Surrounded

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

September 24, 2006

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

There is something about a new church start that brings out the pioneer spirit in us. It is one of the highest risk actions we Methodists undertake.

The annual conference, the DS, the district boards, the bishop decide that a new church is needed somewhere. Sometimes the people in a new locale initiate the conversation. Research is done, doors are knocked on, demographics are consulted, financial resources are marshaled, and a pastor is appointed by the bishop and cabinet. You have a few gatherings of people from the area. Then you begin letting people know you are there; then you find a place to meet, usually rented space. It may be that you meet in homes first, in small groups. When the time is right, an initial worship service is scheduled. There are many anxious moments; one little squabble or pastoral misstep in the first year or so and the game is usually over. With time, you hope that the church can wean itself off conference and district help and stand on its own feet—and be a full partner in the connection called Methodism.

Sometimes the efforts fail. Probably 30% fail, is my guess. But when they do succeed, it is a time for rejoicing. It is something like the miracle of birth.

Baby Tarrytown UMC survived infancy and here we are, sixty years old. How time flies! We each joined this pilgrimage at different times---some as infants, others as young couples or in our retirements years; some, 3, 4,or 5 decades ago; others last week or last year. For all of us, it is time to give thanks to God for God’s provision of grace which has kept this church alive all these years.

Twenty five people showed up for the first meeting of Tarrytown’s Methodist effort, May 14, 1946, gathering at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, at the invitation of their Rector. Twenty-five UT students active in the Methodist Student Ministry spent two Sunday afternoons canvassing the target area. By the time of the first worship service, on September 8, 92 people signed in; 100 attended. The church met in a hastily built frame building, constructed largely by the volunteer labors of carpenter’s union local 1266, electrician’s local union B250, and the painters local 221—and the finishing touches of the men of the church.

By the time the church was chartered on October 6, 1946, the membership total was 109. For the bishop, the DS, the district stewards, the annual conference churches who seeded this mission church; the young pastor and wife, Vernon and Toni Perry and their children who took on this launch; the members and friends who built the first unit; those who voted to buy this land and build these facilities. For those who had bake sales and pot-lucks and UMW silver teas; for the first choir organized, some 15 members strong, including 5 teenagers----------

Thank God for the perseverance, endurance and faith of all of these pioneers!

The Letter of Hebrews must have been occasioned by an anniversary or a transition time of a church. The author of Hebrews, after 30 long verses into the 11th chapter, naming the heroes and heroines or pioneers of the faith, says, “What more shall I say?”

SURROUNDED

We, too, can be aware that we are “surrounded.” The crowds in the stadiums of our lives certainly consist of the faithful Tarrytown people, living and dead, who have carried their load through the years. But in the cloud of witnesses are all of those in the Hebrew tradition and the world-wide Church who have blessed our lives and who have inspired us by their example. Like them, we are in the race, looking to Jesus who has the seat of honor in the stadium. So, “We pursue a future hope [first] by identifying what we already have.” (Craig Koester, Hebrews, Anchor Volume 36.) Carlyle Marney wrote about the balcony people, those who “surround” us in our minds eye, those we remember often and who give us courage to persevere in our Christian journey.

The writer uses his imagination: he asks his listeners to visualize themselves in a big stadium, like the new, beautiful Ford Stadium on the campus of SMU, for example! (Or some other stadium which may come to mind.) We are now the players and the “cloud of witnesses” in the stands are all those faithful people who have gone before. Many in the crowd he mentions are martyrs, having paid the ultimate sacrifice for their commitment. But the common characteristic is their faithful perseverence in spite of suffering or in the face of great odds.

Whatever our tenure here, we are in debt to those who have preserved and shaped this church through the years. We eat the apples off of trees that others planted. And each tree planted in the soil of a particular church has a unique flavor.

THE UNIQUENESS OF EACH CHURCH

Thomas Frank, in The Soul of a Congregation, has written that congregations that “stay together over time have their own corporate being, their own ways of expressing themselves and living in their world. They spin a rich and complex narrative; they make symbols; they weave a fabric of relationships; they carry out practices of worship, fellowship, and service….”

An exercise I have done in another place: put up a long time-line, from the beginning of the church until the present. On the top line, put the dates and events of note in the community, state, nation and world. On the middle line, everyone puts their names at the date when they joined, along with the names of persons who mentored them in their early membership days. Then, each person writes up brief statements of significant events or turning points or controversies. This forms the basis for a narrative of the church’s life. From this, you begin to get a sense of the congregation’s story.

Calling to mind and being aware of the church’s history and heritage can help us appreciate the gifts which are present in this church and the ways in which the Spirit has worked among Tarrytown’s members over time. It helps us know the “soul” of this church. We can also listen to our elders, not because they are perfect disciples, but because we are encouraged by their perseverance over time. (A new historical narrative will be written under the leadership of Jim and Sharon Hornfisher, building on the work of Karen Mosley Brown and Mulkey and Porty Owens.)

I have so much to learn myself about the tapestry that is Tarrytown UMC!

Not that any church’s history is all inspirational. Learning a church is also to be aware of the church’s failures, the times when it did not respond in faithfulness--- or when it flat failed to respond to the needs of people around it. We also learn how the church over time has repented and has moved forward in new ways, opened new doors and learned new truth.

