April 27, 2008

Easter 6 + update on our stewardship vision
Acts 2:42-47

A JINX DEFEATED

So why did the builders of the new Yankee Stadium spend five hours and $50,000 drilling through two feet of concrete a week or so ago? To extract a David Ortiz Red Sox jersey which had been secretly buried in the floor of the visiting team's dugout. An unrepentant Red Sox fan who was on the construction crew had slipped the jersey into the concrete as it was being poured in order to permanently jinx the new Yankee Stadium.

The story came to light because another construction worker who had seen this got worried and 'fessed up that he "didn't want to be responsible for sinking the franchise." So the stadium, a $1.3 billion dollar project, came to a screeching halt. After all, the entire future of the New York Yankees was endangered! Immediate, no-cost-spared action was required. Why? Because everyone believed in the power of a piece of cloth submerged in a concrete slab. [1]

I'd like to suggest that it's more likely that we jinx ourselves. What if that shirt had not been discovered and removed but the word got out (as it always does) - Yankee players tighten up at the plate just when they should stay loose - and they whiff, strike three! Pitchers, knowing they're facing not just batters but the power of a jinx, try too hard to bear down on the league's best clean-up hitters. Fielders start not to trust their instincts and end up charged with errors. All because everyone's convinced that a baseball shirt has the power to control lives and post-season playoffs.

Excuse me for being skeptical. What if that Red Sox jersey stayed buried because Yankees and Yankee fans decided that they not could but would win in spite of the hex? What if they played deliberately as if superstition has nothing to do with team performance and athletic ability? "Leave that shirt right where it is," they'd say. What if the Yankees looked that Red Sox team and the rest of the world in the eye and said, "We don't care about all the bad news predicted for us, the trouble that's forecast because of what we can't control - we'll just run back out onto the field and play good baseball."

Boy, am I ever dreaming, right? Baseball players are slightly more superstitious than the rest of us and none of us wants to take a chance, eh? So we'd better change our behavior and take drastic steps to guarantee survival.

On the other hand, there are some folks who can resist, go the other way, in fact. Musician George Michael bought the Steinway piano that John Lennon used to compose his best known work, the song Imagine. Michael has had his ups and downs, but he ships this piano off to places that need some kind of spiritual support - New Orleans after Katrina, for example, and Virginia Tech last year. In spite of its pedigree, he puts the piano out on public display, out there open for all and anyone to sit down and plunk out a few notes or play a full sonata - does this in order for them to enjoy a bit of comfort in a troubled place. [2]

Superstition? Or the opposite? Knowing the risks in shipping this piece of history around the country, seeing possible threats to its safety, being careful, of course, but sharing it with everyone, especially those most in need of that piano's prayers of hope.

So excuse me for being skeptical about the power of possibly superstitious economic news in our country, and what's in store for churches and for us. Just about everything we've been hearing in the last six months has been desperate. But a Christian research group called "empty tomb inc" analyzed the six recession periods between 1968 and 2005, and their results find no clear connection between economic recession and a decrease in giving within a church. In fact, in three of the last six recessions, church members' giving actually went up, according to this study.

"The church should not be unduly focused on recessions that come and go with indeterminate consequences for church giving," said Sylvia Ronsvalle. [3] There's a 50/50 chance that we could be affected at Family of Christ. We could rush to tear up our carefully-made game plan for this year, even before there's evidence we need to - or we could keep running out onto the field to play our best game -to share our story and its word of hope, of course altering and adapting as the conditions warrant. Did you notice, however: There's also a 50/50 chance that we will be affected positively. In a moment, I'll tell you how you and I can make that positive possible.

George Clooney's current movie Leatherheads is not what you'd call either a socially-significant movie or an Academy Award candidate, but it's sure fun to watch, including, for football fans, the differences in the game from 1925 'till now. Still, you notice: The basics are the same: move the pigskin from where you are to across the goal. Baseball's changed, too, of course, but the essentials haven't.

Well, look at this. When our Christian faith began 'way back when, the Bible says "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers." Well, doesn't that sound familiar? For all that's changed in two thousand years, the more things are still the same - teaching what we've inherited from the apostles, relationships, the "breaking of bread" - right here - and prayer. The fundamentals.

Now, as even Jesus said at one point, "I have more to say to you but this is not the time..." So I'll skip a lot of what I'd like to say and land on this piece of it in particular, relevant to our current economic fears and superstitions.

This "fellowship" that was/is fundamental to a congregation's DNA resulted - in the original church, at least - in this: "They would sell their belongings and share the proceeds to anyone in need." Later on it says, "There wasn't a needy person among them."

That kind of generosity does not happen out of the blue. It happens when people are more important than possessions. In that kind of church, "stewardship" (the usual codeword for church finances)... stewardship isn't once a year at budget time in church but all the time. That's a church where everyone knows there's nothing wrong with having money as long as money doesn't have you (which, by the way, isn't a bad definition of "superstition" or economic panic).

