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“Consecration of
and for What?” Four weeks ago at the start of this year’s stewardship campaign, I told a story about a strong man at a county fair who challenged anyone to squeeze more juice from the lemon he had just squeezed dry. And then an older gentleman from the crowd took the challenge and managed to squeeze more from the flattened lemon. His secret – he disclosed -- was that he had been stewardship chair at his Congregational church for many years. So it was that we made the lemon the symbol for this year’s Stewardship Drive. But I got worried that our stewardship chair might need some assistance so we have provided him with a delicate tool (this hammer) to assist him in his juicing of his lemons. Truth be told we need to have fun and to be able to kid about what goes on here. So I do hope we can all have a glass of lemonade at our brunch later this morning and toast our stewardship campaign. But stewardship to be sure has serious implications for a church. As Ed Prohl and Ed McLaren highlighted last week during their stewardship message, churches cannot function and do the myriad and important things that they do with out resources and without the time and talents of their members. No amount of prayer will heat the sanctuary, pay for a sexton to maintain our building or buy new curricula for our Sunday school program. But stewardship is more that just taking care of the mundane, yet important, practicalities and financial realities of life in the 21st century; it is about taking and transforming the common into the sacred. This is what we are doing on Consecration Sunday. When I hear the word “consecration” I immediately think of those words uttered nearly 150 years ago by President Lincoln on a Pennsylvania battlefield outside the small town of Gettysburg: But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. Consecration means to dedicate something to a special, often a sacred, use. And so it is in today’s passage from Exodus that Yahweh dedicates the place -- the tabernacle -- in which he will be present and meet with the Israelites during the Exodus and also dedicates Aaron and his sons to be God’s priests. Consecration is the symbolic process of taking a mundane tent and turning it into a sacred worship space. And so in a few moments we will symbolically take our pledges – the hard earned product of our wits and labors and placed them in service to God – symbolically turning them from the secular to the sacred. And it is right that we should do this but in fundamental sense consecration of our pledges occurs when we use them. As Lincoln so eloquently noted the battlefield at Gettysburg could be recognized and dedicated by speeches and prayers that November day in 1863. However, it was truly consecrated, dedicated and hallowed by the actions of those who on that very ground gave their last full measure of devotion to the preservation of the Union and to the end slavery. So too we should think about the purposes to which our pledges will be put – for it is through those purposes and uses that our pledges are truly consecrated – turned from the common to the sacred. Over the last several weeks, members of this church -- Beth Statman, Barbara Cardone and Hugh Klein -- have spoken about what this church means to them. Their eloquent and poignant words speak for themselves. Each in her or his own way and words talked about the myriad things we do with our pledges – providing Christian Education, Outreach, and Worship among other things. But especially central to each was the sense that this is a community of faithful, supportive people. This church was called “a great network of support”, a community “ever willing to help” and “my family”. Whatever the specific words the message was clear -- this is a place that has been a source of support and comfort for many when times were difficult – when we have faced the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, a life threatening illness or simply when we needed a friend. In my life time hanging around churches -- whether as a “preachers kid”, as an adult member active in different churches or more recently as a minister – I have seen clearly that a local church is many important things. Every church worships together, provides fellowship, engages in outreach and social justice, provides Christian education and offers pastoral care. But each church also has a special defining character. It seems to me that as our past speakers have noted this is a church that is defined by the bond of fellowship that connects us to each other. We are here for each other. And while we all would describe what is uniquely important to us about FCC, I suspect each of us would mention its fellowship And isn’t that what a church should be. When we read the depictions of Jesus’ ministry in the four gospels, we are often affected by the words Jesus said and by his actions. We focus on the Sermons of the Mount and on the Plain with their divine messages of the importance of justice and of fair treatment of all. We reflect on the parables about the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son and try and understand what it means to be faithful, to love one’s neighbors and to forgive each other as God forgives us. We focus on the stories of Jesus’ embrace of the outcasts and his disdain for senseless rules and rituals. And, of course, we come back always to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross, undertaken to ensure that we never forget that love is eternal and sustaining. The gospels are, indeed, wonderful primers on how to live Godly and joyous lives. But what I think we forget is that Jesus did something equally important – he founded a community of followers -- the church. It has survived 2000 years and is alive today in this place. The story of the New Testament is not one of hermits and isolated monks withdrawing to the desert. It is the remarkable story of building a church starting with 12 disciples. It evolved to a few scattered communities of Jesus followers contending with a hostile world. Yet ultimately the Christian Church has become the largest community the world has ever seen. Why this focus on building community? It would be easy to say it was strategic for there is strength in numbers and the church fathers were aware of this. But the real reason is that we are the best we can be when in community bathed in the love and fellowship of others. Let us never forget that love requires a lover and a loved one; it cannot be experienced in isolation or alone. When we are bound together in community by faith, we are greater than the sum of our parts. I am reminded of this daily. When I call on someone, invariably I learn that others from this church have been there before me and I know will be there after me. Isn’t that what Beth, Barbara and Hugh were saying? I suspect many others of us would agree. It is quite clear that the pledges given by you and others in the past have been wonderfully consecrated -- turned from the common and the mundane to the sacred in this place. The challenge for us today is to continue that process of consecration. Today is the first step as we collect those resources and each of us rededicates ourselves to this wonderful community. The challenges to be sure are great; our needs grow each year and the times are difficult. But know this -- no other place can turn the mundane to the sacred as the church can -- as this church can and will. We are not perfect and never will be. However, we are animated by faith in the unlimited possibilities that lie before us. When we walk together in faith the process of consecration is certain. Dag Hammarskjold wrote these words, For all that
has been – thanks!
So with joy let us now offer our pledges in service to God -- continuing the process of consecration that defines this church at its best. Amen
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