Mission

When a man who couldn’t swim fell overboard there were several would be rescuers on deckThe first was a Moralist. His response was to reach into his briefcase and produce a book on how to swim. He tossed it to the man and yelled: “Brother, read that and just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine”

Next an Idealist stepped forward. He jumped into the water and began swimming around the drowning man saying: “Now just watch me swim. Do as I do and you will be alright”.

Then a churchman looked at the drowning man with deep concern. He yelled out: “Now, just hold on friend. Help is on the way. We are going to establish a committee to discuss your problem. And then, if we come up with the proper financing, we will resolve your dilemma.”

Suddenly a robust fellow from the school of Positive Thinking rushed forward. He yelled to the drowning man: “Friend, this situation is not nearly as bad as you think. Think dry!”

By now the drowning man was going down for the third time. He was waving one arm in a frantic manner. At that a revivalist on deck went into a state of ecstasy. He yelled: “Yes brother, I see that hand, is there another? Come on board.”

Finally a Realist came on deck. He immediately plunged into the water, at the risk of his own life, and pulled the victim to safety.

When Jesus commissions his disciples to “reveal the Glory of the Lord” he thinks like a realist. His instructions are very direct. There’s no dodging the hard issues. There’s no fudge. It’s straight talking, practical and demanding.

St Luke tells us the Lord appointed 70 disciples and sent them out two by two. Why seventy? Some say because that was the estimated number of countries in the world at the time. They were going into all the world.

It’s also suggested that the number mirrors the number of elders who were appointed to translate the Hebrew laws into Greek. Either way the number symbolises movement out of and beyond the borders of Israel.

Their mission is to the world, to all people, and it is to be a corporate effort – going out two by two, together in mission. There is to be mutual support and encouragement.

Moreover Jesus warns of “wolves” and confrontation with the forces of evil. It’s not going to be easy. It’s evident that the disciples are going to be vulnerable and a “welcome” in towns and villages is no longer assumed.

Also in our Lord’s instructions for mission there is a strong emphasis on the need for “singleness of purpose”. The Christian mission is to be marked by this quality of determination and clear direction. Not stubbornness or fanatical self-belief but God-given purpose.

They are sent and urged to travel light.

It’s said, “The Church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning.” If we don’t have a mission, a sense of purpose and a desire to obey our Lord’s directions then our faith is a vain thing and useless.

St Paul in his letter to the Galatians warns how easy it is to slip into a way of religious observance, paying lip service to mission, while doing nothing or worse, dodging our Christian responsibilities to care.

“Walk by the Spirit” says Paul. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Bear one another’s burdens.” That all adds up to caring.

And that is the thrust of the Church’s mission – caring enough to serve and to share the burdens that fall on all human beings.

Jesus showed his care for people first and then revealed his Glory.

So the Church is challenged to care and to engage in all aspects of human life. Archbishop Harper put it like this. He said: “The church mustn’t be interned. One of the things we are called to do is to remember that the responsibility of the church and individual Christians is to be attentive to what God is doing in the world and then join in. Not inventing our own agenda – wherever we go and whatever we do Christ is there before us.”

We like to set our own agenda, to suit ourselves. But it’s not about moralising or setting idealistic goals or maintaining tradition alone or just being nice or berating people to think positive or presuming to be the best hope for the lost.

On the contrary the Lord directs each one of us to work together, to deal gently with those who have fallen, to be realistic and practical in our caring and to be courageous in our stand for justice and freedom.

Some day, for example, someone will write a definitive record of what congregations did in their local communities during the troubles – facing down terrorism and helping people to find a way through all the mayhem. That will be worth reading an example for us all.

The American Illustrator Norman Rockwell produced a series of illustrations during the 1940s. It was a time when the threat of Nazism seemed to bear down on all that was decent and precious in human life.

 

He called his drawings the Four Freedoms and encapsulated them in images of ordinary every day life. The Freedom of Speech, showing a workingman speaking at a local community meeting; the Freedom of Worship, showing a congregation at prayer.

 

The Freedom from Want, showing an extended family around the table as dinner is served; the Freedom from Fear, showing a mother and father at the bedside of their two young children, tucking them up as they sleep peacefully.

Caring about such freedoms, not taking them for granted is part of our Christian mission. In a recent BBC film Jewish survivors of the holocaust who had escaped to Millisle were very clear and forceful in urging today’s generation to always remember how easy it is for evil to take hold in human hearts and in society. “Don’t forget what happened to us” they said.

Alan Abernethy, recently made Bishop of Connor and a good friend of this parish, has written honestly about his experiences of a caring mission. A few years ago he found what he called ‘the job of caring’ emotionally and physically draining.

He said: “My stomach churned when the phone rang, I knew I was losing the ability to care. I was losing my compassion.”

He recovered and looks back on that time sure of the Lord’s help and guidance. He asked many questions of God and of himself. He is now writing a book on doubt.

But one thing he affirms with confidence. The ability and willingness to genuinely care is a spiritual strength. It is of God. It is by the grace of God that we are enabled and sent into the world to care in a sacrificial, costly way.

And that as John Newton said is “Grace which, like the Lord the giver, never fails from age to age.”

Amen.