union avenue christian church |
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What Our Children WIll Remember Joshua 3:7 – 17; 4:1 – 7; I Thessalonians 2:9 – 13 Before reading today’s passage from the Hebrew Scriptures, I would like to set the stage. This is not a particularly well-known passage. Most of us know the story of Moses leading his people through the Red Sea…out of captivity… into freedom…away from the Egyptians who had enslaved them. We also probably remember that Moses traveled a very long time, seemingly being quite los, with a grumbling bunch of followers. All the time, however, God kept promising them that they would see and find this land of milk and honey. Just as they were to get to the land of promise, they had to cross yet another body of water. This time it was just a river, probably not like our mighty Mississippi, but a river, nonetheless. Water for the Israelites was symbol for chaos, mystery, and sometimes evil. In creation stories, God tamed the waters, moving them around for chaos to quit having total reign. Crossing through waters, therefore, metaphorically points to major transition times for this people. When Moses arrived at the banks of the Jordan River and was told that his people could now FINALLY cross to the other side, into the Promised Land, he was also told that he would have to stay behind. Joshua would be the one to lead the people. One other word of explanation: the Ark of the Covenant had become the symbolic carrier of the Presence of God. Within that Ark (a cabinet of sorts) were the recordings and words between God and Moses. Today the Ark of the Covenant within Temples and Synagogues hold the Torah – the blessed scripture. Here is the reading of the passage – which is in your worship bulletin for you to follow. And so those stones symbolized the time when the Israelites crossed into their new and promised land. The presence of God had led them to this place and time, and because the priests had put their feet in the River Jordan and it’s flow had stopped, the people were able to pass through a dry river bed and claim the land that had been promised to them. The stones were visible symbols so that the memory of such an astounding time would never be forgotten. Where are our stones? What are the stories that we will want to tell our children when they ask about their past, especially the past encounters and leadings of God within the life of Union Avenue? Some of the visible stones within this sanctuary are hanging on the back walls. Beloved men of this congregation from its beginning — these are nine touchstones of our history. These men and their portraits are not the only symbols we hold up — with stories to remember — but they are some of them. They have all laid part of the foundation for where we are today. The similarity among the men is not that they were all great preachers — although many were. The similarity is not that they were all great scholars or good administrators — although some of them were. The similarity is not even that they were all pastors of this congregation — although most of them have been. The similarity is that each of them touched lives in a transforming way so that the life of the congregation was enriched, the mission was deepened and the witness was broadened. The faithfulness of each of them was known and continues to be told as long as we walk by, see those portraits and hear their stories. We need to continue to tell their stories and we must take our children by those portraits and share what we know of those men and of this church. We also need more ‘stones’ and more stories to tell our children, so they will know how faith has lived and thrived through the ages and how in each age it transforms lives. I hear us saying we are moving into new times – making transitions – maybe getting to cross waters? Where are the touchstones that will remind our children of stories of this day? Last year Richard Jones gave a Minute for Stewardship. In that moment he talked about how organizations in fund raising often look for matching gifts from businesses. I thought he was going to share a new idea for our Stewardship Department. But then he said, the matching gifts for us have already been made…by those who have gone before us…by those who thought 50 and 60 and 70 years ago that the ministry of Union Avenue would need to continue to be vital through many generations ahead. Those matching gifts didn’t just come from the 9 men on our wall (2 of whom are living and breathing stones!). The matching gifts came from men and women of this congregation who loved Jesus Christ so very much that they wanted ministry to be flowing through these very walls into this neighborhood and into this city in their time and our time as well. In every generation of time, it is essential that the groundwork for the future be laid. Ours has been. It is now our opportunity to build it stronger for those who will succeed us. How do we do it? And how do we make sure that it will be strong enough to last for those in our future. We do it by growing and deepening our relationship with God, our commitment to Jesus Christ and his church, and by infusing ourselves and the world in the love of the Holy Spirit. As in friendship and love, that commitment is experienced by increasing time and faithfulness. How much we are willing to portion out of what we think belongs to us – shows another person how much we care and how deeply committed we are to the relationship. Anyone who has been in love knows that it just doesn’t work to ‘schedule’ an hour a month to be together nor is a relationship able to thrive if we plan for a 5-minute conversation every other week. Love takes time — an increasing amount of time. Whether it is the love between humans, or between us and God, the relationship must have a deepening commitment if it will have an increasing return of satisfaction, joy, and knowledge of each other. Last week, Brent Dodge mentioned tithing as he challenged us in our stewardship campaign. Tithing is a rather archaic idea – coming from the time just after Joshua got his Israelites settled into the Promised Land. Most of them were people of the land — people who had spent their time and labor growing crops and tending animals. When the harvest came or the slaughters were done, they, being people of profound faith, knew that this land and their animals didn’t come from their own hands. All they had — all they would ever have — came from God. So the first portion would be given back as a thanksgiving, a thank offering to God. Those tithes — a tenth of whatever had been produced — went to the service of the temple. This was not because the temple needed the offerings to function, and not because the priests were hungry, and not because the poor were needy — all of which was true. Primarily, the offerings were given because of the thankfulness of those giving them. Most of us no longer come from farming families. But we are all living because of the grace of God. We are all recipients of daily gifts of life from God. We are — or ought to be — indebted and thankful to God for everything we have. Tithing is a small percentage in relation to the thanks that most of us feel. Unfortunately it is a custom that has not been taught or reinforced in much of modern Christianity. And it is a hard discipline to begin. John D. Rockefeller (philanthropist and industrialist of the 20th century) said that he never would have been able to tithe his first million dollars had he not tithed his first salary, which was $1.50. If we give two percent of our income as thank offerings to what God has done in our life, next year we could probably give two-and-a-half percent or three percent. Within a few years we would become tithers. And I can guarantee that we would not stop at ten percent. Stories from people who have started percentage giving indicate there is such a satisfaction in being able to give, that it creates the incentive and possibility to grow in that giving. It really is not about the need of the church, but, rather, about the need of each of us to grow in our love of God. No amount of money can buy a relationship. It is a symbol, however, of how important a relationship is to each party. When we consider how much life God has given us, we must evaluate how much of our life we give to the relationship with God. Will the commitment and depth of love we have be shown in such a way that stories will be told about us in the future? Will our children remember what we have done through this congregation? Will they see the stones of faithfulness and be able to tell their children – not that we passed through the Jordan to a promised Land but that as we passed through the years we were here being a witness to Jesus Christ in the city of St. Louis. God is waiting and expecting our lives to be given over — transformed by the love that God has provided. God is longing for us to be the vehicles of grace, the perpetuators of peace, the extenders of justice, the dreamers of creative expression all within this community of faith that is so precious in God’s heart. May we respond to God’s hopefulness so that our children will have fond memories of faithfulness to share with their children. SW |
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