Lent 2
“This is Christ’s Church.”
I said to a group of church members gathered in the worship area for an
annual meeting. We were talking about
mission. A man stood up, scowling. “This is OUR church!” The insistence in his voice was a little
scary. “We built it. We support it. We take care of it. The church belongs to us!” Jesus words, lamenting over Jerusalem, came
to mind. “See, your house is left to
you!” Fortunately, I did not quote Jesus’
words out loud. I don’t think it would
have helped.
That happened a long time ago. But I fear that, sometimes, we forget why
God, through the Holy Spirit, gathers us together into churches; into
communities of faith. Sometimes I fear
that our attitudes about “our” churches are not too far from this man’s – we just
wouldn’t dare say it out loud or even admit it to ourselves. Out loud, we would agree that the church belongs
to Christ, but our actions and our anxieties reflect a different underlying reality. When a church turns inward upon itself,
decline and ultimately, death, is the inevitable result. When we become possessive of the church, and begin to think that the church is primarily
there to serve us and to take care of our needs, we need to be convicted Jesus’
words, “See, your house is left to you!”
Like the mother hen, God still yearns to gather her children
under her wings. Gathering and tending the flock is an
important part of what a church does. Churches
need to provide spiritual nurture and care, pray for and with one another, visit those who are sick, lonely or bereaved,
teach the Word, and gather for the worship and praise of God. In the gathering, God forms, equips and
nurtures disciples for the sake of Christ’s mission in the world. But, the gathering is not the end point of
being a church. Following in the Way of
Jesus, we are sent from our gatherings to be the Church in the world and in our
daily lives. We are sent to bear witness
to the love and grace of God in word and deed.
We are sent to reach out to the broken, the lost, the lonely, the
hurting and suffering, the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger.
Gathering and sending.
Gathering and sending. Gathering
and sending. This should be the rhythm of
the Church’s life. If we forget the
gathering, the church becomes, at best, just another social service
agency. If we forget the sending, the
church becomes, at best, a social club for the religiously minded. Gathering
and sending. We need to do both. Otherwise, our house will be left to us.
Peace,
Bishop Mike
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