The Spirit is Here

(c) 2005 Bill Humphrey

Good morning!! The spirit of the Lord is here with us as we gather from the storm to worship God. May we find grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We gather as a people looking for direction for the church; we gather as a people seeking directions for our lives; and we gather as a people seeking to know God. The Old Testament reading from Isaiah speaks of a people who have seen a great light and have overcome the darkness. We at Saint John's are products of the light of creation. Bill Bryson in his book A Short History of Nearly Everything describes the beginning of creation in this manner.

"And so from nothing, our universe begins. In a single blinding pulse, a moment of glory much too swift and expansive for any form of words, the singularity assume heavenly dimensions, space beyond conception ....In less than a minute the universe is a million billion miles across and growing fast...In three minutes, 98 percent of all the matter there is or will ever be has been produced."

The writer of Genesis provides a concise description: "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." We were there. All of the atoms that would combine to make you and I were present. Those same atoms combined to produce Jesus Christ as John wrote so eloquently, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:1-5)

God and Israel had a covenant and Israel constantly sought to be like the people with whom they lived. Each time those choices resulted in the nation being divided or conquered or exiled. The people had walked in darkness and punishment resulted. However, the punishment was not without hope. Isaiah clearly prophesied that God's people would see rejoicing and that there yokes would be removed and their burdens would be lifted.

During the past two years your Church Council has chosen to support deficit budgets that required use of endowment funds for balance but I can stand before you today and celebrate that we have a small surplus at the end of 2004. Thanks be to God!! The yoke of 2004 has been lifted and we move joyfully into 2005 with a budget of $347K and a plan to meet it without using any funds from endowments. These plans still include meeting the first year goals of the overall five-year plan for ministry at Saint John's. God provided spiritual and financial challenges for us but we are on the move.

Our Episcopal leader, Bishop Peter Weaver, stated during his consecration service that a church that does not feel the pain and suffering of its neighbors is not doing the work that God wants us to do. During that service we sang a song called "Holy Ground" from TFWS (#2272). "We are standing on holy ground, and I know that there are angels all around; let us praise Jesus now; we are standing in his presence on holy ground." I believe that we stand on Holy Ground because God created all that is. We can choose as Bishop Weaver said to take off our shoes and feel the holiness that surrounds us or we can ignore it. God has provided us with the opportunity to be stewards of the Creation.

The presence of the Lord is here. Because we are still on the road to perfection, discernment of God's purpose is always a challenge. Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth is all about this subject. "Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. The United Methodist Church practices itinerancy. This means that after some period of time, our pastors are moved. The church at Corinth was probably one of the first that Paul established on his first journey into Asia. It was a special place for him. The church had begun to divide itself into sections where members followed the person who baptized them. In the United Methodist Church, we believe that each pastor has gifts and graces that are needed by the congregation as we seek to do the work of God. And thus, if we sought to follow our pastors, most of us would have had to move many times, Paul states clearly that we are to belong to Christ and Christ alone. All else is folly. It is the grace of God the Father through the cross of Jesus Christ that holds us together. It is the cross of Christ that unifies all the hosts of Christ.

At the end of the budget discussions, your Church Council voted unanimously for adoption. Each of the committees and commissions of the church has made a covenant to work individually towards funding the budget. These plans include auctions, dinners, and special events that will allow Saint John's to involve the community of the Seacoast. We are united in Christ.

The presence of the Lord is here. It is moving throughout the New England Annual Conference. I will read from a special report from the Treasurer of the NEAC:

"For the first time ever, the conference has paid 100% of its World Service Fund apportionment. That has been a goal ever since the merger in 1994. Last year's payment to this fund was 64.3%. The World Service Fund apportionment is the heart of our denomination-wide presence, underwriting Christian mission and ministry around the world. It enables United Methodists to reach out through the general church boards and agencies."

Other funds receiving 100% of asking from the New England Conference are the:

• Black College Fund

• Africa University

• Episcopal Fund

Thanks to great commitment and the bold efforts of our New England United Methodist congregations, the New England Conference has paid its 2004 Apportionments to the general church at a rate of 96.08% overall, the highest in the last 5 years. The overall payment for 2003 was 70.39%.

The presence of the Lord is here. And yet there are those who will question a budget that is balanced with fund raising. These are acts of faith in God to do what needs to be done.

Let me share a story from Elie Weisel via Jeff Jacoby's column in the Boston Globe titled "angry with God." "Three rabbis in Auschwitz convened a court of law and put God on trial for allowing his children to be slaughtered. At the end of the trial, which stretched over several days, they pronounced him guilty of crimes against humanity. Then one of the rabbis glanced at the darkening sky. Now, he said, it is time for our evening prayers."

In the midst of one of the most horrific acts of genocide, only faith in God provided the power to live. Faith in God, despite the difficulties that we encounter, is part of the journey that we take. Faith that takes the Shema ---"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4)---and transforms it into acts of mercy, justice and love is the key to making God real to our neighbors.