Halloween in Papillion, Nebraska

This afternoon we attended our fifth grade granddaughter's school Halloween party. Several parents were helping out, including our daughter and son-in-law. I was totally impressed with how well-behaved and well-mannered the fifth grade class was. They were not "off the wall" like so many kids I have observed in various schools and other situations.
Tonight was Trick or Treat night. Several neighbors gathered at one neighbor's house for chili and goodies, and then we hit the streets - two anyway - of the neighborhood at Summit Ridge, one of the new developments. Lots of kids in costumes, all accompanied by parents/adults. Many of the houses were decorated - almost like Christmas - with lights and big displays of pumpkins and other Halloween things. The houses that welcomed Trick or Treaters had their outside lights on. The houses that were dark were off-limits. The amazing thing is that everyone followed that understood "rule." Once again, the kids were well-behaved, respectful and always remembered to say "Thank-you" and "Happy Halloween" - except for those who responded to our son-in-law's "Merry Christmas" by saying "Merry Christmas to you, too!" A fun day!

Omaha

I am writing this on our daughter's computer on my first visit to their new home in Papillion, Nebraska, a part of the greater Omaha area. This area brings a bit of culture shock to me. It is flat - at least to a Northeast Kingdom Vermonter. It is non-stop new housing developments - cookie cutter homes, way over-priced and under-built - with an occasional corn field, most with For Sale signs on them, awaiting the perfect bid from a developer with plans to turn it into more housing. It is inconceivable to me that there are enough (or more than enough) people to fill all these new houses. And it is non-stop shopping malls, most of them strip malls or outdoor malls - collections of stores on a kind of pavement "campus."

We visited the zoo on Sunday. It is a nice attempt, but a zoo nevertheless - and most likely the only wildlife to be seen around here.

I have not yet seen Offutt Air Force base where our son-in-law is stationed.

Sunday morning we attended a United Methodist Church in Bellevue. It was a very traditional service, hymns sung slowly, and not a very welcoming congregation. In fact, except for the ushers who gave us our bulletins, hardly anyone spoke to us - not even at the coffee "fellowship" time after worship. Come on, Nebraska Methodists! You can do better than that!

Love Without End - Jesus Speaks

This week I participated in a Bible Study Camp begun by a wonderful lady named Mary Morrison long before I knew about it and was invited to participate. Mary was an extraordinary scholar, an author, a teacher, a woman of deep Christian faith, a Quaker-Episcopalian (and Summer Methodist). Her group of Bible Study students has survived her death, and each summer we meet for 4 days to study a book or scriptures, or both. This year's study was from a book by Glenda Green entitled Love Without End - Jesus Speaks. We decided to focus on chapters 9 and 10, which dealt with the Beatitudes (from Matthew 5) and the 10 Commandments (from Deuteronomy 5).

It was an interesting study. (side note: I had quoted from Green's book in the Reflections - a.k.a. Sermon - I posted in June). Although I cannot accept the notion that Jesus appeared to this author and posed for her to paint his portrait while dialoging with her about his teachings and teachings of the Scriptures, I did find her work interesting. After awhile I decided it did not really matter if I believed she had spent weeks in the presence of an enfleshed Jesus, yet not in the full physical sense, but through adamantine particles of light - which requires an extensive description of adamantine particles early on in the book.

I especially enjoy the company of the few ladies left in the study group. It is always good to get together with them again and share time and ideas.

Reflections . . . Life's About the Dream

Here is the Reflection I used at West Danville on the first Sunday in June, my last Sunday to preach before the arrival of the newly appointed pastor on July 1st. It was difficult to know what to say to try to prepare the congregation for such a change after spending 12 years with them. Then I realized that they were already prepared anyway and just needed some reminders about what they already have known for . . . forever . . . as long as they've been in existence: the ministry of the laity.

Lessons for Trinity Sunday:

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Last week our almost four-year-old grandson, Reese, spent the night at our house. While he was taking his bath, he was playing with a toy boat in the water and singing:

“Row, row, row your boat,
gently on the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life’s about the dream.”

I asked Reese, Are you sure you have that last line right?"
"Yes," he said emphatically.
"Are you sure it's not "Life is but a dream?"
"No Gramma," he said, "that doesn't even make sense. Life is not a dream — life's about the dream!"
"OK," I said. I've decided the boy has the makings of a philosopher or a theologian!

