"Recovering a Sense of Mission"
God's story is meant to be shared
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Text: Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20
In our early service, this morning, we focussed on a mission theme and thanked the team that has gone out in three of the past four years to the El Hogar Project in Honduras. El Hogar seeks to help abandoned, orphaned, and hopelessly poor children in the poorest country in the Americas and we thank the team again for their commitment, for the work they have done, and for the way they have enriched the life of the church both here and in Honduras.
When one hears the word, “mission” what comes to mind? I suppose, for some of us, it brings to mind Christian work on a foreign field such as El Hogar. For others, it may invoke images of inner-city work and soup kitchens. For yet others, it may be associated with evangelism or special evangelistic services that seem now to be a thing of the past. When I hear the term, I think of all these things but also of Jesus' parting words to his disciples. In Mark's Gospel, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news.” In Matthew's Gospel, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” These are words of “com--mission,” words that drove the disciples out to proclaim the exciting news of what had happened to Jesus and the promise of eternal life.
The words of commission have been a strategic part of the church's work in every generation and it is interesting that it was the church's mission of proclaiming Christ that was the initial impetus for the formation of the United Church of Canada. As the western part of our great land was opening up, The Methodist Church, The Presbyterian Church, The Congregational Church and others were sending missionaries and ministers into every settlement trying to establish churches. They quickly realized that most of the communities were far too small to support the church buildings and ministers of three, four, or five different denominations and so, the mission boards of the denominations began to work together, designating various regions to each denomination. And as they worked together in mission, they began to wonder if they could work together in other areas. It took a quarter of a century to happen, but it was mission that prompted the Methodists and Presbyterians and Congregationalists to consider union as together they sought to Christianize the entire social order of the Dominion of Canada.
It was a great endeavour and in the years leading up to, perhaps, the 1960s or 70s, it was largely successful. With a strong faith and a social gospel stemming from that faith, the largest denomination in Canada grew and had tremendous political influence as they helped to effect many positive reforms in education, health care, and poverty. But something changed in this great mission (as it has in the missions of all the mainline denominations). Somewhere along the line, the mission lost it bearings. Some would say, the church morphed from being a leader of the culture into being a movement of the culture. Others say that the church's social mission continued but its foundation in faith and Christ was set aside, that it has lost its raison d'etre and that is why the broader church is now in decline.
I recall chatting with someone at another United Church recently. This person is very keen on helping the poor and is very involved in working at a downtown soup kitchen. On this occasion, he was telling me that he had just taken a number of items to a family in need and I asked him, “Did you tell them why you were doing that?”
“No,” he replied, “I just dropped them off. What do you mean, 'tell them why I am doing it?'”
“Well,” I said, “Did you say that you were dropping these off on behalf of the church? Or did you say anything about God or Christ wanting us to be good to others?”
“No,” came the reply again, “should I? I just thought that we were supposed to do this stuff.”
“Well, yes, we are,” I said, “but do we not do it to elevate Christ … and do we not have to say something for him to be elevated?”
I'm not sure why it is but we seem to be afraid of talking about the gospel these days. Too many of us have what Nicky Gumbel speaks of as the “uncle Norman syndrome.” Nicky Gumbel says that everyone has or knows an “uncle Norman.” Uncle Norman is the quiet, good living soul who attends church regularly. He says his prayers in private. He believes in Christ with all his heart but keeps it all to himself. He never speaks about it. He never tells a soul that he is a Christian and no one outside his immediate family really knows that he is one.
The question we must ask of course is, “How did uncle Norman find out about Christianity?” And the answer, of course, is that someone told him. That is the way that faith is passed on. That is the way that the kingdom of God grows. That is how Christianity has increased for centuries, somebody, somewhere has to tell another person. If we generalize uncle Norman syndrome and imagine a church made up solely of “uncle Normans” who never say a word about their faith, Christianity would just pass away in a generation. No one else would find out about Christ. Jesus knew that and he said, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Maybe, today, we need to recover the glory of the faith and the sense of mission that Jesus gave us.
