September 28, 2008

Five Practices: Risk-taking Mission and Service

Risky Business

Matthew 25:31-46

Opening Words: East Ohio Resident Bishop John Hopkins has asked each congregation within the Annual Conference to look at Robert Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Schnase is the Bishop of the Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He says these five practices are critical to the success of any congregation. Their presence demonstrates congregational health, vitality and fruitfulness. In the past three weeks we have looked at radical hospitality, passionate worship and intentional faith development. Next week we end with extravagant generosity. Today we look at risk-taking mission and service.

I have always felt a strange calling into the mission’s field. When I was in seminary, there was an annual mission’s fair. Various mission’s society would come to recruit students. I never responded because I have always understood my calling to be to the local church. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect missionaries. I hold them high in my heart and I pray for them regularly. I still haven’t ruled the mission’s field out. God willing, maybe that is what I will do in my retirement. Our scripture lesson for the morning is Matthew 25:31-46. Let me call this message Risky Business.

Matthew 25:31-46 ³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I love the story of the old monk, who prayed for years for a vision to strengthen his faith. For years he prayed but the vision never came. He had almost given up hope when, one day, a vision appeared. The old monk was overjoyed. But then, right in the middle of the vision, the monastery bell rang. The ringing of the bell meant it was time to feed the poor, who gathered daily at the monastery gate. And it was the old monk's turn to feed them. If he failed to show up with food, the poor people would leave quietly, thinking the monastery had nothing to give them that day. The old monk was torn between his earthly duty and his heavenly vision. However, before the bell stopped tolling, the monk had made his decision. With a heavy heart, he turned his back on the vision and went off to feed the poor. Nearly an hour later, the old monk returned to his room. When he opened the door, he could hardly believe his eyes. There in the room was the vision, waiting for him. As the monk dropped to his knees in thanksgiving, the vision said to him, "My son, had you not gone off to feed the poor, I would not have stayed."

I love the story of Francis of Assisi, who was born wealthy and high spirited. However, he was not happy. He felt like his life was incomplete. One day he was out riding and he came across a beggar, who was disfigured by leprosy. He was moved by the beggar’s condition. He got off his horse and wrapped his arms around him. As he looked into his face to speak, his faced changed to the face of Christ, himself.

I love the story of Martin of Tours. He was both a Roman soldier and a Christian. One cold winter day he was entering a city and came across a beggar begging for alms. He had no money so he gave what he had. He took off his coat and tore it in half. He kept half for himself but gave the other half to the beggar. That night Martin of Tours had a dream. He saw Christ wearing his coat. A voice said, “Where did you get that coat?” Jesus replied, “I got this coat from my brother Martin.”

I tell you those three simple stories to make one simple point. Jesus expects us to care for the needy of the world. It is not optional to your faith. It is vital. Responding to human need demonstrates to God and the world that we have truly been transformed by Christ. We should care for the needy of the world as if the salvation of our souls depends on it. There is a direct connection between worship and missions. If you don’t believe me, then look at this morning’s scripture lesson.

We find ourselves in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. We have looked at parables in the past. Do you remember those opening words? There came a time in Jesus’ earthly ministry that he was no longer welcomed in the synagogue. Jesus turned to the seashore and began to use a new teaching method called parables. Parables are nothing more than sermon illustrations from daily living. They are not analogies, they only are told to teach a single divine truth. So what is the truth that Jesus is trying to teach us today? This is it. Jesus expects us to respond to human need. We are disciples of Jesus Christ! We are saved by grace and by grace alone. We are going to heaven and we don’t deserve it. You are a person of integrity so everyday you get up you should find a new way to thank God for your salvation. Responding to human need is the best way to thank God.

That is why missions are so important to the life of the church. That is why missions are important to your soul. Missions have very little to do with yourself and everything to do with other people. Someone once said, “The church is the only organization that exists for the benefit of others.” So my goal today is to help you understand true missions. I will do this by making three statements. So if you are ready to explore the very heart of missions say, “Amen!”

