For Such a Time As This!

9/15/02 Crestwood United Church of Christ

Marcia Sietstra:  Pastor

You have no idea how much I struggled to know what to say to you today! I've written at least 3 sermons worth of material this week. The good news is, I'm not going to try to deliver it all! There is so much that could be said. Finally, I had to say to myself, "What HAS to be said today?" So here's the well-trimmed version! First, let me say to visitors today is the culmination of a two-year study to decide if we should relocate our congregation by building a new church in a fast-growing development in Sioux Falls. We'll be voting today on whether or not to continue the process toward building. Since we hope all visitors will come back again and again, I'm delighted you are here to hear about the process. If you are from out-of-town, you can take what you learn of our process back to any church who has a big decision to make, so sit back, relax and share our learning!

1. The first thing I must say today is how proud I am of this congregation for the peaceful, respectful discernment process you have participated in for 2 years! Every voice was encouraged and heard the skeptics whose cautious attitude made the Visioning Task Force be extra conservative in their financial estimates, and even caused us to make the recommendation we'll vote on today a conditional one, the condition being the money has to be secured before any actual building happens. Yes, we needed the skeptics; we also needed the dreamers and the visionaries, some of whom are so confident that we can jumpstart a new church that they are ready to start packing my books! We needed every one of you so that, as a group, we could benefit from the collective wisdom of many.

2. I must also say today that it is absolutely normal and absolutely acceptable that you will not all agree today. We should expect that. Some will vote to continue the work toward a new building; some will vote not to continue the work toward a new building. Faithful Christians have always disagreed, just like in families do.

Remember the last time your family went out to eat? How long did it take you to decide where to go? Recently I heard a guy say he knew he was in a family restaurant one day because there was a family arguing at every table. During the last week I've had 2 people mention to me that they are already having negotiations about where to celebrate Christmas with their adult children this year!

It is healthy and natural for family members to have different opinions that doesn't mean you can't come to a compromise, an agreeable decision, with a little give-and-take and plenty of respectful negotiating, and a big measure of love! Reasonable people negotiate in groups all our lives. Ask Deana, who teaches 26 kindergarteners, many of whom have not had to be part of a group before she's the queen of negotiating! And she hasn't lost a kindergartener yet!

A healthy family negotiates. A healthy church negotiates. We have done that! I am so pleased with the way you have gently and patiently listened to each other.

3. The third thing I must say is that, no matter how the vote turns out today, every one of us can be proud of what we’ve done. Be proud of your congregation’s peaceful, open-minded, respectful treatment of one another. Because there may be some of you who will be tempted to be disappointed if the majority votes differently from you today. Even if the vote does not go the way you want it to, be proud of the process of discernment that we have followed, just as it is outlined in Acts 15 when the early church had to decide way more controversial things than we have! They had to decide whether to let Gentiles into their church, breaking with tradition that was over a thousand years old! They listened to each other, prayed, waited for the Spirit to give them feelings of one way or the other being right. I imagine those early church folks had to go with their gut feeling just like we often have to. I know they were committed to the wisdom of the group, believing it to be greater than the wisdom of the one.

It says in Acts that a group of leaders studied this and reported back to the congregation; our Visioning Task Force did that. Approximately 12 of us dug through a mountain of research! The task force learned about cultural changes, and the changing expectations people have when it comes to church. The task force compared renovation costs with new building costs. They studied the potential for growth here versus potential for growth in a new housing development.

And then we waited—there was so much to consider, it felt at times like chaos. But eventually it began to happen—a sense of direction in many of the task force members at about the same time. Feelings of possibility began to surface. But there was continued discussion until a strong, clear, unanimous conviction surfaced in all of the task force members. One way was sifted out after all that prayer and study and listening and discussing. It was amazing to see the ancient discernment process work. And the way the task force felt led is toward building a new church in a new location in partnership with the conference. Whether you agree with them or not, you can feel good that we have followed the Biblical process for discerning where the Spirit is leading.

4. It is my hope, in fact, that those for whom the vote does not turn out as you hope, will be able to say, "This is not exactly what I would like, but it appears to be the will of the group, and so I will not block it. I will put my own preferences aside, since this appears to be the way the Spirit is leading the group. And because I am part of this congregation, I will support what appears to be the leading of the Spirit in my congregation." There are no losers here today. There are no winners or losers here today. There is one community of faith seeking to discern God’s will for us as a congregation.

5. Finally, I must say today that we are at a crossroads in the life of this church. What we decide today will dramatically affect our future and quite possibly the future of a lot of other people who haven't found our church yet. That's why I kept thinking of Esther this summer. Not that I feel like I'm in quite as much danger as Queen Esther was though there have been times the last year when I felt in danger of going just a little crazy with all of this stuff we had to sort through! No, I keep thinking of Esther because, like us, she was at a huge crossroads in life.

Esther, you see, was just the right person at just the right time, called by God to do something great! Esther risked much more than we will. She risked her life by appearing, uninvited, before the king who held in his hands the authority to have her killed for being so presumptuous. She risked her life again when she dared to accuse ask for the lives of her people and revealed to him that she was Jewish.

But that's why generations have retold this tale Esther is us! She was a common person who was able to accomplish something great because her purpose was for good, her timing was perfect, and God was in it with her!

Maybe someone else would have appeared to save the day, but Mordecai knew that Esther was in just the right place, at just the right time, and he was pretty sure that God's purposes could be served if she would only dare! And so he said to her, "Who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this!" Who knows if we have come to this crossroads in the life of this church for such a time as this!

This city needs this church. There isn't another one quite like it anywhere in Sioux Falls. Our sister church, First Congregational, is close but not quite the same. I’ve often said that Crestwood has been the best kept secret in town, but it’s becoming more highly visible all the time. People are looking for a progressive church where they can think for themselves, where all questions are welcome, where diversity of theology is respected and encouraged, where they can grow spiritually as well as intellectually. People need our friendly, small-church atmosphere that we fully intend to preserve, even as we grow big enough to be able to offer more programming that many would benefit from.

And since 9/11, I am convinced that our congregation and our denomination have a unique call to be leaders in teaching tolerance of other religions. We are uniquely poised to lead the dialogue between people of other religions, because of our diversity and openness. And that is going to be crucial to peace in the 21st century!

I have this sense that you and I, like Esther, might be in just the right place at just the right time to accomplish something very good! We've added over 80 new members since I came here 4 years ago. We have momentum building. Could it be that God is calling us to do something daring and great, like Esther? It will take some daring, but then, God doesn't call us to do what is easy; God calls us to do what is good. Each of you must ask yourself, Could it be that I am called to be part of a venture to accomplish something great for just such a time as this.

I've told you already that I feel called to do this. I finally decided to vote yes, in favor of relocating and building a new building, but like any good UCC'er, I respect your right to disagree with me. I am only 1 voice, just like each of you.

There is one last thing that must be said today: We stand on the shoulders of the faithful Crestwood people who built and sustained this church. Without them we would not be at this crossroads. It is because of their faithfulness and work that this congregation finds itself ready to do something daring. I thank each one of them today you saints living and the saints passed on who built this church. You have made it possible for us to be right here at this crossroads today, prepared for just such a time as this. And now, may God bless us all as we seek to do God's will. Amen.