A Letter from James to the Churches in Massachusetts
“Each of You Is Jesus’ Letter of Recommendation”
Delivered by The Rev. Dr. Jim Antal,
Conference Minister and President
208th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference
June 22, 2007
I, James, made humble one year ago when you, together with the Holy Spirit, called me to join you in proclaiming the wonders of our Still Speaking God, do now bring greetings from that God who loves you just the way you are, and loves you too much to let you stay that way!
Such is the tireless Grace of our Lord, who invites us to expand our hearts, stretch our horizons and refuse to rest until we have welcomed every person in the Commonwealth who is in need of redemptive love. While this may seem more evangelical than is our nature in New England (and remember, I have spent more years in Massachusetts than any where else!), hear my testimony that within a few miles of each one of our 404 churches are hundreds of unchurched seekers – and many more refugees who have been hurt or disappointed by church. Our Still Speaking God has something to say to each of them – through each one of you!
Yes, as our brother, the Apostle Paul, reminded the saints in Corinth: each of you is Jesus’ letter of recommendation! It is Jesus’ inclusive love that welcomes these seekers into our pews – whoever they are and wherever they may be on life’s journey. While always remaining humble, never forget that since 1620 (and for those in West Barnstable, a few years before that!) the Holy Spirit has been at work among us, drawing from us courageous commitments that have changed the course of history, and made our incarnate God yet more visible.
Allow me now to speak to those whom the church has set aside to serve as pastors. Sisters and brothers, you cannot do this work alone. And you must not do this work alone. Every day I pray that each of you will draw upon the blessings that scores of you are already receiving: that you will bind yourselves in covenant with other pastors so that you, as clergy, will model what your people clamor for: community. Church now offers one of the few remaining opportunities for community. Leading lives of quiet desperation, people long to connect with others who can share their burden and elevate their hopes. You clergy are no different. The time you spend with your colleagues seeking to strengthen your ministries will be magnified ten-fold in the vitality of your congregation.
If you have experienced this yourself, then you know it to be a miracle of the Holy Spirit: from a small commitment of our time God can generate a great commitment by many in our congregations of their time.
The same is true of money. Even a little candor about money in our churches can inspire abundant giving which we can scarcely imagine. It is high time we stopped revering our financial resources – as if they were the most cherished part of our lives. In many congregations, plain talk about our abundant resources is unthinkable. Am I wrong in thinking that God claims our whole lives – including our wallets and our mutual funds? I say this, mind you, not to increase our common purse, but to amplify our experience of freedom. All of us acknowledge that God loves a hilarious giver. (2Cor. 9:7) What’s just as real is that those who give freely – live freely. So that this message is in no way masqueraded, let me simply say: I have never met a reluctant or regretful tither. You will, no doubt, push back on this point with great ferocity, and remind me that I have been away from New England for too long a time. But in this great room are some of the most generous people I have ever known. I want for all of us the freedom they exhibit. (And as a practical matter, if all the churches in our Conference simply paid their fellowship dues – the programs and staffing we all long for would again be ours.)
Have I moved from preaching to meddling...? We serve a meddling God, you know! Were we to share with one another the ways God has meddled in our lives – interrupting our presumed paths – we would talk well into the night. Is God meddling with the Church? How do you see it?
Let me put it another way: Paul said that you are Jesus’ letter of recommendation. I would say that you are the leaders you’ve been waiting for. Every time you gather in your congregations – for meetings, pot lucks, celebrations, worship – as a leader, you get to shape the future of God’s people.
How? It’s simple. But it’s subtle. As leaders, you shape the future by the story you tell. So I ask you: When you think of your life in Christ, your church, the United Church of Christ, or even the world and all that dwells in it – what is the story you find yourself in?
Is it an “if only...” story (you know what I mean: “If only we had more members... or money... or time”); or is it an “only if” story? “The only way we’ll become the church God is calling us to be is if we loosen our desperate grip on the church we once were.” Or: “The only way we’ll flourish is if we have the courage to risk actually following Jesus.”
Many of us have convinced ourselves that we’re on the Titanic when we’re actually on the Mayflower!1 We experience choppy seas... the loss of much that we love... uncharted territory... and occasionally we’re off course...
But in all of this, sisters and brothers, our Still Speaking God sets before us a Pilgrim purpose. In a culture where the loudest public voices portray the Christian faith in ideologically narrow terms, let us boldly testify to a community of faith built on expansive hope, inclusive love, ecumenical passion and courageous risk. In each of our towns are thousands of people who never thought that a church like the UCC existed. And thousands more who are leaving their churches in search of different story:
- they are more interested in lively investigation than they are in authoritative certainty;
- they are more interested in companionship on a journey than they are in confidently uttered answers;
- they are more interested in open doors than closed minds;\
- and they are more interested in expanding the horizon of hope than narrowing the focus of judgement.
Let there be no doubt that God has placed us in a time fraught with promise and in desperate need of what the United Church of Christ has to offer.
Many of you have much to celebrate – you have already spotted land! Others find themselves engulfed in fog, tossed to and fro. Believe me, this is not God’s final word! There is land beyond the fog – and when we come together, have no doubt: God has given us all we need to find that land and flourish.
Sisters and brothers, I implore you in your daily prayers to remember: you are Jesus’ letter of recommendation; and you are the leaders you have been waiting for.
May the grace of Christ be upon you, the hope of God be within you, and the promise of the Holy Spirit go before you. Amen.
1. I am grateful to Dorothy Butler Bass for this metaphor. See , p. xi.