Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri
Morning Worship · October 5, 2008
Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost
50th Anniversary Worship and Celebration
Scripture
Ephesians 4:1-7,11-16
(Charter Day Scripture)
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by God’s people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But, speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Message
Growing Up into God
Kim Gage Ryan
The year was 1958. The first successful United States’ satellite launched into orbit that year. The word “aerospace” was coined. Congress created NASA. In 1958, 9,235 scientists published a plea to stop nuclear-bomb threats. The peace symbol was designed. The best picture in 1958… Any guesses? It was Bridge over the River Kwai. The best actress: I’ll give you the movie; you tell me the actress. The Three Faces of Eve. Yes, it was Joanne Woodward. Bobby Fischer won the United States Chess Championship at the age of 14. Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army. This is one I’m thinking you didn’t know. Pope Pius XII declared St. Clare the patron saint of television. That was just in time for the Nutcracker Ballet to be shown on TV for the first time in color. Thank you, St. Clare.
There were a lot of firsts: International House of Pancakes, instant noodles, parking meters. Alaska became a state. In 1958, the post-war-baby-boom ended. The year 1958 began 11 years of decline in birth rate in this United States. But, born in 1958: Jamie Lee Curtis, Madonna, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice-T (That one’s for the teenagers. If you don’t know, go find a teenager.), Allen Jackson (for you country and western fans), Mitch Albom (author of Tuesdays with Morrie), and me. That was the part where you were supposed to say, “But you don’t look 50.”
But most important of all, and the reason we are here today is because Broadway Christian Church was born in 1958. It was a long pregnancy. Some of you First Christian Church folks can tell us. Some say it was four years. Others say, “Oh, no. It was eight years!”
Thank you for the patience, the forbearance, and generosity of First Christian Church. As Pauline Walden, wife of the first board chair of this church, Bush Walden, said when we were moving into this sanctuary, “We were a congregation birthed in love. That has made all of the difference.” Amen!
This Scripture that Bill read for us just a few moments ago was the birthing-day Scripture. It was a Scripture of blessing. It was a Scripture of instruction. It was marching orders for those Christian soldiers. It was a Scripture of encouragement and promise. “Lead a life worthy of your calling. Bear one another with love, gentleness, humility, and patience. Maintain the unity of the Spirit.”
“Well done, good and faithful servants.”
“Know each has been gifted. Use your gifts and make room for everyone’s gifts.”
“Well done, good and faithful servants.”
“Grow up in every way into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
Look around you, and say to one another, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”
This is a congregation that has lived into the fulfillment of that Scripture. It is a dream come true. Thanks be to God and to everyone here. Today, I think it is our opportunity to feel God’s pleasure with us, and in us.
I can’t help but be reminded from a scene in William Young’s best-selling novel, The Shack. Have you read that yet? The main character, Mack, is invited to go to the Shack to meet with God. Mack goes, reluctantly, fearfully. Then is says, “Mack decided to bang loudly and see what would happen. But just as he raised his fist to do so, the door flew open, and he was looking directly into the face of a large, beaming, African-American woman.”
Now later, Mack will find out this is actually God. She is the way she is because she’s exactly how Mack needed to receive God at that moment in his life. But he didn’t know that, so instinctively, he jumped back, but he was too slow.
With speed that belied her size, she crossed the distance between them and engulfed him in her arms, lifting him clear off his feet and spinning him around like a little child. All the while she was shouting his name, “Mackenzie Allen Philips, Mackenzie Allen Philips!” with the ardor of someone seeing a long-lost and deeply-loved relative. She finally put him back on earth, and with her hands on his shoulders, pushed him back as if to get a good look at him. “Mack, look at you,” she fairly exploded. “Here you are and so grown up! I’ve really been looking forward to seeing you face to face. It’s so wonderful to have you here with us. My, my, my, how I do love you.” With that, she wrapped herself around him again.
Friends, today is a day just like that. Just imagine these walls, which have always felt like an embrace to me from the first time I stepped into this finished sanctuary. See these walls, representing the embrace of God, and hear God shouting, “Broadway Christian Church, look at you! How you have grown! You are so grown up. My, my, my, how I do love you!”
Do you hear it? Feel it. Enjoy it.
It’s tempting to stop right there this morning. Isn’t it? “That’s enough. It’s enough said. Stop!”
I’m not going to.
It would be unlike the character of this church to stop there, to bask in our accomplishments, to gaze too long admiring our reflection in the mirror, or God’s eye. That’s just not in our DNA. It’s not in the fiber of our being. All we have to do is to look back at our infancy, to those early years, to those early scenes, to those first courageous ones who said, “Yes. Let’s start a new church. Yes. Let’s form a congregation. Yes. Let’s grow up into Christ.” When we do that, we see the uniquely-crafted blessings and the characteristics of this church and those first members and leaders. Let me tell you: they were all leaders.
What we find there is the Broadway DNA. Here are the characteristics of Broadway: adventurous, risk-taking, responsive to the culture and the world around us, imaginative, positive leadership, and appreciative of wise ones.
George Garner mentioned Mrs. Yeager. There were those wonderfully, fabulous retired Disciple ministers at Lenoir that grounded this congregation with their grace.
So, for 50 years, we have lived that Broadway Spirit. Today we stand poised at the future. I just happened to read a quote a couple of weeks ago by Stephen Holman. I don’t have a clue who Stephen Holman is. But I loved this quote. “We have a choice between two attitudes toward the future – one of nostalgia and the other of imagination. It’s a choice between backing into the future or facing the future.”
