Form Follows Faith Sermon

When in College, taking classes in Art History, Architecture and Urban Planning all the books and Professors agreed on a basic presupposition. There could be many different styles and schools Classic, Greek, Bauhaus, Frank Lloyd Wright,,but from Plato onward there was acceptance that FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION.

If the point was to have a stable and sturdy place to sit then a chair needed at least three and possibly four equally arranged legs, all of the same height. You might use the chair to stand upon, or sit, to hold other things, it may be a beautiful work of art, an antique, but if the FUNCTION of a Chair is to be a stable place to rest upon, the FORM FOLLOWED THAT FUNCTION.

Then in the latter part of the 20th Century, entering into the current time, because of international communication, travel and trade, commerce and cultural exchange, we came to recognize that each individual is unique. I am Married, Male and Caucasian, 48 years of age, College educated, from the Northern Midwest of the continent of North America. As such, my perceptions and cultural interpretation might be different from he assumptions and interpretations of perhaps a Woman, who is 15 years of age and Hispanic, from a densely populated place. While there could be points of common understanding, there could also be points of difference. A hat, which according to FUNCTION covers the top of your head, in FORM may be small or large, tall or wide brimmed. Part of the POST-MODERN era, is acceptance that while FORM MAY FOLLOW FUNCTION, FORM ALSO FOLLOWS FASHION. In urban areas across the nation, we have tried to expand our acceptance and understanding of diversity by having cultural fairs. What a Radio broadcaster did this last week, and the way others attacked and defended his racial slurs shows just how segregated and racially divided we still are. There may be candidates for the highest elected office that are Female, that are Afro-American, that are Viet Name Veterans, that are Baby Boomers, but we have made it fashionable to be shocking, our form has been to garner attention by crossing the line of prejudice and hate. The Questions we consider should not be whether Imus should have been fired for what he said, whether Anna Nicole's Baby should belong to this man or that, whether our timetable for empowering other nations to rule themselves should be for 2007 or 2008, but how a people could become so superficial. Our FORM our purpose and relationship has become a FACADE OF FASHION and HATE.

Then a few days ago, I was at a conference on Health Care Costs, discussing why we as a nation spend over 80% of all the cost of Health Care on people in the last weeks of life. And the presenter named that we are a Culture that assumes FORM FOLLOWS FINANCE. We pay for what is of Value. Since Watergate, we have become conditioned to follow the money trail, to seek out the best paying, biggest bang for the buck, most lucrative probabilities and idolize what money can do, what money can buy.

How different our perception of the world would be, if instead of assuming ABSOLUTES that FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION, or the FACADE of FORM FOLLOWING FASHION, or FORM FOLLOWING FINANCE, we established our reality on FORM FOLLOWING FAITH! FUNCTION, FASHION and FINANCE all are constructs of the world if as an abstract thing to be manipulated, to be understood and controlled.
FAITH is based on a RELATIONSHIP, our relationship with God and our relationships with one another. What if we understood ourselves, not as abstract things, A Man, A Woman, A Mate, An Employer, An Employee, A Victim, an Abuser. I was Driving a car, when circumstance happened. But instead saw ourselves in relationship to one another and with God.
Regardless of my being White and Male and Married and 48 years of age, having acquired this degree or that possession,...
IF instead I was the Pastor of this community? I am Judy's husband. I am Michael and Nate's Father. We are the one's who provide Presbyterian Manor in the community. We are building a Clinic in Africa because of our personal relationships with Andrew, Jacob, John, Martha, Anon and Aquot and this relationship with God that says: Share what you have with others.
If instead of claiming to be a Member of the Church, I perceived myself as on a journey of faith with God. We are NEVER ALONE. God is our constant companion.
The nuance is subtle, but it is he difference between being faithless and believing, being alone and living life in communion with God.

The French Philosopher Descartes described “I Think, therefore I am” as a construct of reality, to prove to himself that he existed. How different our reality would be, if instead of trying to FIND OURSELVES, to figure out who we are as individuals, to become an Engineer, a Chemist, certified as a Teacher, we could perceive our reality in relationship to others.

