There is a little story that has Supposedly come to us through

centuries of Christian tradition. / Jesus had returned to Heaven after
his life on earth. He told of the Joys and sorrows, the good friends,
the suffering; he told of his trial and curcifixion. He ended by
describing the little band of disciples that he had left behind to

carry on,, To him came the auantion, (De you think they will soxcmane’?
They will succeed" was Jesus' calm assurance. *“But what provision

/
has been made if they raiieé was the persistent question. The reply

"I have made no other provision; they will not fail,"

"They will not fail" To whom was Jesus referring? Obesously

to the circle of disciples; to those whose work and commitment, and

loyalty gave birth to the Christian Churn. | That there is a church, that
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the Gospel of Jeus Christ has been carried to every corner of the world
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is evidence that they did not fail. /But neigtther is their success

See,

the end of the story. / From the days of the apostles, down through

2,000 years of historyk men have been the heirs of Christ's confidence.

Today, Nov. 11, 1962, we in this bulding are the heirs of that tradition
Ay

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and calling. Our eek j Tike that of Peter, James, John is very simply

to continue that which JexusChrist, the Son of God began./ With this

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thought in mind I wish to examine the contemporary church, and our

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church; to see where it has or has not lived up to the expectations
of its Lord; to stop and eaxamine some of the more serious problems facing
it.
Our scripture lesson this morning included the well known statek
ment to Peter concerning the church, W'You are Peter and on this Rock I
will build my church; and the powers of death will not prevail against
it.) For 15 centuries the Roman €2tholic Church has defended the Papacy with

Sr
this statement; claiming that Peter here became Christ's first vicar on

earth and that the Bishop of Rome shares the powers here given him,

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To the second critique we must give a more careful vepiy./ rem af
any people would assert that- when Jesus used the word translated church he

visualized the church as it has evolved over the centuries./ What we_ must

.do is discover what he did mean when he used the word and that sends

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us back to the word bady 0f5//r¢ did not mean churbh as we use that term.
From the pages of Israelite history God had dealt with man in community.

Throughout the Old Testament we read the word congregation, nation,

peopie. /' God called a group of people together and with them he established

a covenant. The community involved was called the people of God.” To

——

translate literally, this phrase--people of God--would be a better rendering

of Eke slgoca, for this 0.T. tradition is surely what Jesus had in mind.

His followers would become a new community; a new israel, involved in a

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new Covenant. | tna he had this in mind there can bw no doubt. He clearly
commissioned his disciples to go into all the world preaching and

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teaching, healing and guiding; i.e. they were to continue the work of red-enpy

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this Etkitdy Ge , there was no option,

The first problem of the contemporary church has its roots, or rather
its solution, right here. We are not so much involved in a debate
whether there ought to be ac church or not. / But we are the victims of
a Protestant retreat from this passage, and from any firm doctrine

of the chureh. [nat the church is necessary to Christianity is simply a

statement we don't like to make. Because we all know too many people

who call themselves Christians, and who feel that the church doesn't have
to enter the picture,

To clarify the issue we must again take a cursory look at Church history.

Christ's diciples knew what they were to ao. [they preached and healed

and proclaimed the presence of the Kingdom of God, And as a result

4

of their efforts Christian. communities sprang up throughout the then known

world. Bishops became necessary as the young church grew; and very naturally

”
—

The answers to these questions must be in terms personal commitment
——— eee

to Jesus Christ. I lwe been using the word Church in a general manner ;

but now let's bring it close to home and see that we, you_and I, are

the church; that everything said for or against the church. applies directl

to us in « very personal way. / For we, by being here, a@& claiming to

be Christians. We are claiming for ourselves the mission as it was given

to Peter, James, John and Paul.

Arthur McKay writing an article on stewardship for Presbyterian
Life quotes the we¢é1 known hymn:

“Take thou ourselves 0O Lord, Heart Mind and Will,
Through our surrendered souls Thy Plan Fulfill,

We yield ourselves to Thee, Time, Talent, all;
We hear and henceforth heed ~-tumkxxixersughxxeaiks /
Thy sovereign call.

