Whenever a person decides to buy a
piece of property, or to consult a Realtor about property, that person
is told the three most important words for a building site or a
property purchase are location, location, location. A business or a Church that is in
the right location will be a success, even when it is not run quite as
well as it could be. Likewise, a business or a Church in a poor
location will have difficulty in growing, even when it is run very well. Our Church is a graphic example of
this reality. It was in 1913 that a location for the Squamish
Presbyterian Church was
selected. It was very
close to where we are at this very minute. Though a merger of the
Canadian Methodist, Congregationalists and most of the Presbyterians
had become a reality in 1925, it was not until 1927, that the Squamish
Presbyterian Church became the Squamish United Church. This was a good location, due to the fact
that many of the members lived in the immediate area of the Church
buildings. Now, 92 years later, the demographics of Squamish are
shifting, and we find ourselves like those years ago, having to
determine what location is best for this Church to be a strong and
serving fellowship.
This is a very difficult decision to
make, because the attitudes of the public have shifted. No longer can
members of a Church expect that people will come simply because the
Church is there, or that people moving here who were reared in a United
Church elsewhere will attend the Church affiliation of their former
years. No longer can we assume that people who come to Church come with
a religious memory. The truth is that most people have grown up with
little if any exposure to Christianity other than what they see or
hear, and much of that leaves a negative impact on young people. No
longer do the groups and clubs of society reflect the teachings or
attitudes of the Christian Church. We are a secular society now, by and
large. Christians who practice their faith regularly are a minority. Churches are not necessarily
the place where people go to have weddings. More funerals are held in
funeral chapels and halls than in Churches and more and more funerals
are void of any religious overtones.
People seeking a meeting space or some
mysterious blessing over an event often seek the services of the Church
for Baptism, marriage or burial. Often, these requesters can’t even
give a rational reason for the request. Frequently, they resent any
requirements of the Church. Many people seek to rent Churches for a
particular activity, and treat the organist, minister and in some cases
the choir as if they are “hired hands” rather than people in
ministry. I, for one, simply will not marry a couple who come and
ask me to preside at their wedding, but also request, please do not say
anything religious or about God. I am a Christian minister, and I find
such a request insulting. If they don’t want any mention of God, then
they don’t need me to preside.
Commenting on this reality, two
scholars from Duke University in North Carolina, Stanley Hauerwas and
William Willimon, wrote a book called “Resident Aliens.” This
book talks about the alien status of Christians in today’s world and
the impact that a secular culture has had in making the Church an
“Alien group” in a secular world. In choosing to be Christians, we are
aliens to the predominant social attitudes. In short, we find
ourselves in a culture not unlike that of the days of Jesus. To his culture, Jesus proclaimed the
words we know as “The Sermon on the Mount.” It is a body of teaching
found in the gospels and in today’s text from the International
Lectionary, in the book of Matthew, chapters 5, 6 and 7. In this body
of material you will find the beatitudes, a host of powerful and
difficult admonitions, the Lord’s prayer and as you heard Jim read this
morning, it ends with words dealing with building foundations.
Jesus is forcing us as individuals and
as a community of faith to examine the strength of the foundations upon
which we are building our faith and His Church in this secular culture.
In short, we are being asked about location, location, location. Whenever we witness natural
disasters, we see the importance of strong foundations. It is not
surprising that when earthquakes, winds and floods occur, one can
quickly see why some homes remain intact, while others are easily
destroyed. Foundations
are funny things: they are seen the least and they take the longest to
build, yet scrimp on the foundation and no matter how impressive the
structure may appear, it will not stand against the ravages of nature.
I remember, many years ago, standing at the construction site of the
Union Bank building in Los Angeles. The building was to become the
tallest building in LA at that time. Standing on the sidewalk and
looking through the screen, it seemed as if the workers and the earth
moving machines were far below the surface, which, of course they were. Far under the surface, I later read,
concrete was poured in even deeper holes, huge springs were
installed and thousands of pounds of concrete, metal and supports were
built before the building even attained ground level. All this was
necessary if 70 stories were to be supported safely in this land of
many earthquakes. Last year, when we were there, it was still standing
in its place, a testimony to the strong foundation.
