“Crossing Rivers” Preached at Adjala Historic Church and Cemetery, February 3, 2019

Genesis 12:1-9 Now God said  to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as God had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,  Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then God appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to God, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to God and called on God’s name. Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Joshua 4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, God said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of God. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as God had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

John 15:1-11 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
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This morning, we read three passages, all about transition, change, growth, new life, and being.

First, God sends Abram off on another ‘exodus’. He takes everything he owns, all his family, and sets off somewhere. He doesn’t even know where. God says “I’ll show you.” I can imagine some of the things Abram muttered. But he trusted, and he followed. Along the way some of his family is left in one place, but he keeps on going. He isn’t “there” yet.

Joshua is commanded to take the Ark of the Covenant, and move on. They are to cross the Jordan, where God stops the water from flowing so they can cross over on dry land. God tells them to take stones from the riverbed – one for each of the tribes of Israel – and when they reach the other side, lay the stones there are a memorial. And the story says “they are there to this day”.

Finally Jesus explains to the disciples that God is like a gardener, pruning so that growth can happen. He is the vine, the people are the branches; and that if the people abide in love, they bear fruit.

Here we have had three churches, each only a few kilometres apart. Three distinctly different areas, settled and worked by people coming as settlers, or from elsewhere in the country. Each area, and each of these churches, has a different personality and a strong connection to place and to history. Here, Adjala was first a Methodist church which became United, in a pastoral charge with a Presbyterian church which also had joined the union. For awhile they existed and worshipped as a two-point charge and then they decided to amalgamate – so this place has a dual history which has made it unique.

Many things happened of course. This church sits at a farming corner, and many who lived around here made this their home church. But then as cars and roads improved, land was turned into housing, commitment to family farming began to change, people were able to travel more and move around, smaller churches in country areas began to be at a disadvantage. So the inevitable happens as lives change and mobility increases.

We get attached to our churches, and that’s to be understood. But like everything, there is a season. Rural churches which once thrived and served the surrounding neighbourhoods can no longer do that. While in our heads we recognise that, in our hearts it’s harder. We make a decision to come together as one, but we still have that emotional attachment to our ‘place’. It’s our church, and it holds a place in our hearts. As the world changes more, and we feel less secure, we tend to want to hang on to the meaning and the place. Sometimes that’s not so good, sometimes it’s the best choice.

I came to an amalgamated congregation made up of all of you, from three distinctly different places. Someone said to me “Oh but they all have the same worship and do the same things.”  It was difficult to explain that the service is never done quite the same way, the sermon is never preached exactly the same because each place is different. But each place has held, and I believe still holds, a piece of the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ imbued into its very being. The stones say “we were here” and the change of function for the place says “we are still here.”

From January 2017 right up to December 2018 – pretty much two years -  the work has mostly been “What do we do with our places?” Presbytery wanted us to declare the properties surplus, and sell them. I cannot tell you how pleased I am that we didn’t.

When I look at the history of each place – I can’t help but think of the Joshua passage. Each place is built up of stones, some perhaps taken from the ground, which we can truly say remain to this day as a memorial to the people who were there. But the amalgamation was a calling out to go from one place to another and follow the Spirit’s lead. And as we looked at how to deal with the properties, the recognition that the pruning of the vine and branches can take many forms. With the caveat that the branches continue to produce.  What does it mean to produce? To keep having services? Or to look at what we have, recognising the desire to preserve the ‘stones’, and to keep a piece of history alive, living differently than before to be sure, but still making sure that the branches bear fruit.

As I look back, I believe the Spirit moved with us when this work began. We were able to say to Presbytery “no we aren’t ready to make decisions yet”, and take the time. I believe the Spirit was with us in the connection to the Ontario Historical Society, and with us as the changes took place. To me it says that there are always creative options beyond sale of property.

So now we start the next part of the journey – for life in the church is always a journey. Adjala Church is now on a different journey, a different future.  The road has diverged a little, But there is never a “there” to get to. There are only places where we stop, set down our stones, and continue with the journey. And I also believe the Spirit is with us in all of this.

Amen.