I'm still working on my sermon for this Sabbath describing the mission of North Hill—and by extension my mission, my raison d'etre at North Hill.
I've written a manuscript but I'm not happy with it.
My sense is that North Hill is a community that matters to a number of people. Its distinctiveness is its holding together the affirmation of devotion, piety and confident faith with a palpable openness to skeptics, agnostics and questioners.
My instinctive stance is that of protector, not director. I aim to make sure everyone plays nicely together. I don't have strong ideas about what everyone should be doing. I want them to be happy. I want others to come and find sanctuary here. My style is much more permissive than directive. I count on the Holy Spirit to direct individuals.
My model is the ministry of Jesus:
The party at Matthew's house.
The expulsion of the money changers
The rebuke of the Pharisees
The above two show Jesus in "Stern Mode" only when confronting authority figures.
The inclusion of the Syro-phonecian woman.
The inclusion of Children
The Inclusion of Zaccheaus.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
His healing and “exposure” of the bleeding woman
His words about the woman bent over double. Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept bound by Satan for 18 long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? Luke 13
All this inclusion against the exclusive tendencies of the fundamentalists. Against the words Ted Wilson and Dan Jackson (as reported in Adventist World, Sept. 2010, p. 28-29).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Yes - you are a protector and a nurturer. I often think of you gently leading your church like a gardener gently pruning and caring for his roses.
Good sermon - all of you who usually read the weekly sermon should go to the NHAF web site and listen to this one! :)
Post a Comment