January 4, 2004

Matthew 2:1-18

“Close Call” 

     It was a close call.  I think what made the wise men especially wise was that they knew when to change course.  Herod had no intention of worshipping the newborn king and their returning to him would only have brought Roman soldiers marching to Bethlehem in search of the one he considered a threat to his throne.  Herod was a nasty dude.  It was a close call. 

     It’s a good thing the wise men were dreamers and willing to listen to an angel’s advice.  Still, the choice to take a different route couldn’t have been an easy one for it meant trekking through unfamiliar territory.  Now that they knew the way to Bethlehem, they planned on retracing their steps to return home.  After all, they now knew where the oases, inns and markets were and perhaps Herod would have welcomed them royally for providing him the information he wanted.  But no, there would be a different way home, not a way they would have chosen for themselves, but a way chosen by God.  A star brought them to Bethlehem, but an angel would guide them home. 

     As we stand on the threshold of 2004 with a whole new year stretching out before us, wouldn’t it be nice to have an angel as our guide to save us from close calls and show us the way?  Perhaps this is possible…if we allow ourselves to dream, to listen to those dreams and to follow new courses.

     This means trekking through unfamiliar territory, perhaps, taking new roads.  It has been said we will know we have fulfilled our calling when we find our feet in a place we didn’t expect!  Sometimes, we must leave the familiar routes behind to go where God wants us to go.

     Surely, this has implications for our personal lives.  What old ruts do you need to step out of?  What comfortable and unchallenged circumstances do you need to let go of in order to move forward in your faith journey?  Or as Jesus would put it - In what ways do you need to lose your life to find it?

     Just as surely, this has implications for our church as well.  We stand on a wonderfully rich tradition here with over 350 years of Congregational history behind us.  We have a beautiful old church building that is over 150 years old.  As a congregation, we have been part of the fabric of New London and the surrounding communities since they were founded.  This is a very familiar road we‘re on, but it may now have brought us to a very close call. 

     Truth is, we’ve been in decline for a number of years and haven’t had enough members to be a pledge-supported congregation for some time (that‘s why we continue to pull $10,000 a month out of our ever-shrinking endowment - whew!).  Obviously, we can’t continue on this path or our journey will soon end.  I really don’t think this is what God wants from our church…do you?

     Fortunately, there’s been some Good News recently.  We’ve been trying some new paths and are encouraged by the renewal we’ve begun to see in program, music, mission and outreach and are enjoying a new and confident spirit among us.  We have been moved to try some new things, to open our hearts and doors wider to the community and are just now beginning to see the results of our labors.  Thanks be to God!

     But I think we all realize we still have a long way to go and the call is still a close one.  We must trust our dreams, seek to discern God’s answers to our prayers and be unafraid to go God would have us go.

     Where will we go as a church in 2004?  Where will you go as a person of faith?  Like the wise men, we have seen the Christ Child and that makes all the difference.  Knowing that the Savior has come for our sake, we can go forward unafraid, with hope, joy and great expectations in our hearts, trusting that God will show the way.