C Lent 1 BFC 2019
Luke 4:1-11
March 10, 2019
The literal definition for the
Hebrew Scripture understanding of salvation is: “a broad and expansive place
for community life and conduct.” When I
interviewed for the Senior Minister position at Billings First Congregational
Church one of the staff members admitted to me that she believed the church was
getting ready to die. At small group
dinner meetings two months into my new pastorate, a prolific member of the
search committee and the church moderator said, with my wife in the room,
“Well, we should talk about the elephant in the room. We should close the church downtown and join
with Mayflower Congregational Church.” I
wondered what wilderness I had walked into with sometimes no children for
children’s sermons, no youth attending worship, and issues I thought necessary
to engage leaving me with no beginning romance with the congregation.
But the
wilderness, if embraced, can shape us and strengthen our spiritual mettle for
the necessary work ahead. And so I
believe it was.
When I began
here, I looked for missions and ministries that sought to plunge deep into the
reality of what was downtown Billings, Montana.
Who would take seriously the difficult issues our community faced while
at the same time courageously not blink at the hard work, creativity, and
humility required? Who would not seek
the powers of the empires of the civilized world but gather instead the
community leaders to hone and shape a solution based on alternative values?
Lisa
Harmon. And that’s who I followed into
the Community Innovations model, sometimes wondering how foolish I might be in
this wilderness when no other faith leaders seemed to be following. What was God calling us to as a community, as
a church, when our faith community sat square in the middle of the downtown
area that was beginning to hum with new life and a Native community was
beginning to rise?
With a
building that was largely empty during the week, I heard God calling me to offer
and offer and offer our space, a broad space, for community life. Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council sought
another location. I offered. Lisa might tell you that at almost every
Community Innovations meeting where someone asked about where there might be
space, I offered. Finally, Josiah Hugs,
a healer, a leader, someone who walked faithfully on the Red Road and wanted
that for others, came and asked me about space available. I followed where Josiah led—asked to
embarrass myself with diminishing skills on a Crow softball team, asked to scan
what recovery and healing mean by scanning the crowd at a Round Dance and
speaker meeting, and our church winning the first-ever Community Innovations
Award because of Josiah’s leadership.
Salvation was now happening every day at Billings First Congregational
Church. Every . . . day.
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