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Sermons in Time. |
Scripture:
Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 2:9-13
Mark 10:2-16
These passages speak of:
1. Creation
2. Bringing into being new relationships
3. The breaking of old relationships
4. The management of family, etc
5. The value and limits of flexibility
Recently (1976-82) I was thrust into the necessity of focusing on administration. As a new District Superintendent, this may sound like a great understatement. I agree! What caught my attention was the awareness that in the Church we are able to think rather clearly about worship, and pastoral care, and evangelism and education, etc. in Theological ways. When it comes to Administration, however, most clergy and laymen don't seem to think about God in the administration of the church - or other affairs.
"I hate administration" is not an uncommon cry among ministers. In fact, equating administration with the "cruelty of the business world," some may even escape into the Church to avoid the tasks of administration.
Many laymen, aware of the need for accountability and planning, will, on the other hand, say, "The Church needs to be run like a business" - and then hesitate to do so.
Another arena where the reluctance - or inability - to think Theologically about administration is in camping. It's so rewarding to be a counselor - the very spirit of God is with us when in small groups, there is the sharing of the Spirit. But when the dean has to fill out reports, or design accountability, there is a "kicking of the goads."
I believe there are several clues in the Scriptures of the day which will help us to think more clearly about the "Theology of Administration" - at least clues which lead us toward such a Theological orientation.
1. First, In Genesis, the passage deals with creation: The whole created order, and especially the creation of social relationships. In the first chapter of Genesis (a separate tradition) creation is expressed as following:
"The Earth was without form and void... And God said, "Let there be...and there was"
By a word, God brought order out of Chaos!
Without clear structure, the ordering of life, everything is chaotic. People do not know where they stand, expectations are not clear, and resentment, anarchy, and disaster follow. When order is present, the word of structure, of expectations, has been spelled out, there is clarity, and life follows in the way it was intended.
e.g. In a bank customers stand in line while waiting their turn to be waited on. The teller will not work with customers "out of turn"
The ordering of life is important, and expresses the very creative act of God. The 90% perspiration may be as creative as the 10% insight.
2. Second, The passage from Genesis indicated the establishing of relationships: The bringing into being new relationships, and the breaking with older of different ones. In the New Testament there is the passage which speaks of "passing from the old, and behold all things become new." It is an orderly transition!
How often, in the structuring of life do we see the issues as relational? Designs for administration are ways in which relationships of people with one another and with the materials, concepts, goals and needs will be put together.
Thus, in every design there is a contracting stage, a working stage, a reporting and evaluating stage, and a re-negotiating or re-contracting stage - etc. Some of our relationships become long standing, and re-negotiating goes on along the way. Others are short term, and quite dramatic.
Even in the garden, there was a contract between God and Man, and the Garden, which was to be maintained by all. In the garden story, the breaking of the contract is quite dramatic.
Throughout life, because of different developmental tasks, (romance, marriage, child bearing/raising, working, aging, empty nesting, etc) we do re-negotiate our relationships. The question is one of whether that will be done intentionally and even with the willingness to leave the old behind that the new may come!
3. The third element is flexibility. Ordering of life is not just a once- and- for- all kind of experience. When the contract was broken in the garden, the task was not just punishment - but the re-establishing of relationships on an entirely new basis: The knowledge of good and evil. So the new relationship was not just parent/innocent child, but adult/adult! Our contracts must never become so solidified they cannot change:
"New occasions teach new duties Time makes ancient goods uncouth."
Yet, flexibility must be limited by reality and intention. Norms are one thing - flexibility is another. For example: the family. One of the questions that is very important is how to deal with divorce. The capacity to include broken relationships in the structures of life is very important. But this does not mean that the norm must change from the capacity to develop lasting contracts or relationships to the norm of always having tensions or broken ones. Even if the dominant theme of a period of time is breakdown, unrest, and disillusionment, the creative word remains: how to bring continuity, the ordering of life out of the chaos, in order that relationships can be fulfilling again.
Thus we would encourage the encompassing of the ordering of our life in our religious thought. Too long we have focused in our doctrine of creation on the fundamentalist controversy and in the process lost the larger dynamic of the meaning of creation. It is a time for affirmation. I believe in God as creator- the dynamic capacity to bring order into life and dispel chaos - in the development of continuing and wholesome relationships - Where expectations are clear, and persons can be held and hold themselves accountable for the conduct of their lives in wholesome and fulfilling ways. Amen!
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