In a few weeks we are going to celebrate All Saints Day … remembering the history of those who have faithfully lived out their lives at Rockport United Methodist Church seeking to make Rockport a place where people can experience God in new and fresh ways. The history of a congregation is no more real to most church members than a list of names. I hear from time to time, “Who are these people”? For many, church is no more than who was at the last worship service, or who was at the last congregational crisis that they would just as soon forget. For others, history of the church is nothing more than some dusty board minutes squashed in stationery - store binders on a neglected shelf, or a list of faceless clergy. For others history of the church is nostalgia for the old ways … the Book of Common Prayer or the King James Version of the Bible.
That's too bad, because a congregation's history is rich with meaning. For good or ill, a church's history influences its future attitudes and actions. This can go far beyond the usually well-broadcast theological or liturgical stance of many congregations. Normally when I ask members to fill me in on the histories of the church, I find they are both amazed and frightened. They usually share dreams both realized and dashed. No matter how many tell the story the same result is most often arrived at. Many times in hearing of the history of a church I hear a story of how they were tempted to leave the church. Yet when pushed, I normally ask the question, “What prompted you to stay”? Almost always there is a hope for the future.
If history can provide hope, it can also steal hope. Scripture is filled with examples of people who held onto the past to keep people from moving forward. For example, the children of Israel, unable to share Moses' vision, began to see their slavery in Egypt as the good old days. The story has been the same throughout the history of the church. We should honor caution, yet whenever a church has been held up by the thievery of history, we need to ask three questions. First, is there a historical reason we are being kept from following the vision of God, namely that we go into the world to reach those who are lost? Second, are we looking at the right history? What other historical events in the church might give us a different picture of the situation? Third, what new things in this situation change our perceptions of history or render our history irrelevant?
On the best days, when I worship with the saints of Rockport United Methodist Church, I grasp in a fresh way that we are creating is a new history. When gathering in a place filled with worshiping people, we realize anew that the greatest things we do not only bring our history forward and make it present, but also points us toward the future. The passage of Scripture that helps me understand this concept the best is found in Romans 5:8 …“But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”
Rev. Dr. Gordon Myers
