(1) As we conclude our current series, ‘The Church that You and God Have Always Wanted,’ we are treated one last time to some classic bulletin bloopers. (2) Today’s focus is on preachers and guest speakers.
(2A) The Rev. Merriweather spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.
(2B) During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J. F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.
(3A) Barbara C. remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.
(3B) We have received word of sudden passing of Rev. Smith this morning during the worship service. Now let’s sing "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow."
(4) Finally, this is my absolute favorite blooper and I will try to read through it…
(4A) Missionary from Africa speaking at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine. Name: Bertha Belch. Announcement: Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa".
The challenge now is ‘how we do transition out of that?’ Let’s try a brief history lesson! (5)
In 1963 President Kennedy took a trip to West Berlin during which he uttered the famous line, ‘I am a Berliner’ while standing in front of the infamous Berlin Wall that divided Berlin into two cities.
This was at a time Germany was a divided nation. The western part of Berlin, like the western part of Germany was democratic and held free elections. The eastern part of Germany (and the eastern part of Berlin) was occupied by the Soviet Union (now Russia) and was a Communist state with little freedoms. In 1987, 24 years after JFK’s trip, President Reagan likewise made a trip to West Berlin and uttered the famous line, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’
That wall kept families apart and created two different Germanys. One prospered and grew while the other held its population in check through force and coercion. Today however, the wall has come down, Berlin was reunited and so was Germany.
This morning we conclude our series with an honest look at some walls and barriers that I believe causes churches to become less effective. The purpose in thinking about this issue is that God wants the church, our church, any church to grow and be alive in Him and through Him!
In our main text for this morning we read of a leader who realizes (6) that the past has an effect on the present and the future. The book of 2 Kings opens with the death of King Ahaz one of, if not the most, evil of Israel’s kings, and the division of Israel which takes place about 40 years after Solomon becomes king.
Two kingdoms, a Northern Kingdom called Israel, and a Southern Kingdom called Judah were created after Solomon’s death. Israel lasted 209 years after Solomon’s reign and Judah lasted 345 years after his reign before both were invaded and conquered by the ancient nation of Assyria.
As we read through the book of 2 Kings there are two repetitive phrases that we need to take note of. The first is actually two different phrases that describe the character of the King based on how he responded to the spiritual leadership his position required.
The first phrase is (6A) ‘he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.’ The second phrase is (6B) ‘he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.’
It is interesting to note that one of the comments I read in an introduction to the book of 2 Kings indicated that only 20 percent of the kings of Israel and Judah’s followed the Lord and did was right in His sight. And the King that we are going to look at this morning was one of the 20 percent and one of only two kings in both kingdoms that were called good.
His name was Josiah and in the opening verses of 2 Kings 22 we read, ‘Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn aside from doing what was right.’
Now the episode that we heard read a few moments ago takes place about 18 years into Josiah’s reign when he is about 26 years of age and he orders that the funds collected from the people at the Temple be used for the rebuilding of the Temple.
When Josiah’s aides arrive, the chief priest or head pastor, Hilkiah, tells them, “I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple!” He then hands the scroll to the aides who return with it to Josiah and one of them, Shaphan, reads it to him.
Now we don’t know what part was read to Josiah but do know its effect on him, ‘When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.’ He then orders his aids and the chief priest to ‘Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Ask him about the words written in this scroll that has been found. The Lord’s anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing what this scroll says we must do.’
To tear one’s clothes was not a sign of fashion rejection. It was an act of mourning and sadness and act of repentance. I wonder what Josiah heard. Was it the First Commandment, ‘Do not worship any other gods beside me?’ I think that we have an idea as we go to verse 17 where the Lord says through the prophet Huldah, ‘For my people have abandoned me and worshiped pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger is burning against this place, and it will not be quenched.’
But the Lord goes on to say through Huldah that because of Josiah’s humility and repentance that God would not bring the punishment to Judah until after Josiah’s death. It is very evident by his actions that Josiah was troubled to the bottom of his heart and soul by what he had read and realized that God needed to be brought into the picture again. And I believe that that what brought Josiah to a place of trembling fear and repentance is that he realized, through God’s spirit, that the nation needed more than a renovated house of worship it need a renovated people who would allow the Lord to break down the walls and barriers that brought them to the place where they were – in dire need of revival and renovation.
But there is more to the story in chapter 23 which we need to hear before I share some application. Josiah gathers all the leaders and the people of Judah and Jerusalem and leads them to the Temple.
