Abundant LIFE: Why Church? Mark 10: A Sermon Preached by Ernest Thompson. First Presbyterian Church Wilmington, NC.

Transcription

1 Abundant LIFE: Why Church? Mark 10:13-16 A Sermon Preached by Ernest Thompson First Presbyterian Church Wilmington, NC August 30, People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. 16 And Jesus took the children up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. We ve had four big conversations at our church this summer. This first conversation was about the book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by the sociologist Robert D. Putnam. We had small group meetings and larger meeting with outside speakers and even some movies on related themes. The book talks about how changes in our culture are hurting children, especially poor children. It has been a good and important conversation that will continue. We had a second big conversation about Youth Ministry about where we are, and where we want to be, and how the world has changed, and what that means for youth ministry, and who we want to lead our Youth Ministry. That conversation led to the creation of a new position, a full time Director of Youth Ministry.

2 It also led to the hiring of Elizabeth Hipp, which is a big win for our church and for our youth. Elizabeth will be commissioned at the 9:00 service in two weeks. 2 We had a third big conversation this summer about marriage about who can get married in our church, and who cannot get married in our church, and why. That was a much more difficult conversation, because we don t agree about this. We don t even agree on what exactly it is that we re disagreeing about. But almost everyone does agree that we want to be a community of faith that can talk about difficult topics, and that we want to stay together in spite of our disagreements. And I m grateful for that. Our last big conversation has been about our priorities as a church what are the most important things God is calling our church to focus on for the next twelve months? We had dream teams and design teams and lots of prayers and conversations and study and I m excited about where this conversation has led us. You ll see a brief summary of our four new Abundant LIFE priorities in your bulletin, and we ll be looking at them over the next few Sundays. When I first chose our Scripture lesson for this morning, I was thinking about that first conversation about the book Our Kids and I thought this passage might be a good way for us all to think about why and how we as a church care about all the kids in our community. Then we decided to do a sermon series on the new Abundant Life priorities. But as I looked at this Scripture passage, I decided it would also make a good introduction to that series. And in some ways the passage touches on all four of the big conversations we ve had this summer. I want to focus this morning on the question Why Church? and what this Scripture lesson teaches about the why question. There is a great Ted Talk by Simon Sinek, which says organizations which really make an impact on people and the world do something different than most other organizations. He says these organizations start with the why question before moving to the how question or the what question. He says they build their organization around their why and not the what and the how. So before we talk about the what what is God calling us to do, or the how how we are going to do it, I want to focus on the why.

3 Why are we here? Why has God called us together? What is our purpose as a church? What is our calling? What is our mission? Why church? 3 Our Scripture lesson gives us a powerful reminder and challenge about our why. 1. Our lesson starts with the disciples no. People are bringing little children to Jesus. They want Jesus to touch their children and pray for their children. And the disciples say no. And they speak sternly to the parents. Now I think the disciples probably meant well. They are beginning to understand who Jesus really is, that he is the promised Messiah who will bring in the kingdom of God. And so they re trying to protect Jesus. They re trying to keep him from being distracted from this important work. They think he needs to focus on important people, people who can help him make a difference. The disciples are also living in a very different world than we are and their culture affects their assumptions. In Jesus day people s lives did not revolve around their children. There were no children s traveling sports teams or what some schools call helicopter parents always hovering around. Jack Kingsbury says that children were no-accounts and without status in the society of Matthew s story. So the disciples said no. They told the children to stay away. In the story Jay read from John s gospel, Jesus disciples have just starting following him. They are still getting to know him, and so they ask, Rabbi, where are you staying? And Jesus says, Come and see. And then one of those disciples, Philip goes and finds his friend Nathaniel and shares his excitement about finding Jesus, the Messiah. Nathaniel is skeptical, and wonders if anything good can come out of Nazareth. And Philip simply says, Come and see.

4 4 That s what disciples of Jesus Christ are supposed to do to invite people to come and see, to invite people to draw close to Christ and to be touched by Christ and to be blessed by Christ. But in our lesson, the disciples say no. They start putting up barriers that keep people away from Jesus instead of helping people draw closer to Jesus. 2. Unfortunately, disciples of Christ continue to repeat this mistake over and over again. Even with the best of intentions, we still sometimes put up barriers that keep people away, instead of being an inviting church that is always saying Come and see. I did a funeral this week for a man I did not know. He was not a member of our church or any church, but his wife grew up here in our church. I had a wonderful visit with his wife. She went on and on and on about what a great and generous man he was all he did for her and for her children and for his neighbors and for people at work, especially young people just getting a start. At some point I started wondering if my wife would have this many good things to say about me when the time comes. And I decided I might need to up my game. Then his wife told me that early in his life, her husband s first wife had abandoned him. It was a very difficult time and it led to a divorce. She said that his church, the church he grew up in, responded to the divorce by excommunicating him, because they did not believe the Bible permits divorce. And I thought, You have got to be kidding me! At the time when this man most needed a church, when he needed support and encouragement and prayers and hugs, disciples of Jesus Christ said to him, you are not welcome here because we don t believe in divorce. Now I m not casting stones at one particular denomination, because churches of every stripe can forget our why, and begin to put up barriers instead of inviting people to come and see. I read a blog post this week by John Vest, the new evangelism professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond called Tattooed People. John said he s been trying to get to know some of the Presbyterian pastors in Richmond, and at one pastors gathering they got to talking about how many

