ALL IN THE FAMILY
A meditation by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “He destined us for adoption.” (Ephesians 1:5)
First
Second
What better way to start the New Year than to remind us that we are all family. It’s particularly important this year to have such a reminder, since this is the year that we’re going to have to make some hard decisions on just who we’re going to be and what we’re going to look like as a family. We’ve reached the point where we’re a one pastor congregation. Are we going to stay that way and, if so, what’s going to continue to be done and what’s not going to get done? Where do we want to put our energy this coming year? Do we want to continue to concentrate on the Sunday school and growing the church? If so, more of us are going to have to volunteer to do the work. As I mentioned during the coffee hour reviewing the budget, the congregation is at a crossroads and the decisions we make this year are going to have an impact on what Harundale will look like five years from now.
What Paul writes to the Ephesians is a perfect backdrop for such conversations. First of all he reminds us that we were called by Christ before the foundations of the world. Which reminds us that this congregation we know as Harundale Presbyterian Church is not your church nor is it my church. So, before we take ourselves too seriously or bemoan or celebrate our fate, we need to remember that we are in God’s hands. Ultimately Harundale Presbyterian Church belongs to God; it doesn’t belong to us. This is Christ’s church! God is going to condition who we are and what we’re to become. That doesn’t mean that we should just sit idly by and wait for God to act. God doesn’t work that way. What that does mean is that through prayer and steadfast diligence to God’s will for us God is going to guide us to become just what God has in mind for us.
But that will take much prayer, much discussion, some decision-making and a lot of patience on our part. We’re going to have to learn how to listen to one another and realize that every one of us has an interest in the outcome of those conversations.
Paul continues, “so that we, who were the first to set our hope in Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.” The worst thing that can happen to a congregation is that it becomes self-absorbed in its own survival. That’s not living for the praise of God’s glory. That’s living for the praise of its own glory. The worst thing we could do this year would be to go into a survival mode, fearful that unless we do something radical the congregation as we know it will cease to exist. Rather, what we need to be doing along with the conversations we’ll be having is continuing to do those acts of mission for which we’ve become known throughout the community. This past Christmas we received numerous cash donations for the Winter Relief Shelter, the Free Lunch Program and the Food Pantry. Those donations were given by businesses in the community, some of the larger banks and interested individuals. We even received a very sizeable donation from the Presbytery of Baltimore for our Free Lunch Program. Why? Because people recognize that what we do on the behalf of the community is precisely the work of the gospel. People recognize that what we’re doing is reaching out to those who are less fortunate, those who are homeless, ill clothed, hungry and desperately in need of some dignity. This congregation has made its mark in the community. There’s an old bumper sticker that said, “Jesus is coming, look busy!” Well, if Jesus were to come he would be pleased with that work we’re doing on behalf of those he ministered to and would have nothing to do with any talk of survival. We have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory and that’s what we’ll be about this year.
Paul concludes this particular passage, “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people to the to the praise of his glory.” When Catherine Winter died this past year she included Harundale in her will. We don't know yet what that means, but we have a copy of the will and we’ll receive two shares of her estate. That’s the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. Catherine thought a lot of this congregation and it’s her way of thanking us for the care we took of her. The same is true for all of us. God thought enough of us who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation and have believed in God to seal us with the promise of the Holy Spirit. That promise will continue to guide us throughout the New Year.
The Spirit
will be in our conversations. The Spirit
will be in our mission work. The Spirit
will be in our Communicants’ class, the Sunday school teachers, with all those
who work with Kids for Christ, and those who volunteer to assist in the
As with Paul, so also with us, we’ll remember that all that we do will be to the praise of God’s glory. “With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Thanks be to God,
Amen