Being a Missional Church

Sermon

Proper 9

St. Simon's on the Sound

Luke 10:1-11; 16-20

BEING A CHURCH SHAPED BY JESUS AND HIS MISSION

In just a few short weeks I will once again be back teaching at the diocesan school. The upcoming year will be the third and final year for eight postulants who are seeking ordination as priests and deacons in our diocese.

As many of you know, this past school year I taught these same students Clinical Pastoral Education, better known as CPE. The point of CPE is to learn the skill of pastoral care and to develop a better understanding of yourself and how you relate to people. These goals are accomplished through conducting interviews with patients or care seekers, and through presenting verbatims – word for word reports – of these encounters to one's fellow students and instructor.

CPE is often regarded as a terrifying experience. A big leap into the unknown world of emotional suffering and pain, and the continual public examination of one's self through the in-depth critiquing of the verbatims.

I am happy to report that the students all survived. In fact, they did a great job. I am very proud of them.

This coming school year I will be teaching a course called Contextual Formation.

You may ask, and rightfully so, what in the world is that?

Well, essentially it is a project-oriented class designed to help students learn the leadership skills necessary to take their church "out of the box" and into the world as it exists today.

Each student will be assigned a field placement at a church other than their own. It will be up to the student to enter into a relationship with the rector and the congregation; to explore and define the culture of that particular congregation and surrounding community; to identify and lead a group in the development of a missional project that is based in the context of our baptismal theology and in the context of the church and its community's culture; and, finally by the end of the school year to transition the leadership of the project to someone in the congregation.

Contextual Formation – creating a missional project for the church within the context of our baptismal theology and within the culture of the church's reality.

If it sounds like a lot – it is. But I must tell you the students are excited, as am I.  We have agreed to see ourselves as a collaborative "think tank." We will meet monthly and together explore progress, successes, failures, and opportunities for growth and improvement in our goal of moving the assigned churches "out of the box" and into the world.

Bottom line, this will be a project driven by the Holy Spirit, with both the instructor and the students working to equip various churches for their calling to "make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything that I [Jesus] have commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20, 11-12)

Contextual Formation is an incredibly important project. It is a project designed to place a spotlight on the calling of the church to be a truly missional movement. It is a project designed to give life to the fact that Scripture is the Spirit-given authority to form us for missional living – Scripture is the authority that God's Spirit gives to the Word – the authority that sends us into the world not as individual missioners, but as God's missional church.

It is a project designed to remind us that as a church we are sent by Jesus into the world "to 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 to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Matt 28:18)

In his book Canoeing the Mountains Tod Bolsinger writes, "The culture is changing, the world is changing rapidly, and churches are facing change on an unprecedented scale…But the church is also at an exciting crossroads. We are entering a new day, new terrain and a new adventure. We are not alone. The Spirit of God goes before us. The mission of Christ will not fail."

Our work as a church committed to carrying the good news of Christ to all nations has become very challenging. Perhaps challenging isn't even a strong enough word. Maybe it would be more descriptive to say that we are engaged in an uphill battle. An uphill battle to preserve the church – the vehicle that proclaims through scripture, sacrament and love God's Word. A vehicle through which the gospel of Christ becomes a reality in man's life.

Last week we learned that Jesus had set his face to Jerusalem. Surrounded by his Disciples and a crowd of people who had declared that they wanted to follow him on his journey to the cross he launched a fast-paced campaign to bring the gospel to as many people as possible in what he understood to be his short time in this world. "He appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of himself in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go."

Establishing what ultimately was to become the mission of the church – the evangelization of the gospel - Jesus sent out not just the 12 who had been commissioned as Disciples, but a multitude of his followers – 70 in all. And, interestingly, Jesus sent them out in advance. He commissioned them as leaders in what we now call, many thanks to our beloved Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, the Jesus Movement.

Jesus sent his followers out ahead of him to proclaim the good news – to evangelize. To prepare people for his arrival in their lives.

The sending of the seventy is scriptural witness to the reality that as a gathered church we are formed to carry out God's mission in the world. We are called to evangelize – to spread the good news. In this brief section that describes Jesus' sending his followers as laborers into the harvest we experience with total clarity the actual authority of God's Spirit as it demands our missional obedience. Just as God sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world. With all authority we are a people sent by God…sent into the world.

Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright reminds us that the sending of the church as the apostle to the world goes to God's very purposes. He says, "It is not so much that God has a mission for his church in the world, but that God has a church for his mission in the world."

God has a church for his mission in the world.

Alan Hirsch in his book The Forgotten Ways writes, "Missional church is a community of God's people that defines itself and organizes its life around…its true and authentic organizing principle – mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true church."

God is a sending God. Just as He sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.

I wonder if the students at the Diocesan School for Ministry think of themselves as missional. As they prepare to embark on this groundbreaking class called Contextual Formation, do they think of themselves as the modern-day equivalent of the seventy? Because in a sense they are.

