Franklin Circle Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
November 4, 2007 ~ "What's On YOUR Tablet?"
November 4, 2007
“What's On YOUR Tablet?”
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Here's a question I would like to ask you, and I really do want to hear
your answers. What good is the Church? That's “capital 'C'” Church,
the entire universal Church. Another way to say that is “What
should the Church BE and DO to live out the calling it has from God,
lived out in Jesus Christ?” Now, we can all agree on the broad basics,
that the church is Christ's Body on earth, and that it should embody the
Good News of Jesus Christ, and that it should serve God's people. I
really need to hear you share on a more specific level.
Practically, tangibly, and visibly what should the church be or do to
fulfill its calling as, “The Church?”
[Receive answers to the question.]
Let me get just a little more precise now. On the yellow cards in your
hands, I would like you to write your vision for this church, Franklin
Circle Christian Church. Or, more appropriately, what do you discern is
God's vision for this congregation? What is it that this church
in this day and age in this location should do and be to
live out its calling from God? In what unique or particular mission
should our congregation be engaged? I want these written down, in pen,
on the yellow cards.
[Please click on the yellow index cards and send
me an e-mail right now as to what YOU think is God's vision for our
church right now... Go ahead, do it!]
I know that you've heard me ask this question before, but I do not ask
it again in order to be repetitive or disrespectful of your previous
answers. I ask it, first because the Habakkuk text has compelled me
to. But I also ask it, quite frankly, because I am in a period of
profound struggle with despair and weariness in my ministry, and I
believe it is directly related to a lack of common vision for this
congregation. More about that in a minute.
Now, I am quite aware that it is perfectly natural for people at
different places in life's journey and from different walks of life to
have different needs from a community of faith. I do not even begin to
pretend that the needs of Autumn and her new baby, McKenna, will be the
same as Hannah & Michael and David & Stacey who were just married here.
Likewise, those of you who have cradle roll certificates from Franklin
Circle Christian Church will see the vision of this church differently
from those who walked through the doors for the first time today. The
many youth who come to our church will see God calling us to something
different than the rest of us, either little children, young adult,
middle-agers, mature adults, and golden-oldies. Those who are African
American may have different take on what church is and is not than those
of us who are Hispanic or Caucasian. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender folks may need something different from their community of
faith than those who are heterosexual.
And as your pastor, I also am quite aware that the differences go beyond
our given or chosen characteristics. There are also the whole host of
personal, family, and communal array of factors. Those of us who are
generally healthy will have radically different needs from those of us
who are struggling with health issues, sometimes two or three different
kinds of mental, physical, or emotional health concerns. Those of you
living on retirement income will have a different perspective on church
from those of us who are employed, and both will have a different point
of view from those who are living through the use of food stamps and
housing vouchers. If you have experienced a significant trauma or loss
in your life recently, you may need something radically different from
Franklin Circle Christian Church than when you were enjoying smooth
sailing.
And your church staff is clearly not on the same page when it comes to
the primary critical vision God has for this church. Your church
leaders have many wonderful visions of the church, but frequently, as
important as they are, they are working at cross purposes with each
other, expending our energy and resources in as many different
directions as there are elders, diaconate, trustees, and team leaders.
I feel like I'm at one of those amusement park arcades with the moles
popping up here, there, and everywhere, trying to pay attention to this
need, then that idea, then another perspective over there.
But scripture reminds us - and today's lesson in particular - that we
are called as a community to a vision which God has for us that allows
us to focus our time, energies, money, and passion to do that which, if
we did not do it, may never get done, and the world would be a lesser
place for it. To put it in the positive, there is something that we
should be and something that we should be doing
that will focus our resources and will change the world forever.
Fredrick Buechner once described a person or community's calling as,
“That place where your deepest gladness and the world's deepest hunger
meet.” Asking the question, “What is God's vision for this
church?” is the same thing as asking “What is our church's calling?”
Why do I meddle in all this? Why do I get so worked up about “mission”
and “vision” and “calling?” If you know anything about the financial
circumstances of this church you know that I could easily slide by
without us ever having or communicating a common vision or goal.
I could, literally, ride out my ministry until my retirement and simply
do the basics: preach, pray, dedicate the babies, baptize the believers,
marry those in love, visit the sick and elderly, and bury the dead. Why
is it that I keep coming back to this congregation asking for us to name
and claim God's vision for us?
It is because I hear voices, and I can't get them out of my head. I
hear voices that call out to me and to this congregation to do
something. Like a restless guest in a vacant old mansion, I hear
voices, and this is what they are calling out to me:
†“Rallies
and vigils have gone on almost uninterrupted this year as the body count
on the city's streets grows. Cleveland had recorded 100 homicides by
mid-September. Then came the SuccessTech shootings and the death of
15-year-old Demesha Sharp on Oct. 20. Police say she was killed by a
17-year-old girl whose mother and grandmother fought off bystanders.”
