A Heart of Excitement
John 1:29-42
January 20, 2008

Some of you heard or read or watched Steve Beshear deliver his “State of the Commonwealth” address last Monday night. Our Board meeting was last Monday night too. So I know that almost 100 of our church members made an extreme sacrifice. They came to the meeting instead of staying home and listening to the speech! Anyway, some folks who heard Beshear’s comments described the scene: “The air in the Capitol was full of excitement and expectation as lawmakers gathered for a joint session of the House and Senate.” “The people of Kentucky made it clear they were ready for a fresh start!” Unfortunately, some people felt that the Governor “missed his first real chance to inspire, excite, and lay out his priorities.” David Williams described the speech as “pleasant.” Other editorial comments were more pointed: “(The speech) was the mildest, most uninspiring plea for ‘bold action’ ever made.

This past week marked the 11th anniversary that my family and I have been a part of this family of faith at Beargrass Christian Church! At the beginning of each new year, I have shared what I have described as a “State of the Church” address during the worship services. The purpose of these messages has been to express our gratitude to God for the blessings of the past. We have also taken time to analyze our current situation and to embrace some of our plans and dreams for the coming year. After it is all said and done, I will be curious to read the editorials in the church newsletter this coming week! Some may describe my comments as “pleasant,” and that would be alright because we have much for which to be thankful and celebrate. But I also hope that some of the things that I share with you will be perceived as “exciting and challenging, as well as opportunities for creative new growth.”

THIS PAST YEAR WAS WONDERFUL IN SO MANY WAYS. Although we can always look for ways to improve, our outreach efforts have been outstanding! One of the ways to think about outreach is through sharing our dollars—let’s begin globally and then come closer to home. Out of almost 3800 Disciples churches, Beargrass ranked 15th in total outreach giving and 7th in giving to Disciples outreach efforts. Out of around 700 Churches of Christ, Independent, and Disciples churches in Kentucky, Beargrass ranked 2nd in giving to Christian Care Communities. Out of hundreds of churches in the Kentuckiana area, Beargrass was one of only four congregations recognized for their financial support last Sunday at Wayside Christian Mission’s 50th anniversary celebration. And out of all the congregations in St. Matthews, Beargrass is the top contributor the St. Matthews Area Ministries.

But there is more to outreach than writing checks. We continue to become more involved in hands-on outreach efforts such as supporting refugee ministries, Repair Affair, Mission Possible, Habitat projects, mission trips, prison ministries, and on and on. We continue to open up our building to be used by other organizations and support groups in the community—the Korean church, AA, Weight Watchers, the Scouts, Tai Chi, school gatherings, and on and on. We continue to welcome marvelous new members to the church family! In 62 of the last 65 years we have welcomed an average of at least one new member every weekend. In 15 of the last 65 years we have welcomed two or more new members every weekend!

Giving to support the annual mission and ministries of the church has continued to increase! For the first time in the history of the church, we had pledges for 2008 over $1 million. This is an outstanding effort—especially after over $3 million was shared in back-to-back capital campaigns. And we received some delightful news lately! Several years ago, a sweet, quiet saint of the church named Beargrass in her will. Mrs. Calvert left almost half a million dollars to the church. She has reminded all of us that where there is a will, there is a way to provide opportunities for future generations of the church family. On Christmas Eve we celebrated our first anniversary in the new sanctuary and facilities! As you know, we have been working out the bugs and getting used to this place of worship. But we’re getting more comfortable and figuring out how to use the new—and the old—space more creatively. Christmas Eve also marked the 50th anniversary of the move into our previous sanctuary; who was here for that celebration? The area has now been transformed into Chalice Hall and it has been used for a variety of meetings and other functions. The BIG picture is very, very good!

SO WHAT ABOUT THIS COMING YEAR? At last Monday’s Board meeting, I shared some personal concerns that I had for myself, the servant-leaders of the church, and the church family. I have a sense that many of us are still grieving the loss of our dear pastor and friend, Rev. Mary Beth Guy, who died last November after serving here for over 30 years. One of our elders sent me an email after the meeting and said: “I also have been suffering from a drained or lagging spirit, especially since the passing of Mary Beth.” I also confessed to the Board that I felt that many of the “gas tanks” of the staff and church leaders and members are running a little low.

We have been working very hard these past seven or eight years—trying to provide meaningful programming and outreach efforts, raising funds and over-and-above funds, dreaming, planning, building, sweating equity, moving in, tweaking, adjusting, experiencing transitions in leadership. Some of us are just plain tired. I am reminded about something that happened during a Rose Bowl parade. A few years ago, one of the fantastic, flowery floats stalled. Frustration mounted because the other floats could not move around it. Mechanics crawled underneath it and tinkered with the motor. Nothing happened. Eventually, they discovered the problem—no gas! As someone went for fuel, the crowd realized that the float’s sponsor was one of the major oil companies!