Then he describes what seems to be the typical church member's

response, { "Look God, we don't mean that literally. We can give some

praise to Thee, if there is nothing more directly related to our interests

that we must do, We can spend our occassional hour (mind you we don't mean

————

an hour and twenty minutes) in worship from tine to time but it isn't always

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convénient. We do spend a moment here and there in prayer if we've

tried everything else, the things in which we secretly have confidence,

and they've failed. / But Goa, what we are redly looking for is some e kind of

bargain basement religion. What we'd really like to do, but a_certain
eS nen

ehurehly modesty forbids us to say Les Je this (We'd like to accept

the unconditional offer of love that we see in Jesus Christ, we're

willing to receive as much as you can give; but God, we just don't have

time to match your faithfulness with our own, We're looking for religion

at a discount.” )

in,

This is heady sarcasm, but it is to the point, / chetatiantty means

a personal devotion to Jesus Christ that is willing to Sacrifice. When¢g

the church hes lost sight of this it has ceased to be a church; and when

Christian men retreat from sacrificial commitment they cease to be
—— — c |

Christian men,

4.

This afternoon visitors from the church will_call in every home,
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They will, to the best of their abilities, confront you with the_ways

in which this church, as a part of Christ's body, intends to go about

.

continuing his work. / thoy will ask you_to sign a reaffirmation of

faith, [ reads( "I hereby reaffirm my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord
and Savior, and recommit_myself to his will as it is carried out by His

Holy church and by the lst UPC.~ I promise, to myself and God, that I

will truly attempt to make my church a more effective instrument of my

Lord's will." /Z& ask you to read it and think about it for this is the
|

hinge ofonristianity. / Ask yourself, do I mean it when I call Jesus

————————— Ee el

Christ my Lorat Do I really mean to recommit myself to His Will ana

“)
his church? You will be asked then to pledge time and money to the church.

This is not something different from the first step, There are no separate

categories of religion and economics in the Church of Jesus Christ. The

personal affirmation of faith--means_service and sacrifice. Without them
it cannot be called a true_affirmatbn. It is an act of personal devotion

which we seek today. We cannot all be missionaries, we can't even suffer

physically for our faith--but we can make a concrete experssion amux of
——— — ——

our commitment in our pledge to the Church.

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Christianity is not easy and undemanaing. / put neither is it dis-

tressing and painful. The unanimous testimong of men from the Apostle Paul
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until today is that the Christian faith is a Joyful, life giving

experience. / But it does not come automatically. God does not decend

upon us and prompt us suddenly to the heights of religious ecstasy / #8 On

the contrary one becomes a Christian partly by the Grace of God and partly
we NR news ance

by an act_of will./ We are naive if we expect Christianity to be

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meaninhful if we have never given of ourselves, There are no short cuts

to Christianity xm --you must take a_step in faith, leaning on God's

9,

presence and extaance. | How else can we @Bx explain the behavior of the

Thanksgiving Eve Nov. 21, 1962
Thanksgiving the Harvest Festival

Before I begin let me express, on behalf of my congregation, our

appreciation to you of the Methodist Church, for helping to make this

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community service of Thanksgiving possibile { chritians are closing ranks

the world over: and nothing could be more appropriate than our uniting

together in this service of worship { It is my hope, and I know that of
Rev. Andersen/g, that this will be the beginning of a Thanksgiving
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tardition in Dyer,

As you have probably noticed from your programs, what I am about to do
tonight is not a sermon in the traditional sense of the word.| We

Americans, and especially Methodists and Presbyterians, have significantly

—$__,

altered the focus of Christian worship,| In both of our traditions the spok-

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en word is the central aspect of vorship,| This is as it should ve.|

But all too frequently we deny ourselves the opportunity of responding

to the word of God. This is singularly unfortunate: especially in a

service that has been designated as one of Thanksgiving./Giving Thanks is

not hearing a sermon: it is a personal response to the goodness of God,

and perhaps to the words that have been spoken to you | And so instead of a

sermon I have prepared three brief mediatations./They are only my attempt

to make you think: to think about the specifc meaning Thanksgiving has

for you,.| B&eé After each meditation there will be a few minutes of

solitude, during which time I invite you to reflect upon the subjects I

have covered, and to offer your own prayer of Thanksgiving.

