This morning we turn our hearts and minds towards the up-coming General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The Assembly, the highest court of the Presbyterian Church, will be meeting in Rotorua at the beginning of October. A number of Knox Church members will be attending.
The incoming Moderator of the Assembly, Rev. Ray Coster, has coined the phrase “Reviving the Flame” for his Moderatorial theme. The flame is a powerful symbol of faith. It recalls the coming of the Spirit in tongues of fire at Pentecost – that time we usually describe as the birth-day of the universal Christian Church. In the Presbyterian tradition the flame brings to mind the image of the burning bush, encountered by Moses, and which has been adopted as a logo in many reformed traditions. Ray Coster’s call for the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ to revive the flame is a call for us to reconnect with the dynamics of Pentecost, which he describes in terms of “living in the power of God’s presence and the presence of God’s power.” He has written a four part study for the church to engage with his theme: Reviving the Flame. This morning’s sermon uses material from that study. Tomorrow evening, you are invited to come along to the Gathering Area to participate in discussion on what ‘Reviving the Flame’ might mean for us here at Knox.
Underlying Ray Coster’s theme for his moderatorial term, is a mission question – with a significant challenge – do we know why we do what we do?
Every single church on the planet knows WHAT they do. This is true no matter how big or how small they are. WHATs are easy to identify.
Some churches and people know HOW they do what they do: they can describe their Sunday worship; they can tell HOW they reach or serve their community; they can tell HOW they provide ministry with children and youth.
But, very few people in churches, in my experience, says Ray Coster, can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. WHY does your church exist? He asks. WHY do you get out of bed every morning? WHY should anyone care?
Does this present a challenge to us?
Do you know why Knox Church exists or why you are here this morning?
Do you know why this church advocates it welcomes all people?
Do you know why our worship is so liturgical, why we have a choir? Could you explain to a friend why we have two Presbyterian Women’s groups, why we hold Stories by Candlelight … not what or how we do these things – but why?
Can you articulate why we provide Easter gifts for prisoners, Harvest gifts for Presbyterian Support, Christmas posies for those who are isolated?
If we do know the why, that’s great. The Moderator-elect writes for those of us who may not find that articulation so easy.
Once we know WHY, he writes, then we can ask HOW we will do it; that is explore the values or principles that guide us in bringing our mission to life. What we actually do shows the consistency of our mission. Everything we say, and everything we do, has to show and prove what we believe.
I was pondering the Moderator-elect’s words as I walked through the University campus this week. A couple of students were walking behind me, heading for a lecture. I overheard just a snatch of their conversation about their lecturer – “I think” one of them observed “this guy needs to give us treats to make us interested”. What did she believe about her tertiary education? I think she’d lost the heart of her WHY as she focussed on the WHATS and HOWS of her own personal desires. Ray Coster suggests that most churches do this – they start with their WHATs before trying to express their WHY. That is understandable. They start from the clearest thing to them and move to the fuzziest. But, he claims, inspired churches (and other organisations) always start from the reason for their being. They start with WHY and move to WHAT.
He provides an illustration from the business world -
Apple’s success, he claims, is based on the strategy to tell us WHY we need their iPads, iPods and iPhones.
Apple did not invent the MP3 player, nor did they invent the technology that became the iPod, yet they are credited with transforming the music industry with it. The inventors of the technology for MP3 players gave the world a WHAT – they told us their product was a “5GB MP3 Player”. Apple’s message was exactly the same, but they told us WHY we needed it – that we could, “carry 1,000 songs in your pocket”.
Ray Coster calls the church to revive the flame – to revive the WHY of our existence.
Recently I read an article written by Marcus Borg, where he deals with the chronology of the New Testament[1]. Borg points out a well known fact – that the Bible was not written in the order in which it is printed. Matthew was not the first piece to be written – and Revelation wasn’t the last. Borg has put together a proposed order – the detail of which is of course open to debate – but which invites a reconsideration of the development of the early church. Imagine a Bible printed in chronological order – it might go something like this: 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, the three letters of 2 Corinthians, Romans – all before the first Gospel Mark… followed by James, Colossians, Matthew, Hebrews, John … etc. Nine letters written before any gospel...
In light of the Moderator-elect’s theme, I found myself wondering, might the Gospels have been written in a reaction to an institutional shift from the WHY to the WHAT and HOW? Do the earliest New Testament writings, reflect an institutionalising movement away from the initial charismatic fire of the first Christians - what Ray Coster suggests many organizations and churches do: once well established, they focus on WHAT they do and HOW they do it without considering WHY, even though it is always the WHY that got them started in the first place. Were the later writings of the Gospels an attempt to revive the flame of the Jesus movement – recalling the emerging institutional church back to its WHY? Perhaps its time for us to return again to the WHY of our being.
Think about how you communicate with your community, writes our incoming Moderator? Are you telling them WHAT you offer, or are you telling them WHY you are in the community? Do they know WHY they need you? Once we have an understanding of WHY, we can then begin to put in place the HOW and the WHAT.
The central message and belief of our church is about hope and transformation: what God has done through Jesus in bringing flourishing life to the world, God will do through humanity for the whole cosmos. This is the primary motivation for mission – it’s the ‘why’ of mission. If there had been no Jesus, no resurrection, no Holy Spirit, there would be no church …
A Church with a transforming resurrection-pentecost mind-set knows and understands that the Church is not about us (and our petty squabbles and attempts to do things our way)! When we have our WHY in its rightful place, we truly gain the servant heart – the mind of Christ. The time to think about you is done – writes Ray Coster; it’s not about you. It’s about the people who will follow you. We are not seeking to relive history; we are setting out to make history – transforming the communities and world in which we are placed.
Restoration and transformation of the world was why the first followers of Jesus were impelled into the world in mission – proclaiming the gospel, showing compassion, seeking justice, caring for the needy.
As we prepare for General Assembly, the Moderator-elect urges us all to take time to think about being a resurrection people – ‘the people of the flame’ – who are being revived, refreshed, so we may focus on others in mission and love.
As we come to the table this morning, we come to be the people of the flame – re-focussing our lives on Jesus, who opens our eyes to see truths of a new kin-dom, where Love never fails and where compassionate justice is always enacted. Amen
[1] Evolution of the Word by Marcus Borg www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-borg/a-chronological-new-testament_b_1823018.html
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