Micah 6: 6-8
Luke 4:16-19
This past week I spent some time trying to remember when it was that I got interested in Mission and Service. I tried to pinpoint some event in my life that was the lightening rod that made me want to participate in mission and service, but I couldn’t think of any one event. I think it might be simple to say, “I was raised that way.”
I have fragmented memories of my childhood, standing on a pier in San Francisco saying good-bye to some family friends that were headed to the Philippines to serve in mission. The family of five was boarding a boat in the midst of a company of well-wishers from our church. As they boarded the boat, I will filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation for them.
Of course we had many Sunday Evening programs put on by missionaries from various exotic and exciting places doing important things. Certainly as I’ve grown older, my version of what is important has changed. I no longer believe that we have to save souls for Jesus, but do believe that everyone deserves basic resources to live.
Over the last 28 years I have been part of a mission experience almost every year. None of them have taken me to far away places, unless you count Alaska or Mexico, but all of them have changed me and changed the company of travelers that I had the pleasure of working with. For instance, many of those trips have been to Miracle Ranch Orphanage (Rancho Milagro) near Ensenada, BC. I started going to the orphanage when my daughter was a baby, and the children at the orphanage lived in very substandard circumstances with electricity that came from a generator for only a few hours a day and water from a well. Over the last couple of decades, groups like the ones I have been a part of have built two story style dormitories, a kitchen and dining hall, housing for the staff, play sheds for the children, and even a medical clinic. All of the children go to school and many have gone to college. The children are sponsored by people such as you helping to pay school fees. Imagine the difference in the lives of these children. Imagine the difference they will make in the lives of other people.
And, imagine the difference that was made in the lives of the students and adults who made these trips. Here is a simple and immediate example. After these trips to the orphanage, we would usually take our group to Disneyland. Most North westerners don’t go to Disneyland often; if ever, so we thought this might be fun for the students. Imagine camping in the dirt at the orphanage for ten days, eating our food out of coolers and cooking on propane stoves. We reused everything and tried to throw little away. We were down right judicious with water. We paid attention to what the children got to eat. Most mornings they got watery oatmeal for breakfast and most days rice and beans for lunch and dinner. Usually, every trip we cooked hotdogs and hamburgers for them at our campsite and they all thought this was thrilling. Not too many of us get excited about such a meal. After a week of such careful use of resources, imagine going to Disneyland. Our students were a bit overwhelmed by the crowds, the busyness and the dizzying array of stuff. I will never forget when a student was disposing of a drink cup, he noticed that all of the garbage cans were marked “waste.” He commented that they were labeled well, because we as American’s waste so much. Would he have ever had that perspective, if he had not gone on that trip? The trip made a difference in his life. I imagine that to this day he is a person who is more careful with resources.
Hands on mission projects change the lives of the volunteers. Nobody returns from such service and looks at his or her life in the same way. Intercultural experiences and genuine engagement with the poor have the effect of shining the light back on ones own culture, and extravagance, consumerism and materialism and waste of abundance are seen in a new light. That is my major argument for sending people along with money, instead of just sending money to places that have a need. Sure, perhaps more could be built with more money, but when you participate in the mission and the service, your life is changed.
You go back and tell others in your church community. This particularly struck me when John Bowden spoke to us about his trip to South America on behalf of CROP. Remember seeing those slides of simple but effective water systems that built with only a few hundred dollars? Whole villages experienced hope and possibility just by having water available where they lived. Children could go to school instead of carry water to the family farm. As I watched that, I realized that a water system could be built for the price of a few family dinners out. Or three water systems could be built for the price of a Coach purse. If you experienced this effort, you are motivated to live differently.
Certainly, as I’ve said earlier, mission initiatives change the lives of those being served. Our church in Napa made yearly visits to New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. These trips were driven by our youth director Simon who was PASSIONATE about the poor and unserved, mostly black residents of the lower 7th and 9th Wards. Our church worked with the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the 7th Ward. They and their neighbors had been completely overlooked by the Federal and State governments, receiving no help. I think what our group experienced the most was the gratitude of the church members who realized that if nothing else, they were not alone. In the midst of the devastation they experienced, somebody else cared. One woman said, “When I saw people coming from so far away to help me clean up and rebuild, I couldn’t stop crying.” Many of the youth who went on those yearly trips entered non-profit and social work fields, deeply influenced by this experience.
Mission initiatives change churches. Even when a small percentage of the membership of the church immerse themselves in significant mission and service, the texture of church life changes and the language of service and outreach begins to form conversations and priorities. Ministries of mercy and justice take hold. Tolerance increases; youth ministries evolve and all the ministries of the church become focused on changing lives and making a difference for the purposes of Christ. Risk taking mission and service is so fundamental to the life of the church that is so critical that failure to practice it in some form results in a deterioration of the churches vitality.
As I have said in previous sermons, everything we do is part of our mission. Certainly Christian service takes many forms. It keeps our fellowship alive. We wouldn’t continue without Ministry members, ushers, Sunday school teachers, coffee hour hosts, youth volunteers, Caring Friends, Stephen Ministers, worship leaders and so forth. Such basic service is the lifeblood of our church that gives our congregation its strength. We invite, encourage, prepare and cultivate service so that the ministry of Christ thrives. We work together cooperatively and with a helpful spirit so that our church runs smoothly and effectively, fulfilling our mission.
We also extend our mission to those beyond our doors. Many of you serve our community in a myriad of ways. Just look at your bulletin today. The Peace Crafter and Beading Shalom work together to raise money for the Pastor’s Fund. This money is directly given to people in need here in Olympia. The Little Red School house serves families in need as they prepare for school. You all can help this week. Many of you have hosted or helped with Camp Quixote, but now it’s time for us to lean on the City so that the camp can have a home. In all these ways you can make a positive difference in the lives of people beyond our inner circle. Service, offering oneself in the deliberate effort to improve the conditions of others is rooted in more than 3000 years of faith tradition. You see that in our reading from the prophet Micah and in the words of Jesus. Nearly every page of scripture shows people serving God by serving others.
Mission and Service are concepts that we at the United Churches understand. But, what about risk taking? Vibrant, fruitful congregations push beyond ordinary service and everyday missions to offer extraordinary opportunities for life changing engagement with people. Risk taking implies a greater uncertainty, a higher possibility of discomfort, resistance and sacrifice. Risk taking mission and service involves work that stretches people, causing them to do something for the good of others that they might not otherwise do if it weren’t for their commitment to Christ. What have you done in the last six months that you wouldn’t have done, if not motivated by your faith in God? Our own Marilyn Richie went to Haiti at the end of June to the small village of Terre Blanche, one of the poorest and underserved areas of Haiti. The community is still struggling with the devastation from flooding, poor crops and the influx of people freeing Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. Terre Blanche has very limited health care, the effects of extreme hunger, a cholera epidemic and an unstable political situation. Marilyn, who is a retired pharmacist, went to provide medical support. There is one way to spend your summer.
We as a congregation are gifted with a myriad of resources. We live in a world of great challenges. As followers of Christ, we cannot live as though thing things have nothing to do with us. We cannot merely lift those who suffer in prayer, but must do justice and love mercy.
AUG
