Mission...Part 2



What does this mean though? What does this look like? How do we do it? Rather than try to define it with words, I’d rather show you. Because, again, MISSION is more about action than about some concept or thing; more a verb than a noun. (To see pictures of the project helping Phoebe, click on: Phoebe )
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Last November a team of folks in our church took part in a “Church Service” event, meaning we went out of the church on Sunday morning to BE the Church in action in our community.  (Remember, Church = people, not a building. Service = serving/action/doing unto others, not just singing and praying unto God.) One group washed windows around town, including those of an elderly woman named Phoebe. When they knocked on her door to see if she wanted them to wash her windows, she was so excited that she asked them to wash not only her outside windows but her inside ones as well.

Nothing could have prepared them for what they would experience.
 
Phoebe has the biggest heart in the world and is a very loving woman. She has no family nearby, and because she is so loving, she had taken it upon herself to care for the cats in the neighborhood. Many, many cats--so many that they had literally taken over her home! Phoebe also saved everything and anything--to the point where “stuff” had accumulated in piles throughout her home. In short, the odor, the clutter, and the refuse (man-made AND feline) were overwhelming.  

This team of people asked if they could help straighten things up a bit, and they began to tackle the project.  However, they quickly realized that this task was MUCH bigger than they could manage alone that day. After some time, they just decided to bring Phoebe back to the church so we could all meet her and share our lunch with her.

After that initial contact, it was obvious that this was no mere chance meeting.  Many sensed God's Hand present and guiding us to become a family for Phoebe.  Some of the women in our church began stopping by to visit and befriend her. I started bringing her homemade bread whenever I baked. We included her in various church and community activities.  It was touching to witness these acts of friendship to a widow in our midst who needed some care.

At one point, Chris Waterson realized we had to do something much more drastic. We couldn’t allow Phoebe to live like this any longer. If the county found out about her conditions, they would declare her incompetent, euthanize her cats, take control of her assets, and put her into a nursing home. In a few short days, Chris convinced Phoebe that we needed to care for her home.  Chris addressed our whole church, told us about Phoebe's condition and need, and asked for help.  

That's all it took!  Even though it was graduation week here in Hilmar and people were extremely busy, the heart of our church is large for the community and people came out of the woodwork to pitch in.  One couple took Phoebe into their B & B and lovingly cared for her for the week that she would have to be out of her home.  Others came to catch cats and deliver them to the local vet to be spayed and neutered.  Some of these animals were sent to local dairies to keep the rodent population down, and some had to be put to sleep because they were diseased. After the cats were taken out, our work team rolled up their sleeves and descended on Phoebe’s home.  Carpets and pads were pulled up, linoleum yanked, walls washed down and then painted, the sub flooring was scrubbed numerous times, and new flooring was laid. Waste Management volunteered a large dumpster free of charge for us to fill with all the refuse that was removed (which we did--filling it completely to the brim!).  We took out every single item in her home, washed all her appliances and furniture, and sorted through everything so that an Extreme Home Makeover could happen in seven days. Approximately forty people from church dove in and helped. Some couldn't be involved because of scheduling, but wrote checks to assist the project instead. Hilmar Lumber set up an account for supplies--and supplied a lot of helpful items as things moved along.  Lowes donated a new vanity for Phoebe's bathroom.  Home Depot gave gift certificates for us to purchase needed supplies. Woods Furniture gave a top of the line queen bed and a twin bed with new boxsprings too. Numerous items were purchased and donated by the people that were working, which went above and beyond the physical labor of love they were performing.

Others began to join in.  Members from the Jewish synagogue in Modesto that Phoebe belongs to came and pitched in. It was unique--and wonderful--to see Christians and Jews working and laughing and tackling this “mitzvah” (good deed) together. They brought along a new stove for Phoebe, various pieces of furniture, artwork, and many other items. Some of the neighbors that have known Phoebe throughout the years stopped by to find out what was happening. They were amazed at what they saw, and even found themselves involved in the project. Other community members heard about what we were doing and stopped by too.  The project was sustained and managed brilliantly in the seven short days we worked.

