“Finding Our Voice: and you will be my witnesses”
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Text: Acts 1:1-11
I have a list of 12 things that happened during the year. Can you guess which year it was? And perhaps you will let me know after the service, how early in the list you got the right answer.
- There were ongoing nuclear tests by the Americans, Soviets, French, and Chinese governments.
- In the Church, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I mutually lifted the excommunications that had led to the splits between the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054. (The fourth meeting of The Second Vatican Council got underway).
- Peter Jennings became the ABC News anchorman on Feb. 1st of this year.
- The US Supreme Court in its decision related to Griswold v Connecticut effectively legalized the use of contraceptives by married couples in all US States.
- In the music world, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs released Wooly Bully while The Beatles sang about Yesterday in among other places, Shea Stadium in New York.
- In boxing, it was the year that Cassius Clay became a Muslim, adopted the name Mohammed Ali and beat Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson in one and twelve rounds respectively for the heavyweight title.
- It was the middle of Vietnam War.
- On television: Get Smart and Star Trek appeared for the first time.
- At the box office, Julie Andrews wowed us in The Sound of Music and Sean Connery did his thing in Thunderball.
- Sir Winston Churchill was given a state funeral on January 30th of this year.
- It was the year that Martin Luther King led a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
- In Canada, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson won his second, minority government. The Canadiens beat the Blackhawks to take the Stanley Cup, Hamilton won the Grey Cup, and, on this Canada Day weekend, perhaps, the one that gives it away, the Union Jack was replaced by the Maple Leaf.
The year was 1965 and, this morning, I would like you to cast your mind back to 1965 for a little longer and particularly to the state of the church in that year. Some of you may remember it well, for others it will be a faint memory, and for yet others, perhaps you were not yet born and you know of it only through news and history and conversations.
In 1965, The United Church of Canada was in its hay-day. It was the church of the nation, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the union that had brought together the Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Union Churches as one. Statistically, it was at its pinnacle with over one million registered members and ministering to countless other adherents. Churches were filled. New buildings were being erected in the growing suburbs. Congregations were strong. The Right Rev. Ernest M. Howse was the moderator and the church continued to live under the influence and shadow of its patriarchs, among them, The Right Rev. James R. Mutchmor. Occasionally some of you have spoken to me about Mutchmor. He has been described as a liberal evangelical and supported revivals and schools of evangelism with the same degree of fervour that he brought to his condemnation of gambling, alcohol consumption, poverty, and a host of other social issues. Under him and others, the church was strong, it was at its peak, it had a voice in Canadian society, and was at least partially fulfilling its goal of Christianizing the social order of Canada.
Perhaps some of you will remember Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in those days. Strong numbers attended morning and evening services conducted by the Rev. Andrew Lawson. People were escorted to their seats by ushers in morning suits. The Trident Club for young people boasted a thousand members and many a person met their life's partner at those events. In 1965, Timothy Eaton Memorial Church was also strong, influential, and booming.
In 2011, we are not that far from 50 years away from 1965 and the world, Canadian society, and church life have all changed dramatically. You may recall in May of this year, we had a couple of marathons run in Toronto that disrupted the ability of many individuals to get to church. Not only did you feel the road-closures but so too did the clergy who battled to get here early before the roads were supposed to close. On the second marathon Sunday, Dr. Stirling told me that he headed out around 7:35 a.m. and was attempting to traverse Yonge Street around 7:40 when he was stopped by a policeman. A few words were exchanged about the time and the fact that roads were not supposed to close until 8:00 a.m. Regardless, the officer would not allow Dr. Stirling onto Yonge Street, he had his orders. Dr. Stirling altered his attack and mentioned that he was a minister and had services to speak at. The officer still did not budge. “Look,” said Dr. Stirling, as he brought out the heavy artillery, “I am the Sr. Minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.” “Never heard of it and I don't care who you are,” replied the officer. The exchange went on a little longer until finally the officer succumbed and unwillingly allowed Dr. Stirling to cross the road.
“Never heard of it … I don't care who you are.” Not only would we not have had marathons disrupting the Lord's Day in 1965, but I'm not sure that those responses would have been the responses given to a Sr. Minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in 1965. Today, however, the responses are indicative of the rapid decline of the church at large and its role since 1965.
The Rev. David Ewart in his blog has suggested that had the United Church continued the rise as it had in the years before 1965, it would now have around 2 million members and many more adherents. Instead, however, like most mainline churches, decline has taken us down to the half million mark, a number less than the church was when the uniting churches joined in 1925. We used to have over 6% of the population of Canada attending United Churches on Sunday mornings, now we are around 1.5% and, Ewart maintains, that should the current rate of decline continue unabated, we will effectively be at 0% by 2022, eleven years hence. Those are scary thoughts for a denomination that thought, with some justification, that it would Christianize the social order of a nation. And while at TEMC, we may be doing better than some, a recent study by our Church Council noted the trends and in our Council's Long Range Plan suggests that we must rethink church and strive for membership growth.
Growth. It could well be that mainline churches haven't thought about growth and doing things that would lead to growth for several of generations. Perhaps, we were lulled to sleep because churches were full and things used to be so easy … in 1965, for instance. But in 2011, there is a need to rethink things, to turn things around, and perhaps re-discover our roots and what we are really about. Maybe there is something in our roots, something in the life of the early church, for instance, that would help us with our problem; for the early church, if it was anything, was a growing church.
