The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
~ Deuteronomy 26:8-11
Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with rejoicing, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
~ Nehemiah 12:27
For Bethelites past and present, July 2014 is a time of celebration! We were established as a congregation on July 28, 1889. Since I began serving Bethel in December 2007, I’ve been gathering little bits of history along the way. You know that two major battles of the Civil War (1861-1865) were fought here, and following the years of Reconstruction, Manassas became incorporated in 1873. The founders of Bethel where largely people who came from Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley as farmers. One of the unanswerable questions that I have about our founding families is “Why?” Why did they start this church? What did they hope would happen because they started this congregation? I can only imagine that they would have started this church even though there were other churches already established in Manassas because (a) they wanted to bring the Lutheran faith and traditions to the Manassas area and (b) they wanted to preserve that faith and those traditions for future generations – why else would people go to the trouble of building a church and calling a pastor?
As we mark this 125th year, I think it is very helpful for us to look at Bethel and the Manassas area now. If we were all moving to the Manassas area now and there wasn’t a Lutheran church, would we start one? What would be our reasons? How would we go about it? What would we have to do to make it successful? You see, starting a church is very personal. Everyone is involved in planning and prioritizing and making decisions. Everyone is involved in reaching out to their friends and neighbors. Everyone is focused on doing the work of ministry and ensuring that the business of ministry works because everyone is working together for the health and well being of the congregation. I’m touching on one of my two main questions that I’ve been dwelling on through my doctoral program: “How does a 125 year old congregation regain/maintain its missionary zeal?”
I’ve chosen two Scriptures to accompany this article. The first is from Deuteronomy 26. This is a section of what I have been reading on the Sunday we dedication our pledges and time & talent sheets. It recalls God’s acts of faithfulness leading His people from slavery to freedom, through the wilderness and finally to the Promised Land. And the people celebrate with joy and thanksgiving what God has done for them and among them. We know especially as we have studied The Story this year, that God’s work and the story of God’s people didn’t stop once they arrived at the Promised Land. We are blessed to have land and a building and some really fantastic ministries with many faithful people serving in them. Some people may feel that we have reached the Promised Land, so now it’s time to rest and that’s the end of the story. But God isn’t finished with us yet! It’s time for Bethel to celebrate what God has done and is doing with and through us, but the story continues.
I chose Nehemiah because, as we’ve learned, Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king of Persia, but God called him to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls after they were destroyed by the Babylonians. All of the inhabitants of Jerusalem had to work together. They were focused on rebuilding the wall and they stood side-by-side to do it. Each person worked for the good of the whole community and they knew that there were many others doing their best and working for the same goal. When the wall was rebuilt, they celebrated! But, here again, the story is not over. God was not done with His people.
Do you see the pattern? For God’s people at the time of the Exodus, for God’s people rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, for God’s people at Bethel … a need becomes clear, God’s people work together to accomplish God’s purposes, there is celebration, and then they continue being God’s people, accomplishing God’s purposes, and celebrating.
This is where we are …
being God’s people
accomplishing God’s purposes
celebrating
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Thank you for being part of Bethel’s history and Bethel’s present. This month, let us join together to celebrate, and then get on with the ministry God has for us that will be the foundation of future generations of Bethelites.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Click on the links below for more from Bethel’s website:
Epicurious Lutheran 