Feb 24, 2013: Wordeed 3, Defragmenting Mission

Scripture: Luke 6:46-49

- Once upon a time, the majority of people in Europe and North America were Christian. 

- A majority of people attended Sunday morning services in Christian churches.

- We held weekly worship and prayer services and we met the needs of our communities.

- We knew our neighbors and their needs and we did what we could to meet those needs.

- It was during those days that committed Christians became convinced that the world needed Christ and missionary societies were born.

- Committed people gave generously to support missionaries, sending them and their families to foreign countries to share the gospel.

- What these missionaries did when they arrived was become involved in the communities where they were living.

- They got or created jobs to help support themselves and their ministry, and got to know the needs of the people in their communities and did what they could to meet those needs, and in the middle of it all, they shared the good news.

- Does this remind you of anyone, perhaps Jesus?

- Our God is a missionary God. He sent Jesus to live among us. As the gospel writer puts it, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." (John 1:14, MSG)

- Today, Europe and North America are still sending missionaries and these missionaries are still doing what they have always done, moving into the neighborhood, meeting needs, and sharing the good news.

- The result? Needs are being met and many continue to come to Christ.

- So, what's different?

- What is different is North America and Europe are no longer primarily Christian themselves.

- They also need missionaries. We need missionaries. All of us need to be missionaries to the people around us.

- Somehow, over the years we developed an "us versus them" mentality.

- Somehow, we have forgotten that sharing the good news is an incarnational work.

- What does incarnational mean?  It means just as Jesus had to come in flesh and blood to accomplish his work, so also we must be present to others to continue the work he has given us.

- Like Jesus, we have to "move into the neighborhood" and get involved in the lives of people, meeting their needs and sharing the gospel.

- Here's where the trouble arises.

- Human beings have a natural tendency to compartmentalize.

- Look at our houses. We have a kitchen for preparing meals, we have a dining room for eating meals, we have a living room for relaxing where we watch TV and spend time with others, we have a bathroom for, well we all know what a bathroom is for.

- We also have a bedroom for each person in the house for rest, and a playroom for the kids toys.

- Even if we do not have a room for each of these compartments, we do have an area designated for them.

- Now what happens in our homes? Sure, if we organized it all and walked out and shut the door it would all stay that way. But we don't, we live in our houses.

- We take food in the living room, we sleep on the couch, the kids drag their toys everywhere and there are dirty socks under the kitchen table.

- One room spills into the next and the house gets messy.

- This compartmentalizing does not just apply to our houses. We do it to our lives as well.

- We break up our lives into tidy little compartments or boxes so that we can define and analyze things, understand and manage our lives.

- We have a box for family, a box for work, a box for friends, a box for church or faith, a box for hobbies, a box for leisure or play, and so on.

- Now, here's the problem. While we are busy trying to keep our lives well-managed and keep everything inside their separate boxes, we forget that life does not work that way.

- Real life does not fit into tidy little compartments.

- Like our houses, real life is messy.

- You can't do one thing over here in this box without it impacting every other box. Sadly, many people think they can.

- Oh! You can try. In fact, many attempt to manage their lives in this way for a long time.

- If we keep our faith box separated from the rest of life it will impact our integrity.

- We might say that we believe in God's mission, but do we really believe in God's mission if we do not share the love of Christ in both word and deed?

- Isn't it obvious that the good works that need to be reflected in our lives are works of service to others who are in need?

- Jesus said, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but do not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:46, ESV)

- Let's take the church box as an example. If we go to church each week and do not allow our church going to impact the rest of our week, then where do we stand?

- Listen again to Jesus: "If you use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house, but skipped the foundation." (Luke 6:49, The Message)

- Without a foundation, we have nothing on which to build a life of integrity.

- A life of integrity, that is integral, is a life undivided and whole. It's not a life that is fragmented and compartmentalized, having everything divided into little boxes which never impact one another.

- We've been talking in our small groups about Wordeed and integral mission and just like we need to have integrity, so also mission needs to have integrity, being undivided and whole.