That’s a great story—but it also speaks to me on a deeper level. I don’t know what’s going on with me, but if you’ve been around me lately, you know that I’ve been going through a period of introspection. An odd assortment of books and articles and information has ended up on my desk—begging for attention. My wife gave me the book, Gilead—which I mentioned last week—a moving collection of memoirs from an aging pastor. Bob Buford’s book was sent to me in the mail as a promotion—and I almost tossed it out—but the title is Half-time, and the sub-title is something like “moving from success to significance. The strong message for this middle-aged minister is that it is just the end of the second quarter—how am I going to play out the 3rd and 4th quarters? And then Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson show up in this movie called The Bucket List. And Mary Beth dies and doesn’t get to do all the things on her list. And by the grace of God and this congregation, I want to be a part of this church family longer than she was able to be. God only knows what will happen, but in the year 2020 I’ll be 65—and I hope that I can retire from full-time ministry from this place at some point down the road.

But I also don’t want to linger any longer than I should. I have colleagues who get to this stage in their lives and begin to “coast”—and take their churches with them. I don’t want that to happen. I want the time we spend together to mean something—to make a difference. Bellarmine professor of theology, Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty spoke this past week to a group known as the “Fellowship of Reconciliation;” she has been working on the “Social Creed for the 21st Century Church.” She pointed out that the two top reasons people choose a church are the cleanliness of the restrooms and convenient parking!” Friends, we have to do better than that! She proclaimed: “Our world is in desperate need of church members who will see themselves and their role in the community in a new way.” For me, it is half-time—and I can’t wait to play out the 3rd and 4th quarters!

AND SO, HERE ARE SOME OF THE AREAS ON WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO CONCENTRATE IN 2008. On a personal level, I am so excited to welcome Dr. Gary Straub to the ministry team at Beargrass for the next six months. He is a solid, spiritually-grounded, veteran pastor—who will serve as a coach and mentor for me—and all of us. Gary has already encouraged me to deepen my spiritual life and relationship with God in a number of ways. As we leap into this leap year as a congregation, it is my hope and prayer for all of us that we can develop a heart of excitement and enthusiasm as well! It happens to the folks in today’s scripture lesson.
Andrew encounters Jesus—and he is so excited about Jesus that he can’t sit still! Immediately, grateful, enthusiastically—he runs to tell his brother!

It happened to Andrew—it can happen to all of us! Some of our gas tanks may be running a little low. Some of us are tired out, worn out, bummed out, burned out. Some of us have seen our get up and go…go! So, join me on this journey of strengthening our relationship with God and experiencing the joy of being Jesus’ disciples. During our stewardship emphasis last fall, we thought about “The Cheerful S-Word”—Stewardship. This coming year, I would like for us to think about “The Exciting E-Word—Evangelism” Dr. Straub and I will be co-presenting the book, Unbinding Your Heart, during the season of Lent—beginning February 10 at 10 a.m. The book was written by Martha Grace Reese and has received a tremendous welcome! George Hunter says: “Reese’s new book on the ‘E’ word (evangelism) is based on studies of 150 churches and interviews with over 1000 people.” “Other ‘E’ words come to mind—like engaging, encouraging, energetic, effervescent, entrepreneurial, and exhilarating!” “It will be a breath of fresh air in thousands of churches.” I hope to have all the adult Sunday School classes participate—and anybody else who would like to be a part of it—be there!

And Dr. Straub is excited about spending some time with Beargrass! He reflects on our current situation and future possibilities: “With the recent completion of facilities, Beargrass is poised for a strong season of spiritual growth and evangelism.” “While the building provides the necessary tools for hospitality and ministry, the focus turns toward the kind of evangelism that Disciples do best—relational evangelism.” “Over the course of the next year, we want to engage in a process of learning sessions, spiritual reflection with staff, key leader conversations, special studies, prayer seasons, and coaching conversations that help us puzzle out our best strategies going forward in evangelism.” He says: “Through the grace of prayer, we hope to ‘set the table’ for the transformational dynamics that will help us position Beargrass for effective future ministry.” So, stay tuned—you’ll be hearing much more about all of this!

This weekend is Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. It is a time to remember his ministry and legacy, to remember his dreams for human rights for all of God’s people. It is a time to remember that we also have to move out from our prayers and pews to the pavement. Members and friends of Beargrass, may this year ahead be a time to fill up our tanks and recharge our spiritual batteries! May it be a time when we deepen our love for God and neighbor and self! May it be a time when we carry out Christ’s commission to make disciples—to teach and preach and baptize! May it be a time when the Spirit of the Living God empowers us to be excited and enthusiastic about being God’s people in this world!

As in the words of that old spiritual…
“Been so busy praising my Jesus…
“Been so busy working for the Kingdom…
“Been so busy serving my Master…
“Ain’t got time to die!”
“If I don’t praise him…
“If I don’t serve him…
“The rocks gonna cry out—‘Glory and honor, glory and honor!’
“I ain’t got time to die.”