View today's sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQqjSTyIRSM.

Isaiah 43:18-19 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

18 “Forget the former things;    

do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!    

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?I am making a way in the wilderness    

and streams in the wasteland.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

3 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die;a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill and a time to heal;a time to break down and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;a time to mourn and a time to dance;

5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek and a time to lose;a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7 a time to tear and a time to sew;a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

8 a time to love and a time to hate;a time for war and a time for peace.

A May 17, 2023 Maine NPR article stated, “Just 16% of Americans say religion is the most important thing in their life, according to a report released by the Public Religion Research Institute. A 2020 survey found that the average congregation size across Christian denominations was less than half what it was in 2000 — down to 65 from 137. It also found that on average, a third of churchgoers were 65 or older, twice that age group's representation in the general population. These numbers held true for Protestants, Evangelicals and Catholics alike. Another survey quoted in that article showed the following about church growths and closings between 2014 and 2019: In 2019, the year before the pandemic, more Protestant churches closed than opened in the U.S with 3,000 churches opening and 4,500 churches closing. In 2014: 4,000 churches opened, and 3,700 churches closed. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/17/1175452002/church-closings-religious-affiliation 

These are some profound statistics that show sweeping changes across all denominations. Realistically what this means for our congregations, denominations and the Christian church, is that we are in a state of immense change that is not slowing and will not stop. People have been leaving churches since the 1950s and the pace has only accelerated as the decades have passed. We know that church membership and attendance is declining, and churches are closing all over the country and around the world. Phyllis Tickle writes in her book The Great Emergence, “we are living in a time of massive transition and change within the Christian church. This is an event that happens about every five hundred years, and we are currently living through one of those times.” 

These statistics and the knowledge that we are living through a time of great upheaval and change might cause anxiety, discouragement or other emotions for many of us. How in the face of this news can we not become discouraged or fearful and anxious about the future of Christianity, our denomination and our own churches and communities of faith? To think about the scale of the changes that have happened and the ongoing trends that are predicted can be too much. What we are facing can be overwhelming and what to do about the changes can seem frightening and insurmountable.

Often, we humans resist change and when it is happening, we may go to great lengths to try and avoid it or stop it from occurring. Two sayings that may be familiar “Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.” and “Change is the only constant.,” are both humorous and full of wisdom. If they are true, why do we have such fear and anxiety about change? If change is the only constant, why do so many of us cling to ways of living, thinking and being that will, inevitably, change? Why do we resist change? What is it about change that makes us want to hide, deny, avoid or go to great lengths to keep things status quo? Ronald Heifetz and Marty  Linsky offer this insight, “People do not resist change per se. People resist loss. 

The statistics about congregational and denominational changes are full of profound loss and can cause us much anxiety and grief. They can set up in us emotional responses as well as startling realities that we might want to avoid or be unable to face. For many of us these statistics make us feel vulnerable as we contemplate, or don’t, the very future of our Christian faith. According to Kenneth McFayden in  his book Strategic Leadership For a Change, we are faced with losses of many kinds within our churches. Some of these include loss of membership, loss of pastors, loss of the church being central to the lives of the members, loss of how we have been as a church such as how we worship, loss of traditions, loss of status in the community, loss of stability, loss of confidence, loss of identity and loss of energy for ministry. If we were to take the time, we could likely add many more losses to this list from the changes that have happened within this congregation.

Hopelessness is another emotion that may be present for many individual Christians as well as congregations and denominations. Within the swells of the sea of changes and loss, we may feel helpless and hopeless to do anything about what looks like an inevitable collapse of Christianity. If the statistics, or depth of changes have left you feeling hopeless, it is understandable. But I would remind you that we are a faith that is built on hope. Phyllis Tickle tells us that we have gone through upheavals before that have wrought great and profound changes to the Christian faith and we survived. She reminds us also that we changed, and we were transformed. Hope is ever present in Tickel’s reminder as well as in the stories and traditions within Christianity. As followers of Jesus, we have a rich tapestry from which to draw and of which we are a part. The story of Christianity is far from over and we are being woven into that story even as we sit here and worship together this morning.

Throughout our scriptures are stories of great upheaval and change. We see this from the opening passages of Genesis and the stories of Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Moses. Jesus called for his disciples to leave their lives as fishers and farmers and follow him into the unknown. Our reading from Ecclesiastes begins “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” It goes on to share with us this dance between what is and what will be. Change upon change is stated over and over. This is one of the most read and beloved pieces of scripture in the bible. People closely relate it to funeral services, and it is read to offer comfort when people are feeling lost in their grief. Why is this so? It is a reminder of the inevitability of change. It shows us what is and what might be, and that change is a constant in our lives. It might also be that it shows us the varying seasons that will come, but that in the seasons of change and loss, reside the seeds of hope, growth and transformation. 

Our reading from Isaiah speaks to us about letting go and the promises from God to lead us onward even when we are in the wilderness. Both of our readings show us that movement and change are inevitable, but they also assure us that God is also on the move and showing us the way. These scriptures ask us to look and see. To perceive what the Holy is doing within the inevitable changes that make up the world and our lives. We are asked to follow and trust God despite our losses, anxiety, grief and fear. As people of faith, we continue to walk forward, striving to envision our future in response to the presence of God and the assurance that we will be led through the wilderness and perceive the vision unfolding before us.

Kenneth McFayden writes, “In the midst of change, it is easy to lose sight of what truly defines us-namely the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.” He further reminds us that our joy in visioning and discerning our future course, as Christian people, is in remembering that our future is in God’s hands. The Holy reminds that a way will be made for us. Whether in the desert, wilderness, across rivers and streams and even through the current times we are in. 

I will leave us with this prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero.

The Prayer of Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,It is even beyond our vision.We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.Nothing we do is complete,Which is another way of saying thatThe Kingdom always lies beyond us.No statement says all that should be said.No prayer fully expressed our faith.No confession brings perfection.No pastoral visit brings wholeness.No program accomplishes the church's mission.No set of goals and objectives includes everything.This is what we are about.We plant the seeds that one day will grow.We water seeds already planted,Knowing that they hold future promise.We lay foundations that will need further development.We provide yeast that produced effects far beyond our capabilities.We cannot do everything,And there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,A step along the way,An opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.We may never see the end results,But that is the differenceBetween the master builder and the worker.We are workers, not master builders,Ministers, not messiahs.We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Sarina Brooks – September 22, 2024

Union Congregational Church of Hancock