Sidney UMC - Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost - 09/24/23 - Sermon - “Don't Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” (“Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” Series: Part 4 of 6)

                                 Sunday 09/24/23 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:       “Don’t Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!”         

(“Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” Series: Part 4 of 6)         

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45                                      

New Testament Scripture: Philippians 1:21-30

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 20:1-16

         Have you ever had that moment? You know when something breaks? Maybe you are home on a Saturday, and you have the day off. It could be a five-dollar item that broke or just isn’t working right. For some reason though you are just so angry about this. Could you just let it go? Well sure, but a better thing to do would be to spend five-hours trying to fix this five-dollar item. Not really! During these five-hours your anger and frustration grows and grows, and grows some more.

          Maybe at some point though you realize that five-hours of your time is worth more than five-dollars, or maybe you realize that it is a five-dollar item that you are trying to fix. At that point, maybe you looked at that five-dollar item in your anger and frustration, and realized that you can get an identical and working five-dollar item at the store nearby. So, you go and buy another one of these five-dollar items, bring it back home, and then look in confusion at the broken five-dollar item. You then think to yourself, “I can’t believe that I wasted almost a whole Saturday trying to fix this thing!”

          Has anyone here ever had an experience like this? Where something little has just driven you up the wall? Have you ever had a little incident or an interaction with someone that you let ruin your whole day? Maybe you got a stain on that new shirt, and your whole day was ruined? Perhaps someone gave you “a look” and it bothered you all day? Has anyone ever had something like this happen before?

          I say all of this, because my sermon title for this morning is called “Don’t Get Stuck On the Small Stuff!” Now full disclosure, I am not only preaching this sermon, but I also hope I am listening to my own words, as sometimes I really “Get Stuck On the Small Stuff!” sometimes.

          In addition to this, sometimes churches get “Get Stuck On the Small Stuff!” If the mission of the Christian Church is to bring people to Christ, to have them be transformed, to have us all be forgiven, and for us to receive salvation, then it can be a struggle when some of us “Get Stuck On the Small Stuff!” We all do it in different ways, and it is not always a bad thing. If bringing people to Christ and equipping people to serve and love others is what the church is supposed to do then, what would qualify as a foolish thing for a church to fight about? Does anyone here have any examples of a foolish thing for a church to fight about?

          I think part of the struggle here is that most people, myself included, want the church to be a holy place. A place where we worship, were we encounter God, and were love each other. Yet, we all, including myself have our preferences. Last week one of the chapters that I tied into our scripture readings from the book “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” by Thom S. Rainer was Chapter 7 called “The Preference-Driven Church.” According to Thom S. Rainer in his 2014 book, if our personal preferences are so strong that they take away from the mission of reaching people for Christ and equipping them for service and ministry in the world, then we have missed the mark. According to Thom S. Rainer some churches have declined and even closed, because while preferences can be important, they were so strong that they took over the mission of the church itself. The preference became more important that bringing people to Jesus.

         So far in this six-week sermon series called, “Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” I have talked about three topics from Thom S. Rainer’s book, that I have connected to our Sunday morning scripture readings. So far, we have discussed the need for deep faith in Jesus Christ. The need to follow Christ, to live for Christ, to love like Christ, and to serve like Christ. The Christian Church rises and falls on how much we can be like the founder of the Christian faith, Jesus Christ.

          We then discussed the “Culture Of The Church,” and talked about how the way that a church loves, cares, and treats each other, is central to health and to the future of the church. Some churches at one time in history may not have been very welcoming, but in this era that we are living in, we must love and act like Jesus. Should we still repent of our sin and wrong doing? Yes. Should we still seek to become more like Christ? Yes. In the mist of all of this though, a healthy church culture is one that is loving, caring, and open. We want you to be here, and you have a place here.

          Last week we talked about how we as individuals, and as a church need to offer and receive forgiveness, love, and openness to and towards each other. Sometimes in our lives and in our churches, anger, frustration, and other things can fester. We all need to, myself included, to give and receive forgiveness, love, and openness. This way the church is at peace, we are showing that we care for and love each other, and we are inviting all people to be here. Everyone is loved, everyone is valued, and we are open to and care for each other.

           As I mentioned, my sermon for this morning is called “Don’t Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” I don’t know about all of you, but I can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes. How about the rest of us?

I remember a couple of Sundays during our summer “Stompers and Chompers” VBS. You might remember if you were here, a line of yarn being attached up here behind the pulpit and lectern. It was kind of funny for a couple of weeks, as I would lift up on this line of yarn to ensure our candle lighter or acolyte, and the folks bringing the collection plates up to the altar those two Sundays could walk under this line of yarn without ducking down really far.

          You might also remember that on this line of yarn there were cut out construction paper dinosaurs and trees. They were spaced out on this line of yarn. Apparently though, they were not spaced out evenly. I really didn’t notice this, as the line of yarn was generally behind me for the whole service. After the service though, someone from our church came up front and said, “Pastor Paul those paper dinosaurs and trees are not evenly spaced on the line of yarn and it has been driving me nuts all service!” Well, this person fixed this problem, and it looked a lot better, truth be told. To be very specific or to be very precise can also be called being “Methodical,” which is where we get the name “Methodist.” So, to be honest I was pretty proud of this person!

          This correction of the paper dinosaurs and trees on the line of yarn however, did not affect the mission of the church. It also enhanced our “Methodical” nature and we should all be proud of that! So how then do not “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” Further, why do we “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!”

