Matthew 13:52
Good morning friends,
it is good to gather in worship with
all of you today!
I hope that this Sunday morning finds
you well!
We have a special occasion today-
Today, as you know, we are celebrating
the 40th anniversary of the founding of the St. Louis
Mennonite Fellowship, our little congregation here. It was in January
of 1975 that a small group gathered in Edgewood Children's center for
the first worship service of a new congregation.
This is the first of at least two
events LCG has planned this year to acknowledge this milestone. We're
also hoping to invite back parts of our family who have moved away in
a more formal weekend of celebration later in the spring.
It's an important part of the rhythm of
life to mark these kind of anniversaries, to engage our memories and
connect with the things that have gone before, to remember that we
are part of something a lot bigger than just a momentary community-we
are part of a great cloud of witnesses, part of an institution built
before us and that will last beyond us.
Our scripture text this speaks to the
value of both remembering our history and claiming our new
directions. After telling a bunch of parables, like the one about
the farmer who goes out to sow his field, and throws the seed in
different kind of ground, and the one where he talks about the weeds
in the field that are left until harvest, Jesus asks his disciples
who have heard these stories to commit themselves to bring treasures
both new and old out of the storehouse.
That I think is the heart of the
gospel-to tell an old old story in a new way for a new community.
And I think that this is one of the really special things we get to
do at anniversary celebrations-these moments like this Sunday give us
an opportunity to bring out treasures that are special occasion
things-the fine china, the heirloom pieces, and give them a day in
the sun. This is an opportunity to turn aside from the novel, and
focus on the core things that make us who we are. And in the same
way that birthdays or wedding anniversaries give us the opportunity
to celebrate those that we love, and in the very act of celebrating
them, remember why we love them, so too are we called to remember
today where we have been so that we have a better sense of where we
are going.
