Bible Study - ELCA Assembly 2001
Making Christ Known: Sharing Faith in a New Century

Pastor Nancy Nyland

Let us pray: Almighty God, open the hearts of your people to your Word. Inspire my words and speak through me. Lord, make your Word a swift word, passing from the ear to the heart and from the heart to life and conversation, so that it may accomplish that for which it is given. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Do you like chocolate kisses? I do. (I will eat one) Sometimes I like to let them melt in my mouth. ... Mmmm, this is so good!

When I was in seminary, often at 10:00 in the evening several of us would take a study break, gathering in a friend's room to watch "M.A.S.H." together.

You know the show I am talking about -- the doctors and nurses serving in the Korean War.

I remember one episode where Hawkeye and B.J. and Frank were going to help out another medical team on the front line, and on the way their bus broke down. They were in enemy territory, so they had to stay on the bus. They were confined there for a day or two.

B.J. and Hawkeye were getting so hungry, but Prank seemed quite satisfied, not hungry at all. Finally, they discovered that Frank had a couple of candy bars in his pocket and he had been sneaking bites all along.

Can you believe that Frank Burns? Don't you just hate when someone doesn't share with you?

Do you like chocolate kisses?" (Eat another chocolate kiss.) Boy, three kisses sure are good.

Don’t you think everyone should share? From time to time, I hear reports that humanitarian aid – food and medical items which the United States sends to poverty stricken countries – never gets to the people who are starving. Instead, government officials keep it for themselves. Have you heard reports like this? It seems so unfair, doesn't it?

Do you like chocolate kisses? (Eat another one.) Mmmm, I just love chocolate.

In South Dakota, where I am from, the small towns have parades for special occasions. And people on the floats and the fire trucks, and the politicians in their fancy cares all throw candy to the kids.

Often I have observed parents with their young children standing next to older children, and when the candy’s thrown these older kids rush out to get to the candy first and then they keep it all for themselves.

Don't you think people should share? Do you like chocolate kisses? (Eat another chocolate kiss.) Mmmm, these kisses sure are good.

Sharing is a good thing -- something we are taught from the time we are very young, something that others expect from us.

Do you like candy kisses? Oh, I suppose you want me to share, too. Well, I am going to do just that. (Share kisses with people.).

In all of the cases that I have described, someone has something that needs to be shared with others.

Don't you feet uncomfortable when someone doesn't share? How did you feel when I was not sharing my candy kisses? It somehow seems unfair, or selfish, or sometimes downright rude, doesn't it?

Sharing is something we all should do, even when it is difficult -- even when we have to be creative to do it.

A group of well-intentioned lieople met to discuss ways and means of helping a friend who had been down on his luck recently. Knowing him to be an extremely proud person who would not accept money, they decided to arrange a bogus raffle.

They told him that.they would all draw numbered slips of paper from a hat, and the person who drew the number "four" would win $200. They did not tell him that the number "four" was on every slip.

After the drawing, each of the conspirators glanced at their slips and crumbled them up in a marmer of disappointed losers.

Then they waited to hear their friend announce that he had drawn the winning number. But he did not speak.

Finally, one member of the group asked him, knowingly, "What number did you draw?"

"Six and seven-eighths," he replied, holding up the hat-size tag.

Sharing. It is something we all should do. But sometimes it's difficult; sometimes it's challenging.

Each one of you has something that needs to be shared with someone. Something that is very valuable, but it costs nothing. Something that can make the difference betwetn life and death, and yet is often taken for granted. Something that claims us, names us and commits us, and yet gives us a freedom found nowhere else.

What is this something that we have to share? Our faith – our belief in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our trust in God's grace. Our dependence upon Jesus as our Savior. Our commitment to following him and his example.

So, what do you do with this faith? Do you hoard it, withhold it, cheat others out of it, refuse to share it (like I did with the kisses)?

Do you understand -- do you know what a valuable thing you have -- this faith? Why would you not want to share it?

The theme of this assembly is "Making Christ Known: Sharing Faith in a New Century." It is not a new concept or calling, it is what Christians have done down through the ages. They have told the story of Jesus -- shared faith in a new year, a new decade, even in a new century.

The scripture passage that I have been given for this Bible Study is from Romans, Chapter 12, Verses 1-8. Listen now to these words which Paul writes:

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

"We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness." (NRSV)

As I read this Scripture and considered our theme, "Sharing our faith in a new century," my attention was drawn to the second verse: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds."

As we share our faith in a new century, Paul says we are not to be conformed. To be conformed means to make similar ... to form one’s ideas to another’s. To me it means going along with the crowd, not making waves, thinking the same way as others -- doing things the way they are expected.

But Paul tells us not to be conformed, but rather to be transformed – transformed by the renewing of our minds.

To be transformed in simple terms means to change --.to change.

This is a word that is not always popular. It brings with it uncertainty, fear, caution -- an uncomfortable feeling.

There is a catch phrase these days -- "thinking outside the box." It means to put a new twist on an old idea. It means to look at something in a new way -- to look at it inside out or upside down -- somehow to gain a new perspective.

Change is not always easy, but when done properly in the right frame of mind it can be quite exciting.