Let us pray: O Gracious heavenly Father, at this time of Thanksgiving we
acknowledge thy Lordship over all. We humbly recognize that thou art the
beginning of all beginnings, the life giving force that courses through all
creation. Accept our mbombitmbmmbmswords of humble gratitude: may our

prayers and meditations be acceptable in thg sight. Amen

/
i

\

THANKSGIVING A HAVE (T FESTYBAL

FOR oe SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR ONE OF MY MOST ern TASKS HAS BEEN COMPOSING

A THANKSGSVING SERMON. FO SOME REASON THE JOB HAS BEEN Joe HARD FOR ME. IT SEE

LIKS EVERY THANKSGIVING SERMON IS THE SAME: WE ARE REMONDEBQ OF HOW ESPECIALLY BLLESSED

WE ARE: BUT IN THE LONG RUN IT SEEMS LIKE ALL WE DO IS CONGRATULATE GOD ON HIS
\

EXCELLENT CHOICE_OF PARTNERS - OURSELVES. AND SO THIS YEAR I reoucHT I&D DO SOMETHING
_— \

A BIT DIFFERENT, INSTEAD OF A SERMON I HAVE PREPARED 3 EREIF MEDITATIONS. THEY ARE

— y
\

\
NOT MEANT TO BE PROFOUND OR INFORMATIVE: THEY ARE MOST CERTAINLY \" INSPIRING OR

—

ENTERTAINING. THEY ARE ONLY MY ATTEMPT TO PROMPT YOU TO THINK: TO THINK ABOUT THE

—

4

SPECIFIC MEANING THANKSGIVING HAS FOR YOU. AFTER EACH MEDITATION THERE WILL BS B

\

—

,"

I HAVE COVERED AND OFFER YOUR OWN PRAYER OF THANKS GIVING. \

LET US PRAY: @ GRACIOUS HEAVENLY FATHSR, AT THIS TIMS OF THANKSGRVING WE

me,

ACKNOWLEDGE THY LOROSHIP OVER ALL. WE HUMBLY REQOGNIZE THAT THOU ART THE BEGINNING

OF ALL: BEGINNINGS, TH3 LIFE GIVING FORCE THAT COURSES THROUGH ALL CREATION. aceEPT OUR

WORDS OF HUMBLE T GIVING, MAY OUR PRAYERS AND MENLTATION BE AGRXX PLEASING IN
/
THY SIGHT AMEN
THE PRACTICE OF SETTING ONE SIDE FOR THANKSGIVING HAS ITS ROOTS DEEP IN

THS HISTORY OF MANKIND. THE ANCIENT HEBREWS GATHERED YEARLY TO PRAISE AND SHOW GRATITUDE

TO THE GOBD OF ALL NATURE. WAVING SHEAVES OF WHEAT AND CARHYING THE YOUNGEST LAMB OR

"a amet eche ct
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CALF FROM THEIR FLOCK THEY USED’ THE TANGIBLE EVIDENCES THAT GOD HAD BLESSED THEM,

Today we have infinitely greater reason to be thankful than either the
Israelites or the Pilgrins /But we have lost that which under-girded their

feelings of gratitude: we alt have lost _their profound sense of the presence

ae x of Goal the nearness of God in all | the love and creativity of

i i

God in all of lite | We live in a world of secondary causes | The phrase,

"communing with nature" has come to mean trailers and tents,charcoal grills
ANAVMORIMY ng

and mosquito netting jjihen we look at the stars our minds are diverted from

the magificence of the heavens to the speed with which a rocket is approaching
nhabnbambmbibmamb
the planet Venus. [In our daily lives we can't see the rich blue of the sky

for the arrogant thrust of steel and conerete. | We are unable to smell the

clean air for the stench of the steel alae only experience with

God's other creaturesis filtered through a crowd at the Lincoln Park Zoo,
We live life at a distance: and it is difficult for us to really involve

ourselves in a harvest festival: a festiwal of thanks to the God of Nature.

