2-21-2010 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

ALWAYS

     There is a powerful little video that’s been making the rounds through computers all across the country of late.  The video was produced by Angel Network LLC whose mission is – and I quote – “Inspiring the world one soul at a time.”  The video is entitled, “Interview with God,” and it presents magnificent pictures of God’s glorious creation in the background.  While I do not possess the technology to reproduce that here, I can at least share the words of the interview with you.  Listen now to the words of an imaginary – but profound – interview with God.

     I dreamed that I had an interview with God.  “So you would like to interview me?” God asked.  “If you have the time,” I said.  God smiled.  “My time is eternity.  What questions do you have in mind for me?”  I asked, “What surprises you most about humankind?”  God answered…

·         “That they get bored with childhood.  They rush to grow up and then long to be children again.

 

·         “That they lose their health to make money, and then lose their money to restore    their health.

 

·         “That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that       they live in neither the present nor the future.

 

·         “That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

 

     God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.  And then I asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”  God replied with a smile…

·         “To learn they cannot make anyone love them.  What they can do is let themselves be loved.

 

·         “To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.

 

·         “To learn that it takes only a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and it takes many years to heal them.

 

·         “To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

 

·         “To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings.

 

·         “To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but rather, the one who needs the least.

 

·         “To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.

 

·         “To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they must also forgive themselves.”

 

 

     “Thank you for your time,” I said simply.  “Is there anything else you would like them to know?”  God said, “To learn that I am here…always.”

    There are likely a hundred different directions I could go with a sermon introduction like that.  But for now, I want to focus on one particular statement.  The question was asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”  One of God’s responses was this: “To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but rather, the one who needs the least.”  Again, “A rich person is not the one who has the most, but rather, the one who needs the least.”  Keep that thought in mind as we move to the passage we read from the gospel according to Luke.

     The scene is the wilderness near the Jordan River.  Jesus had just been baptized by John the

 Baptist himself.  Then, led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus retreated into the wilderness too fast for forty days.  He needed to spend some time in prayer with God.  There, as our passage tells us, he was tempted by none other than the devil.  The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  He was tempting Jesus to prove his divinity.  He was tempting Jesus with bodily needs.  To which Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

   Then the devil tempted Jesus with worldly power if he would but bow down and worship him.  He gave Jesus the chance to rule the world, to which Jesus simply said, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”  Then the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and told Jesus to throw himself down…just to see if God would rescue him from the fall.  Jesus replied, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”  At that, the devil departed from him until, as it says, “an opportune time.”  In other words, it was like the devil was saying to him, “I’ll be back!”

   The devil tempted Jesus with bodily needs in a time of great bodily need.  Recall that he hadn’t eaten in forty days.  That would have killed me!  The devil tempted Jesus with wealth and power and fame, something that can likely lure even the best of us.  Finally, the devil called upon Jesus to prove the existence of, or his favor with, God.  And in each of these situations, Jesus reigned supreme.  To each of these offers, Jesus withstood the temptation.

     How did Jesus do it?  It occurs to me that the answer just might be in that phrase we noted from the interview with God.  Do you remember it?  “A rich person is not the one who has the most, but rather, the one who needs the least.”  Jesus was rich, but not because he had great possessions.  No, Jesus was rich because he had very little need.  Food or wealth or power had no influence on Jesus because they were not high on his list of priorities.  Jesus had something even better inside.

     Harry Emerson Fosdick put it well in his book, The Manhood of the Master.  He writes:

 

Only by a stronger passion can evil passions be expelled, and…a soul unoccupied by a positive devotion is sure to be occupied by spiritual demons.  The safety of the Master in the presence of temptation lay in his complete and positive devotion to his mission: there was no unoccupied room in his soul where evil could find a home.  He knew what Dr. Chalmers called “The expulsive power of a new affection.”

 

When Ulysses passed the Isle of Sirens, he had himself tied to the mast and had his ears stopped with wax, that he might not hear the sirens singing – a picture of many a man’s pitiful attempts after negative goodness.  But when Orpheus passed the Isle of Sirens, he sat on the deck – indifferent – for he too was a musician and could make melody so much more beautiful than the Sirens, that their alluring songs were to him discords.  Such is the Master’s life of positive goodness – so full, so glad, so triumphant – that it conquered sin by suppressing it.  Have you such a saving positiveness of loyal devotion in your life?