Essentially, the students are being told that the harvest is plenty, but the laborers few. They are being sent to forge a new way for us. They are being sent with the warning that they may possibly find themselves among wolves – nonbelievers. They are being sent with no real tools other that prayerful support. They are being sent with the directive to not to be distracted and to stick it out once they have settled on a project – no matter how challenging.

They are being sent with the hope that they will transform and energize a community of people to embrace God's mission for the church in the face of a changing world. They are being sent with the directive to identify the mission that God has for the church in this complex and tumultuous world.

Above all, they are being sent to spread the gospel with the understanding that whoever listens to them will be listening to Christ. They will be creating a church shaped by Jesus and his mission.

I wonder how the seventy felt as they listened to Jesus' commandment to go ahead of him. As they heard his warning that they would be as lambs among wolves. Would they, like the diocesan students initially react rather violently saying, "Hey, wait a minute. We are not ready for this. You are the teacher – the leader – you go first, and we will follow."

Well that's not what Jesus, or the diocesan school leadership, had in mind. Jesus knew that he was in the world for only a short time. More importantly, he understood that as the Son sent from God it was his mission not only to teach and to heal, but also to send forth his disciples, his followers to be God's church in the world.

Fast forward to today – that means us. As followers of Jesus, as the Jesus Movement, we are being sent forth as an agent of God's mission to the world – to evangelize the gospel.

Tod Bollinger is just one of many who has written and/or preached about the fact that "The culture is changing, the world is changing rapidly, and churches are facing change on an unprecedented scale…But the church is also at an exciting crossroads. We are entering a new day, new terrain and a new adventure. We are not alone. The Spirit of God goes before us. The mission of Christ will not fail."

The mission of God will not fail – six very important words. Six very important words that can only become a reality if we, like the seventy, heed Jesus' command to go ahead of him, spreading the good news, preparing the way for him to enter people's lives – their souls.

However difficult, we must accept the reality of the crossroad that faces the church. If we are to meet the uphill challenge of finding new ways to carry out our mission we must reorient ourselves. We must let go of the old, learning and leading as we go forward. We must have the courage to enter unchartered territory. We must not give up; we must keep going – no matter what.

It is we who are sent into the world as the rightful and faithful continuation of Jesus' own sending by God. It is we who are sent as witnesses to our own community. It is we who must realize that when our church is in mission, it is the true church. We must enter unchartered territory with a mission worthy of our utmost dedication.

We must be a church shaped by Jesus and his mission.

 Sermon

Proper 9

St. Simon's on the Sound

Luke 10:1-11; 16-20

BEING A CHURCH SHAPED BY JESUS AND HIS MISSION

In just a few short weeks I will once again be back teaching at the diocesan school. The upcoming year will be the third and final year for eight postulants who are seeking ordination as priests and deacons in our diocese.

As many of you know, this past school year I taught these same students Clinical Pastoral Education, better known as CPE. The point of CPE is to learn the skill of pastoral care and to develop a better understanding of yourself and how you relate to people. These goals are accomplished through conducting interviews with patients or care seekers, and through presenting verbatims – word for word reports – of these encounters to one's fellow students and instructor.

CPE is often regarded as a terrifying experience. A big leap into the unknown world of emotional suffering and pain, and the continual public examination of one's self through the in-depth critiquing of the verbatims.

I am happy to report that the students all survived. In fact, they did a great job. I am very proud of them.

This coming school year I will be teaching a course called Contextual Formation.

You may ask, and rightfully so, what in the world is that?

Well, essentially it is a project-oriented class designed to help students learn the leadership skills necessary to take their church "out of the box" and into the world as it exists today.

Each student will be assigned a field placement at a church other than their own. It will be up to the student to enter into a relationship with the rector and the congregation; to explore and define the culture of that particular congregation and surrounding community; to identify and lead a group in the development of a missional project that is based in the context of our baptismal theology and in the context of the church and its community's culture; and, finally by the end of the school year to transition the leadership of the project to someone in the congregation.

Contextual Formation – creating a missional project for the church within the context of our baptismal theology and within the culture of the church's reality.

If it sounds like a lot – it is. But I must tell you the students are excited, as am I.  We have agreed to see ourselves as a collaborative "think tank." We will meet monthly and together explore progress, successes, failures, and opportunities for growth and improvement in our goal of moving the assigned churches "out of the box" and into the world.

Bottom line, this will be a project driven by the Holy Spirit, with both the instructor and the students working to equip various churches for their calling to "make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything that I [Jesus] have commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20, 11-12)

Contextual Formation is an incredibly important project. It is a project designed to place a spotlight on the calling of the church to be a truly missional movement. It is a project designed to give life to the fact that Scripture is the Spirit-given authority to form us for missional living – Scripture is the authority that God's Spirit gives to the Word – the authority that sends us into the world not as individual missioners, but as God's missional church.