           I was very blessed this week to have a good and long visit with Les Gregory at his house on Bridge Street here in Sidney. Les, at one-hundred years old, was chatting with me about our legacies. By this, how will people remember us when we leave this earth. I asked Les for example, what Bridge Street looked like 300-hundred years ago. Of course, there was no Sidney at that point, but Les knew from his studies what the geography looked like pre-Sidney, pre-settlement. I then asked Les what Bridge Street would be like 300-years from now. We both smiled at the reality of how our lives on this earth seem so big and permanent. For many us, where we live might have been forest a few hundred years ago.

          What’s the point? We all sometimes get bent out of shape over little things, myself included. Yet, when you look at the expansiveness of the universe, and the smallness of our earth in this universe, sometimes it can make our little stresses seem so insignificant. It’s not that our problems and stresses don’t matter, but it is humbling to me to know that 300-years ago this church and Sidney itself weren’t here.

          In our reading from this morning from Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45, we reminded in 105:1-4, once again:

¹ O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. ² Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. ³ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. ⁴ Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually(Ps. 105:1-4, NRSV).

          It’s hard to do this sometimes though, as the Psalmist said this morning, especially when we waste a whole Saturday trying to fix a broken five-dollar item. This morning, we have the great joy of bringing two people into the Universal Christian Church. This morning two people joined the living church on earth, as billions have over the centuries. We also are blessed to have two people join our Sidney United Methodist Church this morning as Professing Members, as hundreds have joined this congregation for nearly 200-years. I don’t know about you, but two new members of the church on earth through baptism, and two new members of the Sidney UMC, is not “small stuff!” It can be hard, but we all need to strive to not “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” We all do sometimes though, myself included!

          The Apostle Paul in our reading from Philippians 1:21-30 for this morning goes even deeper with this. The Apostle Paul is not just talking about behaviors and stresses, he is talking about our lives. In fact, starting in Philippians 1:21 once again, the Apostle Paul tells us:

²¹ For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. ²³ I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, ²⁴ but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you                                 (Phil. 1:21-24, NRSV).

          The Apostle Paul is suffering in his flesh, like we all do sometimes. The Apostle Paul wants to be with Jesus in eternity, but at the same time he knows that God has called to serve him on this earth. This great dichotomy is something we can all relate to when we are trying to focus of Jesus and at the same trying to not “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” The Apostle Paul often suffered greatly in his body, in his human condition, and while he was focused on Christ, sometimes the pain and the suffering in his flesh would be almost too much to bear. Yet, the Apostle Paul knew that God had called him preach, love, and endure until his time came. So emphatic about this in fact, the Apostle Paul continues on picking up in Philippians 1:25 saying, once again:

²⁵ Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶ so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me. ²⁷ Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel ²⁸ and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. ²⁹ For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, ³⁰ since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have                             (Phil. 1:24-30, NRSV).

          We know that we are not supposed to “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” yet, we all do sometimes. Also, I think that sometimes in churches that some people don’t feel loved, valued, or feel seen as important. When this happens, many of us cling to and reinforce our preferences. Why? Well because if we are made to feel insignificant and or unimportant in the church, then we can feel significant in the roles and the preferences that we have within the church. When we all truly feel loved and valued however, I have found that if a table is moved an inch more then we think it should be moved, we tend to be more forgiving.

          Friends, I value your gifts, graces, and talents as you work for the Lord, and I know that you value mine. I just hope that my personal preference never gets in the way of what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in this church. My preferences, while I have some, are never ever more important than the saving gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

          With that said, how many of you would like to be able to put in an honest day’s work, and get paid $1,000 dollars at the end of the day? Many of us would like deal every day! If we did get this deal, would we be concerned about others that got the same deal too?

          Our gospel of Matthew 20:1-6 reading for this morning touches on this. In this passage from Matthew, commonly called “The Laborers in the Vineyard” we have a landowner hiring day laborers for his vineyard. I like to think that this is harvest time, but maybe it wasn’t. The landowner in this passage of scripture hires day laborers throughout day, meaning that some people work more hours than others, but the landowner pays them all the same amount money. In looking at our gospel of Matthew 20:1-16 lesson for this morning then, lets pick up starting in 20:1, which says, once again:

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. ⁵ When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. ⁶ And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ ⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius (Mt. 20:1-9, NRSV).

 

          So, the landowner hired day laborers for his vineyard early in the morning, at about 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM, and 5:00 PM. All of these workers who were hired at different times throughout the day though, were all paid the same amount, one denarius. They were not paid the $1,000 dollars I joked about. None of these people had work for that day prior to the landowner hiring them to work in his vineyard, so they were likely grateful for the work.

          The workers then lined up to get there day’s pay. Some workers grumbled though, because the landowner paid all the workers the same amount of money. I mean this isn’t fair if some worked since early in morning, and the rest only worked an hour or two. To this grumbling and discontent the landowner of the vineyard responded. Picking up in Matthew 20:13, it says, once again:

¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first will be last”                       (Mt. 20:13-16, NRSV).

 

          God is just and generous, and sometimes God rewards us in ways we don’t expect. We should not be jealous or envious if God blesses someone else for what we feel like is less effort than we put in. Further, our reward in Christ is true whether we come to him early in the morning of our life, or towards end of our life. It is not about competing with each other; it is that God loves us all the same. Whether we come to Christ at age 9 or 99, we all get the same reward. God is generous and loving, even if we feel short changed.

          It can be hard for us to remember just how blessed we are. It can be hard for us to not “Get Stuck On The Small Stuff!” and to get stuck on our preferences and our own likes. When we as people can stay focused on Christ, when the church can stay focused on Christ, and when we can truly love each other, then the work of the gospel can flourish. At this point we are less worried about little things, as we are too busy looking up and out to see how Christ can us in the church and in the world. So, friends, “Don’t Get Stuck On the Small Stuff!” Amen.