Called to Leap

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

October 11, 2015

Called To Leap

Matthew 4:18-22

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,

Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,

casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen.

And he said to them,

“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

As he went from there, he saw two other brothers,

James son of Zebedee and his brother John,

in the boat with their father Zebedee,

mending their nets,

and he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father,

and followed him.

*******************************************

“Who would want to donate money for a boiler,

or fix a parking lot full of potholes?

Who would want to donate money to repair a leaky roof?”

These were questions asked at meeting of the

Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater Buffalo

thirty years ago, back in the mid-1980s.

I had just joined the Board as a director,

and I was attending my first meeting.

The agenda that day was whether the Y

should organize a capital campaign.

There were 6 facilities under

the umbrella of the metro Y,

and the vice president of operations had reported

that every one, every facility,

was in desperate need of capital improvements:

boilers needed replacing,

parking lots were filled with potholes

from Buffalo winters,

locker rooms were pungent from inadequate ventilation,

roofs leaked.

The YMCA of Metro Buffalo

had been established in 1852

and was the second oldest Y in the country.

Over the decades it had had many capital campaigns.

Each campaign in the past, though,

had been to build a new facility,

add new gym, install a pool –

it had always been something bigger, better.

What our Board was considering in our 132^nd year

was something quite different,

something we’d never done before:

a capital campaign dedicated to fixing,

replacing,

repairing.

The question,

“who would donate to replace a boiler or

fill a pothole

or patch a roof”

expressed a concern that many directors had

as we listened, discussed, and discerned.

The Y’s president and the vice president

of operations persevered, though:

we had to make the repairs,

we had to make the improvements;

they were necessary for our future,

they were necessary for the Y to have a future.

There were some on the Board

who strongly opposed embarking

on such a campaign:

they thought it was too much money,

or that things that could be deferred,

or that things were not really that bad,

or that it was just a bad time for a capital campaign.

But when it came time for a vote,

the support for the campaign

was all but unanimous,

and we launched a $2.5 million campaign.

A year later we celebrated

that we’d actually exceeded the goal.

The work got done,

and the Y, now in its 163^rd year,

is, from everything I hear,

more vibrant than ever.

That was my first experience

with a capital campaign.

The campaign was a success –

not because donors were swept up

by the exciting prospect of

bright boilers, patched potholes,

or shiny shingles;

it was a success because everyone involved –

our Board, staff, members, and donors –

got swept up in the excitement

of the Y’s proud history and bright future.

Donors made their commitments

to build on the Y’s foundation

to assure the Y’s future.

Our campaign here at MPC is much the same.

We all know we need to replace the roof,

that, like the roofs on our homes,

after a time, the shingles need to be replaced.

And certainly it makes far more sense

to pay for it now,

rather then borrow the money

and then pay a bank tens of thousands of dollars

in interest.

We all know as well that once

we replace the roof outside,

we need to replace all the stained,

rotted ceiling tiles inside

damaged over the years by all those leaks.

We may well have a damaged ceiling tile

for every member of our church!

We also know we need to replace

the wiring infrastructure here in our Sanctuary –

the wiring for our lighting.

No, we are not proposing to change the light fixtures,

as some have wondered.

No, this is about changing

the operating system and wiring

that we don’t see,

that’s behind the scene,

a system and wiring that is 40 years old,

a system and wiring that is outdated,

can no longer be properly maintained,

and may soon become a fire hazard

if we don’t replace it.

We know we need to replace

the audio system in our Sanctuary:

equipment wears out,

and at some point

we have to replace microphones, speakers, computers.

Did you know that the computer we use to burn DVDs

of our services is so old that it takes

one full hour to burn one DVD?

The things that need changing

aren’t part a vanity project

so we can have the best,

the newest, the shiniest.

The things we’ve identified are things that will

enhance and enrich our worship services,

as we gather in this space to glorify God.

As we’ve talked about the need to

replace audio equipment in the Sanctuary,

we’ve also talked about video,

and that, of course,

has led to talk about screens.

Now, even just mentioning

video screens in the Sanctuary

elicits strong reactions –

in any congregation,

not just here,

typically captured one of two ways:

“you’ll install screens over my dead body”,

or “the day you install screens

is the day I leave this church”.

The reality, though, is, that we learn better

when we see as well as hear.

Schools use visual learning

not because it is cool and hip,

but because it is effective.

Many of us have been through

PowerPoint presentations

that have been insufferably boring.

Many of us have been to church services

where the screens were distracting and annoying.

But don’t you see:

that’s not a condemnation of the technology;

it is a condemnation of how they were used.

PowerPoint presentations can be

insufferably boring;

but they can also be extraordinarily effective.

The use of screens in worship can be

distracting and unhelpful,

but they can also enhance a worship service immensely.

Those who have been part of my

Wednesday morning Bible Study group,

know I use my computer and

the television monitor in Room 5 all the time,

to take us to other parts of the world,

and to take us back in time.

As just an example:

the class has seen a trove of

religious art and artifacts

from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

and the Cloisters Museum

in New York City,

and the National Gallery of Art in downtown D.C.

all from the comfort of Room 5.

Melissa also is an avid user of visual technology –

both in her Thursday evening Bible Study class

and in the Lenten series she and I present each year.

We both use visual technology because it works.

Deborah and I have talked

about how to convey music on screens;

No one – not Deborah, not me,

not anyone involved in worship

wants to take us back to the days

some of us remember from childhood,

the days of “follow the bouncing ball”

with lyrics scrolling on a screen.

So we are still working out how to provide music.

There are other projects that are on the table,

as most of you have learned

as you participated in the focus groups

organized by Mike Yelanjian, Janice Moore, and Jeff Shriver.

An updated sign out front,

a memorial garden,

funds to launch a special mission project.

What all these projects have in common

is that they build on our proud history,

our 148-year history,

and point us to the future as

faithful followers of Christ.

We stand on the shoulders of all those saints

who have gone before us:

those who took a leap of faith back in 1867

to establish our church

out of the ash and rubble of the Civil War;

Those who in 1875 constructed the brownstone building

that was our church home

for one hundred years,

a building that still stands in Old Town,

a building that was built in the midst of a

severe economic recession that gripped this country

for most of the 1870s.

Those who strengthened

the foundation of our church

through years of war,

economic recessions,

the Great Depression,

and other challenging times.

                                            

And of course, those who in the early 1970s said

“this space is too small –

God needs more room,

Jesus needs more space

to welcome disciples for worship,

to nurture children,

and to reach out to the community.”

Our lesson reminds us that taking a leap of faith

is part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Peter, Andrew, James, John:

they left their lucrative fishing business

to follow Jesus;

they dropped their nets and

“immediately” followed Jesus.

They each took a leap of faith,

as did the disciples who followed them.

It is time for us to take a leap of faith,

building on the foundation on which we stand,

you and I.

That’s what this campaign is all about.

It is ambitious, but realistic;

after all,

aren’t all things possible with God?

It is easy to be critical;

it is harder to take a leap of faith.

But let’s do just that,

all of us, together.

Let’s take a leap of faith,

and covenant to make our

capital campaign successful;

in fact, let’s surpass the goal.

And at the same time,

let’s also make our annual giving campaign

the most successful ever.

Annual giving has been flat the past 4 years,

even as costs have gone up.

We have a deficit budget this year

because we haven’t kept up.

Let’s take a leap of faith,

and let’s make our Stewardship campaign

our most successful ever.

And then, in two short months,

in the glorious season of Advent,

what joy we will surely all feel as we celebrate.

What joy we will surely all feel

as we shout,

“To God be the glory!”

and as we sing out,

“Glory to God in the highest!”

AMEN