“Sticking to the Fundamentals”   John 10: 11 – 18;  1 John 3: 16 – 24

 

Back when I was in the midst of the ordination process within the United Methodist church, I had to go before the Board of Ordained Ministry—BOOM, as all of us who were candidates called it.  I had served as an Associate Pastor at Trinity UMC in East Bakersfield for a year and a half, and was in the midst of my two years as the pastor of St. Andrews UMC downtown. I had to go up to Sacramento for this meeting, during which the members of BOOM would evaluate whether they felt I was showing adequate preparation and background to be considered for ordination to elder’s orders.   

My most vivid memory of that meeting has to do with someone who had gone to seminary with me, but who had graduated ahead of me.  Her name was Betsy Ellenberger, and as the interview went forward, Betsy began to grill me on my background in systematic theology.  I still remember the heated exchange that developed—she spoke with disdain of my refusal to use what she regarded as proper theological language, and I argued back that I served in a church with real people, who didn’t use words like “atonement,” “eschatology” and “hermeneutics” in their daily lives.  I said I think we have a hard enough time really understanding the words we DO use—words like mission, disciple, prayer, baptism, grace, service….and love. 

You see, I think we have a real problem if we begin to simply study theology, study religion, study faith—and not make it personal and real. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love to study—you’ll find both my library here and my office at home filled with books.  But when you focus upon theological language or concepts, and don’t make the connection with how they play out in individual’s lives, you might as well leave all that theory on the shelf.   It was E. F. Schumacher who told a wonderful story once about an old shepherd that illustrates this point.  His story concluded with this line: “Don’t count the sheep or they won’t thrive.”  He meant that counting the sheep turned each live, unique animal into an abstraction, a symbol of a sheep, each one just like the next one. In Jesus’ time, remember, most flocks were small and shepherds knew each of those sheep as individuals—they probably had names for each of their sheep.  

One of the biggest problems of modern society is the size of our cities, which contributes to a general sense of anonymity.  Sometimes, when a small town doesn’t let you be anything other than the kid you were in high school, or let you get over the mistake you made when you were 20, the anonymity gained by moving to a larger city is a blessing and a new beginning.  But whenever you lose sight of the uniqueness of each individual, when you reduce them to simply a number, it’s easy to fail to notice what’s really happening with that person.  You might not connect with them at all, not in any real way.   

That is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the church today—in the community of faith, we have to be real—as individuals, in the way we interact with our neighborhoods, and in the way we “do church.”  We can’t be off in the clouds somewhere, out of touch with the issues of the day, and the issues of real people’s lives.  And we can’t be locked into the image of “the good old days” as the only way to act and the only way to worship.   

Many people studying the church say too often we in the church are still stuck in using words and ideas and concepts and forms of worship that had meaning to earlier generations, but which often seem meaningless to young people.  So there’s a lot of folks saying, “let’s try this” or “let’s try that.”  And I’m all for change and growth and new ideas—provided we stay in touch with the heart of our faith.  The words of the first letter of John in today’s scripture point us in that direction:  “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”  Don’t talk about love—live so others experience God’s love through you. 

This scripture makes it clear that the core of our faith, the distinctiveness of the Christian faith, is love for one another.  That doesn’t mean love just for those you enjoy, those in your social group, those you agree with.  For real Christians, the sacrificial love of Jesus has to be more than a nice idea and a noble concept—it has to be a pattern of behavior that we actually live out.  Make love real.  Put it into action.  God’s love lives in those who see a need, and respond with real help.   

Of course, in some ways it’s easier to focus upon the head stuff—to talk ideas and concepts, to argue over theological terms or political strategies, to write a nice check for the mission fund, or make black and white pronouncements on hot button religious issues—and think we’ve done what we should about being faithful Christians.  But the people of our community and our world are in desperate need of a church that puts love into action and makes it real.  There are people all around us who are searching desperately for a community that actually practices what it preaches.   

Over 100 years ago, the Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard made the point that Jesus was looking for followers, not admirers—he wanted people who would walk with him, do his work, and serve in his name.  Kierkegaard wrote his own parable to explain this perspective:  

“A man was walking down a city street when he saw a big sign in a window that said, “Pants pressed here.”  Delighted to see the sign, he went home and gathered up all of his wrinkled laundry.  He carried it into the shop and put it on the counter.   

“What are you doing?” the shopkeeper demanded. 

“I brought my clothes here to be pressed,” the man responded, “just like your sign said.” 

“Oh, you’ve got it all wrong,” the owner replied.  “We don’t actually do that here.  We’re in the business of making signs.”  We don’t do these things, he was saying.  We just talk about them.   

And that, said Kierkegaard, is often the problem in the church.  We advertise ourselves as a place that is showing Christ’s love and doing Christ’s work.  But when people show up looking for real love and real Christian action, they sometimes don’t see it.  “Oh, no, we don’t love people here.  We just talk about loving people here.”   

Our task as the church is to never forget the two “fundamentals” of our faith:  believing in Jesus Christ, and living out his command to love one another.  Whatever we do as we reinterpret our worship styles or theological language or decide activities and mission efforts, all can be properly evaluated against these two “core competencies.”  When we’re doing what we’re truly called by God to do, we’re going to be actively engaged in helping people in need, loving others in truth and in action.  We’ll be busy with activities that show the love of God to people who might be feeling quite unloved and unlovable.  And we’re going to find that love is infectious and irresistible.   

There’s going to be lots of changes in the future—there has been plenty of change in the past.  We needn’t fear change;  we can be excited and energized by changes.  After all, we believe in a God who says to us repeatedly in our Bible, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  What we do need to do as we are making changes is be guided by sticking to the fundamentals—in whatever we do, are we making real Christ’s good news that God is love?  We’re the ones who right now have the privilege of putting God’s divine love into real-world actions.  

As you receive communion today, open your hearts to Jesus’ living presence, inviting you personally to be a part of his ministry of healing, teaching, and loving others, as you take into your bodies and life the symbols of his body and life—the bread and the cup. Amen.