Baptism of the Lord

“Called to New Life”

Genesis 12:1-4 ? John 3:1-17

God’s word to Abram – who would later come be called “Abraham:” “Go out from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

The word of Jesus to Nicodemus: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.”

Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

The story is told of a little girl who was asked to write a school paper on “birth.” So she got started right away on her research.

She went home and asked her mother how she had been born. Her mother, who was more than a little busy at the time, said, “Darling, the stork brought you, and left you in a basket on the front porch.”

Continuing her research, the little girl asked her Dad how he had been born. Being in the middle of something, her Dad, too, deflected the question by saying, “I was found under a cabbage leaf in the garden; the fairies brought me.”

Then the girl went to ask her grandmother how she had been born. “Oh,” she answered, “I was just picked up from a gooseberry bush one day.”

With all this valuable information at hand, the girl sat down to write her paper. She began it this way, “There has not been a natural birth in our family for three generations”!

II.

Which, in a sense, is a fine theological statement even though it may be a bit lacking as science! Because you may remember that Jesus once said, “You must be ‘born again’.” And there is nothing more unnatural than being born a second time – as Nicodemus was quick to point out in our Gospel lesson.

But Jesus, of course, was not talking about physical birth. He was talking about spiritual birth instead. He was talking about a life that is utterly changed – so much so that the change can only be described with impossible imagery like that of being “born again.” He was talking about a life that is so different from the life we naturally know that to even come close to experiencing it requires something impossible for us, and only possible with God, that is like going back inside our mother’s womb and being born once more.

Or it’s no accident either that this Gospel reading is paired up by the lectionary with the Genesis reading about Abram being commanded by God to uproot himself from everything and everyone he knew and go to a new country whose whereabouts God was still keeping a secret. Because the command to Abram to go to a new country is also a command to us, who are his children in faith. We too are always being called to set out for a new country, if we would be faithful to our God – if we would find the new life, the born-again life, that God promises. That life is to be found only in the new country, the new place, where God is always leading us.

So, in a very special sense, we want very much to be able to say, along with the little girl writing the paper for school, that there has not been a natural birth in our family in three generations. We want to be able to say that not only about ourselves, but we also want to be able to say that about our church family. For, just as each human being needs the new life that is promised by being born again in Christ, so each church needs it too. Or just as Abram needed the new life of a new country toward which God would lead him, so we and the church also need to live that new life in that new country.

III.

On the occasion of this Annual Meeting Sunday, I believe it is appropriate to center the rest of what I have to say this morning on our church, and how we are seeking new life, a born-again life, if you will, how we are striving to journey into a new country where God will direct us.

And the first thing to say is that most of us are agreed that is what we need to do. After all, we all know that there is a lot of truth to the old adage that, “If you keep on doing the same old things you have been doing, you’ll probably keep on getting the same old results you have been getting.” We’ve all seen the membership graph of this church from the nineteen seventies on up to the present; and we know that the line has been going steadily downward all that time. And it’s not much comfort to know that nine out of ten other mainline churches could display the same graph – and especially those here in Barberton. It’s obvious that, whether you call it a new birth or a new country, something new is needed.

In response to that general sense that something new is needed, our church, three years ago, became part of the presbytery-sponsored program called “The Acts 16:5 Initiative.” And, ever since, we have been exploring roads toward renewal – in worship, in small groups, in children and youth, and in music – beginning with attention to our organ. We have been challenged by William Carey’s motto, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God;” and by Robert Schuller’s observation, “I had rather attempt something great and fail, than to attempt to do nothing at all and succeed.”

And we have found three things, in the process: first, that people of good will can and will differ; second, that any change, however small it may be perceived to be, is likely to be felt as hurt by someone; and, third, that change will always be seen as not enough by some, and too much by others.

For those reasons and probably more, these past twelve months have seen some members withdraw from our fellowship. Add that to our high attrition due to death in a rapidly-aging congregation, and you begin to see some real budgetary concerns emerging.

Indeed, at our Annual Meeting today you will hear of a significant deficit in the proposed 2008 budget, and a projection of even more for 2009. But, you also will hear of developing plans to address the deficit by a combination of various responses that Session will be considering soon. Your officers are not sitting idly by, but are hard at work on your behalf.

Meanwhile, however, in spite of the setbacks, Session has believed we need to continue moving forward – into whatever new country, and toward whatever new life that God may be calling us.. And so, this past fall we had a series of six Long Range Planning meetings, involving over forty members of this congregation. As we prayed for God to show us the way to the new land where he would have us go, and as we sought the Holy Spirit to give this church new birth, here are the five phased-in goals that were developed:

Phase One: Seek to build a service of worship that is corporate and dynamic. By “corporate,” we mean it should be worship in which people are involved, rather than worship in which people are merely spectators. And by “dynamic,” we mean worship should have a sense of movement and power about it that will uplift and energize.
Phase Two: Teach members how to be disciples and learn better how to nurture new disciples.
Phase Three: Visitation in Church and Community. Here we want to expand our ministries of care within our congregation and learn better how to relate to those outside our congregation.
Phase Four: Provide Significant Relational Groups. If we were to look for the one single thing that most defines growing and thriving churches it is not the style of worship; rather, it is a huge and growing number of mostly-small groups in which everyone is involved – and not just on Sunday, but throughout the week. We want to do more in this regard.
Phase Five: Provide Several Competent Programs and Activities. We want to be sure that our church is a place where people can learn how to grow, can enjoy fellowship, and can have opportunity to serve.

IV.

How will we do all this? Well, like Abram following God to a new country whose whereabouts he wasn’t told, we will do it first and foremost by faith. It’s not a matter so much of “Can we do it or can we not do it?”; but it’s far more a matter of, “If God is calling us to a new country, how can we not journey?” And we will. And God will bless us, as we are faithful.

As we are faithful…. That part is important, too. God may be ready to bless our efforts; but we have to provide the efforts for God to bless! So we will hear from finance and stewardship in the next few weeks about what our challenges are for giving, as well as for trimming. And we will hear from one ministry team after the other, in the next several months, about what we can do to build, nurture, and grow our congregation. And I trust we will be positive and responsive to it all.

But perhaps the most exciting thing that we are doing about it all, as of this moment, is represented by the person seated on my right – Patty Neidert, our new DCE and Youth Director. So much of what we need to do is centered on young families, on children, and on youth. And we have sorely needed new leadership in this area for some time.

Today we thank God from the bottom of our hearts that Patty has answered God’s call and joins us today officially. And because Patty has so much to add, as well as because Patty has great speaking and preaching abilities, she and I have agreed to share the sermon time this morning. And I would like to ask her to rise now and share with us some of her hopes and dreams for new life in and through this congregation, as she begins ministry to and with First Presbyterian Church. Patty, it is my great joy to welcome you….