Fellowship of Presbyterians
Pastor says ‘We are here because we grieve our current state’
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman, August 25, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Dave Peterson, pastor at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas compared Jesus’ raising of Lazarus to what is happening in the Presbyterian Church (USA) today during the worship service of the Fellowship of Presbyterians Gathering held in Minneapolis, Minn.
“You remember what happened to Lazarus,” Peterson said, recalling that the disciples said Lazarus was asleep, with a sense the he’ll be alright, and Martha told Jesus that if only he had been there, it would not have happened. The crowds wondered if the man who had opened the eyes of the blind man could not have saved Lazarus.
“It was not supposed to happen,” said Peterson and “We’re not supposed to be here today.” He spoke of the once great Presbyterian denomination that “at one time out-baptized the Baptists.” The denomination built schools, hospitals, sent missionaries and was “at one time the leader in shaping the culture around us.”
“How did this happen to us,” he asked?
“It is a grievous situation … (and) We are here because we grieve our current state,” he said.
Peterson said that it would “be more difficult but we can see moments in history where we have been through this before.” Peterson spoke of the church in Corinth, which he likened to “the Willow Creek of the first century.”
A church fight broke out in Corinth “when they took their eye off their calling,” he said. Analogous to the situation in the PCUSA today, Peterson noted that the issues in Corinth included theology, leadership and questions about sexual practice.
“So Paul wrote them a letter – a first century deathly ill letter — and it hurt their feelings” said Peterson, “and it changed the direction of their church.”
And then Paul wrote another letter, he said. In 2 Corinthians 7:8-13, Paul wrote:
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted. (ESV)
Peterson said there is a difference between Godly grief and earthly grief. “We practice Godly grief in this place.”
He defined Godly grief as redemptive “grief that takes us somewhere …. A grief that takes you in a new direction.”
When Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, He told the people to roll away the stone, said Peterson, but the people protested, “It stinks!” Peterson said that too is analogous to what has happened among Presbyterians. “A lot of stinky talk,” he said, “but Jesus said if you look beyond the tomb you will see glory.”
“This is one of those moments. It is time for us to trust Jesus has something already prepared for us,” he said. “It is time to quit the stinky talk because the glory is already there.”
Peterson said that when Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus told the people to unbind him and set him free. “That is why we are here as well – to be set free.”