 

   The answer, my friends, is prayer.  What do you suppose Jesus had been doing for those forty days in the wilderness without food?  He’d been praying to God.  The depth of his prayer life was what became “the expulsive power of a new affection” to him.  The richness of his relationship with God was what enabled him to overcome temptation because he needed nothing more.  Ladies and gentlemen, the very same thing can be true for us.

     As we begin yet another season of Lent, I would encourage you to strengthen your spiritual life.  A good daily devotional guide will help.  Worshipping God on a regular basis will help.  Taking the time to attend the adult education class will help.  We are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  The root of the word “disciple” is also the root of the word “discipline.”  I know you have other things to do in your lives.  Discipline yourselves to include some faith work.

     If you can do that, you will actually find yourselves becoming richer because you will find that you need less and less.  What’s more, you will likely find yourselves being mysteriously drawn closer to God as well.  After all, the way God concludes that interview is true.  God is here…always.  Amen.     

    

 

    

 

2-14-2010 sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

GLORY DAYS

   Once upon a time, a woman woke up in the morning, turned to her husband and said, “Honey, I just had a dream that you bought me a new gold necklace.  What do you suppose it means?”  Her husband replied, “I don’t know, but Valentine’s Day is coming soon.  Perhaps you’ll find out then.”

   A few nights later, she again woke up from a dream.  She said, “Honey, this time I dreamed that you gave me a new pearl necklace.  What do you suppose it means?”  Again he replied, “Perhaps you’ll find out on Valentine’s Day.”

    The morning of Valentine’s Day, she again woke up telling him about another dream.  “This time I dreamed that you bought me a new diamond necklace.  What do you suppose it means?”  To which he replied, “Honey, be patient.  Perhaps you’ll find out tonight.”

     That evening, her husband came home with a brightly wrapped package and handed it to her.  Delighted, she ripped into the package and opened it.  In it was a book entitled, The Meaning of Dreams.  Now there’s a practical guy, wouldn’t you say?  Happy Valentine’s Day!  This morning, we’re going to be talking a little bit about dreams, but not the kind we have at night.  This morning I want to begin by talking about the American Dream.

     What is the American Dream?  The phrase was coined by James Truslow Adams in a 1931 book entitled, Epic of America.  By definition the American Dream is a national ethos in which democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for all.  Some say the concept of an American Dream should be credited with helping to build a cohesive American experience.  Others say the American Dream should be blamed for creating unrealistic expectations.  My theory is that while the American Dream may be different for everyone, there tends to be one common denominator in it for most.

   A number of years ago, my wife and I were pretty good friends with another couple in Salem, Ohio.  One of their favorite topics of conversation was their own American Dream.  Basically, their dream was this.  They wanted to be great philanthropists.  Yet before they could become great philanthropists, they had to acquire great personal wealth themselves.  If they had ten or twenty or thirty million dollars in the bank, they would be happy to give a portion of it away to help resolve many of society’s ills.  It was a noble ambition in a way, yet I couldn’t help but think of how it first involved their own personal comfort and security.  Perhaps we have found that common denominator for most American Dreams.  It often has first to do with our own comfort and security.               

     Perhaps a similar thing could be said of the Messianic hopes of Israel some 2000 years ago.  As it says in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, “Judaism in the first century sponsored no one understanding of the Messiah.”  In other words, the Messianic hopes of Israel were likely as diverse and as numerous as the people who inhabited Israel.  Everyone’s Messianic hopes were different, and they likely had something to do with placing their own comfort and security first.

    Theoretically, there were certain things in Scripture that indicated who and what the Messiah would be.  For one thing, the Messiah would be human.  He would be a direct descendant of the great King David.  He would also be a great leader.  At the time of the Messiah, there would be a time of peace.  The Messiah would rebuild the temple and return the Promised Land to the Jews.  That’s what Scripture seemed to indicate of Israel’s coming Messiah.

     Yet a number of personal desires and expectations had made their way into the Messianic hopes of Israel as well.  As a descendant of King David, he would restore the prosperity that Israel had enjoyed under David’s leadership.  He would be a great leader, meaning he would be the kind of military leader that could call upon a legion of angels to squash the hated Romans.  The Messianic hopes of many in Israel had come to revolve around their own comfort and security.  Note, of course, that those hopes would not have foreseen a crucified Messiah.

