A Turn Around Church?

This sermon excerpt may make you mad.  But, there is a point.  You need to read the whole thing – no skipping ahead.

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Once there was a church that was dry and dusty, frustrated and confused.  It smelled like moth balls.  It hadn’t always been like that.  There had been a day.  The Holy Spirit had blown powerfully and God’s work had been visible and dramatic.  One leader in the church, Zeke Hanson, often related how his marriage was on the rocks when he understood the good news about Christ.  His wife sobbed with joy when he was baptized and the turn around in his home had been immediate and astonishing.   George Simmons had been saved out of a life of alcoholism.  Peg and Keith Jones had always been solid citizens but one day they had been gripped by their sin and turned in faith to Christ.  Doris Simmons became a missionary and was now in Papa New Guinea.

But, that was a long time ago and the church was tired.  The nursery sign-up sheet was rarely filled out.  You could have found more volunteering at a military base.  Prayer meeting amounted to another sermon from the pastor and a summary of who was sick.  Serving meant getting the weeds pulled, the bathrooms cleaned, the bulletins printed, and the people called on who didn’t come.  Nobody could remember a conversion.

It was a sticky month of June that got things going again. The pastor was sure that one reason the church didn’t get more visitors was because everybody in town knew that the Nazarenes were the only ones with air conditioning.  So, the elders brought a motion at a special business meeting to spend the Bob Peterson memorial fund on a new Carrier air conditioner.  Gene Johnson pointed out that in the Midwest that point was relevant only nine months of the year (Gene didn’t even use the air conditioning in his car). Bob Peterson’s brother Fred indicated that his brother wasn’t in favor of air conditioning and thought it would be disrespectful to spend the money in that way.  A young father spoke in favor of air conditioning.  Burt Speck thought maybe they should just get window units.  Voices were raised, people spoke up who hadn’t talked in years.  The pro-air condition people nodded with concern when one of their advocates sermonized.  The con-air conditioner people murmured approval on behalf of their champions.  It was quite a discussion.

Mrs. Holmes, an older lady who had been a widow for many years, finally brought direction to a discussion pulled in many directions.  She quietly explained that she thought the frustration really wasn’t about air conditioners.  “The problem is,” she shared, “that we just haven’t seen God work for a long time.  If  the leaders would take us forward, we would all get behind them.  As for the air conditioner, let’s just go ahead and get the thing.  But, I don’t think it is really going to solve our problems.”

After that, the air conditioner was taken care of in short order (though it was decided not to take it out of the Bob Peterson memorial).  But, rather than dismissing, the pastor made some comments.  He indicated that he thought Mrs. Holmes was right and pledged that in the coming days the elders would do their best to identify a direction to move forward.  “I guess the question for you is this,” he concluded, “If we identify a direction, will you support it?”  Everyone nodded they would.

That was June.  Within the week the elders were holding meetings in homes and the fellowship hall to get input from the people.  Within the month they had outlined a plan.  By September, they were ready to go.  At a special business meeting, the plan was approved with a loud “yes”.  Now that the waiting was over and they had a direction, the people proved that they could move forward.  Fred Peterson suggested that they spend his brother’s memorial on new equipment for the children.  Raymond Carter announced a large sacrificial gift to install a new Bose sound system..  The worship leader started experimenting with the order of service, attendance increased, and in the course of one sermon people said “amen” in three different place.  It had been years since they had seen such enthusiasm. By Christmas you wouldn’t have know it was the same church.  Attendance was up.  Ten people had been saved including the high school principal.  The pastor had been asked to give a seminar on how to turn around a church at the National Convention for Pastors and he in turn involved the elders.  Now they all had their picture in a color brochure displayed proudly on the bulletin board.  The dry and dusty church was shiny and new.  There was even talk of entering a church float in the Memorial Day parade for the first time in years.  They were unified and moving forward.

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Now let me read you this story from a more ancient source.  Turn in your Bibles to Exodus 32:1-6.

Exodus 32:1-6 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”  2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

You say, “Well, okay, what is the point of all this?”

Familiarity with Old Testament accounts sometimes makes Pharisees out of us.  We say, “Oh those wicked Israelites.”  But, I think when we think of the story in the more contemporary terms we understand the Israelites a little better.