It's such a great story
We need to recover it, first of all, because it is such a great story. It is the story of God's love for the world and God's offer of eternal life. It is the story of God coming to be among us, the story of Jesus, his exceptional life, his great teaching, his terrible passion and death, a story of something unique in the history of the world - a story of a resurrection. And when I use the word “story,” I don't mean it in the sense of something fictitious and imaginary like a fairytale. Something truly spectacular must have occurred almost 2,000 years ago to effect the changes in the lives of those around Jesus. They had deserted him, they looked on from a safe distance as he was beaten and flogged, they stayed away as he died, they mourned. Something big must have happened to alter those dynamics and send them out into the world proclaiming that he had risen. Something tremendous must have happened for them to move beyond thinking only of safety and self-preservation to boldly proclaim Christ. What was it? I can't think of anything else other than a resurrection. It changed their world. They could not stop talking about it, it was such a singular and incredible experience.
There are many today who doubt various bits and pieces of the story and I think that part of the reason the church has not been as strong in following Jesus' mission is due to doubt. I went into some of the issues around this in my July 2009 series on the resurrection but suffice it to say here that not all intelligent people cast God's story aside. It is possible for a person to be a deep thinker and still be a believer. Belief and thought are not mutually exclusive categories. I could, for instance, introduce you to many intellectuals who dare to believe that God has come, that Jesus died, and that Jesus rose from the dead. Every person we had speak at the Timothy Eaton 2008 Lecture Series would be examples. Each one of our lecturers is either teaching or, has taught, at a Canadian university. They are all intelligent people, people who have given their lives to the academic study of the bible and faith. Each one has encountered more biblical criticism and things that would bring the faith into question than most could imagine and yet, each one would still stand and say with integrity, “I believe in God, in God's story, in Jesus the son, crucified and risen, and in the statement that 'whosoever believes in him shall not perish but inherit eternal life.'” So let's not fall for any of that nonsense that God's story is for shallow thinkers. There are many today who think and think deeply, and yet believe. The Christian story is a great story, a great story for a great generation.
It's story for the whole person
It is a great story aimed at the entire person. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples,” and when we consider the word, “disciple” we will uncover that it is much more than a thing of the mind - belief, conversion, or assenting to something. Discipleship begins with following. When Jesus called his first disciples, he said to Peter and Andrew and James and John, “Come, follow me.” And they went with Jesus. They stayed close. They watched him, they listened to him, they sought to emulate him. Discipleship is like a journey, a journey of discovery and learning.
A few weeks ago, one of our choir members gave me a book to read by Elizabeth Gilbert entitled, Eat, Pray, Love. I don't know what it is about that book but almost every woman who has seen this book in my hand or on my desk says, “You're reading that!” They go on to talk about what a great book it is. But it is the note of surprise that gets me. It is apparently linked to the fact that I am a male and it is almost as though males are not supposed to read this book. It's almost as though by reading it, a man will uncover some secret, perhaps the key to the female mind or something. And thus, every act of surprise spurs me on to read more and more of this book to uncover this secret.
The book depicts a journey. Elizabeth Gilbert gives up everything that she has and embarks on a journey, a journey of self discovery. She spends four months in Italy, learning Italian and eating; four months in India learning about devotion; and four months in Indonesia sitting with an old medicine man finding a balance between the world and divine transcendence. It's not a Christian book but there is something akin to discipleship in Gilbert's journey as she learns from the medicine man and others. I wonder if we need to draw near to Christ in a similar way through God's word, to study with Christ regularly, to let his message sink deep into our psyche, to journey through life with him and become like him. Christ's message is a great message for the entirety of our persons. It is a way of life, a way of discovery, a way of faith, a way of bringing God into the whole of us and our world.
It's a great story to share
So the Christian story is a great story, it's a story for the whole of us and, finally, when real people enter into real discipleship, and really encounter the God who can raise Jesus and give eternal life, we find that it is a story worth sharing, a story that will get the church moving forward again.
I was at a denominational event one evening at which Tony was asked to preach. He was his old self, pointed, holding back no punches. He didn't mess around with a politically correct gospel or soften things for the modern ear, he just let people have it, calling people to follow Jesus. Tony is an evangelical's evangelical. Someone came up to me after the service. She knew me reasonably well and asked with a wry smile, “Well, David, what did you think of that?”
