Dull?

Family,

I heard something interesting this week on the radio. It was a sports talk show, and they were talking about some of the teams, in the NFL, that might need to change coaches. They named off the obvious lists of flops and teams that are gutter material, but then they named a team and coach that shocked me. The Tennessee Titan's head coach, Jeff Fisher, became the target of their debate. Should he stay? Or should he go?

Well, lets look at his resume. He took the team to the Super Bowl, and he was inches away from possibly winning. He has an incredible record, and in fact, last year, he won 13 games to only 3 losses, before losing in the playoffs to a strong Baltimore Ravens team. Looking at his resume, through the black and white script on a page, one wonders how his name would ever appear on a "hot seat" discussion, but then we have to realize that this year's team is 0 and 6, and this past Sunday they were embarrassed on national television.

But that's not what opened my eyes. I knew all this, what opened my eyes was the argument made by Trent Dilfer. They were talking about the fact that Fisher had been at Tennesse for nearly 15 years, the longest tenured head coach in the NFL, and maybe it was time for a change. I couldn't believe what i was hearing, until Dilfer said this, "Jimmy Johnson, (ex head coach for the Dallas Cowboys), told me, (Dilfer), that he feels that he should change jobs every five to six years, because the players grow dull of his voice." That opened my eyes. It was a powerful revelation that struck home.

And it made me think. Are you dull, or tired, of hearing what i have to say? I think so. To some degree, yes. We are creatures of habits, and i sense each person, whether they want to admit it or not, follows a certain personality type, and they repeat, in words, deeds, or whatever, things that speak to them. For me it is social justice, economic justice, community, radical discipleship, and sincere, authentic spirituality, and for the last six plus years, i have preached this, continually.

As i reflected on Dilfer's words, i sensed something in our church needs to change. I came up with two options, and the first, really, isn't an option as far as i am concerned. But here's what i came up with. First, i could, like Coach Johnson, resign and go somewhere else. Some where that would not know my core values and core faith statements, and i could preach a new message. Well not so much a new message, as preaching what speaks to me to a new audience. This could be an option. But i think its the cowardly/easy way out. It says that instead of growing and adapting and rethinking who i am, i will refuse to grow, refuse to learn, and assume that i know it all. I dont feel that way. So i thought about option two.

This option requires me to look at our ministries and church family with a new set of eyes. I can't get a new set, literally, but what i can do is listen to the voice of you, my church family, and be attentive to ways to reach you, in a new voice. A voice that you haven't heard from me yet. A voice that hasn't bored you to tears. This is the option i chose. It is a tricky choice. A difficult one. And one marked with a lot of chances of failures, because it means i have to get away from what i have grown accustomed to and operate in a space that isn't familiar or known by me. But on the other hand, it is in this space, in this unknown realm that i sense the greatest growth for me and for us as a church family is found. But i still need your help.

I need your voice. I need your input. I need your ideas. I need your fresh set of eyes helping illumine my own journey so that i can see things differently. I need your wisdom. I need your support. And i need your patience. No journey, especially one involving faith communities, is possible without the real support of our sisters and brothers. We need each other to thrive in the unknown spaces we call life. If you will join me, assist me, i will do my best to refresh my voice, and what ideas and revelations God shares, so that boredom is the farthest thing from your minds. I dont want to see anymore heads nodding off during worship, and i abhor watching people do "lists" while worshipping. To a certain degree, when these happens, it is my fault, and i have to recreate myself so that it stops. On the other hand, it isn't my fault. We, each of us, bring ourselves to worship for different reasons, and if the motivation isn't sincere or to honor God, well nothing anyone does will move us.

What does this have to do with Genesis 25? Nothing. And yet everything. Genesis 25, at least in one of my readings of the text this is what i gleaned from it, is about legacies. It details the end of two stories: Abraham and Ishmael, and it describes their family trees, the heirs to their fortunes. As i reflected on what a legacy is and what kind of legacy i want to leave, i realized that right now, at the West Milton Church of the Brethren, i am not leaving a very good legacy. I am not making a path for greater things to happen.

When i look back on the past six plus years, i feel a lot of joy and gratitude over how far we have come, but then i also feel a lot of sorrow and anxiety. Why? Because we are not where i expected us to be, at this point. I felt called, by God and this community, to lead us into deeper faith, life changing faith, and amazing ministries, and i believed we would be packed with worshippers, every Sunday. This hasn't happened. Not totallly. And i lament that i have not lived up to what i expected of myself. I have not honored my legacy, not yet.

Genesis 25 reminded me that we have but a few years to create a legacy that outlives us. Well, actually, we all have a legacy that will outlive us, but we have a few years to make sure that legacy is a positive one with Godly ripples. I want to return to my passion for this church's story and ensuring that we regain our momentum and honor our vision and mission statements. I felt a deep sense of remorse over losing some of that steam, and i hope you can forgive me for becoming comfortable and even apathetic with my role as your pastor. As much as i can help it, it wont happen again.

So we find ourselves at the end of Abe's story, rehearsing a powerful legacy that he left for all who follow. As i meditate on Abe's legacy, i wonder what my legacy will be. And i wonder what our legacy, as a church family, will be. Will we pave the way for a golden age at the West Milton CoB? Or will we allow the cultural tides to move us into irrelevancy and obscurity? I dont like being irrelevant, and i despise the idea of our church being obscure, so let's buck the trend of other churches and recreate our legacy that will not only outlive us, but it will cause others to tell our story for generations to come. Not only that, but it will empower future generations to add their legacy and their story to what we started. Amen.

Shalom and Salaam Meleikum,
jerry