   Then here was this Jesus character, making his way through the towns and villages of ancient Palestine, healing infirmities and diseases and teaching in a way that people had never heard before.  People were starting to wonder if perhaps he was the Messiah Israel had long awaited.  Shortly before the passage we read from the gospel according to Luke, it says that even King Herod was curious about Jesus and tried to see him himself.  Then Jesus fed 5000 people with but five loaves of bread and two fish.  There was quite a legend brewing about this Jesus.  Could it be that he was the Messiah Israel had long awaited?

     Amid all this stir, Jesus had a conversation with his disciples apart from the crowds.  He said to them, “Who do the people say that I am?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist.  Others say Elijah or one of the prophets.”  Jesus then asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”  It was Peter who first replied, “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.”

     It was right after this – right after Peter had confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God – that Jesus gave what we call his first passion prediction.  He told them of his impending crucifixion and resurrection.  Note, of course, that a crucified Messiah was not a part of the Messianic hope of Israel.  This would have been difficult for even the disciples to swallow. 

     That’s when we come to what we call the transfiguration story.  Jesus took Peter and James and John up a high mountain by themselves.  As the gospel of Mark puts it, “Jesus was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.”  A fuller to them would have been like a dry cleaner to us. 

    What does it mean to be transfigured?  The Greek word for “transfigured” is metamorphothay.  It means, “a transformation that is literally visible.”  It is from that word, of course, that we derive the English word “metamorphosis.”  A metamorphosis is also a transformation of form, like a caterpillar to a butterfly.  Our passage is saying that that’s what happened to Jesus.  He was transformed from a human body into a heavenly body.  I’d tell you what that might have looked like if I could, but I can’t.  I’m not sure anyone can.

    So Jesus was transfigured before the disciples’ very eyes.  Then there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, and they were talking with Jesus.  Shortly thereafter the disciples heard a voice from the clouds saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”  It could be none other than the voice of God himself.

     This event was meant to show the disciples that Jesus was the Son of God.  This event was meant to prove to the disciples that Jesus was the Messiah Israel had long awaited.  It may not have coincided with the disciples’ Messianic hopes – after all, no one had envisioned or even considered a crucified Messiah – but here God tells them that such was indeed the case.  Whatever Jesus told them is what was meant to be.  Ladies and gentlemen, that is the point of the transfiguration story.   It is meant to prove to these disciples that Jesus was, in fact, the very Son of God.

    This story makes me think of one of my all-time favorite sayings.  That saying is this: “If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans.”  It was a part of God’s plan that Jesus should suffer and die for the sake of the world.  That was never a part of the disciples’ plan.  That was not a part of anyone in Israel’s plan either, I suspect, but that was God’s plan.  God’s plan always seems to have something to do with the salvation and the sake of the world in general.  God’s plan seldom has to do with our own comfort and security, at least not the way we look at comfort and security from a worldly perspective.

     Consider, for example, the Hebrew people who wandered for forty years in the wilderness at the time of the Exodus from Egypt.  Do you suppose those people had two cars in their garages?  Do you suppose those people had fabulous homes that impressed their neighbors?  Do you suppose those people had fat investments upon which they could retire and live a life of ease? 

     Those things represent comfort and security from a worldly perspective, do they not?  But those are not the kinds of things the Hebrew people had in their time in the wilderness.  What they had was God, and God provided for their every need.  They had true comfort and security because it came from up above.  That’s the kind of comfort and security we need as well.  For if we have that kind of comfort and security, we don’t have to worry about any recession or any other global economic downturn.  We must learn to trust and believe that God will take care of us…because we are God’s own precious children.  Faith such as that eliminates worry and provides true security.  So maybe it’s all right to say, “If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans.”  Because God’s plans always make things turn out right in the end.   

     The transfiguration was meant to prove that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  The transfiguration was meant to prove that Jesus was the Messiah Israel had long awaited.  For the disciples, it was a high moment of vision.  They stood in the midst of Jesus and Moses and Elijah, and they heard the voice of God from above.  As you might suspect, it was a moment the disciples wanted to preserve.  That’s why Peter says, “Lord, it is well that we are here.  Let us make three booths – one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  He wanted to build shelters for them in which they could rest.  He wanted to build booths for them so that they might stick around for a while.  It was a high moment of vision and Peter wanted to preserve it for as long as he could.  He wanted to savor the moment, so to speak.

