BECOMING A
REFLECTION OF JESUS SERMON SERIES
Equip
Ephesians 4: 1-16
Pastor
Becoming reflections of Jesus can
be captioned in three active verbs: GATHER, NURTURE AND EQUIP. This is the
mission for which we exist.
...so that, through the life of this congregation, lives will be changed
and we will model what it means to be a 21st century New Testament church.
It’s right in line with Paul’s vision for the early church in
the wonderful third and fourth chapters of the Ephesians letter. He begins with
the message of reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Through the blood of His
cross, we have been reconciled to God and given the ministry of reconciliation;
through Christ we are no longer strangers and sojourners, but brothers and sisters.
Mid-course, Paul shifts to the
image of a household built on the foundation of Christ Jesus, and he encourages
them to “maintain the unity of the Body in the bond of peace.” One spirit, one
hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is
above all and in all and through all.
Then he says that within this
household, we have all been given various gifts: apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers. And I would expand the list to
include:
All gathered in the Body of
Christ. All nurtured in their discipleship by the spirit of Christ. All working
together with one clear purpose: “To equip the saints for the work of ministry,
building up the Body of Christ.”
We can boil it down to three
active verbs: Gather, Nurture and
Equip.
OUR MISSION IS TO GATHER INTO THE BODY OF
CHRIST.
I am sure you are familiar with the amazing story of the migration of
the monarch butterfly, a lovely little creature who blesses our gardens and
forests in the summer. Every autumn, millions of monarchs from all over the
eastern United States and Canada migrate thousands of miles to a small
handful of sites in Mexico where they rest for the winter. Then
in the spring, they begin their return trip to the north. The amazing thing is
that no individual monarch ever makes the trip to Mexico and back.
A butterfly that leaves the Adirondack Mountains in New
York will fly all the way to Mexico and spend the winter there. In
March, it begins the trip northward, but after laying eggs in the milkweed of Texas and Florida,
it will die. Those butterflies will continue northward, laying eggs along the
way until some of them, maybe three or four generations removed from the
original, make it back to mountains of New
York. But when August comes, they will head south, aiming for the exact place
their great grandparents visited, a place they have never been.
Sue Haplern says: “The monarchs always migrate in
community and depend on each other. Although a single monarch may make it from New York to Mexico,
it is the following generations who completes the journey.”
Now here is the word for the
church. She says: “No one completes the journey solo. It is only as a community
that we discover the fullness of God’s plan for us.”
I have a hunch we aren’t going to
complete the journey solo. It’s only in community that we discover what God has
in mind for us. So we gather....we welcome, we include, we receive all persons
into the life-giving, joy-filled Body of Christ.
Let me give you another example
from the animal world. In an evangelism workshop I learned about the difference
between “sponge evangelism” and “octopus
evangelism.” For the most part,
we are pretty good about sponge evangelism-soaking up folks who… come by, get close, walk in the
door. But octopus evangelism is something else. It means reaching, stretching,
finding, touching, drawing in those who are in need of the love and forgiveness
of Jesus Christ and may not have even realized it yet. Are we actively
reaching, actively inviting, and actively gathering all into the body of
Christ?
A recent study of the rapidly
growing mega-churches confirms what we already know. They are growing, not
primarily because of their programming or preaching, buildings, video screens
or cute, thirty-something pastors. They are growing primarily because members
are actively inviting others to join them in worship. Eighty percent of all
first time visitors to a church come because a friend or neighbor invited them.
It’s the active verbs...inviting,
reaching, gathering...which makes all the difference.
If you have seen the movie Brokeback Mountain, you know the church shows up
twice in the film. The second time is in the last scene. Ennis, the
hard-working, sullen ranch hand, is meeting with his beautiful daughter in his
broken down trailer. She tells him she is going to be married and that the
wedding will be at the church. She wants him to come.
At first, he hesitates. “They
need me down in the Tetons,” he says. Then after a long pause he continues,
“But I guess they’ll have to get along without me if my little girl is getting
married.”
Ennis is going to church... And I
thought, “O Lord, please let this film reflect something of the beauty,
authentic faith and love for Jesus that I’ve known in Your church. O God, I pray
that someone in that small-town Wyoming church will welcome him, receive him,
and gather him in:
I hope that little church will be
a place where even Ennis Del Mar
can be gathered into the Body of Christ.”
