Gather Us In Ps 107:1-9

Gather Us InPsalm 107:1-9 This last week or so I have been truly blessed to hear so many of your stories.  I have heard about fishing trips and mountains.  About urban violence and rural farming.  I have heard of the unexpected twists and turns of life and of the times when the path has been straight.  I have heard about traveling and staying home.  Of grief and loss and love and hope. I have heard stories about this church.  Lots of them from the “old building” – the one that burned – the one on G street.  A bunch about the “old building” the one on 14^th Street and the stained glass there.  About the ministers you’ve had – the great preaching of some, the ministry with children and young families of others, the failures and foibles of yet others.  I’ve heard about the relationship this church has had with Maze Blvd Christian Church.  And the life-long relationships many of you have with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). There is a rich history here.  God has led you a long way to arrive at just this moment.  O, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  For God’s steadfast love endures forever. You really are a remarkable church – remembering, of course, what Frank says – that the church is the PEOPLE!  … and the building is nice too – in Elk Grove, I am really happy to have a closet to store stuff!… Many of you have been friends for 50, 60, 70 years!  Your lives have connected.  Your faith has held you together.  You have journeyed together through births and deaths and cancer and aneurisms and fires and tragedy and laughter and weddings and grandchildren and all sorts of life events that have knit you together as a true community.  God has brought you to this place where you know you are loved and part of a family One person told me the other day that some preacher had suggested that the way to grow this church was to invite your friends – but that all, or nearly all, of your friends were already here!  This is a special place, with special people and deep relationships that have held you together for a very long time. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble ad gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south. Now this community, this church, is at a crossroads – wondering what lies ahead.  Hoping that something good can come out of this long history.  Wondering if you have the energy to see it happen.  Anticipating that God is still at work and has something for us to do.   I hear the grief over the families that left – realizing that that was nearly twenty years ago.  I hear the sadness over leaving the old building behind – as well as all that it represented.  Both buildings, even. I see the frustration of the decline in numbers, energy, passion for outreach, and all that.  I see hints of despair that this might be the end.  Yet I see glimmers of hope for a future and an abiding desire to see this ministry blossom and become something new and vibrant – a legacy for the future. The Psalm says…Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. This is your dessert time. Michael’s favorite place in the world is the desert.  I haven’t been so sure about that.  I love the ocean with the steady, living, beating of the surf and the sense of the vastness of creation when the sky and sea blend together at the horizon.  I even like the mountains with their majestic beauty and scent of pine – of the contrast of dark trees, grey stone and blue sky.  I love the city, too – with the constant motion and hum of humanity.  But the desert? I have learned to find the beauty in the dessert too.  The vastness makes me tired – but looking closely to see life and beauty in the up-close view.  The moments that are breathtaking.  The scents that surprise.  The extremes of hot and cold.  The unexpected rain and the flowers that pop out over night with just the whisper of moisture. This is how things are.  There are desert times in all of our lives where we have to look for the beauty and hope – when it is not the first thing we see or feel, but requires a careful uncovering.   But did you notice the next bit of the Psalm – Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way, till they reached a city to dwell in.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to all people! This is what we will be doing.  We will be “crying to the LORD in our trouble” and will expect to be delivered.  We will be praying and asking God to make the way clear.  We will be studying and reading scripture together to figure out what God has for us to do.  We will be asking God every day to lead us from this desert and into the new and unique witness that God has for the people of Modesto, California through the ministries of First Christian Church. I asked most everyone that met with me over the last week and a half to begin praying every day for this church.  And I will ask you all here today – to begin to pray every day for this church.  Pray that God will reveal to us the vision God has for us.  Pray for the people here that God’s love will be made manifest through their lives.  Pray for me as I try, with God’s help, to provide leadership to this interim time.  Pray for the people of Modesto that God will be moving in their hearts so that when we are ready to move into the promised land – they will be ready to meet us.  Begin today and keep it up.  Prayer is the foundation we will build on. The other thing we will be doing is talking with each other.  How can we know what God is saying unless we talk to each other?  I’m not sure about you – but I’ve only heard one or two mystical words directly from God… and even those I needed to have affirmed by people close to me.  Usually I experience God in relationships.  I see Christ in you.  I hear God’s call and direction as we interact together.  So we need to be talking. Starting a week from Wednesday, we are going to start meeting every Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock – here at the church.  We will begin by using this book “Temporary Shepherds: a Congregational Handbook for Interim Ministry” as our guide for the first twelve weeks – which will take us about until Christmas time.  The books should be here next Sunday and I hope that all – or at least most – of you will take one and participate in the conversation. Now, I realize that life happens.  Some of you are working and not available on Wednesday mornings.  Others of you have a variety of other commitments that make it hard to commit to coming every week.  But I want you to come as often as you can.  If God gives you the one insight that the rest of us need to hear and you aren’t participating in the conversation, we all miss out.  And even if you can’t come at all – by reading the book and sharing your thoughts with me or each other when you see each other through the week or on Sunday – you will be part of the conversation. And because we need to nurture our community here – we will also have a sack-lunch fellowship time each Wednesday at noon for all who can stay.   The elders and I are excited about this and hopeful that God will reveal a vision for our future through our work together. The Psalm ends this way: For God satisfies those who are thirsty, and the hungry he fills with Good things. And it began this way: O, Give thanks to the LORD for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, who he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. May this be the song of the next generations of ministry that might spring forth from this faithful community that God has brought together.  Amen.