The morning that Phoebe was brought home, one of our volunteers snuck over early and placed a beautiful wreath on her door--the perfect final touch for her arrival.  We were a little nervous about how Phoebe would handle this new home of hers. It’s not always easy for a 95 year old to adjust to such drastic newness! Would she be OK with what we had done? Would she be overwhelmed? Would she be disturbed about most of her cats being gone? When Phoebe arrived, Chris was there to take her through on a tour of her new home: floors, walls, furniture, beds, appliances, etc. A little shaky, Phoebe entered her home--and was thrilled and thankful!  "Oh my....Oh my..." were her exact words as she examined each room.  She asked how she could ever repay the church! She wanted to do something to thank everyone--but Chris told her we didn't need repaying. Her smile and appreciation were all the thanks we needed.

Scripture says: “Look after orphans and widows in their distress. This is religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless.” (James 1:27)

What happened with Phoebe was an “extreme Holy event.”  It was MISSION in this bigger, richer, fuller understanding that I’m describing in this blog post. We were participating in God’s Kingdom-building work right here--“on earth as it is in heaven” (as I've said before). I watched God bring the right number of people with the right tools, the right donations from kind people who do not even know Phoebe, and the right spirit to keep the work going for 7 days.  I watched different ages of people working together.  I saw a Jewish synagogue and a Christian church working together, which was especially exciting for me: it was like I was back in Jerusalem again working in home repair with "Bridges For Peace!" I was cleaning and painting a Jewish home--but right here in Hilmar instead!

I witnessed the Kingdom of God expand right in front of me.  
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Our Phoebe experience is just one example that clearly answers the question: How do we know if MISSION is actually occurring? That’s easy! The results of MISSION are obvious! Easily recognizable. “You will know them by their fruits!” People are better off, in every way! They get a taste of the Kingdom of God! They experience God’s love and concern, ultimately for them to return to Him for all eternity--to be saved. They experience relationship, in the deepest and very best way. They receive God’s care emotionally, spiritually, and physically as His incarnated body, the Church, touches and blesses every part of their lives. No part can be neglected! God’s MISSION is a complete package. It brings together every dimension, part, and aspect of life; the here-and-now and the future. The temporal and the eternal. The physical, emotional, and spiritual. No part has priority over another. As one missiologist put it, “Getting people reconciled to God and to His Kingdom business must go together.” Another way of saying it is “we are saved to serve.” Bayside Covenant says: “Good deeds create good will, which creates opportunities to share good news.”

It can be hard for we who are Evangelicals to get our heads around this more wholistic, unified, integrated reality of MISSION. We are so used to reducing it to concepts and limited definitions, to focusing on certain aspects of it, especially the salvation part. We have separated belief and deeds, faith and works, evangelism and justice and, I believe, grieved the heart of God in the process. It is time for us to re-capture the true, complete, biblical understanding of MISSION. The times in which we are living demand that we grow and mature in this aspect of what it means to be Christ’s Church. We will be a better, truer witness to Christ if we do. Opportunities for carrying out God’s MISSION will increase and, consequently, His Kingdom will increase! This will please the heart of God--and bring us joy too, as we participate!

MISSION...Part 1



In June, the three of us pastors at HCC preached a sermon together, highlighting the three most essential, necessary components for “church:” Jesus, People, and Mission. While Pastor Bret was on his sabbatical in England, he learned that churches there had come up with these three requirements while trying to discover why people in their country were no longer attending church. These three areas also seemed to be repeated throughout Scripture.

