Virtue #6: Teamwork – 4 Scripture Readings

Lectionary Readings for Jan. 30, 2022                     4th Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C
Jeremiah 1:4-10   v5 The Lord said, “Before I even formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew all about you.”
Psalm 71:1-6   v4 Save me from the power of sinful people, O my God, from the grip of unjust and cruel men.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 v4-8 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
Luke 4:21-30  v22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?

But this week we’ll look at Exodus 18:14-23 and Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and Ephesians 4:11-12 as we continue an eight-part series looking at the virtues of flourishing churches.

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”  ~ Helen Keller

“I invite everyone to chose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition.”  ~ Jean-Francois Cope

As we pray and work to create a more peace-filled world, together, we can accomplish FAR more than we can alone. God designed us as pack animals; we live and work better as a coordinated team. And when we, as a team, prioritized peace for others over our own comfort, we are truly making God’s love real in a world that needs more love AND peace.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

We’re now four weeks into our eight-part series based on the book Eight Virtues of Rapidly Growing Churches by Matt Miofsky and Jason Byassee. As I’ve mentioned, I prefer the term “flourishing” to “rapidly growing.”

To recap, the first virtue focused on miracles. Flourishing churches believe that God has worked and will continue working in the life of their church in miraculous ways. The second virtue is that flourishing churches quickly integrate new people into the life of the church. The third virtue is that flourishing churches love everything local. Churches flourish when their members love where they live and, more importantly, when they love the people who live in their community.

(This week, we’re jumping to the sixth virtue because it fits so well with this Sunday’s installation of our 2022 leadership team.)

The sixth virtue is that flourishing churches work as teams. Not only do the members of these faith communities care about each other, they actively work to understand their own talents and interests, they also work to help others identify their talents and interests, AND they work to integrate all of those talents and interests into a coordinated body. That’s a lot of work! AND it pays off in the form of deeper relationships, more ministries, and more effective ministries that endure the tests of time.

Remember, this concept is not just for mega churches with mega resources. Look at our own faith community. Our Sunday worship services alone draw on the talents of dozens of people: musicians, interior decorators, greeters, photographers, graphic designers, a/v techs, writers, and speakers. And then there’s our prayer team, administrators, fixers, as well as the 45 or so people who make our food pantry possible each week. Our church succeeds because so many people are contributing and working together.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we hear four passages that remind us of the need to work together, in harmony and coordination with each other.

Read Exodus 18:14-23 and Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and Ephesians 4:11-12.

The 66 books of our Bible are filled with numerous examples of God calling people to work in teams. We saw one example in the story of Nehemiah last week. In Mark 6:6-13 and Luke 10:1-4 we read how Jesus sent people out in pairs – which is a good way of ensuring people are safe and supported (recall recall Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). In Acts 6:1-6, we read about Jesus’ followers delegating tasks to each other. And back in Proverbs 27:17 we read, “As one piece of iron sharpens another, so friends keep each other sharp.”

Our entire Bible Study group wanted me to remind all of you that simply by showing up in-person or online for church events – including Sunday worship – each of you brings other people joy with the gift of your presence. Martin’s homemade bread goes uneaten if nobody is here to enjoy it. People with the gifts of smiles and prayers are only able to exercise those gifts when we gather and connect with each other.

Which brings me to a story I had not anticipated sharing today. Several events happened earlier this week – within hours of each other – that provoked an array of thoughts and emotions in me. These events speak to what I believe is perhaps the most essential element to building and maintaining solid teams: caring for each other. Not education; not IQ; not skills; but a sincere and unwavering love for the people in our faith community.

Also, everything I’m about to share with you is public information. Nevertheless, I’m not going to share names since these stories are so profoundly personal.

As a quick bit of background, each year, all of the Methodist clergy in our Annual Conference... OK, that’s churchy language for all the pastors and deacons in the northern two-thirds of California and Nevada... we all gather for what is normally two or three days of education, worship, and fellowship. For many of us, this is one of only two times each year we are able to see each other and laugh, eat, cry, sing, and ponder together. There’s definitely a family reunion element to it. At our Bishop’s request, I’ve served on the planning team for this event for the past two years. We have a great team that works hard to create a meaningful event for everyone.

This year’s Gathering was a one-day, Zoom-only event this past Tuesday. Our first speaker was one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Frank Rogers; thankfully, our team and Bishop trusted my recommendation. He spoke on the topic of compassion which is his personal and professional specialty. His stories softened our hearts and maybe even tugged a tear here or there.

