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Stephen Ministry

Before I begin the sermon I want to tell you a story I came across this week just because it’s a nice story…it has little to do with the sermon. Some of you are familiar with the name, Kurt Warner. Warner is currently the quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, who didn’t play very well on Thanksgiving Day by the way. But Warner is an interesting story. Some of you are familiar with it. A few years ago, after completing his collegiate career at Northern Iowa, Warner was unable to make the roster of an NFL team. So, Warner worked the night shift of a grocery store, needing to rely on help from food stamps to feed his family. He eventually signed with an Arena Football League team, the Iowa Barnstormers (Janet was a season ticket holder) and played well enough to capture the attention of the St. Louis Rams. Warner signed as a backup quarterback, but in 1999 was thrust into the starting role when the starting quarterback, Trent Green, was injured. Warner went on to have one of the greatest single seasons in NFL history, leading his team to the Super Bowl championship where he was named Super Bowl MVP. A classic rags to riches story. But, that’s not the story I wanted to tell. That’s just the background.

Warner is a devoted Christian and readily acknowledges how blessed he’s been. One way he gives thanks to God is through something he and his family call "The Restaurant Game." The night before he leaves with the team on a road game, the Warners—Kurt, his wife, Brenda, and their seven children—go out to dinner. Once they’re seated one of the children whose turn it is in the rotation for The Restaurant Game scans the restaurant and picks a table whereupon Warner notifies their waitress to add that table’s bill to theirs…anonymously. It’s Warner’s way of giving thanks to God and teaching his kids the joy of giving.

That’s a nice story, isn’t it? Gives you someone to root for when the Broncos are playing badly.

Ok, on with our series "The Lord is My Shepherd." So far, we’ve looked at the nature of our Shepherd, Jesus, that makes him not only our Shepherd, but he is Holy, our Equipper, our Prophet, and our Healer. Today, the second "E" in S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D, Jesus is Everlasting.

Our Scripture verse for today is Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

We live in a world of change. Lord knows we heard enough about "change" in the last election. Everywhere we turned we were confronted with the word "change." Actually, change was a good metaphor for the election because our world has become one of rapid change. Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than the world of technology. Some of you can remember the days when radio was the latest technology! And AM radio at that. No FM in the beginning. No TV’s, certainly no computers or cell phones. Then television came along and we all marveled at that technology. Could it get any better than that? Of course, it was all black and white TV, but what a change that brought. Images of people projected into our living rooms! Pretty soon those images were projected in color and we thought we had reached the pinnacle of technology. It wasn’t. Now, there’s high definition TV and programming we can receive on our cell phones, a computer in every home, the internet changing the way we receive information and view the world. Technology has pushed us into an era of rapid change to the point where newly purchased computers are practically obsolete by the time we get them home and set up in our den.

We’ve also seen dramatic change in our culture within the lifetimes of many of you here today: From the Depression of the 30’s, to World War II, to peace and prosperity of the 50’s. Then along came the 60’s. How many of you remember the upheaval of the 60’s? You know, they say if you can remember the 60’s you really didn’t live it! But, the 60’s brought great upheaval—the assassination of a President, Viet Nam, civil rights, the generation gap and more. The 70’s brought further change to how we viewed institutions with the Watergate scandal. And so on through the 80’s, the 90’s, and our current decade.

We’ve seen change in the political arena—not just in the recent presidential election. There once was a time when the voting block of the South was the domain of the Democrats. For the past few decades it’s been a Republican stronghold. Down the road, who knows? And, of course, the recent presidential election described in one word would probably be "historic," but the word "change" also comes to mind.

It could rightly be said that the 20^th century brought more change than the previous centuries combined. And it continues into the 21^st century. And this change happens quickly. The latest thinking in business or church strategizing is that long-term strategic planning no longer works. Things change too quickly and an organization needs to be prepared to respond immediately to those changes and not be tied to a 5 year strategic plan. Like computers out of the box, the long range plan is obsolete within the first few months of implementation. Our world is one of rapid change…and the church is not immune to it.

We want the church to be immune to change. We want the church to be a fortress of stability in a cauldron of change. I understand that. The church celebrates tradition and the stories of faith. We don’t want that to change. Even more, there is so much change going on around us we want one place that is a shelter, a refuge from the tumultuous world of change we live in. We long for that in the church. But the church is not immune to change.