That is exactly the way life is, and
that is also the way religious institutions are. Every city in our
world has within it huge, beautiful cathedral buildings. Thought, at
building time, to represent that which was strong, reliable and
enduring, they now find themselves still structurally strong, but in
the wrong location. No
longer do the people who found their strength and their inspiration
from such imposing structure live within their shadow. Gone is the era
where daily observance and even participation is seen in these
liturgical giants. Now,
most people live away from the heart of a city. Homes have become the
signature of wealth and public acceptance and the inner cities with
their wealth of buildings and resources now claim, in most cases, the
homeless, the poor and the troubled as their residents: residents, who in many cases have been
unable to cope with the demands of society. The suburbs, on the other
hand are filled with people who have chosen large homes to the maximum
of their ability to purchase; they spend their time commuting to the
areas of work still situated where workers used to live. In what little
time is left, parents hurl themselves into a host of activities to be
with their children and to keep them occupied. The result is that their
lives are shallow, and there is no room, time or money for building
lives with strong religious foundations or a great Church building to
aid in that pursuit.
Where once great edifices were erected
to lift the spirit and challenge the soul, now, multipurpose buildings
are built to accommodate harried congregations. Worship is geared to
what I would call an entertaining mode. Gone, in many instances is the
sense of wonder, awe and mystery; gone is the sense that this is
something very important. We have sold out our values and emphasis to
accommodate people’s other schedules and thus have lost our feeling of
significance. Marriages are lost, families are fragmented, social
ethics are compromised, all victims to social status and image. No wonder society is floundering,
searching for a foundation. We are much too busy looking for wealth and
fame. We revere people who have achieved this level; no matter how
unscrupulous has been their climb to achieve notoriety. Our value
standards are so colored that we evaluate the worth of folks by the
houses in which they live, the cars they drive, the vacations they take
and the recreational establishments they frequent.
We have elevated people in the
performing areas of life, movies, musicians, and athletes to a status
where they are paid far more than teachers, research scientists or
people in the healing arts. Artists, musicians, poets and writers who
inspire and enrich our lives struggle from meal to meal for the most
part. In the process, the troubled and unfortunate in our society are
not only forgotten, they are shunned as worthless, because- for
whatever reason- they are not part of the value system society has
shown as important. We
are a society gone mad in “looking out for number 1," which not
coincidentally, is the title of a best selling book in the endless line
of books about positive thinking and the concept that you can be
whatever you want to be, others be damned.
Psychology has been geared to helping
people find themselves and, in many cases people have found themselves,
but it has not resulted in major personality or conduct changes. People
tend to understand why they act as they do, but they still continue in
their destructive actions.
Dr. William Glasser began teaching a new theory of counselling in 1965;
it was called Reality Therapy. To put it simply, the aim is to help a
person to find out what he or she perceives to be inappropriate or
destructive behaviour, and then be involved in making specific workable
plans to reconnect to society and people in a constructive manner. In
other words a choice has to be made and a plan implemented.
Jesus had a process that was even more
radical. Forget all the “finding yourself” theories. To live
victoriously, Jesus said to his disciples and the crowd that had
gathered: “whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses
his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. For what does it
profit one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What can a
person give in return for his life?” (Mark 8: 35-37)
How powerful! Forget trying to
understand who you are and why. Forget dwelling on the inadequacies of
your parents, or the impact of bad toilet training. Lose yourself
in the purpose of Christ, and you will find yourself. When you lose
yourself in the cause of Christ, self-destructive habits cease. There
will be an end to excuses like, I had too much religion thrust at me as
a youth, I don’t want it anymore. Too bad! My grandmother nearly drove
me nuts with her insistence that I wash my hands frequently, but that
doesn’t mean that I no longer wash my hands.
Lose yourself in the cause of Christ
and you will be more loving, more forgiving, more serving, more happy,
and less angry and less judgmental than most in society. None of
us will do it perfectly, we are people, and people err, but the chances
are you will be far ahead of those who seek all the latest gimmicks
that skirt religious conviction in the attempt to understand why they
do what they do. Our society is full of those who understand what they
do, but they still do it.
The great American preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “always
find a cause bigger than yourself and go to it." But we find our
society is terrified of failure. We are not content to do our best, we
want to win; now. By that standard, Jesus was a failure. For
Christians, his death was a victory.
That is where you and I are to build
our lives; on that strong foundation where the storms and the floods of
life, that will come, cannot overcome us. Beloved, that is our ministry. We
are to share the message of Jesus Christ our Lord in such a manner that
people will respond in service, love and acceptance of others. When
others see the joy of a fulfilled life and the ability of a person of
faith to overcome all obstacles without resorting to artificial means,
the Kingdom comes. If we
love our Lord, and seek to be his followers, then this entire community
will be elevated. People will respect us when we do not bow down to the
latest fad, or try gimmicks to get people excited. We will be building
the Kingdom when we are true to the teachings of Jesus, tough as they
are, and encourage others to share in that lifestyle. Those who seek to find themselves will
lose themselves, but those who lose themselves in the cause of Christ
and the gospels will find themselves. This is our calling. This is our
reason for being. This is our ministry to Squamish. Let us be faithful.
Amen.