Lately I’ve been talking a lot, almost non-stop, about how awesome Bixby Knolls Christian Church is, how much love is here, and how much potential there is for this church’s future ministry. I’ve been doing this for two reasons.
One: it is absolutely, 100% true. BKCC has everything it needs to grow, to evolve, to transform, and continue sharing God’s love.
It may not be easy; it may require some radical changes, as we’ve talked about in the New Beginnings conversations; but God’s blessings are upon this congregation, and the future is bright. That is all 100% true.
But the other reason I’ve been talking about how good and positive everything is, is that then I don’t have to talk about how much I’m going to miss this place, and how much I’m going to miss each of you. The beginning of a new chapter always means the end of the previous chapter, and no matter how good and promising that new chapter is, a part of us always wishes we could go back and relive that chapter we’ve just finished.
This fall I’ve been studying the raising of Lazarus. I’ve learned that some have speculated that, when Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, that Lazarus was reluctant to emerge.
We have no way of knowing what it was like, for Lazarus, to be dead for four days. But if he was at rest, at peace, and totally transitioned to whatever life after death is, I guess it might be that he would have resisted the pull back to life.
For readers of scripture, this is seen as Jesus’ greatest miracle; yet Lazarus may not have seen it that way, at least not at first.
I’ve also wondered what it’s like for a newborn baby, to emerge from the womb into a cold, harsh world.
Many years ago, I met a young child, about 3 or 4 years old at the time, who insisted she remembered what it was like in her mommy’s tummy, before she was born. She told her mom this, and her mom said, “What was it like?” And the girl said, “It was warm, and it was safe.”
None of us would trade the gift of life for anything, but I could see how one would long for a life before birth, that was warm and safe.
Graduating from high school is another example. It is a happy, joyous day, filled with celebration, because it meant the completion of one stage of our lives, and the transition to the next stage of our lives. Yet a part of us still longs to go back, to stay in the past, and enjoy the familiarity of what we might now consider to be the good ol’ days.
In fact, I still remember being that age, and not wanting to grow up, into an adult, because the adult world was unfamiliar to me, but being a child—that was familiar. It was comfortable.
But God is always calling us into an unfamiliar future, because it is there that the potential for greater things exists.
Several times this fall, we’ve talked about the Exodus. And we’ve seen that the Israelites were tempted to return to Egypt where they were in slavery, because slavery was comfortable and familiar. It was strange, but who wouldn’t want to leave slavery and journey to freedom?
So if Lazarus was reluctant to leave the familiarity of the tomb, and if the Israelites were reluctant to leave the familiarity of slavery, then it should not be surprising that we are reluctant to move into a future that, though it may be filled with hope and promise, is also a future that is new and unfamiliar.
But as sad as I am about this chapter of our lives coming to an end, I believe that God has something even better in store, for you and for me, that something new is being born, that we are graduating to the next stage of our lives.
What else is there to say? Well, the only real thing I have left to say is thank you. In this season of Thanksgiving, I cannot overlook what a blessing this church has been to me and my family.
One thing I do when I teach is let my students know that, if they were not in the world, they would be missed. It’s not always possible to do that as a substitute teacher, but I try my best. I tell the students, “I’m glad you’re here,” even if they come into class late.
Here, I’ve said it many times to you: I am blessed by your presence. If you were not here, you would be missed. Your presence is a blessing to those around you, but especially to me. This church is a better place because you are a part of it. This world is a better place because you are a part of it. And my life is better, because you’ve been a part of it.
And I am thankful.
And everything we have experienced together, and all that God has done for us and through us, is paving the way, or laying the foundation, for what comes next. God will take what we’ve experienced, and build on it something new, something wonderful.
As I look back on the past 15 ½ years here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I see that a lot has changed. And yet, there is, at the same time, much that has stayed the same.
When I started putting this sermon together, I didn’t really know what God was calling me to say. So I went back and read some past sermons I’ve preached which were based on the same lectionary scripture we heard this morning.
I read a sermon that I preached twelve years ago, back in 2011, when I hadn’t really been here very long yet. And I was surprised at how, what I said then, is so fitting and appropriate for us today.
And so, for my last sermon at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I’m going to read to you part of one of my earliest sermons at Bixby Knolls Christian Church…
Bixby Knolls Christian Church has been a part of this community for over 65 years. [Almost 78 years now!] God has called us to be a movement for wholeness in our community and in our world, seeking justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. The saints of our own congregation’s past have given to us an inheritance of many talents: this building, this ministry, our life together.
When I talk to people who don’t currently attend church, I often find that the type of church they wish they could find is exactly the type of church we are. They’re looking for a church that reaches out beyond its walls; a church that is doing good things for the community, rather than simply judging people; a church where it’s okay to ask deep questions, where you don’t have to check your brain in at the door or agree to a lengthy doctrinal statement.
In short, a church that follows Jesus by serving the poor, bringing healing and wholeness to those whose lives are broken, and working to build a world of peace and justice.
This is what we do. This is who we are. And the reason it is what we do and who we are is that we ourselves have experienced the transforming power of God’s spirit in our lives. We’ve experienced healing. We’ve felt the prayers that have been said on our behalf. We’ve been accepted at the Lord’s Table just as we are, with all our strengths as well as our imperfections.
What a wonderful gift we have received in the ministry of this congregation!
Do we dare hide it from the world? Do we dare dig a hole in the ground and bury it?
Of course not.
Our congregation is a treasure worth more than any number of talents. The generosity that you all have shown toward maintaining this ministry signifies that you are aware of just how precious this congregation is, and how life-transforming this congregation is for you and can be in the lives of our neighbors.
So let’s take our talents and invest them. Let’s renew our commitment to the ministry we share. Let’s celebrate the many ways we serve our community, the ways we bring wholeness to our community, and let’s constantly look for new opportunities to serve and to share and to invite our neighbors to experience God’s transformation.
So, that was part of a sermon I preached back in 2011. A lot has changed since then, and a lot hasn’t; and a lot will change in the years to come.
But what is true then is true now and will always be true in all the years to come: that the God we worship and serve–the God in whose name we share love and show hospitality and work for justice–is a God who is ever-present, in every circumstance, and who will continue loving each and every person, and who will continue working through us all so that we are constantly being renewed by the Spirit and transformed by hope.
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