This Is Not Your Church

Sermon 30 October 2022

Grace Lutheran Church

Rev. Wesley Menke

This Is Not Your Church.

Say what? 

Let’s get real. Worship attendance is down. But let’s not get personal. It’s all the churches. Church attendance has been in a steady decline for decades. Covid made a fast forward of the trend. Nationwide most churches are worshiping around 60% in person attendance of what they were pre-Covid. Many who worship now are different than those who worshiped before. 

So what do we do about it? 

We could try to be exceptional and special. We could buck the trend. Maybe.

What else could we do?

We could change the way we think and feel about church. 

This is not your church.

What is your church?

Your church is the world! 

Each Sunday we do the intercessory prayers of the people. It is supposed to be like a funnel. We start off praying for the biggest thing possible, and then we focus-in, petition by petition until finally we end the prayer by naming specific individuals.   

The largest part of the prayer, the first part of the “funnel” is the church. The church is all of time, it is all generations, it is most certainly the well being of all of God’s people; of all people.  

When we think about the health of the church, we must think about guests, non-members, strangers, non-Christians, governments, businesses, organizations, the planet, animals, plants, and the universe. When we think about our property it doesn’t end in the drainage ditch to the east of the sanctuary. It includes Euclid Avenue and all the people in the cars and on the trail.

When I was installed at Grace Lutheran three and a half years ago the preacher, Rev. Frohner told me I was now the “local bishop.” I raised my eyebrows at the time. Say what? Now I get it. I am your local bishop. A bishop is a pastor to the pastors. It is my calling to help prepare you to be pastors.

This is not your church. Your church is the whole world. You are its pastor.

Think of Grace Lutheran not as a church, but as a seminary and a synod. It’s where you come to learn how to be a pastor; and to build on those skills for your whole life. When you become an adult member of Grace Lutheran by baptism or affirmation of baptism, you at that minute are commissioned to be a minister of the gospel. 

When we talk about being saved by grace through faith, and not by works we are talking about how you are called with your imperfections to be a pastor to the world. That’s what happened to Zacchaeus. Do you remember Zaccheaus? He was a wee little man. He wanted to see Jesus so he climbed up in a sycamore tree. Jesus told him to come down, and then Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. This is another example of Jesus breaking social norms also known as being rude. He invites himself over to someone’s house. 

Because up until that point Zacchaeus was a hard working man. He was a tax collector. He was clever and worked extremely hard: long days and nights keeping meticulous records of who owed what. By doing this exceptionally well Zacchaeus got rich and earned a comfortable and secure lifestyle. But when he met Jesus he learned that you can’t buy your way into heaven. He learned that God loves every human being unconditionally. He learned about grace. So the moment Zacchaeus believes in this fundamental truth, the moment he has faith in it, is the moment he gives his wealth away. He stops working; and starts stewarding. 

Stewardship is quite simply using the resources at our disposal to care for God’s church; that is, the world. So Jesus says that Zacchaeus is saved, because he now has faith in God’s grace, and no longer puts his faith in work and the pursuit of money. He becomes a steward of what belongs to God.

Zacchaeus gave half of his wealth to the poor, probably giving a lot of it to Jesus himself since Jesus was helping the poor. He promised to make amends to anyone he had stolen from fourfold. It was at that moment that Jesus said that salvation had come to Zacchaeus and his household.

Many people gave what they could to help the ministry of Jesus. But some people can give more than others. Who are the Zacchaeus’ of today? Are you a Zacchaeus? Today pledge cards go home. Please prayerfully discern how you will steward the resources in your life.

The world is your church. You are its pastor; and I am your local renegade bishop. You are a minister of the gospel, and I am here to teach, encourage, and support you in your ministry. 

This is exactly what the reformation was all about. 500 years ago religion had become run by a professional elite. It was better at making money than it was at actually helping people. It trampled on poor people to build fancy cathedrals. But it would be unfair to pin this only to the Catholics. All religions including Lutherans are liable to lose sight of the radical calling to serve the world. The reformation was not a one and done. It is a discipline we are called to throughout our whole life. 

Seminary was a great time, but I only learned half of what I needed to know to be a pastor. The rest has been on the job training. The same is true for you. We all have room to grow and learn. I want to give a shout out of thanksgiving to everyone who makes the effort to participate in worship, Bible Study and Sunday School. Reading, studying, and learning together is essential for pastors to keep learning and growing. Thank you to all you stewards, too!

A few months ago we had the funeral for Jerry Shepherd Sr. The sanctuary was packed with people. Do you know who all of those people were? They were not just the family and friends of Jerry. They were his congregation. They were the people God called Jerry to serve to proclaim the good news. Each of you has a congregation that you serve. 

The world is your church. You are its pastor. Semper Reformata.