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This is the time of year when even the price of gasoline cannot keep
one off the roads. There is the wonder of Spring that beckons us to
the outdoors, camera in hand. I have decades worth of pictures of
bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes, buttercups, black-eyed susans, and
all sorts of trees in bloom. Every year it is like the first time I
have ever seen such a sight. On one of my spring drives I noticed a
“Historical Marker” sign on the side of the road. I looked at it and
thought, “Something significant happened here.” I went
home and looked up historical markers in Brazos County and found that
we have 60 such markers in our county. One of them is in north Bryan
at Alexander United Methodist Church, where a circuit rider named
Robert Alexander organized the congregation in 1854 and settlers in
the area built a church out of hand-hewn logs in 1856. Another
Historical Marker can be found at First United Methodist Church in
Bryan where in 1868 The Reverend H.G. Horton raised $500 to build a
church on land deeded by the Houston & Texas Railroad. I found that
interesting because in 1919 that same church sent $500 to build a
church in College Station across the street from Texas A&M College.
I
started thinking that I ought to have an edition of the Bible printed
up and call it the Historical Marker edition. Can’t you see it? All
throughout the pages of the Bible would be a little Historical Marker
bubbles that indicate something significant happened here.
I am certain that there would be a marker in Ezra 6 and in Nehemiah
2. Listen to the events that occurred there and their impact on the
people. Hear now the Word of the Lord found in Ezra 6:13-17:
13 Then, according to the word sent by King Darius, Tattenai, the
governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their
associates did with all diligence what King Darius had ordered.
14So the elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the
prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They
finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree
of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia; 15and this
house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth
year of the reign of King Darius. 16The people of Israel,
the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles,
celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17They
offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two
hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all
Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of
Israel.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
This is a
great time in the history of Israel. The day is March 23, 515 B.C.
71 years earlier the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed along with
the Holy City. The Babylonian Empire scattered people throughout the
vast region of its rule. Time eventually ran out for the Babylonians
and the Persian Empire overthrew it. Cyrus had decreed that the
exiles could return to Jerusalem and Darius, after him, decreed that
the Temple be rebuilt. It was a day of great joy as we see from verse
sixteen. Certainly a “Historical Marker” bubble would emerge from
this passage stating something significant happened here.
But that is not the end of the story. Flash forward another 70
years. The Temple is standing. In fact, it will stand for nearly 600
years. However, the city had not been rebuilt. There was a beautiful
temple in the midst of a dilapidated city. When Nehemiah, a Jew who
worked for the Persian ruler, heard this he was devastated. The
ruler, Artaxerxes, felt for Nehemiah and sent him back to Jerusalem to
fix the place up. Here would be another Historical Marker. Hear now
the Word of the Lord found in Nehemiah 2:17-20:
17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how
Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild
the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.”
18I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me,
and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said,
“Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common
good. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the
Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked and
ridiculed us, saying, “What is this that you are doing? Are you
rebelling against the king?” 20Then I replied to them, “The
God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we his servants
are going to start building; but you have no share or claim or
historic right in Jerusalem.”
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to
God.
In these passages Ezra and Nehemiah reported to their readers
historic moments in the history of the people of God.
Not only do counties have historical markers, and
scriptures reveal historic markers, I believe every church has
historical markers etched in our story. I already mentioned 1919 when
$500 was sent to start a ministry here. There was February 23, 1923
when King Vivion stood up at a District Conference held on campus and
said, “Tonight we are setting up the organization of A&M Methodist
Church.” He said it to 19 people in attendance (3 were visitors).
There was 1951 when this sanctuary was built and 1967 when our
Fellowship Hall was constructed. There are other dates 1983, 1999,
and 2004. Then there are those dates in our own faith journey that
take on historical significance – weddings here, baptisms here,
memorial services and funerals here, decisions to accept Christ here.
Every church and every Christian has historical markers, places in our
story that declare, something significant happened here.
Will 2008 be included in that list for A&M UMC?
Historical markers of Faith
Point to Possibilities. Nehemiah was shocked to find out
decades later that the project to restore Jerusalem stopped when the
Temple was rebuilt. He was determined that 445 B.C. or as he knew it,
“the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes”
would be a historical marker moment for the people of God. There was
unfinished work that needed to be done. He challenged the people of
Jerusalem, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in
ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the wall of
Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” His
challenge led to a banner year and a historical moment for the people.
