Let us pray: O God, may these words help to open our ears to your word. Guide them and use them. Amen.

    There’s a certain cultural practice in some branches of the Christian church which involves declaring the date and sometimes even the hour when you became a Christian. You don’t hear it much in mainline Christian circles. In part, that’s because we have a different view of how conversion happens. In fact, we are not even likely to use the word conversion to describe the way in which we come to be part of the Christian faith. More people in mainline Christianity are likely to talk about their acceptance of the Christian faith as a journey, or a process that took some time, or even more accurately, taking the past tense right out of it, and describing it as a journey which we are currently taking or a process which is continuing.

    That being said, while I can’t tell you the day or the hour, I can tell you with a certain certainty just when it was that I decided as an adult that the church had something for me. The details and the circumstances of that event are not all that important, because like most other people in the mainline Christian tradition, I do see faith as a journey, and I would easily say that I am still in process as a follower of the Christian way. It is probably more accurate to describe that time I can remember as just a significant fork in the road, although that metaphor doesn’t exactly describe it, because I don’t remember it as a time of decision, but rather just a moment when I sealed some commitment to the path that lay ahead. What I can glean from the experience is the importance that a programme of the church held for me. It wasn’t even that great a programme. It was a college and careers group for young adults. The church was not too far from Carleton University in Ottawa, and the intention was to create some appeal for young Carleton students who might be living in the area. I wasn’t a Carleton student, I was in Ottawa on a work term. About the only thing I can remember from any of the meetings of this group was an unsuccessful attempt to get the place kicker for the Ottawa Roughriders to come to speak to us. He was a well known member of Athletes in Action - an organisation for professional athletes which gave them a vehicle for expressing their faith as Christians. I was never all that excited by Athletes in Action as it seemed to be suited more for people who were part of the more evangelical branches of the church. I didn’t make any lasting friendships in the College and Career group. I don’t even remember anyone that was in it. As far as I can remember I did nothing with anyone in it, outside of the Sunday evening meetings. But something about the fact that the church cared for people in my age group, and a worship leader that spoke intelligently and compellingly about the issues of the day and put them into context with the biblical story, sealed my commitment.

    Church was not unfamiliar to me. I had gone to church all my life, but like many others had taken my leave when I left home to go to university. A chance comment from my dad had drawn me back to church attendance during my third year of university. I knew that I didn’t have to attend church, but something about the place and the place it made for me spoke to me.

    I could have left many times after that, but I didn’t. There have been many times when I’ve been frustrated by the church, but there is something about the church community which drew me in, and has kept me. Part of it is just that, the community. In large part, it was community that drew me in - even if it was not a close or memorable community. But that is only part of the story. The other part that kept me here was summed up quite nicely by the gospel story we heard this morning.

    Jesus challenges us, his followers, to live against the grain. The rules we are invited to live by are different from the rules of the world. This is both a challenging and refreshing characteristic of the Christian faith. It is a timeless message - for there is always some way of the world that challenges us, and a compelling one.

    A group of people from this congregation met on Friday evening and yesterday morning and afternoon to do some visioning together. One of the questions we considered was the meaning that church has for us. We compiled a nice list of answers to that question, and I don’t think I’m letting any cats out of the bag to say that there will be an opportunity for you to see something of that list and the discussion and ideas that it and some of the other questions and activities that we pondered, generated . I can only say for now, “Stay tuned.”

    Some might say that I am fortunate to have an opportunity to do some reflection in public on that experience, and in particular to that question about what church means in my life. You’ll have to believe me when I say that I had already started that reflection before the events of Friday and Saturday in my life. But like all things, I cannot avoid being influenced by the discussion that took place earlier this weekend.

    Jesus’ vision of the world, and God’s place in it is one that keeps speaking to me. A vision of the world which turns things upside down. A vision of the world, that no matter how often I hear it, continues to surprise me. Being part of a church community gives me a chance to live according to this alternate world view. It means that I don’t have to conform to the ways of the world. I can make a different world view part of who and what I am, and there are people in the community that I can share it with.

    Of course there are ways of the world which are completely in synch with the Christian world view, and the Christian world view is not an exclusive one. There are groups and organisations which claim no faith connection, but which demonstrate that they too run “against the grain”. Of course, I am drawn to these organisations for the same reason that I am drawn to the Christian way, but the faith connection adds depth for me.  There are many aspects of other faith traditions which offer the very same perspective. I’ve heard comments and presentations from people who follow the Jewish faith, the Muslim faith, Buddhism, among others, that fall completely in line with the world view that I understand Jesus offered. I’ve always said that in large part I am Christian because it is the culture in which I was raised.

    I can’t remember a church meeting in any congregation, and believe me I’ve been to a few of them beyond the ones I’ve served and attended, when someone expressed complete appreciation for their youth programming. It seems to be one place where a lot of angst is focussed.. This weekend was no exception. I don’t know whether it is selective amnesia that prevents us from remembering our own youth and what might have had some appeal for us in those years, but the whole aspect of youth programming is a source of great mystery and consternation in United Church circles and I suspect we are not alone as a denomination. I share the mystery, and I have to admit that the mystery is deepened when I consider the “against the grain” aspect of the Christian faith which I find so compelling. It seems to me that much of the youth experience can be summed up by that very same phrase “against the grain”. So I’m left wondering why youth culture which seems to revel in running “against the grain” is not inspired by the very same message as demonstrated and expressed by Jesus.

    As much as I have expressed my sharing of  the mystery when it comes to youth programming in the church, my experience also bears out something of what I’ve just said. There are many great youth programmes happening in the church. There are people skilled in doing youth work. There are training programmes to improve those skills and learn new ones. All you need to do is attend our conference meeting and see the results of some of that programming. There is a special gathering called Youth at Conference, and it was pretty clear to most of the delegates at our conference meeting in May that the people best prepared for the business at conference were some of the youth. Youth delegates offered some of the freshest perspectives, and a point of view that invited us to go against the grain, to challenge the ways of the world, in whatever issue was being discussed. And of course, the energy, spirit and outrageousness of some of them, emphasised just how staid and reserved we adults can be.

    Thinking outside of the box is not easy for us to do. We get so used to accustomed ways and tried and tested methods, that we just can’t see how walled our thinking is. Sometimes we represent the very grain that others want to run against. That’s when Jesus object lesson needs to speak to us. Imagine Jesus taking not a young, cute kid for his object lesson, but a thirteen year old, with pants hanging around his upper thighs, and a set of headphones attached to an MP3 player that leave no doubt as to whether it is turned on or not, and then put yourself in the place of the disciples. Does it run against your grain?

    Point made, point taken. Amen.