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Mystic
Congregational Church, UCC Mystic,
Connecticut Sermon
from November 14, 2004 “I Believe” Rev.
Thomas Ratmeyer and Priscilla Baxter Scriptures: Isaiah
65:17-25 Priscilla: I want to share with you a poem that was read at our Saturday Worship several weeks ago. It impressed me and has stayed with me. “To
believe is to know that everyday is a new beginning.
It
is to trust that miracles happen and dreams really do come true.
To
believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds, To
know the wonder of the stardust sky and the wisdom of the man on the moon. To
believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart, The
innocence of a child’s eyes, and the beauty of an aging hand, for it is
through their teachings that we learn to love.
To
believe is to find the strength and the courage that lies within us, When
it is time to pick up the pieces and begin again.
To
believe is to know we are never alone, That
life is a gift and this is our time to cherish it.
To
believe is to know that wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen and all
our dreams are within reach. If
only we believe.” I
think that’s an expression of life and our sense of stewardship is how we use
our lives, our time on this earth, how we use our money, our ideas and our
leadership. It’s experiencing
God’s grace through our relationships most especially here in Mystic
Congregational Church where we can be confident that we are accepted and loved.
Believe me—if I didn’t know that, I wouldn’t be up here this
morning. I’m
glad that the Stewardship Committee is, this year, focusing on the total concept
of Stewardship and promoting individual visits to give us the opportunity to
share what the church means to each of us.
Some of you have already had the chance in the past couple of weeks to
visit and talk with church friends. Which
reminds me of when Chuck and I first came to Mystic and joined the church—one
of the first people we met was Dick Lindsey when he came to call at stewardship
time. Those of you who have been
here longer than about ten years will remember Dick and Mary and what dear
friends they were. To talk with
Dick that day was a wonderful introduction to this church.
Well, yes, he did leave us a pledge card but getting to know him and get
a feeling for Mystic Congregational Church is what I remember so fondly.
We were already acquainted with George and Kay Dreher.
George was pastor then and had married our daughter, Jean, and her
husband George Dragon. Then there
were others who made us feel so very welcome in this church.
Some of you remember Maude Lane who was not at all shy in asking
newcomers to please join the church. (Maude
was a one-woman welcoming committee who knew everyone’s name and the names of
all their children. You might say
she was the Dottie Wilson of her day.) My
earlier adult experience in church was at Center Congregational Church in
Manchester, Connecticut where we lived before we came to Mystic.
Chuck and I took our children to Sunday School there and, very soon,
became involved in the life of the church.
I think that between us we served, over the years, on every board and
committee and in every activity of the church except, perhaps, the Jubilee Club
in which you had to have been there for fifty years.
To be part of the church community involved meeting a responsibility but
it was also a joy to worship, to work, study and play with others who lived
their lives because of their faith. We
also learned that we needed—actually, that we wanted—to put a priority on
our church monetary gifts through annual pledging and capital funds.
When
we moved here, we felt like we slipped right in.
Soon after joining Mystic Congregational Church, I became active in the
Women’s Fellowship. We both
joined the choir, were asked to be on the Stewardship Committee, and then Chuck
was asked to be its Chair. One
night, while I was still puttering in the kitchen, he called out with a laugh
from reading in the next room, “I just found out I’m middle-aged!
It says right here in Newsweek that middle-age is the time when you have
the feeling you’ve been this road before, and I just said I’d be Chairman of
Stewardship.” Of course, that had
been his first job at Center Church. Well,
enough of my reminiscing. How about
you, Thomas? Thomas: Priscilla,
I have a sense that, for most of us, to be a part of the church goes back to
childhood. Most of what we
associate with church have some beginnings in our childhood.
Whether we know that church is about God’s love for us or that church
is about sitting still for a really long time:
Church is about singing and reading in the Bible.
Church is about running with dozens of other children to find the Easter
eggs after worship on Easter Sunday. Church
is potluck dinners and soup kitchen duty. Church
is the neighbor in the pew whose eyes tear up when he sings the Gloria Patri. Church is the kind lady who remembers your name and makes
sure you get a cookie at coffee hour. Most
of us who walk into a church as a visitor, any church, have some personal
history already. Some of it is
good. Some of it may not be.
The
church, of course, has a history of her own.
Some of the words and rituals we share reach back to the beginning of
Christianity and beyond. That we
honor Thanksgiving, that we make Thanksgiving food baskets, reaches back to the
beginning of this country as we know it. But,
that as a religious community, we share with those in need—that reaches back
further than even the beginning of democracy.
In spite of all that, in spite of our personal story and history and the
long, long history of the Church, my point this morning, my first point, is that
the Church isn’t here today because it was here yesterday and the day before.
The Church is here today because we find it relevant, meaningful, and
important to be there. There’s
no doubt in my mind that Congregations are very unique creatures in society.
I don’t think there is a single other institution that combines such a
variety of functions. In the Church
we come together to help each other. We
find we come here and we can share rather personal things that are going on in
our lives. We find there’s always
somebody ready to help us and we find that we, occasionally, are in the position
to help another and, yet, we are so much more than a self-help group. Only in the Church do we join in fellowship with one another
and enjoy to be together and eat and have fun with like-minded people, and, yet,
we’re so much more than any club that would fulfill that function.
