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"Purpose versus Form"
Happy Mother’s Day! In honor of this special day, I have some information here about mothers, thanks to that great source of everything cheesy…the Email forward. (Humorous items from an Email forward about Mothers) Today, our congregation chose to honor mothers, and observe what is annually in our church a Sunday to recognize and celebrate the contributions of United Methodist Women. United Methodist Women is a nearly 1 million member-strong organization of women who seek to know God and to make life better for women, children, youth and marginalized neighbors in the ever-expanding global village of today's world. Every year United Methodist Women: · raise millions of dollars in financial and material resources for programs and institutions aiding and empowering women, children and youth in the United States and more than 100 countries around the world; · advocate for the needs of women, children and youth whose voices are often not heard in society; · equip its membership for service and informed action through study in Schools of Christian Mission offered around the country; United Methodist Women locally and through their gifts to mission support Missions & Institutions related to the General Board of Global Ministries, including 103 institutions located across the United States - community centers, schools, colleges, health care facilities and women's residences. They also help United Methodist Foreign Missions around the world. For over 135 years, children, youth, and family advocacy, racial justice, public policy, and global policy have been the target of United Methodist Women’s advocacy and part of their mission call. Ah—but lately the United Methodist Women have been struggling with older, smaller units. It’s true here, as well. The UMW, long the strong champion of mission both locally and around the world has failed to attract new members, younger women. The funds raised for mission has declined the past two years. And the local church work which has for decades been taken care of these faithful members of the UMW, like funeral dinners, kitchen maintenance, and parsonage décor can no longer be carried out by those who remain. That’s because they are older, in frail health, and there’s not nearly as many to share the load. So, the answer, of course, is to recruit and attract new members. Younger members. Right? So why is that so difficult? I think it has to do with the form versus the purpose. That was the rub between Jesus and the Pharisees, remember? We all know Jesus was in conflict with the Pharisees, the Scribes, and religious folks of the Synagogue. And mostly, that conflict was the conflict between form versus purpose. Jesus was sure of his purpose. He announced it early on, as he read from the scroll in the Temple. “I have come to bring good news to the poor, to set the captives free, to bring sight to the blind. To set free the oppressed and to announce the time as come for the Lord’s favor.” And he set out doing just that! And the religious folks took notice. Because Jesus didn’t follow the conventional form of the Jewish people—and the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Lawyers—they were all about the form. Like the ritualistic washing of hands before the meal. Jesus sits down, and begins to eat. Probably was famished. Long day doing the work of God, healing the sick, bringing sight to the blind, proclaiming good news to the poor, that sort of stuff. And the Pharisee who had invited him to dinner is offended. Sort of like going over to the preacher’s house, sitting down and wolfing down the grub before the grace is said. When a fuss was made of it, Jesus sort of took his host on. Which is more important, what we do, or how we do it? “You Pharisees work so hard as keeping the outside of the cup and dish clean, that you never see all the grunge on the inside. You clean up really well, Jesus tells him. But inside you are full of greed and wickedness. And he’s just getting started. He takes on their practice of tithing even the herbs they have in their cupboard, counting it and getting credit for it. To look good. But at the same time, Jesus warns the Pharisees, they neglect justice and love in neglecting the needs of others. The folks are insulted. “Teacher, you insult us with your words.” And Jesus responds, “That’s because you load people down with rules and burdens that weigh them down, and never lift a finger to help them out.” Jesus was pointing out how the Pharisees and the Lawyers and the Scribes were more interested in the form, how things are done, what is proper, what is the right way, than they were in the needs of the people. Or showing God’s love to others. The very purpose for which God had chosen them and set them aside in the first place. The United Methodist Women have a purpose—a terrific purpose, and they have a form, a way of achieving that purpose. I think that so long as UMW units try to keep and maintain the form, elevating it above the purpose, they will continue to decline. Because the form…afternoon meetings, Spring teas, speakers who present mission as something to pay for rather than something to do…the form served the units well in the past. But they do not serve well the women who work, are wrestling with a complicated world, single mothers, and overwrought and over burdened women. But the purpose…the purpose is something altogether different. The purpose is worthwhile. The purpose of UMW is helpful and sustaining to younger women. If…the form of carrying out that purpose is allowed to change. Listen again to the purpose of United Methodist Women. It’s printed in your bulletin. “The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.” Let's look at this purpose and it's four main points. “To know God. What woman here doesn’t long to know God, the one who created her in God’s own image, who longs to be in relationship with her? The UMW must focus on this first. To help women come to know God. “To experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ;” "Freedom—as whole persons." Freedom—not bound up by form and the way it’s always been done. Freedom. To be whole through Jesus Christ. The UMW must focus on this as well. To help women experience the freedom to be whole through Jesus Christ. Then, “to develop a creative supportive fellowship; (We must stop right here. A CREATIVE, supportive fellowship. The word Creative is in the UMW purpose. To make something new. To think of a new way, a creative way to support women today who need it. To support your older members you can no longer come to meetings, who are homebound and frail—this will require creativity. To support younger women, with children, jobs, families, who give and give and give and long for some sort of supportive fellowship that will help restore their strength and their identity—this will require creativity. UMW—you can do it. It’s your purpose! To develop a creative supportive fellowship. To be creative means you’ll have to let go of the old form, the old structure, the old way, and seek out the new form, the new way.And finally “to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.” Ah—to help women of all ages, of all stations in life to find meaning in helping others. The form may not be the same---the least coin offering, the day of self-denial, the pledge. But the purpose is good. To help women learn about mission. And to participate in the global ministries of the church. Hear it? Participate. Not just pay for. Participate. To get involved. To dirty the hands. To see firsthand, lives being changed by the church who comes in the name of the risen Lord! It’s not the form. It’s the purpose. I don’t have the answers for what form it will take for new UMW members, for younger UMW members to come on board. I know the purpose is right. The purpose will lead you forward. You’ll have to dialogue with your sisters as to what form that will take. But just as Jesus surprised the Pharisees, don’t be surprised by your sister’s answers. When was the last time a UMW circle meeting was held regularly at a restaurant so that working women didn’t have to bring food, set up, serve and clean in order to enjoy the supportive fellowship of the group? When was the last time a UMW circle offered child care so that women with children could attend, and not be distracted by the needs of their children for an hour or two? When was the last time a UMW circle’s program featured information relevant for young, working mothers? When will the UMW reading program be put out in both printed and recorded versions for those who do not have time to read or whose eyesight no longer allows it? There are new forms we haven’t even thought of yet! Ask…and I have a hunch your younger sisters and daughters will not disappoint you with creative, new, freeing ideas. Don’t be afraid of changing form. Your purpose will remain, always, your guiding vision. Just as it was for Jesus. Just as it was for the Christ.
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