- It is agreed that Christ has called his church to both word and deed. However, there is a great fragmentation with regard to the who.

- Who does the word work and who does the deed work?

- We again try to compartmentalize the mission of the church.

- Terry Smith puts it this way: "There are many different kinds of fragmentation in mission. One division is between its actors: is mission the responsibility of the professional clergy or the laity? Perhaps a more common division is between 'over-there,' i.e. cross-cultural mission in foreign land and mission work within our own country or neighborhood. For others, the division is between the local church and parachurch organizations." (Smith, Wordeed, 21)

- Could anything be more confusing?

- The problem is that we cannot compartmentalize the mission of the church any more that we can compartmentalize our homes or our lives.

- God's mission spills over into everyone's lives and is everyone's responsibility.

- This fact reminds me about our new vision statement and its focus upon an every member ministry: As a church, each member will be involved in ministries that reach out to each other, our families and community with fervent commitment, focussed compassion, and fruitful teamwork as we strive to meet needs and grow through evangelism, discipleship, and social action.

- An every member ministry means that God’s mission is everyone’s responsibility.

- As Jesus said to his disciples on the day of his resurrection, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." (John 20:21, ESV)

- Like life, mission is also messy, and it's everyone's job.

Wordeed 1: Faithworks

Feb 10

Scripture: James 2:14-26 (MSG)

- "‘Misión integral’ that expression has been used in Latin America for a long time. And I am very pleased to see that it's really beginning to be well known in the English-speaking world. Integral mission: When you talk about integral mission you are talking about the inseparability of evangelism and social responsibility. The church is supposed to witness to Jesus Christ not only in terms of the proclamation of the gospel, but also in terms of the demonstration of the gospel in practical terms. And I'm very thankful for the way in which churches all over the world are catching this vision. The kingdom of God has to do with the totality of life. Jesus Christ is Lord over the totality of God's creation, and we are to participate in what God's wants to do in transforming human life in every aspect. This is the great privilege and responsibility of the church and every disciple of Jesus Christ is to participate in what God wants to do in the world." ~ C. René Padilla

- As we rethink God's mission and vision for us, we need go on this journey over the next several weeks through Wordeed together.

- Wordeed will help us to explore why I'm convinced it's time for us to have a renewed sense of mission and a new vision from God for today.

- It's very important that we hold both God's mission, and God's vision before us, so here they are:

-    Our mission is to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus in, and for, our community until the light of Christ shines in every home.

-    As a church, each member will be involved in ministries that reach out to each other, our families and community with fervent commitment, focussed compassion, and fruitful teamwork as we strive to meet needs and grow through evangelism, discipleship, and social action.

-    As we think about our Scripture for today, the apostle James has a very blunt word for his readers that the Message conveys with a graphic image: Cutting faith and works apart leaves a corpse.

-    I recall an illustration from a sermon on this passage by a friend of mine from one of the first preaching classes I ever took.

-    He described faith and works like the two oars of a rowboat.

-    The moment he began talking about faith and works like a rowboat, he had my full attention.

-    As a child, my grandparents had a cottage on Aylesford Lake in the Annapolis Valley.

-    Many times growing up I remember going fishing with my grandmother or my grandfather in the little rowboat that was just big enough for two.

-    I remember learning how to row and I remember when I was old enough I was allowed to go by myself in the rowboat, as long as I wore a life jacket, and stayed within sight of our cottage beach to row about on the lake.

-    If you row with just your left oar you end up going in circles if you row with just your right oar the same thing happens.

-    If you don't know how to row, then you're dead in the water.

-    The same is true of faith without works.

-    James makes it abundantly clear that genuine Christian faith includes two basic elements: trusting in God and acting in the world.

-    Good works without trusting in God leads to a lifeless corpse.

-    Many people do good works for their own selfish reasons.

-    Perhaps it's in an effort to make amends for all the wrong things they've done or perhaps it's because of how good it makes them feel.

-    It may appear good on the outside, but what looks good to human beings in the end leads only to death.

-    The truth is we cannot put to rights the wrong things we have done in the past by doing good deeds today.

