Reflections on "One Thing I Need from My Church: Worship" Matthew 28: 16-20; Amos 5: 21-27

I ended up enjoying this sermon.  The references to this particular church's ministries and giving patterns was an intentional effort to remind the congregation of mission opportunities and mission support that we have in our local congregation.

In retrospect, the Matthew passage both fits and does not fit the sermon.  The power of the Matthew passage is the clear sense that Christ expects the disciples to go out into the world.  The slippery slope is that the sermon was focusing on mission that is probably less "baptzing" and "teaching" than helping others.  

I'm not sure how well the Washington reference worked.  For me, it worked because I know about Washington's "Farewell Address."  If that nugget from history was not part of a listener's background, the illustration loses some of its impact.

“One Thing I Need from My Church: Worship” February, 2015; FPC, Troy, Matthew 28:16-20; Amos 5: 21-27

Introduction: Reflecting on what we need from our church. Mission – may seem rather basic, but it's so important, I want to spend a few minutes this morning reflecting on why we need our church to engage in in mission.

Move 1: First of all, we need to our church to engage in mission because it challenges us to live out the biblical mandate.

a. Matthew 28 – Jesus' final words on the Gospel of Matthew.

1.  George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796 – not actually spoken, but written.

Washington used these final words as he left the presidency to persuade the American people.

(If you are interested, a summary of the content is as follows: President Washington decided to retire after serving 2 terms (established 2-term tradition for presidents, "silent law")
• His Farewell Address was never delivered orally, but it was printed in newspapers.
• Washington strongly advised against "permanent alliances" like the Franco-American Treaty of 1778 (that was still in effect). He favored "temporary alliances" in the case of emergencies - this would keep the weak nation together (and out of war!)
• Significance: Washington warned against political parties and promoted neutrality, 2 things that would be broken in the future. Washington set a precedent for keeping a strong national government, promoting patriotism, and keeping morality in the government (http://www.studyapush.com/2009/10/washingtons-farewell-address.html)

2. In similar fashion, Jesus has final words with his disciples before he ascends to heaven.
3. As his disciples gather there, we are told that some are still full of doubt, but I also suspect that all are hopeful that Jesus will give them the plan for what they are supposed to do.
4. Jesus does not disappoint them. He gives them the blueprint for their future ministry: Go into the world baptizing and teaching.
5. A call to action. Not passively waiting for Jesus to return, but actively serving as Christ would if were present with them.

b. This expectation Jesus has, of course, is not a new expectation for God's people.

1. we hear the words of the prophet Amos this morning and are reminded that God had expectations for the Israelites, both collectively and individually, long before the birth of Christ.

2.  Their worship does not matter; their sacrifices do not matter; in fact, their rich lifestyle will be held against them because what matters is doing justice and showing forth God's righteousness in the world.

3. Built into the DNA of God's people, if you will, is the call to engage in mission.

Quite simply, we need our church to be the church and help us live out our calling to do mission in the world.

Move 2: Secondly, when our church engages in mission, our church challenges us to engage the world

a. Karl Barth: “As [Christ’s] community [the Church] is always free from itself. In its deepest and most proper tendency it is not churchly, but worldly—the Church with open doors and great windows, behind which it does better not to close itself in upon itself again by putting in pious stained-glass windows. It is holy in its openness to the street and even the alley, in its turning to the profanity of human life—the holiness which, according to Rom. 12:5, does not scorn to rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep. Its mission is not additional to its being. It is, as it is sent and active in its mission.” Church Dogmatics, IV/1, p. 725.

1. Easy to see the church as a place to escape from the world.

2. We gather in the sanctuary with beautiful stained glass windows that Barth describes.
3. But the church's purpose is not to sit in this sanctuary separated from the world, but to gather here to be sent back into the world.

4. when our church is at work in the world, it pushes us to recognize that our calling is lived out not behind the doors of the church, but as we live our lives in the world.

5.  Mission is more than mission trips that go to a specific place for a specific task.

Mission is more than engaging in a particular activity like Troy Concern.

Mission is a way of life that calls us to engage the world.

b. What do you think? If the church did not encourage us to do mission, would we find other places to do it.