It is a project designed to remind us that as a church we are sent by Jesus into the world "to 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 to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Matt 28:18)

In his book Canoeing the Mountains Tod Bolsinger writes, "The culture is changing, the world is changing rapidly, and churches are facing change on an unprecedented scale…But the church is also at an exciting crossroads. We are entering a new day, new terrain and a new adventure. We are not alone. The Spirit of God goes before us. The mission of Christ will not fail."

Our work as a church committed to carrying the good news of Christ to all nations has become very challenging. Perhaps challenging isn't even a strong enough word. Maybe it would be more descriptive to say that we are engaged in an uphill battle. An uphill battle to preserve the church – the vehicle that proclaims through scripture, sacrament and love God's Word. A vehicle through which the gospel of Christ becomes a reality in man's life.

Last week we learned that Jesus had set his face to Jerusalem. Surrounded by his Disciples and a crowd of people who had declared that they wanted to follow him on his journey to the cross he launched a fast-paced campaign to bring the gospel to as many people as possible in what he understood to be his short time in this world. "He appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of himself in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go."

Establishing what ultimately was to become the mission of the church – the evangelization of the gospel - Jesus sent out not just the 12 who had been commissioned as Disciples, but a multitude of his followers – 70 in all. And, interestingly, Jesus sent them out in advance. He commissioned them as leaders in what we now call, many thanks to our beloved Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, the Jesus Movement.

Jesus sent his followers out ahead of him to proclaim the good news – to evangelize. To prepare people for his arrival in their lives.

The sending of the seventy is scriptural witness to the reality that as a gathered church we are formed to carry out God's mission in the world. We are called to evangelize – to spread the good news. In this brief section that describes Jesus' sending his followers as laborers into the harvest we experience with total clarity the actual authority of God's Spirit as it demands our missional obedience. Just as God sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world. With all authority we are a people sent by God…sent into the world.

Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright reminds us that the sending of the church as the apostle to the world goes to God's very purposes. He says, "It is not so much that God has a mission for his church in the world, but that God has a church for his mission in the world."

God has a church for his mission in the world.

Alan Hirsch in his book The Forgotten Ways writes, "Missional church is a community of God's people that defines itself and organizes its life around…its true and authentic organizing principle – mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true church."

God is a sending God. Just as He sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.

I wonder if the students at the Diocesan School for Ministry think of themselves as missional. As they prepare to embark on this groundbreaking class called Contextual Formation, do they think of themselves as the modern-day equivalent of the seventy? Because in a sense they are.

Essentially, the students are being told that the harvest is plenty, but the laborers few. They are being sent to forge a new way for us. They are being sent with the warning that they may possibly find themselves among wolves – nonbelievers. They are being sent with no real tools other that prayerful support. They are being sent with the directive to not to be distracted and to stick it out once they have settled on a project – no matter how challenging.

They are being sent with the hope that they will transform and energize a community of people to embrace God's mission for the church in the face of a changing world. They are being sent with the directive to identify the mission that God has for the church in this complex and tumultuous world.

Above all, they are being sent to spread the gospel with the understanding that whoever listens to them will be listening to Christ. They will be creating a church shaped by Jesus and his mission.

I wonder how the seventy felt as they listened to Jesus' commandment to go ahead of him. As they heard his warning that they would be as lambs among wolves. Would they, like the diocesan students initially react rather violently saying, "Hey, wait a minute. We are not ready for this. You are the teacher – the leader – you go first, and we will follow."

Well that's not what Jesus, or the diocesan school leadership, had in mind. Jesus knew that he was in the world for only a short time. More importantly, he understood that as the Son sent from God it was his mission not only to teach and to heal, but also to send forth his disciples, his followers to be God's church in the world.

Fast forward to today – that means us. As followers of Jesus, as the Jesus Movement, we are being sent forth as an agent of God's mission to the world – to evangelize the gospel.

Tod Bollinger is just one of many who has written and/or preached about the fact that "The culture is changing, the world is changing rapidly, and churches are facing change on an unprecedented scale…But the church is also at an exciting crossroads. We are entering a new day, new terrain and a new adventure. We are not alone. The Spirit of God goes before us. The mission of Christ will not fail."

The mission of God will not fail – six very important words. Six very important words that can only become a reality if we, like the seventy, heed Jesus' command to go ahead of him, spreading the good news, preparing the way for him to enter people's lives – their souls.

However difficult, we must accept the reality of the crossroad that faces the church. If we are to meet the uphill challenge of finding new ways to carry out our mission we must reorient ourselves. We must let go of the old, learning and leading as we go forward. We must have the courage to enter unchartered territory. We must not give up; we must keep going – no matter what.

It is we who are sent into the world as the rightful and faithful continuation of Jesus' own sending by God. It is we who are sent as witnesses to our own community. It is we who must realize that when our church is in mission, it is the true church. We must enter unchartered territory with a mission worthy of our utmost dedication.

We must be a church shaped by Jesus and his mission