sending and going

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am always with you until the end of the age." Gospel of Matthew 28.  

My last post was on people leaving church.  Now I want to look at another angle.  Sending and going.  Church is not meant to be a stagnant community of people who remain together, huddled in a sanctuary until the end of time.  Church is an outward movement of the Holy Spirit sending Christ's followers into the world to share the gospel with power.  It is the people of God, freed and forgiven in Christ to love our neighbors with a radical, bold, and sacrificial love that changes lives and deepens our relationships with God. 
If our orientation is to hold on to one another forever against the cultural tide of mobility and change, then we are failing to grasp the commission and calling of the church as public witness for the world.
Jesus called fishermen and taught them to catch people.  What he also taught them was the capacity to catch and release them back into the proverbial sea.  Time and again, Jesus touches the lives of ordinary people dealing with overwhelming challenges in their lives, often with no support or care. Jesus' engagement with them provides the kind of support, compassion, forgiveness, and healing necessary for them to take up life again.  And it is clear that there is multiplication taking place as Jesus releases healed people back into community, who share their story with other broken people who need healing.  These people seek out Jesus because they are drawn to him by what others have said about him. Jesus catches, cleans, and releases people so that more people might be drawn to him.  So, if the church is a gathering of unchanged people, who have not yet experienced the fullness of God's love in their lives, then they will not likely share their faith and hope with others.  And there will be no multiplication, no release of the power of God to heal and rescue.   
Therefore, our orientation as followers of Jesus is outward, toward others.  As leaders, we are called to prepare and release God's beloved children to be salt and light and yeast and seeds in the soil of humanity.  So, if every gathering of Christians is not also a sending and going, it is not complete in its vocation. So much of our time and energy is spent on the gathering of the people of God, that we have forgotten how to send the people of God.  But now, Jesus is inviting and challenging his church to remember the apostles and the movement of the church from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.  We are always pioneers, moving beyond where we have been to be present where God is--in unexpected places.  Church is found where the beloved community is actively proclaiming in word and service what God has done for us.   
At the end of worship this is what we say:

The Spirit who gathers us here sends us forth to share the love of Christ with our neighbors, making disciples of Jesus Christ, and workers with us in the Kingdom of God. Go in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  May God the Father, Son +, and Holy Spirit bless you in your coming and in your going. Amen.                    

leaving

I have been a pastor in my current place of residence for 10 years now.  I have seen more people come and go from church than I can count.  Some people left church angry or dissatisfied.  Some people left church sad.  Some folks left church because they found something else.  Some people left church to get more rest or work or exercise or family time.  Some people left church because it wasn't interesting enough for them.  Some were just worn out.  Being the leader of a small church is challenging. Momentum waxes and wanes like the lunar calendar.  I've seen entire families come and go after a season or a year or two. Some people leave church because someone they loved died and they could not bear to be part of the Christian community again.  In the past year, I've seen people drift away from church:  People who were connected, involved, in leadership, as committed as anyone.      
People leave church. It's a common trend, well documented and publicized. We can read all the statistics and the explanations why people leave church. Books have been written about this from many perspectives.  There are generational analyses and social/ ethical claims and worship wars between the traditional/liturgical and the contemporary/evangelical.  Everyone has an answer for why people leave or don't go to church.  It's the church's problem.  Or it's a cultural phenomenon.  Or it's the wickedness of secularism. We guesstimate that only about 20% of Americans are worshiping on any given Sunday morning anymore. Patterns and lifestyles have changed.  Sunday morning is not the sacred time it once was.  But Sunday has not been replaced by some other day and time for people of Christian religious faith to gather.    
 
