Faith Works 1-12-19

Faith Works 1-12-19

Jeff Gill

 

Great is Thy Faithfulness

___

 

Thomas Chisholm wrote the words to the familiar hymn in 1923; its opening "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is usually in quotes, because it cites Lamentations 3:23. Both Jeremiah in Lamentations and Brother Chisholm knew plenty of trials and tribulations, and their declaration that God is faithful is not in contradiction to hard times, but a reminder to us that even in the midst of sorrows, the Lord has promised to be faithful in love and mercy.

 

George Beverly Shea, the great singer for Billy Graham's revivals, introduced the still-new hymn (not published until 1925) in an English evangelistic meeting during 1954, and they realized they had a devotional hit on their hands. Preachers know it's up there with "Old Rugged Cross" and "In the Garden" as a most requested hymn for memorial services and in traditional settings.

 

It's about God's faithfulness, of course, but also a call to our own response. About the Lord, the song reminds us "There is no shadow of turning with Thee," and to us it says "Morning by morning new mercies I see / All I have needed Thy hand hath provided / Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"

 

And with that reminder of what is "enough," we are called to our own faithfulness. To be consistent, faithful, and reliable in our worship and devotions, both between us and God, and among the believers in service and witness.

 

Which is where the modern problem arises. What is "faithfulness" today?

 

Not so long ago, it was being in church. Every Sunday morning, in not a few places in the evening as well, and often Wednesday nights, too. If you checked those boxes, you were a "faithful Christian."

 

Not to kick that model to the curb too casually, but it's not the model we see at work today. There are still those who, as the saying goes, "are at the church any time the doors are opened," but that's a faithful remnant, indeed.

 

In leadership, the old assumption was that faithfulness equaled attendance, but if you limited leadership in most faith communities today – and I have enough conversations across the map to know I'm speaking even beyond Christianity here! – to those who are there no less than, say, 50 weeks a year, you're not going to have much of a pool to draw from.

 

And a common concern among lay and clergy leaders is how to do some of the basic functions of church life that used to be so simple: weekly or monthly teams, rotations set at the beginning of the year, servers and ushers and deacons and so on. Often the person in charge for the day has more gaps than check marks on their table of organization; meetings struggle to reach a quorum.

 

As a minister myself, I have some residual sympathy for those who say we need to increase expectations. There's something to the lowered expectations we have in general to personal accountability, in faithfulness, in the world today. As a boss who's trying to make sure a shift is filled or a counter staffed: even in the workplace it can be more of a problem than it ought to be.

 

But as a pastor, I'm acutely aware of the new stresses on younger workers – it's a two-sided coin. Companies and chains love "just in time" staffing, not just supplies, and people don't know their work schedule more than two weeks out. It's not always lack of commitment, it's lack of certainty that makes planning so hard for youth group outings and teaching schedules and so on.

 

Add in more leisure, cheaper travel, and the simple fact that people are much more mobile, and you get something I've remarked on before here: you might have no fewer worshipers, but if a church averaging 100 a Sunday doesn't lose any members, but they come three out of four weeks consistently, your worship attendance average drops to 75. It looks like a quarter decline, but is it?

 

Well, it is in terms of getting things done every week. Those tasks that require, well, faithfulness. It's not just about attendance pins or checking off names, but about knowing how to get the simple tasks of ministry accomplished.

 

Faithfulness in most things is a gift, and one we have to decide how and if we'll bring it. I can live with faithfulness looking different to those around me today than it did to my grandmother, but it presents certain challenges. And not just the practical ones. Faithfulness brings "strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow."

 

How can we understand faithfulness in our common life today?

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he's usually in church on Sundays, but you'd expect that, wouldn't you? Tell him about faithfulness in action at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.