ANNUAL MEETING SUNDAY
©Thomas B. Cundiff
Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
1The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2“Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh Nineveh Nineveh Nineveh
10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Mark 1: 14-20
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee , proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee , he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
I. Jonah and the Whale
These past few weeks at least two large families of killer whales have migrated into the waters of southern California
One of the greatest stories found in all of Hebrew scripture is the encounter of Jonah and the giant killer Whale. Let me refresh your memory with this story—and we learn quickly that the story isn’t really about a whale…..
God calls Jonah, as a prophet, to preach in a place called Nineveh Northeast Palestine —the capital of Assyria . Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh Israel Spain
As Jonah heads toward Tarshish he enters into a great storm.
Images come to mind of the popular film 2000 film staring George Clooney, “The Perfect Storm”.
Scripture says “The Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came up upon the sea that Jonah’s ship threatened to break up.” (Ch. Nineveh
The ancient story tells us that Jonah, swallowed by this whale of a storm, lived in its belly three days and three nights – weathering and eventually surviving this “Perfect Storm”.
By now you can tell this story of a great killer whale is really about the storms we weather in our lives! Sometimes horrible things happen to us. Sometimes we turn from God or God’s will for us and find ourselves in the midst of life’s storms!
We hear Jonah speak: “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and the Lord answered me; out of the belly (of the storm) I cried, and you heard my voice......as my life was ebbing away, ...the Lord delivered me, and spewed me, Jonah, out upon the dry land.”
As this story goes on, God calls Jonah, after his rescue from the storm, to go to Nineveh
Like Jonah, there are times when we shout out to the Lord in distress. We find ourselves in the midst of horrific storms. There are personal storms. There are stresses we experience with family and in our community. There are times we turn from God only to find God calling us back. Like Jonah, God wants to rescue us from the storms we experience in life.
So two things I would like to address this morning:
First, how are we doing in handling the storms we encounter in our personal lives? How are we doing, personally, in our relationship with God?
Second, how are we doing as a church as a place where people go in times of distress? How are we doing as Christ’s church?
II. Our Annual Spiritual – Personally
To use the image that parallels our going to the doctor for an annual physical, how are you doing spiritually? In your relationship with God?
We want to be healthy! Body and mind and soul, we want nothing more than to FEEL GOOD physically, mentally and spiritually. How are you doing?
On the physical level a doctor might ask: Are you feeling okay? Are you eating a proper diet? Are you taking care of yourself? As we all grow and mature, we begin to face more and more health challenges. Our annual physical helps us stay on track in being as healthy as we can possibly be. What are some of the health challenges you face?
On a spiritual level, some of the same questions can be asked. How are you doing spiritually and in your relationship with God? Are you using the spiritual resources God has put at your disposal? Worship and prayer? A sincere attempt to nurture a closer relationship with your Lord? What about those times when you encounter storms and stresses in your life? Are you calling upon God for help?
The truth is a reality for most of us: From time to time we experience various types of health challenges -- physically and spiritually. There are times we feel like God has abandoned us….when in truth we are the ones, like Jonah, have failed to follow God. Sometimes we’re just not as close to God as we would like to be.
There are times in life when the storms come upon us. Are we spiritually ready for these storms? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get swallowed by a whale! I want to be prepared!
A friend of mine from Seminary, Shannon Webster, posted a picture this past week. He is standing in front of a Hurricane Warning Sign. The sign said: Hurricane Evacuation Plan: Grab a Beer! Run like hell!
Do we grab the beer? Run like hell? Hide from the realities of the storms we encounter? Do we sometimes follow the voice of people who sometimes offer horrible advice? Running from problems or avoiding the storms in life doesn’t get us too far. We usually end up feeling like we’ve been swallowed by a whale.
While I am a bit biased as a pastor and preacher, I truly believe that “help is in our lord, who made heaven and heath, who gave us Jesus to walk with us through the storms in life. I truly believe you can call upon your friends in the church in times of trouble. As the psalmist says in this paraphrase (Ps 46):
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. We should not fear when the mountains shake, the waters roar and foam, the earth trembles with its tumult…BE STILL and know the Lord of Hosts is with you. The God of Jacob is your refuge. God is with you. God is with you. God is with you!”
Again, I am a tad-bit biased as a pastor: I truly believe church is a good place to be when encountering various storms. Church is a good place to be to place our struggles before God and those around us we can trust.
Next week I am going to continue on this theme in talking about “Wellspring of Prayer” that connects us with God in good times as well as challenging times in our lives.
To turn in another direction and these questions:
How are we doing as a church?
Having weathered numerous storms through the years, how are we doing? Facing storms with you in your lives, how are we doing as a church?
The most obvious answer to these questions: WE ARE HERE! The best report I can give you today: THE WORLD OF STORMS AND WHALES ALL AROUND US HAVE NOT SWALLOWED US! Further, I don’t see anyone in this church running away from church or Jesus or God! We may have some battle scars from the 147 years of mission and ministry in this changing community, but we are okay. We are as healthy as any church could be giving the challenges we must face as a church.
