First Sermon at First Cong. UCC, Rock Springs,WY

Ministry of Reconciliation
By Rev Steven R. Mitchell
Isaiah 61:1-2a & 11; II Cor. 5:16-21; John 1:1-14
September 6, 2009


I first would like to bring to you “greetings” from St Paul's UCC of Seattle! It is with mixed emotions that they celebrate in my joining you here at First Congregational UCC of Rock Springs! I wish to say, “What a pleasure and a privilege it is for me to be entering into relationship with you; serving as your new Transitional Minister.”
With this Labor Day weekend, we are at the end of the one season, Summer and at the start of a new season, Fall. As we begin this new season, we also stand at the “Threshold” of a new chapter here at First Congregational. Some of you may think of me as your new “Interim Pastor” and that the phrase “Transitional Minister” is just a fancy name, but there is a very different meaning and subsequently differing actions between the two. The word “Interim” means: the period of time between; or temporary. The word “Transition” means: a passing from one condition, place and/or activity to another. So, as your Transitional Minister, I will be walking with you through this passing from who you are presently, to where you wish to be moving toward. The work that we as the body of Faith found here at 1275 Adams Ave during this period of “Transition” will be very different than what would be done during the period known as “interim.”
I would like to share a poem with you that was written by Robert Frost, that I think helps speak to the whole idea of “transition”. The title is The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20


The inspiration for this poem came from Frost's amusement over a familiar mannerism of his closest friend in England, Edward Thomas. While living in England, Frost frequently took long walks with Thomas through the countryside. Repeatedly Thomas would choose a route which might enable him to show his American a rare plant or a special vista: but it often happened that before the end of such a walk Thomas would regret the choice he had made and would sigh over what he might have shown Frost if they had only taken a “better” direction. Frost, himself had been reared with the biblical notion that a man, having put his hand to the plow, should not look back. However Frost found something quaintly romantic in sighing over “what might have been”, which after returning to America, he so thoughtfully expressed in this poem.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Life is a journey, a journey that is full of choices. Here at First Congregational, we are going to start looking down differing paths to see which one will look best to follow. There are three words associated with the time period for any congregation that is between “settled” pastors: change, transition and transformation. Change is inevitable, whether we want it to happen or not, nothing stays the same. It is a given that during the interim time, a congregation will struggle with the concept of change.
Transition is the process process by which individuals and congregations will deal with change. What are the options? What can be done that will create the best opportunity to handle this change in a healthy way?
Transformation, then, is the new shape that grows out of this time of transition. Transformation is the result of individuals and congregations struggling with change. Transformation is what gives the church new life and new possibilities and new energy as we her people clam our place and purpose in God's Kingdom.
The three scripture lessons that we heard this morning all deal with change, transition and transformation. Isaiah was writing to a people who had found themselves in a foreign land and longing to go back home. In the Gospel of John, we hear about transition, “In the beginning was the Word....”; “There as a man sent from God....”; “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming....” All of these are speaking about movement toward something. In Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, we read, “the old has gone, the new has come.” Change, transition, and transformation!
The church during the time of Jesus' life had grown stagnate and inward. It had forgotten Isaiah's words of what God expected from them, “to preach good news to the poor; bind up the broken hearted; and to proclaim freedom for those in captivity...” Jesus used this passage in Isaiah to announce his ministry and what the focus of his mission was going to be about.
The Apostle Paul was a man who went through great revelation in his life and came out transformed. Paul's early career was that of knowing the “law” of the Torah and was active in upholding it. So much so that he saw the mission and ministry of those who were calling themselves “followers” of the Christ, as heretics of the church and actively pursued and punished anyone who was deviating from the prescribed law's. Paul was proud and untouched by his attitude of “righteousness” with the stoning of Stephen. After all, Stephen was speaking about a man whose teachings on love and acceptance went against the understanding of the established church leaders. The teaching that Jesus was teaching actually allow women position in society; Jesus spoke radically about reaching out beyond your own and treat them as you would treat your own family member; and Jesus challenged the laws, saying that the law was made for the people, not the people for the law. Meaning that people were more important than that of established tradition.
To put it into today's terms, those who have, if they were to buy into the teachings of Jesus, would feel endanger of letting the “have not's” become equal with themselves. I think the debate that we are hearing about with regard to making sure everyone in the United States has affordable medical coverage is an excellent example of how the power structure in Jesus' day viewed and feared the message Jesus was speaking. There is a fear of loss - when everyone has what you have. I remember at my first vocal contest, how proud I was when I had received a “First Place” rating after my performance, only to be deflated and having the sense that I was no longer “special” when I found out that the majority of vocalists that day also received “First Place” ratings. It took away all of the joy that I had received and satisfaction in knowing that all of my hard work was not being helping me in being “outstanding” but rather, equal with the other students who were participating.
Paul then was assured that his persecution of these Christians was the right thing to be doing. Then one day he had a revelation, that changed his whole understanding of what God was wanting the church to be about. It was on the road to Damascus, that he encountered Jesus and was transformed into the man who became the churches greatest church planter. In his very own words, Paul states, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” Paul realized that when you do not have God's spirit in your worship, in your heart and are only following form through “tradition”, you really are only able to view the teachings presented by God through the lens of worldly understanding.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to God in Christ, not counting anyone's sins against them. And has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassador's, as though God were making his appeal through us.”
At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he stated that his mission, his focus of his work was Social Justice: “To preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for those captive and release from darkness for the prisoners.” This past week, I have made several visits down to the Broadway Bargain's. I did this in part because it is one of the outreach programs of this church and I wanted to see what it is about. Let me share with you how impressed I am of the depth of involvement that the members of this faith community has in this mission. I have also had the opportunity to witness the food bank in operation as well as how the benevolent fund is used. These are social ministries in action. I am sure there are more things like this going on, but with only 4 days of being with you, this is all that I have experienced so far.
During this time of Transition, we are going to be looking at who we are; at what we do; we will look at our strengths and examine our weak points and work at reshaping them so they will not hinder the mission of this ministry but help in moving it forward. For us as a church to build upon what we have done in the past and move into the future as a healthy congregation who is able to be a people who truly are ambassadors for Christ and do the ministry of reconciliation; we will need to have the same type of “transformation” that the Apostle Paul had in his life.
Over the next number of weeks we are going to be taking valuable lessons out of the book of Job. I understand that you studied Job in the not to distant past, but I think there are some great lessons that can be gleaned from his story. Through the book of Job we will learn a lot about solitude, self-examination, the role of friendship, spiritual guidance, and , ultimately, forgiveness, confession and reconciliation. The book of Job also examines the depths of anger, bitterness, grief, the pain of false hope, and the enduring power and ache of memory. All of these aspects that we during this transitional time need to work through, learn, understand and build upon as apart of the journey to move into the next chapter of this churches ministry.
As Isaiah stated in verse 11 of the 61 chapter, “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden cases seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” Just as we are moving into the season we call Fall and then in to Winter, where it appears that life dies back, we here at First Congregational, are seeds that are waiting in the soil to sprout up. The season of transition can be thought of as Fall and Winter, where we will work on becoming the hope that sprouts and brings forth a beautiful garden. For it is in the winter when seeds rejuvenate themselves for the next season.