A Sent People

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, May 3, 2015, the fifth Sunday of Easter.

Text:  John 20:19-22                                                           

What is the Church?  What is the Church for?

We tend to think of church as a place to go.  And we might then think that the work of the church is to go “there and to get other people to go there with us… If the focus of our understanding of what the church is and is for has to do with a building, a place to gather, or a particular group of people, then it is easy to think that to be a Christian—a disciple of Jesus—is primarily about going to that place or being with those people.  This allows us to say that if we just “go to church on Sunday then we are Christians.  This, of course, is overly simplified, but I believe that this imbalanced view of what the church is and what the church is for is fairly common—if not intentionally, then at least in practice.  The prevalence of this imbalance, I think, is one of the reasons that what is called the “Missional movement has developed within Christian circles and received so much attention.  This movement focuses on the other side of the equation:  Instead of a focus on people going to church, the focus is on the church going to people. 

This is a natural and necessary reminder…because without this corrective, the church can end up contained, in a holding pattern, even with locked doors, somewhat afraid of going outside the familiar, protective walls… I just returned from the Princeton Youth Forum where I was challenged to think about the ways that the church can “hunker down and effectively block openness to new ideas and ways of being church that could help young people connect. We tend to do this out of fear—not of change per se but because we fear losing something precious to us in the midst of change. As my colleague Kevin Smalls reminded me the other day, the whole Christian movement began in the context of fear, with a group of folks huddled together with the doors closed and locked.  Without regular reminders, we revert to that familiar place.

 

Today we see Jesus come into that place saying, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…  What does it mean to be sent by Jesus as Jesus is sent by his Father?  If the accounts of Jesus’ life are our guide, then it means that we, like Jesus, are sent into the world to bring healing into places of suffering, hope into places of despair, mercy and forgiveness into places of sin, comfort into places of grief, peace into places of violence, love into places of hatred.  To be sent as Jesus is sent is to be bearers of God’s life in the world, to put our lives on the line for the sake of justice, and to stand in solidarity with those who are hurt by the systems of the day. 

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are a people who are not only gathered into the family of God—those who “go to church, but we are also, inherently, a sent people.

 

Think for a moment of the life-giving rhythm of our bodies breathing in and breathing out.  A healthy body needs to do both.  The in-breath of the Body of Christ—the church—is the Spirit gathering us in to be loved, supported, fed, strengthened, and given purpose through sacrament and worship and study and community.  Every Sunday the Body breathes in, takes in God’s grace and power.  And the out-breath is like the Spirit of God blowing out across the chaos of the world at the very beginning, bringing peace and new life.  The “sent-ness of the church is like that—the church moving out into the chaos and brokenness of the world to bring love, mercy, healing and hope.  Every day between Sundays the Body exhales, breathing the Spirit into places thirsty for life and hope and kindness.

 

We often talk about the church having a mission—but it’s not so much that we, the church, have a mission, but that God’s mission has a church.  To say that we are a sent people is to recognize that to be a disciple of Jesus is not just about “going to church in order to take care of ourselves or to save our own soul—though those things are certainly part of the deal.  We “breathe in the gifts and grace and love and mercy of God as we are gathered in so that we can be breathed out, sent into the world to live our whole life in a way that participates in God’s mission of saving love and mercy in the world.  Rather than just going to church, it’s about being the church all the time and in all the places that we find ourselves. 

 

This past week we have found ourselves in some challenging, painful places.  A week ago today, here at Foundry, there were brothers and sisters in front of our building who said and did hateful and hurtful things based on their interpretation of Christian teaching, declaring us all hell-bound because of our understanding and practice of the Gospel. One response might have been to retreat behind closed doors for fear of these family members who are against us (the equivalent of the “the Jews). But what I saw this community do was to open the doors and care for one another and stand as a witness for love and grace in the face of hatred; I saw you go out, pray, and bless those who curse us. On Sunday night at the Interfaith Prayer Service and on Tuesday morning on the steps of the Supreme Court building in the midst of the rally for Marriage Equality I saw you show up in all sorts of ways, sent to stand for justice and for love. Tuesday afternoon a group of you were sent to DC Councilman Jack Evans’ office to advocate budget priorities that will support efforts to end chronic homelessness in our city. When the riots broke out on Monday following Freddie Gray’s funeral, I witnessed you responding through prayer, organizing, and commitment to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Baltimore, culminating in the prayer vigil Tuesday night and the contributions we are gathering today. As I walked through the streets of Sandtown with Pastor Dawn and Pastor Ben and many other United Methodist clergy on Tuesday evening, I was aware that we were there as God’s “sent people, sent into the world just as Jesus was sent into the world, to be with, to show support, care, and love. And just to make sure I didn’t miss the point, there was a moment when, upon watching the pod of clergy moving through the intersection, a teenaged girl named Delilah said, “What? You gonna just keep walking? The community is over here. I moved toward her and she led all of us toward the parade that was coming up the street, an organized witness to the gifts of the youth in that place, complete with little marching girls and drummer boys, powerhouse drumlines, and some of the fiercest steppers I’ve seen. 

 

Since last August and the events that unfolded in Ferguson, I have been in prayer and conversation to try to discover how and where Foundry can best be present with people in DC who are experiencing similar discrimination, who feel forgotten, who are desperate for their voices to be heard. We are not only sent by God to react to tragedy, we are to be sent to prevent tragedy. When the issues are so big and complex, when we know we cannot fix everything, it is easy to default to our familiar gatherings behind closed doors. Foundry is not one to retreat from the big, complex challenges. Our advocacy for affordable housing and supportive housing for the homeless is an important piece as is our commitment to continue deepening understanding and raising consciousness about racial justice through conversations like the one we will share with Rev. Wogaman today.  But what Jesus did was show up. He reached out and touched people. He went into their homes. He saw and heard their struggles first hand. // For the better part of a year, I have been looking and listening for a “Delilah here in DC to speak up and say, “You gonna keep going about business as usual? The community is over here. I grow impatient waiting for someone to point the direction. Today I affirm that we will do all we can in response to what is happening in Baltimore. We will continue unabated in our advocacy and support for larger initiatives. But I’m particularly calling on our staff and leaders (some of you present today!) to identify a community in our own city where children walk through every day feeling unsafe, where there is not enough food, where drugs and addiction and violence steal hope and break down relationship, where gentrification and other economic factors threaten whole communities, and to figure out how we can come alongside Christ—who is always already there—to do what we can, to show that we care, to listen, to be God’s sent people who stand for justice, mercy, and love. It doesn’t mean that the community with whom we come into relationship won’t experience tragedy or riots, but it does mean that if those things occur, the folks in the community will know they are not alone and that we have their back.

 

//  I have a tendency to go on sprees sometimes and buy bunches of cards to have on hand to send to family and friends for holidays and such.  A couple of days ago, I came across a stack of Easter cards, neatly organized and awaiting inscription. Needless to say, the cards didn’t get sent.  Because of that, messages of love were not received.  WE, the church, are God’s love letter to the world.  The words of God’s love and life and mercy and hope and joy are written on our hearts and minds.  Once gathered and having received that precious word…We are meant to be sent.