Psalm 66:1-12 You have brought us out…
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 For in (the city’s) welfare, you will find your welfare.
Luke 17:11-19 Were not ten made clean?
I.
Ten lepers were made clean, only one returned to Jesus to express his gratitude- gratitude for being cleansed of an ugly skin disease thought to be so contagious that lepers were made to live in separate colonies from society. It is thought that these unfortunates had what we know today as Hansens disease (Dr. Hansen, 1871). HD is not contagious through touch. But in Jesus’ time, it was among the most dreaded illnesses. Lepers lived miserable lives.
Jesus hears their plea and miraculously channels God’s healing to them. And why not? If Jesus is God’s love in earthly form, he was capable of anything. So, the ten are cleansed. He tells them to go the priests for the ritual verification of their healing, as prescribed in Leviticus 13:2-8. The nine take off in jubilant fashion. One stopped, turned back, prostrated himself before Jesus and thanked them. The fact that is was a Samaritan is important to the story. For Samaritans were considered the underclass of society. Part of a breakaway group from ancient Judaism, good temple worshipers would have nothing to do with these shunned people. Only a Samaritan leper recognizes the true source of his healing and expresses gratitude.
Jesus’ praises the grateful one by saying that his faith has made him well. There is a mighty difference between healing and wellness. Healing refers to the physical body. Wellness is of the heart and spirit. One can be cleansed of an infirmity but still remain sick in spirit. A healthy spirit is life itself, a gift worthy of profound gratitude!
It is this kind of wellness that is celebrated by today’s psalmist. His words of worship well-up from the heart and inspire later temple worship liturgy. (Ps. 66)
Make a joyful noise to Go, all the earth;
sing the glory of God’s name…
‘How awesome are your deeds!’
…Come and see what God has done..
God turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot…
Now we dwell in the Promised Land (Canaan), rejoicing in our liberation and new life!
Jeremiah’s people yearned to sing such joy. But this small band were in exile with Jeremiah in Egypt, part of the massive exile resulting from the conquest of the Holy Land by Babylonian forces not long after Assyrian forces also had overrun the people. Jeremiah says, bloom where you are planted.
Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you in exile,
and pray to the Lord on its behalf,
for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Through the prophet, Jeremiah, the people know God’s presence and hope, perhaps even God’s wellness. For the knowledge of God with them likely gave them courage in their lonely struggle. And for this, they had to have been grateful. Sometimes, our circumstances may be bleak but we can still can know a joyful heart, because we know we live in God’s love and care.
This week, as some of us looked on, we watched John Thomas, the president of our United Church of Christ, and Linda Jaramillo, executive of our Justice and Witness Ministries, get arrested in front of the White House. All they were trying to do was present petitions from 60,000 church members for an end to Iraq War. In spite of bright sunshine, the day felt dark as police would not even allow them to accomplish this simple act. Yet the group of us assembled in quiet support sang, “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” in the knowledge of God’s presence with us.
II.
Though these may seem like dark, exile-like days for our nation and world, God is with us all. And the Church of Jesus Christ is a clear witness to this fact. God seeks to work through the church in each generation for the healing of the nations and everyone therein. No matter what darkness may blanket the human spirit, the Church thrusts high its spires of holy hope.
Rock Spring has been a strong partner in that witness since 1912. Though our steeple is short, each generation of members has kept holy hope alive. Today, our Christian ministry in the progressive tense is uncommon and needed more than ever. As we approach our centennial year,we continue to celebrate God’s power to heal and bring wellness to the human spirit. And, like many other years, we face stiff challenges. For we yearn to do so much for our members and our world that we again have stretched beyond our comfort level.
