Sermons In Time

The Church In Mission

Trinity Sunday

Years ago, Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote these words:

"The world stand out on every side, not wider than the heart is wide. Above the world is stretched the sky, ho higher than the soul is high; the heart can push the sea and land far away on either hand; the soul can split the sky in two, and let the face of God shine through. But East and West will pinch the heart that cannot keep them pushed apart; and he whose soul is flat, the sky will cave in on him by and by."

"The world stands out on either side, no wider than the heart is wide!"

I know of no other phrase which more graphically expresses the challenge to the Church which God has raised: "To push the sky back on either side and let the face of God shine through!"

The Church is many things, but "The Church exists for Mission as a fire exists for burning."

Early in the ministry of Jesus, he stood in the Temple and read from the Book of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor, release to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind; to free those whom tyranny has crushed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

What is the Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ? For many, the basic task of the Church is Evangelism: to tell the story of how Jesus lived and died that we might have life; that we might be forgiven of our sins, and have life abundant and eternal. The story which is told again and again, told from generation to generation is the story of the Good News about God's Love. Someone has reminded us that the Church is only one generation from extinction at all times. It will be extinct when we cease to tell the story, and we only have to stopr telling it for one generation. The children will not know, and it will die.

One only has to listen to the words of Isaiah we read earlier from the lips of Jesus to realize the mission of the Church is not only one of evangelism, but also of Social Justice. One only has to look at the world around us to understand the need for justice. We see those who are suffering because of the lack of health care, and health ministries, including both clinics and hospitals throughout the world to be established. One can see the illiterate of the world, and we establish schools. We see people suffering injustice, and pastors in Local Churches become involved in community action to make a difference for their people. It has long been the tradition of the United Methodists to not only respond to the immediate needs that are seen, but also to establish some form of ongoing ministry through a mission or an institution.

When I was a young pastor, missions were far, far away. They were in far away places with strange sounding names. To meet a real live missionary was an adventure in itself. There was something about the mission that was mysterious and romantic. Even the missionary him/her self was "different." They seemed almost otherworldly, like out of an old National Geographic. Magazine.

It used to be said that the sun never set on the British Empire. It was also evident that the sun never set on the Mission Stations of the United Methodist Church. Some of us can still remember when the women of the Church were divided between the Ladies Aid Society and the Women's Foreign and Home Mission Society. The uniting of these two caused no small stir. In the 1960's there was a deliberate change of emphasis in the way "mission" was seen by the Church. The local church was encouraged to get involved in mission "close to home." Sometimes the "mission" was as close as your next door neighbor. The Church looked around, and discovered neighborhoods were changing, that there were issues needing to be addressed as important as those far away.

The Church began to focus on the close at hand and the here and now. Monies that had been invested in the lives of the world were now being used in the cities, in rural churches, in tasks which were close by.

It was during the time Lyndon Johnson was President that the mind set was established that there was no limit to what could be done for people, both at home and abroad. But it did not take long for the reality of limits to be recognized. Mission stations that had been out on the frontier of where the world was reaching began to scale back. Some closed completely. The supply of missionaries began to diminish. At least on third fewer persons were "out there" than during the time of the "Short term missionary" But more desperately, whole groups of people who had depended upon the church for medical care and education were left without adequate funding.

The crisis in mission became very real. Nor has the work begun in the 1960's diminished in need. The world did not and does not need a quick fix. Desperate needs close at home continue to plague us as Christians. It does not take long to see the massive need of the Human Spirit to which the Church is called upon for response "just around the corner!"

The other day when we were talking about the Vacation Bible School mission project, the need for food and clothing alone at five different mission projects of our won United Methodist Church are a crying need today. And when we think of the changing face of our society, this is but the tip of the iceberg! It would be inconceivable that for one moment those tasks which are close to home would be given up. These are concerns and interest of our own community, and other communities just like out own across the state. Bu it is also true that the Church has seen itself moving out into the uttermost parts of the world to preach the Gospel and to heal the lives of people who are desperately in need of the hope which Jesus Christ alone can bring.

Today, there is confusion in the Church about her Institutions. What about the Ewha School in Korea? What about the millions in India who have never heard the Gospel? What about Bangladesh, Paraguay Mozambique, as well as Western Kansas, the Inner city of Wichita, the Colleges, the Seminaries, the hospitals and clinics and the growing need for nursing care? Does the Church continue to be in mission in these places, or turn that work over to the world - which often does not have the heart of Christ as a focus in their work?

Who will say, "Here I am, Send Me!"

The answer is not so difficult as it may seem. The mission of the Church is all that we have looked at today. It is a very large and complex ministry today. All of us are an important link in that total ministry.

One might compare this mission with a group of Mutual Funds. As one invests in Mutual Funds, there are many details about the funds that one does not necessarily have immediately at hand, but information about the individual investments is available. It is also possible that one investing in such funds might have a favorite fund, or even stock, and invest in that as an individual. The bulk of the funds, however, are manages by those the investor trusts. Along the way, by regularly investing in these funds, one grows in their understanding of the market, and has an increasing investment in the market doing well. There are a number of analogies one can draw from this comparison:

1. First, It is important not to be overwhelmed with the size of the mission. When one realizes that along with ten to twelve million other members from all around the world, we are all in this together. The total ministry of the church's mission is both diverse and richly rewarding. As United Methodists, we are a part of a vast work for the Lord in both Evangelism and in caring ministries throughout the world.

2. Second, it is not necessary for us to make all the decisions about that ministry. It is important, however, for there to be trust of those who are making those decisions. In the case of the mutual funds, there are managers of each fund who are given responsibility for sound investment. So also the church. Those who are making the basic decisions are the representatives from the local church to Annual Conference - in this case, your pastor and a lay person. We are the elected one you have chose to represent you and in turn we elect those who represent all of us.

3. Third, at the local church level, we sometimes get stuck with the feeling that all we are doing is giving money to causes that do not involve us. Such is not the case. But even more important, I know it is vital that through our commission on missions, our church school, vacation bible school, and every other way, we become acquainted with the mission: that which is, for us, the "stock" in which we invest as a church. It is one of the deep desires of my heart for us as the People of God to move beyond the mystery of the multiplicity of mission and ministry tp a familiarity of appreciation for the work of God we are a part of throughout the world. Money is not a very intimate way to relate to anything. But it does represent caring and people and the love of God when it is seen and experienced as a sharing of ourselves as individuals and as a church.

4. Finally, as the local church participates in this massive ministry of mission, we come to realize that although we cannot keep track of it all, we can know those pieces of it which are close at hand, and as we get our "hands on" experiences from that which we know, it becomes representative of all the work of the church - both Untied Methodist, and all other churches included - to which God calls us in our time.

Do not despair. Be of good courage. Know that undergirding all that the church does - both well and not so well - God is at work redeeming this world which Christ loved and redeems. It is to that love and redeeming grace we bear witness in the total ministry of the church. There is nothing in all this world to compare with it. Amen

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