February 13, 2022: Imagine: A Missional Church
Luke 6:17-26 (The Message)
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:
You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.
God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.
Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.
You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.
“Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.
But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made.
What you have is all you’ll ever get.
And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself.
Your self will not satisfy you for long.
And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.
There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.
“There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.
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Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been imagining together the future of our church—getting “back to the basics”—remembering what a faithful church is called to be and to do. The first week, we talked about the importance of intentionality, then over the last two weeks we looked at the “vertical” dimension of church life—the part of our life together that connects us to God: discipleship which leads us deeper in faith, then worship which lifts our hearts and minds heavenward.
Today we shift our attention to the “horizontal” dimension of church life—our relationships with others. Next week we’ll consider the internal aspect of community life—our relationship to one another as we welcome each other “in” to the community of faith. This week, I invite you to consider the outward dimension of church life, specifically, our relationship to the world around us. So to recap:
Imagine an intentional church . . .
Imagine a discipling church . . .
Imagine a worshiping church . . .
And today:
Imagine a missional church.
Let’s begin by looking at the scripture lesson for today from the Gospel of Luke. Matthew’s Gospel gives us the “Sermon on the Mount.” Luke’s Gospel, in contrast, gives us the “Sermon on the Plain.” Which is just like Luke. Matthew, the good Jew, sets the “Messiah” up on the mountain to teach the people. Luke, the Gentile physician, places the “Son of Man” on the plain with the people.
I’ve got to admit, Jesus’ teaching here makes me a bit uncomfortable as he offers blessings to the down and out and woes to the comfortable. In this passage, Jesus sets out to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Which are you? Are you the “comfortable” or are you the “afflicted?”
I’ve mentioned my lectionary group to you before—a small group of pastors I meet with weekly to study the lectionary texts. As we began talking about this passage, we acknowledged that this text is a bit off-putting, especially as we recognize that although many of us may not consider ourselves wealthy by American standards, but globally and historically speaking, most of us are rich by comparison. Yikes! “Woe to us?” (Or as The Message puts it) “Trouble ahead for us?”
But then as we began talking, we came to the realization that each of us at times in our lives have been among the suffering—that all people know suffering no matter how rich or fortunate someone might be—all people know suffering in ways both large and small.
So this text—meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable—this text speaks to all of us, calls us to recognize that:
1. when things seem terrible and heartache sets up camp in our lives, God’s blessings are there in the midst of our pain, and
2. when things seem to be going great and our privilege blinds us to the world’s suffering, we’d better not get too comfortable with our heads in the sand.
Which are you today? Are you comfortable in need of a wakeup call? Or afflicted in need of some comfort? What are we to do with this upside-down, inside-out teaching?
In Father Henri Nouwen’s classic book, The Wounded Healer, he recounts a story he read in the Talmud, an ancient text containing Jewish laws and legends:
Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi came upon Elijah the prophet . . . He asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?” Elijah replied, “Go and ask him yourself.” “Where is he?” “Sitting at the gates of the city.” “How shall I know him?” “He is sitting among the poor covered with wounds. The others unbind all their wounds at the same time and then bind them up again. But he unbinds one at a time and binds it up again, saying to himself, ‘Perhaps I shall be needed: if so I must always be ready so as not to delay for a moment.’”[1]
We are Christ’s disciples when we see ourselves as “wounded healers.” Ready to go into the world and do our part to repair the hurt and brokenness all around.
The Jews have a word for this: “tikkun olam.” Tikkun olam is the idea that people of faith are responsible for creating a better world through acts of kindness and healing deeds.
Christian theologians teach a similar concept they call “missio dei,” Latin for the “mission of God.” That God’s work is the healing of the world, what we pray when we say, “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Our job, as followers of Christ, is to join God in mission. We get to be a part of God’s great reclamation project!
How do we know this is what Christ wants from us? Think about some of the last recorded statements from Jesus in the Gospels—his final words to his followers:
In the last chapter of Matthew: “Go therefore and make disciples.” (Matthew 28:19)
In the last chapter of Mark: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news.” (Mark 16:15)
In the last chapter of Luke: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed.” (Luke 24:47)
In the last chapters of John: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” (John 20:21) and finally, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)
Do you think Jesus wanted us to just sit around “believing” or to get off our keisters and serve?
Every Christ-follower is called to be a missionary. No exemptions. This doesn’t mean we have to go to Africa or some far away land. Rather, we are called to be Christ’s ambassadors in and through our daily living right here in Clearwater or Largo or Dunedin or wherever you live.
And when we come together as a church, we’re more than a family of believers, we’re a community of the called, a montage of missionaries, a society of servants, a gaggle of good-news spreaders (shall I go on or do you get my point)?
What does that look like?
It looks like folks from our church coming together, like they did yesterday, to build a Habitat for Humanity house with and for a neighbor.
It looks like people from our church volunteering, like they did this week, for meals on wheels, taking nutritious food to homebound neighbors.
It looks like people from our church preparing and serving, like they do every month, meals to the homeless through Peace Cafe.
It looks like people from our church picking up food from Publix, like they do every week, and taking it to the food bank.
It looks like raising money through Beachwalk, which we did last weekend, to send to Hope Villages so they can house families and victims of domestic violence and operate a food bank.
It looks like sending money to the Clearwater Free Clinic—it’s doubtful we could offer a medical clinic by ourselves—but we can do our part to help the Free Clinic provide medical care!
And not only that, but we are also thinking about and working toward new forms of missional engagement in our community.
Recently we launched a program called “Healing the Divides.” This was borne out of several people in our church heartbroken, recognizing a growing polarization among people in our community and even within some of our own families. “What can we do?” some of us wondered. “Can we be a part of healing some of this division?” (Do you see the concept of “tikkun olam” at work here? Of “missio dei”?) We recognized that our Christian education ministry could take a stab at this brokenness, so several folks met together over the course of months to discuss how we might be a part of the solution with Minister of Education Joe Creegan taking the lead. We said several times along the way, “If we can’t figure this out in the church, then there’s not a lot of hope for the rest of the world.” So last week we launched the program, beginning with some classes designed to help us grow in awareness about ways we might be polarized ourselves, and how to communicate with those we might not agree with, especially on hot-button issues. But these classes are just the first step in the “Healing the Divides” program. The next step, for those ready and willing to participate, is to become trained as facilitators so that we can take our learnings out into the community. Like healers—wounded healers unbinding and binding our wounds one at a time—that we might bring a measure of healing to our own community, even to our own families.
This is “missional” Christian education. Following the example of Jesus—bringing healing in the name of Christ—is there any better good news than that? Evangelism at its best!
Churches that most of us grew up in had an “attractional” model—“Let’s bring them in to church.” But churches that thrive in the years ahead will be “missional”—“Let’s take the church to them!” We’re already doing this in so many and varied ways.
Now, imagine a church even more “missional”—more committed to taking the good news to a hurting and broken world. What would that look like? What new ways might we be called to be salt and light in the world? How might God call us, as a church family, to make a difference in our world?
I asked a question a couple of years ago that resonated with some of you. The question was in two parts: “What breaks your heart?” and “What are you going to do about it?” I asked that question to you to consider individually as you seek to live into God’s calling for your life. But today I offer a twist on that question—the next level if you will. Let’s ask the questions collectively—as a church family: “What breaks OUR heart?” And the follow up: “What are WE going to do about it?”
I look forward to the months and years ahead as we discern together the answer to that question and grow as a missional community of faith—sharing the good news in word and deed—rising up to take our place in God’s great reclamation project!
[1] Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, New York: Image Books/Doubleday, 1979, p. 81-82.