Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
I don't know why worries seem so much greater in the middle of the night.  Maybe it's because if we've been asleep and we wake up, it's dark and quiet and there's not so much external stimuli to distract us.  All I know is that when I do wake up in the middle of the night, anything that I've been thinking about-- any worries I have or issues or problems to solve--seem to be so much larger and unmanagable.  Nightmares seem so real. Scary stories come back to haunt.  Evil loves the darkness, I think, and perhaps our some ancient left-over instinct from the days of our ancestors makes us more fearful in the dark of night.  In the dark you can't see your enemies coming.  In the dark you aren't sure which way to go.  In the dark lives confusion and fear and hopelessness.

The psalmist tells us that the Lord is the light and strength of life.  God brings light and hope to the darkest of situations and allows us to bring justice and truth into the world.  When we share love and compassion with each other the light of God shines on our relationships.  The light warms us, cleanses us, strenghtens us, empowers us.  God is the light that never ends.     

This week's lectionary gospel passage is Matthew 6:24-34, from the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  This passage is the part in which Jesus teaches us and the people around us that we should not worry; that the birds of the air and the flowers of the field don't worry, and look at them, how well they make out!  And besides, today has enough worries of it's own without borrowing the trouble that tomorrow might bring.

Reading this passage and some of the commentaries that have been written about it leads me to think again about what it means to live in complete and utter trust of God, to provide what we need to live.  Does it mean we shouldn't look ahead at all? Should we not be intentional about living our lives, or should we just let what happens, happen?  It this kind of a que sera sera sermon, are we just to sit back and not take any actions in our lives-- then assume that whatever happens is "God's will" for us? 

To me, not so much. To me there's a big difference between being intentional about living our lives and trying to control everything that happens or just passively enduring whatever occurs in our lives, for good or for bad.  Being intentional implies that there are choices to make, and we need to make them-- but with the love, support, and guidance of God's Spirit.  Discerning what path will be the best for us as people of God doesn't take away our power to choose--in fact, it helps us make informed decisions.  It doesn't mean that we can--or should-- try to control every aspect of our lives, but that we can and should be awake to the possibilities as they come to us. 

So tonight I led the first part of a discussion of a book entitled "The Gospel According to Harry Potter."  I sort of expected to at least attract some folks from church because I know quite a few have read the books and seen the movies, and with all of the controversies I thought it would be a great way for us to make sense of some of the issues surrounding them.  I was a little disappointed that there were only 3 of us, but we had a good discussion anyway; and it seems that God was working in our midst because one of the attendees suggested that, rather than expecting folks to come here, that we begin meeting out in public somewhere. So, beginning next week, our discussion group will meet at a Panera Bread location.  This is exciting to me because it tells me that at least some of my folks are taking seriously the notion of getting outside of our four walls and into the community.  Now, this may or may not attract the attention of others who are meeting at Panera-- I try to have no illusions that a flock of people will suddenly gather around to see what we're doing. But if we consistently have a study or discussion out in public like that, maybe eventually we can invite some folks who might not want to come to a church building but might come to have coffee at Panera.  It's embodying a church that "goes and does" rather than sitting and waiting for people to come to us-- and this may be the most important change in thinking that we make this year.

We have been "granted" a reprieve-- in the form of a salary support grant from Presbytery.  Now we have to ask ourselves, what do we do with the year we've been given?  How do we spend our time in such a way that we don't get to next March and panic because we, once again, don't have enough pledges to keep us afloat?  How do we address the issues that face us as a congregation?

Well, first we begin to look at our options.  To me, they are:

     1. Ask for help from Presbytery, and begin a 3-4 year process of Congregational Transformation.  During this time, I believe that we will continue to recieve salary support from Presbytery as we go through the process.  We also need to bring in PET's marketing person to help us effectively spread the word about our presence in west Knoxville.

    2. Committ to a softer approach, in which pastoral leadership is through a retired minister who will not require even a half-time salary-- or go to a pulpit supply arrangement in which different pastors are in the pulpit each week and Presbytery supplies a moderator of session.  The congregation could continue almost indefinitely under this program; but growth is less likely without some continuity to the pastoral leadership.

    3. Try to find another small congregation to yoke with or merge with.  Yoking would mean sharing a pastor and might involve give-and-take with worship and Bible study times, but would be a cost effective way to keep going for awhile.  Plus, pastoral leadership would have continuity.  Merging with another congregation would mean that one or both congregations would sell their property and the two congregations would become one new congregation.

    4.  Dissolve the congregation entirely-- by choice, knowing that Parkway has served it's time and that it's time for the people of God in this place to move on to something new.  There is no shame in this; in fact, it takes a lot of courage and strength for a congregation to make that kind of decision.  And, there are other congregations who might benefit greatly from our individual/ combined wisdom and support. 

We do have choices; they might not be what we consider optimal, but there are choices we can make.  I encourage this congregation to put much thought and prayer into our our future plans so that we may actively do the will of God, rather than just letting the future just happen to us.