Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost Proper
28
November 15, 2009
Text: Romans 12:3-5, 9-13
As we anticipate our annual meeting later this morning, there are three main issues facing our congregation in the coming year. To identify them in a simple way, we could label them: finances – how do we financially support the ministry of our congregation? Building – how do we maintain our magnificent edifice? Community – how do we live our faith as a community governed by the love of Christ?
I will briefly lay out the issue in each case. First of all, let us consider our finances. As of the end of October, our receipts for current expenses totaled $389,000. Our expenses for this same period totaled $404,000. This leaves us with a deficit of $15,000.
All of our bills have been paid using our reserves. To make up the deficit requires the giving of an additional $2,100 for the next seven Sundays. Added to what we already need weekly to meet our budget, the offerings until the end of the year need to equal $8,400 per Sunday. This amount is our responsibility, because the congregation approved the budget for 2009.
There is an even more troubling fact about our receipts for current expenses. Again, our receipts for current expenses totaled $389,000. Of that amount 34% or $131,000 was received from our endowment fund. In other words, a third of our income is given by those who are dead.
The astounding truth is that our 4 million dollar endowment enables us to do ministry here at First Lutheran. Without it our life as a congregation would be drastically different, or it is also within the realm of possibility that we could be closed.
So this morning we must heartily thank the Goodyear family, the Karper family, the Hennigh family, the Miller family and for the many other families who over the years have provided assets for our congregation to invest for future expenses.
This brings us to the second issue: our magnificent building. One hundred and eight years ago, on November 10, 1901, this beautiful church edifice was dedicated. The total cost was $96,000. Today, the cost to replace this building would be prohibitive.
However, our ancestors have handed it down to us and now it becomes our responsibility to maintain and keep. In the past ten years, so much has happened on our watch – the worship space renewal project, the change-over of the heating system from steam to hot water, the installation of a new smoke detection system, the replacing of the main portion of the roof with tile, the replacing of the roof above the library, the restoration of the stained glass windows, plus many other less costly projects.
Because of the high cost of these projects and the fact that the return from our endowment goes to pay current expenses, to pay building expenses, we have had to borrow from ourselves. The balance due as of this month is $313,000. We have this amount amortized over 30 years at $1,200 per month.
Now there is some other troubling news. Keeping in mind that our church edifice is 108 years old, we recently have received a bid for the restoration of the bell tower and other needed masonry work. The first phase of the proposed project is the west, or main bell tower. The total cost of restoration is $80,000.
Additional masonry work needs to be done on all elevations of the original building. The proposal received is a ten-year proposal; the cost $473,000. The Property and Finance committees along with the Congregation Council have agreed to postpone this first phase until 2011. In 2010, we are under contract to restore the last large stained glass window at a cost of $44,000. The two remaining transom windows also need to restored at a cost of $11,000 each.
The reality of the building issue is that these projects ultimately have to be done. The maintenance and upkeep of the church edifice presents quite a challenge to us. The Property and Finance committees have done a good job of doing as much as we can with the resources we have available. Thanks be to God that we have such a building as this and thanks be to God that we have been able to do as much as we can to maintain it these past ten years.
The third issue facing our congregation in 2010 I have labeled community. I see this issue in two different ways.
First of all, we are a community within a community. We are located on the east side of the borough of Carlisle, at the corner of High and Bedford Streets. God has made us to be present here that as a community of Christ we can serve the community that surrounds us.
The phrase engraved in stone above our entrance, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” might be saying to the community around us that we are a fortress. That is, we defend ourselves against all “hordes of devils that fill the land.” So where do little devils like us go, to seek restoration and new life? It gives us pause to reflect on what Jesus said in our Gospel reading from Mark, called the Little Apocalypse. Jesus was speaking to the disciples as they stood in full view of the Great Temple in Jerusalem. He said, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
God doesn’t need us to be a fortress. God would say, “I can defend myself very well, thank you.” Instead, God wants His presence known here in this time and place through our proclamation and works of love. We are to make known the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus Christ to the community so that it may have new life and hope. God’s presence in Jesus is a transforming presence, a forgiving and reconciling presence, a presence that heals, gives life and opens the future to all hordes of devils.
The issue of community that is before us this morning can be expressed by the following questions:
How can we members of First Lutheran Church share
with the community the joy, peace and love
with which Christ has transformed our lives?
How can we welcome and assimilate people of all
ages and nationalities into our community of faith?
How can we proclaim the great gift of the Gospel
to the community in which God has sent us to serve?
Buildings come and go. Members come and go. But the Word of God stands fast forever. It is that Word that we are called to proclaim to the community of Carlisle. This is the mission God has given First Lutheran Church, for we are a community of faith in Jesus Christ.
So far, we have raised the earthly questions: about our finances, about our building, and about our mission. Now we need to raise the spiritual question: How do we live together as a community of Jesus Christ?
Not all of us agree with one another. We are going to have differing opinions on the 2010 budget. The restoration of the bell tower will cause debate. We have different thoughts as to what our mission to the community should be. These are new things we can disagree on. We already disagree on other things. Among our members are different politics from the most liberal to the most conservative and everything in between. We already disagree on such divisive issues as abortion, immigration policy, and the war on terrorism. In the past four months the issues of the blessing of gay couples and the ordination of a gay pastor in a committed relationship have threatened to divide us.
We don’t all agree. We never will. We live with the continuing threat that our disagreements may visibly divide our community. We can’t let this happen, because divided we will fail as a community of Christ.
In our Bible study on the book of Romans on Wednesday evening, we came across an important passage. To be consistent, I have changed the metaphor from body to community. St. Paul writes,
“I say to everyone not to think of yourself more highly than
you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one community we have many members, and not all
the members have the same function, so we, who are many,
are one community in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
Then Paul gives a list of exhortations.
"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another
in showing love. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit,
serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints;
extend hospitality to strangers.
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty
but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser
than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil,
but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live
peaceably with all. Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.”
These are the rules of the community whose members have put their faith in Jesus Christ. These rules are to govern the life and ministry of First Lutheran Church. Unity is not an option for a community of Christ. It is the essence of God’s love and forgiveness that we have received from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We have many significant challenges facing our congregation next year and in the years to come. We are called to be the community of Jesus Christ here in this place. God will help us to define and to realize what that means. We need to remain united as a congregation, committed to working together and offering ourselves to the hard work that needs to be done. Every member of the congregation is needed if we are to fulfill God’s work in this place and time.
In the presence of Jesus Christ, God is with us here at First Lutheran. The question we need to ask ourselves is, Are we with God, committed and united to do the work God has called each of us to do?