Could I offer you a real estate deal this morning? Oh, it will be the deal of a lifetime! You can’t pass this up! Can I get you to buy a piece of land, sight unseen, in a sort-of shaky area? True, it might be taken over by the military, but, hey, who’s worried about that? Come on and buy! True, it might be hard to use it for anything, but why should that concern you? It’s a good investment. I personally guarantee it. Come on and buy this land. No checks, no credit cards, please; cash only! Can I get you to sign right here?!
The trouble with buying things, sight unseen, is that you don’t know, first-hand, what you’re getting. You are totally dependent on the word of the one who is selling it to you. You have to put faith in his blarney and believe that what you are buying is all he says it is. If you cannot see it for yourself, you just have to believe that you are being told the truth.
The classic swindle along these lines involves the company that was selling Florida land when the boom first opened up that territory. In the 1890’s, Henry Flagler built a railroad down the entire Florida peninsula, and people swarmed to get land somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was in Florida. One company offered its acreage at incredibly low prices, prices far less that the going rate. This company displayed maps, showing exactly where the land was located, and describing spacious lots, with gorgeous views and simmering sunsets. Their sales skyrocketed! This land sold as if there were no tomorrow! But when the buyers from cold northern cities went south to claim their purchases and make arrangements to build, they found they had bought acreage in a swamp, under three feet of water! Some deal, huh, when you have somehow to drain three feet of water off your acreage before you can even touch it, much less build on it!
Now, as if that were not enough of a swindle for us to think about, not many years after the Florida land boom, there was a boom of another kind. Immigrants. Hundreds and thousands of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe, running from oppression and starvation and landing on Ellis Island in New York harbor. They knew nothing about America, but they had heard tales of golden streets and ready cash, how there was enough for everyone to live like a king. They brought little with them, these Poles and Russians and Italians and Germans, but what they did have they were ready to invest in America’s immense wealth. That made them sitting ducks for shysters of all kinds. And so in the 1920’s one of the favorite tricks, as immigrants poured into the Lower East Side, was to point out the stunning Brooklyn Bridge, standing proudly on the skyline, and tell them that for only a few rubles or kopecks or lira, that bridge could be yours! Never mind that the Brooklyn Bridge was not for sale, nor did it belong to the salesman who sold it, nor that its worth, even if it were for sale, was infinitely beyond the means of these struggling newcomers. They bought; they plunked down their hard-earned money for a nothing that looked like something. They gave away their money and received nothing of value in return. That’s why today, when you find somebody who will believe anything we tell them, we smile and say, “Well, if you believe that, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to show you.” Selling the Brooklyn Bridge is a symbol of childlike credulity.
Florida swamps and Brooklyn Bridges: two classic swindles. I want to tell you about another real estate deal that looked like a swindle. About 2600 years ago the prophet Jeremiah stood in the midst of an increasingly desolate city, Jerusalem, and wept for its fate. He knew without question that the city was doomed and that the Kingdom of Judah would fall. Jeremiah could see that its king would die, his sons would be executed, and that the people would be taken into exile. A horrible set of circumstances. The collapse of every kind of stability. Not the time to make an investment or to buy any property. Very iffy, negative times. Time to hunker down and stuff your money in the mattress!
Just at that moment comes Hanamel, Jeremiah’s cousin, offering Jeremiah the chance to purchase a field in the village of Anathoth, a field that had belonged to Hanamel’s father and Jeremiah’s uncle, Shallum. Now consider the circumstances. Anathoth is a little village out in the countryside. Not much of a place for business in the first place. But now we’ve got the Babylonian emperor breathing down our necks, and it’s very likely that Judah will be defeated. This conqueror will probably confiscate every bit of private property. And even if he doesn’t, all the men of Anathoth will be soldiering, or enslaved, or exiled, or dead – so who’s going to plow and plant this field? Sounds like a Florida swamp to me! Worthless. And, if, in fact, the king takes it away anyhow, well, it might be a Brooklyn Bridge, a whole lot of money for something that will never be yours anyhow.