There he reads the book of the law to the entire population of Judah and he publicly renews the Covenant in the presence of the Lord and all the people. He pledged ‘to keep all of the commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul’ as we read in 2 Kings 23:3.
But there is more. Josiah ordered: (7)
• (7A) Removal of pagan worship items. Worship utterly against the commandments and covenant give to Moses and the people was taking place in the Temple.
• (7B) Removal of pagan priests.
• (7C) Return of the true priests to their assignment.
• (7D) He did it nationwide. With other kings, some took down the pagan worship sites in other parts of Judah but not like Josiah did.
What Josiah did, as well as what he did not do, is the other repetitive phrase in this book. (8)
• (8A) He removed the pagan shrines
• He did not remove the pagan shrines
The judgment that is being passed on the kings whose stories are being told in this book is centered on one thing – their relationship with God and their worship practices based on that relationship. The majority of them failed on this matter.
Some had a relationship with God but they did not get rid of the pagan worship shrines (or worship sites). Others had a relationship with God and they did get rid of some of the idols and shrines but not all of them like Josiah did. Most had no relationship with the Lord and did horrible things. Therefore a collective wall of guilt and alienation was being built over the centuries that finally results in the loss of their freedom, homeland, and their relationship with God. Their past was having an effect on their present and their future.
This leads me to my main point this morning. If we want to have the church that we and God have always wanted, then we need to ask ourselves, (9) ‘What are the walls that we have built which need to come down?
Let me share some that I have observed.
(10) The first is one that I must admit to having help build.
(10A) It is the wall of over commitment. I have been very active in our community and in our state and national ministries in my time here in Kendallville. That will continue. However, my commitments will be far less as many come to an end over the summer.
I see many of us running helter-skelter with our kids and even our own personal schedules. Being busy is one thing – but being over committed is something else. Where do we need to start saying ‘no’ in order to say ‘yes’ to God? And I would remind us of what Mike Yaconelli said, ‘What keeps many of us from growing is not sin but speed.’
(10B) The second wall is the opposite of the first wall. It is the wall of under commitment. I am very concerned about burnout in us and I believe that it is the Lord’s desire that all of us have a place of ministry for as I said last week we believe that being born again makes you a member of the church and that membership has a responsibility for serving in line with your gifts, talents, and, quite frankly, level of spiritual maturity. I know that there are other vital responsibilities to family and work that we must fulfill and I am not asking that those responsibilities be shirked. But I am concerned that a small group of people do the majority of ministry in this church.
(10C) I believe that this next wall is a wall that allows the wall of under commitment to be built as well. It is the wall of disablement. For reasons that I will share in a moment, I believe that there has been a spirit of disablement in this congregation over the years. And by disablement I mean a discouragement that causes one to give up and feel that ‘I can’t do anything for the Lord.’
Now I believe that there are Biblical standards for leaders that must be kept in place when asking people to serve in some very important roles in the church such as the ministry council. But, what I am getting at is a belief that says, ‘I am not good enough. I can’t.’ That is not true! This church is as just as capable of having a wonderful ministry in our community as the larger churches are. We have got to believe in ourselves and trust God to help us step out in faith to accomplish new ministries.
Please understand me this morning as I share this because I know that there are often factors beyond our control, health being one of them, that keep us from active participation. There are seasons of life when circumstances change and active participation is not as possible. But, if we have been born again, then we need to believe that because we are redeemed and forgiven child of God, there is a place of ministry that God has for us to fill. We do matter! We are not insignificant! We are significant.
Before I share the final wall, there is a story, a true story, about the Church of God that illustrates some of this.
90 years ago, blacks and whites worshipped together at Anderson Camp Meeting and elsewhere much to the anger of those who thought such things should not happen. In 1917 a group of white pastors (and I have this on very good authority) complained to the church leaders about having to accommodate the worship styles of our black brothers and sisters plus the comments they were getting from whites they knew in the area. The result, and from what I understand, it was a somewhat mutual decision, was that the blacks were encouraged to start their own camp meeting which they did in 1923 in Western Pennsylvania.
Fast forward 80 years to 1997. A new national organizational structure was voted in and with it came a need for some new leaders. A movement to include all aspects of the church, black, white, Hispanic, etc was launched to have representation of suitable candidates from all segments of the church. It stalled in large part, as I understand it, because of what happened in 1917. At a visioning conference in 1998 all of this came out and our newly elected General Director realized that there needed to be reconciliation and so he went to our brothers and sisters in Western PA during their camp meeting and apologized for the actions of 1917. The result was that racial reconciliation and healing began to take place in the church.
