Campout Forecast

Luke 12:49-56

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Tough talk time.  There is no turning back for the church. We can either change or die. We can either grab a vision or die. We can either find a passion for something besides ourselves and our projects or die.  And if we choose to die, we need to begin, like it or not, to plan what that death looks like.

Jesus is warning the people about what it means not to understand what is happening right under their noses. He is telling them that if they don't open their eyes and interpret the events happening around them, they will suffer.  He is laughing about how they understand the weather patterns, how they know exactly when it going to rain or when it is going to storm or when the sun will rise or set, but have no clue about what is really happening to them.

We have been in a decline as a denomination and as a church for a long time.  We have a great place, a great congregation and we love being together. I love coming to work. I never dread being here, always look forward to being with each of you, in good times and in bad ones. And yet, it isn't what is being asked of us, just to enjoy one another. What is being asked of us is to kindle our fire for long-lasting passion and burning for God. We have become complacent with how good it feels to be together and never developed a  passion for how good it might feel to connect, viscerally, literally to a world outside of here.

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

It is so hard to kindle the flame of passion, of exuberance for God, especially in a pretty non-religious community. And it is hard to do when you don't have the passion yourself.  And how do you get it? How does your leadership get it? How do *I* get it?

I know that life as we know it is changing in dramatic ways in the religious community. I know that we cannot continue just to come on Sundays and hope that things will stay the same. I know that, even though we are having a good year financially, we are not having a good year in attendance.  And I know that the fire must be kindled, or we need to figure out how to let it die for good.

I don't mean to sound harsh. I love the church and I love God. But I do see that we have to quit looking at the  actual weather forecast so much and start looking into our hearts and into the future at the life forecast for the church and its people.

It's like when you go camping and something unpredictable happens. When the snow comes overnight and you didn't expect it. When that happened to me one June in Estes, as I told you before,  I packed and ran home. How noble. How brave. Unexpected camping weather that wasn't forecast and I bail.  

I really don't want to continue in that tradition. I don't want to bail because it's cold and harsh out there. If you read the part of the scripture just before this text, you see these words, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

THAT's a context for you to ponder.  We have been given so much, and yet so little has ever been demanded of us. Is it time to give much?...  or is it time to give up?

Questions, comments? Email me or comment below.