Our mission is to gather.
AND OUR MISSION IS TO NURTURE DISCIPLES OF
CHRIST. I said that
was the second place the church shows up in Brokeback Mountain.
The first time comes early in their friendship when Jack Twist says to Ennis,
“My mamma, she believes in the Pentecost.”
“What exactly is the Pentecost?”
asks Ennis, in idle curiosity. Then, as if to excuse his lack of biblical
knowledge, he says, “My folks, they was Methodist.”
It reminds me of that old
preacher story I am sure you have heard a hundred times, about the two soldiers
in the foxhole. It was looking pretty grim, so the Methodist said, “Maybe we
should pray.” And the Presbyterian said, “I learned the Lord’s Prayer when I
was a kid.” The Methodist replied, “I’ll bet you five dollars you can’t say
it.” So the Presbyterian prayed: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the
Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I
pray the Lord my soul to take.”
And his Methodist buddy said,
“Here’s your five dollars. I didn’t think you could do it.”
To be fair, Jack Twist didn’t
have it right, either. But I am afraid Ennis’s experience is too true of all
too many children of all too many Methodists and Presbyterians for that matter:
a lack of clarity about our faith, a lack of conviction in our beliefs, and
biblical illiteracy to boot.
Paul’s letters to the first
century church are written to a church torn by political and theological
battles, a church unsure of its foundations and faith, a church struggling with
issues of sexual morality and social pressure. So he reminds them:
Now I would remind you,
brothers and sisters, in what terms I preached the Gospel, which you received
and in which you stand. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He
was buried and that He was raised on the third day, in accordance to the
scriptures. (I Corinthians 15:1)
It’s the reminder of the central
message of the Gospel, a reminder of the word we have to proclaim. And today,
just as in the first century church, there is a desperate need for followers of
Christ to be grounded in the faith, to grow together in our spiritual journey,
to nurture one another in the life and spirit of Jesus Christ.
Every spiritual awakening, every
church renewal has begun with small bands of Christians meeting together for
spiritual formation, biblical reflection and care-giving... “until”
as Paul says, “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So we
are no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the
cunning of intellectual argument, but rather we would grow up in every way into
Him who is the head, Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 4:13)
To gather...to
nurture...and...
OUR TASK IS TO EQUIP FOR MISSION AND MINISTRY. George
Hinman is the senior pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, with over 4,000 members and a
worship attendance of over 3,000 in five worship services on two campuses. George says:
By average worship
attendance, University Presbyterian is the largest Presbyterian church on the
west coast. However, the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of a
congregation is not how many people come to the church, but how many people go from
the church inspired to make a difference in the world.
We are not just in the gathering
and nurturing business. Ultimately, all that gathering and nurturing has to result in
equipping and sending for the sake of Christ. The real measure is not how many
people come to Skyline
Presbyterian Church, but how many people go to serve Jesus Christ in the world.
Again... it’s the active verbs
which make all the difference.
I came across a cute video that I
want to share. It’s called Me
Church. The first shot shows a woman at her desk who says, “My life is so busy;
I’d like a church where worship begins when I get there.” Voice over: “Can do.
When you arrive, we begin.”
The second shows a young couple
with a baby. He says, “This guy has a mind of his own. We want a church where
if he screams, we don’t feel like we’re the bad guys.”
“Got it...at Me Church, you can
stay and everyone else will leave.”
Third witness: “My wife and I
don’t give much financial support, but we sure would like to know what everyone
else gives.”
“No problem. We’ll tell you what
everyone else gives in detail.”
“Can I get my car buffed and
waxed while I’m in church?”
“Of course. And how about an oil change and lube?”
Then a little kid on his bike
says, “I want a pony.”
“Take a look in your back
yard.”
And the final caption: “ME
CHURCH: THE CHURCH WHERE IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU.”
By contrast, you will hear me say
more than once, “In this church, membership has no privileges. Everything we
have is available to everyone. Membership has no privileges, only
responsibilities for service in the mission and ministry of Jesus
Christ.”
I think George is right. If we are to be reflections
of Jesus Christ, the true measure of the church will not be in how many people
come to worship, but in how many people go from worship to make a difference in
the world.