July 5, 2015

          As we reflect with happy nostalgia about the people and events that lead to our country’s independence, we may forget how uncertain and dangerous those events were. Today we have bright colors and brass bands, with marble monuments in the background. At the time we were lead by untested leaders, experimenting with new ideas. It turned out well for us and for the world. However, those first patriots might have been executed as treasonous rebels.

         Saint Paul, our patron saint, is our exemplar. We find wisdom and guidance in his words. He may have not had the same relationship with churches in his day. He had an especially difficult relationship with the church in Corinth. They were wealthy and wise. They liked to show off their eloquence and their sophisticated attitudes. Paul seemed to come off as pushy and a little odd looking. He did not fit the image of the cultured orator. They made fun of him.

         Paul writes to the church in Corinth about his own impressive spiritual gifts. He has had visions of the third heaven. (The sky is the first heaven, the stars are the second heaven, and the third heaven is paradise.) Yet even so, he tells about how God chose to not heal him of a “thorn on the flesh.” Paul had some sort of physical difficulty, (epilepsy? a limp, a deformity? No one knows.) Paul uses this as proof of how God works. It is not by sight or cleverness. God doesn’t use popularity or plain proofs. God uses the weak and the foolish to save the world.

         Jesus returns to his hometown. People have mixed feelings. They know he is a famous teacher and wonder-worker. They’d like to see what he can do. They also remember Jesus as a child. They can’t imagine how he became something else. Who does he think he is? That’s just Mary’s kid! They town doesn’t believe in him, so he can’t do much good there. So Jesus looks out and begins to share his message to the surrounding villages.

         It is in this context of failure and disbelief that Jesus begins a new work with his disciples. It is not after some great miracle, or while huge crowds are gathered around. When the town of Nazareth doesn’t think too much of Jesus or his message, it is then that Jesus sends the disciples out two by two, to share the good news. It is as the disciples see Jesus rejected and relatively powerless that they are asked to teach and heal as Jesus does.          Not very encouraging, is it? This is how God works. We forget this. We get caught up in memories of success. We live in a culture that values success based on numbers and outcome and profit and loss. God seems to always be turning things upside down on us.

         We are living in an upside down world. Nothing is as we remember and we don’t know how the world will change. We have anxiety about this. We mourn many people and good things that we have lost. We can take courage from realizing that it is just this context that God chooses to work powerfully. It is just this context that God calls us to act.

         I have been reading a source book for the missional church by Alan Roxburgh. He reflects that the church has always been in a dialogue with the gospel and the culture. We see this quite clearly in how Jesus send out the disciples. They have a mission to proclaim good news and to bring gifts of blessing and healing. At the same time, they go with no expectations. They work with who or what they find. They give gifts and also will receive gifts. This is a kind of interaction that we have forgotten.

         We are so used to being an institution (and a respected on at that), that we have forgotten that we are a movement. We are part of a conversation with the world around us. Our purpose is not to bless whatever we see in culture, nor is it to condemn it. We are to be part of this world and proclaim the good news we know in this very real world of the here and now. It is no longer adequate to find our niche and attract people to this place, this room, or this community. The whole town is our community and our context.

         This means we have to let go of the idea of attracting members. Instead we have to take on the work of bringing good news out into the world. We will find that God is already there. There is work to be done right in front of us. We have to get used to traveling light. We have to get used to the idea that we are not to carry answers or spiritual gifts that the world cannot find with out us. We are not special or privileged. We are simply fortunate enough to know God and to have something to share.

         I am not proposing that we go door to door by twos and impose ourselves in some sort of artificial way. I’m proposing that we get used to the idea that our Christian lives are lived most fully outside of these doors. I’m not suggesting that we all become evangelists and force our faith on others. I’m proposing that we acknowledge the presence of God everywhere, and look for the movement of the spirit wherever we find ourselves.

         The first step is to live whole lives – not compartmentalized into different categories of work, school, home, and church. The next step is to have the courage to be Christian in every context. This will not mean speaking Christian jargon at every opportunity. It is the willingness to live with integrity wherever we find ourselves. This will also require humility and listening. We assume that we do not know what God is doing everywhere. We assume that if we pay attention, we will see God at work and we will discover new ways of working with God.

         This gathered community is still vitally important. We are no longer the end and purpose of our common work. We don’t need to get more members so we can pay the bills. We need to live faithfully in a fractured, wounded world where people are used to suffering in isolation. As we step outside these walls (and any other barriers we have constructed) we invite a new vision to people around us. We offer a new path to God’s love.