This is a newsletter entitled The Parish Paper, a concise newsletter of "ideas and insights for active congregations." It is written by church consultants Herb Miller and Lyle Schaller. In the January 2006 edition of The Parish Paper, the subject is "Surviving the Rapids of Change?" In the article they ask "What is the most significant single change in congregational ministries in American Protestantism since 1970?" And they offer some suggestions. Some of the choices: "The arrival of at least three successive generations of new Christian music? The replacement of the small neighborhood congregation by the large regional church that attracts worshipers who live fifteen to fifty miles away?" Here’s an interesting one for you, "The replacement of the resident pastor preaching the sermon in person during worship with the message delivered by projected visual imagery?" I’m going to take 2009 off, but don’t worry, I’ve video recorded sermons to be projected while I’m gone! See you in 2010! At the Leadership Summit this past August—which in itself is a conference held in Chicago and broadcast to hundreds of satellite sites—one of the speakers was the pastor of a multi-site church that synchronized their worship with several other sites—some in different states. The worship—music, prayers, announcements—is all done locally at each site. The sermon is delivered by one person at a set time and beamed via satellite to the other sites. Change is all around us and it impacts our church life as well.

A few years ago, I attended a conference entitled "How to Change Your Church (without killing it)." The conference ended late on Saturday afternoon and I debated missing the final session or two in order to catch an earlier flight home. However, the final session was entitled "How to Change Your Church (without killing you)" so I decided to stay and travel home later! We live in a world of change…and the church is not a shelter of refuge from change. We must not be. The article on "Surviving the Rapids of Change" concludes with these words, "church leaders choose between (a) allowing their congregations to sink and disappear and (b) thoughtfully negotiating the rapids of change." Change is all around us…and it impacts the church as well.

However, there is good news in all of this. There is an answer to our search for stability in the whirlwind of change. We’ve just been looking for it in the wrong place. The source of stability for our lives is not the church. Never has been. The church has changed dramatically many times since its founding over 2,000 years ago. If the apostle Paul were to walk in here today, he’d be stunned by the change in the church…and not just over the projector and screen. The pews would be a foreign item to Paul. And the organ…he’d be shocked at the organ! Didn’t have one of those in his day! The stringed instruments, a tambourine or two would feel more familiar to him. The church has never been the source of stability and foundation for our lives.

One of my favorite stories about that involves the hymns of Isaac Watts. I’ve told you this story before. Believe it or not, the hymns of Isaac Watts—Joy to the World, Our God Our Help in Ages Past (which we’re going to sing in a moment), When I Survey the Wondrous Cross—were controversial in their day. In fact, the story is told of a Presbyterian pastor in 1781 riding his donkey all the way from his home in Kentucky to Philadelphia where the General Assembly was meeting. His sole purpose was to address the assembly and encourage them to "prohibit the pernicious practice of singing the hymns of Isaac Watts!" The church has never been the source of stability and foundation for our lives. Rather, it is whom the church worships and serves that is the source of stability and foundation for our lives. Jesus Christ…the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus Christ doesn’t change. Yet, Jesus also never grows out of step with the current issues and concerns of any society. The miracle of the good news of Jesus Christ is that he is timeless. He is relevant in all kinds of cultures and through all types of changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus Christ is everlasting.

This is essential doctrine to understand—not only because we need something safe and secure, firm and stable in our ever changing lives—but also because it means the entirety of our lives is covered by our Everlasting Shepherd. Our past was journeyed through the guidance of our Good Shepherd and any mistakes from our past have been covered by his mercy and grace, forgiven and remembered no more because of the everlasting covenant Christ has made with us. The same forgiveness Jesus offers to the woman caught in adultery is also available to us today. Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever means that he is present with us now—as he promised he would be—to guide our way, to strengthen us through any and all circumstances. As Jesus’ Spirit was present for the church at Pentecost, for Paul on his missionary journeys, so is Christ present for us today. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever means our future is secure, made sure through the faithfulness of our Everlasting Savior…and nothing, nothing can take that away from us. As paradise was secured for the repentant thief on the cross, so is paradise secured in the future for those who repent and turn to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord…because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Whatever realities the certainty of change brings to our lives, even more certain is the presence of Christ. Not our circumstances which constantly change. Not our church which has, and must, and will continue to change whether we like it or not. Only Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Now, throughout this series we’ve also suggested that in order to fulfill our name, Shepherd of the Hills, we must seek to be these same things that our Great Shepherd is. How, then, are we to be everlasting? It’s not possible. It cannot be said of even the most consistent among us that he, or she "is the same yesterday and today and forever." Even if we rightly view our future as everlasting through Christ, our beginning had a definite beginning. We cannot describe ourselves as everlasting. But our message is. We fulfill our everlasting role as shepherd to those around us by bringing to them the good news of the one sure and stable thing to be found in life—Jesus Christ. Like us, the people around us experience dramatic changes in their lives. Like us, they are tempted to find stability in something in their lives that simply cannot provide it: Their jobs; their families; their health; their possessions. They need to know the one true source for stability in their lives…and that is Jesus Christ the Everlasting Shepherd. We fulfill our role as shepherds when we bring that everlasting truth to the people around us searching for some stability in their lives.

So, change will come. We cannot prevent that. But we can face the changes life will bring by holding tightly to the one stable thing in life, Jesus Christ…the same yesterday and today and forever.