After several years’ study and discussion, a majority of members at the 2005 Annual Meeting voted to increase staff to three full time clergy and two office assistants. This decision provided for urgently-needed increased ministry to our growing number of children, youth and young families; more pastoral and programmatic attention to older members; adequate administrative assistance. While it will take a while to evaluate the results, exciting changes already are evident- professional leadership for children and youth; a growing under 40 ministry; the Caring Ministry program; more pastoral care to seniors; the eco-justice program; strengthened initiatives in social justice and Open and Affirming ministries.
The historic generosity of Rock Spring inspires me. We express our concern for the nation and the world by our leadership support of Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM). OCWM finances the global reach of our United Church of Christ. It also provides Central Atlantic Conference help to congregations. This assistance comes in many ways, including in-person guidance for our pastoral search process. We also show our covenant concern for the Potomac Association, comprised of 31 UCC congregations in this region of the Conference, by fully paying our annual assessment of some $8,000. In fact, our support of the Conference and Association is so critical that, when we are behind in our payments like this year, I get concerned phone calls from conference staff.
Rock Spring also undergirds a long list of vital local non-profits. We volunteer in many of these local projects, like those providing food and shelter to our neediest neighbors. In emergencies we are also are there, and not only with special offerings. The youth spend a summer week building houses in WVA. A couple travels to Biloxi, MS to assist Katrina victims rebuild their homes. And, we undergird the ministries of Rock Spring by providing a carefully-managed budget for church operations- utilities, maintenance, salaries.
III.
Today, we will gather in Carpenter Fellowship Hall at 12:15 for our Annual Budget/Goals Meeting. All members, please take the time to be there! (Light lunch and child care are provided.)
At the meeting, we will discuss a budget that requires a significant an increase in pledge income of some 15%. This is what it will take to maintain our increased staff and program of ministries. This is what is needed to fulfill our promise to future generations- a promise to keep Rock Spring’s ministry alive and strong, ever meeting the needs of this growing community; ever striving to bring a progressive Christian perspective to this society and global village. Someone estimated that our budget requires $2,500 per day!
We can do this! We are a grateful people and, like the grateful Samaritan, we know what God has done for us. As a group, we also have the resources. According to census track statistics, Rock Springers give on the average 1.5-2% of family income. Let’s get it to 5% at least. But can we afford to be that generous?
We have resources in abundance. Jean Bethke Elshtain, professor at the University of Chicago and a dedicated Christian, reminds us of the true meaning of abundance.
Abundance…is a joy, a feeling of life’s goodness and fullness. It is not self-
flagellating guilt…(but) an awareness of life’s goodness that overflows the
boundaries of the self and invites all to join in.
Is our plenty abundance in God’s sense! I don’t think it is. That doesn’t
mean that we should scorn our earthly well-being. It does mean that we
should do our best to share these fruits even as we are grateful for what
we have been given.
Elshtain reminds us that God’s love is not diminished by being expended. It grows through giving.
There is increase in apparent diminution. Does this not suggest that we are not
depleted through the giving of ourselves? That we should not parse out our lives
in small, manageable bits? Time is money, we say. No, time is a gift. And the
greatest gift of all is the gift of God’s only begotten Son.
Can we meet a 15% budget increase? I believe we can!
As a young pastor of a small, Spirit-filled congregation of modest means, we faced a significant challenge. We learned that the humps in the center aisle of our historic New England sanctuary meant that the support beams were giving way. An investigation revealed the whole tree logs, bark and all, used as floor supports, were literally powdering away. Generations of insects had eaten the dry timbers. Further exploration revealed similar problems with the roof trusses.
The town condemned the sanctuary. We worshiped in the town hall for many months. Contractors told us that repairs to the room would cost at least $100,000, perhaps much more. That number looked to me then like several million dollars! Our small congregation’s annual budget was only $20,000 and our people were of modest means. Frightened, we borrowed money from the United Church of Christ and other sources and, in faith, proceeded with the reconstruction. We really did not know how we were going to pay off the huge debt.
A few years later, when I left that congregation, the debt had been paid in full. It was always an amazement to me how that happened…!
Amen.