A John-the-Baptist ministry for me and the Stow church
I’m very excited about beginning my intentional interim ministry at the Stow Community United Church of Christ! And I look forward to getting to know all of you! In many ways I think it is appropriate for me to be writing this during the season of Advent – when we look forward to the coming of Christ and his Kingdom in fullness.
I’d like to draw us back to Advent and the Lectionary Scripture passages of Advent for some important themes in my ministry – and in yours. (Ministry, after all, really belongs to the people of God, who are a Priesthood of All Believers, with Jesus himself as the chief pastor. See Ephesians 4:1-16, I Peter 5: 3-5 and Psalm 23:1.)
The Lectionary is a three-year cycle of four Scripture readings for worship each Sunday, which most denominations, including the United Church of Christ, use at least part of the time. I was struck that three of the four Sundays in Advent had readings about John the Baptist. And the second Sunday of Advent had two readings about John. So John the Baptist and his ministry must be pretty important as the church begins its story.
Two themes in John’s ministry and his call from God stand out for me.
First, it was a ministry of preparation and constructive change, so that God’s people might bear fruit. In Luke 3: 4c, 6, 8, NRSV, John reminds God’s people:
“ ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. … and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. … Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”
For me and for the Stow Community United Church of Christ, this means we must be focused (1.) on prayerfully working together to discern God’s will for us now, guided by God‘s Holy Spirit, (2.) on removing obstacles to effective and fruitful ministry and (3.) on preparing to share and see God’s salvation for all people through Jesus.
Secondly, it was a ministry of pointing others to Jesus, rather than pointing to himself. In John 3: 28b, 30, John pointed his disciples to Jesus, rather than to himself:
“ ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him. … He must increase, but I must decrease.’ ”
For the Stow Community United Church of Christ, this means that the church is called, not to call people to the church as an end in itself, but to call people into a freeing, transformative relationship with Jesus, with the church then as a vital means to that end.
For me, this means that I am primarily working to prepare Stow Community United Church of Christ for a successful, thriving, permanent pastorate, which will in turn direct the focus of the Stow community, and the Stow church, to Jesus himself.
Fraternally,
Bill Meyer