Annual Conference - Saturday, June 29, 2002

*NOTE: My message begins with my putting together pieces of wood to form a crucifix (Christ on the Cross). I will do this in silence. Following this construction I will begin.

The pieces were cut from maple trees near the top of Putney Mountain. I did as little carving as possible. I looked for limbs that bent in just the right way to form arms and legs. Everything was cut from live trees. The carved green wood cracked some as it dried in the summer sun.

My wife, Dorothy, made the canvas bag that holds the pieces. It's torn and dirty from much travel. I like it that way.

When I send it through baggage at airports, I wonder what the handlers think. I wonder if they curse it for it's heaviness. Is it handled roughly, carelessly? Would they treat if differently if they knew it's contents?

It's been lost in baggage, twice for several days, but it has always come back to me.

Whenever I put it together I feel extra nervous. I still feel like I'm crucifying Christ. When I stop feeling that, if it ever becomes easy, just a show, I've promised God that I'll stop doing it.

I've put it up all over the country. My goal is to construct it in every Church of the Brethren, explaining to people; "We did that" to the one God sent, the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior, the Son of God. Everything can be all right now, we're forgiven, but we must understand what we've done and in too many ways continue to do."

When I finish putting it up in the churches, I would like to put it up in the homes and workplaces of every Church of the Brethren member. I may ring your doorbell one day, or show up where you work or go to school, spill out the contents of the bag in front of your family, the people you work and go to school with, put the pieces together and when finished say; "We did this."

In the second chapter of Acts, following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on about one hundred and twenty women and men, Peter preaches to a large crowd that has gathered outside of the place where the followers of Jesus had received the Spirit.

In his message, Peter refers twice to "This Christ, whom you crucified." The people are heartsick and ask what they must do, Peter tells them to repent and be baptized and they will receive the Holy Spirit. The new faith community of Jesus emerges out of this common repentance.

This year I have had the opportunity to visit the Church of the Brethren in the Dominican Republic and Nigeria.

The church emerging in the Dominican Republic reminds me of the church we see described in the first part of Acts; new, fresh, young and so very alive.

The church in Nigeria reminds me of the church we picture through reading the New Testament letters; experiencing phenomenal growth, and maturity, having existed for a longer period of time, but also having to deal with problems that have arisen because of structure and conflicting ideas.

The Church in the United States reminds me of the churches portrayed in the book of Revelation, accused by the God sent messengers of having lost their first love, grown luke warm and focusing in things that were distracting them from their former focus. Each church is called upon to repent. They are warned of the consequences if there is no change. They are pictured on the brink of catastrophe if repentance does not occur.

Following September 11th an opportunity was squandered to stop, mourn and repent.

The people who committed these acts are rightfully regarded as criminals and need to be brought to justice. At the same time I believe that God was trying to tell us something. On the Sunday following the event our churches would have done well to read Revelation 18.

(Read here a portion of Revelation 18.)

If we as a church and this country as a nation do not repent and make significant changes God's hand of protection will be removed again. The consequences will be harsh. Is the complete breaking of our economy the only thing that will stop our destructive march within a culture of death?

We live within a society that is extremely individualistic, a country consumed with individual rights that generally work against any consideration of what might be best for the community.

For decades we have grown increasingly isolated within nuclear families. Now even individuals within nuclear families have grown isolated from one another.

Families rarely have daily meals together, talk together, make decisions together. The culture as a whole and individuals within it grow more self consumed as they constantly seek greater self actualization.

The message of The Kingdom of God demands that we face what has become unthinkable in our culture: IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU.

When the way of Jesus and the Kingdom he introduced are held up next to the North American culture and the North American church our emptiness is exposed.

God is begging us in love and demanding in justice that we, take hold of the life that is really life.

We look toward "others" as responsible and in need of repentance. Old Testament Jerusalem did the same and was confronted by God through the prophet Ezekiel:

(Read Ezekiel 16:47)

Someone recently said that they knew that I was troubled by all the controversial business because they felt I wanted to focus on our unity in Christ. This is not true. I wanted to focus on the tragedy that Christ is no longer Lord and Savior nor model for our lives.

I was hoping for no business so that we could spend our time in prayer and repentance. I have come to believe over the course of the year that the business before us is God ordained. It will only happen through a miracle but I believe that God will attempt to speak to us through the business of our need to repent and turn back to Christ.

The church is not being destroyed by those who have been identified as sinners, the church is being destroyed by people who believe they hold the spiritual and moral high ground, who consider themselves in God's favor because of their particular interpretation of issues. The church is being destroyed by those living in self justified illusionary goodness.

Christ is being crucified again by the religious, by those who call themselves liberal, or conservative, fundamental. charismatic, or social justice Christians, while believing they uniquely are faithful, their interpretations are correct, it is others who need repentance.

Understand this, no denominational program is going to save the church, no Annual Conference decision is going to set things right, no program of evangelism will bring growth, no moderator, no General Board, no district Board, no local Church Board is going to bring us back.

It will take a miracle. Only a repentant people will allow themselves to receive a miracle.

I will conclude with a word of assurance. It is true that North America and the North American Church is under God's judgment. It is true that the Church of the Brethren, because of this is in trouble. We correctly identify that the Church is in danger, but make no mistake, the Kingdom of God is not. The issue is not; will the Kingdom of God survive. The issue is will we be part of the Kingdom. In this age of isolation, fear and arrogance may Thy Kingdom Come. In the Annual meeting Thy will be done