Psalm 122:1-9

I Peter 2:1-10

January 30, 2005

by Rev. Clyde Griffith

Dr. Living-Stone, I presume?

1955 was a pretty heady year.

The National Council of Churches published the first major English translation of the Bible in some 300 years – the Revised Standard Version.

One of the most popular books among church folks was written by J.B. Phillips, called "Your God Is Too Small".

Vance Packard had written The Hidden Persuaders exposing us for the first time to the techniques Madison Avenue uses to induce us to buy products we didn’t even know we needed.

Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People was being read – and his philosophy was being taught – all over the country.

People were reading Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking.

Popular music was changing – Bill Haley recorded Rock Around the Clock.

Television provided common experiences for us to talk about around the water cooler – and even on Sunday mornings.

The we used the radio was changing – KAKC became Tulsa’s number 1radio station.

Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.

And, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church came into being.

A few years ago, my daughter gave me a book, How the Scots Changed the World –

within a short time someone else wrote a book about How the Irish Changed the World –

and then came How the British Navy Changed the World –

and then came How the Jews Changed the World – and then How the Indians Changed the World –

well, the actual titles of each of these books varied somewhat, but, clearly, that is the gist of their intention . . .

[How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Arthur Herman;

How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill;

How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World, Herman;

The Gifts of the Jews: How A Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels, Cahill]

and so, today, my thoughts turn to

How St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church changed the world – because, as I began to reflect on what I knew of this church’s history, I began to think of things that are likely to be forgotten – but, things that successful churches all over the country are doing as they seek to effectively minister to the world around them.

The literature describing today’s most visionary churches mention things like:

From the very beginning, I think there was a distinct vision that set this church apart from the others – beginning with the name. I mean, where did that come from?

As every God-fearing mid-western Presbyterian well knew, Presbyterians didn’t have saints. So, why this? And, we had to learn the unique history of Andrew and Scotland and our Scottish heritage.

And, we were told, Andrew was significant of all the original disciples because he, of all the others, when he recognized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, went to tell his brother to come and be a part of this new movement.

So, Andrew was to be a source of inspiration for all who would be a part of this new church – we were called to emulate Andrew and bring our brother or sister to be a part of the new movement in this part of Tulsa.

It seems to me that from the beginning, the unique vision of St. Andrew’s was not a church designed primary to nourish the faithful, but

a church that celebrates the Gospel in the midst of the people.

Of course, there simply wouldn’t have been a St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church without the vision and courage and foresight of the folks at Second Presbyterian Church.

Having being burned by a pastor who split the church, and bolted the denomination and started a new church at 27^th and Harvard, Second Church was still the second largest Presbyterian Church in the city – and a growing number of their members were living in different parts of the city. They strategized that perhaps they could better meet the needs of their members by taking the church the them where they lived – having identical services in multiple places on a given Sunday.

And, so they started a second service – held at the new Patrick Henry Elementary School at 41^st and Louisville – the school wasn’t even built yet, so we met in prefab buildings for a couple of years while the new school was being built.

Every Sunday, for at least two years, Second Church held two services each Sunday at the same time in two different places. The two pastors of Second Church rotated each week so both services were led by each of them in alternate weeks. Truly, a unique arrangement then – but, not so unique now.

Today, there is a movement afoot for churches to be engaged in concurrent ministries in multiple locations. – sometimes being connected by video so folks in different meeting halls – even in different towns – may have local worship leaders and local choirs and musicians – but experiencing the same sermon from the preacher on the video monitors.

In several forms, multiple campus ministries are a new wave in developing churches to reach new people – and it was begun here.

Today, church development literature is full of examples of leaders touting small groups as the best paradigm for being a twenty-first century church. The idea is that a specific church should have many mini ministries – specific ministries designed to meet the needs of a specific group of people whose needs may not be being met elsewhere.

Again, we see the seeds of this ministry design here some 50 years ago.

The very first building on this property was not a sanctuary, was not a multiple use room, was not an office, but a garage.