I know that she was expecting a hugely negative response but for several years I had got to know Tony. Yes, Tony can be abrasive but he is also someone who had come to me to discuss theological points in books he was reading from time to time and, during those visits, he would tell me about his new church. Tony had gone into a community and established a church from nothing. In just a few years he had gathered a congregation that averaged 225 on Sunday mornings. I still remember the day he popped in for coffee and shared that he was struggling with the idea of hiring a minister or a pastor for the people. “I'm an evangelist,” he said, “not a pastor.” He was right. He knew himself, his strengths and weaknesses, and there was an integrity to the man. And so as I replied to the question on that Sunday evening, I took a different tack than I may otherwise have done, and thinking of his great work to form a church, I said, “Perhaps, we need people to jar us out of complacency from time to time and really call us to faith.” I knew that Tony loved his Lord even if he expressed it in ways that many of us would not. He loved to share the story.
Many of us would not dream of being like Tony in sharing the story, but what about sharing it like Judy. I used to live next door to Judy and her husband, another Tony. They had three young children. Judy was not trained as a theologian, she was not an evangelist, or trained in any other way associated with the Church. Judy was a mother of three children who just went to church. Yet, I personally heard Judy on two occasions, with her friendly demeanour, tell other young mothers that she had a wonderful church, a good Sunday School, and suggest, “Why don't you come?” Whereas many people are shy about their faith and hide it, Judy had no issues with just inviting people to church. How hard is it to say, “Why don't you come?” In talking to others, I know that Judy was personally responsible for half a dozen young families attending that Presbyterian Church in Hamilton. That was Judy. Beliefs, salvation, she left those things up to God and the minister, but she encouraged people to come in the door. It wasn't that hard.
Maybe you could do that, or even be like John. John is probably the polar opposite of Tony (the first Tony). He is uncomfortable with the ideas of mission or evangelism but John is personable and real, a man with great experience and deep insights. Sometimes over lunch or coffee, conversations would just turn to deeper things like spirituality and God. Other people would bring it up, John never would, but through normal conversations over that past ten years or so, several people would say that they started their own spiritual journeys because when the subject came up John had spoken with authenticity about his journey with Christ. In his own quiet way, he shares the story.
I could go on and tell you about others but maybe that's all it's about. It's about real people with real faith, rediscovering the power and greatness of the message that God has for us in Christ, stepping up to the plate of life and not being afraid to allow those conversations to happen when opportunity knocks. It's an important aspect of what the church is about and the Membership and Integration Committee of our church is hoping that you will step up to the plate this fall and winter as we invite others to experience our wonderful congregation. Be looking for our Friendship Sunday in mid-November.
Do you remember Rance Mulliniks? Rance Mulliniks used to play for the Blue Jays. For a number of years he was an effective third base player but when Kelly Gruber came along, and in the twilight of his career, for two seasons Mulliniks had to change his function in baseball. He took a back seat, as it were. Sometimes he filled in when Gruber was injured, sometimes he was called to be the designated hitter. Many times he sat on the bench and waited for the call of the manager. He didn't know when it would come, but from time to time when the Jays were down by a run or two in late innings and had a man or two on base, Cito would call on Mulliniks to pinch hit. Mulliniks became one of the best pinch hitters the Jays ever had. Hitting well over .300 in that role in or around 1990. Cito Gaston knew that Mulliniks may not be a first string player any more; he may not even be able to hit the long ball that often, but one thing he knew, Mulliniks could bring the runners home.
In life, just as Rance Mulliniks was not a full time player late in his career, we as Christians may not be full-time missionaries or evangelists like Tony. But as Christians, God sometimes calls us to step up to the plate in the late innings and try and hit runners home. Those people out there on first and second base spiritually, they are searching and lost if left out there unless someone can bring them home. Sometimes the Great Manager in heaven calls on us, everyday Christians, such as you and me, to pinch-hit.
God's story is a great story. It is a story for the whole person, a story to share … “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosever believes in him shall not die, but inherit eternal life.”