Recorded Sermon

Last month, Roger Shoup led our church officers in a one-day retreat. The theme was “transitions,” and this was a timely topic, especially with the addition of Jessica Tate, Kenneth Martin, and Donna Whited to the church staff.

What really jumped out at me, however, was a comment Roger made about our mission statement. You all know our mission statement — it appears on every edition of the church newsletter. “We are a Community of Faith sent to Encounter God … Experience Christ … and Express the Power of the Spirit.”

“It’s a great statement,” said Roger, “but it is too generic. It doesn’t express what is unique about Fairfax Presbyterian Church.”

Roger is right, and he got me to thinking. What is it that I really love about this church? What is it that I cherish? What is so special about this place, and how can this uniqueness be captured in our mission statement?

My mind went immediately to the Scripture that appears on the wall behind me: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” a line that we just heard in today’s Scripture lesson (Isaiah 56:7). A house of prayer for all peoples — that identity is certainly part of the uniqueness of the church.

But what does it mean? And why does it matter? This Scripture verse sounds good, but what difference does it make? I knew that I would have to dig a little deeper, in order to figure out why it is so important to be a house of prayer for all peoples.

As I look at the history of our church, I see that we were once a growing, middle-of-the-road church that served as a meeting ground for a large, diverse community of Christians. The first members of FPC may not have agreed on politics or shared the same cultural outlook, but they identified themselves with a particular religious tradition and they proudly wore the label “Presbyterian,” with all that it implied. But over the years our denominational loyalty has declined, and FPC has lost members left and right to more specialized, politically focused churches and communities.

We are not alone in this. In fact, our story echoes a broader, troubling change in churches across the country. It is a change that could lead to the disappearance of churches that seek moderation and strive for balance in religious practice and belief. This shrinkage of the moderate religious middle reflects the polarization of contemporary politics, where the most powerful voices now speak from the far right and left. The United States is “a country that is almost evenly divided politically,” says the Pew Research Center, “yet [is] further apart than ever in its political values.” Says Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization, “There do not seem to be very many voices arguing for compromise today.”

Is this a problem? Yes, I believe it is. What we’ve lost in this process of polarization is our belief in the importance of meeting grounds — communities where people of diverse opinions and perspectives may gather, talk, debate and argue. Church is, in my opinion, the healthiest place for people to wrestle with difficult issues such as church-state relations, immigration, homosexuality, and war. Given that we live in a world being so profoundly affected by religious extremists of all faiths, this is a loss we cannot afford.

We can be a meeting ground here at FPC, and this is at the heart of what it means to be “a house of prayer for all peoples.” Here, people of diverse perspectives can gather to worship, debate, learn, and share insights and experiences. Here, people of different opinions can find common ground, and people of shaky faith can find holy ground. FPC can be a place of reconciliation, a place of coming together, a place of union and reunion. It can be a Meeting House — which is what New England churches were called back in colonial times.

FPC is a meeting ground. This is part of what I love and cherish about this church, and what I think needs to be in its mission statement.

Of course, we can truly be this kind of church only if we open our hearts and minds to new insights and understandings. One of the great things about today’s passage of Scripture is that it reveals a change of perspective that takes place inside the Bible story itself.

Back in the book of Deuteronomy, several categories of people are excluded from the assembly of the Lord, including eunuchs and certain foreigners. “No one whose testicles are crushed … shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord,” says Deuteronomy 23 (v. 1). “No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord” (v. 3).

But over the course of biblical history, this perspective changes. In particular, according to my colleague Susan Andrews, the understanding of religious purity undergoes a transformation. The prophet Isaiah changes the purity codes of Leviticus and Deuteronomy by including in the religious community two categories of people who had been excluded before — eunuchs and foreigners. “For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant … I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord … these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:4-7).

That’s remarkable, isn’t it? Those who had once been excluded on ritual grounds are now included because they honor God in their actions and relationships. Previously rejected people are now accepted, because God wants his house to be called “a house of prayer for all peoples” (v. 7). God’s place is now open to everyone who keeps his sabbath and holds fast to his covenant … God’s house is now a meeting ground.

This is our challenge at FPC: To be a church that is open to new understandings, a place in which people can gather to worship, debate, learn, and share insights and experiences. To be a community which grasps what Susan Andrews calls “the unfolding notion of purity in scripture.” In the Bible, you see, “a purity of law turns into a purity of love,” and this purity of love is “embodied in the gracious and hospitable ministry of Jesus Christ..” It is Jesus who breaks with tradition and eats with tax collectors and sinners, who teaches women and welcomes little children, who reaches out to lepers and outcasts.

Jesus creates a true meeting ground, “a house of prayer for all people.”

This, I believe, is our mission at FPC, and it is a mission that runs against the grain of many churches today. Loren Mead, an Episcopal priest and founding president of the Alban Institute in Herndon, tells me that Protestants today seem less able to tolerate differences — churches are living in a constant state of conflict, he says, with people on different sides of an issue drifting apart, shutting down dialogue and often using derogatory terms to belittle their opponents. What is killed in these struggles is the notion that church can be a meeting ground for diverse points of view, a place for conversation, discovery and growth. When congregations fracture, says Mead, “we lose the chance to learn to deal with differences, to solve conflicts within a community of caring.”

I want our church to be a place where we can deal with differences, and show each other a purity of love as we work to solve conflicts together. I want our church to be a place where people of diverse backgrounds can find common ground. I want our church to be a place of reconciliation, a place of coming together, a place of union and reunion. I want our church to succeed in doing what Jessica Tate has lifted up to me as being of central importance: Outdoing one another in honoring one another.

Because I believe in this place, I have made a financial pledge to support it, along with my wife Nancy. I challenge you to do the same. This is a place that our community needs, that our world needs, and that you and I need. Most importantly, it is a place that God wants.

So let’s begin to rethink our mission statement, to make it more grounded in the reality of who we are.

Fairfax Presbyterian Church is a Meeting Ground, where all people can
Encounter God, Experience Christ, and Express the Power of the Spirit.

That’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

To explore this idea further, I want you to mark your calendars for Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008. Then I want you to block out every evening for the six nights that follow. We are beginning to plan a week of events that will reach every member of FPC, and will inspire you to invite your friends and neighbors to come with you.

We will have a different focus every night. One will be musical. One will be for families with children and youths. One will be for seniors. One will have a mission focus. One will be educational. There will be something for everyone during this week of activities.

And what will we call it? The Meeting Ground.

After all, that’s what we are. That’s what we offer. We are a house of prayer for all people, a meeting ground for people of diverse perspectives and opinions, a place for people to Encounter God, Experience Christ, and Express the Power of the Spirit.

This is what the world needs, and what God wants. It’s our mission. Thanks be to God. Amen.