The wall that I speak of is (10D) the wall of the sins of the fathers’.
This morning I stand before you nearly 7 years since we first met and I came to be your pastor and I stand before you with an awareness and a belief that a confession of the sins of the primary spiritual leader of this church (the pastors) must be made.
As I make this confession, please understand that I do not point fingers at any one of those who have preceded me here. It is not my intent to judge but to confess those things that I know are true based on the history of this church as told to me by various people over the past 6 plus years.
The first thing that I confess, is our sin of verbal abuse. I know in things that I have read and heard that mean and hateful words have come from some of the lips of those who have stood in this pulpit. Words have the power to heal and the power to wound. I ask for your forgiveness for the verbal abuse you have endured in your history.
The second sin is our sin of rigidity and over control. A very prominent citizen in our community (who will remain nameless) told me several years ago that one of us came to his home and chewed out his father for not being at church and giving as he should. I ask for your forgiveness for our rigidity and over control that has wounded you and others.
The third sin that must be confessed is our sexual sin. I know that one of us had an affair with a church member many years ago. It was wrong and it fractured two families and this congregation. I ask for your forgiveness for our sexual sin that has caused great pain and sorrow.
We have not often been good shepherds. We have failed; to care, to love, to understand. I ask for your forgiveness.
For some of us the phrase ‘sins of the fathers’ means something else. It means the memory and the emotional scars that have come with an abusive father or the lack of spiritual interest or understanding that came with living with a spiritually disinterested father. Maybe it means the inability to understand and deal with the emotions because of an emotionally distant father. As a father, and even a husband, I stand before you today and confess these sins as well and I ask for your forgiveness.
Now some of you might be saying, ‘What is going on here, Jim?’ Is there a problem in the church that we need to know about?
Since the first of this year I have been very concerned about the health of our church. We did have a hard winter this year making travel and keeping good health difficult. Many of us have had longer hours at work or shorter or both within a short period of time.
In January I shared that I sensed that there was a great deal of pain in our hearts and lives and invited us to come to the altar for prayer. We packed the altar. I have not forgotten that Sunday.
As we moved into the season of Lent, I spent a great deal of time in prayer asking the Lord to show me what He wanted me to address in my life and what He wanted me to preach following Easter. I was led to give up some hobbies for Lent and as I did so, there was space for the Lord who began to speak to me about my own woundedness and sin and my spiritual health in general.
In my prayer and reading during that time I began to believe that I needed to address our heart because of the January service and as I began to read and prayer and think some more, I sensed that we needed to have our congregational heart healed of the wounds of the past. I also think that there maybe reasons that have yet to be revealed to us.
Now to bring closure to this series we need to believe that if we want the church that we and God have always wanted we need to answer the following question (11), ‘What is our assignment?’ with the following answer. It is… to fully follow and to faithfully function… so that… we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.’
(12) It is to move from being a spectator to being a seeker to being a follower to being a kingdom builder in the words of Gordon MacDonald. Where are you at in your life journey right now as it relates to this area of your life?
To conclude this sermon I address the second question I asked a moment ago, ‘Is there a problem in the church that we need to know about?’ I don’t think so… but I do believe this… we need to ask ourselves, (13) ‘What do we as a church need to confess?’ Are there attitudes and actions toward one other, towards those outside this congregation, toward previous pastors, maybe previous pastor’s wives, that need to be confessed and perhaps made right in some way?
This is something that cannot be done right away or should be done without much prayer and preparation. But this morning I think that we can begin this process of repentance with a simple action that all of us can participate in.
In your bulletin is a blank sticky note. (At least I hope that it is still blank). For the next few moments, I am going to invite you, as a member of this congregation, to bring your blank sticky note and place it on this cross and then return to your seat.
There is a Biblical precedent for this and it is found in Leviticus 16 which describes the ceremony for the day of atonement. Two goats were used for the atonement of the people’s sins. One is slaughtered, sacrificed and the other is let go into the wilderness. Do you know what it is called? The scapegoat!
By pasting our sticky notes (you can write on them if you want to) on the cross we are say, ‘We are confessing our sins as a church. We are letting go of our right to keep holding others’ sins against them. We are letting go of our scapegoats.’
What is the Holy Spirit saying to us today? Let us hear Him and let us obey His direction. Amen.
Bulletin bloopers can be found at
www.angelfire.com/tx4/BulletinBloopers/
Yaconelli quote is from his book, Messy Spirituality.
Power Points for this sermon are available by e-mailing me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for ‘050607slides’ Please note that all slides for a particular presentation may not be available.