There's something that happens when we really "get" the message of our Christian faith. The personal story of God's love, forgiveness, and hope in Jesus Christ does something to relationships, including at this Table, in this room, out there, downstairs, does something in our own homes. And that, in turn, can change our sometimes superstitious attachment to money. The Bible's kind of astonishing generosity grew only in a developed spiritual environment, the kind of church life we live within and try to strengthen with the same intensity of effort and spirit of confidence that the Yankees used to rely on - until they got frightened by a shirt.

Let's translate that, now, into our 21st century church life. Our church's executive team asked me to report on the status of our chosen priorities for this year.

A Welcome Not Tied to Dollars For the first time in at least 10 years there's no registration charge for next fall's church school and Christos. That's due to your generosity at the end of last year and into this one. "Stories to Tell, Gifts to Share"? That's one.

Here's another. Proceeds from September Silent Auctions are paying for bus transportation to LutherCrest and back on our church-week there, and every student who wants to go, then or anytime, is subsidized $100, and anyone who can't pay the rest, we'll pay for you. This year, now, we're also able to keep all our on-site summer camps for kids at $50 or less for a full week.

That's not the end of Goal Number One, of course, and we're not sure yet about other costs, but we are "making young disciples and making a big difference"!

Missions That Change Lives, underwriting one-third of the cost of mission trips. Believe me, there will never be an end to those "Stories to Tell, Gifts Shared." The value to our teens is $15-18,000 - again, thanks to your generosity. No more endless fundraising. There was the Joseph musical which was as much an all-age event as anything, and the recent "full value for your dollar" fundraiser in the narthex - and that's it! Students and their families are paying another one-third, and two of the trips are doing a much-improved, behind-the-scenes sponsorship program, thanks to our parent volunteers and youth staff. Which leads me right away to Goal Number Three.

A World-Class Youth Ministry It's not enough simply to have an individual called a youth director. We've learned that. We need a team with exceptional people-skills, vision, and administrative support, and leaders in that team with characteristics that make people want to get on board and go somewhere with that mission - and the ability to get it done. We have that now. So don't miss the June 1st public intro of our faith-formation team. Not overlooking anyone on that team, but come especially to welcome Lindsey Ruhland as our new minister to youth and families.

Together, Family of Christ is determined to serve by far the largest demographic in this church and in our three core communities and parts of three other cities. Children, youth, and families are a major ministry of ours, make no mistake. But we're also a Family and there are a lot of "the rest of us."

So, Number Four, Equip One Another At this point in the year it appears that it is financially feasible to add a "connections coordinator" to be intentional to help us thread one another more deeply into our church life. To be candid, here's where you and I have the chance to push back against the superstition that shouts "scarcity" in our economy and in our church. We will be able to make this significant investment in our church's inner and outer growth if we maintain our financial contributions strongly enough not to dip any more into previous years' carry-over reserve.

If they hadn't known at all about the Red Sox shirt, the Yankees could still have won the pennant and maybe the World Series. Even if they'd known about the jinx, as I said earlier, given the quality of Yankee players and their team "magic," I believe the Yankees coulda won this year if they'd have only had the moxie! And I'm not a Yankees fan! Well, I believe we can beat the economic jinx, with one another's help and remembering the fundamentals. For all the threats and risks, even with past and future ups and downs, we can do a George Michael and share with those who need something spiritual in troubled places.

Quickly, now, one last one: Wise Facilities Investment Some of that reserve in the previous building fund is paying to reconfigure space downstairs in order to make more room for our ministry to children, youth, and families. You haven't seen any progress since that initial flurry of announcements because it seemed wise to wait until mid-May and the end of busy programs, confirmation class, and preschool. And modifying anything upstairs has been put on hold indefinitely.

A man, hoping for friendship, wanting a sense of peace and gladness, looking for security and happiness, came to the best place he knew. It looked something like a convenience store but it really was the gates of heaven, and he saw there a shop. Outside was a sign in large letters: "Joy, Peace, Security, Happiness, and Companionship."

He rushed in to the counter and with great expectation asked for it all. The angel in charge promptly handed him a few small envelopes. "Surely this can't be it," said the man with obvious disappointment.

"Yes, indeed, that's it. There are joy, peace, security, happiness, and brotherhood," said the angel. "We don't have full-size plants here, ready for picking. You have to grow them. We have only the seeds." [4]

Pr Kristie said, not long ago, "We want to see the difference disciples make, and sometimes we base our willingness to help on that. Can we see a difference? But we are not called to see a difference," she said, "we're called to make a difference. And that requires [planting the seeds requires...] a daring and truly visionary attitude which transcends 'feeling good' (how it looks and feels to me). It takes the faithfulness that takes us to something greater - realizing that the difference disciples make is in the others and it's all around."

Nathan Castens
Chanhassen, Minnesota

[ 1] Leonard Sweet
[2] Likewise
[3] As reported in Leadership, Spring 2008
[4] Sorry, don't have the reference for this one!