by Dr. Jeff Mathis
While reflecting on this past Sunday’s service, Rebecca said to me, “I just knew that you were going to conclude your sermon on Philippians with a love letter to our church.”
Oops.
Coming full-circle in my sermon to do as Paul had done in his relationship with the church in Philippi was a great idea (in full disclosure, most of my good ideas can be traced back to my wife). Too bad I hadn’t thought of it myself beforehand.
So, taking a cue from the Apostle Paul (and Rebecca), I’d like to pen a love letter to you, the First Baptist Church of Sylva.
Dear First Baptist Church,
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me.” (Philippians 1:2-7)
From my first conversations with you through Larry Grantham, Jay and Renee Coward, Frank and Rachel Wilkie, and others, my family sensed a kinship with the church that led to a call for a long-time partnership in ministry.
The word partnership captures it well, I think.
You created space in your church family for my family and me from the beginning. You gifted me with space in your hearts and minds to help craft a vision and nurture new ways of being faithful.
I am so very grateful for your trust.
Of course, you have a long history of serving faithfully on Main Street in Sylva. You became the home church for students at the Sylva Collegiate Institute over 100 years ago. You dedicated yourselves to rhythms of faithfulness, deepening your call to discipleship and encouraging your families to grow in their relationship to God.
Yes, your footprint here in our downtown community has grown over the years. Just as you outgrew the facility our forefathers and mothers built, you took significant risks in living out your mission by stepping across the street to build a new sanctuary and education space in the 1960s. When you completed the Mission and Fellowship Center in 2013, you saw it as a way to serve the community and become a launching pad for new ministry initiatives—which it most certainly did.
You prize God’s commandment to go and make disciples of others. You have served here, locally, and commissioned ambassadors to go to people on almost every continent in the world. You have prayed for throngs of missionaries. You have supported Paul-like efforts to share the message of God’s love in Jesus around the world. Mission education is reflected in the way our church values and appreciates different cultures as expressions of God’s dynamic creativity in the world.
First Baptist Church, I love how you have taken risks over the years to “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).” You have affirmed the role of women in ministry, and you have encouraged young people to serve as ministers in their own right. You have erred on the side of grace when difficult circumstances have arisen, and you have sought peace and understanding when it would have been easy to stir up conflict and hold grudges.
I love how you hold important questions and value critical thinking. I continue to be inspired by your commitment to deepen friendships with one another in the Anam Cara Project. And, I am thrilled by the intentionality and passion you bring to finding creative and timely ways to serve others.
Furthermore, I am deeply moved by how you have not given up on one another. You care for your friends and church family in such rich and beautiful ways. You go out of your way to visit those who are sick or may feel lonely. You correspond with those we haven’t seen in some time. You pray for those who need prayer. First Baptist, your leadership in providing pastoral care enables each of us to feel God’s love.
My prayer for us this Christmas season is straight out of Paul’s encouragement to the church that he loved at Philippi:
“And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11).”
Love is what is required this Christmas Season.
Just as you have so many times before, First Baptist Church, write a love letter to one another this Christmas season. And if necessary, use words.