Sermon
Would that all the Lord’s people
were prophets…
September
30, 2012
Mark
9: 38-50
“Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my
strength and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
About
twelve years ago, I made my first mission trip to Haiti. I went as a guest of
an Episcopal not for profit organization that supported medical and educational
missions in Haiti.
I knew
nothing of Haiti at that time. It was a complete unknown to me. My friends and
acquaintances all said to me, “Really? You’re going to Haiti -- just like that?
Really?”
“Well,
yes”, I said – “really.” And so, off I went to Haiti for a five day trip – a
trip that I will never forget. Ever since then, Haiti has been in my heart and
in my soul.
As soon
as I returned from my short trip, I wrote a two-page narrative and sent it to
my church’s Mission & Outreach committee along with a request for $5,000 to
begin my mission work at an Episcopal hospital in that tiny, impoverished
country.
The
committee called me into their next meeting, and after asking a question or two
said, “We have decided to give you $10,000 to go forward with your work in
Haiti.” Wow…
My
narrative had placed Haiti in their hearts, as well.
After
that I visited Haiti on a regular basis until I moved from Florida to Nevada in
late 2007. For a while, I forgot about Haiti…and then came the earthquake of
January 2010. With a heavy heart I asked my Bishop, Dan Edwards, if I could
resume my Haiti mission work. He, of course, said, “yes.”
After a
few months of research and connecting with old friends, I traveled to Haiti in
August of 2010 – seven months post-earthquake. This time I was representing the
Diocese of Nevada. Our diocese had been invited by the Diocese of Haiti to
partner with a small church and school in the Leogane area – St. Luc’s,
Mercerie.
I will
never forget that August trip. Haiti was hot and steamy as only Haiti can be.
Port au Prince and its surrounding streets were jammed and impassable as only
the streets of Haiti can be. But, completely different --- Haiti itself was a
disaster area; a disaster area as none other that I had ever seen. It was a
country broken beyond belief.
All the
pictures that I had seen in the media…all the stories that I had read in
various publications --- totally inadequate. The scope of the damage to
buildings, roads, and people was huge – unbelievably huge! Rubble and garbage
were everywhere; people living in torn and dirty tents were everywhere. No
matter where you went, there was no escaping the human pain, the dust generated
by hundreds of crushed concrete buildings, and the disaster of a nation whose
infrastructure had been destroyed.
Think
of it -- 250,000 people dead, and, just in Port au Prince alone, more than a
million people living in pup tents or blue tarp shacks - tents and shacks that had
been randomly placed and were now permanent fixtures amidst the garbage, the
dust, the rain, and the rubble. This massive destruction continued along the 30
mile road to Leogane; and in Leogane itself, where over 97% of the buildings
had been destroyed, I witnessed even greater chaos and confusion.
I returned
to Nevada completely overwhelmed. Where to start…what to do…could anything be
done, especially from so great a distance? Who was I, a mere deacon in the
Episcopal Church, thousands of miles and two times zones distant from my
brothers and sisters in Leogane, Haiti?
Well, as
you get to know me over the coming months, you will see that, if nothing else,
I am passionately committed, through my baptismal covenant and in my call as a
deacon to embody the meeting place of the church and the world. My call is to a
life of service, particularly to the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.
My call is to bring the healing love of Christ into a broken and hurting world;
to, at all times, in my life, teaching, and worship affirm through word and
deed that in serving Christ’s people we are serving Christ himself; to at all
times strive for peace and justice of all people, and the dignity of every
human being.
So,
upon my return from Haiti in August 2010, it was pretty much of a no-brainer
for me to see clearly, or as Paul said, to
see with the eyes of my heart, that God had put some of his spirit on me
with regard to Haiti. I had been sent to Haiti, and I was being called to serve
in Haiti.
Today
we have heard, in both the Old Testament passage from Numbers and in our Gospel
reading from Mark, how critical it is, for each and every one of us, to
recognize our call from God – that placing of his spirit on us. God’s call is
for all his people. You don’t have to be ordained to be called; there are no
special clubs, boards of directors, or organizations that you have to belong to
be called by God. God calls all of us. He calls us through our baptismal
covenant and through the Eucharist to carry forth his mission of
reconciliation.
