raising the dead

Sermon preached Sunday, June 9th 2013

by the Reverend Will Scott, Vicar

1 Kings 17:17-24
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17

Raising the Dead. What action could be more inspiring, captivating, enthralling, what action could cause more people to talk, and become interested in the work of a prophet in any generation than that? Elijah raises the dead son of a widow in the first lesson, and Jesus hundreds of years later, raises the dead son of another widow. Today, anytime a new product, technology, diet, minister or exercise program offers to extend our lives or keep us from dying you know you are going to hear about it –- and you are also likely to be very suspicious. My hunch is that people in Elijah and Jesus’ day too were astonished to hear such news, doubtful and hopeful all at the same time.

The interesting thing about both stories is that they reveal how these prophets of God are moved by the particular stories and experiences of individual people. There were many other poor widows whose children died in the days of Elijah and of Jesus. There are many poor widows whose children are dying in their arms today throughout the world. No Elijah or Jesus will come to their doors and work a miracle. Some will be lucky if a doctor or nurse is available to ease the suffering. These particular, individual stories of resurrection whether they literally took place or not, are symbolic of God’s compassionate care for those on the margins. These particular, individual stories are about God’s power over death and poverty. We do not worship and serve a God that is impersonal or cold that does not grieve and suffer with us when we are in pain, or our children are sick. The God of Elijah and the God of Jesus yearns to be on the side of humanity. Even when we are not the receivers of a specific miracle, Jesus’ teachings and actions tell us that we can trust that God desires human flourishing, God longs for all of us to thrive --- disease, death, and poverty in the end are nothing compared to God’s will for health, life and abundance. This means that our work as followers of Jesus is never complete. We are called to be miracle workers, to be life givers, to be healers and prophets of God’s hope for the world. Who knows how we may be called to be raisers of the dead? But I think one thing is clear from the two resurrections we read about today --- both widows desperately needed their sons to be raised for their own lives to continue. In biblical times especially, widows were extremely vulnerable --- they could not own property, they could easily be taken advantage of, in a patriarchal society they needed male protectors.  The stories of resurrection today are linked by this desperation, the dead being raised may be more about those who witness and receive blessings and salvation from it, than the dead person themselves. Each woman is relieved, and can once again rely on the care and attention of these resurrected sons. These resurrected bodies have work to do. 

Not long ago an article was circulated called “Autopsy of a Deceased Church.” While it was written by Thom Rainer, a Southern Baptist minister, his thoughts spoke to me of my faith that God is raising St.Cyprian’s and perhaps other churches in our neighborhood like New Liberation from the brink of death. Here’s this minister’s autopsy report, which was about a real church somewhere in the U.S. that closed in early 2013, and you can quickly see how we at St. Cyprian's have been addressing these potential problems head on:

1.                  The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.

St. Cyprian’s is beginning to look more and more like the community outside our doors. Most of those who have begun attending our church whether Spirit Village or the 10:10 come from the immediate neighborhood community.

2.                  The church had no community-focused ministries.  This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community.

Everything we are doing with Cyprian’s Center & St. Cyprian’s Community Kitchen is an attempt to reach the community outside our doors, and it is working. 70 mostly young people from the neighborhood were at Thursday night’s dinner. Each month 50 seniors attend lunch downstairs. This summer with The Village Project & Shakespeare Camp we will be host to numerous children, youth and their families will be interacting with our space and our members.

3.                  Members became more focused on memorials. Do not hear my statement as a criticism of memorials. Indeed, I recently funded a memorial in memory of my late grandson. The memorials at the church were chairs, tables, rooms, and other places where a neat plaque could be placed. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past.

While we mourn those who die, we visit those who are dying and we care for those who are in grief St. Cyprian’s has not made that our sole work and identity these past four years. We are a church for the living. The dead don’t need a church --- those who are struggling to get by in this life do. St. Cyprian’s knows this, and we are living that way.

4.                  The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing. At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent.

My hunch is that our budget is actually primarily directed toward mission and outreach, even when we are fundraising to fix our building, we do so knowing this will assist us in our neighborhood and community work.

5.                  There were no evangelistic emphases. When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die.

In the last four years we have attended numerous neighborhood block parties, meetings and hosted events and activities that help us get to know those around us, those who are most likely to eventually show up for a church service. Whether they are lost or not --- they are finding us and we are finding them. We also know who they are, we know their faces and names. If these secular neighbors are going to go to church anywhere aren’t they most likely to attend a church that knows and cares for them as they are and isn’t trying to fix, condemn or change them. If they wake up on Sunday morning with an itch to attend a worship service, aren’t they more likely to go to the one that is striving the hardest to be a good neighbor?

6.                  The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted. As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.

We have some work to do on that front.  Arguments and debates about direction and focus are common in any organization or family that is working hard toward ambitious goals. But let’s always remember that even when there is disagreement or confusion our primary call is to love one another. If a church can do that, if St. Cyprian’s is able to treat each other well, respect one another in spite and sometimes because of our differences that will be a profound and inspiring witness to others. That’s the kind of church people want to go to, not a church that denies disagreement, or makes everyone conform --- but a church that actually loves one another even when there is tension and conflict. Also, try to keep this quote by former Archbishop of Canterbury in mind, “the church is the only organization that primarily exists for people that are not members”

7.                  With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter. The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged.

I am not leaving discouraged but hopeful. While my tenure was four years, that’s actually longer than the interim clergy at St. James, Sei Ko Kai, and Trinity each of whom were originally appointed about the same time that I was. St. Cyprian’s will want to think long and hard as will the Bishop about what type of minister you have going forward --- but I would encourage this congregation to continue to keep the idea of a full time dedicated clergy person in your vision for yourselves in the future. Keep working towards that hope. Because you need full time dedicated leadership, you and this wider community deserve that kind of attention and care.

8.                  The church rarely prayed together. In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs.

I think we have done a good job of praying before every meeting. But I encourage St. Cyprian’s going forward to pray specifically for the ministries we are involved in and connected with, for the Village Project, the Community Kitchen, our neighborhood and space use partners. 

9.                  The church had no clarity as to why it existed. There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose.

St. Cyprian’s has clarity; we have vision, mission and purpose. If you aren’t sure what it is, you haven’t been paying attention.

10.             The members idolized another era. All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past.

I believe St. Cyprian’s best days are not behind you, they are ahead of us. The past can teach us much but our future cannot be found there. Keep dreaming, keep connecting and reaching out, keep getting to know strangers, and love the young folks that are all around you, students, neighbors, seminarians, and children at Spirit Village.

11.             The facilities continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had “outsider eyes.”

We have spent over $100,000 in four years on this building. There is still lots more to do, the floor that is cracking beneath us needs to be addressed, the kitchen will be completed. There’s lots of ways this facility could look better and serve the community more readily, don’t put blinders on, look around and notice what needs to be done, and rally folks to address it. Don’t panic, but don’t sit back and expect this facility to care for itself.

If St. Cyprian’s or any neighborhood urban church’s that yearn for resurrection want to see such a miracle take shape they will need to acknowledge that they exist for the service and care of others. Just as in today’s stories those young men being raised were going to be put to work to protect and care for their mothers ---- if St. Cyprian’s or New Liberation or Solid Rock Missionary Baptist, or AME Zion are going to be raised from the dead --- I believe they must have a relationship with the vulnerable, weak and needy folks all around them. There’s no point in a resurrected church if that church isn’t about the care and love for everyone, especially those who are in desperate places.

Let us pray for the church.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 280).