-    Today's good deed cannot fix yesterday's sin. After all, "the wages of sin is death."

-    "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

-    There are plenty of people in the world that believe in the value of good works, but whose lives are completely devoid of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

-    What are good works without trust in Jesus Christ? In the end, what's left but a corpse?

-    Claiming to trust God without obedience to Christ leads to a lifeless corpse.

-    It's not enough to say we agree with creeds, doctrines, or statements of faith. It's not enough!

-    True belief leads to action. In fact, we could say, our actions reveal what we really believe.

-    Good works display a living faith, whereas, a claim of faith without good works is simply a corpse.

-    What is faith without obedience? Faith without obedience is just an idea and ideas only have life when they are put into action.

-    What good is an idea that is never acted upon? Isn't it really just a useless idea?

-    Faith without obedience is lifeless faith.

-    As James says, 'The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works, and you get the same thing: a corpse.'

-    The Holy Spirit gives the spiritual gifts, so that the church, God's people, Christ's body, will glorify God through good works.

-    The Holy Spirit enables us to grow in the fruit of the Spirit so that godly character may be displayed to the world in our being and in our doing.

-    Thinking about our new vision statement, real commitment is fervent commitment, real compassion is focused compassion, and real teamwork is fruitful teamwork.

-    Fervent commitment, focused compassion, and fruitful teamwork are true indicators of a lived faith, a faith that works.

-    It is impossible to have a fervent commitment and not act. When we are fervent, enthusiastic, zealous, we act. Real faith is committed to obedience to Christ.

-    Real compassion is not just an emotional response. Real compassion moves us out of our comfort zones into where God is acting. Real compassion is focused compassion because it moves us to act.

-    Real teamwork is fruitful teamwork because it is the work of the Holy Spirit to empower God's people to bear fruit. Real teamwork presumes that bearing fruit, being fruitful requires action.

-    Cutting faith and works apart leaves a corpse.

-    Sam Chaise, general secretary of Canadian Baptist ministries has this to say about faith, good works, and Wordeed: "'That which God has joined together, let no one separate.' Those words are usually spoken at a wedding, reflecting the truth of what marriage is meant to be. But maybe these words should be spoken about mission. God's mission on planet Earth has always involved words and deeds. Both, together. Jesus did both – he "did" the Kingdom and he taught about the Kingdom. Unfortunately, too often in our world we separate what God has joined together – some people or organizations focus on words (e.g. proclaiming, teaching, evangelizing) , while others focus on deeds (e.g. feeding the hungry, dealing with injustice). Wordeed is about mission that is integral and whole. It's about keeping together what God has joined together."

-    Cutting faith and works apart leaves a corpse.

-    To keep your faith alive, put it to work!

Wordeed 2: GC2;Both/And

Feb 17

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40; 28:18-20

- The mission of the church: is it the great commission or is it the greatest commandments? Is it word or is it deed?

- Let's start today with a little mental experiment by playing the Word/Deed game.

- I'm going to read to several pairs of words and what I want you to do is choose which word you most connect with from each pair.

- Are you ready? Let's play.

- Preaching, showing; word, deed; proclamation, presence; justice, mercy; mouth, hands; evangelism, social action.

- Where do you stand? On the word side or on the deed side?

- That was the first round of the word/deed game. I can imagine there would be a clear division among us. Many of us either clearly lean one way or obviously lean toward the other way.

- Let's play another round.

- Converting, healing; faith, works; salvation, development; believing, living; saying, doing; soul care, social care.

- Did you find the second round a little harder?  Did you find yourself still sticking with the same side you did before?

- The interesting thing is none of us are balanced between the two, words and deeds. However, all of us together as the church will bring the balance each of us needs.

- Maybe you'll want to think about playing the Wordeed game in your small groups this week only actually getting up and doing it.

- It might generate some interesting interaction and discussion.

- Wordeed: Let’s stop thinking either/or and start thinking both/and.