I guess we have a choice. Some would say we stand at a crossroads today of such a choice – our fiftieth anniversary. It’s a time for nostalgia, as it should be, and also a time of great transition in the life of this congregation. I guess we could back into the future, but we’re not going to do that.
What I know and what I trust about this congregation is that, collectively, we are going to take a deep breath after today. We’re going to receive God’s pleased and proud reflection of us, and we’re going to face forward. We’re going to continue to ask God, “So, now what? What’s next, God?”
We will do it with the same spirit of adventure, the same risk-taking, the same responsiveness to the culture and the world in which we live, the same imagination, the same positive leadership, and the same appreciation of our wise ones. That’s what we are going to do.
We were graced with some of the wisdom of our wise ones in recent months. We had visits from the previous ministers of this congregation.
William S. Ryan stood right here in this pulpit and reminded us of the 50 years that American churches have faced, and the issues of those 50 years. He told us about the issue of the civil rights movement and the ongoing issue of race. He spoke about inclusive language and how we address and imagine God. He spoke about the role and the respect of women in leadership. And he raised for us the issue of sexual orientation “in a time when increasing genetic research indicates that sexuality is defined by orientation and not choice.” He spoke to us of the controversial war and the nature of war. That was in July.
On October 5, 1958, in Morris Parlors [First Christian Church], Bill Ryan said, “The distinguishing feature of the Church is its expression of love.” Whatever issues we face – the ones I just named are ongoing and there will be more – “the distinguishing feature of the Church is love.”
Don Lanier stood in this pulpit and used a fabulous metaphor for us. He said, “You’re at halftime. You’ve played a great game. You’ve been winning that game. Now it’s halftime.”
Well, friends, if this is the halftime show, we might as well take it as that. I will tell you the team is already huddling in the locker room. They’re assessing the game. They’re creating new strategies and plays. They’re jumping up and down. Ed Stansberry and Guy Adams are yelling, “Put me in, Coach! Put me in, Coach! I’m ready! I’m ready to play! Let’s play the second half!”
Right, Ed?
[Ed humorously responds, “No.”]
That’s so not true! Yes, it is something like that.
And Rick Frost graced us with four wonderful sermons that were called “The Legacy of Faith, Hope, Love, and Convictions.” Rick spoke from his convictions in his last sermon with this church when he said, “We are on the verge of a global tsunami of another kind, an enormous spiritual awakening of global proportions.” He said, “What I believe that means is that you are a part of this church for a reason. You’re not here by mistake. I believe God wants you here, and I believe God wants to help you, and use you, and create something you may not even be aware of yet. God wants you to be a world changer. I believe you are here so that God can help you do that.”
A woman said recently, “I know I am a child of God. What I want to ask is, ‘How do I be an adult of God?’”
There is no question. We know we are God’s beloved church – Broadway Christian Church. How is it now that we are going to be an adult congregation? Are we going to birth a new church? It’s within our spirit. Are we going to start a new worship service at a different time? Are we going to expand assertive ministries in outreach and welcoming and enter into the issues of our day with leadership and witness, perhaps in areas of ecology, and financial responsibility, and racial, and global, and religious unity?
I don’t know. We don’t know yet how we are going to get lived into our adulthood. But we are on the edge. What I do know is that it will have something to do with – it will have everything to do with – us living a life worthy of our calling. It will have everything to do with the way we face the future as we have in the past, with all humility, with gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, and making every effort to maintain that unity of Spirit that we know and we love so well. I know we are going to explore gifts – individually and all together – and we are going to unite those gifts for the service of Christ. I know that being built up in love, we are going to be strong and able to face God’s new day for us.
At the end of the book, The Shack… (Don’t you love it when people tell you the end of the book? This not really the end of the end of the book.) Toward the end of the book, Mack gets a choice. He can either stay in the embrace and the closeness of God, or he can go back and face his future. He chooses to leave the shack and to enter fully, once again, his life even though Mack reminds God, “I don’t do much other than working and caring for my friends and my family.”
God reminds Mack, “Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes. Every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes. With every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will be the same again.”
Broadway Christian Church, as an adult of God, we can change the world. We can change the universe. And that’s a future we can face with nostalgia and imagination. So, shall we? Shall we? Shall we?
I want to close with a prayer. It’s not my prayer. Our area minister of the Northeast Area sent us a beautiful letter. She couldn’t be with us today. Kris is a member of this church – Kris Tenny-Brittian. She sent this beautiful letter, and in it is a prayer. Please join me as we pray together.
God, please propel us into the next 50 years, finding us ever more faithful and faith-filled, and courageously bold in our attempts and efforts to share the Spirit of God that so many of us have had the opportunity to encounter and share at Broadway. Our memories, may they be momentous. This weekend’s memory-making monumental, and the movement of your Spirit be nothing less than miracle producing. Grow us in love and community.
Together we say… “Amen.”
Benediction
Gracious God, Loving God, we are yours! We move to you, through you, and onward! This journey of “growing up into you” is paved with steps of able, powerful, and amazing people. The path is steeped with loving hopes, intentions, and actions. When people look to us, they see that we are one body of believers and that we belong to this family of God. Hear the jubilant hearts of your grateful ones as we say together, thank you! Amen.