Think about the parallels between the first account I read and the incident of the Golden Calf.  The nation of Israel had seen God dramatically at work in their midst.

(1)    They smelled the Nile when it was turned into blood 
(2)    They heard the cries of Egyptian mothers after their firstborn were killed in the Passover 
(3)    They felt the spray of the ocean when the Red Sea was parted, 
(4)    They saw one of the world’s most powerful leaders, pharaoh, forced to his knees.

But, even with that history time goes by very quickly.  Here they were at the base of the mountain and no one knew what had become of Moses.  They were tired of waiting.  Notice the first couple of verses .

Exodus 32:1-2 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

It was because they were tired of waiting and tired of not moving forward that they became impatient.  Following Yahweh was one thing when he turned the Nile into blood or parted the Red Seas.  It was quite another when it meant slugging it out day after day at the foot of a mountain.

So the leaders came up with a plan.  They wanted to invent new methods for worshiping the God who had dramatically delivered them. Their articulated intentions on the face of them weren’t entirely bad. They wanted to worship the gods who delivered them out of Egypt.  Now, you can say that they should have talked about gods singular.  But, still they were pointing to the God who delivered them.

In short order they experienced astonishing unity and moved ahead.  Now, think of the cooperation, skill, and sacrifice required to make this thing happen.  Many of them would have had to give up gold to make this happen.  It was a very successful capitol campaign.  They achieved the “hallelujah goal.”

They involved craftsmen and people with a vision for art.  I am sure that they were amazed that anything as beautiful as the golden calf could be manufactured.  Some of the gods in Israel had been cattle and now they were using those images to worship their God.  They were proud of themselves.

This was their attempt to worship the gods who delivered them out of Egypt.

They saw results and were pleased.  6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

They move forward in a unified way and are seeing visible results.

You see the parallels to our fictional story.  (By the way, the story was fictional.  What I did was outline the major points of the account from Exodus 32 and make it into the story.  I was not intending to represent our church).

But notice the parallels: People could remember God working dramatically.  Israel remembered deliverance from Egypt. These people remember their conversions.

After a time they become impatient.  Israel was tired of Moses being on the mountain.   The people in our story were tired of waiting for God to work in their community.  They wanted to see God work powerfully in their midst.

We feature such impatience all the time.  “You don’t know how long I have put up with my marriage.”  “You don’t know how long I have worked in the nursery.  I have put my time in and now it must be someone else’s turn or there must be a better way.”

So, the people and the leaders get together and they come up with a plan.  They moved forward in a unified way. 

And, from all appearances it is good movement.  The church even got some recognition.  And, since I didn’t give the details of their plan, it may have been okay.  That is where our story parts with the Exodus account.  But, what you need to see is that moving forward in a unified way, seeing results, isn’t enough.  We must have God’s kind of forward movement.

I spent time thinking about whether or not to use the opening illustration.  I a friend to listen to it, and we talked about it, and dialogued about whether or not it is a good idea.  One of my fears was that it has a bit of a cynical edge on it.  But, as I reflected on it, I realized that is exactly the point.  Sometimes through impatience and frustration, a church gets a bit cynical.  And, then out of a spirit of cynicism they establish unity, and forge direction.   Listen, while I obviously think it is okay to use humor at times to make a point, I want you to know that I couldn’t be more serious about Jesus Christ and this church.

Here is the point.  It is possible for a church to be unified and seeing results and not be pleasing to God.  Not to say that moving forward is wrong or, of course, that unity is wrong.  Rather, we have to come to God on His terms, not ours.

The whole book of Exodus is teaching that very lesson.  Israel’s covenant relationship with God was to be founded on the terms dictated by God, not simply the idols that the Israelites contrived.

In doing church this doesn’t mean that we are supposed to be passive and keep everything the same and play it safe.  From Genesis to Revelation Scripture teaches that following Christ is a pilgrimage of risk.  Jesus has harsh words for people who play it safe.  He sent us out into the world to make disciples.  But, the point is, we don’t come to God on our own terms.  We come on his.  And, we aren’t supposed to simply look for visible results but to ask ourselves if we are engaged in the activity God would have us to be engaged.

There is such a thing working hard to serve the Lord and ending up worshipping a golden calf.