Scripture: II Corinthians 5:16-20; Matthew
7:21-29
(21)"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (22) On that day many
will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your
name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' (23) Then I will declare to them, 'I never
knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.' (24) "Everyone then who hears these words
of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. (25) The
rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not
fall, because it had been founded on rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (27) The
rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it
fell-and great was its fall!" (28) Now when Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were astounded at his teaching, (29) for he taught them as one having
authority, and not as their scribes.
- Matthew 7: 21-29
It is good to be back with you. Barbara and I, along with a few others from PPC -
including now former Moderator Jack Rogers - have spent the last 10 days in Columbus, Ohio
attending the 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). When we planned
today's service two weeks ago, my hope was to report on highlights of the Assembly and
attempt to interpret them theologically. Today, I find that to be a hard task. It's hard
in part because I'm quite aware that the adult education class in an hour or so will have
a couple of the foremost experts on denominational matters leading the class and sharing
their observations. As a neophyte to the General Assembly, I would prefer that Jack Rogers
and Margy Wentz go first.
Another reason for the difficulty is that not a whole lot happened in the way of new
initiatives. The Assembly was calm, centrist and cautious. Some in the peanut gallery
called it the Prozac Assembly. Some on the more progressive side said the Assembly, if not
particularly bold, fulfilled the primary scruple of the Hippocratic oath, "First, do
no harm." If there was a word that was repeated over and over again in committee
meetings and floor debates, it was the need to be "pastoral" to a divided
church. Here are some highlights.
The Assembly elected The Reverend Fahed Abu-Akel, a Palestinian-American minister from
Atlanta, as Moderator for the coming year. He positioned himself as the "moderate
between two extremes," a somewhat exaggerated slogan that was plastered on his
campaign booth. He won on the second ballot with 57 percent.
Abu-Akel was born in 1942 in the Galilean village of Kuffer-Yassif. During the 1948
Arab-Israeli War, when he was only four, he and his family were driven from their home by
Israeli troops. Influenced by two women Presbyterian missionaries from Scotland, he later
came to the United States, pursued his education and was ordained as a Presbyterian
minister. His career has been most identified with ministry among international students.
Fahed's story is a classic American immigrant story of a young man fleeing oppression,
coming to this country and experiencing freedom and opportunity. In a matter of 25 years
he went from knowing little English to becoming the head of one of the larger
denominations in America. During the Assembly, Moderator Abu-Akel emphasized themes of
hospitality, building racial ethnic ministries and forging unity amid our diversity.
However, I believe the greatest significance of his election is the one that will be
received overseas among Arab countries. American Christians elected a non-native
Palestinian as their leader! Perhaps this stunning Horatio Alger story will contribute in
some yet unforeseen way to peace in the Middle East.
Many of the decisions of the Assembly reflected a denomination weary from internecine
conflict and shrinking resources. They were centrist, prudent and trusting of the
processes that have governed us for over two centuries.
The Assembly refused a conservative-led proposal to declare a moratorium on legislative
initiatives related to human sexuality and ordination standards and, instead, commended
Presbyterians to pray for and with those with whom we disagree. Similarly, the Assembly
refused to adopt a progressive-led initiative calling for a "period of grace"
during which the Assembly would have "implored all" to refrain from bringing
judicial or legislative action on these matters.
The Assembly refused to adopt an overture from a conservative presbytery in
northwestern Pennsylvania, where Presbyterians are denser than anywhere else in country,
asking to declare a Burlington, Vermont, congregation out of compliance for issuing a
statement of dissent from the so called fidelity and chastity provision of the
Presbyterian Constitution. Instead it reaffirmed the role of judicial appeal and due
process found in our Constitution.
The Assembly overwhelmingly refused to adopt procedures that would require a
"super majority" to change the Constitution, that is, a two thirds vote.