Missions involve interpersonal relationships.

Statement number one: missions involve interpersonal relationships. Once you learn the name of a person you help everything changes. Once you get involved in their story missions come to life. Missions are not simply charity. It is deeper. There is nothing wrong with collecting food, paper products or hats. There are many people who need them. The problem is you never get to know the person who will eat that food, used those paper products or wear the hat. Charity is fine but the needy always remain at a distance. Missions involve interpersonal relationships. If you want to thank Jesus get involved in someone else’s story.

Allan Bevere is a minister within the East Ohio Annual Conference. He is the minister of the First United Methodist Church in Cambridge. He tells the story of being in Atlanta. He was attending some continuing education event. His workshop ran late and he missed dinner. He didn’t have any transportation so was forced to find a place to eat within the vicinity of his hotel. The only restaurant he could find open was a Burger King. As he walk into the Crown Room, a homeless man stopped him and asked him for money. He was hungry. Allan didn’t give him money but he offered to buy him a meal. The two men got in line together and ordered. When they were given their plastic trays, the homeless man said, “Thanks” and turned to eat by himself. Allan decided to eat with him and followed him to a table. He admitted later it may not have been the wisest choice. The homeless man smelled. Allan said it was hard to eat at first but then they started to talk. He asked the homeless man his name. His name was Jason. He was originally from southern Florida. He lived with his mother and sister. He hadn’t seen his dad in years. His mother found a boyfriend, who lived with them. The boyfriend had abused him and his sister so they ran. His sister moved in with her boyfriend. He bought a bus ticket to Atlanta to make his fortune. That plan did not work and now he is living in the streets until something else comes along. Allan got involved in Jason’s story. He offered to buy him a bus ticket back to Florida but Jason declined. He said no one wants him in Florida. The two men parted when the meal was over. Allan went back to his hotel room. Jason went back to the streets. But before they parted Jason said something Allan will never forget. Jason said, “Thank-you for your time.” How much time do we give the needy? Missions are not just charity. Real missions mean really getting involved in the lives of the needy. And when you do you will be thanking God for your salvation. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Missions involve spiritual maturity.

Statement number two: Missions involve spiritual maturity. Spiritual babies think it is all about self. The more spiritually mature you grow the more you discover life is really about others. No activity in the life of the church exposes spiritual maturity more than missions. Your response to missions says a great deal about your spiritual maturity. If it is true of people then it is true of churches. If you show me a church that is not involved in missions then I will show you a church that is on the way to extinction.

How many once proud congregations are struggling today? How many of those churches will be closed in ten years? You have heard the stories. It seemed impossible fifty years ago but it is becoming reality today. They are closing. Why do you think they are closing? They are not closing because the buildings are ancient or the people are old. They are not closing because the people are bad or the preacher is lazy. They are not closing because of worship style or administrative structure. This sounds critical but there is a school of thought that says they are closing because they are spiritually impotent. They are closing because at some point in their history they stopped looking outward and started looking inward. It was at that moment they stopped being part of the great Christian movement and became simply another institution holding on to the past. In other words, they decided that they were more important than others. Do you believe that is the case? No activity in the life of the church exposes spiritual maturity more than missions. No activity in the life of the church exposes spiritual immaturity more than missions. Spiritual babies think it is all about self. The more spiritually mature you grow the more you discover life is really about others.

On the day missions take a backseat to everything else, Western Reserve will begin to die, too! Listen to what I am about to say. If you want this church to close then vote against or frustrate every mission opportunity. It is easy to do. You can justify your vote or your opinion based on sound business principles. You will get some support because the spiritually immature don’t get it. Churches aren’t businesses. The church was never meant to be a business. The church was meant to be an extension of Christ in the world. When the winds of Pentecost blew, the only thing that mattered to those charter members was Jesus. The only things that should matter to us is Jesus. The spiritually mature understand when we care for the needy of this world we are really carrying for Jesus. When we ignore the needy of this world we are ignoring Jesus. This is not my opinion. That is what the Master said in the parable. If you want to thank God for your salvation, then get involved in missions. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” Missions involve spiritual maturity.

