Click to hear ths sermon  sermon090712

I begin this morning by reading from the 2008 Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church.

"These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also ... " Acts 17: 6b

However, I do begin my remarks this morning with a verse, er, rather, a sentence from the Book of Discipline that states the central mission of the Church (with a capital "C" referring to the whole Church of Jesus Christ). I think it is an accurate statement.

"The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."¹

To make disciples ... A disciple is essentially an apprentice, defined as "one who is learning, especially by practical experience, under skilled workers, and often without pay, an art, trade or calling."² A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ: Jesus invited those who were with him to "follow me." So we seek to follow his example of compassion and healing. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ does not mean one has arrived/made it but that one is on the journey. Another definition of an apprentice is "a beginner."

But I want this morning to spend time on the balance of the purpose statement; "for the transformation of the world." That's a tall order!

One of the things I like about this statement is that it has a ‘this-worldly' focus. Occasionally (but not recently) someone will ask me if I'm going to heaven. My usual response is, ‘I leave that in God's hands.' God has given me to know and experience this life, not the details of heaven. My primary work on God's behalf, then, is in this life, in the here-and-now. In Jesus' use of the phrase, "the kingdom of God," he seemed to refer both to the life to come and to the present life. When, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus proclaimed, "the kingdom of God is at hand"³ he seemed to be saying that with his coming the kingdom was breaking in on our every-day life. We pray regularly, as Jesus taught us, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That can be threatening.

Paul and Silas (Paul's companion on this journey) arrive in the city of Thessalonica and, in the local synagogue, proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. This created a split in the congregation; some responding to his message positively, others negatively. Paul and Silas' reputation catches up with them. The synagogue leaders complain to the city authorities that "these people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also ... " Again the two are sent packing!

Working for transformation in any area of life usually threatens not only the status quo but those who have a vested interest in it. It is their world that is being turned "upside down." The authorities in Iran saw the protests over the recent elections as a threat. Their world was being turned upside down. As Christian disciples seek to turn the world 'right side up,' are they not inclined (bound) to be 'disturbers of the peace' and order? Certainly that was Jesus' experience. The Jewish authorities saw him as a threat and took measures to eliminate him.

Now I come to the second two-word phrase in my title. In order to engage the world the church needs to be turned "inside out." This image suggests to me that, especially in difficult times, there is a temptation for churches to focus inward, on the institution, on maintenance, on 'paying the bills,' rather than on its mission. Paying the bills and maintenance are important, of course, as I very well know, but if they distract us from engaging in the mission to which we are called - ­transforming the world - then we must look again and reassess what we are doing. We are called to turn "inside out," to engage the world and to work toward its transformation.

            In the current economic times, some American businesses and institutions are being forced to make radical readjustments to be, hopefully, more vibrant, more profitable. The church here in the northeast may need some retooling to focus on, or become more effective in, serving its mission.

Many of you are engaged with the world in one way or another. For some it may need to be within the family circle-with an aging parent, a troubled child, a sibling needing support, a close friend facing a very difficult circumstances. For others it is perhaps somewhere in our immediate community, relatively close to home; the B.I.K.E Club, food pantry, tutoring, providing school supplies for a city school. For still others it may be, from time to time, a little further away­ - Central Appalachia, Texas, Zimbabwe - where needs are very great.

Andrew Highland, a young man out of Ithaca, NY, spoke the end of May at a NCNY Annual Conference breakfast. He is a new Church and Community Worker (a U.S. missionary) and now serves as director of Looking Glass Community Services in a rural area outside Lansing, Michigan, working among low income people living in four mobile home parks.

            In an essay he wrote Andrew says "When I was a sophomore in high school, I went to our local soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes, on a cold January night, and I volunteered there for the first time. That night, I saw a painting on the wall in the dining room. In the painting, an old man sat on a park bench by himself. Above him were the words of Jesus, 'Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'⁴ The experience of seeing that painting changed my life. For the first time, I began to understand how powerful faith can be when it is lived out."

As he told this story at the AC, he indicated he was, of course, familiar with these words of Jesus, but, put with the painting of the old man, the words took on personal, contemporary significance that moved him deeply.

Andrew continues; "In many ways, I feel as though my journey began that night, even though I had been going to church with my parents ever since I was born. I began to regularly work as a volunteer at Loaves and Fishes, and I tried to understand God's presence in the lives of the people whom we served. When I was 16, I made the decision to be confirmed, and I went on my first work trip, to Puerto Rico, with our youth group." 

Andrew is a graduate of Duke University and the Candler School of Theology, Emory University. While at Emory in Atlanta, GA, he worked for the Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services and as a Community Organizer for the United Mine Workers of America.

It was in his interaction with the world that suddenly, for Andrew, familiar words of Scripture took on a deeper meaning that changed/set the direction of his life. A disciple of Jesus Christ has become directly involved in the mission of the church to transform the world.

My prayer is that our youth discover in their ministry of meeting human need, that familiar words of Scripture will take on personal meaning in their lives and, maybe, affect their plans for the future.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."⁵

Lord, there are so many needs we see about us in our world. Use us as laborers, as individual disciples and as the Church, in your work of transforming the world. Amen.

¹ 2008 Book of Discipline, paragraph 120

² Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, ca 1950

 ³ Mark 1:15

⁴ Matthew 25:40 

⁵ Matthew 9:35-38