Reese’s re-interpretation of the words of that song provided me with a way to get into what I want to try to do today in our time of Reflections. For you see, LIFE really is all about the DREAM! And by dream I mean our goals, our vision, our mission, our purpose in life — both as individuals and as members of the corporate Body of Christ, the Church. People and churches that dream big become BIG. Oh, maybe not big in numbers or in building size— but BIG in the gifts of the Spirit that they share with others, especially those outside the community and the communion of the Church. So I want us to spend some time this morning doing some dreaming about what you can do as a small church that DREAMS BIG.

You’ve already taken a very important step into the realm of BIG DREAMS: you have accepted the responsibility of supporting the leadership of a full-time pastor. Now this is not an easy task. It requires commitment — time — money — service —and lots of faith and prayer. But you have agreed to take a leap of faith and see what happens. You are to be highly commended for that, and encouraged in that. And you need constantly to be seeking God’s guidance and encouragement and empowerment through God’s Spirit at work in your lives. If you’re going to say you will trust this leap of faith into God’s good care, then that’s exactly what you need to do.

Now, about that point. Allan shared with me that our D.S., after having prayed for God’s discernment and guidance, then made a statement to the effect that having a full-time pastor was a “temporary fix.” My understanding is that Allan challenged that statement. And I say, “Good for you, Allan, because it is a statement that needs to be challenged.

Since then, though, I have heard a few lesser echoes of this same sentiment. Statements like, “well we can make it through this year and perhaps a second one.” Or, “perhaps in another year we will find it necessary to find another church willing to join in a circuit with us and share half the cost of a full-time pastor.” Or, “Well, it got us a pastor, but can we really afford it for very long?” Do you remember what a big jump it seemed like when you went from one-quarter time with Danville to one-half time on your own? “How can we possibly do it?” was the question most frequently heard. And yet you did, and you did it well. The question today is, “Can we do full-time?”

I would answer with a resounding “YES! IF you DREAM BIG!” And so I would challenge you as a church to begin to do some Big Dreaming about what you can do as a small church with big dreams, big goals, a big sense of purpose for our future, a strong sense of mission to share the Good News of God’s great love for all people with those who live their lives outside the church — even oblivious to the church. And this is not a ministry or mission that a pastor can do alone — either part-time or full-time. And if you allow that to happen, you will be bowing down to the predictions that this is indeed a “temporary fix” and that soon you will need to look for a cheaper and easier alternative. You see, you do not “hire” a pastor to do the ministry of the church FOR you. You “receive the appointment of” a pastor to do the ministry of the church WITH you. That requires a strong commitment on the part of each member and each constituent of this fine small church.

You might be interested in some definitions. According to most denominations, a small church is any church with a membership less than 200, or an average attendance less that 150. Another statistic says that any church with a membership of 100 should be able to support a full-time pastoral ministry. Now, this church has a membership of 76, and a constituency of perhaps another 25-30. This church is also blessed with very active interest and participation and financial support from its part-time residents, a.k.a. “the summer people.” So, you see, in a very real sense, we have our 100 members. And if we Dream Big, we can make this work, not just as temporary fix, but as how we now do ministry, and do it well.

A while ago, some of you may have heard me preach a couple of sermons based on a book by Malcolm Gladwell called Tipping Point. Basically the book talked about what it takes for something to become a “Trend” that lasts instead of a passing fad or minor interest. Gladwell spoke of the need for people who know the turf and its people and how to make the connections with people who know people who know people who know people. Then there are the “messengers” who are willing to spread the message of what’s happening. And finally, there are the people at whom others look for guidance and leadership — the people who have a kind of pizzazz that attracts people to them and to their ideas and what is important to them. This church has all of those kinds of people. Some of you know what’s what and who’s who in this larger community. Some of you have connections with folks outside of the church family. Some of you attract people to you with your personalities or your knowledge or your charisma. Gladwell’s ideas, applied to this church, mean that you can make the connections with people who are on the outside, and you can tell them about what’s happening (and there needs to be something happening!), and you have people who would attract others to come check it out. You just have to let those things come together and work for you.

