Spiritual Hiccups - Treasured by God

It is not at all unusual to hear laments from once large, influential congregations about how things have changed.  "Remember when we had 65 youth in the confirmation class?  Remember when you had to come early or you'd have trouble finding a seat?  Remember when we had eight women's 'circles' that were brimming over with women of all ages?" 

In America, we tend to judge things based on size and growth.  Bigger is better.  More is better.  Grow or die.  In my profession, "successful" pastors are almost always "called" to bigger churches, but we are less "marketable" if our current church is not growing, or worse, is shrinking. 

Now it is certainly true that congregations sometimes fail to grow because they are not welcoming and hospitable, because they do not understand that they are called to connect with and share God's love with others.  Sometimes congregations shrink because they stop following Jesus and turn inward.

But sometimes congregations worry too much about numbers and success as it is measured by our culture.  And sometimes we forget that we are called to be faithful, to follow Jesus, and that numbers and our culture's notion of success are not always good measure of our faithfulness.

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.  It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you -- for you were the fewest of all peoples." These words are spoken to the people of Israel as they prepare to move from their time in the wilderness into the land of Promise.  And God tells them that they are not "set apart" (the meaning of holy) because of their successes or growth.  They are set apart because God loves them.

As Christians, we say that God has claimed us in the same way.  God loves us and sets us apart not because of our successes or growth, but because God so loves the world.  We a holy people because God's love has set us apart for bold lives of faith that show God's love to the world.  This is where our faith begins.  This is where our Christian witness begins.  Our successes are not our witness.  Our witness is simply to share the good news of God's love in Jesus through our words and deeds.

Sometimes, amidst the anxieties that can emerge from a lack of growth or "success," we need to be reminded of how God loves us and calls us.  Some congregations' "successes" of the past had less to do with faithfulness and more to do with a culture that virtually required church participation.  But in a time when the culture not longer sends us members, we can rejoice that God's love for us was never rooted in our membership rolls.  God has loved us, and God loves us still.  And God's love frees us from fears and anxieties - as well as from being captive to the good old days - and calls us to be a holy people, a special people, a people marked and set apart to share God's embrace with all.

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