A garage – a building designed to meet the need of a specific ministry to a group of teenagers through their interest in automobiles. Affectionately called the Hot Rod Barn, the building housed a ministry called the Hot Rod Club as elders and church leaders worked alongside a group of boys who had no other contact with church – teaching mechanics and restoration skills and passing on living faith skills.

The second structure on this property , again was not the sanctuary, or a multipurpose room, or classrooms, or office space, but an amphitheater right out there – taking advantage of a natural contour for out door performances during the summer of all kinds of activities designed to bring a vision of faith to the community – as well as to encourage small group ministries that came into being in order to present the programs in the amphitheater.

Celebrating the Gospel in the midst of the people took many directions in those early years — including the development of a strong music ministry that regularly made efforts to minister to folks outside of the church.

One of the most memorable events was the presentation of James Weldon Johnsons’ God’s Trombones at Skelly Stadium one night.

Another was the first time I ever heard music by Britton – contemporary choral music that I couldn’t relate to, but an event by our choir that attracted contemporary music fans all over the city.

Today, nearly all leaders of the most successful churches emphasize the need to have a strong excellent music ministry. A long tradition begun and maintained at St. Andrew’s.

As the years and events go by, it is so easy to miss the forest for the trees – especially when we have to deal with the day to day, week to week, hour to hour events that happen just to keep on keeping on.

And whenever we think that St. Andrew’s is this building sitting at 36^th and Yale in Tulsa, we miss what the essence of our faith.

For our church is not this building.

Our church is not this building.

We may call this a house of God,

and, like the Psalmist, we may feel gladness when we come here,

but, our New Testament faith is about something else.

For sure, the Temple was an important part of the faith of Jesus’ time.

As long as the Jews were a nomadic people, they traveled with their faith. God’s place was portable. They carried the symbols of their faith with them were ever they went. And they celebrated God’s presence in their midst under all kinds of circumstances.

But, as they settled down to a more agrarian society, there were many movements to formalize and concretize a center of faith in the midst of the city where the king lived. For years, each time it was brought up, God would say "No". Don’t do it.

But, finally, the need of the people to have a specific place they could point to and say

"That’s it!" Prevailed.

That’s our God’s house.

That’s the center of our faith.

That’s our temple.

And, we are told, it was a most substantial building, indeed.

And, by the time of Jesus, the temple was a central part of their faith and life.

That Jesus did almost all of his ministry outside of the walls of the Temple should have given his followers a clue, but it took some years after his death for the followers to come to understand that God was active outside of the confines of the temple.

It was so much a part of their faith that the very idea that God can do without temples did not come easy to the Apostles. James held on to the temple image to the last.

Peter barely managed to break away from it, but he did. It actually took a special dream – some would say, nightmare – before he was able to cut loose and affirm that the Gospel belongs in the marketplace.

Peter gets it, and begins to understand that if God is found in all kinds of actions where we are engaged in ministry to the least of these, the image of the temple needs to be revamped.

The new idea is, that this new temple, this new church, is being built with living stones.

Our church is not this building of stones and concrete and glass and steel, no . . .

For some 50 years now, St. Andrew’s has stood built on living stones – flesh and blood people who make up this spiritual house of God – celebrating the Gospel in the midst of the people.

The essence of St. Andrew’s is not about bricks.

Its not about mortar.

Its about – and its always been about – men and women subject to the living lord and engaged in ministry to one another and to the world!

From the beginning, and throughout its history, this church was composed of living stones – people who have given themselves to the God who has called them to a ministry of compassion and concern: people in whose hearts and lives the Kingdom of God has been built.

I pray that this essence does not get lost in the next era in this church’s history.

Continue to celebrate the Gospel in the midst of the people,

proclaiming the wonderful acts of God.

For, the word is that God breathes through living stones –

and wherever the Spirit is breathing, there is life and hope – even after 50 years.

Above all, carry the shield of faith –

show your colors –

tie the ribbon around your arm,

wear it on your sleeve,

wear it on your wrist,

let all see who and whose you are.

Amen.

Sermon delivered January 30, 2005, at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma

by the Reverend Clyde E. Griffith