“Stepping Out on the Word of God”
a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett
preached at Pleasantville UCC, August 15, 2010
Matthew 4:12-23
“As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” 
(Matthew 4:18-20)

The July 27^th issue of The Christian Century magazine was entitled, “In the land of the MEGA Church.”  The provocative issue explored what exactly defines a megachurch -- aside from size.  Megachurches are typically defined as churches with more than 2,000 adults and children attending worship on any given weekend.  There are an estimated 1,350 megachurches in the United States.

The magazine carried a series of articles bearing titles like: “Going mega: the trend toward bigger churches” and “Neighborhood megachurch” a focus on Shepherd of the Hills Church in Southern California.  That congregation has 100 special ministries or groups to choose from, has 136 paid staff and a $10 million annual budget.

I learned that megachurches come in various flavors.  Some are homogenous and some are quite diverse economically, ethnically and racially.  “Some revolve around a charismatic pastor, others have team ministries.  Some are oriented toward religious seekers, others are not.  Some feature easy-listening rock music, with lyrics projected on large screens; some rely on traditional music.  Most are theologically conservative, but some are moderate.[1]  Size is clearly a factor – since a larger church means a larger staff, more programs and more specialized ministries.  And while “worshipers at a megachurch may not know the people seated nearby, they are offered a plethora of small groups, classes or ministries to join for service and spiritual growth.”[2]

I learned that, according to one researcher, megachurch worship is “fast-paced,” “big-screened,” “polished” and “contemporary” and I learned that all of this resonates with the daily lives most Americans lead better than the “small-scale, slow-moving worship, complete with centuries-old hymns, organ accompaniment and archaic language that a traditional church’s service offers.”[3]  Good to know.

I learned that congregations today have to “compete with high-tech entertainment” and I learned that, “If you waste one minute of time [in worship] it’s not just one minute – it’s one minute times the number of people sitting out there.”[4]

By the time I got to page 27 I was so depressed and discouraged about the state of the Church and my place in it, that I almost didn’t make it to page 28.

But on page 28 there was an article written by the pastor of a small church in Texas: Austin Heights Baptist Church.  You can look up their website.  They are indeed a small church.  The article was entitled “Oversized expectations,” and it talks about people coming to small churches with expectations determined by larger churches. 

The pastor writes of one couple: “I could see from the looks on their faces that whatever they were looking for in a church, we didn’t have it.”[5]  He goes on to say that”

In the hyperindividualized part of the country where I serve, having one’s needs met in church often means enjoying privatized religious experiences (even if they occur in a darkened auditorium with a thousand other individuals).  Megachurch worship is often perceived to be a kind of one-stop spiritual experience: a person goes in, sits down, watches a special effects show with an inspirational message and then goes home.  It is efficient and fast.[6]

In contrast, the pastor writes, “When someone sings in worship” at Austin Heights Baptist Church, “it is less about how well he performs and more about the fact that he is my neighbor, with whom I once volunteered on a Habitat project, whom I have prayed with and served Holy Communion with, and whose adult son we buried last year.  This is slow church.  People with fast megachurch expectations do not get it and generally show no interest in getting it.”[7]

When Jesus began his public ministry he needed help.  There was a lot to do; there were a lot of people who needed healing.  There were a lot of misunderstandings about what God wanted from God’s people -- misunderstandings that needed to be corrected.  There were a lot of systems that needed changing; injustices that needed to be addressed.  There was a lot of truth that needed to be spoken. 

Jesus was going to need some help sharing the good news of God’s love for all people.  He was going to need help ministering to the poor, the brokenhearted, the outcast.  He was going to need help making sure the children knew that they were loved by God.  He was going to need help gathering them up into his arms so he could bless them. 

When Jesus began his public ministry, he was going to need help calling people away from the lies of the world; calling people away from the seductive messages of the culture; calling people away from the bright shiny objects that kept catching their eyes and distracting their hearts and luring them to lose their focus upon God and the unending gratitude that ought to permeate their lives.

When Jesus began his public ministry, he was going to need a lot of help.  So he started calling to people to follow him; to become “students” and followers of his way.  He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

Maybe it’s obvious.  Maybe I don’t need to say it.  But when Jesus called his disciples to help him share God’s good news, he did not say, “Follow me, and I will give you options.”  “Follow me, and you will get your needs met.”

The New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek word for “church” is ek-klesia which means, a people “called out.”  The church is a people called out.  Called out “to be a community of practice, worship and service whose primary loyalty is to God.  It is called to be a place where people not only hear about the faith but are shaped by their life together to be part of Christ’s body for the sake of the world.”[8]

There are a lot of ways to be church.  There are big ways and there are small ways.  There are praise bands and there are hymn books.  There are small sanctuaries and there are large sanctuaries.  But what matters the most are not these differences but whether we are being called out of our self-centered selves in order to be a part of God’s mission in the world.

The Worship Transition Team is working hard to help us identify the kinds of things we need to think about when our new sanctuary is ready for weekly worship in it.  They are thinking about everything from how many ushers we may need in that larger space, to how many strands of lights will we need come Christmas time.

One of the decisions that we continue to ponder is what time that new service of worship should be.  About half of us would like it at 9:30 a.m.  The other half of us would like it at 10:00.  We’ll figure it out – one way or another – even if we land on 9:45 as a compromise.  But one thing I know for sure: whether our worship begins at 9:30, 10:00, or 9:45 the Church of Jesus is a people called out for ministry and service in the world.  We are called out, by God, to be Christian leaders in a world that needs compassion and justice and sanity.  We are called out by God to a life of prayer and devotion and acts of charity that make the difference between life and death – and whether we are called out for this work at 9:30, 9:45, or 10:00 on a Sunday morning isn’t going to change the fact that we are called to be disciples.

The pastor of that little congregation in Texas told another story and it goes like this.

Last year, a young woman who had recently graduated from seminary knelt in front of our congregation.  She had been a member of the church since she was eight.  The entire congregation lined up, including her Sunday school teachers, the adults who had gone to youth camps with her when she was the only youth going to camp from our church, and my daughters, whom she had babysat.  Many of those present had heard her preach her first sermon when she was 11 years old.  Everyone quietly walked by, putting their hands on her head and ordaining her.  Part of the testimony she had given earlier in the service was about how every time she sings the hymn “How Firm a Foundation,” she thinks of our church.[9]

There are a lot of ways to be Church, but some make the most sense to me.  Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nocogdoches, Texas is slowly changing lives, one person at a time.  Oh yeah, and one more thing: they meet for worship every Sunday morning at 10:45 a.m.

Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’
 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

May it be so.  Amen.