(Plain Dealer, October 28, 2007)
And Habakkuk and I cry, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and
violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”
†“Name
an Ohio city. Chances are it's facing alarming poverty. Nationally, 12
percent -- about 36 million people -- live in poverty. Kids, minorities
and single moms bear the brunt. Poverty ensnares 17 percent of
America's children, 21 percent of Hispanics, 24 percent of African
Americans, 28 percent of families headed by a single mother. What's
Cleveland's rank? Cleveland, labeled the poorest big city in America
last year, fell to No. 4 on the U.S. Census Bureau's list, behind
Detroit, Buffalo and Cincinnati. Cleveland's median household income
rose, to $26,535, but still ranks dead last among American big cities.
The county and region fared far better, but poverty's grip tightened
across urban Ohio. The poverty rate exceeded 25 percent in six of Ohio's
10 largest cities.”
(Plain Dealer, August 29, 2007)
And Habakkuk and I cry, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and
violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”
†“[David]
Coffman, with the National Coalition for the Homeless, says hate crimes
against the homeless increased about 65 percent between 2005 and 2006,
and 68 percent of that spike can be attributed to teenage boys. In
Cleveland, advocates have documented at least six hate crimes since
February. In May alone, two homeless men were murdered; no suspects
have been named. Some of the victims told advocates that they were
beaten by bands of roving youngsters resembling skinheads, with pipes
and other makeshift weapons. They likely didn't want to report the
crimes to police… because of fear of having a warrant or a general
disdain for the uniform. Still, he worries police may be downplaying or
not grasping the seriousness. [Cleveland Police Lt. Tom] Stacho should
know about at least one other attack… because 2nd District Commander
Charles Boddy himself responded to it in April outside Franklin Circle
Church, a case in which a homeless man was attacked, again, by a large
group of skinhead-looking ruffians. 'They took him in an alley and beat
him up," Davis says. "But he didn't want to be interviewed.'”
(FreeTimes, June 13, 2007)
And Habakkuk and I cry, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and
violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”
†New
cases of HIV/AIDS in Cuyahoga County jumped sharply in 2005, to 239 from
187, the highest number since 1997, according to the Cleveland
Department of Public Health. Last year, there were 227 new cases and
most - 161 - were diagnosed in Cleveland. Chlamydia and gonorrhea
caseloads are high among Cuyahoga County youth, but as alarming are the
19 cases - ages 15-19 - found to be HIV-positive. The city public health
department said the adolescents all contracted the virus through
unprotected sex.
(Plain Dealer,
October 30, 2007)
And Habakkuk and I cry, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and
violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”
†“The
new spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland has quit before
he worked a single day. Imam Ahmed Alzaree announced Monday, three days
before he was to begin the job, that he was resigning. Alzaree said
allegations by bloggers that he was anti-Semitic and had associated with
an individual suspected of having terrorist ties so poisoned the
atmosphere in Northeast Ohio that he and his wife, Marwa, decided to
look elsewhere. 'Cleveland now is a nightmare for her,' Alzaree said.
'It will never be a good start for me and the Jewish community.'"
(Plain
Dealer, October 30, 2007)
And Habakkuk and I cry, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and
violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”
I believe this congregation can make a significant and critical
difference in the lives of the citizens of this city and this region,
but in order to do so we've got to be working together on it. We've got
to be on the same page, or “tablet” in Habakkuk's words. I believe
that we can make a difference, but we will have to agree how we ought to
make a difference (that is, what vision is God calling us to proclaim),
and then to proclaim that vision loudly and clearly enough that we will
be required to put our resources behind this vision.
On August 26 I bared my soul before this congregation. I recognize now
that it was a lot all at once, and it was very hard for you to digest
something so quickly that I had been chewing on all summer. I have made
more copies of that sermon, and it is available both on our website and
by calling the church office to have it mailed to you. I have also
created an outline and a list of questions to go with it to help you to
absorb the message better. But in that momentous sermon was the vision
that I believed then, and still do still believe today, to which God is
calling this congregation and me as its pastor.
[Read Pastor
Allen's August 26 Sermon by clicking HERE]
There will always be the everyday, week-to-week needs of a community of
faith which will fill some of my time. I still need to visit those in
the hospital, call on the homebound, lead worship and marry and bury
people. There are even administrative details that need my attention.
These are all good and worthy and beautiful facets of a pastor's life.
I've proven to you that I can do this, haven't I? But it is not in my
blood - nor is it my call from God - to leave my ministry at that, not
when the cries of a city are so loud and so heart wrenching.
So, I need your help to know: Are my vision and your vision anywhere
near the same? How are they similar? How are they different? To what
is God calling us at this time that we should put time, money, energy,
resources, and passion behind? Could we proclaim a single vision to the
world in such a clear and simple way that if a runner were to race
through this space we could all read it and understand it?
I'm eager to hear your responses.
May it be so.
Amen.
Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org
Copyright 2007 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096