     But life doesn’t work that way, does it?  You know, I’d give anything to go back and relive the last ten years of my life if I could – the days when my kids were young – but I can’t. We can’t get stuck in our high moments of vision because time marches on.  It becomes a problem when we can’t get beyond the past.  For when we cannot get beyond the past, we find ourselves unable to cope with the present, and unwilling to face the future.

     Bruce Springsteen is an aging rock and roll star.  A number of years ago, he wrote a wonderful song entitled, “Glory Days,” that deals with just such a thing.  Listen closely to the words:

            I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school.

            He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool, boy.

            Saw him the other night at this roadside bar.  I was walking in, he was walking out.

            We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks, but all he kept talking about was:

 

                        Glory days, well they’ll pass you by.

                        Glory days.  In the wink of a young girl’s eye.

                        Glory days.  Glory days.     

 

            Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight and I’m going to drink till I get my fill.

            And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it, but I probably will.

            Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of,

            Well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days.

 

   I didn’t recite all of the verses, but I think you get the picture.  It becomes a problem when we can’t get beyond the past.  For when we cannot get beyond the past, we find ourselves unable to cope with the present, and unwilling to face the future.  It can happen to an individual, and it can happen to a church.

    Many years ago, I was at a presbytery meeting in Warren, Ohio.  It was a big, beautiful church with fabulous stained glass windows and an organ Kevin would give his right arm for.  At the presbytery meeting, the minister spent a good fifteen minutes talking about how great that church had been – how many members it once had, how big their budget once had been, and how much influence it once had in the town.  Only by that time, the church had become an empty shell.  Precious few people showed up on a Sunday morning.  By enshrining their past, they had failed to cope with the present, and they were not prepared for the future.

     Let’s not be that church.  Let’s work to discern who and what we are and who and what God wants us to become.  In the 1970s, this church had more than 1600 members.  Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not the 1970s anymore.  The population has changed, the community has changed, the socio-economic status has changed, and the needs have changed as well.  We need to meet those needs head-on if we’re going to be viable in the future.  How we are called to meet those needs as yet remains a mystery.  Yet we need not be afraid if we remain faithful to God.  As you’ve heard me say before: If God was faithful to us in the past, why would we think that he might not be faithful to us in the future as well?  Again, “If God was faithful to us in the past, why would we think that he might not be faithful to us in the future as well?”

     The transfiguration was meant to prove to the disciples that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  It was a high moment of vision for them.  Yet it was a high moment of vision that was meant to prepare them for what lay ahead.  It wouldn’t be long before they’d see the Son of God hung on a cross to die.  They would need the strength of their high moment of vision to enable them to cope with the present and to face the future.  That’s what high moments of vision do for us.  They prepare us to face an uncertain future.

     God has clearly been faithful to us in the past.  God will surely be faithful to us in the future as well.  Don’t get all caught up in any glory days of the past.  Be bold to face the future.  God has a place for the First Presbyterian Church of Meadville…in Meadville.  We just need to find it.  Amen.

    

 

 

2-7-2010 sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

     “You should have seen the one that got away!”  That’s what a fisherman says when someone oohs and aahs at the sight of a great big fish he caught.  It’s a fairly common phrase in fishing circles.  And after considerable in-depth research, I was able to come up with its origin.  Listen to the story of how the phrase, “You should have seen the one that got away,” originally came to be.    

     Once upon a time, a great many years ago, a fisherman and his wife were blessed with twin sons.  They loved their children very much, but they couldn’t think of anything to name them.  Finally, after several days, the fisherman said, “Let’s not decide on the names right now.  If we wait a little while, perhaps their names will occur to us.” 

     After several weeks had passed, the fisherman and his wife noticed something peculiar about their boys.  When left alone, one of the boys would always turn towards the sea, while the other boy would always turn away.  It didn’t matter which way the parents positioned the children, one child would always turn towards the sea and the other child would always turn away.  The fisherman finally suggested, “Let’s call the boys Towards and Away.”  Oddly enough, his wife agreed to that suggestion and from that point on, the boys were known as Towards and Away.

