“Finding Our Voice: Good news for the people of God”
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Text: Acts 2:22-24, 32-26, 37-42
The company made shoes; very sensible, durable, Oxfords for gentlemen. But with the influx of cheap, fashionable imports flooding the market, sales were plummeting. The Northamptonshire factory in England made better shoes than anyone else - hand-stitched, leather brogues - but no matter, the public had a price point, they wanted less expensive shoes and the company was in trouble.
Price & Sons had been in the family for generations. There were people who had worked there almost all of their lives and telling some of them that they were being laid-off was breaking the young owner, Charlie's heart, but he could do little else. Money was tight. They were in danger of shutting down altogether when Charlie had a chance encounter with a sassy, drag queen named, Lola. In conversation, Lola led him to consider the possibility of marketing “nice” boots to both females and males. It was not easy teaching workers, who were used to traditional models, about new and sexy forms of footwear, but with the help of his new friend, Lola's eye for style, Charlie and his factory began to produce numerous shoes for the edgy catwalk in Milan, Italy. Price and Sons was back in the game. Jobs were saved. In fact, the turnaround was such that the story was featured in the BBC documentary series, Trouble at the Top. The documentary dubbed the new line of footwear, “Kinky Boots.” The name stuck and was the name given to the moderately successful, horrendously funny, British comedy of 2005 - Kinky Boots.
I think that that's probably all I shall say this morning from the pulpit about sassy, drag queens and kinky boots, but I do want to pull from that story the point that in the business world, when things are not going well, when market share is declining, when there is the danger of collapse, a company very quickly re-evaluates, re-focuses, re-thinks, and alters its direction. It has to. The business world is unforgiving and unless it can re-market itself in a way that some portion of the world buys into, it fails.
Last week, we were speaking about the church. In 1965, the United Church of Canada was at its peak with over one million members and many more adherents. With the way things were going, we expected to have double that number in our churches today but the reality has been, like many mainline churches, decline. We are now down below half a million and one analyst has suggested that if we continue on this path what was once the largest denomination in Canada will effectively represent close to 0 per cent of the Canadian population in 2022, that is only 11 years hence.
Thus, the question comes to mind, is the church in a position not unlike that of a failing business? Do we need to re-evaluate who we are? Why we are here? What we are about? Are we prepared to keep going as is, as if there were no problem? And perhaps fail. Or will we re-focus and alter direction in light of changing market conditions?
Unlike what occurred with the “kinky boot” factory, many times in the business world, evaluating and re-evaluating causes a company to re-trench and re-focus on its core business as, for instance, Shaw Communications has recently indicated it will do as they take their time to enter the wireless market. I have often wondered if the church needs to re-trench and re-focus on its core business, re-discover what it is about, and then adjust that to the new environment that we face in the second decade of the 21st century.
We find something of the core business of the church in Acts 2 as the gospel, the good news, first takes flight in the city of Jerusalem. Acts 2 begins by describing the events around Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit upon the disciples. The population of the city had swollen for the Jewish festival. There were Jews from every corner of the known world present with the locals when the disciples, excitedly, stepped out onto the streets and began talking about Jesus. Curiously, as they spoke, those around them heard their words in their own, native languages (2:1-13), in Hebrew, Aramaic, Egyptian, the languages of Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia, all heard in their own native tongue. It was amazing. It caused a stir, excitement, what was going on? And it gave Peter the opportunity to stand and address the large crowd that was gathering.
As Peter stood, he reminded them of Jesus, “a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs (2:22).” He reminded them that they had crucified and killed this Jesus, handing him over to the Romans. But then he goes on with an incredible assertion, “But God has raised him up (2:24).” He quotes scriptures that foretold these things and reiterates, “God has raised him up, and of that all of us are witnesses….Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified (2:32, 36).” Suddenly, the people around him were cut to the heart. They repented, they were baptized, and they “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (2:42).” According to Luke, on that day about three thousand people were added to the church (2:41).
3,000 people added to the church. A little later in chapter 4 (4:4), we read of thousands more coming to faith as a result of Peter and John's witness to the resurrection. It is safe to say, therefore, that if there was one thing that earliest church was, it was a growing church and it would seem that its focus, its core business, was resonating with people. It was all about Jesus and his resurrection. They had seen him. They were bearing witness to it. And if we sense the tone of this passage, there was a passion about what the first disciples were sharing. They had witnessed something so amazing that they could do nothing but talk about it. They were excited.
I have a friend who has struggled to find the right girl for a number of years (haven't we all?). Recently he met a woman who has just bowled him over. When we meet, he is so excited about this new relationship that he just can't stop talking about it. “It is wonderful,” he will say. “She is great. We had this fantastic date down at the lake … Have I ever told you how incredible she is?”
“Mmmm hmmm,” I would say knowing that the dopamine levels in his brain were off the scale.
In a similar way, the disciples had been moved by something extraordinary, so extraordinary that they just could not help themselves. They were excited. The experience just came bubbling out of them. They could not stop talking about what they had seen and heard.
Many of us in the church today have been in it for most of our lives. We have heard about the resurrection so much that our senses are dulled to the reality, its significance, and we can become complacent about it. But if we ever could experience a dead man walking, appearing in the midst of a group of us, I bet every one of us would be moved to talk about.
There's an authenticity to their excitement; an authenticity to the fact that they kept on talking even in the midst of opposition, facing arrest (4:3), persecution (8:1), floggings (5:40), imprisonment (16:24), and even death (7:54ff. and that's just in the first few chapters of Acts). They could not deny what they had experienced and their passion and excitement were appealing.
Perhaps the church today can learn something from the earliest church's focus and fervour. The Long Range Plan of Timothy Eaton Memorial Church has looked at where we are and called upon us to grow the church and the kingdom of God. How will we do this? Will we do things as we always have? Should we establish another club or two that may interest people? Or should we start talking about the things of Jesus? Now that we are thinking about it, when was the last time you talked about Jesus?
