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    May 17, 2015

    Great Expectations

    Great Expectations

    Passage: Acts 2:41-47

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Category: Discipleship, Membership

    Keywords: discipleship, expectations, follow, membership

    "Stop what you're doing and follow me." How would you respond?!?

    Imagine with me that we are just going about our daily lives, doing what we do, and a man walked up, dressed like a regular guy, and just said, follow me.  Out of the 100 or so of us here this morning, I wonder how many would walk away from the computer or the kitchen or the sales floor or the office or the classroom or tennis court.  And my guess is that not everyone invited followed Jesus back then, either!

    Think about all the stories about “the crowds.”  People came to hear the messages, to be healed, and perhaps for a thousand other reasons.  Yet, there were 12 disciples – 12 who became apostles. And once the church was born and the apostles realized they couldn’t do all the ministry by themselves, there were others appointed to particular ministries.

    The reading from Acts today began:  Those who welcomed [Peter’s] message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.  The birth of the church.  It was a matter of hearing and responding by seeking to be baptized – in the earlier verses, it is clear that Peter’s message was about repentance and the desire to be forgiven.

    In a few moments, as we welcome new members into our congregation, we will be using the whole baptismal covenant service, grounded in remembering our baptism.  None of our new members is to be baptized today.  They were all baptized long ago, mostly as children, and today we will bring them to a remembrance of their baptisms – in fact, we will ALL remember our baptisms.

    I happen to believe that whenever someone is joining a church, it’s worth using the baptismal covenant ritual so that we are reminded what gets us to this place, especially since something significant has happened for each and every person either meeting Christ for the first time or transferring from another church.  Take my mother, for example.  We uprooted her twice in about 6 years when she moved into our home.  She had been a member of Brooklyn Heights UMC since about 1951.  She left many friends and quite a few family members.  Not only that, she moved in with us!!!

    Whatever brings new members to us, something significant has happened in their lives.  As I’ve listened to your stories of coming here, most of you came because of a life event.  It seems to me that we should mark this holy occasion appropriately, grounded in the baptismal covenant.

    So, today, our new members will be re-covenanting by answering the questions posed at baptism – which are discipleship questions.  They are about what it means to accept Christ as savior and to live as a disciple.  They will also answer this question: As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?

    That last question is also about discipleship -- it is about living in covenant with God and with the community that bears the name of Jesus.  It is about membership, but not like any other membership that you will enter into in your life.  Listen to this excerpt from Adam Hamilton:

    We tell our prospective members that membership is not required in order to participate in the life of our church.  We let them know that they are welcome to visit for as long as they like.  We make clear, up front, that unlike the American Express Card, membership in our church has no privileges, only expectations.  We promise to visit them in the hospital, whether they are members or visitors.  We will do their weddings and their funerals whether they are members or visitors.  They may participate in any of our programs as a visitor.

     

     

    We tell them that membership comes with only responsibilities and expectations…We tell them that membership, like marriage, is a sign of commitment.  Membership is a commitment in which one expresses, “This is my church, I feel responsible for [it].  I am committed to its mission, vision, and ministry.  I want to serve God here as I grow in my faith.

    As a matter of fact, that last question pretty much sums up what it means to serve God as a member:  prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness – all of it:

    • Prayers – pretty self-explanatory, but just to be sure, that’s prayers for others and for the church itself. We talk a lot about growth around here.  How many of us are praying every day for the growth of the congregation?  And not so others will bring us financial security but so that others will find the joy of Christ by being part of this faith family?
    • Presence – that means that disciples come – to worship and to a small group of some kind – not just to grow an interest but to grow in relationship to God and to others in the faith community.
    • Gifts – that means ordering one’s priorities so that we are either tithing or moving toward tithing as well as to make it possible to give our gifts in leadership.
    • Service – giving of ourselves in service to others in mission.
    • Witness – added in 2008 to the vows, this one means to live in such a way as to show how faith is important in your life.

    Membership is “next step” discipleship.  It means making a vow, not something casual but something considered and significant.

    So, today I hope that we will all find renewal – and examine what is means to us to be members of Christ’s holy church.