Let’s eavesdrop on the real estate deal:
Jeremiah 32:1-15
Jeremiah bought the field! Against every dictum of good business sense, Jeremiah bought that sorry field. Why? For what earthly purpose? Well, it wasn’t for an earthly purpose. It was for a heavenly purpose. It was to demonstrate faith in a God who keeps faith with His people.
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying: Ah Lord GOD! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Nothing is too hard for God. That was Jeremiah’s faith. That’s what inspired Jeremiah to spend his money on something that looked worthless. That’s what drove the prophet to accept what to his detractors looked like a Florida swamp swindle and to his friends seemed nothing more than a Brooklyn Bridge hoax. Jeremiah had faith, and believed that God was not yet finished with Judah. So invest in the future. See the possibilities beyond the immediate difficulties. Buy the field. For nothing is too hard for our God.
I want to talk with you this morning about our church. I want to discern with you some things about where we are headed, as I see it, and what we need to do to be faithful. And, most of all, I want to urge you, as individuals and as a congregation, to buy the field of Anathoth. I want to declare to you that God is not finished with Takoma Park Baptist Church, and that if we are faith-filled, He will see us through to some glorious times. But we will have to spend of ourselves to buy the field of Anathoth, even though some will fear that we’re investing in a Florida swamp and some will be convinced that it’s nothing more than a Brooklyn Bridge trick.
I believe we are now at a new juncture in our history. I believe that God is calling us to rethink our life and work and to deepen it as never before. I believe this because I have seen what God is doing among us, and it is a work of grace. It is a work of gifting that calls us as a church to a new way of working. To some, what I am about to share may seem a Florida swamp, incredibly messy; or a Brooklyn Bridge, just a promise that I have no right to make. But in my heart of hearts I do not believe so. I believe it is a field of Anathoth. I believe it is a set of directions worth every ounce of our energies, every dime of our resources, and every prayer of our hearts.
Let me lay it out under four headings: Deepened Discipleship; Multiplied Ministries; Winsome Worship; and Systematic Stewardship.
I
I believe the time has come for us to buy the field at Anathoth by committing ourselves to deepened discipleship. We must become a people who know what our faith is about; who can speak of our faith convincingly; who can share our witness; and who know our own hearts before God.
Two or three years ago we began to use discipleship courses in a serious manner. Several got involved in something called “Experiencing God.” A little later others got involved with another course called, “The Mind of Christ”. Still more took up a rather extensive course called, “MasterLife”, and, of late, Rev. Haggray has gathered young adults and some others around one called, “Disciple”.
In addition, twice now I have begun classes in Christian Basics, creating my own curriculum and introducing people to the vast range of the Christian faith. And we have used yet another book, “Introduction to the Christian Faith” for our new members.
The point about all of these courses is that they have taken those of us who had fragmentary knowledge, odds and ends knowledge, and have helped us put it together systematically, carefully, inside ourselves. These courses go somewhere. They start with some basic concepts and they move us along the way to see some realities and focus ourselves on being effective Christians.
Discipleship courses help move us away from just coming to church and move us toward being the church. I intend to work with every responsible entity in the church to move us to the place where we will insist that if you wish to be serious about your relationship with this church, you will move through a series of discipleship courses in a careful, systematic way, so that you will know this faith, you will act on this faith, and you will have deeply planted in you the values for which we stand.
I intend to ask that we begin using a discipleship approach in a part of our Sunday School. I intend to propose that we start a new adult Sunday School class at least once every six months, more often if possible, but built on MasterLife and blending in other discipleship materials and materials which we ourselves will produce.
I intend to campaign for the expectation that anyone who wants to be in full fellowship with Takoma Park Baptist Church will enroll in deepened discipleship opportunities. We can no longer afford the luxury of half-informed Christians who just come to church and avoid being the church. Over and over again history has proved that churches which make serious demands on people grow faster and are more effective that churches which let people do their own thing. I intend to work for deepened discipleship and serious Bible knowledge.
After Jeremiah had bought his field, God said to Jeremiah,
“I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for all time, for their own good and the good of their children after them.”