We have, perhaps, for too long, viewed faith as a private matter. There's almost a world-view out there that we shouldn't talk about Jesus or resurrections, that's private stuff, not for general conversation. And most certainly we do not want to come across as too evangelical, too enthusiastic, or as a religious fanatic. Yet, United Church minister and scholar, John Webster Grant, stated a number of years ago that in the changing world, “The church may well find that its vocation now… is to be a saving remnant … It came into being to spread a message that had been confided to a few obscure people, and it can scarcely hope to maintain its health if it reneges on this primary task.”[1]
So what are we to do? How do we do it? How do we spread this message in the post-Christian, changed world that we live in? Let me tell you about Judy. Judy and Tony lived next door to us for four years while I was doing doctoral work in Hamilton. The neighbourhood was teaming with young families and the neighbourhood church was a fairly new Presbyterian Church. Judy's family and our family attended there week by week. Judy and Tony were nice people, chatty, always willing to lend a helping hand. But the thing that amazed me most about Judy was her attitude and feelings about the church. I wouldn't have classified her as a serious Christian let alone a fanatic. But what Judy did in the sandboxes of the neighbourhood absolutely amazed me. While many wouldn't admit to church-going, Judy was totally at ease slipping into conversations with other young parents notions of the great children's program we had at Chedoke Presbyterian. She would describe the crafts that they did, what they were learning, she would compliment the Sunday School teachers and minister, and then out would pop, “Why don't you bring your kids on Sunday?”
Judy never preached, never really got into discussions about the faith in any way, but one thing Judy exhibited was enthusiasm; she was excited about what her church was doing and talked about it to others who might be interested in something for their children. … People feed off the engagement and excitement of others and although it is a good number of years ago now, I still remember that at least six young families attended that church because Judy had said, “Why don't you come?”
Recently a polling agency took a survey, and do you know what the primary reason was as to why people do not go to church. “No one has ever asked me,” was the primary response. They don't say, “Well I would come to church but I have some misgivings about a couple of stanzas of the Apostles' Creed. They don't say, “The reason I don't come to church is I have some hermeneutical disagreements with the church's interpretation of Scripture. The primary reason is, “No one has ever asked me.” If we can follow Judy's enthusiasm and the disciples excitement when the appropriate opportunities arise … our church will turn the corner, people will come, and perhaps as they come and we are faithful to God, the kingdom will grow.
Let me also tell you what John Bowen has been thinking. John Bowen teaches down at Wycliffe College and he has thought a great deal about the witness of the church in this changing world. He has found that though mainline church folks may have qualms about evangelism, there is still room for a witness to Christ in the world. It will not be as it was done in former generations, which could sometimes be intrusive and invasive. Today, he says, witness can only happen in authentic relationships between individuals.
He tells a story about Nicky. Nicky went to university and shared a room with Sarah who was a popular, trendy, life-of-the-party kind of girl. When they entered their room together for the first time, Nicky found a Gideon's Bible in the dresser and threw it aside saying, “We won't be needing that. What a waste.” Sarah said nothing as she continued unpacking. The two girls had a blast during Frosh Week. They got to know each other, rolled into their beds at all sorts of hours, and then Sunday came. In spite of a late night, Sarah got up early. “What are you doing? Nicky groaned.
“Going to church,” replied Sarah.
“Church!” exclaimed Nicky, “You can't be serious.”
She couldn't understand how someone so cool and hot (or whatever the temperature designation is these days) could do something so un-cool. She had enjoyed being around Sarah so much, however, that Nicky got up and went along. Surprisingly enough, although she never had any interest in religion, Nicky continued to go along on Sundays and sometimes even went to a mid-week group on campus with Sarah. They talked a little about it, Sarah only spoke of how the faith helped her and as Nicky spent more and more time with Sarah and her Christian friends she found she was drawn to them. Conversations about God came up that got her thinking. Sometimes she found herself intrigued, sometimes confused, at other times amused. Before long she realised that she herself felt an emptiness inside that needed feeding. It happened on her birthday near the end of her first year at university when the rector asked if there was anyone who had been confirmed but at the time hadn't meant it. If there was anyone who now wished to affirm faith. Nicky was one of several who stood up acknowledging that she had found faith.
John Bowen invites us to think about Nicky's story. Nicky's coming to faith was a very relational experience through her friendship with Sarah who, incidentally, would have been Nicky's friend whether or not she had gone to church. Bowen notes that Nicky's coming to faith took place gradually over the course of a year. There was no inappropriateness or pushing, she was given the time and space to figure things out, time to watch how Christians live, space to figure out what they meant when they talked about God, the holy Spirit, the Trinity, the resurrection, the second coming. She had time to experiment with prayer, with worship. She was allowed to be as she experienced what being a follower of Jesus was all about.[2]
And that is probably what bearing witness to Jesus will look like in these days. It is being a Sarah, being normal, being cool and being faithful to God by going to church even if it's unpopular, and being positive about Jesus in appropriate moments of conversations. It's not being afraid to invite someone along. It is inviting individuals, with whom we have walked in this world, to experience things without pressure. Writers like John Bowen are telling us that normal Christians can be witnesses too. It's just something that happens as we live out our lives. It doesn't matter whether or not we have all the answers, people just want us to be authentic, to have walked with them on the paths of life, to be in relationship. Then we will have opportunity to say what motivates, what drives us, what we believe, what helps us, where we struggle with life or faith. People know that no one has all the answers … but they respond to authenticity and enthusiasm.
I think that we can turn the ship of the church around … let us find or re-find our voice and honour Jesus and the Christian tradition that has been passed down to us for centuries.