I'm personally tired of the analysis and the diagnoses of the problem with the irrelevant church or with the secular culture. I think we're missing something in the discussion.
 When people leave church, those who remain grieve. There is a sense of abandonment, personal failure, and even betrayal sometimes. Faithfulness has been spiritualized to the extent that faith is only about one's relationship with God. To have faith is to believe in God.  But, this narrow definition of faith has excluded important characteristics that have been observed and practiced for thousands of years. Faith is also about consistent, enduring loyalty to others. It is about constancy and steadfastness, even with people with whom one does not agree. Loyalty has been lost to consumerism and personal choice. If you don't like something, move on. We are a fickle and restless people, who cannot remain part of a thing long enough for that thing to become part of us.  The grass is always greener.  And there's always a reason to leave. 
But, the biblical witness, psalms and prophets, suggests that God's faithfulness to Israel was proved by long suffering and patient forbearance with an obstinate and rebellious people. Like a parent with a wayward child. Or a spouse with an unfaithful spouse. To be faithful is to show up, even with and for those lousy sinners. To be faithful is, according to Jesus to be abandoned by ones friends and betrayed into the hands of those who would kill you. That's love. It endures all things.
I have been here for ten years.  I'm surprised I've lasted this long.  I know pastors who have been in a place for forty.  I used to think that was too long. Now I'm not so sure.  I think it provides a countercultural witness that speaks to the enduring quality of faith.  I can't leave church. It's full of broken and messed up people. And when they leave, I grieve. Abandonment is the cross we bear. My hope is knowing that God will never abandon the church, the faithful servants of Christ in every age.

ninjas and vivofits and eternal life

³⁵ Jesus said to [the crowd,] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ⁴¹ Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Gospel of John 6.

We recently purchased a Ninja.  Not the Japanese fighting kind; though this one slices and dices at high speeds too.  A Ninja is an appliance, a machine that food processes and blends.  All I know is that we can make smoothies now.  I’m not much of a breakfast eater, but a good fruit smoothie works for me. Just add coffee and I‘m good to go.   I guess some smoothies can even include veggies, like kale and spinach.    We unboxed the Ninja and tested it last night, making a variety of smoothies for dinner.  We are overly impressed with this machine.  And the smoothies were delicious, and more importantly the right consistency.  No chunks.  No kale stuck in the teeth.  They were smooth smoothies.  We started imagining things, like starting our weekdays with smoothies that we can take along to school and work.  Smoothies will provide energy and nutrition.  Smoothies will assure a healthy breakfast.  Smoothies will help some of us gain a little weight and some of us lose a little weight.  They’re the magic bullet.  And there’s so much more we can do with the Ninja, that the Ninja can do for us.  Food processing means fresh ingredients.  Better food.  Healthier food.  Stronger bodies.  This is very good.  The Ninja adds value to our lives. 

Jesus says, "I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry."

And there’s this.  An activity tracker.  They’re the newest wearable technology.  It tells me when I’m being lazy and I need to get up and move.  It counts steps.  And it monitors my sleep.  It reminds me to get more active and to achieve my fitness goals.  I have fitness goals.  I’ve become interested in cycling.  And I like to run and swim. I may actually work up to a real triathlon, eventually.  Increased personal wellness has become a priority.  In 2014 I had knee surgery and a strange illness that kept me in bed for about two weeks.  I still think it was Lyme disease.  Anyway, so I’m taking matters into my own hands. Daily activity will increase. Walking, running, cycling, swimming.  On the farm we never needed to get more exercise.  Work was enough.  But Americans are relatively sedentary these days, with the health problems to show for it.  I want to lose the beer belly and gain some muscle and some endurance.  Hearth health is the key in my family.  No cancers, just heart issues.  So I can beat this.  Thank you Garmin Vivofit 2, with your partnership I will improve the overall quality of my physical health.

Jesus said,” I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Is it possible that my present and future life, the good and healthy life that God intends for God’s creatures, depends on Jesus?  Not the Ninja or the Vivofit?  Is it possible that we replace Jesus as the way of life with other things?  Do we seek to secure and satisfy ourselves with things other than Jesus?  We've been taught to believe that the bread of life is not Jesus, its money.  The more one has, the better one’s life becomes.  We accomplish the accumulation of material things that we deem necessary to improve the quality of life, to help us achieve our fitness goals, to improve our youthful appearance, to make us feel better.  We secure our lives with savings, investments, and retirement accounts.  Life is about consumption.  The more one consumes the more life you have in you.  But maybe we believe that we make our own lives, that we save ourselves, that our health depends on smoothies and daily exercise.  