Only in the Church do we work in the community to promote justice and
equality among people, and, yet, find we are so much more than a community
outreach organization. What
is exactly is this “so much more” other than the fact that we do all
these things. I believe it lies in
the fact that we are not left unto ourselves but we do what we do in worship and
in service to God. I’m pretty
passionate about why a congregation is so special and what the role of the
Church is. But I have a sense that
you, Priscilla, want to talk more about who we are and what happens specifically
right here. Priscilla: “Stewardship
is everything you do after you say I believe.”
Those are familiar words in the last week or so, aren’t they?
When I say, “I believe”, it includes the story I told earlier but it
continues into the present. How do
I put into words what the Mystic Congregational Church means to me?
I
am grateful for our ministers, past and present, who are, first and foremost,
pastors—teaching, guiding, comforting, and, sometimes, nudging a little, too.
I am grateful for our Sunday School with Chris Glas and all the others
who participate. What a joy it is
to see the children stream down to the front here every Sunday!
I am grateful to be able to serve on the different committees and
programs that have enriched me beyond measure.
Music
in the church drew me first and singing in the choir continues to be an
essential act of worship for me. Thank
you, Trish. The Women’s
Fellowship is truly a core of our church. Nowhere
else can you find a group where one is more accepted and forgiven and loved.
Working together in worship, programs, study, service and projects to
support many missions brings a sense of family and of being a part of God’s
plan for us in our community. The
many needs in the community offer opportunities for church people to reach out
in service—Christian Mission, the Hunger Sub-committee which oversees monthly
and special holiday food collections like this wonderful array we have here;
Hispanic Education which tutors young people in New London and helps them later
with scholarship aid; and the many, many volunteers from the church who deliver
Meals on Wheels, serve at the Sunshine Kitchen, shop or work for the Groton Food
Locker, read to children at the Norwich Family Shelter, or sing with the
residents at a nursing home. That
names just a few of our many avenues of outreach.
Parish
Care Ministry personifies our caring community of faith.
It’s a committee—an off-shoot of the Board of Deacons—but it is so
much more. We are all involved in
Parish Care and because we are a family with a sense of belonging, we care for
one another. Sometimes giving, very
often receiving. That, I think, is
something very special in the church.
Giving
from our financial resources is the last, but not the least, of our
opportunities to be part of our church. When
we make our annual pledge, we choose to make a commitment and an investment
toward the future of this faith family. We
are a church filled with love, with faith, with hope.
Isaiah
lends his voice to God when he said in our Scripture reading:
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.”
We choose to be part of this continuing creation.
We treat one another differently because we understand God’s love
through people—most especially, the people of this church.
When we come together on Sunday morning or at Saturday Worship, we know
we are a part of a family. There is
a sense of belonging. When we serve
on a board or a committee, we know the kinship of friends who have similar
values and goals and who know that we are constantly guided by God.
What we have in common is a journey of faith that brings us together in
worship and in a rich variety of ministries and missions.
We have trust in our future. Thomas: Thank
you, Priscilla. I love this idea
that Isaiah speaks of God as “still creating”.
Isaiah wants us to be assured that the Church reaches beyond the past and
the present into the future. “Be
glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.”
Priscilla just said those words. God
is still calling the Church into being. God
is still creating the new kingdom of which the Church is one manifestation.
God is still speaking and the Word is till becoming flesh. But
the conversation is not one-sided. We
do talk back. “What is it you
want us to do, God?”, we ask. “You
can’t possibly mean for us to do that,” we say.
“Where are you, God?”, we ask. “Thank
you for giving us a hint,” we say. “Why
me?”, we ask on several occasions. “Here
I am,” we say. Right
now, our answer to God’s creating and God’s speaking is the Stewardship
Campaign. I want to make one simple
point about what a Stewardship Campaign is and is not.
A
Stewardship Campaign is not the
leaders of the church asking the members of the church to do something, namely,
fill out a pledge card. We may have
thought about it that way in the past. Let’s
not anymore. A Stewardship Campaign
is the members and friends of the church telling the leaders of the
church to do ministry and the way they are telling us that is by making a
pledge. Your pledge is a mandate
for the church to do ministry in the next year.
It is the resource and the empowerment and the responsibility for us to
do the work. This has a very
practical aspect to it. If you
contribute but you don’t fill out a pledge card, then those who make a budget
and plan for the programs and ministries of the church will not know to count on
your contribution. This year we put
a time frame to do that. We are
going to lift up all of our pledges together in worship on November 21.
But the hard and fast deadline for those of us who procrastinate in
things, and I’m the first to admit to that, is December 15th.
After December 15th, the trustees and the leaders of the church will make
a budget that reflects the programs and ministries of next year.
To have your mandate to do that work, we need your pledge.
You know, the word “mandate” has been around quite a bit these days.
It’s not a blind authority. It’s
really a responsibility. Your
pledge, in time, bestows upon the Church the responsibility to do ministry. “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.” says
the Lord, our God. Praise Jesus’
name. Amen.
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