From the Pastor
Riverwood and I were born in the same year: 1974.
Notre Dame broke up UCLA’s 88-game winning streak. The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patricia Hearst, asking for $4 million. Mariner 10 glided near Mercury. Hank Aaron erased Babe Ruth’s homerun record by belting one out of the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Patricia Hearst robbed a bank with her new pals. Ted Bundy was at large. In United States v. Nixon, the High Court told Tricky Dick that he, in fact, could not keep the tapes. The House of Representatives impeached R. Milhous Nixon.
And that was the first half of the year.
Upon Nixon’s resignation, Gerald Ford gave him a get-out-jail-free card. Nixon used it. TWA Flight 841 killed 88 people. Franklin National Bank imploded. Ali beat up the inventor of the Foreman grill. The UN gave observer status to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Pioneer 11 slipped past Jupiter and wired back images of something big, round, red, and turbulent. Americans were given permission to hoard all the gold they could pan or acquire. Relying on time-proven techniques, the world population reached 4 billion.
It was an exciting year.
In the middle of the global hubbub, John and Ann Robertson planted Riverwood Presbyterian Church with a vision for giving the Gospel to the over-churched, moralistic, grace-starved culture of Tuscaloosa.
As Riverwood began to grow, the leadership began to see the importance of their sovereign placement near the University of Alabama. The Session called Bryan Bond and his family to begin working with youth and college. Soon after, John left to work for our denomination and Bryan was called to be the head pastor. That’s when the Lien family joined Riverwood—5 years ago this June.
In many ways, what is happening now is an extension and byproduct of John’s and Bryan’s desire that the Gospel be relentlessly preached to a religion-saturated culture that had conjured up a self-defined impotent Jesus based on the post-modern evangelical mantra of a “personal relationship with Jesus”—a puny savior ultimately controlled by our increased moral fervor and personal choices.
Riverwood has had some exciting times.
So here we are today. We have precious little space and an expensive hole in the ground.
And more people need to hear the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus the Accomplisher. Jesus the Doer. Jesus the Victor. Jesus the Mediator. Jesus the Complete Satisfaction of Divine Expectations.
If you ever get the chance to talk to some old guys, you may hear them recount stories and events. They’ll often use a phrase that is almost wistful. “Those were exciting times,” they’ll say. In my experience, those stories are never about easy accomplishments.
You never hear how exciting times were frustration-free. No way. Exciting times are always too large to fully comprehend, the variables are unpredictable, there are never enough resources, and there are usually opponents—sometimes even real villains. It’s kinda what makes it exciting in the first place.
Our covenant community is now in the middle of an exciting time. It will be turbulent, costly, and frustrating. It will be exhilarating, overwhelming, and gratifying. But we will look back. And we will say with old-guy fondness and certainty, “Those were exciting times. God was good. God provided. Look what He did.”
As I watch the heavy equipment carve up our property, I am excited. I am excited to be here—with our Riverwood family—doing exciting things.
But it’s not what you think.
I am excited when someone realizes that their worst external sins are just the tip of the iceberg. I am excited when someone finally realizes that they truly contribute nothing to their rightness with God. I get excited when Jesus as a model for good behavior (ala WWJD) infuriates even the most dedicated. I get excited when the hedonist is restrained by the Gospel. I get excited when a deceiver starts to tell the truth—even when it is embarrassing and ugly. I get excited when professional, capable, brilliant men and women submit to the sacraments of God. I get excited when people repent to God and to each other. I get excited when I watch people give lavish mercy to the unqualified and obviously sinful. I get excited when people begin to see worship as God-centered and not man-centered and solely experiential. I get excited when others get excited about ideas of grace, sovereignty, sin, providence, pain, suffering, redemption, transformation, learning, money, philosophy, craftsmanship, art, music, culture, history, literature, engineering, justification, and sanctification. I get excited when people know their sins are forgiven without prior or future commitments. I get excited when the Gospel makes men and women generous. I get excited when weak people do big things.
Are we just putting up a building? Nah. We just happen to be constructing some more space so even more people can do the same exciting stuff.
Do I want you to be part of this? You have no idea how much.