June 10 Worship: "Culture Clash: The Location of Abraham's Faith"

During Sunday's joyful worship, we continued our study of Abraham, the father of faith.  Having begun our five-week series with a consideration of the multiple chances God gave Abraham to enter into and reaffirm a covenant with God, we turned to the difficult story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  While this passage is currently most often cited by people engaged in a debate over homosexuality in the church, I shared my interpretation that the principle lesson of the story has to do with the challenge Lot faces in trying to maintain Abraham's sense of nomadic hospitality in a city setting.

I believe that the key lesson of faith that churches can take from this difficult, violent story is that people of faith are always meant to be simultaneously spiritual pilgrims and a support system for other spiritual pilgrims.  By this, I mean that we are supposed to both continue doing the specific things that deepen our personal relationships with God and also look for ways to encourage, teach, comfort, direct, or otherwise support others we come into contact with who are also trying to deepen their own relationships with God. 

During the sermon, I mentioned that some congregations seem to focus only on their own pilgrimage, unable to imagine other people having different spiritual needs or being on different spiritual journeys.  I even gave a couple of examples of some of the practices of such congregations -- in general, they pattern their church life in ways that exactly conform to their desires for worship practices, service activities, etc.  I neglected to mention that there are a few congregations who do the opposite -- they seek to only be waystations for people on a spiritual journey, and they are always looking for the latest cutting-edge approach to interesting people in joining their congregation, but put little effort in developing the faith lives of those who have joined.  While I should have pointed out this other end of the spectrum, I omitted it mostly because I believe that most congregations are likely to fall into the trap of becoming insular, only concerned with their own spiritual needs and desires, rather than completely seeker-driven congregations, desperately seeking new members.

Every healthy congregation -- every vibrant religious community -- must find a way to do both of these things well -- developing worship and activities that encourage the members' continued spiritual development and always being mindful that there are spiritual needs that the congregation may need to meet that are different from those cherished and emphasized by current members.  I know that Eastgate has experience with this -- no congregation lasts more than 60 years without finding some balance -- but it is an ever-present challenge for every community of faith.

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you would like to share it with someone else, you can find an audio recording of the sermon here.