Such meetings are important. Such meetings allow us to set up the budgets and select servants for the Council. Such meetings provide the framework and structure for the people of God to assemble and thus experience the community which bears Jesus' name.
We do need to make sure that those structures remain focused on the goals lifted in the previous paragraph. Sometimes, other agendas or motivations creep in and overwhelm.
This was pointed out to me this morning as I read from the book of Amos. Amos is among the prophets included in our bibles, but Amos lacks the credentials of many of the others. Amos was a lay person. He was not a professional prophet, nor was the the son of a prophet. His occupation was that of a migrant worker.
Yet, the Word of God came to him. And he was moved by God to speak.
Amos asked for the kind of community where persons like him would be welcomed and valued. Amos reminded the powerful of God's concern for the lost and lonely. Amos asked if all those fancy rituals and festivals did something to bring life to God's children or if they were a "good party" for those who planned them.
Never allow "the church" to move without you. Be engaged and give voice to the ways in which a community which notices the stranger and the new-comer represents the Church God seeks to establish. And do not allow your lack of position or power to silence your voice.
Many of you did show up for last night's Christmas dinner. We sat at tables and ate our fill; we sang songs; we told silly stories. It is the beloved community which God establishes for his community. Thank God for the Council who set up the Parish Life Committee which organized the volunteers who reserved the Hall and set out the decorations so that we could all share in a grand and glorious event.
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