Listening in a season of change
04/05/14 05:23
There is no question that our church is changing. We are especially aware of the rate of change in our congregation during this season of Easter as we continue to have a larger than usual number of funerals. Our beloved elders are passing and our congregation will need to turn to the leadership of a new generation to move into the places that God is calling us to go. Change can be both energizing and frightening. I see both sides of it in our congregation as we travel through this season of our lives together. There are people who respond to the rapid pace of change by waxing nostalgic about the past. Some even try to reclaim the past by suggesting that we go back to some of the old ways of doing business. They find comfort in the songs and stories and events of their childhood. There is truth in what they say. We do belong to the past and we are shaped by the events and people of the past. We ignore the past at our own peril.
There is nothing, however, that can be done to go back to the way things were. While we are surrounded by the witnesses of the past and immersed in the results of the events of the past, the future always beckons. We belong to our own era and the leadership of the church in this generation falls on our shoulders.
Change, however, can be exciting and energizing. I am struck by how dramatic the effects a gentle remodeling of our fellowship hall have been. For more than 50 years the fellowship hall of our church looked essential the same. Metal folding chairs on a tile floor in a large room with block walls and a high ceiling. There was a booming echo to the sound int he room. It was typical of late 1950’s and early 1960’s construction. In some ways our sanctuary has a timeless look, but the fellowship hall dated our building each time you entered it. Then, last year, we painted the walls, hung quilts, and capered the room. The room was transformed. Sounds softened. People sit at round tables to share fellowship and refreshments. The colors are more contemporary. And we began to use the room in different ways. A projection system at one end of the room offers a great place to view video presentations and have study group meetings. We set up our stage and theatrical lighting for concerts and special events. There are different sizes and shape of tables that can be arranged in different ways for different events. We find ourselves choosing that room for more meetings and gatherings.
Critical to a season of change is honing the skill of listening to each other. It is a continuing challenge of life in the church. As I seek to provide leadership for the congregation, I am reminded of a small volume by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who died in a Nazi prison. He died before I was born. But the small volume, “Life Together,” continues to be a source of inspiration for many as we think of forming community.
Bonhoeffer wrote: “The first service that one owes to others in fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as God beings with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God’s love for us that He not only gives us his Word but also lends His ear.”
So often we think of the job of evangelism and outreach as a ministry of speaking. We feel a need to tell the story of our church - to let people know what we are doing - to proclaim the good news we have found in our life together. We forget that many of the people who come to us are looking for an ear that will listen - truly listen to what they have to say.
I place listening among the other spiritual practices that require our attention. Perhaps it is especially dangerous for a preacher to fail to engage in this practice. Because part of what we do is speak, we sometimes feel that we need to be prepared to speak at any moment. We keep words dancing in our heads ready to come out at a moment’s notice. When I was a student, I saw several awkward conversations at gatherings of ministers trying to figure out who would offer a table grace or another prayer. I resolved that I would always say “yes” when another person asked me to lead prayer. I have tried to keep that resolution. But doing so means that I always have to be thinking about what I will say. It is only many decades later that I have found that sometimes the best prayer is a moment of silence - an invitation to listen. Often I have to lay aside the things I was planning to say in order to be fully present to another and to truly listen to what is being said.
Good words can become only so much chatter when I am talking beside the point. Speaking meaningful words requires that I hone the skill of listening. Bonhoeffer wrote, “Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.”
It is a challenge for me as I prepare to lead worship. Have I invested enough time listening to really have something to say to these people? Do I understand their stories well enough to discern the connection with the Gospel story? Like many others I am tempted, when I get busy, to focus on the tasks I am accomplishing and the activities I am pursuing and forget that the only thing that separates me from a life of selfishness and my own follies is the investment in listening.
In a season of change, I must be willing to listen to those who react in fear as well as those who respond with excitement. I must be willing to listen to those who wax nostalgic and also those who dream big. True leadership may lie more in the quality of the listening than in the words that are said.
There is nothing, however, that can be done to go back to the way things were. While we are surrounded by the witnesses of the past and immersed in the results of the events of the past, the future always beckons. We belong to our own era and the leadership of the church in this generation falls on our shoulders.
Change, however, can be exciting and energizing. I am struck by how dramatic the effects a gentle remodeling of our fellowship hall have been. For more than 50 years the fellowship hall of our church looked essential the same. Metal folding chairs on a tile floor in a large room with block walls and a high ceiling. There was a booming echo to the sound int he room. It was typical of late 1950’s and early 1960’s construction. In some ways our sanctuary has a timeless look, but the fellowship hall dated our building each time you entered it. Then, last year, we painted the walls, hung quilts, and capered the room. The room was transformed. Sounds softened. People sit at round tables to share fellowship and refreshments. The colors are more contemporary. And we began to use the room in different ways. A projection system at one end of the room offers a great place to view video presentations and have study group meetings. We set up our stage and theatrical lighting for concerts and special events. There are different sizes and shape of tables that can be arranged in different ways for different events. We find ourselves choosing that room for more meetings and gatherings.
Critical to a season of change is honing the skill of listening to each other. It is a continuing challenge of life in the church. As I seek to provide leadership for the congregation, I am reminded of a small volume by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who died in a Nazi prison. He died before I was born. But the small volume, “Life Together,” continues to be a source of inspiration for many as we think of forming community.
Bonhoeffer wrote: “The first service that one owes to others in fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as God beings with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God’s love for us that He not only gives us his Word but also lends His ear.”
So often we think of the job of evangelism and outreach as a ministry of speaking. We feel a need to tell the story of our church - to let people know what we are doing - to proclaim the good news we have found in our life together. We forget that many of the people who come to us are looking for an ear that will listen - truly listen to what they have to say.
I place listening among the other spiritual practices that require our attention. Perhaps it is especially dangerous for a preacher to fail to engage in this practice. Because part of what we do is speak, we sometimes feel that we need to be prepared to speak at any moment. We keep words dancing in our heads ready to come out at a moment’s notice. When I was a student, I saw several awkward conversations at gatherings of ministers trying to figure out who would offer a table grace or another prayer. I resolved that I would always say “yes” when another person asked me to lead prayer. I have tried to keep that resolution. But doing so means that I always have to be thinking about what I will say. It is only many decades later that I have found that sometimes the best prayer is a moment of silence - an invitation to listen. Often I have to lay aside the things I was planning to say in order to be fully present to another and to truly listen to what is being said.
Good words can become only so much chatter when I am talking beside the point. Speaking meaningful words requires that I hone the skill of listening. Bonhoeffer wrote, “Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.”
It is a challenge for me as I prepare to lead worship. Have I invested enough time listening to really have something to say to these people? Do I understand their stories well enough to discern the connection with the Gospel story? Like many others I am tempted, when I get busy, to focus on the tasks I am accomplishing and the activities I am pursuing and forget that the only thing that separates me from a life of selfishness and my own follies is the investment in listening.
In a season of change, I must be willing to listen to those who react in fear as well as those who respond with excitement. I must be willing to listen to those who wax nostalgic and also those who dream big. True leadership may lie more in the quality of the listening than in the words that are said.