Greetings Everybody!
I hope this finds you well! I preached this morning for both of our morning worship services. Today was our first service without our co-pastors, as they have taken another appoitment in another conference. So today I was rolling with the idea that, during times of transistion, we must revert to the basics of what it is to be the church. I utilzed Micah 6:6-8, Luke 4:18-19, and Matthew 28:19.
“The Basics”
Good morning friends! My name is Joe Stobaugh and I’m one of the pastors here at Travis Park and I’ve got some good news for you! Let us pray: pray extemporaneously…
There is a spirit in the air around here, isn’t there? It’s that time again. Time for something new! Can you feel it? I sense that something is coming, do you? There are memories of greatness mixed with an appreciation for the present moment and a foretaste of all the good things to come. I feel it, do you? You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s Spurs playoff basketball and the Spurs are in the finals!!!!
This a fun time of year, isn’t it? I love to watch Tony and Manu and Tim and the crew doing their thing! The Spurs are really something else: they are a great team on the court and fun to watch. I’ve got to tell you, even as a former ball boy for the Dallas Mavericks insert your boo and hiss here, the Spurs have been surprisingly easy to pull for!
I tell you, there is one Spur I really admire however, and it’s their coach, Greg Popovich. Clearly, Pop is a great coach. And one of the many things that set’s him apart from some of his colleagues is his commitment to executing the plan he has set and sticking with the basics.
I don’t know if you saw the game on Thursday night or not but in the second quarter, Pop called a timeout when things were getting a bit out-of-control. During the timeout ABC had one of those “sounds of the game” moments featuring Pop. As the team was huddled around him, Popovich reminded the Spurs of who they were. He reminded them of the basics that had gotten them to the Finals. Take it slow, he said, take it slow!
You know what happened, of course: it worked! The Spurs were trailing by a few points prior to the time out and after the timeout, with the team refocused; they changed their direction of play, got back to the basics and ended up with a decisive victory! (A few fourth quarter three pointers from Lebron excluded. Man, that guy is something else, huh!)
I remember thinking that that moment, that timeout, was an example of a master coach at work. He sensed the importance of the moment and brought his team back to the basics.
I was also struck by what a great metaphor that moment was for those of us worshipping here this morning!
You know, often in life we can shape situations to a degree, with the sheer force of our outlook and attitude. For those of you who are visiting with us for the first time, our co-pastors for twelve years took another appointment in The United Methodist Church and last Sunday was their last Sunday here. Depending upon how you look at it, it might seem that our church is in trouble: with our co-pastors having been given another appointment and without another to take their position of leadership, it might seem that our church is adrift and that we’ve been abandoned. That’s one way of looking at our current situation. But I would suggest to you that it’s not the only way and in fact, it’s not the best or most accurate way to describe what’s happening at this church.
As I said, friends, I am here to share with you good news! Sisters and brothers, Travis Park has not been abandoned and we are not adrift because Jesus has promised to never, ever to abandon us! Jesus is with us, right here and right now.
And all of you are here and you, my friends are what make this church! And, just so you know an interim pastor is on the way. We don’t know who it will be yet but the Bishop and his cabinet are working on it and through them God will send us a pastor to take us to the next level! And that’s because God is good, God is faithful, and God keeps God’s promises!
So let’s take a moment, friends, during this time of transition, and borrow a page out of Pop’s playbook. Let’s remember what our basics are as a church.
And I do mean we. I want to invite you to think about the basics of being Church, why are we here? Why are we doing what we are doing? What are the basics of being the church?
While you are thinking about it, let me share with you what some friends and I think the church is about and then I want to hear from you.
When I think of what the basics of being the church are I am reminded of a few pieces of Scripture. First, I think of the words of Micah that we’ve just heard. I think of the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, found in chapter 4:18-19 where Jesus says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And I think of Matthew 28:19, again, the words of Christ, “Go therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations.”
All of this together tells me that the church exists for three reasons:
1. The church exists to announce and proclaim the (Reign) Kingdom of God.
2. The church exists to worship God
3. The church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation for the world.
To me, the church is the place, as pastor Doug Pagitt would say, “it is the home base for those committed to living in rhythm with God. It is a means by which we extend God’s hopes, dreams and agenda in the world.”
The church, friends, is a place where we strive to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. It is a place where we seek together to deepen our relationship with God through authentic spiritual practices and where we connect the needs of the world with God’s dreams for the world. These are the basics, at least as it seems to me.