1. Perhaps. There are other groups that help others, but the church has unique perspective that provides a foundation to doing mission.
2. I read an article recently about young adults who do mission, but are not necessarily connected to church.
3. The author notes that there is a looming crisis – burn-out. (“AS I see it, there are two impending crises. The first will come from the burnout that many of these young adults will face as they continue to serve in our communities.”)
4. A sense of hopelessness or helplessness will overcome those engaged in mission because the task will seem endless or unattainable.
5. the author goes on to note that “When one is engaged in fights that never end and causes that are never conquered, being faithful eventually must replace the hope of being successful.” (I regret that I did not get a source citation when I read this article).
6. But the church engages us in mission because our call to mission is not based on completing the task, but on our faith that teaches us and calls us to engage the world in mission.
7. Think about the Peace Candle – we light it every month and speak words of peace, even though our world does not even seem close to peace.

The church engages the world and gives us a faith perspective as a foundation for our work in the world.

Move 3: Thirdly, the church connects us as we do mission.

a. connects with other people.

1. People in other places

2. people within our own community.

3. breakfast Club or Troy Concern are great examples of how members of our church connect with people they might not otherwise know with the common bond being the mission activity.

100. Connections within our own faith community.

1. We develop community as we do mission together.

2. Power of connectedness – when we cannot do mission, others do it for us.

Move 3: Finally, the church engages us in mission to change us

a. Part of the church's role in mission is to challenge us to change and model for us what it means to take seriously the call to serve others.

1. In the past couple of years, the Session of this congregation has made several financial decisions to support mission.
2. As you may recall, two years ago when the Session established a plan for some bequests the church received, they set aside some of those funds to be used for mission each year.
3. Last month when the Session decided what to do with the surplus at the end of 2014 due to your generosity, extra funds were given to benevolences.

4. why? In part, of course, because that is what we do as the church.

5. but that decision was also made to model for all of us how we are called to use our resources to engage in mission.

6. If you wonder what to do when you run into some extra money or if you want to grow in you personal stewardship, you need only to look at these recent actions of this church's leadership to be reminded that using our gifts to do mission is a high priority.

b. The church also encourages us to engage in “hands-on” experiences.

1. Not just giving money, but giving of ourselves.

2. Two priests served parishes in the same Canadian city. I forget their real names, so will call them Al and Sam. Sam liked to eat his lunch in a park near his church. He'd eat his sandwich and watch the birds and people. Over time, he became acquainted with some of the homeless people who frequented the park. As they began to know and trust Sam, they started asking him to share his sandwich with them. Sometimes he'd give away half his sandwich, sometimes all of it. So he started bringing two sandwiches, so he'd have more to share. The two grew to three, and four, and five, and pretty soon he had members of his parish involved in making and distributing sandwiches. The program grew until they were distributing hundreds of sandwiches every Tuesday to the homeless and destitute in the area. The newspapers got hold of the story and published an article about Sam's sandwich ministry. Al read the story and was impressed. He sent Sam a letter telling him Al and Al's parishioners were praying for Sam's ministry and wanted to support it. He enclosed a check from the church for $250. A few weeks later, Al received an answering letter from Sam. It read, "Dear Al. Thank you for your support and prayers. Make your own damned sandwiches." The $250 check was enclosed, uncashed. (At the time I read this story, I was not tracking sources as well as I do now).

3. The claim of mission is not just on our financial resources, but on our time and talents.
4. The Endowment committee of our church has seed money to give to anyone who wants to go on a mission trip; we are working to put together an adult mission trip for the summer; we send our youth to KY every fall on a mission project and schedule other mission activities for them throughout the year.
5. Why? Because part of the church's task is to invite us to be changed as we live out our calling to serve God in our world.
   We need our church to engage in mission to model for us and challenge us to be changed.

Conclusion: “In This Corner” by Marj Carpenter: “A Presbyterian Hunger committee group talking to a local congregation pointed out, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. But if you teach him to fish, what happens?” One you woman quickly answered, “You get rid of him on weekends.”

A lot of unexpected things can happen when you engage in mission!

But at the core, we go into the world because God sends us to serve God's people.