What’s the most frustrating thing that you have to search for? I hate searching for the documentation for a complaint about a bill. You have to go back and find the original bill, all the details and details about anyone you’ve contacted. When I sat down to buy a toaster, I was expecting toast, not conversations about the date of purchase and the missing crumb pan.
There’s one other kind of searching that is a mixture of joy and exasperation – searching for Christmas presents. For
many of us, its not clear what to get someone and yet we don’t want to give up on the process. The thought of the joy they will have if we find the right thing is enough to spend another night online searching. I can think back to a
couple 
of times where I hit the home run – got exactly what someone
special wanted. Its amazing when you think of all the presents you’ve ever shopped for in life – not many were home runs. There were a lot of really ok gifts, and a few tragic errors. But
most of us still keep our passion to get the really wonderful gift. I actually started to search this weekend.
Jesus calls us to search. As our church moves into this process with Natural Church Development, it will simply suggest ways for us to live the Christian life more authentically. And a challenge in the Christian life is to search out others who need help in life and share the grace and love of God. Unlike a bill, there seems to be no cost to ourselves if we decide not to search. Unlike Christmas, we don’t specifically know for whom we’re searching. So giving up on the search with the Christmas gift unfound does not give us feelings of failure or discontent
Today’s scripture is about the energy to keep going. And I pray that this time of holy reflection encourages or reengages you in the search.
One Bible verse is ‘Be not weary in welldoing.’ The disciples have given up on the task of praying with Jesus and protecting him. Perhaps the disciples felt well hidden in the vineyard. Perhaps they assumed that the recent popularity of Palm Sunday would protect Jesus since Pilate would not dare inflame the masses. Jesus returns to them three times and each time they have returned to sleep.
There are natural things that go on in life that rob us of the energy to love others like Jesus has loved us. Illness, job issues, relational problems – all of these require some of our energy. Dale Galloway says that you cannot minister to others if you have nothing to give. There are just times in life when we need to focus on healing or problem solving if we have nothing to give.
We also have to accept a basic principle of spiritual health. Only when you give do you receive. I search for the paperwork for a bill because I know that the responsibility for the problem is mine. I can’t say to the company – you have to prove that you’re right. If I don’t pursue the issue, I will be the loser.
But the same logic is true in spiritual terms. We should not seek out others with the love of God simply because its better for us, but it still is a spiritual principle that when you give you do receive.
I want to ask you working together as a church to build your passion for searching. This afternoon, we will have a lunch for young adults. The United Methodist Women will meet next Sunday. The choir is getting the Christmas musical today. Use these opportunities to speak with each other and build your passion for searching.
Our church is too inwardly focused at the moment. Significant issues among the 3 congregations and the effort to get the school fully independent are taking a lot of my time. But many of you are experienced Christians and can provide leadership and energy to keep us searching and build our passion for it. Let’s go for gold.
The other issue in the search energy was that at Christmas, you know the people that you’re searching for. Your love doesn’t give up because you have so much good feeling. The same can be true spiritually. I hope that you have 3 or 4 people close to you for who you are searching. They may not be too interested right now but you have lots of time to keep praying and looking for the right moment to invite them to church. If you make friends with people who need God’s love, it becomes much easier to keep praying and being a friend. Some of you simply need more friends. And with facebook, meetup and other web sites, there simply are more opportunities to make friends than the world has ever before known. We are living in one of the most extraordinary moments in the history of the world, from a moment in 1990 when the internet basically was worthless to a time 15 years later where it is a primary social structure in much of the world.
And for those of you who have considered the membership invitation, this is the kind of church you are joining. It’s a great church, a really healthy congregation. We are about to get even better as we do this study and implement its recommendation. Yes, we have some internal issues that have taken some energy from several of us, but with energy and leadership from people here, we can solve those issues and also be a church that is searching for the lost sheep. Will you join us in that search?
