Church buildings are special places. I think of all the memories that you might be thinking about as we hold this final worship service here at Oak Grove United Methodist Church.
So many memories. Hymn sings, weddings, funerals, baptisms, Holy Week services, kneeling here at the chancel railing to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the receiving of new members, names and faces of pastors that have come and gone (some pretty good and maybe some, not so good) but all called by God to shepherd this congregation over the many years of its long history.
So many memories. Favorite pews. Hanging of the Greens including the decorating of our tall Christmas tree, lighting of our Advent Candles, the hosting of graduation and anniversary celebrations, church potlucks and fundraisers, repairing the roof, recentering the walls, draping the outside cross with Lent and Easter cloths, cutting the grass, trimming the bushes, caring for the cemetery.
So many memories. Even just being here these past three years, I know where y’all like to sit and what your favorite hymns are. I know who likes to assist with Holy Communion, and who will most likely light the altar candles. So many memories.
Church buildings are special places. The church is a special place.
Speaking of which, I made a huge rookie mistake as a pastor during my first church appointment many years ago. I wanted the people to sit closer to the front since we were so spread out, so I came up with the brilliant idea to rope off the back 2 or 3 pews one Sunday morning without consulting anybody about it, hoping that being closer together would be something we would all appreciate.
Wrong! What I didn’t realize was that the widow who sat back in the corner of the last pew loved sitting there because that’s where she and her husband sat together for many years before he died. It was like his spirit was right there with her and I was taking that away from her.
Others liked the back pew because they wanted to be able to see as much of the sanctuary as possible during the service or to be able to notice any visitors so that they would be able to get up and greet them and help them find a bulletin. OK, there were two or three people who sat back there because they just wanted to make it to the restaurant early, but God loves them too!
I learned my lesson from that huge rookie mistake. Respect the building. Respect the history of each church building you serve. And this is what we are doing today. Respecting all the good that this building and the people who have worshipped here represent.
I get it. My home church in south central, Pennsylvania will always have a special place in my heart. I was baptized, confirmed and married in that church building. Preached my first sermon there, too.
Whenever I visit there which I did a little over a month ago, I always walk over to the baptismal font, the same font from which I was baptized when I was only 9 months old. That font represents the beginning of my faith journey and how the people and the ministries of that church helped me to grow in what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
I wouldn’t be here today in this church building if it wasn’t for that church building located in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. But I also know that my faith would not be what it is today if God would not have led me to other church buildings and loving congregations throughout my pastoral ministry like Lima Grace, Quincy, Findlay St. Andrew’s, Toledo Zion, Xenia Faith Community, Lancaster First, Athens First, Beulah, and Oak Grove United Methodist Churches.
Like the hymn says, “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.” The church is so much more than the bricks and mortar, but we can always be forever grateful that God gave us this spiritual home that we call Oak Grove United Methodist Church.
A little later in this service, we will be participating in a litany of thanksgiving in which we will give thanks to God for the many ways this place has been a blessing not only to us but also to the people who came before us. Thank you, God for this place which has been an incredible blessing to us and to so many people over these past 180 years. We are so grateful!
Yes, today is a day to thank God for this building and these grounds, but it is also a day of new beginnings. Many of you have heard me say that the benediction just might be the most important part of any worship service because it always reminds us that we are never to leave this place without receiving a blessing from God to go forth and live out our faith beyond these church walls.
I can’t imagine a worship service where after the last hymn we just say, “good-bye.” The benediction is much more than a mere, “good-bye.” It’s where God sends us forth… No, actually gives us marching orders to be God’s people wherever God sends us.
Over these past several weeks, I’ve been praying for each of us, including me, to be open to where the Holy Spirit will be leading us in this time of transition. I’ve been praying for each one of us to say with our closing hymn chorus, “I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. I will go, Lord, if you lead me.”
And that’s the good news of our faith. We can go forth from this place because the Lord will lead us.
This crossroads that we are facing today reminds me of the story I shared with you a just a couple of weeks ago on Pentecost Sunday about an elderly saint I knew in one of my churches. During a pastoral visit with her one day, she taught me something very important about being led by the Holy Spirit especially during times of transition in our lives.
She told me that after her husband had died, her life totally changed for her. They had a long and wonderful marriage, and they had done everything together.
Whenever they drove somewhere, he was always the one behind the steering wheel driving them places. Now, she was the one behind that steering wheel. She said, "Every time that I got behind the steering wheel, I would say a little prayer to God.” "Well, Lord, it’s just you and me now. I know you are with me. I need you to guide and direct me in the way I should go.”
This elderly saint offers us a wonderful image about what it means to allow God to lead us especially in times of transition. Sometimes, we think that we are the only ones behind that steering wheel, but God is right there with us.
Our Gospel reading comes from a long section in the Gospel of John which is known as Jesus’ Last Discourse with his disciples. It begins at the end of chapter 13 and goes all the way to the end of chapter 16. Jesus spends all of this time comforting his disciples to help them prepare for when he would be leaving them. Soon, Jesus will die on the cross, rise to new life on Easter, and then ascend into heaven 40 days later.
And so, Jesus is preparing the disciples for this major transition they will be facing. Without this Last Discourse here in John’s Gospel, I wonder what the disciples might have done. Would they have gone back to being fishermen and tax collectors? Would they just slowly forget about those three years with Jesus and just move on with their lives? “Well, it was nice while it lasted but just wasn’t meant to be.”
But Jesus tells the disciples here in John, chapter 14 that even after he leaves them, what they had started will be far from over. Jesus will still be with them because he will be sending them the Holy Spirit to guide them, to empower them, and to equip them to continue to be his faithful disciples.
And after explaining all of this to them, Jesus then offers them this benediction, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
That’s John 14:27, Jesus’ benediction and one that he offers us today as we face this transition of closing the Oak Grove United Methodist Church. But we also know that the Risen Christ will continue to be with us through the power of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us forward.
Kind of like that elderly saint who would pray, “Well, Lord. It’s just you and me now. I know that you are with me. I need you to guide and direct me in the way I should go.”
Yes, we are an Easter people, but we are also a Pentecost people, a people who are guided by the Holy Spirit and comforted in knowing that we’re not the only ones behind that steering wheel.
What’s the last verse of that song?
“At Pentecost some people received the Holy Spirit and told the Good News through the world to all who would hear it. I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together. All who follow Jesus all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together.”
And the first verse.
“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together. All who follow Jesus all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together.”
Come, Holy Spirit, come and send us forth from this place thankful for the Oak Grove United Methodist Church but also hopeful for where you will lead us next.
No comments:
Post a Comment