If we as God’s people will engage in deepened discipleship, so that He may give us one heart and one way, it will be for our good and for our children’s good. If you will buy into that, it will be buying the field at Anathoth. Not a Florida swamp mess. Nor a Brooklyn Bridge fiction. But a sign of confidence in the God who is not finished with us yet.
II
Second, I believe that the way ahead for our church lies in multiplied ministries. We have a few ministries now, but we must multiply them. There must be many more. Every person associated with this congregation ought to have the opportunity to share in at least one ministry that reaches out and touches the lives of others. We need to multiply ministries, not only for the sake of the world out there around us, but also for our own sake.
A little history may be helpful. This church gave birth to some excellent ministries .. and I assume that you know that when I say ministries, I mean service to those beyond our walls, service to those who have some identifiable need.
This church gave birth to a neighborhood-wide youth ministry at a time when chaos reigned in this city. There are young adults today who look back to the sixties and seventies and credit this church for rescuing them. We’ve kept on doing youth ministry, and to God be the glory.
This church gave birth to a tutorial program at a time when the schools seemed unable to keep up with the demands and the parents were desperate for help. Though that program was abandoned, we have brought it back as an after-school enrichment ministry. It’s vitally necessary.
This church gave birth to a ministry with the mentally challenged that has gone on for nearly thirty years. It is widely recognized and has been copied in other churches. It is a model of compassion.
But it seems as though we stopped for a while. We rested on our laurels. We took a few good things and felt satisfied. We didn’t see that the needs around us were changing. We had a serious debate about what it means to do ministry, with some arguing that that was the pastor’s job and not the congregation’s. But finally, just a couple of years ago now, we began to take off. We organized a unit of SHARE to provide low-cost food for at least a few families. We created the Visitation Volunteers to take the good news out into homes, intentionally. We’ve just developed a health care ministry. We are beginning to blossom with compassionate care for others.
Do you see that we must multiply these ministries? We must multiply them because there are all sorts of needs around us. There is a high school that needs a Christian presence. There is a community college where ministry ought to take place. There are families with heartache brought about by divorce or family tensions. There are people all around us with the distress of joblessness, the agony of drug abuse, the sorrow of bereavement. There are people around us who are desperate for a word of counsel on how to raise their children, how to manage their resources, how to build self-esteem, how to overcome destructive behavior. We ought to be there for them. And we can be there!
I see a community ministry night here in our church. I see a night on which, on a regular basis, people are brought into support groups where compassionate Christians, trained and armed with God’s word and with sound psychology, bring insight and hope. I see this church building ablaze with light one night a month, maybe eventually one night a week, maybe even more, but radiating hope for the hurting and love for the distressed. I see multiplied ministries for the sake of those around us.
And I see that for our sake too. You and I need to serve others! God has given gifts of discernment and energy and resourcefulness and wisdom to every one who is a part of this congregation. We dare not waste it! We dare not ignore it! You and I dare not dodge our place in the body of Christ. I intend to work for the day when every person associated with this church is involved in at least one serving ministry. It’s for your own good as well as for the good of those around you.
Multiplying ministries is buying the field at Anathoth. Some will think it a Florida swamp; you’re getting into messy territory that you can’t wade through. And some will think it just a Brooklyn Bridge, pie-in-the-sky thing: that kind of person won’t come here. Well, let’s buy the field at Anathoth and let’s find out! Multiplied ministries.
III
Third, I believe we need to find our way through to winsome worship. Winsome worship. A pattern of worship which appeals to people, draws them, fills them, anoints them, empowers them.
The truth is that no one way of worship will fit everyone. What we do on Sunday morning may work for you, but it does not work for others. You may feel glorious singing “How Great Thou Art”, with organ and choir and robes and candles, but there is a generation out there now which knows nothing of that, and knows only fast-moving images and dramatic stories. You may get off on three-points-and-a- poem sermons, but the truth is that we are facing a generation that needs to talk back, that wants to dialogue, a time and a generation that learns in a different way.
