Overhaulin'
Luke 2: 36-40
January 21, 2007
On Friday afternoon, right here, right in this sanctuary, literally right about here, stood Ron Buford. The man who is the brainchild behind the God is Still Speaking Campaign. Honestly, I never thought it would be possible. He’s so busy, we’re so small, he’s done so much for this church that I love. I’ve met him at most of the events I’ve had the opportunity to attend, I just couldn’t imagine what would bring him here. And, yet, on Friday he stood right here and 5 of us along with 48 others soaked in his words, his hope, his challenge for our living and breathing life through our faith into this community known as the United Church of Christ.
He came to meet with Southern Arizona churches and their leadership teams. He came to remind us of our purpose, our mission, and the work we absolutely can not wait to do. He came to dial us back to one purpose. Our purpose. Our sole (soul) purpose. He reminded us that we are the United Church of Christ and our one job is to help those who feel separated from God, find a way to connect. That’s it. Everything else is after that. Our one job, is to be here and help those who feel like God has forgotten them, left them behind, forced them out whatever, those who feel disconnected from God, to reconnect. And, everything we do, needs to be centered in allowing people to connect, seek, know, bathe themselves in this amazing Still Speaking God.
Believe it or not this is absolutely earth shattering and ground breaking news for the UCC. For the people who helped to write the Constitution of the United States. For the people who are bound by Robert’s Rules of Order. For the people who use a democratic process and function by majority rule…it is absolutely overhaulin’ to pull our churches back to the purpose of faith. We are not gathering here to educate ourselves on how to run an institution or participate in an institution. We are gathered here to connect with God. To find ways to access God in deeper and more healing ways. And to be united with one another regardless of who we are or where we’ve come from in the search for connection with God. And this gets messy. It doesn’t fit into nice motions or easy fixes, it takes relationship, it requires growth and commitment, it takes showing up regularly, and it takes time. It also requires an overhaul of our structure.
There were many characters like Simeon from last week and Anna from this week’s Scripture passage that were waiting for signs of change. There were many who could not wait for the next David, or Elijah or Moses…Who would he be? Where would he show up? But, there were only a few who could see. There were only a few who were finding signs pointing to God in their very own time, in their very on places. Anna saw a sign of a new Covenant coming and she began to spread the word to everyone she knew. A new day had begun. The nation would be overhauled. I find it powerful and by no coincidence that Luke shares with us today the story of Anna. The story of one who went beyond waiting for something to happen and saw the spark of it in another. And, immediately began to spread the news. She was so amazed by her experience with the God she saw in Jesus, Joseph and Mary that she immediately began to spread the news.
How is it that we’ve been overhauled? How is it that we have found connection with God? How is it that we’ve gone from feeling away from God to reconnected with God. How has that happened before? These are the things that we must get together with our families and share. These are the things we whisper to friends over coffee, martinis, or Xbox. We are a people that believe in God. We are a people who have relationship to God. What is that like? Close your eyes. Right now, close your eyes. I want you to picture in your mind, someone you think might like our church or someone who could be fed here. OK. Now I want you to remember something that they need, something they’ve told you about that they are struggling with…got it? OK Open your eyes. Ron reminded us that we are a people who have been marketed to death. WE can remember TV commercials from years ago, slogans and premises. We are a people who need to be hooked before we’re going to come. So, to hook the person you conjured up…what would it take? What story from your own life parallels theirs? Who here would relate to your person? What story would they tell? Overhaulin’ means that instead of coming here and keeping all of this inside, we must force ourselves to be as enthusiastic as Anna. We must know our purpose, we must know our mission and we must work in every medium possible to spread the word.
I know that one of the times I really struggled with knowing that God was with me at all was after seminary and before coming here to Tucson. I’ve had a clear call to the ministry since the age of 15. I did everything in my power to begin preparing myself for the ministry from that day forward. And, by the time I got to seminary, I was so thrilled, to finally be making real progress toward completing the ministry of preparation and move into the actual work I had been preparing for all those years. However, after I finished seminary there were four years more of preparation. I sent out over 200 profiles to over 200 churches seeking a community to join me in this work. I just couldn’t imagine what in the world God was thinking in giving me this Moses like, on fire burning call to have me benched year after year after year. And, those rejection letters. God’s call is beautiful and unique in all of us, but we’re seeking someone whose path is going in another direction. Awful. I shouted, I cried, I was hopeless, I despaired, I was hopeful, life was promising, it was possible, but not happening yet…Many times, I thought that the waiting would take me under.
I remember one Lent really thinking it was all one sick joke. It was after being the runner up several times and getting the phone call, there were two of you and even though your skills were outstanding and we liked you both we are choosing the other candidate…sorry. I think it was after finally being chosen to be the candidate presented to another congregation, the thrill of traveling to a new town, that could be our new home town. The thrill of knowing people for nine months and putting stories, names and faces together and dreams, visions, hopes for this community and then not getting enough votes. As many of you found out this morning, everything in our community comes down to your votes, and when you hire a pastor, it comes down to your votes. I didn’t get enough votes. I had the recommendation of the Search Committee but I didn’t get enough votes.
It was the Lent following that experience where I really wondered how much more I could take. My church in Raytown, Missouri belonged to a Ministerial Alliance that held Thanksgivign and Good Friday services together. That particular year it was at a church that I had never been to. It was a different, not welcoming denomination, in a part of town I had never been to. It was further away from work than I thought and in the dark, as I was already late, pretty lost, sitting on the side of the road looking at a map trying to get unlost, the rain began to pour down from the sky like I should have spent my time building an ark. I finally found the church and went sprinting towards the door from the absolute last spot in the parkinglot. My shoes squeaking from the moment I hit the other side of the doors all the way in. Of coruse the sanctuary doors were open so by the time I got there everyone was waiting to see who was squeaking in, I was feeling so alone, out of synch, lost and God’s forgotten. The service was about 15 minutes into itself, someone was speaking, but not well, I sat and dripped. And then it happened…the organ launched into my song…they…we…we were going to sing, Here I Am Lord…You know…the one with the chorus…Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord. If you Lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. The tears just poured down my face. The Holy One filled me up. I felt absolutely lit up and energized…Reminded, I am not alone, and God is with me, calling from this night. And, when the time unfolds, I will go wherever God calls and hold the people in my heart. And, it was in that weird church…afterwards having lemonade and a bad cookie that people were asking me about the search. And, there were a few, including this one in Arizona. I can tell you, I am not a big fan of waiting.
And, I’m sure if today isn’t your first day here, that’s no surprise to you. But, I can assure all of you who are waiting…That I know from my own experience, that God is with you in the waiting. That God is holding you in the waiting. And, in the most unexpected time, in the most unexpected ways new paths will unfold that you perhaps thought were never possible. Waiting to hear about our girls is really unnerving most days. And yet, when I think back to the excruciating waiting that brought me here and the phenomenal match and work we’ve been. How can I only wait for the end product? For all along the way were people like Anna and Simeon reminding me that God had called me, was calling me and I would find you in god’s time. And, my heart has never been more full of love, challenge, hope, and peace my whole life. If you are waiting, or you know someone who is waiting, invite them here that we might find the signs that point to something coming in the mean time. And to all of you I say, thank you. Every single moment of waiting has been surpassed by those of you who called me and stayed, those of you who came back, and all of you who have come in the past 3 years. Thank God for Overhaulin’ and allowing us to just keep telling the stories over and over again of how we’ve rediscovered you. Thank you for that incredible blessing and opportunity, let us pray!