The
central element of God’s mission, the missio
Dei, is God’s desire to restore to unity that which has become broken; to
reconcile a divided world. The whole of Hebrew Scripture is the telling and retelling
of the quest for relationship between God and God’s chosen people. God’s
covenant with the Jews was not, however an exclusive arrangement; it was
intended for all of humanity, a light to all the nations. The prophets,
especially the servant songs of Isaiah, testify to this calling. In Isaiah 42
God says to his chosen people:
“I am
the Lord I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and
kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Is. 42:6-7)
And
again in Isaiah 49:
“It is
too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the
nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Is.
49:6)
In our
Old Testament reading from Numbers we heard the story of Eldad and Medad. As
they stood in the wilderness, outside the tent in the Sinai desert, Eldad and
Medad felt their call even though they were not among the seventy elders who
had been summoned into the tent in which the Lord’s Spirit had descended. They
were “outsiders,” but they understood their call to prophesy – to lead - and
Moses said to those who complained about them as “outsiders,” “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all
the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on
them.” (Num
11:29-30)
Our take
away lesson for the here and now - Be ready to listen to the small voice of the
Spirit speaking in your heart, and be willing to share what God tells you to
share.
In
Jesus, God created a New Covenant, a new means by which all the world could be
joined to the Creator. Jesus was sent into the world to be the way, the truth,
and the life. His mission was God’s mission. Jesus demonstrated in word and
deed that the Reign of God, made real in the sending of God’s son, must
continue to expand, to move to the ends of the earth. In John’s Gospel Jesus
proclaims, “As you have sent me into the
world, so I have sent them into the world.” (Jn 17:118)
In
today’s reading from Mark, the disciples complain to Jesus that an “outsider”
was casting out demons in his name. Jesus said to them, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will
be able afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For
truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear
the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” (Mk
9:39-41) Jesus reminds his disciples that prophesying,
proclaiming the Good News, is not just for a few select chosen ones.
Proclaiming the Good News is the mission that God has given to us all – even
the most lowly and insignificant.
Our
take away lesson for the here and now - Be ready to listen to the small voice
of the Spirit speaking in your heart, and be willing to share what God tells
you to share.
At some
point, or points, in our lives we have all felt the passion and the conviction
that comes from being touched, being called, by the God’s Spirit. Our call may
have been related to teaching, feeding, healing, serving – any number of
activities. But, at one time or another, the spirit has been “upon us” and,
when that happened we knew, in our hearts and in our souls – just as I did upon
my return from Haiti in August 2010 - we
knew that we had been called to act; that God expected nothing less of us.
As a
people of God we are commissioned through our baptismal vows to worship,
forgive, proclaim, serve, and seek justice for all. There is not one aspect of
these five vows that is more important than any other. Each of these five vows have
their profoundly missiological imperative. Each has a role to play in God’s
mission to restore unity to that which has become broken; to reconcile a
divided world. God’s mission then becomes our mission.
In a
lecture given in 2002 called “A Theology and Ecclesiology For Mission, Bishop Ian T. Douglas concludes his remarks
in saying,”
The
mark of mission, however, is not defined by activity or geographic locations or
holy orders, but rather by the process of crossing frontiers from the known to
the unknown, from the safe to the dangerous, from the comfortable to the
uncomfortable. Mission thus involves risk. It means risking oneself, one’s
control. And, ultimately one’s faith. Discovering God anew in those who are
radically different and in unforeseen places is at the heart of mission. Moving
beyond parochialism in lives of worship, forgiveness, proclamation, service,
and justice making, the baptized risk themselves for the sake of God’s reconciled
creation. The work of the ordained, whether as mission leader, mission
interpreter, or mission motivator, is to lead, support, and catalyze God’s
people as they seek to restore all people to unity with God and each other in
Christ.”
Once we
have felt the burning touch of the spirit; once our hearts have been filled
with fire and we are driven by the desire to fulfill our call, we must, as Paul
says so beautifully and so powerfully in his Letter to the Ephesians:
…take
up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil
day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand
therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the
breastplate of righteousness. 15As
shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel
of peace. 16With
all of these,*
take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. 17Take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. AMEN