While storms of drugs and crime and blight have nearly destroyed the neighborhood around us, we are still here! While the recession, more like a depression in this neighborhood, has impacted each and every one of us, we’re still afloat in doing Christ’s work. We are blessed with the resources and resourcefulness to move forward in doing Christ’s work. I can say with confidence, at least for now: We re doing just fine!
Now this isn’t to say we don’t have our fair share of challenges. Consider this short list – six challenges in all:
First, it is challenging doing Christ’s work as a small membership church. While we have a huge heart and seemingly tireless capacity for doing God’s work, there is only so much we can do with 96 members. In reality, we are getting things done because about forty very active member are doing more than ever before to keep this church ‘out of the mouth of the whales’. We are doing pretty well in setting priorities that focus clearly on doing those things that are truly important. One of the reasons I believe we are healthy is because we don’t let ourselves get side-tracked in doing things we don’t truly value. While we could always use more members, truth remains that we have a vital and active core of memberships who make this a vital and active and relevant church.
Second, in addition to being a small membership church we are a mature congregation. Statistically the median age of Presbyterians nationally uis about 60. I believe our number is closer to 70 in this church. Our challenge is to find ways to use our collective experiences to plan for the future beyond where we are now. The church means a lot to us now, but what about the future?
What about the future? While it is hard to know what kind of church can be sustained in the future with a declining membership and a dwindling supply of resources, we still must keep our eyes focused on what we can become in serving our Lord. For the sake of our children and grandchildren and the neighborhood around this church, we must find ways to continue building on the foundation established through our ancestors. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give future generations is our persistence in NOT GIVING UP…BECAUSE IN TRUTH, GOD DOES NOT GIVE UP ON US!
Third is the challenge related to the challenge of keeping our eyes focused on what we can become in the future is to continue searching for ways to do ministry outside traditional boundaries….like we have done in the past when the East Side Soup Kitchen was in our building; with the youth programming we support in our building now. We need to continue to envision and create new approaches to doing Christ’s work in collaborating with others. We need to continue to explore finding people and groups and organizations who share our values to join with us in doing Christ’s work. In short – we need new members. And if we can’t grow our membership we need to find people and institutions willing to help us keep the ministries of this church moving forward….and in many ways we’ve already been doing this.
Fourth is the budget challenge. The good news: our budget is balanced. The challenge: There is very little wiggle room in this budget. We have an endowment fund that continues to serve us well – nearly half of our annual budget comes from the endowment including monies from the principle. It is true we could spend more of the endowments principle but we really can’t afford to do so without risking our ability to continue doing Christ’s work beyond at least another handful of years. The challenge is in the question: how can we grow our endowment fund? Gifts from wills and estates? Special gifts beyond what members and friends give to the church through tithes and offerings? One thing you can know for sure: We will continue to be diligent in managing our resources as stewards of all that God has entrusted our care.
Fifth, perhaps our greatest challenge: THIS IS A WHALE OF A CHURCH BUILDING. This is an expensive building to maintain. At the same time this church building, next YOU OUR MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES, is our greatest asset. Taking care of this building is not cheap! A paramount challenge among all our challenges is finding ways to keep up with all the things that need to be done around this building—and a lot of what has to be done around this building costs lots of money.
Another reality because we are now a small-membership church: We can’t always keep asking the same people to do all the work. We need to find creative ways to match our needs with resources knowing that our resources are limited.
I guess I am saying this: If anyone would like to help us by joining our facilities team…..any of our ministry teams…..let me know.
Sixth, and this is more an affirmation than a challenge! We thoroughly enjoy being a Christ-Centered biblically oriented church. We enjoying being the Warren Avenue Presbyterian Church. We enjoy worship. We value our fellowship. The things we do together is the glue that holds things together. We don’t run away from God. While the whales of financial challenges and small membership as an aging congregation may swallow us up, this just isn’t going to happen…at least not yet – not on my watch! To put this another way, we’re not going to give up on god….because God never gives up on us!
IV. CONCLUSIONS
To say this again, what satisfies me the most as pastor of this church, are the things we do together—the things we enjoy doing together—serving our Lord. The work is hard. The challenges are great. The rewards we receive from God are greater than all of our efforts combined.
We are a healthy. We are a spiritually rich. We’re enthusiastic about the things we are doing. We look forward to worship and church dinners. We enjoy sharing God’s love with others in this community. We are having fun being Christ’s church.
But back to where I started: How are you? Where are you in your relationship with God? It is our goal as a church to keep you spiritually healthy. Our strengths and joy in serving God come from placing our lives in the hands of God….and when you are healthy the church is healthy.
So I close with some brief statements to contemplate in our personal lives as we contemplate our personal relationship with God….also contemplating our health as Christ’s church:
From our Brief Statement of Faith: “In life and death we belong to God!”
From our Constitution, “We will do our work even at risk of losing our life.”
From the Westminster
Finally, trusting in God alone , the author and giver of life, we have hope in the future. The healthy things we do in our personal lives and as Christ’s church beyond ourselves is the foundation of this hope.
May God bless you and keep you….and surround us in this church in love and peace.
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