We are surrounded by the soul work of members who have gone before and by all that they have built. If you are here very long, you will hear the church’s unique story being told.

NOW IT IS OUR TURN! The big “therefore, since we……..”

But, as with Hebrews, we rightly honor our forefathers and mothers in the faith by recognizing that, now it is own turn. With roots in the past, we are called to live, not in the past, but in the present, carrying the best of our values with us in new and refreshing ways. ? In light of the faithful obedience over time by all those who, early on and since then, have given of their time, talents, gifts and service to this church---in light of all of these, therefore, what shall we do?

The Methodist church in the 1940s called the leaders of the church “stewards.” (I’ll never understand why we changed it later to board members!) A steward is someone who takes care of something which belongs to someone else. (It was originally a description of a person who looked after the owner’s pig sty.) This church belongs to God; we, while we are here, tend to the garden called church. To use Hebrew’s metaphor, it is our turn to “run the race that is set before us. But we do so as a surrounded people.

So, in addition to learning and appreciating and giving thanks for those who have gone before, now that it our turn, what else do we do? We are, after all, not merely an historical society.

CONTEXT

We know that world is so much different than it was in the 1950s and 60s.. In our North American context, we are not overtly persecuted. But we are certainly shaped and molded by those who would discount the importance of any faith traditions at all, or see us mainstream protestant churches as hopelessly out of date. The cultures around mold us into thinking that crosses are for wimps, that you have to grab for yourself; that self-sacrifice and caring for the neighbor is a fool’s game: you must look out for yourself because we are in competition with everyone else and if we do not place first, we are losers. We absorb the messages of our culture like sponges.

We are told in many ways that religion is superstition and the whole world will be better off when people are not religious at all; or that the only real things are those we can see, touch and measure.

And, when we observe the behavior of some of our fellow Christians (who are really good haters of others), we may decide that we do not want to risk being identified with them. (Picture: Jesus and his teachings being abandoned because of those who claim his name. See Joshua.)

Too often,“the butlers of the church have set the church’s baggage down in a puddle.” (Katherine Ann Porter?)

Returning to the stadium image: along with the cloud of witnesses, there are the fans of the opposition: their roar can be deafening; we will have to focus our attention in order the stay in the race that is set before us.

IN VIEW OF OUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE…….

How do we respond in our times, as the members responded in the early years?

Hebrews tells us to “keep our eyes on Jesus.” In a stadium, the guest of honor would have the best seat, near the middle. Jesus has gone before and is the starter and finisher of the same race. Hebrews says to look to Jesus who was “disciplined, loving, strong, merciful and faithful.” Looking to him, the beginner and the finisher of the race, we can be inspired to run the race ourselves. Jesus is our example: the source of our faith, because his message leads us to believe; and the model of faith, because Jesus trusts God and remains faithful to God in the way he lives his life and dies his death.

To keep our eyes on Jesus is to find ourselves in a continuous transformation. To grow into those who have the mind of Christ is to be a people who are willing to sacrifice for the sake of God’s “shalom.”

Tarrytown UMC did not succeed because the church had a full-proof plan to launch. I trust that it was formed because they “looked to Christ” as they worked their way forward.

OUR CHALLENGE: LOOKING TO JESUS…….

A. We can be who we are---the best version of the church that we are. We are a United Methodist “brand” church with liturgical worship, with volunteer outreach emphases both local and otherwise. We are a church with a diversity of ages and spiritual formation opportunities for all. We are a church which welcomes a diversity of viewpoints.. We receive, relate, equip and send people into daily life as witnesses and servants of Jesus Christ. Many of us are in positions of influence in civic, educational, business and medical fields, where we can be shapers of policies and practices which relieve human suffering and open doors of opportunity for those need a chance to blossom. We are dedicated to ministries which mentor our young in the core beliefs and disciplines of Christian discipleship. We are a church which prepares persons for the commitment of membership in the body of Christ.

We won’t get trapped into thinking that our way is the only way to be a church. Others have differing styles and emphases to reach people which we do not.

And, we want to be “always reforming,” bringing our best self as church before God to be critiqued. We want to be open to the Holy Spirit, who will be leading us. We can ask who we are, who are our neighbors, what is our mission and what is God calling us to do now?

We can find new ways in which to demonstrate neighbor love; meeting people where they are with the gospel in word and deed.

The world is so hungry for livable truth and credible hope. We can do our best to communicate the ancient truths of the faith in ways which connect with peoples’ lives.

And we will practice loving each other as we respond to the challenges ahead. We will offer genuinely accepting fellowship to people in need of a home place.

Much of church work is not adventurous. We move along, week by week, month by month, responding to needs as they arise, caring for each other, coping with the illnesses and losses as they come; we live out our commitments to God in thousands of ways each week, wherever we are. We pray. We send people here and there to make a difference and bear witness. The ordinary life of a church and its members does not make the news.
But we are here for the long haul; the race is cross-country race, not a sprint. Therefore…..

We can “lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely” if we look to Jesus and remember the cloud of witnesses who are watching to see what we will do in our turn.

Let us pray:

O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come: be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home.