1 Chronicles 16:23-31
Romans 10:11-15
Matthew 9:27-38
The Book of Discipline astutely observes, "Whenever United
Methodism has had a clear sense of mission, [The Lord] has used [His]
Church to save persons, heal relationships, transform social structures, and
spread scriptural holiness, thereby changing the world." United
Methodist Book of Discipline, ¶121, pg 92
It should probably be emphasized: "Whenever
there has been a clear sense of
mission ..."
This is the trick for us, is it
not? Having a clear sense of mission? Especially
in watching the ebb and flow and highs and lows at so many churches for the
last fifty to sixty years when things seemed to be clicking along just fine, the
Church largely failed to realize or fully appreciate that nothing of human
effort stays the same. Ever. Even though the face of the Church has been
through so many cultural and demographic changes over the years, the nature of The
Church, which is "mission", has never changed. Ever.
Whether any church was or was not actively engaged in its missional
nature, the Divine Appointment of the Church universal has not changed.
Our challenge is to change the way
we think of attending worship and moving beyond the notion that "being
here" is what support of the Church and discipleship are about. Being present is only scratching the surface;
there must be a willingness to drill deeper.
Maybe worship attendance would more appropriately be thought of as a
"pre-mission briefing" before we go into the larger world and do our
work in the name of The Lord.
Since the very beginning there has
been a Divine mission. Though it may
seem Adam and Eve were simply placed in the Garden only to tend it and care for
it, there was a mission to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it ... (Genesis
1:28)"; maybe even then to "fill the earth" with people who
will know and worship and continue
the work for The Lord. The text goes on
to reveal that The Lord had given them everything they would need to fulfill The
Lord's mission. Then seeing all The Lord
had put forth on the earth, He declared it all "very good". Until, of course, The Lord's people took a bad
turn inward when their very existence became more about themselves than about
The Lord; and the mission - such as it was - was stifled.
We fast forward to the time of King
David, a somewhat unified nation, and a renewed interest in and focus on the
Ark of the Covenant. We remember the Ark
as fully representative of The Lord's presence among His people (this is why it
was not to be touched by human hands!).
Once the Ark was back into its appropriate and central place in the life
and the very heart of Israel, King David the "shepherd" led a
procession of thanksgiving and praise: "Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all the peoples" (1 Chronicles 16:24).
"Declare ... His marvelous works among all the
peoples." It was understood from the time of Moses (or
should have been understood as faithfully taught) that Israel "shall
be for [The Lord] a priestly kingdom and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6); "priestly" as an
intermediary between Heaven and earth, "chosen" as the people who
would be charged with this awesome task and remarkable privilege of "declaring
His glory among the nations".
Since the time of Moses, however,
there were many distractions that challenged Israel's status and tested her
faithfulness. Though it might have
seemed as though the very existence of Israel was in jeopardy during the time
of the Exile, the faithfulness of The Lord to His everlasting covenant meant the
only thing ever in jeopardy was Israel's "preferred status" not strictly
as a favored people but as chosen;
called to and equipped for the Mission: to tell other nations, "all the
peoples" about The Lord, His marvelous works, and His liberating and
redeeming actions not only to bless Israel but clearly to bless "all the
peoples" of "other nations" through
Israel, the "priestly
kingdom".
Holding on to that sense of mission
- that thing which never changes in the life of The Covenant - even among the
many changes we endure as we grow older, our children move out of the house,
grandchildren come along, retirement plans start coming together, etc., is no
less an edict from The Lord today than it was during the time of King David.
Even when so many
"members" declare themselves removed from such mandates for whatever
reason, the Church must nevertheless remain focused on the ONE REASON - the ONLY REASON - the Church exists at all: "to declare His glory among
the nations". That's
it. It is not so you have a place to go
on Sunday, and it is not so I have a place to preach on Sunday. The Church is not "on" a mission of
its own choosing; the Church IS the mission just as Christ IS the Word which
became flesh and dwelt among us - and dwells among us today as the Church.
Our Lord declared to a
less-than-faithful nation in exile, a nation which had failed miserably in its
"priestly" honor and privilege: "As the rain and the snow come down
from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making
it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so
shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return
to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the
thing for which I sent it (Isaiah
55:10-11)".
So the Lord declared to His people,
His chosen in exile, that He would
get done what He intends to be done - period.
The only question was (and still is) whether His people whom He had
liberated from bondage, His people whom He had declared a "priestly
kingdom and holy nation", were on board with that.
Should these "chosen"
decline, The Lord declared also through Isaiah
that the "foreigner" and the "eunuchs" (those who do not
completely "fit in" with Israel) who keep the Sabbath and "choose
the things that please Me and hold fast to My covenant ... I will give them a
monument
and a name ... these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in
My house of prayer" (Isaiah
56:3-7).
One way or another, our Lord
declares, His thing will be done ... with us - or without us.
So because the religious
authorities had for too long neglected YHWH's "thing" for which He
had purposed and chose instead to pursue their own "thing", "Jesus
went about all the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming
the Good News of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness ...
with compassion [because] they were harassed and helpless [neglected],
like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:35-36).
So we look around and we lament the
closings of so many churches, our childhood churches. Now sometimes these churches have closed
simply because folks moved. It is a hard
fact, but it is no less a demographic fact.
It still must be said, however, that whenever there is a serious falling
away of members who decide for themselves what is or is not their
"thing" and refuse to serve where serving needs to be done for the
sake of The Mission, that church is on its way to oblivion - or at the very
least, exile.
It will not matter how much money
is given for others to work with. If all
the "others" decide it is not their "thing", or they've
been doing the "thing" for so long with little help that they just
get tired and burnt out, the "thing" will not be done. Soon The Lord will decide this church or that
church has its own "thing" apart from His "thing" and will
not long stand. It is a hard truth but
no less a theological truth.
It is a harsh reality the people of
The Lord are compelled to examine carefully, fully, and honestly because St.
Paul does not ask a rhetorical question when he asks: "How are they to call on One
in whom they have not believed? How are
they to believe in One of whom they have never heard? How are they to hear without someone to
proclaim Him? And how are they to
proclaim Him unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15a)
We are "sent", and this calling came to be in that moment of
clarity which our friends of other traditions call "getting saved"
and which we call "being justified".
It is the "thing" our Lord has purposed long before the foundation
was laid for this church, and it is the "thing" The Lord will
accomplish ... with us - or without us.
Like the "trick" of the
necessity of prayer I shared last, we will not be fully convinced of the
importance of Mission until we are actually engaged in Mission in one capacity
or another. And when we witness for
ourselves lives changed and relationships healed, we will surely come to
understand the necessity of The Church, Christ in the world today - and our
part in it!
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