Missions involve risk.

Statement number three: missions involve risk. Missions are risky business. In the year 1260 Marco Polo’s father and uncle traveled to Mongolia. When they arrived there the Mongol emperor revealed an interest in Christianity. He asked the brothers to take a letter to the Pope requesting as many as 100 wise men to spread the Gospel among his subjects. It took the brother two years to arrive home and two more years to return. Did they take the 100 wise men with them? No. Just two friars, for this was all the church felt they could spare. And even those two didn’t make it, turned back shortly into their journey. What a tragedy! Imagine if the Kublai’s request had been fulfilled. Perhaps the whole history of China may have been changed.

I do not know why they didn’t go. I have my guesses. I believe they didn’t go because they were afraid. The church has always been filled with frightened people. Have you ever noticed how many frightened people there are in the church? We are always afraid to try something new. We are afraid to try something new because we don’t have the money or the people. We are afraid to try to help someone in need because we don’t know them. We are afraid to get involved in someone else’s life because we are afraid they may take advantage of us. Can anyone disagree with those words? Have you ever felt like the church is filled with cowards?

There are many frightened people in the church. Whenever I have gotten involved in a mission’s project, well meaning people have tried to warn me. When I told people I was taking Anna on a mission trip to Mexico some were concerned. Anna was only seven at the time. Someone said, “Aren’t you afraid she may be stolen?” I said “don’t worry she won’t hurt them”. When I got involved in Mill Creek Workcamp people said to me, “Aren’t you afraid to be in the city of Youngstown? Someone seems to be killed everyday.” As I prepare to go to Russia in December people are saying to me, “Are you afraid? There is so much violence.” I say I live near Youngstown, Ohio how much worse can it get? The truth is there is a certain amount of risk in missions. Yes, the plane may go down. Yes, the food may be bad. Yes, the residents may not like Americans. Yes, you may fall in love with one of the orphans and get your heart broken. But we get involved in missions for the same reason the wise men should have gone to Mongol. The reward is far greater than risk. There is a world of needy people out there whom God loves. How can you turn your back on them? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” Missions are the best way to thank God for your salvation.

Ernest Henry Shackelton was born in Ireland on February 15, 1874. His father wanted him to be a doctor but he wanted to be a sailor. At the age of sixteen he joined the merchant marines and saw the world. His greatest desire was to travel to the North and South Poles. In December of 1914 he got that opportunity. He was the captain of a ship called Endurance, which had a crew of twenty-seven men. Most of those men were recruited from a simple newspaper advertisement. It read:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.

History tells us Shackleton could not take all the men that responded to that ad. Why would so many respond to such an ad? I believe the reason is people long for an adventure. No one just wants to live and die. We long for an adventure and an opportunity to make a difference.

I believe you long for an adventure. You just don’t want to live and die. You long for an adventure and you want to make a difference in this world too. I know that is true because I long for an adventure too. I want to make a difference in this world. That is why missions can not be ignored. It won’t let us. There is an entire world out there in need. May we never rest until every need is met. Responding to human need is not just important, it is critical. Missions are the best way to thank God for your salvation. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Risky Business

Matthew 25:31-46

1. What mission opportunities are given at Western Reserve?

2. What mission projects are supported at Western Reserve?

3. What mission projects have failed in the past?

4. What mission projects should we consider in the future?

5. What is the difference between missions and charity?

6. Do you believe missions reveal spiritual maturity?

7. At what point shouldn’t a church be run like a business?

8. Why do you think so many churches are struggling today?

9. Who are the spiritual leaders at Western Reserve?

10. Why are people reluctant to get involved in missions?

11. What adventure is still waiting for you?