5 5 young people have tattoos today. John says that there was a palpable sense of disapproval and even condescension towards tattooed people. One of the pastors talked about conversation with a young tattooed couple at a coffee shop which he had enjoyed. But he said, You know, I don t think there is a Presbyterian Church in Richmond where I could send this young couple and they would feel welcome. And John thought, You have got to be kidding me! Now the pastor who made this comment was wrong. I ve got a friend who is the pastor of a church in Richmond where I know this young couple would be welcome. They welcome people with tattoos and people without tattoos. In fact, I know two Presbyterian pastors here in Wilmington who have tattoos, and I know we ve got plenty of members in our church who have tattoos and are welcomed and valued and loved. But still, I wonder if there is some truth to this pastor s comment. Even when we re wrong, there may be some truth there. It might not be intentional. It might not even be conscious. But it doesn t take much to put up a barrier. Sometimes it s just the raising of an eyebrow, or giving a knowing glance to a friend. And the message is clear. You are not welcome here. So here s the challenge of the passage for us. What are the barriers here at First Presbyterian that keep people from drawing near to Christ though our church? What are the practices, or attitudes, or subtle signals that say, You are not welcome here? What are our sins of omission, the things we are not doing, that keep people from coming and finding Christ? We probably can t see these barriers ourselves. And so we ll have to ask others. And be willing to listen. And ask God to open our eyes and our hearts. 3. One of our new priorities is Increasing Our Connections. That priority includes a strong commitment to hospitality and a systematic and intentional welcoming of guests to our church.

6 6 I read a chapter from a book by Bishop Robert Schnase this week. He says that Radical Hospitality is one of the core practices of faithful and fruitful congregations today. He says that means looking at everything we do, and everything we say and everything we don t do or say at every ministry, every newsletter, every worship service, every building and classroom, even the parking lots and the signs and the job descriptions of the ushers. And then asking, how are we intentionally reaching out to invite, and then welcoming, and then making room for and assimilating new people? The disciples put up barriers and say no. But Jesus is indignant. Jesus says to his disciples, Let the little children come to me. Do not stop them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom belongs. Dale Bruner says: According to Jesus, the dependent, the unable, the helpless, the passive, and the weak are the real citizens of the kingdom of God. Bruner says, These are different people from those whom we usually allow to enter our kingdoms or clubs. Those whom instinct disqualifies, Jesus qualifies. Those whom our instinct or our assumptions disqualify, Jesus qualifies. And Jesus welcomes, and Jesus tells us to do the same. I received an from a church member this week who said that he is deeply concerned about the Syrian refugee crisis and especially the plight of the Christians there. He asked if our church can begin a conversation about our church sponsoring a Syrian refugee family here, and looking at other ways that we can respond to this overwhelming need. And the answer is certainly yes. With the magnitude of that crisis and the challenges of resettlement our church and every Christian church needs to be talking about what we can do to welcome refugees rather than put up barriers. Jesus welcomes the children, and takes them into his arms. And he lays his hands on them. And he blesses them. The disciples set up barriers. But Jesus welcomes. And he touches. And he blesses.

7 7 And so that is the calling of the church of Jesus Christ. We are called to welcome. And to touch. And to bless. That is our why. 4. Jesus then tells his disciples that unless they become like little children, they will never enter God s kingdom. It s not enough just to welcome them. Jesus says, Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as little children will never enter it. Children are dependent and needy and unqualified and prone to make a mess. And Jesus says, It is to such as these, that the kingdom of God belongs. We don t enter God s kingdom because of our qualifications. We don t enter God s kingdom because of our achievements or our righteousness or because we ve gotten all the answers right. We enter the kingdom of God by becoming like children by recognizing that we are unqualified, and unrighteous, and we don t know all the answers, and we often make a mess. But somehow in the miracle of God s grace, Jesus welcomes us anyway. And Jesus touches our lives. And Jesus blesses us. We enter the kingdom by saying, God I can t believe you re inviting me in with all my flaws and questions and doubts. But if you call, I will answer. If you welcome me, I will come in. That means that there is no room in God s kingdom for self-righteousness or pride or condescension. Not if we have to become like children to enter. There is only room for humility and gratitude and generosity and love. My friends, it s easy to forget our why. We are here because Jesus has said to us, Come and see. We are here because Christ has welcomed us and touched us and blessed us. We are here because Jesus has sent us out to share the miracle of the kingdom with others to say to the little children; and to the least and the last and the lost; and to those who are arrogant and vain and sadly proud, to say to one and all, Come and see. Come and see.