Bridging the Gap
Ninevah Moments
I wonder if you can remember a “Ninevah moment” in your life. You know – a time when you heard a proclamation from someone in authority that maybe changed your life forever.
In our text from Jonah today, Jonah’s prophecy is almost laughable in its brevity but yet not laughable at all “Forty days and Ninevah shall be overthrown!” Pretty clear and to the point, isn’t it? And we are told that the people do repent and in a short order don sackcloth to prove their repentance. And God looks at them with mercy and spares them.
So, back to us; a Ninevah moment: Sometimes medical diagnosis can provide such impetus for change. Heart disease, pregnancy, diabetes, these and many more might make us sit up and take notice. Might make us respond in ways that help or hinder our progress to better health. Those are Ninevah moments for sure!
But there are others; stop squandering money, end the affair, quit drinking . . . . other situations that demand a response. Other situations that just like the medical conditions and just like Jonah’s prophecy carry a huge “OR ELSE” with them! Free choice
The church is in the middle of a Ninevah moment I think…not just this church; not just Faith Lutheran but most churches in main line America are coming to realize that life just isn’t like it used to be and more importantly, that it will never be that way again.
During this past week I spent several days at a professional church leaders retreat put on jointly by our synod and the northwestern ohio synod. Pastor Jean was there, too, and we were treated to three sessions by an amazing speaker – Doctor David Lose. Dr. Lose is a professor at Luther Seminary in Minnesota and a very popular author.
It was a great week. And I come to you with a strong message of hope. It is not too late. We, like the folks in Ninevah still have time to turn things around!
Dr. Lose told a story about a friend of his (also a professor of theology) and an airplane trip
Airplane story part 1
I’ll tell you the end of the story a bit later but the fact is that the beginning of the story set up quite a set of questions in the minds of those who heard it and in the minds of those of us at the conference.
Because, actually, if we are honest, we know that our church is filled with people just like that young man. It has been proven time and again by a myriad of polls that many people come to church frequently from a sense of duty or obligation. It may be duty to the way you were raised or even duty in the form of knowing we should praise and thank God…but it is a sense of duty none the less.
A sense of duty worked for years. And it will continue to work for many of us of a certain age. But it isn’t working for everyone. Think of your children or grandchildren…church is simply not viewed the same by their generations.
And we can wish and whine and try to legislate that things were different and that the younger generations would step up to the plate and assume some responsibility….but except for a few cases it just isn’t going to happen.
Let me say this again; we are not simply talking about Faith Lutheran here…we are talking about churches all across this land.
Dr. Lose challenges us to realize that we are simply not doing a great job of connecting what happens here on Sunday to what happens in our every day life. It’s not that we don’t try. I read Pastor Jean’s sermon every week…and I prepare and preach my own…and often we are inviting and encouraging people to look for God every day…I call them God Sightings and then to share them.
Finding God every day takes practice. And learning to respond in the world as God want us to takes even more practice.
It is pretty clear and easy to respond when we have a “Ninevah moment” isn’t it? The consequences will not be good if we don’t do something and so we do. But looking for God can also produce marvelous Ninevah moments of positive kinds. Finding God in the beauty of the sunlight on the snow, in the cries of a baby, in the hug of loved one…those, too are Ninevah moments. Those too, call us to respond.
All our lessons this morning call us to respond, don’t they? From the response of the Assyrians in Ninevah to Simon and Andrew immediately leaving their nets to follow Jesus. We see examples of response. These are ephiphanies of sorts for both Ninevah and the fishermen.
This congregation has responded to God’s call time and time again. The list of ministries and outreach opportunities here is a long one. As we are learning from the brainstorming forums, the people here have a great heart to reach out to others. We have responded and will continue to respond.
Bishop Eaton also spoke this week and she outlined three things that each congregation should do to become more vibrant and respond to God in better and fuller ways. Bishop Eaton suggests the following: First listen to God, then listen to our congregation and finally listen to the community.
At Faith we have spent a considerable amount of time listening to God as many of our members took seriously the challenge to spend time in prayer and discernment. And now we are listening to our congregation as we gather for brainstorming forums. (and let me do a quick commercial here) there is one forum left - - a week from Monday on January 30 If you have not attended a forum, please come! They are non threatening, no one has to speak if they don’t want to , and everyone is very respectful. It is essential that we hear from you and learn how you think we should progress.
Finally, we will begin to listen to the community That doesn’t seem quite as easy and I invite you to share ideas with me about how we can accomplish that. I am going to start visiting the businesses across the road and getting to know people who work there…and we are again going to partner with the interfaith group in Fairlawn on their walk to stop hunger….and I’m currently in dialogue with the associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian who struggles with the same questions we are asking.
But I’m sure there are other ideas to help us listen to the community.
Listening is not just a job for pastors or church staff. Responding to God is not just a job for pastors and church staff. Making someone’s life a bit brighter is not just a job for…well, you get the picture.
Dear friends, we are partners in this endeavor called church…this life style called Christianity…we need to work together to make our lives and the world a better place.
The end of the airplane story
We want to listen…we want to follow God’s will and hear the needs of this congregation and the community and we want to make the changes necessary to help these hours on Sunday morning provide a bridge between our worship experience and how we live in the world.
Each of us can be part of the bridge. Each of us, with practice, can learn to respond to the needs of our own families, our congregation, and our communities.
One way to begin to build the bridge is to go “into the world” and do something nice for others. Do any of you remember the movie pay it forward?
I know that many of you do small kindnesses in the name of Jesus. In fact, some of the most exciting ideas generated in the brainstorming sessions have been ideas for helping in the community. I have shared before that once every couple of weeks I like to pay it forward by paying for someone’s breakfast or coffee…as you know, I’m in my car a lot and so often pull into a drive through for something to eat on the road. It is fun to ask the window person how much the order is for the car behind me and then to pay for it.
And I know many of you pay it forward in ways like that. BUT here’s what’s always bothered me about that – I don’t do it because I’m a nice guy…I do it for Jesus and I never get to explain that. Then, lo and behold, we got the suggestion at a brainstorming session to come up with an emblem or card to help us spread that word. It was an awesome suggestion…and so we did! And they are here today! And when the sermon is over I’m going to pass them out and encourage you to respond by using one this week.
More importantly….I’d really like you to share your experience with me. So after you’ve done some fun little something for someone else and then passed along the card…send me an email or a letter or give me a call…. I can’t wait to see how creative you are!
The fact is, our Christian walk can work very well in the real world. It doesn’t need to be relegated to one or two hours on Sunday morning. The more we can make that bridge between what we hear and experience and feel here and how we live our lives - - the more we can practice and learn to respond to God - - the stronger we will become as individuals and that will translate into stronger families and a stronger congregation and ultimately a stronger community. It is, after all, all about responding. Amen
Anecdotal information from Professional Leader's Retreat January 17 -19, 2012 The Reverend Dr. David Lose presenter
