Fourth Pillar: Mission

 MISSION:  FOURTH PILLAR

October 2, 2011

WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY

Series of Four Sermons

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Micah 6: 6-8

What God Requires

⁶  “With what shall I come before the LORD,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

⁷  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

⁸  He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Luke 4: 16-21

¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

I.  Mission and Missionaries

There is an urban church in a small Cleveland neighborhood that recently asked the presbytery and the General Assembly Mission Council:

“Please send us a Missionary!”

     

Perhaps urban churches in distressed neighborhoods need more than what a traditional pastor can offer.  A missionary?  Why not?  While the work of the church goes on in distressed nations around the globe, many of the pressing needs of people are on the HOMELAND – this country -- America, where we find hungry children, homeless families, women and men looking for jobs…..streets where the prevalence of gangs and crime continue to tear at the fabric of community life. 

And consider this thought:  Perhaps God has already called us – each and every one of us -- to be missionaries in this community!   

“Missio” means “to send”…. God has already sent us to be missionaries in this community to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind;  to feed the hungry and provide shelter for the homeless;  to let the oppressed go free.” 

While core activities of the church revolve around the pillars of worship and education and fellowship, mission is in bringing Christ and God’s compassionate love into the community and world around us. 

Simply put, while God feeds our souls through worship as educated servants of God, we are in the end sent by God into this time and place to serve our Lord by serving others.  At the end of the day this isn’t your church or my church – this is Christ’s church where we are called to live out the commandment “to love our neighbors as much as we want to be loved ourselves!”  

II.

Historically, we’ve done a stellar job in doing Christ’s work in this community.  To commit the sin of boasting for a few moments, this is a short list of what we are doing as missionaries: 

Summer Magic—programming we do for community children

Debbie Davis is our missionary doing this work as director of this program

Also on this short list:

The East Side Soup Kitchen back in the late 90’s,along with the presence of the Nauseau Health Mobile, Hidden Harvest using our garage as a giant freezer….

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have had an active presence in our church

through the years

We are a mission outpost for the

Women of Colors and Mark Neumeyer Youth Center

And this is not to forget our support for:

Habitat for Humanity-Mother’s Day Offering

Rescue Mission

Millette Center Students who come to clean this Sanctuary

Every Monday morning

Good Neighbor Mission

Emmaus House

Christmas Store

The Two coins a meal offering

Crop Walk and Soupler Bowl of Caring raising funds

For overseas missions and local missions!

Gifts we collect for families at Christmas

And our special offerings:

Peace Offering

One Great Hour of Sharing

Christmas Joy Offering

And part of our church mission budget that goes to support

The mission work of the church around the globe.

The problem with lists like this – lists don’t show the smiles on the faces, relief in the hearts of those who are struggling, changes we are able to make happen in the lives of others because we are Christ’s open and inclusive, loving and caring church. 

Granted, some of our help is temporary and short-lived!  What we give the neighborhood is limited only because we have become a smaller congregation.  We are not as young as we used to be.  None the less, we continue to make a significant difference in the lives of people near and far. 

Today is World Communion Sunday.  We receive a special offering and 25%of that offering remains here to help us maintain our church playground. This fourth pillar essential in doing ministry:  MISSION.  Mission, is an essential part of our identity as a church.  Something we have said repeatedly:  Without he work we do in this community through the use of this building, we lose our identity.

It’s not hard to say with conviction:  We are a Missional church! 

Digging Deeper…….

III.  SOCIAL CREED FOR THE 21^ST CENTURY

A few years ago I introduced you to an important missional document, the “Social Creed for the Twenty-First Century”.  This was back when I first started using “missional” language to describe the work of the church. 

There is so much to think about in this creed I decided to give you a copy again – if only to focus on the last paragraph: 

“We—individual Christians and churches--commit ourselves to a culture of peace and freedom that embraces non-violence, nurtures character, treasures the environment, and builds community, rooted in a spirituality of inner growth with outward action. We make this commitment together—as members of Christ’s body, led by the one Spirit—trusting in the God who makes all things new.”

Inner growth is always paired with outward action, just as the work of preparing the soil is followed by the planting of seeds.  We are planting seeds in this community.  Outward action – the small acts of compassion, an anonymous good deed, a letter or note, a donation, a phone call to check in on an acquaintance…..and bigger decisions that have changed the culture of this church…..and this church changing the culture of this street and neighborhood…..what a momentous decision back in the 1970’s when this church decided to stay in this neighborhood…..and using this building to support programming for children in this neighborhood.  We’re so blessed not only to have this church – but for the children – a playground and Gym!

What would this street look like without this church?  The simple presence of this church sends a message that we care – and yes, God cares for the people in this community.

IV.  RISKY BUSINESS

We have learned some valuable lessons along the way as a church discerning God’s will for us in doing Christ’s work in this community.  Being a church in a neighborhood like this comes with a certain amount of risk.  Missionary work is risky.

One lesson we learned, when we risked some years ago opening our doors to the East Side Soup Kitchen.  More recently we opened our doors to the Women of Colors organization and the youth center…..and we learned that we don’t have the capacity or resources to do this work ourselves so we broker these things out for others to do…. work that is consistent in doing mission as a Presbyterian church in this neighborhood.    

When preaching sermons like this I am reminded of the quotes found in both the old and new constitutions of the church….A FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE that reminds me of the risk we have taken in the past as a church….

F-1.0301

The Church is the body of Christ. Christ gives to the Church all the gifts necessary to be his body. The Church strives to demonstrate these gifts in its life as a community in the world (1 Cor. 12:27–28):

The Church is to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life.”

From the Old Constitution: 

G-3.0400

“The Church is called to undertake this mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life, sharing the gospel, and doing those deeds in the world that point beyond themselves to the new reality in Christ.”  (G.3.0400)

We are not just members of this church in passively watching from a distance what is going on in the community.  We are missionaries called to be proactive in engaging in ministries of service to others.   Mission is in our blood!

Finally, in summarizing this four week series of sermons:

We worship God, the first pillar, in giving glory to God for all blessings received.

We are an informed, educated church. We believe in looking toward scripture and the confessions of the church to guide us in the work we do.  

The third pillar is fellowship – our emphasis in doing God’s work together as a community of faith—having some fun in doing God’s work in this community. 

Today, we acknowledge that we can’t keep what God has given us bottled up within these sacred walls. We are called to share the good news of the gospel with others. 

For truly,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us,

because he has anointed us as Christians

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent us, in the name of our lord, to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

May God continue to bless us as a missionaries sent from God, through this church, to serve the community and world around us.

Amen.