Missio Dei

 

Sermon

Sep 09, 2022

Well, Good morning. I want to begin by thanking you for the tremendous support that you offered me through prayer and conversation as I traveled some 17,000 miles to and from South Africa to walk in the footsteps of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I felt surrounded by your love through it all – and believe me among the many incredibly important moments of this pilgrimage there were definitely some rocky times. 

But here I am, back with you all, eager to share what I learned and eager to use my newfound spiritual and theological knowledge to support us all in our continual journey to remain solidly on the road of discipleship – our eyes always on God. Our footsteps always following those of Jesus, to the cross and beyond.

To answer your almost universal question, “What did you learn?” let me say, and say emphatically, I learned that “the Church does not exist if it is not God’s voice in the world.” 

Put another way, the Church is the missio dei, God’s mission in the world, God’s incarnation in the world. An incarnation that brings light, hope, compassion, justice, and love to those who are oppressed and to those who suffer. As disciples of Christ, God’s missionaries, we have a responsibility to, for, and with others. Exercising this responsibility requires working for social justice and the flourishing of all people. Our missionary work is the Church – the missio dei. If the Church is not doing that work, it does not exist as a mission of God and is no longer a church.

The concept of missio dei could not be better exemplified by anyone other than the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu whose theology was based on the belief that the church’s mandate is to create a society that becomes the image of God, a light to the world. The church’s role is to be a conduit of God’s holiness in the midst of societies torn asunder by racism and oppression. Societies in which injustice and oppression have created a world in which God’s children doubt that they are God’s children. God’s children doubt that they are God’s children. 

In a May 1994 address given before thousands of South Africans at the Grand Parade celebrating Nelson Mandela’s installment as President of South Africa, the Archbishop said, “We have said a resounding no to racism, to injustice, to oppression, to hatred, to violence, to dictation and division. We have said a loud reverberating “yes” to freedom, to forgiveness, to reconciliation, to peace, to unity. We of many cultures, languages, and races have become one nation, we the rainbow people of God.”

He went on to say, “Go forth to make the world a better place for you can make a difference. The task is daunting of course, but it is a necessary struggle.”

Tutu, a man of God courageously standing among thousands, declaring God’s mission for the world. Tutu carrying out in every sense of the word missio dei.

The task of eliminating apartheid was daunting, but it was a necessary struggle. One that required unbelievable courage and a deep and unfailing commitment to God. “Go forth to make the world a better place for you can make a difference. The task is daunting of course, but it is a necessary struggle.” That is missio dei. 

Today in Luke’s gospel, Jesus, his face set to Jerusalem, says to a large crowd, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions – and follow me.”

These are tough words. Words not meant for those who prefer to have their cake and eat it too. Words that direct us to the stark reality of discipleship. Give up all your possessions; carry the cross; follow me. Words that push us beyond ourselves, beyond our comfort zones, and toward the challenging and often unpredictable life of bringing the church, missio dei, the mission of God, to the world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship writes, “In the gospels the very first step a man must take is an act which radically affects his whole existence.”

Discipleship. Living the life of a disciple, one who lays down their life to follow Christ - that is the hard part - the hardest part of missio dei.   

Discipleship radically disrupts our whole existence, and yet discipleship is the part to which we must pay close attention, perhaps more now than ever.

If we are to say, “a resounding no to racism, to injustice, to oppression, to hatred, to violence, to dictation and division.” If we are to say, “a loud reverberating “yes” to freedom, to forgiveness, to reconciliation, to peace, to unity.”  If we are truly to become a people of “many cultures, languages, and races… one nation, [indivisible], a rainbow people of God” then we must be fearless in our commitment to missio dei. We must take up the cross and follow Jesus. We must be the voice of God in the world. We must be the church. We must be open to hearing God’s call to us – God’s call for us. We must listen for God – listen for the divine.

Last week when I preached in the frigid early morning hours of the South African winter, I also spoke of the importance of listening for God’s call to and for us. In the Jeremiah passage, Jeremiah listened but did not like what he heard. He shouted out, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But God did not let Jeremiah off the hook. God once again spoke to him saying, “Do not say I am only a boy; for you shall go to all whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth; and the Lord said, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” 

What an astoundingly beautiful and powerful image – the Lord put out his and touched Jeremiah’s mouth. God put his words in Jeremiah’s mouth. This little piece from Jeremiah is proof positive that God does have a call for each and every one of us. A call that we can only hear through listening to the divine. And perhaps more importantly it is proof positive that God does not want to let us off the hook if we do not like his call. Not at all. 

But we are not alone in this call – this missio dei - that might seem too difficult to imagine. God is prepared to put his hand on our mouths and to fill us with the courage, endurance, hope, and love that is needed to be the church – the missio dei – however daunting it might seem. 

It is a scary business – very scary. But in our moments of fear and resistance, we must feel God’s hand on our mouths, we must call out as did the psalmist when he cried out to the Lord, “Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.” We must go forth in faith understanding that it is only through following the very narrow path of discipleship, a path so easy to stray from, to fall away from, that we will be God’s voice in the world – missio dei. That we will be a community that becomes the image of God, a light to the world.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, the privilege is ours to share in the loving, healing, reconciling mission of your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, in this age and wherever we are. Since without you we can do no good thing.

May your Spirit make us wise;

May your Spirit guide us;

May your Spirit renew us;

May your Spirit strengthen us;

So that we will be:

Strong in faith,

Discerning in proclamation,

Courageous in witness,

Persistent in good deeds.

This we ask in the name of the Father.

 

Church of the Province of the West Indies.