The God of The Hebrews and the Pilgrims, need be no less real today; As
a matter of fact, if we allow ourselve to think, we will quickly see that

we have every reason to be even more aware of his presence,

Wanet?

FEET -RTTMIAL., IN PROFOUND GRATITUDE THEY COULD LOOK UPON THE CROPS AND LIVESTOCK

THEY HAD CARED FOR AND WATHCHED GROW, KNOWING THAT IT WAS NOT THEIR EFFORTS ALONE THAT

—_—_—

MADE THE HARVEST POSSIBLE. THE GOD THEY THANKED WAS VERY REAL TO THEM -IN THE MIDST

OF BARREY DESSERTS HE HAD RAISED UP GREEN PASTURES: AS TH.¥ TENDED THEIR FLOCKS THEY

THE DRAMA OF LIFE BEGINNING AND ENDING. THEY FELT, WITH ALL THAT WAS IN THEM, THAT GOD

——_

WAS THE MASTER OF ALL NATUR, THE GIVER OF EVERY GIFT.

QESSS2 THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO A SMALL BAND OF PEOPLE LANDED ON THE BLEAK
—_—_e— = f

AND FORBIDDING NEW ENGLAND COAST. THE ODDS AGAINST THEM SURVIVING WERE GREAT. AND

YET WITH RAW COURAGE AND SHEER DETERMINATION THEY DID SURVIVE. b> THEM, LIKE THE
————————— - “ .

HEBREWS, THE WORK OF GOD'S HAND WAS VSRY REAL, THEY WATCHED CROPS GROW WHERE NOTHING

HAD GROWN BEFORE: THEY FELT AND EXPERTENCED THE MAGNIFICENCE OF GOD'S CREATION AS THSY

HUNTED IN THE VIRGIN FORRESTS. THEY EXPERIENCED GOD'S LOVE AND CONCERN AS THEY “ATCHED

THEIR TINY COMMUNITY G

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WHO. WOULD. DISPUTE-THE-FACT-TH4.T-Wa-ARE-INELUITELY BETTER OF! THAT OUR DHED OCES-

® ly
SORS? WHO WouLi E FACT THAT

HERE IN-DYLR ARS mite COMFORTABLS/ “THAN” PEOPLE

20% IS HS-NO. LONGER. OF ALL NATURE? IS Hi

7 _ |

THE-GOD-OF “THE HEBREWS—AND—JHE-PLLGRINS-1IS..NO_LESS. REAL TODAY..—AS~-A-MATTIN OF FACT

E jw WE HAVE BEEN BORN INTO THE

PORTION OF HIS WORLD THAT HAS PROSPERED LIKE NO OTHER. WE HAVE WITNESSED HIS GENIUS

——S—

AT WORK IN THE CREATIVE MINDS OF THOSE AROUND US; THE REASERCHERS AND SCIENTISTS THAT
————

HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR 180 MILLINN PEOPLE TO EAT WELL DALLY: THAT HAVE CLOTHED

ANDHOUSEB US: THAT HAVE MADS COMFORT AND LUZURY WITHIN THE MEANS OF ALL.

THANKSGIVING IS STILL A HARVEST FESTIVAL. AND IT IS STILL FITTING THAT WE

OBSERVE IT AS SUCH. LET US BE THANKFUL FOR THE FOOD WE EAT, THE CLOTHES WE WERE,
——_—e rrr" —_—_—_—_—_
He rafter e/ Eile
FOR G THAT 446 MARS OUR LIFE COMFORTABLE AND PLEASANT. LET US

REFLECT UPON THE FACT THAT GOD IS THE GOD OF ALL NATURE, THAT HE IS THE AUTHOR OF

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ALL LIFE, /THAT FROM HIM ALL THINGS FLOW.

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