Readings
for Advent 3B:
Isaiah 65:17-25; Canticle 15; 1Thess. 5:12-28; John 3:23-30
December 11, 2005
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
The other day a friend of mine was sitting at home waiting for her friend to come by. The doorbell rang, but when she went to answer it, it was a scruffy young man with long hair, a beard and--a clip board! “Yikes,” she thought, “he’s got the clip board”—you know when they’ve got the clipboard, they want to sell you something, or they’re going to proselytize!
Now, my friend was new to town. She is single, and when she moved to California she thought, hey, maybe I could meet some people if I joined the Sierra Club and did some hiking. So she went on line, checked out their web site—but only saw hiking for Senior Citizens. She’s only in her 40’s, so she logged off and forgot about it.
But lo and behold, when she opened the door to find out what the hippie with the clipboard wanted, he announced he was from the Sierra Club! That was interesting. Next, he began to talk with her about the “Gwich’in” Native people of Alaska whose lives are threatened by oil developers. It so happens that my friend knows of this problem because the Episcopal Church is working to prevent oil developers from mining certain areas. As my friend spoke with this young man at her door, they discovered they had a lot in common—she told him she knew of the plight of the Gwich’in because she read about it in the Episcopal news, and he said, “NO Way, I’m an Episcopalian, too.” She invited him in, they shared a bit about their spiritual journeys, and they encouraged one another, offering hope in the name of Christ. She ended up writing a check for $100, and now she is an official member of the Sierra Club.
This story epitomizes something about how God works in the world whether we are aware of it or not. Our challenge is to “wake up”, take notice, and “make the God connection” in all our various relationships—even casual ones—because God is already there waiting for us.
This is how we are to do mission in a post-modern world. We are to be continually aware, always seeking the presence of Christ in all persons, “making the God connection” whenever we can.
Today we heard from 2 Biblical prophets “making the God connection.” Isaiah points to the creation of a new Jerusalem—the hope of weary Hebrew people returned from exile. John the Baptist connects his followers to Jesus, the Messiah-- the Christ who offers hope for a life beyond oppression and alienation.
This Advent I’ve been struggling to know what God is calling me to do to encourage you “to make the God connection” in your every day lives. In addition to pastoral care, teaching, preaching, youth and children’s ministries, I believe I am called to encourage each of you to share the hope you have received in Christ. Our Baptismal Covenant asks: “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” and we reply, “I will, with God’s help.” (BCP, p. 305) How will we do this?
We had a proposal to start a new ministry at St. Jude’s, a preschool, to be able to intentionally proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ to more children and families than just come on Sunday mornings. It has been decided that we are not ready to take on a ministry as demanding as a preschool, and so I ask, what will we do to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ? It may be as simple as sharing with our neighbor, co-workers, friends, family, and the Sierra Club guy at the door, sharing the hope that is within us—a hope we receive as members of the Body of Christ; the hope we receive in our Covenant Groups, at FaithFull Families, in Youth Group, in Sunday School, in this sanctuary, at this table—a hope which sustains our lives, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Pastor Karen and I were trained in a theology of ministry that placed most of the responsibility for what happens at church in the hands of clergy—preaching, teaching, appointing elders, settling disputes, pastoral care and presiding at the Eucharist (Thomas, p. 301). At the same time, we were taught that the purpose of the church was its mission to the world, outside “the Church”. But clergy do not have access to the world in the same way you do!
Just as I was puzzling over how to reach people outside these walls, I got a wake up call from a kind of “prophet” of the Episcopal Church: The Rev. Dr. Loren Mead, a 75 year old Episcopal Priest, author and Alban Institute Consultant. Dr. Mead came to speak to the clergy of our diocese last week. He talked about a shift in how to do Mission. In the History of the Church “Mission” has tended to be a matter of “ Conquering the Pagan and making them Christian”. I think this is why I have heard many of you resist the term “making disciples.”
Beginning with Constantine in the 4th C. when all citizens were required to become “Christian” our sense of mission became one of domination. In 1095 AD we had the Crusades; in 1492 the Pope “awarded” the world to Spain and Portugal to establish Christian worlds in foreign lands, and in 1792 the English Missionary to India, William Cary, began the age of modern missions to carry Christianity across the globe. Of course, Colonization carried the “conquer the pagan” banner, too. All these missionary styles had the effect of changing indigenous peoples without inviting them into a choice about becoming Christian.
Christians used to think the way God is known to the world is through the work of the Church—as if the Church goes to people to offer them something they don’t already have, i.e. “God”. That seems so arrogant. Now we realize that the church is only PART of God’s Mission—God works in the world WITHOUT the Church and WITH the Church. We now realize that God has a much larger agenda than just the work of the Church. There is evidence that God is already working in the world long before the Church comes along to be a part of God’s work. For example the world was ahead of the Church in: eliminating slavery; bringing about civil rights; empowerment of women; empowering minorities; and in caring for the environment. Hence, the Sierra Club knocks at the door of my Episcopal friend, and together they find a common meeting ground in Christ’s word of justice.
Dr. Mead went on to say many more important things about this new paradigm for mission, but I would like now to just emphasize this: The Church does not have THE ANSWER, but we have a RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ONE WHO HAS THE ANSWER. Belonging to church allows one to develop a relationship with God, a relationship that brings hope to a broken world, a relationship that sustains you as you participate in God’s mission of love. You, the laity, are the primary actors in mission as your lives are centered in the every day work of God in the world. Clergy are here to support you in your life of mission. But it is the work of every baptized person to seek out the hurt and pain of the world and try to bring healing. That is what evangelism really means.
So what are we called to do, here at St. Jude’s, to fulfill the mission of the Church in our little corner of the world? First, we need to have confidence in developing our relationship to God and each other in Christ. We need to trust one another enough to share when we are hurting, to ask for support, for prayers, for practical help when needed. For if we ask one another for support here, we will be spiritually stronger when we go out into the world to offer Christ’s healing hope to those who do not make their way to our sanctuary. Second, we need to practice radical hospitality. When someone new does take the really big step of coming on our campus and through our doors, let’s greet them with kindness. I Thess. says, “Greet one another with a holy kiss!” Bend over backwards to help them find their way through the worship and into fellowship. They have probably come here in some state of transition, which usually means pain. They came to experience the healing hope we offer in the name of Christ. This experience begins with you, as you greet them with love.
This Advent let’s get started with new relationships based on the hope of Christ. Why don’t you invite people to various joyous events: today’s choir concert with St. Luke’s, Sunnyvale; Christmas Caroling in the neighborhood next Sunday afternoon; the Choir’s concert at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, San Jose; our Christmas Eve services; or in January, our Adult Forum programs such as Dr. Fred Luskin on Forgiveness, or Dr. Mollie Galloway from the Stressed Out Students organization. Perhaps then, we will have more opportunities to “make the God connection” as we share the hope of our heart, found in Christ’s healing love.
AMEN
| Updated 12/13/05 |
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