Advocates argued that such a change would help prevent conflict over decisive issues and
help preserve unity. Opponents pointed out that the voices of minority groups would be
muted and women and people of color would never have been included in the offices of the
church if Assemblies had been governed by such a rule.
The Assembly was pro-active in some ways. It particularly lifted up the concerns and
leadership of disabled persons due largely to the leadership and advocacy of our own Dr.
Sharon Rogers. It approved the ordination of some educators as ministers if presbyteries
ratify the constitutional change in the coming year. It encouraged Presbyterians to build
relations with Muslims and their communities as well as with other faith communities. The
Assembly approved a major mission funding initiative to raise $40 million over five years
to fund international mission personnel and new church developments, particularly racial
ethnic and new immigrant congregations.
The Assembly approved biennial assemblies. Beginning after 2004, the Assembly will meet
every two years. 2005 will be the first time since 1789 not to hold a General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church (USA). The move is motivated by financial considerations (a
typical Assembly costs $5 million), the need to deploy national staff for mission and
programmatic work rather than getting ready for an Assembly, and the desire to break the
cycle of parliamentary battle. For those of us who look forward to the annual old home
week, we'll get together some other way.
Finally, by a huge margin, the Assembly approved a statement on the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. After two years of needless controversy and hullabaloo, stirred up by The
Presbyterian Layman, the Assembly rehashed fundamental theological questions such as who
is saved by God and who is not? Is Christ the only way for people to come to God?
The Assembly adopted a document, "Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ", drafted by
the denomination's office of Theology and Worship. This orthodox document bridges the two
impulses within our denomination: one more conservative and absolutist, the other
open-ended and humble. The statement says, "Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord,
and all people everywhere are called to place their faith, hope and love in him." It
further insists that "no one is saved apart from God's gracious redemption in Jesus
Christ."
The document modifies that insistence with a recognition that God is free to do what
God wants to do with this sentence, "Yet we do not presume to limit the sovereign
freedom of God our Savior, who desires that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of
the truth. Thus we neither restrict the grace of God to those who profess explicit faith
in Christ nor assume that all people are saved regardless of faith."
The irony in all of this is that we have professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior over
and over again including last year, the year before that, and every year since the
beginning of the Reformation five centuries ago. Nonetheless, we did so again and
unequivocally.
The question remains whether this statement will mollify conservatives threatening to
leave the church because of claims that some of us are apostate. Some observe that around
10 percent of the Presbyterian churches for several years have been actively developing a
parallel quasi-denominational structure for placing conservative pastors in churches,
funding alternatives to PC(USA) missions and using non-denominational educational
resources. These alternate structures create momentum that reinforces division. The jury
is still out on whether we will divide (again) as a denomination.
But I don't want to diminish the effort to clarify once again what we believe. Though
doctrine is not a fashionable word these days, we need doctrine. Presbyterians on a
regular basis need to stand up and say what we believe. We need to affirm a core set of
unchanging theological content that is not subject to generational opinion, the vagaries
of experience, or what we feel or do at a particular time in history.
However, we do need to so in tension with the recognition that Jesus in the Gospels
spent almost no time on doctrinal matters. Right belief if not accompanied by right action
is suspect. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven," says Jesus in
Matthew's Gospel.
While our strength within Presbyterian Protestantism is in the proclamation of the
Word, our Protestant proclivity to parse doctrinal documents until we squeeze the last bit
of life from our active, doing faith may be our weak point. In confusing times when our
identity is uncertain, we may come to the false conclusion that our identity as Christians
will become secure by believing the right things rather than doing the right practices.
The criteria by which our faith is judged to be orthodox will be the degree to which
the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the stranger welcomed, peace is made, and our
collective character reflects the character of the One who brought us into being, Jesus
Christ our Lord and Redeemer. The foundation on which the church is built is not doctrine,
but following Jesus, practicing his mercy, living his justice, and building his loving
community. Anything less is like building a church on sand. That's the news from the 214th
General Assembly. Amen.