I have been reading a book this spring by Glenda Green called Love Without End. She gives an account of an experiment that ties together Gladwell’s concept of reaching a Tipping Point (she calls it a “rollover phenomenon” — when things just pull together and everyone is on the same page and working together.) Listen to this true account from a study of monkeys. She writes:

“This story, which takes us into the animal kingdom, centers on an observation called the ‘hundredth monkey’ phenomenon. The principles discovered in the following observations have since been studied extensively. According to the study, some anthropologists were studying a community of monkeys on an island somewhere in the South Seas. The monkeys on that island had a primary diet of sweet potatoes. Their daily ritual involved digging a sweet potato, breaking it in half, and then eating it. Typically they would eat out the center to avoid the sand, discard the rest, and then go back to dig for more. One day, by ingenuity or impulse, one monkey decided to wash his sweet potato. By washing the potato, it became entirely edible. That meant, of course, that there was less waste and he didn’t have to dig as many sweet potatoes. For every single sweet potato he consumed, the others would have to dig three. An added bonus was that he didn’t have to spit sand, and I like to think he also had time for splash and play. His advantages must have been conspicuous. Nevertheless, his strange behavior labeled him as a weirdo among his fellow monkeys. He had broken tradition! Despite this simian heresy, intelligence and workability eventually won out. Shortly, his family and buddies began to wash their sweet potatoes, also. The number of monkeys who washed their potatoes slowly grew, although hundreds, who kept to the old ways, remained at a distance, viewing the potato-washing ‘beach parties’ with suspicion. The comfort and familiarity of digging sweet potatoes, spitting sand, and wasting most of what was found still out-weighed the prospects for innovation. Therefore, change continued slowly. The anthropologists patiently counted each monkey, and noted little progress. Then one day a remarkable thing happened. When the hundredth monkey changed his ways, so did all the rest!

There had been a rollover phenomenon, which transformed the mass consciousness of the whole monkey community. (Note: Malcolm Gladwell would call that 100^th monkey the Tipping Point) From that point on, all the monkeys on the island washed their sweet potatoes! Amazingly, an even more remarkable thing happened. This little island was only one of a chain of islands on which the dietary habits of monkeys were virtually the same. As soon as the paradigm changed on the first island, it changed on all the other islands as well!”¹

It seems to me that if monkeys can slowly but surely lead other monkeys, even those most resistant to change, into trying and ultimately adopting new ways — well, then, so can we higher forms of life called homo sapiens — wise men — lead other wise men and women into a new way of life in Christ and the life of His Church. This church can and should reach the tipping point, or the “rollover phenomenon,” where having a full-time pastor is just the way it is.

I’ve placed a story called The Daffodil Principle ² on the back table for those of you who would like to have a copy. It is about a woman who spent 35 years of her life planting daffodils on the mountainside on which she lived because she believed in spreading beauty. On a poster at the head of her massive garden it says:

“50,000 bulbs one at a time by one woman 2 hands, 2 feet and very little brain. Began in 1958.” The author of the story writes: “The old woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of magnificent beauty and inspiration. . . . When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.”²

Mother Theresa once wrote something similar: “God does not expect us to do great things, but small things done with great love.”

Glenda Green closes her story of the sweet-potato-washing monkeys with these words that apply to our lives:

“Through our one spirit we touch one another and are blessed with friendship; we touch God and are blessed with peace; we touch a need and are blessed with opportunity; we touch a hope and are given a vision; we touch a feeling and are given expression; we touch a truth and are given a voice. Through childlike simplicity, we behold the spirit in wonderment. However, we do not find it by looking outwardly to the horizon, to the highest mountains, or to the North Star. The spirit is in our midst unseen, as it was so profoundly written in Luke 17:20-21: “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘Look here! Or see it there!’ For indeed the Kingdom of God is within you.” [Green 134]

“The Kingdom of God is within you! God’s Spirit is within you!” THAT’S the DREAM, and as Reese reminds us in his little song, “Life’s about the dream!”

So, Dream Big, my dear friends and sisters and brothers in Christ!

DREAM BIG!

Our Life as the Church is about the Dream!

_________________________

ENDNOTES:

¹ Green,Glenda. Love Without End: Jesus Speaks . . .Spiritus Publishing:Sedona, AZ, 2002. 133-134.

² Edwards, Jaroldeen Asplund, “The Daffodil Principle.” Celebration! Ten Principles of More Joyous Living, Desert Books:Salt Lake City, 1955.

__________________________________

© The Rev.Carol J. Borland, Retired, Pastor Emeritus, West Danville United MethodistChurch, West Danville, VT, May 3, 2007.
Preached on the occasion of the appointment of the Rev. Gerine (Gerry) Piper as full-time pastor after the church spent 16 months with no appointed pastor.