FIRST READING— Acts 16: 4-10
As they traveled from town to town, they presented the simple guidelines the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. That turned out to be most helpful. Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size. They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.
That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.
SECOND READING—Matthew 10: 5-8, 40-42
Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
"We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."
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Great God, we seek Your word today. I pray that You will quiet our distractions and focus our hearts. May the words of my mouth and the reflections and responses of all our hearts bring glory to You. Amen
This is the last in our series of sermons based on traditional hymns of the Christian church. And I have saved the one closest to my heart for last. The words to “Be Thou My Vision” were written in Ireland in the 8th Century by an unknown Irish poet. The words were never translated from Gaelic to English until the very beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was set to the music of an old Irish folk song. Ireland was evangelized in the Fourth Century by St. Patrick—yes, that St. Patrick. His story is similar to the Apostle Paul’s about which we heard in our first reading. Patrick, at age 16, was initially taken from Scotland to Ireland as a slave after pirates descended on his little town. He states that it was during this time that he “gave his life to Jesus” and promised to follow Him. Patrick eventually escaped and returned home. His family begged him never to leave their little town again. One night, Patrick had a dream. In it, an Irishman was pleading with him to come evangelize Ireland. And, like St. Paul, Patrick answered the call.
Although his family was broken-hearted, he returned to Ireland with only a Bible in his hands. As he traveled around the countryside, multitudes came to listen. Although there were those who sought to kill him, his preaching was powerful and he is credited with planting over 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts. Centuries later, the Church of Ireland was still producing hymns, poems, and worship songs. It is from this rich tradition that our unknown poet penned “Be Thou My Vision”.
A pastor in any church has several roles—preacher, teacher, caregiver, nurturer, planner, and prophet. Many of us focus on the first five and hope that someone else will be the prophet. Prophets are not, by usual standards, very popular. There are times, however, when God gives us no choice, and this is one of those times for your pastor, this day. The songs and scriptures that God laid on my heart for this service are all closely related to asking God for a vision, or more appropriately put, stepping up and moving into the vision to which we are clearly called. Let me be perfectly clear, this is not a sermon about buying a church building. I will say that several more times today, because I want you all to really hear it. It is a sermon about doing the hard work of becoming a church.
But first, I return to Paul. Paul and others were traveling from town to town. The Jerusalem apostles and leaders had developed simple guidelines and Paul used those guidelines to plant new churches—they worked; the congregations became “stronger in faith and larger in size”. We will come back to these two elements of growth in a moment. Paul and the others had a plan for where to go next, but God blocked two of their plans. They finally ended up in Troas. There Paul had his famous dream—a person from Macedonia called to him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us”. Paul responded and the early church continued to grow. We focus on the dream, on the success and miss the earlier part of the story, where Paul had his own plan and God blocked it. What does this say to us? It says that when we listen, God will show us clearly the way to go. The way may seem hard and confusing—even with dead ends, but God has our best interest at heart and is preparing us for a larger ministry—of that I am sure.
Let’s return to the two criteria of growth of these early churches—larger in size AND stronger in faith. We’re getting the larger in size for sure, but I am convinced that we have a ways to go in the ‘stronger in faith’ department. And with one must come the other. So, we are left with the question—“what does it mean to be church?” What does it mean to grow both in size and faith? We don’t have to look hard to find God’s answer to the question. Our gospel reading which tells us the story of Jesus’ first charge to the “harvest hands” lays it out pretty clearly. Let’s look at it in detail:
First—the where—“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. Second, the who—“And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Third—the what—“Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. And, finally, the why—“You have been treated generously, so live generously.’
And then, the best news of all, Jesus gives us a promise that will uphold our faith work for all time—“We (Jesus and us) are intimately linked in this harvest work” says Jesus. “Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you.” Knowing that we will fail and feel frustrated, Jesus comforts us—“This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."
I have often heard Deacon Jean say this about Open Circle—“it’s a cup of cool water to my thirsty soul!” And, suddenly, I get it—we get it—that we are to be just that—cups of cool water to those who are thirsty. Aha, here is where we are challenged—challenged to know what people are thirsty for and what is the “cool water” for which they seek. Here is where we are challenged to be more than the wonderful worshipping community that we are. Here is where we are challenged to be “church”. Let me say that again: It is at this point that we are challenged by God to be more than mere worshippers of God. Here is where we are called, as Jesus sent the twelve, as God sent Paul to Macedonia and Patrick to Ireland—here is where we are called to be “church”.
Now, let me be honest. Would it be easier to be ‘church’—to offer the ministries that we are called to do in order to tell them that the kingdom is here and that they are loved, bring health to the sick, peace to the addicted, to raise those who are dead because of grief and loss, to touch the untouchables and bring them the love of God and all God’s children, and to kick out the demons of self-hate and doubt if we had a church building?. Yes, it would be easier and having a church MAY be in God’s plans for us sooner rather than later. But we have much discernment and searching to know God’s answer to that question. So, I say to you again: this is not a sermon about buying a church building. This sermon is about being ‘church’ which is far more important than a building in which to stand.
God is calling us to decide here and now if we have what it takes to move beyond worship into the world—from singing to serving and from hearing to doing. God is calling us to step up and make this “growing in faith” a priority in our lives and in the life of this church. God is calling us to BE the church—to step up and out, for each of us to meditate on the possibility of providing the sustenance of time, talent and treasure that this church needs to grow in faith—to spend time in prayer for this church and in discernment regarding what God would have you to do. It will take the involvement of every single person sitting here today and every single person who later reads or hears this sermon to answer God’s call for Open Circle. We are, I admit, in the proverbial “rock and a hard place”. But, is that not where God and we, the people of God, do God’s finest work? I believe that we have what we need to become church to our neighbors and to each other. I believe that God did not call us this far and bless us with all of you who have walked through these doors to say “ok, that’s enough!” There are hundreds who still need to hear what Open Circle has to share about God’s loving and radical welcome. And there are hundreds more who need a place such as this to serve and to grow into all that God calls them—calls YOU—to be. And so today, I challenge each and every one of us to ask ourselves seriously if we are ready to be ‘church’, if we are ready to move beyond a community who loves to gather in worship to a community who gathers to worship and grows in faith—a community who says ‘yes’ to the call to be God’s church in the world. May it be so. Amen and amen.
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