H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
26 October 2003
THANKS FOR BEING THE CHURCH
John 14:8-14
I got a letter last week from Gerald Stephens, a good friend from my seminary days. Gerald and I haven’t kept in touch, and as far as I knew he was still
serving a congregation in Alabama. To my great surprise it turns out that Gerald and his wife Bonnie have recently begun mission work in the Congo. Gerald
passed along a list of mission challenges, inviting us to consider giving some direct support to the Christian work going on in that very poor and long-troubled
country.
Knowing Gerald pretty well, I’m going out on a limb to speak on his behalf this morning. If Gerald were standing here today, I’m pretty sure what he’d say
to us is this: “Thank you, Crescent Springs. Thank you for being the church. Thanks for years of faithful giving to Presbyterian missions all over the world.
Thanks to you, our Christian witness in places like the Congo continues to bear rich fruit for Jesus Christ—good news preached to the poor, the good news
that changes lives and makes a lasting difference—an eternal difference—in the world. Thanks for pooling your giving with that of two-and-a-half million
other Presbyterians in our denomination in order to carry the love of Christ quite literally to the ends of the earth.”
Gerald would certainly make a pitch for current needs in the Congo Presbyterian Community, such as the need for 5000 children’s Bibles written in
Tshiluban and the need for three small motorcycles to carry church workers to inaccessible places in the back-country.
Then Gerald would say, “But even if you can’t help with any special projects right now, we appreciate the direct assistance you gave for many years to
missionaries Bill and Nancy Warlicke who worked over here when this country was called Zaire. When you “adopted” Bill and Nancy as CSPC missionaries
over here, you helped lay a foundation that we are continue to build upon today. So on behalf of the Congolese people, I want to thank you for the special
gifts you’ve made to our work here in the past. And on behalf of other Presbyterian missionaries throughout the world, I want to thank you for decades of
general mission support to the whole vast enterprise of Presbyterian mission. Thanks for being who you are and for doing what you do. Thanks for being the
church.”
I also heard from my friend Keith Cardwell this week. Keith was student pastor here some years ago while attending Louisville Seminary. Keith and I swap
sermons each week by e-mail. We compliment one another on what fine preachers we are and steal each other’s stories.
It’s a risky business speaking for other people, but since I’ve already started, I might as well sin boldly. If Keith were here this morning, he’d say,
“Thanks, Crescent Springs. Thanks for adopting me for a year and allowing me to learn about ministry first-hand. Thanks also for your ongoing
denominational giving to support our Presbyterian Seminaries. Part of your mission money maintains training centers like Louisville Seminary. Paul says that
some are called to be apostles or evangelists, others to be teachers or pastors or prophets. The gifts of ministry come from Christ, and our seminaries allow
servants of Christ to strengthen and hone those gifts for the service of God’s kingdom. Seminaries allow us to offer to the world our distinctive Presbyterian
vision of Christian discipleship.”
If Keith were here, he’d say, “Thanks! On behalf of Scott Wheeler and Kathie Spurgeon and John Werth and the congregations they’ve served, on behalf of
the ministry students who are wrestling right now with Greek verb tenses and Calvin’s theology, thanks for doing your part. Thanks for being the church.”
Who else have I heard from this week? I got a call from a Girl Scout leader whose troop will meet in our building this year. And I got a call asking if we’d
host a regular Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, which we will do our best to accommodate. And I got an e-mail from Kathy about arrangements for the voting
machine when we serve as a polling station for the election next month. So I guess I could speak for the various community groups who use our building free
of charge, and on their behalf I would say, “Thanks, CSPC. Thanks for being the church.”
I saw a couple of our shut-ins this week and if they could be here they would join their voices with a far-reaching chorus of homebound people over the
years who would say, “Thanks for remembering us. Thanks for coming to see us. Thanks for providing the ministry of a pastor and deacons and elders. We
don’t get as many visits as we’d like, because we’d love to have company every afternoon. But, even so, thanks for letting us know we’re still part of the
family even when we can’t be here. Thanks for being the church.”
I also heard from one of my university students this week. I teach an occasional class at NKU on the Bible or church history. For some of my students, it’s
the first time they’ve ever heard a clear and sympathetic explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’ve been surprised by how many conversations I have
with students outside of class, people from all walks of life who want to talk about their faith and their struggles. I taught my first class at NKU as a kind of
lark, but it has clearly turned into mission. If my students were here this morning, most of them would say, “Thanks for sharing your pastor. Thanks for
reaching beyond your own walls. Thanks for being the church.”
Actually the student who called me this week was asking for prayers from me and from CSPC. Her son and his grandfather were in a terrible automobile
wreck and she wants to gather prayer support for their recovery. We lift up a great many people in prayer here, both on Sunday mornings and through the
week especially through the Prayer Partners and the Men’s Prayer Group. If my student Anne were here this morning, she’d say, “Thanks, CSPC. Unless
you’ve been in a place of crisis, you cannot understand what it means to know that Christian intercessors praying for you and your loved ones, to know that
people you’ve never even met are beseeching God on your behalf. Thanks! Thanks for being the church.”
I had a conversation this week with a parent who spoke about how thankful she was to have raised children in this congregation, how much she appreciated
the youth groups, the Sunday School classes, the church friends, the children’s sermons, the opportunities to lead in worship, the caring and support of other
parents and adults. I can only add my Amen to that. I’ve often said that even if I were not a believer, I’d fake it so I could raise my kids in a place like this.
And it’s not just about kids; it’s about being a family and belonging to a community of faith. We’re not a perfect family, but most of the time we do a pretty
good job of loving each other. This time I can speak entirely for myself and say, “Thanks for being the church.”
Let’s see, I also got a letter this week from United Ministries asking for our help in serving families in need in our nearby neighborhoods. We work with
United Ministries, Welcome House, Covington Community Center, and the Interfaith Hospitality Network to show God’s love for people who could use a
little extra love in their lives. We also work directly with folks who call us in need of groceries or utilities help. Jan and I were shopping at Drug Emporium
Wednesday night and we found a good deal on Purex bleach. We bought two for us and six for the church to give away. We wouldn’t have room here for all
the people we’ve helped with groceries, medicine, heat, and gasoline, the families we’ve helped with school supplies and clothes, the homeless folks we’ve
kept off the streets. If we could somehow squeeze all those people into this room, I think they’d just want to say, “Thanks for being the church of Jesus.”
All these reminders in one week about who we are and what it means to be the church. It comes down to this: being the church means loving Jesus so much
that we give ourselves to him, and in that self-giving we try to do the things he would do if were here in the flesh. Some of it is lofty and ethereal, but mostly
it’s stuff like attending meetings and sorting food and driving people to the doctor and trimming bushes and painting and making time for prayer and finding
ways to hug each other and visiting shut-ins and inviting people to church and filling out commitment cards and dropping a check in the plate.
So, thanks, Crescent Springs Presbyterian. Thanks for all the commonplace, down-to-earth things you do in the name of Jesus. Thanks for the often-unseen
acts of faithfulness. Thanks for pooling your talents and your time and your money and your love. Thanks for doing your share and sometimes more than
your share.
Thanks for being the body of Christ.
Thanks for being the household of God.
Thanks for being the church.
Soli Deo Gloria!