But then he told us about a study that began 20 or so years ago by a group of doctors in New Jersey who were concerned about two issues: burnout in healthcare providers and improving patient care (sound familiar?). They sought to answer this question: “Can treating patients with medicine and compassion make a measurable difference on the wellbeing of both patients and doctors?” (NPR, Does Taking Time For Compassion Make Doctors Better At Their Jobs? April 26, 2019.)

Some doctors were concerned that offering compassion was just another burdensome checklist item that would reduce their productive and further drain their emotions. But what they discovered after extensive research was quite the opposite: “when patients received a message of empathy, kindness and support that lasted just 40 seconds their anxiety was measurably reduced [AND] connecting with patients makes physicians happier and more fulfilled” and less hurried (NPR, Does Taking Time For Compassion Make Doctors Better At Their Jobs? April 26, 2019).

A win-win for everyone! Our Zoom meeting’s chat box was filled with pastors saying how much they agreed with every part of this. We were struck by the huge positive results that 40-seconds of compassion can have for everyone involved.

After a quick break, we moved on to our second speaker, a young woman who is pastoring a small church in a small town – her first appointment. Her topic was faith. Her speaking style reflected her quiet personality, but we were blown away by her stories of how her tenacious faith in God’s love carried her through multiple heart-crushing events. Compassionately, we grieved with her and we celebrated with her – as best we could do through a chat box. And when she finished... we mechanically moved on to the next agenda item.

The chat box chatter immediately ricocheted from loving kindness to outrage. How could we just hear of the importance of compassion but not pause long enough to hold her and ourselves in prayer. We’re all pastors for crying out loud! She’s one of us. Where was her 40 seconds?

But we moved on. We got a business update. We sang a song. We did an excellent job of staying right on time. And we introduced the next speaker.

He was a young man, and his topic was love. He explained how, in the first year of his first appointment, love had been difficult to find... anywhere. You see, within days of moving into his new office at an upstanding church in an established smallish town, a non-church member dug through his public social media posts, discovered he was gay, and shared that with local Facebook groups saying essentially, “What spawn of Satan has entered our community, and what must we do to rid ourselves of him?” Welcome to town.

Sadly, his church responded with mixed emotions. They were divided, and some wanted to avoid conflict and controversy at all costs including the cost of the young pastor’s emotional and social safety. His first step into his career and calling quickly turned into a nightmare. Love was difficult to find and difficult to offer. He dug deep and worked with our leadership team in Sacramento, his church members, and community leaders to publicly address the topic as well as local cultural values. He relentlessly anchored all conversations and debates on understandings of God’s love.

As with the previous speaker, our still-tender hearts were deeply moved once again. Our bodies found tears where we thought no more could exist. Once again, compassionately, we grieved with him and we celebrated with him – as best we could do through a Zoom chat box. And when he finished... again, we mechanically began to move to the next agenda item. Again, the chat box ricocheted from empathy to outrage. How could we move on again?!? Where was his 40 seconds?

Fortunately, one of our mid-career clergy members took it upon himself to open his mic and stop us. Stop us long enough for us to hold each speaker in prayer. Long enough for us to ask God to compassionately comfort us. The relief felt by everyone was palpable. Open wounds received care.

Our meeting ended within a few hours with compliments for “a job well done.” After all of this, what did I do? How did I respond to all I had heard, and felt, and experienced? Ignoring my own emotions, I mechanically prepped for Bible Study because... it was Tuesday and that was the next item on my daily agenda. Where were my 40 seconds? Realizing this, I stopped and gave myself about 30 minutes to sit with the rawness and ponder and process. How would all that I had witnessed and felt shape me... my ministry... today’s message? What do I do with this?

Here’s what I do: I confess to myself and to all of you that more times than I should, I prioritize productivity – getting stuff done – over pastoral care and personal care. Let us pause to remind ourselves what’s most important: each other. Let us remind ourselves that compassion beats performance and perfection every single day.

If you need me – or any of our members, especially our Church Council members – to stop being “productive” and start being compassionate, from now on, all you have to do is tell me or text me, “Charles, I need 40 seconds.” And I will do the same with many of you when I need a moment of compassion for myself. Why? Because life happens and we ALL need to hear and feel God’s love.

Yes, the “business operations” of our church are important. But we, each one of us, are more important than any activity, event, decoration, song, or well-researched Sunday message. We, all of us, ARE the organic, living, “Body of Christ,” the love of God made real to ourselves and to each other. Compassion is what holds us together in the Kingdom of God. And compassion is how we, working together as a selfless, coordinated team will transform individuals, families, and organizations throughout our community.

Amen? Amen!