     Many years passed and the boys grew tall and strong.  The day finally came when the aging fisherman approached the boys and said, “Boys, it’s time you learned how to make a living from the sea.”  So they provisioned their ship, said their goodbyes, and then set sail for a three month voyage at sea.  The three months passed quickly for the fisherman’s wife, yet the ship did not return.  After three more months had passed, there was still no ship.  Finally, after an entire year had come and gone, the grieving woman saw a bedraggled man walking up the steps to her house.

   It took a few moments, but she finally recognized the tattered man as her husband.  “Where are my darling boys, Towards and Away?” she cried.  The ragged fisherman began to tell his sad tale of woe.  “We were barely one day out to sea when Towards hooked into a great big fish.  Towards fought long and hard, but the fish was more than his equal.  For a whole week they wrestled upon the waves without either one of them letting up a bit.  Yet eventually, the great fish began to win the battle, and Towards was pulled over the side of the ship.  He was swallowed whole and I never saw him again.”

     “Oh, dear,” the fisherman’s wife exclaimed.  “That must have been terrible!  What a huge fish that must have been!”  “Yes, it was,” the fisherman said.  “But you should have seen the one that got Away!”  (Get it?  The boys were named Towards and Away.  The one that got Away?)    

     Fishing – and fishermen – are popular themes in the New Testament.  Case in point, the passage we just read from the gospel according to Luke.  Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret – which is just another name for the Sea of Galilee – when the crowd pressed upon him to hear the word of God.  Jesus got into the boat of a man named Simon and asked him to put out a little ways from the shore.   

     After he had finished teaching from the boat, Jesus told Simon to put out into the deep water and let down his nets for a catch.  Simon did so, even though they had already toiled all night long and had caught absolutely nothing.  When they let down their nets for a catch they caught so many fish that it nearly sank two boats.  At that Simon dropped to his knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  To which Jesus replied, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.”  Actually, I like Mark’s wording a little bit better.  In the gospel of Mark, Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

     Larry Peers is the author of an article for The Alban Institute entitled, “From Stressed to Blessed.”  In it, he uses a couple of fishing analogies as well when talking about recruiting volunteers for positions in the church.  He begins his article this way:

“You should have seen the one that got away!”  “I got a big one – quite a catch!”  Each of these comments was followed by brief peals of laughter as a small group jokingly talked about the process of recruiting members for volunteer leadership positions in the church.  The fishing metaphor seemed to sink into even deeper foolishness as we related stories of luring members successfully into committees or other responsibilities within a congregation.

     He notes that when Jesus called his disciples to be “fishers of men,” he likely had something different in mind than luring people onto church boards and committees.  He also notes that some churches are not above using deception to recruit volunteers when they misrepresent duties or the time commitment required, and when they fail to provide training or support.  Jean Morris Trumbauer coined a name for this type of church in a book she wrote entitled, Sharing the Ministry.  She calls it, “The Church of Twisted Arms.”

     But let’s be honest about this.  A church functions by way of volunteers.  A church is only as good as its volunteers.  And a church can only go as far as its volunteers are willing to take it.  Perhaps the question we need to ask here, however, is this: “So what?”  I mean, after all, how important really is the church and its mission?

     There’s a video that’s been sweeping the country on YouTube that seems to advocate the importance of the church and its mission.  It’s entitled, “Demographic Problem,” and it talks about how population figures and fertility statistics are set to impact the future of our world.  Listen to what the video has to say.

The world is changing.  The global culture our children inherit will be vastly different than what it is today.  According to research, in order for a culture to sustain itself for more than 25 years, there must be a fertility rate of 2.11 children per family.  With anything less, the culture will decline.  Historically, no culture has ever reversed a 1.9 fertility rate.  A rate of 1.3 is impossible to reverse, because it would take 80 to 100 years to correct itself, and there is no economic model that can sustain a culture during that time.

 

In other words, if two sets of parents each had one child, there are half as many children as parents.  If those children have one child, there are one-fourth as many grandchildren as grandparents.  If only one million babies are born in 2006, it’s hard to have two million adults enter the workforce in 2026.  As the population shrinks, so does the culture.

 

As of 2007, the fertility rate in France was 1.8; England 1.6; Greece 1.3; Germany 1.3; Italy 1.2; Spain 1.1.  Historical research tells us these numbers are impossible to reverse.  In a matter of years, Europe – as we know it – will cease to exist.

