaller makes the statement that: “Systems produce what they are designed to produce, and the current United Methodist system is designed to produce fewer congregations and fewer members.” In the rest of the book he attempts to prove his point as well as to recommend possible solutions for this crisis. If Mr. Schaller is correct then we must evaluate our church to see if our church is designed to make disciples or to produce fewer members.

Early this year Stephen Prothero, the chair of the religion department at Boston University, wrote the book: “Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to know and doesn’t.” The book is a study of what he calls a paradox; that is that: “Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion.” According to Dr. Prothero there are Protestants who can not name the four gospels, Catholics who can not name the seven sacraments and Jews who can not name the five books of Moses. He concludes that one of the most religious countries on earth is also a nation of religious illiterates. He claims that basic religious literacy is lacking even in seminaries, where many ministers-in-the-making are unable to describe the distinguishing marks of the denominations they are training to serve.”

Dr. Prothero shares that half of Americans describe themselves as Protestants, one-quarter as Catholics, and 10% as Christians of some other stripe. He states that the vast majority of those Americans that claim to have no religion are actually what he calls “un-churched believers.” Another survey done with young people discovered that most youth are religious, that most of them believe in God; but they also discovered that they do not believe in the church. In other words they do not believe in you and me. Why? I think it is because they cannot tell what we truly believe. Our young people want to know why they should go to church, what difference will it make. They want to know why they should attend worship rather than a football game. Our children need us to be the church of Jesus Christ.

The eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews is a chapter dedicated to an exposition of faith. It begins by defining what the author means by faith: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” It is a conviction that goes beyond what we see, hear or think we know. Too many of us in the church feel uncomfortable with certainty; we want to leave space for other alternatives. Yet most young people would agree with Dr. Prothero; in his book he states: “I was raised Episcopalian and, if pressed, will fess up to being Christian. I prefer, however, to describe myself as religiously confused. Like many Americans, I find far more questions than answers in the world’s religious traditions, and my attitude toward people who possess firmer faith than my own is awe rather than fear.”

The author of the book of Hebrews presents an uncompromising example of what it means to believe. It is a complex faith rather than a simple faith. It is a faith that is powerful enough to produce signs and wonders: “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” Churches would be totally full if we all saw miracles like this in church.

But it is also a faith that can withstand the silence of God in the face of our prayers. The writer immediately after expending a lot of time sharing about the miracles of God states that: “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.” I believe that you need a stronger faith to continue to believe in a loving God when you are tortured for your faith and it appears that God is silent, than when you pray and you receive an immediate answer.

All of that is a powerful statement about faith, but what made me think was the following words: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Those faithful men and women, who made signs and wonders and even those who waited for a miracle and continued to believe in spite of being sawed in two, refusing to deny their God; the writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us that they did not received what they were hoping for. God’s plan is that they can only be made perfect; they can only receive the promise together with us. That means that Moses, David, Elijah, Peter and Paul, all those that had died because of their faith have not received the ultimate goal of their faith. God planned that they will receive it when you received it, in other words they need us to get our act together. It is our awesome responsibility not only to our children, our youth but to the entire people of God throughout all generations.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,” Since we know the story of those whose faith was strong enough to show signs and wonders, to release miracles and also those who more than that died for their faith, since they have witness with their lives to us, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The administrative council decided that next Sunday those who feel called can stay after the worship service and help us fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Joel: that “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Come and dream with us the new First United Methodist church of Freehold, come and help us develop the vision that God has for us. Let us make sure that we finish this race in which we have invested so many years, so much of our time and financial resources. But first we need to discover those things that are holding us back, those things that are not bad in themselves, but that weight us down as we look at the finish line. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

As most of you know I have been attending small groups in many of your homes and I am impressed by the quality of people that God have assembled together to form this church. From those meetings I have began to see a new vision and to dream dreams about the possibilities. I see a church that will be known to be a house of prayer for all nations, a regional church that brings people from all surrounding areas to enjoy vital worship, a church made up of people that can say that the Spirit of the Lord is on them, because God has anointed them to preach good news to the poor. That God has sent them to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

I envision a church where we devote our worship service to adore and worship God; where the question is not if we liked the service but whether God liked it. A church where every member develops and uses their spiritual gift; I believe that God has given each of you a special gift to be use for the spiritual and physical growth of the members of the First United Methodist church of Freehold. I see small groups meeting in homes at different times in order to help develop and nurture our members. I envision a church where children and youth are seen as agift entrusted by God to the church. I see a church where every single Sunday at least one person meets Jesus Christ for the very first time. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Our bulletin reminds us what our mission is: “to bring faith, hope and the love of Christ to the world through open hearts, open minds and open doors.” Today let us commit again before God to fulfill our mission.