- Let me share a story from Terry Smith's blog about Wordeed. (http://wordeed.ca/2012/07/13/are-we-doing-integral-mission-here/)

- "On the shores of Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) you see stunning, multimillion dollar cottages, pristine yachts and other ostentatious signs of affluence.

- "But in the midst of such wealth, you don’t have to look very hard to find signs of brokenness, poor nutrition, un- and under-employment and poverty.

- "One of my colleagues, Anne Drost, travelled north this week into the heart of one of Ontario’s prettiest regions where she witnessed this odd mixture of wealth and poverty.

- "She went to visit a local church. Anne met with Rev. Marjorie Smith, pastor of the 130+ year old First Baptist Church of Parry Sound.

- "It’s a small group of very committed people who, through their church, are leading the charge in meeting the needs of the community.

- "Marjorie asked Anne a haunting question that we should all grapple with: “So, are we doing integral mission here?”

- "Marjorie had read Wordeed and shared copies of it with deacons in her church. She wanted to know if what the church is doing is integral mission.

- "Anne wandered around the town with Marjorie and a few of the parishioners of her small church.

- "She saw a clothing bank that is offering assistance to unemployed people, supported in part by the church members.

- "They visited an amazing kitchen garden plot, sponsored by the Parry Sound Community Garden and Canadore College, where church members, alongside other residents are working to promote local food security and improved nutrition, while making a sustainable environmental difference.

- "The church also has a soup kitchen.

- "Anne met people who found a new faith and commitment to the place of the church in their community, including one woman named Bev who was excited to relate how she can now feed her family, sharing and selling the surplus.

- "Others are coming into a deeper appreciation of “community” because of the living witness of the church.

- "When a church embarks on the journey of integral mission, it is usually because they have discovered a deep and compelling need in their community that is unmet and they believe they can and must do something about it.

- "The witness of the church in word and deed becomes a powerful tool of transformation and renewal, bringing new hope and direction.

- "And what about you: “So, are you doing integral mission here?”

- So, what about us, are we doing integral mission here?

- Back in January, we spent two Sundays looking at the Great Commission.

- What we learned is that the great commission is about disciple-making.  Jesus instructed his disciples to make-disciples.

- When we carefully read the great commission, then we discover that disciple making is much more than words.

- We note first that a disciple is a learner, a student of Jesus.

- Disciples of Jesus don't just know about him, they know him and are learning from him how to say and do the kinds of things he would have them say and do.

- Jesus' disciples spent all of their time with him.  They modelled themselves after him.  He preached; they preached. He healed; they healed. He fed; they fed.  He made disciples; they made disciples. They followed him in both word and deed.

- Being a disciple is about being and doing, words and deeds.

- While evangelism is important, we understand that there is much more to the great commission than evangelism alone.

- For a church to have integrity in her mission, she has to realize that the message of God's Kingdom needs to be accompanied by the works of God's Kingdom.

- The church's mission, after all, is God's mission; it's a reflection of the mission of Jesus and Jesus preached the kingdom and did the works of the kingdom.

- If all a church ever does is preach the gospel it's like being half faithful.

- What about the greatest commandments? Are they only about deeds?

- If we are to love others as well as we love ourselves and to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, then keeping the greatest commandments must take into account the whole person.

- Love is a verb.  Love proves itself through the action of meeting basic needs.

- As James says, 'You come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?' (James 2, MSG)

- Likewise, what good is it to preach at people who are hurting without first doing our best to meet their needs?

- That is what convinced Rev. Marjorie Smith and her church on Georgian Bay that they had to start doing something to meet the needs of their community.

- A clothing bank and soup kitchen for needy, under- and un-employed families, as well as a community garden plot promoting food security and sustainable development for these families, and new faith, are the kinds of things we should expect to find when Great Commission-Greatest Commandments people are doing integral mission in their community.

- So then, the question about the great commission versus the greatest commandments, is it word or is it deed, is irrelevant.

- It's inappropriate to assume that we must choose between either one or the other.

- It is not either-or, rather it is both-and.

- Wordeed: Let’s stop thinking either/or and start thinking both/and.