I want each one of you to take a sheet of paper -- a sheet from the note pads you were given, or a sheet that you have read and no longer need.

Now I want you to look at that piece of paper and visualize the first initial of your first name. Fill that paper with that vision -- a nice big letter.

Now take out a pencil or pen and draw this letter on the sheet of paper. Fill the paper with this letter.

Now I want you to visualize (only visualize) yourself tearing around the shape of that letter, so that what you have left is no longer a rectangular piece of paper, but a letter -- the first letter of your first name.

Now I want you to take the paper in your hand and put your hands behind your back, and -- without looking -- tear that paper to form this first letter of your first name.

Go ahead and do it. Oh, I forgot one thing: you only have 45 seconds to do this. Ready, go.

Change. We changed the way we did something. It isn't always easy, is it? But there are some things that make change easier.

When we make changes together as a group, it is easier. When we can talk about how awkward the changes feel, it is better. When we can laugh at ourselves when we are making the changes, it is good. Always keep your sense of humor.

And what did I ask you to do at the beginning? Visualize. Imagine first the printing of the letter, then the tearing of the paper. Vision: it is a very important part of change. And, of course, with vision comes prayer, and with prayer comes the discerning of God's will.

Thinking outside the box -- even getting outside the box -- it can be fun! It can also be risky. Sometimes we fail, sometimes we make mistakes -- some of our letters didn't look the greatest -- but if we can laugh and talk and encourage, then we can turn around and try it again in a different way.

"Making Christ Known: Sharing Faith in a New Century." We see that word "new" and it can paralyze us because new means change and change means unknown.

But what is new -- our faith?" NO! It is the same faith that God gave you in your Baptism -- the same faith that has been nurtured and strengthened and developed all of your lives.

It is the same God -- the same solid rock offering the same unconditional forgiveness, loving with the same abiding love, showing grace through the same Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our faith is the same, our God is the same -- yesterday, today and tomorrow.

So what's new? The century, the way people hear and respond, the way they question and seek, the way they learn and explore -- the way they yearn and try to fill that yearning.

And because of this -- the way we share our faith, or the fact that we even do share our faith -- has to be new.

I am I rural pastor serving a two-point parish: one congregation in a small town and one congregation that is in the open country.

It used to be that rural congregations grew because the families who were members there grew. It was not unusual to have 8 or 9 or 13 children in a family (after all, they needed help on the farm).

Everyone (or almost everyone) went to church. One's social life revolved around the church. Churches were the center, the unifying agent, the core of the community.

Not any more -- at least, not in the rural area in which I live.

Now if you have church growth in a rural congregation you have to work at it. If you are, sitting back and waiting for people to walk into your church doors on Sunday morning, if you are waiting for them to come to you, it seldom happens.

Growth in any congregation takes work. And what is the work? Sharing your faith!

The open country congregation I serve has doubled in the past 10 years -- doubled in numbers, but more importantly multiplied in faith and in Spirit.

How has this happened, you ask?

Change! Change in attitude for one. The attitude used to be: "Who would want to drive clear out here to go to church?" Now the attitude is: "Wow! Look where we are -- located in the middle of all of these towns, and we can draw people from all of them." And we do!

Change in leadership. Leadership is shared, not only between the pastor and the parishioners, but shared by life-long members and new members, older members and younger members.

Change in worship -- it is fun and joyful and lively. Change in humor – we laugh often in church. Change in compassion -- we -genuinely care for one another and show it. Change in prayer -- we uplift others and the mission of our congregation. Change in our faith -- it is active, active in words and deeds. It has become a part of our daily lives to share our faith and to invite others to church.

One thing that has not changed -- food. We have always liked to eat, and we still do. It’s one of the things we do best. We have early church (8:30 a.m.) and we have a potluck breakfast every Sunday after church, and this leads to fellowship which is essential as we share our faith.

It has been a wonderful experience to be a part of this growth process. We have experienced the freedom of discovering who we are as a congregation and who we are as God's people.

I encourage each one of you as a child of God and a member of a congregation to do the same.

As Paul writes in the last verses of our Scripture reading: "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher in teaching, the exhorter in exhortation, the giver in generosity, the leader in diligence, the compassionate in cheerfulness." (NRSV)

Each of you is a gifted individual, unique in your own right, created specifically the way you are by a God who has ;x plan and a purpose for you.

And so, as you are all different, the way you share your faith -- as individuals and as a congregation -- will be different according to the gifts you have been given.

There is no blueprint that fits us all, no rules that apply completely to every situation, no easy answer or method.

Church growth, spiritual growth, growth in faith and activity -- these are all processes of discovery, processes of trial and error, of experimentation and exploration, processes of prayer and seeking God's will.

But what stimulating processes these can be. What a marvelous wonder of God's divine purpose to come to experience and live out one's faith more fully -- to feel the stirring of God's Spirit -- to utilize one's unique gifts in new and exciting ways.

Do you like chocolate kisses? I know you do. And you expected me to share. And so I did.

Do you have faith? I know you do. And someone that you come in contact with today, or tomorrow, or the next day, is expecting you to share. What are you going to do?