 

Yet the population of Europe is not declining.  Why?  Immigration.  Islamic immigration.  Of all population growth in Europe since 1990, 90% is Islamic immigration.  In France, 1.8 children per family.  Muslims – 8.1 children per family.  In southern France, traditionally one of the most populated church regions in the world, there are now more mosques than churches.  Thirty percent of children age 20 and younger are Islamic.  In larger cities, that number has grown to 45%.  In just 39 years, France will be an Islamic republic.

 

Muammar al-Gaddafi says, “There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without sword, without guns, without conquest.  We don’t need terrorists, we don’t need suicide bombers.  The 50-plus million Muslims in Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

 

Closer to home, the numbers tell a similar story.  Right now, Canada’s fertility rate is 1.6, nearly a full point below what is required to sustain a culture, and Islam is now the fastest growing religion.  In the United States, the current fertility rate is 1.6.  With the influx of Latino nations, the rate increases to 2.11, the bare minimum required to sustain a culture.  In 1970, there were 100,000 Muslims in America.  Today, there are over 9 million.  The world is changing.  It’s time to wake up.  As believers we call upon you to share the gospel message with a changing world.  This is a call to action.

     That’s how the video ends.  Perhaps we are reminded of Edmund Burke’s famous statement: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  Is this video a call to action for Christians around the world?  Is this perhaps justification for the importance of the church and its mission?

     First of all, I think it’s vitally important that we have our facts straight.  After considerable research, I found that many of the statistics in the video are either skewed or completely untrue.  As I often say, “Statistics are like a lamppost to a drunken man – used more for support than illumination.”  For example, the video states that 90% of the population growth in Europe has been Islamic immigration.  The fact is that 85% of the population growth in Europe has been through immigration, but they weren’t all Muslims.  That statistic includes all immigration.

     The video also stated that the French are having 1.8 children per family, while the Muslims in France are having 8.1 children per family.  The fact of the matter is, France does not keep statistics by religion, so it is impossible to say what the fertility rates are among different religious groups in France.  What’s more, no country on earth has a fertility rate of 8.1 children per family. Thus, that statement cannot be true.

    As demographer Martin Wilson recently noted in the Spring 2009 edition of Wilson Quarterly, “The detailed work of demographers tends to seep out to the general public in crude form, and sensationalist headlines become common wisdom.”  Later he adds:

The human habit is simply to project current trends into the future.  Demographic realities are seldom kind to the predictions that result.  The decision to have a child depends on innumerable personal considerations and large, unaccountable societal factors that are in constant flux.  Yet even knowing this, demographers often find themselves flummoxed.  Projections of birthrates and population totals are often embarrassingly at odds with eventual reality.

       I was unable to uncover who put this video together.  The point is that it should not be used as a call to discipleship.  It is not justification for the church and its mission.  Let me tell you what is.

     Recall Jesus’ encounter with Simon in the passage we read from the gospel according to Luke.  When did Simon respond to Christ’s call to discipleship?  He responded after they had made a huge haul of fish.  And I think that’s the point.  We are called to discipleship ourselves in response to what God has done for us.  We are not called to discipleship in order to get something from God.  We are called to discipleship because of what God has already done for us.  Discipleship is a response, not a request, and is anything but a call to arms.   

     So where do we go from here?  Perhaps an in-depth spiritual inventory is in order.  Think about what God has done for you.  Do you have your health?  Are your children a blessing to you?  Has God pulled you through some scrapes in life that might have gone another way?  Think about what God has done for you.  And in light of all that God has done for you, don’t you feel compelled to do something for God?

     Ladies and gentlemen, the data from our mission self-study is in.  After considerable deliberation, your church’s elders have decided that our first and foremost goal in the coming year is to build community in our church.  How are we going to do that?  We’re going to conduct an every member canvass.  We are going to visit every member and every household in this church to build – or to rebuild – love and peace and harmony in this congregation.  I envision at least 100 volunteers going out in teams of two…just like Jesus dispatched his disciples.  We want to build community here.  We want the First Presbyterian Church to be a place where members love and care for one another unconditionally. 

  Thus, we need volunteers who recognize all that God has done for them.  This is an opportunity for you to respond to what God has done for you.  We don’t want anyone to feel compelled, and we do not plan to use guilt as a way to move people to action.  The last thing we want is to be known as the church of twisted arms.  We want people who want to volunteer.  We want people who feel God’s call upon them.  Listen for God’s call to you in this message.  And please, don’t be the one that got away.  Amen.