Pastor Bret preached on the first one, Jesus. He pointed out that there is more to Jesus than just “believing” in Him. This does not make a person a disciple of Jesus. Rather, a disciple of Jesus is one who is attempting to listen to Jesus, follow Him, and join with Jesus in what He is doing today. The Church needs to be full of true disciples of Jesus, not just a bunch of people who say they “believe” in Him. This just makes Church a club! When believers gather around this bigger, truer understanding of following Jesus, great things happen and the Church is alive.

Pastor Bruce addressed the second one, People. He said that in our culture, we have stressed the importance of the individual. However, God did not create us to be independent, but to be in relationship--with Him and with other people. The question, then, for us in the Church, is: how connected are we? How well do we live together in community? How do we behave and treat one another? Pastor Bruce referenced John 15 and the new “Behavioral Covenant” the church staff has adopted as examples of how we as a congregation can better “be” a people coming together as a church; as a specific body of Christ in Hilmar, California.

Finally, I spoke about the third requirement: Mission. For my blog this week, I am going to post the first half of my “sermonette” from that June service. The second part will be here next week. Enjoy--and be challenged!
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The third essential component of the Church is MISSION. This word has been tossed around recently in a variety of contexts, but I think there’s a good deal of misunderstanding among Christians about what MISSION really is. Some think of it as “missions,” meaning what missionaries do in foreign countries around the world, sharing Christ and spreading the gospel to those who have never heard it. Some think of it as saving souls. Some think of it as a single project or a proposal; a “mission;” an activity or work experience that helps out somebody or some organization. Some think of MISSION as a goal or focus for one’s life, or for a group; something to shoot for in the future that will strengthen or better one’s life, or the life of the group. Another understanding of MISSION is that it is a cause, a purpose, a reason for being.

None of these ideas of MISSION are wrong. It’s just that they are incomplete. They are only part of what MISSION means. And if MISSION is an essential component of the Church, we need to fully grasp its meaning. Anything less would be a false or minimized description of the Church.

MISSION is derived from the very nature of God. It is rooted in God’s innate being and expressed in His purpose, which is to reach out to all people and bring them back to Himself! It is bigger than personal salvation. It is about relationship. It is about redemption--not just of souls, but of lives. It is about the defeat of evil, sin, death, and the devil--wherever these are manifestated on earth right now as well as at the end of time. It relates to all of life--every aspect of it. It is “good news!” It is more a verb than it is a noun. MISSION is derived from the Latin “missio,” which means “sending.” Which is, again, the very nature of God! God is a “sending” God; a God who goes forth, out into His creation, nudging and prodding, wooing and calling and, ultimately, redeeming people to Himself, making things right and all things new right now and for all eternity. MISSION is the action of God; His initiative; the movement of God out and into the world. Through MISSION, God is establishing His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” He showed this most tangibly to us by becoming one of us, in Jesus, and demonstrating in every way how to make this happen: through proclamation (“Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand!”), through teaching (“The Kingdom of heaven is like...”), through relationship (“Love one another as I have loved you.”), and through action (“Whatever you did for the least of these you did it unto me.”). As God’s MISSION is lived out and embodied by us, His Church, God’s Kingdom is established, both now and for eternity.

This is our reason for being, as the Church! We are to be a “sending” body too; sent to proclaim “good news!” To reach out to people and lead the way back to the Lord. To confront evil and sin, death and the devil through acts of compassion, mercy, and justice. To bring about relationship between God and people, and one another. To participate in God’s Kingdom-building work right here, right now, “on earth as it is in heaven.” To actualize God’s complete MISSION!

Unfortunately, this concept of MISSION has often gotten re-defined, reduced, and re-configured so that the fullness of meaning, and of what is involved in MISSION, has gotten lost. We want things simple! We want formulas! We want to measure things. This is what we’ve sometimes done with MISSION, with redemption and the “good news,” and with the Kingdom of God.

Here at Hilmar Covenant, we are trying to recover the real, rich fullness of MISSION as we move forward into the future. We are trying to re-capture the larger, truer, biblical reality of MISSION--and our congregation’s participation in this very essential attribute of God Himself.