This week I shared with the leadership synopsis of one of my favorite monographs. Martin Saarinen used the Metaphor of Jesus and Paul, that the CHURCH IS A BODY. If a Body, then having a life-cycle, with Birth and changes and maturity, and aging, changing relationships and death, and because we believe, we know there is always at any time in life the possibility of resurrection to life anew. Martin's idea is that a newborn, like a new church development is only about ENERGY/ENTHUSIASM for life. Everything is new, everything is possible. There is no control over the ability to stand on your own, to hold your head up. As a child I grew up in two New Churches, where anything and everything was possible. Before the Church building was built, the Church constructed meeting rooms and classrooms for children, so had a Nursery School with a live pig and ducklings. Eventually, as an infant grows they become aware of others and wanting those others involved and included. According to Martin, the difference between infancy and being a child of God is awareness of the need for others, INCLUSIVITY, our sharing enthusiasm with others. Our desire to be active is balanced by our desire for who else will be INVOLVED. Then comes Adolescence. And what every adolescent wants is PROGRAMS, possible things to do to use the energy and attract even more involvement of others. After a time, we need to manage and schedule our programs and relationships, so we develop ADMINISTRATION. As Human beings we rush to grow up, to be mature, to be at the PRIME of Life, when our Energy and Enthusiasm, Inclusion of Friends and Neighbors, the Programs and Possibilities and Administration of time are all n balance. But PRIME is a transitory thing, very rapidly, we cannot do al the tings we used to do and we increase Administration Control to compensate. We have a smaller and smaller group of people we know. Our interests and abilities change and we have less programs and activities. And being Mortal we die. There is nothing wrong with the Mortal Life-Cycle, the question is perceiving where are we in life? As individuals, in our committed relationships, in our relationships and identity as a Community of Faith?

While this Church is over 200 years of age, my perception is that in the last dozen years we came through a sort of death and rebirth. There was that phase of Infancy, when anything was possible, the weekend of Palm Sunday 1997 we had a sleep-over lock-in here at the Church with over 200 teenagers and two adult chaperones. A year later, we borrowed a full troop of costumes, and a donkey for a Christmas pageant of Lords and Ladies and a Boar's Head Feast. We had multiple capital campaigns running simultaneously, and still took on more. My perception, as we have sought new relationships in Mission with Villages in Sudan, with repairing housing in Florida and New Orleans and Binghamton, as we are seeking new ways to care for and minister to persons with Cancer, we as a Church are at the awkward stage of Pre-Adolescence. But that is only one perception.

The disciples were in hiding, in the Upper Room, because the last reality they were certain of was that they had been Jesus' Disciples sharing communion with one another. Then their teacher, their Rabbi, their friend, the one they knew to be the Son of God was arrested and crucified to death. When we describe this passage from John as being abut DOUBTING THOMAS our emphasis is in the wrong place. The focus is not on one disciple and his struggle to let go. All the disciples were struggling to make sense of what now, that is what we do when someone we know and love dies. Like the weaving of a piece of fabric, we suddenly have a thread that has ended. The focus of this story, is not n Thomas and is doubts, but on the Resurrection, on Christ who refused to let anything prevent the disciples from living in faith. The focus is on Jesus who did what ever they needed to believe, and thereby transform from those who were taught, who were disciples, to those who called others and ministered to them.

Several weeks ago, one among us, who is on the Nominating Committee of the Presbytery announced the need for people to serve. I have a new responsibility as the Chair of an Administrative Commission working with seven churches in the city of Syracuse. This is perhaps the most serious responsibility we could have. We are charged with authority to call the Sessions to meetings, to establish new ministries, and if necessary to seize assets, close churches, change or dissolve pastoral relationships. Much like the Revelation of John to the Seven Churches in Asia, the problem is that the churches and community have become FORGOTTEN OF FAITH. These were established churches a hundred years ago and more, with 500 to 5000 members. Prestigious churches with assets and endowments. Some became blinded by FORM FOLLOWING FINANCES and so long as they had an endowment to draw upon, so long as they could keep up the building and the music performance, so long as they could pay for the administration, they believed they were strong. For some FORM FOLLOWED FASHION, one was the Conservative and Literal Translation Church, another was the Liberal and Politically active.
What if, the identity of the Faith Community in Syracuse were not bound by buildings, or denomination? Carousel Mall has had a curfew for the last two years, that youth could not roam un-attended. What if ministry were to have free tickets to the movies at DestiNY, provided afterward you participated in a discussion of the values and ethics and relationships?
What if, the ministry in Syracuse were to build fresh housing and businesses?
What if the ministry in Syracuse were to bring people together to talk about racial differences, profiling and prejudices?
What if the focus were not on the buildings and churches and preservation of assets, but upon the needs of the people of this community and how we could serve as a catalyst for change?
That's radical, that's relational, this is ministry as a FORM OF FAITH rather than a Facade, a Function, a concern only for Financing.