That means a new style of worship. In fact, that means a whole new opportunity for worship. We need to develop a second worship service, at a time other than Sunday morning at 10:30 and a style other than our rather classical format, with worship that fits young people’s sensitivities and proclamation that takes their learning style into account. Please hear me, please hear me: I do not intend to turn our Sunday service upside down and inside out, though I do intend to ask for the privilege of trying some new things. Nor do I intend to lead you into some bizarre mishmash of which you would not be proud. But I do intend to press forward and support in every way that I can the creation of a worship experience that will bring home to this generation the presence of Almighty God in power and in joy, and will do it at a time of the week when they can and will come. We need to advance with winsome worship.
I suppose to some that may sound like a Florida swamp, impossibly murky. Or to others like a Brooklyn Bridge, a pipe dream that cannot be done. But I tell you that all experience shows that one of the best ways to grow a church is to offer a second worship service in a different vein for a different congregation than the usual one. I intend to see us pursue winsome worship.
IV
And finally, I must ask that all of this be bathed in systematic stewardship. Systematic stewardship – an effort to invest ourselves and our resources in a way that accomplishes all that God wants done here. Systematic stewardship—this is really where the faith comes in, this is truly where we will need to buy the field of Anathoth.
Systematic stewardship of our human resources. I have felt for some time, and it’s good to hear others say it too, that we are too tied up in official structures like committees, and that we need to free people to be and to do what their passions call for. We need to become, even more than we are already, a permission-giving church. We’ve found out that electing people to committees they don’t want to be on to do jobs for which they feel no passion just won’t work. Some of our committees are like that; folks are dragooned into service and then do what they do without much passion. But when you offer them ministry teams, when you give them room to find their own gifts, then they flourish. I am going to ask that we re-examine and simplify our church’s structure. That’s systematic stewardship.
Systematic stewardship is going to mean that we will pray and think creatively about the way we use time. We have too many things happening in competition with one another. When church members have to leave one meeting early in order to attend another one, we have not been judicious in our use of time. I want to press forward a plan to convert our midweek prayer service and Bible study time into a church-wide training and equipping approach. I see us taking blocks of four weeks, six weeks, training our officers, training workers in our ministries, training our teachers, equipping ourselves, children and youth too, for Kingdom service. Just doing what we’ve always done is not going to get the job accomplished. We need to rethink our use of time.
And then, of course, you would know that I would have to say that systematic stewardship involves the use of our material resources. It all has to be paid for, doesn’t it?
Oh, he’s going to talk about money. Would the ushers please lock the doors?
No, actually I am not, directly. I can and I will, in the future. But I am going to challenge us to look at our physical facilities and to address the needs and the opportunities we have around us. This building needs help. It needs lots of help. It has problems not only in its appearance, but also in some of its structural integrity, in its layout, in its usefulness. It’s just plain hard to use. And it does not serve us as well as it should.
There is the matter of parking. Last week the rains came, and many of you found out how tough it was to get in here when you have to park a long way away. Every church growth expert I know says churches must construct parking. We have the land. We have the need. Let’s do it.
I am going to ask that we do a comprehensive study of the needs and possibilities for this property and for the church’s five valuable houses out this way. I am going to ask that we spend the next year, among other things, determining whether we are ever going to be able to use these houses, and, if not, that we sell some of them and use the proceeds to put this building into first-rate order.
Well, how about it? Does that all sound like a Florida swamp, so much mud that we can never touch it? I just want to remind you that under that three feet of water there is earth. Rich earth. Land that if we can drain off the mess will produce great growth. It’s not too bad to have bought a Florida swamp.
Does all that I have said sound like a Brooklyn Bridge, an impossible dream, a misty wispy nothing? Does it all sound like the rantings of a huckster just trying to take your money and give you nothing? Well, I tell you, it may be nothing, but I don’t think so. The church may be nothing, but I stake my life on its being something. The church may be a will-o-the-wisp, but I know that for the next months and years of my life, whatever the cost, I intend to buy a filed at Anathoth.
For God said to Jeremiah,
See, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me? … They shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for all time, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, never to draw back from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
