Calvin Synod Herald, 1989 (89. évfolyam, 1-2. szám)

1989-07-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD- 4 -REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALVIN SYNOD!

Habakuk 2:1-3

On this historic occasion, on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Calvin Synod, may I express my personal congratulations to you, members of the Fifty First Annual Meeting. This is truly a milestone in our collective history, a Golden Anniversary of a pilgrimage that started half a century ago here in the melting-pot city of Cleveland. It is appropriate today to say and to sing, “Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday Calvin Synod!” This is a time for celebration, for thanksgiving but also a time to meditate, to retrospect, to do some soul-searching, even confessing.

Our history is a typical page from the storybook of the people of God, namely, about a gracious and merciful Lord acting in the life of often disobedient and recalcitrant man. Truly God has been good to us, has maintained us, has sustained us in spite of our pettiness, small vision and chronic disobedience. This is why this Anniversary celebration should be a mixed event: on the one hand joy and thankfulness over God’s work, but on the other hand sorrow and penance concerning our role. Also, we may not let this time only be a sentimental journey into the past or a depressing assessment of the present, but a hopeful trusting in God’s continuous grace.

May this Anniversary reaffirm us in the best tradition of Reformed theology; we are elected, or as the Second Helvetic Confession states: “The saints are chosen in Christ by God for a definite purpose, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption to be his children through Jesus Christ that they should be to the praise of the glory of His grace.” (Chapter X. Of the Predestination of God.) So, my dear fellow saints in the Lord, let us celebrate and rejoice together today over the accomplishments of the past but with a keen awareness of the potential task and works that lie still ahead of us.

In this hour, at the opening of this Anniversary Annual Meeting let us turn to the prophet Habakkuk, who I believe can give us guidelines for our specific situation, advise for our collective life, and directives as we face the future.

The prophet opens the second chapter with a bold statement: “I will take my stand on the tower. ” (RSV) In Hebrew tower meant watchtower, a place for the guard, a lookout for the one who was responsible for the safety of others. This

imagery is perfect in our situation. Dear brothers and sisters, preachers, in a Reformed Church every pulpit is a watchtower. You and I stand here because God appointed us to make a stand, to watch, to warn, to encourage. The living Bible was a wonderful translation: “I will climb my watchtower now. ”(LB) Every Sunday as we climb our towers we should do it with the awesome realization that we are guardians of values, teachers of ultimate truths, overseers of God’s people, indeed, the carriers of the Word of God. The pulpit, dear friends, is our most responsible appointed place, and as we celebrate today we need to reaffirm this Reformed teaching: in the Calvin Synod the protection of the integrity of the pulpit, the watchtower, is a most solemn responsibility toward God and toward His people.

The prophet is quite explicit in describing the work on the tower: “I will take my stand!” (RSV) Why is it that we have become so uncertain, so pale, so shy, so careful in the pulpit? The people out there are waiting for a sure voice, clear directions, articulate and understandable teachings. The issues of the world are all around us yet we hesitate to take a stand. Do not be afraid; you are not controversial if you clearly and boldly declare what the word of God means to us here and now.

In Habakkuk’s opinion the guard on the tower should also “watch to see what He will say. ” (KJV) What do I see this morning from this watchtower as I look down? For the past twenty years I have been part of this illustrious assembly and let me tell you this is a different Synod today. From this vantage point I see a graying and somewhat balding Synod. Many of our past colleagues are gone and if I dare to look ahead in five more years I see an even more altered assembly. Indeed it is appropriate to acknowledge that in this year’s meeting a generational change

in leadership probably will take place. What kind of Synod will we be at the end of the next fifty years? Only God has the answer!

The prophet Habakkuk is remarkably brave as he encourages the watchman on his tower to register his complaints to God. "What answer God will give to my complaint?"(LB) Do we have complaint? Sure we do, plenty! I wish to complain, Lord, that many of our best and biggest churches, the apples of our eyes, are now located in dilapidated neighborhoods, in black seas, in crime and dope ridden places. I wish to complain Lord that we are aging so much. In one of our largest East Coast churches, once the biggest and the brightest, more than half of the membership is over sixty years of age! Yes, we can complain that we have become a geriatric Synod. Should I continue Lord about the lack of well trained clergy? The complacency of our people? The general incompetence that often characterizes our undertakings? But the Lord cut short the complaints of Habakkuk. He interrupted the long list of pain and misery of the prophet. “Write the vision! And make it plain!” (RSV), God told him.

Dear saints, brothers and sisters, at this Anniversary celebration God wishes to interrupt our complaints also with a vision, with a divine revelation (Webster) concerning His plans for us. We know from the Scriptures that without vision the people will perish. (Prov. 29:18) In plain language, without vision we will have no second fifty years, no future, period. Without vision we are really dead. Vision is our life, our existence, our hope. The very essence of the Christian religion is a vision, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

Today I hear God saying: write the vision Calvin Synod! You have a future, I will still use you, says the Lord, if you rediscover your original mission. Proclaim my Word to my people. Take a stand in the world, and in the family of the United Church of Christ. You have a strong confessional base, use it! Let your vision include an ecumenical attitude. When will you finally unite with your brothers in the Lord? How long can you afford the senseless and expensive duplications from church papers to administrations. Have a vision, Calvin Synod, of a world-wide family of churches with your background. We are represented in five continents. We have a profound mission field. God put us (Continued on page 6)