That brings us to our text today from Acts 1. At the beginning of Acts 1, Luke reminds us of his first book which we call The Gospel according to St. Luke and informs us that he is going to now write about what has happened from the time that Jesus was taken up to the time in which he was writing, approximately the years A.D. 30 - 62. He briefly alludes to Jesus' suffering and resurrection, and then begins just before the Ascension with the disciples gathering around Jesus. “”˜Lord,' they ask, ”˜is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, ”˜It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses (1:6-8).”
“And you will be my witnesses.” Witnesses are important things when it comes to understanding things that happen. The police are relying heavily upon witnesses and their cell phone cameras to prosecute the perpetrators of the night of violence in Vancouver recently following the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins. Witnesses are important as we try to understand what is going on currently in Syria where all foreign news agencies have been banned and only a few eye-witness accounts are letting us know of the violence that is being done to those who are against the current Assad-regime. Likewise, witnesses were important for understanding the events around Jesus' last days on earth. In Acts 2, Peter refers specifically to Jesus' crucifixion (2:24) and resurrection and states that of these things, “all of us are witnesses (2:32)” … and therefore let all people “know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified (2:36).”
And so we find that the first disciples and the earliest church, were witnesses to Jesus and what God was doing in those days. Throughout The Acts of the Apostles, we find them bearing witness, teaching and proclaiming, and we are told in Acts 2, for instance, that after Peter spoke, several thousand people were added to the church. Several thousand! Now that is growth! The early church leaders told the story of Jesus and the church grew. And generation after generation, the church has largely understood that it should continue to be Christ's witness in the world and there have been ebbs and flows but general growth over time. Perhaps, today, we need to engage more in the concept of being witnesses for Christ.
“Oh no!” some of you are thinking, “Is he talking about the “E” word? Surely not? He can't be? Being witnesses? That sounds a lot like evangelism to me. That's not on. That's for conservatives, that's for fundamentalists, that's for TV preachers. We are not like them. It's just not on. It's not us. It's not Canadian!” John Bowen who teaches at Wycliffe College says that evangelism has become a sort of “red light district” in the mainline church, we want to avoid it at all costs. But I beg you, keep your mind open for a moment about this word, evangelism, and what it means.
Did you know, for instance, that our founding denominations were all considered to be evangelicals at the time of union in 1925? Did you know that for many years thereafter, The United Church of Canada considered itself to be a liberal, evangelical church? John H. Young in a recent article in Touchstone, remarked that when he teaches a course on the history of the United Church of Canada (UCC), one of the most surprising things to the students is that not that long ago the word “evangelism” had a solid and respected place in United Church vocabulary. Indeed, in the 1950s and 60s the United Church was still holding things called, “evangelical crusades,” and it had a General Church Department that dealt specifically with evangelism. Students, he says, are further surprised that the Church continues to work on the issue and in a more recent report to General Council there is acknowledgement that the changes in Canadian society demand that we rediscover our voice. The report states “in a post-Christian culture, many Canadians will not hear the word of God's love in Christ unless their neighbours in faith communities recover the ability to tell the Good News and to accompany them as they explore the life of faith for the first time … this changed environment that we live in demands a renewed commitment to sharing the Christian story. How will anyone know, if no one tells?
And here is, perhaps, the key … being witnesses is simply sharing the story of Christ and perhaps what it means to us as individuals. One doesn't need to do things the way the negative stereotypes about evangelism portray. One doesn't have to be a fundamentalist or someone who has weeded out all sources of fun from life. We don't have to be a television evangelist. We do not need to throw out our intellects when we find Christ or talk about our faith. And certainly, we do not disrespect others when we tell people we know well about what is meaningful to us. I would suggest to you that there is plenty of room for an evangelism that is a part of the faith of “normal” people and “normal” Christians. If we are going to grow, as the broader church is suggesting, or as our Long Range Plan of this church is suggesting, we too need to find or find again our voices. We need to be witnesses to the faith that we have for it is indeed a great faith and great news to pass along..
On Thursday evening, I had a phone call from my mother and I learned that someone very close to us has cancer. For a while I was shocked. I was asked to keep her in my prayers but for almost a day, I could not pray. On Friday afternoon, I sat, still shocked, pondering what I would say when I speak to her next week. She may ask me as a minister how to make sense of it and as I have never been one for trivial things or pat answers, I wondered what I would say. At times, one just feels so helpless in situations like this. I rehearsed a conversation in my mind and said, “Dawn, I have nothing to say. I have no answers. I can offer you nothing.” And for a moment I battled a thought about the value of ministers and ministry, when in my fictitious conversation, it was as if it just popped out of my mouth, I continued, “I have nothing to offer you but Jesus.” Still for a moment, I felt defeated but then, I thought, that's it, Jesus! I have Jesus to offer. The Jesus, who is risen! And that changes everything. I may never be able to minimize pain and struggle in this life but Jesus gives us hope. Hope of a kind that no one else in the world can offer.
Long ago, Peter spoke out about what he had seen and heard and touched with his hands (1 Jn.1:1), about the risen Jesus. He said, and of these things, “all of us here are witnesses (2:32)” … and therefore let all people “know with certainty that God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah (2:36).” Jesus had just told the disciples not to worry about when the kingdom was coming, just go out and “be my witnesses (1:8).” And he says to his disciples of every age, “Go out into the world and make disciples of all nations (Mt.28:19).” I think that Jesus would have us go out today, to re-think, to look at what has happened since 1965 and re-think what it means to be the church, and Christians, and what he calls us to do. With God's help, we can turn this ship around, we simply have to cast off fear and find our voices.
As we go out the doors of the church today, we go out into a mission field. May God help us follow in the footsteps of our forefathers and mothers and find our voice in the world.