Keep thinking, I am coming to you!
This week I had the blessing of attending not one but two Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church. Early in the week I attended the North Texas Conference where I was ordained on Tuesday and secondly the Southwest Texas Conference, where the great Travis Park Sanctuary Choir sang in the ordination service, where our very own Paul Harper and I led to jazz communion services, and where our very own Byrd Bonner was elected as a General Conference Delegate! Being elected to serve as a delegate to General Conference is a really big deal. It is an honor and a sign of respect and trust. Travis Park: we are blessed to be represented by Byrd Bonner!
Since I was in essence, locked in a room full of preachers and laity for a week, I thought I’d ask them what they considered to be the basics of the church. While I tell you what they said I want you to be thinking about what the basics of the church are for you.
My good friend, the Rev. Terry Heislen, says that the church is called to be a blessing!
My old youth minister, the Rev. John Baldwin told me that the church exists to love.
Another pastor told me that he thought the church was meant to be a placed that nourished the communion of saints, helped them to grow and keep them accountable to living a God-filled life.
Linda Lowman said that the main reason the church exists is to help its members become more like Christ and help them minister to others. She also said that we must expand our circle of those to whom we minister.
Rev. Taylor Boone says we are to come to church to be filled with the Word, filled with the Spirit, filled with Grace and filled with Agape love. In turn we are to go and share that with everyone we meet, seeing the face of Christ in everyone and everywhere. The church is not the building: the church is the people who empty themselves of their own egos and replace the emptiness with Christ.
Rev. Dave Collett says that the church is to help you learn to love yourself so that you can love God and love those around you. “Salvation comes to you on the way to someone else.”
Rev. Willie Glaster says that the church exists in order to help people have a loving relationship with God and to help people learn how to hear from God.
Byrd Bonner says that the local church exists to bring people to Christ the way that Christ would have brought them to himself and to be an instrument of love.
Alison Boone says that the main reason for being the church is to provide authentic worship, because out of that comes the desire to be closer to God, the desire to learn more about God and the desire to serve God. Worshiping in the community is the most important thing we do.
So there are a few ideas for you to ponder on. But now it’s time to hear from you. What do you think the basics of the church are? What do we need to focus on so that we can be the church God wants us to be? I’m looking forward to hearing from you because we all can learn from each other. Please raise your hand and then I’ll call on you and you can stand and tell us a bit of what you think about the basics of the church.
Ask people what they think the basics are
TIE IT ALL TOGETETHER
So we see some common themes, don’t we? The church exists to make disciples of Jesus, to connect one another to each other and to God and to worship God.
Friends, during this new chapter in the history of this church, let us focus on the basics so that we can truly become a church of unconditional love and justice in action that makes disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
The church has been around for thousands of years with these understandings of who, what and whose we are and it will continue to do the work that God has called her to do.
As I said earlier, I have been at annual conferences all week and I was ordained on Tuesday. When you are ordained you place your hand on a Bible as you take your vows for life and then that Bible is given to you. As I looked in my new Bible on Tuesday night (really, it as Wednesday morning) I looked at some of the signatures in it. As my eyes poured down the list I came to the name of Rev. Tyrone Gordon and he left a Scripture passage for me to read, it’s Jeremiah 29:11. Many of you know what it is. Jeremiah tells us, about the future of our church, and about the future of our individual lives, the following: Read Scripture. “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
Friends, I know this is true for not only Travis Park but for each of us in our own lives as well.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, as I look at this stole that is hanging around my neck, signifying the yoking of the one wearing it to Christ, I see the hands of the children of this church, who very graciously made it for me. I treasure this stole for all that it represents and I know that God has big plans for these children who are being raised in the faith at this church. God has big plans not only for them but also for this church. The future for us is bright! Travis Park has a venerable and strong history, and God is not done with us yet, friends, God is not done with us yet. Christ is calling us to continue to be about proclaiming the Reign of God in our midst and to create a community that works for God’s Reign to come on earth! God is calling us to make disciples of Jesus and God is calling us to work for peace and justice for all of God’s Creation. Most of all, God is calling us not to be afraid! God is calling us to walk in confidence as the children of God out into the world to be in ministry with God. Let us continue to become the people of God, claiming our full humanity and becoming disciples of Jesus for the sake of transforming the world. “For I know the plans God has for you, and they are amazing!”
Let all the people say: Amen
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