“The State of the
Church, 2012”
1 Samuel 16:
6-13; Mark 4: 26-32
Recently many of you have seen
cars flying small national flags in the streets of the city. Euro
2012, the European
Soccer Championship, is under way. I am not a great soccer fan. However, many people in Korea , my
native country, are. Just like the
Stanley Cup here in Canada ,
they are crazy about professional soccer championships, especially when there
is a soccer game between Korea
and Japan . Then, the whole nation rocks.
There is a history behind the
fever of soccer games between the two neighbouring countries. Japan
occupied the whole Korean peninsula by military force early in the last century
until the end of WWII and, during this illegal occupation, Korean people
suffered severely by being forced to take part on Japan ’s side in the Pacific
War. Our parent’s generation is still
haunted by vivid memories of the brutal occupation and horrible war. Historically, Korea
has been a small and weak country squeezed between two big and powerful
countries, China and Japan . Japan
frequently invaded Korea
whenever it was preparing to wage war against China . You may imagine, because of this history, why
Korean people love to avenge themselves on Japan by beating them in
soccer.
No matter whether they are
Christians or not, Korean people have a clear reason for loving the story of
David beating Goliath. They love today’s
story too. Here, David appears for the first time in the Bible. Israel ’s first king, Saul, has
fallen out of favour with God because of his unfaithfulness. God moves Samuel, the
prophet, on to his task - he must choose a new king. So begins a story that God
does not choose the obvious leader, not the oldest son, not the strongest of
the group. Seven of Jesse’s sons come before Samuel but God keeps saying “No,
not this one; keep looking.” God chooses the youngest and the least powerful –
the one not even invited in when a significant religious ritual is taking
place. All during this ceremony, the youngest is out in the fields, fulfilling
his responsibility - caring for the sheep. Yet God chooses him to be the king
and thus he is anointed by Samuel. David has been growing in ways that only God
has noticed.
The two brief
parables in today’s reading from Mark’s Gospel picture seeds and growth. The
first parable narrates the mystery of agricultural growth that occurs beyond
the sight or control of the farmer. In doing so, the parable invites trust in
the growth of God’s realm. What may appear dormant is actually flourishing. The
second parable uses similar imagery to affirm the greatness that comes out of
small beginnings.
The significance
of such growth comes more clearly into view when heard in the context of Mark’s
community. This group of Jesus’ followers was small and vulnerable. They lived
in the tug of war between the “realms” claimed by Rome and Jewish Zealot revolutionaries. On
the surface, those two groups commanded the attention of their day. Yet the
parables assert that the future is not in the hands of the violent, but in the
often unseen hands of God.
I expect you remember
that the Forty-First General Council will meet in Ottawa this August. Much material related to this important
triennial church meeting has already been posted on the church website. We are encouraged particularly to read the
document, “The State of the Church 2012.”
This is a report that has been prepared specifically for General Council
to give a context for its work. It presents a background for where the United Church
is today. This morning, I would like to
share with you part of this document.
The United Church
of Canada was created by an Act of Parliament in 1925. It is hard to imagine
Parliament getting involved in the creation of a church today. Much of the
commentary of United Church leaders in the first few decades had to do
with the desire to make Canada
a nation that lived by Christian principles. In our increasingly diverse
Canadian society, the old assumptions of a common faith background no longer
apply.
We are in a time
of change not only in the church but also in society. Canada is in an
era of rapid growth and urbanization. In contrast, the majority of United Church
congregations are located in rural areas and small towns and cities. Canada has the
highest rate of growth among the G8 nations; this is mostly due to immigration.
In 2006 the proportion of the foreign-born population from Asia and the Middle
East (40.8 percent) surpassed the proportion born in Europe
(36.8 percent). This population trend underlines the importance of the 39th
General Council decision in 2006 to become an intercultural church.
Change can be
both painful and exciting. We feel sadness about things that cannot continue,
but this is also a time of opportunity. We are free to question assumptions
about how things are supposed to be, let go of what once was, and embrace new
possibilities and ways of being church that remain faithful to the example of
Jesus in our place and time. As a church in Canada today, we have become
smaller and more vulnerable, living in the tug of war between commercialism and
secularism. However, we do not believe
that the future is in the hands of the Mammon.
We are part of a
movement that began roughly 2,000 years ago, when people were called to leave
behind their familiar lives and follow the way that Jesus led. The things that
Jesus said and did as he encountered strangers—breaking bread with outcasts,
healing the sick—were a great challenge to the religious leaders of his time.
Those who seek to follow Jesus, as we do, have invented and reinvented “church”
many times over the centuries. We do not always welcome change, but it does
give us the opportunity to reshape our structures and our lives, aligning them
anew to the core of our faith.
In response to
those changes, for example, a New Ministries Fund has been established and
funds dispersed to innovative projects, and the United Church Foundation has
expanded partnerships with congregations for long-term investment in developing
new ministries. EDGE: A Network for Ministry Development has been created by
the General Council to support the positive transformation of ministries according
to needs felt across the United
Church .
Here, I am
reminded of the Environics report our Joint Needs Assessment Committee received
last year. It was prepared by the Environics research group upon our JNAC’s
request. This report contains much interesting information
about our neighbourhood, things like religion, ethnicity, education and
occupations, income and marital status in our catchment area. It presents not just numbers, but offers
profound insights based on the analysis
of our environment. I think these
are tremendously valuable when we explore possible new ministry options in the
future. The problem is that many of us
here may not be trained or prepared professionally to discern all the implications
of this report for our future ministry. Those
numbers, the in-depth analysis and intriguing interpretation may seem
overwhelming to many of us.
Recently I was
glad to learn that part of the work of EDGE I mentioned earlier is to offer
consultations to help individual congregations tackle these kinds of daunting
tasks. Today, we celebrate the completion of the work of the Transition and
Joint Search Committees. Even though
these committees have been disbanded, our ministry continues to be “reinvented”
based on their work. Now, I wonder if
EDGE may well help us absorb the data of the Evironics report to understand
better our environment and, as a result, be ready to plant seeds of new
ministry around this neighbourhood.
A respected United Church
theologian has said that we need to be
ready to decrease in order that Christ may increase. We cannot enter this new
phase without pain, for we may look back on glory times in this world’s terms.
It may seem to many of us a humiliation that we are made to reconsider our
destiny as “little flocks,” not unlike Mark’s community in the first
century. Changing times offer opportunity
and hope, times to engage in fresh ways and to include new people. The call to
journey to places unknown is central to Christian life in all times.
While developing opportunities for future generations in our church to
respond to God’s call to mission, the next decisions we make may need to look
more dee ply and dream with greater
imagination in order to plant the seeds the church needs to live faithfully
into the 21st century. Let us join the
41st General Council Commissioners in praying for the guidance of
God’s unseen hands in their decision-making. Amen.
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