Fulfilling the Vision is a campaign inspired by this story.
There are so many things worth celebrating in this church. Ministries
continue to grow. The Ekklesia worship service had to move to the
Christian Life Center on Easter because everyone would not have fit
into the annex sanctuary. Just two weeks ago we had to bring in
chairs in this sanctuary, because we ran out of pew space. The
chancel choir, youth group, college ministries, soup ‘n’ sermon, all
have shown significant increases in participation this year. Our
facilities are receiving more use than ever with Dodge ball one moment
and worship services the next. Our coffee house is open Sunday
through Thursday night and students are beginning to ask why we
provide free coffee and wi-fi. The volunteer staff share with them
that we want them to have a safe place to hang out and if they want to
talk about faith, there is always someone available to visit with
them. There is so much good going on at A&M United Methodist Church.
But just like Jerusalem of 2450 years ago there is still some
important work to be done. Fulfilling the Vision seeks
to identify and respond to two needs: Ministry and Facilities that
facilitate ministry.
The
addition of the Christian Life Center and the acquisition of the annex
property has brought us some debt that will take a few years to absorb
into our ministry budget without negatively impacting our ministries.
That is, we don’t want to add a monthly note that will take away funds
currently being directed to the various ministries of this church.
Bob Appleton said it well last month when he stated that it would
greatly pain him if we took half a step back with all that is going
right at the present. Fulfilling the Vision seeks to
continue that course by reducing our debt and at the same time giving
us three years to incorporate the projected debt service into a stable
budget.
The
second need that Fulfilling the Vision addresses is
facilities that facilitate ministry. I can only imagine the
historical markers in people’s faith journeys that have taken place in
this very room. For 57 years this sanctuary has served this community
of faith in such a meaningful way. But it is being threatened. The
roof is original, not only on this sanctuary but on the building to
which it connects. There are leaks that are not responding to
patches. The tiles are so brittle that when one tries to slide a
patch under one, the hole gets bigger. The air conditioner and heater
run through the same pipes, and some of those pipes are leaking.
Under the best of circumstances it takes 24 hours to turn our system
over from heat to cool and vice-versa. The best of circumstances were
decades ago. Our restrooms are not very restful. I won’t say much
more about that in this sermon, but our facilities do need some
attention. Fulfilling the Vision is an effort to do
that. I believe that 2008 has the potential to be one of those
historical markers in our congregation’s story that indicate
something significant happened here.
Historical markers of Faith
Point to Problems. Where there are possibilities
there are often problems. For Nehemiah they had names:
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. They are the original three stooges
whose sole purpose is to keep Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem
from responding to the call of God. They try every trick in the book:
mockery, threats of violence, accusations of rebellion against the
throne, and deceit.
I like that they have names, because last week when I
was praying about this effort of our church, doubts began to emerge.
This church has responded so faithfully to so many requests, what if
you would simply say, “No more.” This church has been so united in so
many things over the years, what if this would undermine that unity.
I found myself getting more stressed than I have been in all my time
at A&M UMC. Then I recognized those voices within as Sanballat, Tobiah,
and Geshem asking, “What is this that you are doing?” Wherever
there is opportunity there will be obstacles and I know their names.
Historical markers are filled with stories of how possibilities
persevered over the problems and declare, “Something significant
happened here.”
Historical markers of Faith
Point to Providence. Providence is the guiding force that
transforms possibilities into realities. I love the way that Nehemiah
addressed the 3 stooges, “The God of heaven is the one who will
give us success, and we his servants are going to start building.”
There is a wonderful combination of reliance on God and rolling up
one’s sleeves. Ezra alluded to the same thing when in verse fourteen
of chapter six he wrote, “They finished their building by command
of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King
Artaxerxes of Persia.” God presented the possibilities, the
rulers decreed the action, the people rolled up their sleeves and got
to work. As for Nehemiah, the walls that had lay in ruins for 140
years were rebuilt in 52 days. Great things can happen when the
people of God respond to the possibilities and rely upon the
providence of God.
We have
an opportunity to make 2008 a year where we declare something
significant happened here. But as we launch this effort, let
us remember that it is not under our own power that we will accomplish
this task. “The God of heaven is the one who will give us success,
and we his servants are going to start building.” As we come to
this Table, let us commit our very selves to God’s service in
Fulfilling the Vision for God’s church. Amen. |