Jesus invites us to satisfy our needs, our longings, our fears, our worries, our health challenges by eating his body and drinking his blood. It is free and simple.  It is small, subtle, and available.  It doesn’t require much technology.  Eat,drink, believe.  Of course, the problem we have with this is the problem some of Jesus’ contemporaries had with it.  Why Jesus?  He’s just another man.  The way to eternal life, to heaven, to the best life, to God has to be something other than a crucified Jewish rabbi from the 1^st century.  The magic bullet must be something else.  Something we do.  Some high achievement of humanity.  Science, medicine, technology, wealth.  These save us. Trusting God alone is not an option. 

The idolatry of the self, the desire to save myself, the insatiable appetite of the consumer ego---this is sin in our age.  A faith perspective sees through Jesus’ eyes. The things we make and use are neither good nor bad. They are things.  And they can prevent us from seeing the daily work of God in our lives.  Life is not found in the Ninja, the vivofit, or the 401 K.  It is found in a person.  Life is personal.  Whether we need to get rid of things to clear a way for God is also personal. These things can also enhance our lives and our relationship with God, especially when they allow us to serve others.  We give ourselves and our things to the people we are called to love.  Faith is all about perspective.  If things have replaced God as the source of happiness, freedom, health, and peace in your life then hear this good news: 

Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.” 

Hunger

Hunger is important for faith.  There is physical hunger and there is spiritual hunger.  Emptiness.  Hunger places us in a state of human vulnerability in which we become more open to God, to powers outside of ourselves that can provide, fill the void.  We prefer to be full, satisfied.  But is that really possible?  Can we fill ourselves up enough? Our efforts are temporary and often riddled with unfairness.  If we are full, its because someone else is not.  There is sacrifice in the system that keeps some people in a state of vulnerability and others in a state of satisfaction.  Is the world a place of hunger and vulnerability or a place of fullness, abundance, and satisfaction? I suspect that those who are not hungry cannot know the full power of God’s love and grace.  Jesus seems to be for the sick and the hungry.  I suppose its when we are sick and hungry that Jesus matters.  Closeness to Jesus has something to do with how sick and hungry we are.  It’s good to be a little hungry.       

A hungry church is driven by a hunger to know the heart of God through the world’s hunger.  At community meals and food pantries.  At the Sunday gathering around the altar.  We enact feeding miracles.  We experience hunger and see the God who provides.  Jesus fed large crowds, turning scarce supplies into abundance.  So do we.  Jesus turned the Passover meal into the Lord’s Supper---in which the bread and cup are His body and blood, given and shed on the cross for the salvation of the world.  And here we are, about to receive Him again.  About a thousand years before Jesus did it, Elisha did it.  Before that, God sent manna to those barely freed slaves on the road to the promised land.  Before that, God put an imprisoned Hebrew in charge of the abundant food supply for all of the Middle East at a time of famine.  Before that, God created humankind and placed them in a garden with the covenant calling to till and keep the earth, to be fruitful and multiply.  Food is a sign of God’s presence, power, and provision.  Food, eating, feeding hungry people are visible expressions of God’s Word to the world.  God’s goodness and mercy, God’s grace and love are offered up to us in the bread and cup we share.  But this is not new news for you.  I have said this all before.  You get it.

This week I took the leftover bread from Peter’s Porch to Lancaster Council of Churches new food hub in the city.  It is an amazing place with large cold storage and ample space to organize food donations for distribution to hungry Lancaster residents.  The vision for that place is to serve the county’s food needs by becoming a central collecting point for locally grown, fresh food that is donated or bought to feed the hungry.  They are part of a broader movement called Hunger Free Lancaster County.  I sit on the board of this grassroots organization.  Our goal, under the leadership of former Senator Mike Brubaker is to end hunger in the county by 2018 by assuring that every Lancaster county resident has access to three healthy meals a day.  21.6 million meals will be needed to fill the gap.  My work on the board extends to the service committee.  I am working on food recovery and gleaning efforts.  I am meeting local farmers and growers to talk about acquiring more fresh locally grown food for anti-hunger food relief programs.  I spent some time on Friday at Lancaster Central market talking to vendors about the work of HFLC.  I’m hoping to organize two large field or orchard gleans for 2015. I have a lead on a tomato farm.  But not an orchard yet.  On Tuesday I will go to Root’s market to talk with vendors.  On Thursday, I’m going to Leola Produce auction to learn how to buy large quantities of produce there.  I feel like Joseph. We have to get a handle on the abundance, in order to address the scarcity.  There are hungry people here.  They are living on a very low income.  Many of them are seniors and children.  They are working families and people with disabilities.  Hunger is not racially discriminatory.  White, black, and brown people are hungry.  Any one of us are only a day away from hunger.  Do not eat for one day and you will taste its power.  Hunger drives behavior. Hunger, emptiness, scarcity causes fear, anxiety, mistrust, hoarding, even violence.

