Celebrations
This past Sunday I had the privilege of sharing the pulpit with three great ministers for the 180th Anniversary of Madisonville Presbyterian Church. I spent nearly seven years as a Stated-Supply Pastor, meaning I am not ordained Presbyterian (Ordained in the Baptist tradition), but commissioned to do the work of pastor. I thought those years would be short. Five years ago when we had the 175th I was positive that would be the last celebration. The average age of the church was 80.4, there were no younger couples or kids, and we had a “crowd” when 25 were in worship! However, as I kept waiting for it to fade away, it remains today.
At Just Love we believe that the Spirit is moving the Church out of the walls of the institution and back to the heart of the people. Jesus’ work was outside the walls of the Temple and that has not changed. I celebrate the 180 years of Madisonville Presbyterian Church. In those 180 years I am positive that many lives were changed and made whole. I do mean it when I say I hope that it lives on for another 180 years. The question is what does that look like? Does it look like the same old bones, with dusty hymnals, broken microphones, and faded carpet? Or is it out in the streets, neighborhoods, and byways? Those we encounter on the road, at the grocery store, or walking down a perilous street that is where the Spirit is moving us.
And I celebrate this. Not what seems to be the downfall of the Institution of the church in America, I celebrate how God is breaking the hubris of our denominations and humbling us to see the least of these in our own midst. We can reflect on all that is wrong and there is much there, but I will celebrate the opportunity to do something new.
My friends, imagine 180 years into the future and Madisonville Presbyterian Church is still making an impact. Not because it is a historical landmark that continues to worship in between tourist visits, but because it chose to follow God down a new, yet uncomfortable path. A path that will end in its physical demise, but continues in the lives made whole in this fragmented world. Consider it a joy and celebration, my brothers and sisters, and imagine the possibilities.
Zac