Today we are invited to pay attention to the hunger, the emptiness, the illness inside us and in the world God made.  Jesus came to reveal abundance, to satisfy our needs, to feed our souls with the bread of heaven.  But if we're not hungry, we won't eat.  Even Jesus knows that.  So, what are you hungry for?  

   

He withdrew

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."  ¹⁶Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."  ¹⁷They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."  ¹⁸And he said, "Bring them here to me."  ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.  Mark 6

This summer was a season to withdraw, to get away.  Like Jesus modeled for his disciples and for us.  I’m grateful for the 2 weeks off.  I had very limited contact and received NO phone calls during this time away.  I returned to read this gospel, a text that has its middle action cut out to make a point.  Jesus provides retreat, rest, recuperation, and healing to people who need these things.  A church that imitates Jesus is called to offer them same to one another and to our neighbors.   It would be easy today to point to the gospel of Mark and say, “See, Jesus invited his disciples to retreat, to a little vacation across the lake.  We all need rest and renewal.”   While I was away, I learned that a colleague, the pastor I served with at my previous call (Grace Lancaster) recently had a heart attack and is recovering for the month of July at his 2^nd  home in New Hampshire.  That news was shocking because Steve is only 50 and in excellent health, an athlete really.   We must learn to balance work and rest, productive time and grace time; we all need renewal to continue the important work this church is called to do.  We are called, brothers and sisters, to embody freedom in Christ. This freedom is a freedom to serve our neighbors generously and joyfully.  This comes from the master’s work, work that is hidden from our ears today in the gospel.  I remind you that the text that was cut out of the gospel for today includes the feeding of the multitudes and the stilling of the storm/walking on water scenes.  Jesus actually delays their retreat in order to compassionately serve the sick and hungry people they encounter.  He takes his disciples into new territory, not only to get away from the crowds, but to encounter more strangers who are hungry and hurting. He took them away to show them the scope and breadth of the mission.  

Americans are not great at maintaining healthy rhythms; daily, weekly, annually.  We tend to overwork, vacation, overwork, repeat…until we retire or die.  Bad stress causes heart attacks and anxiety for many of us.  For so many of our friends and neighbors, the constancy of labor without vacation or breaks is necessary to sustain their households.  Between hard work and household chores and child-rearing, many of our friends and neighbors get no physical or mental breaks ever.  What would a church that took seriously the need to create time and space for people to get time off look like?  What if some adults here offered a free parents night out, in which we served dinner and a movie to kids from 6 to 9 pm?   

We know that time heals. And although I’m dealing with some back pain probably soft tissue or muscle related that I incurred during vacation, I know that healing takes time.  Often, the doctor tells us we need to take more healing time than we are willing or able to give ourselves.  We are impatient patients.  And we do not take seriously mental and emotional health care, requiring times of silence, stillness, and self-reflection. We prefer quick fixes.  But time heals. How do we give people permission to enter into a season of prolonged healing and renewal?

While we were in Williamsburg, we pulled into a gas station.  We pulled around an elderly man who was having some difficulty at the pump.  His car was not close enough to the pump and he was moving very slowly.  We watched this scene unfold.  After I was done filling my tank, I noticed people passing by, shaking their heads or ignoring the scene.  The man got back in his car and attempted to move it closer to the tank.  He moved it further away.  He couldn’t back up to the tank.  I decided to intervene.  I asked the man if I could help him.  He said he would be grateful.  He gave me his keys and I backed the car to the pump.  He didn’t know how to use the credit card machine, so I helped him with it.  He said, its hell getting old.  And he said thank you.  He gassed up the car and we drove away.  I couldn't help but think that part of my vacation was for him.  I was where I was needed, even when we were on retreat.  Because the mercy mission is evreywhere, for everyone, at any time.  I was grateful for the time away.  For the injured back that slows me down.  And for the elderly man who needed someone to pay attention to him and lend a hand.