We Are All Called According To Our Gifts

Pr. John Henry (United Methodist) sharing the Good News
Pr. Jimalee Jones (my mentor and friend)
and Bp. Alex Malasusa 
(Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania)
at my ordination.

"And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. 

And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them."                                                                                                                                                             (Mark 6:1-13 KJV)

Today we find many smaller communities without anyone to preach the word; to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. Congregations find themselves wondering what are they to do without a pastor. How are people supposed to come to faith if there is no one to share it with them? (Rom 10:17)

St. Paul Lutheran Seminary has come up with one potential solution. That is to train lay people from individuals congregations. It is not easy to preach in one's own congregation as even Jesus had a hard time in his home town. But, sometimes there seems to be no alternative. We, as those first disciples were sent out, are all called and sent out to share the great news that through Christ we are reconciled to our Father in heaven and to one another. We are called to minister to those who need assistance of any sort. "We have no pastor" is not an excuse. Call one from the Body of Christ, from your own congregation. Even considering this can be scary. What if people reject me? Guess what? Some will. They will reject Jesus. They will reject you. Shake the dust off your feet and move on. Others will not reject Christ! They will gratefully hear this Good News that you share with them. Those few who will receive the Word with joy and thanksgiving are well worth the bit of trouble others might try to cause you. And, you will also rejoice in the presence of the angels!

Jesus said, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10)

St. Paul Lutheran Seminary is in the process of setting up a six-week online preaching course for laity so that worship can continue in places where ordained clergy have not answered the call to serve yet. Over the years, I have heard from a lot of people that they could not possibly stand up and preach in front of a congregation. The truth is: many cannot. Some will simply freeze up and not be able to speak. Not everyone has been given the gift or the call to do this. But, many who have been gifted and called are ignoring the call. I, myself, ignored mine for many years. Since that time I have also trained others to go out and share their love of God and what Christ has done for them in nursing homes and senior housing. The call to share the Good News is not limited to a church building. The Great Commission is given to everyone whether it is one on one with a neighbor or someone you meet in the grocery store; within the context of a congregation,  a house church, senior housing, a nursing home, or a park. Prepare and go and tell!

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt 28:18-20)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Ultimate Concern?

The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Matt 19:20-22 NRSV)

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. (Matt 10:5-10)

I often fall asleep listening to something on YouTube and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night listening to something horrific! Last night it was a televangelist wife saying things like:  Do good for your own self; and something to the effect of, you don't got to church to worship for God's sake, you do it for yourself.  She is right in part. God does not actually "need" us to worship Him.  He desires and even expects our devotion; but, He does not actually "need" anything from us. And, yes, because of our sinful nature we probably do go to church for our own sakes. We are selfish, self-centered people and a whole lot of what we do, if not all that we do, is truly for our own sakes. But; just because we are self-centered, that does not mean make it right. 

As I rolled this late night sermon  around in my head for awhile and considered with great discomfort all those very rich pastors, I decided I should get out of bed and see what kind of budgets their congregations actually have. What I found was pretty interesting and pretty disconcerting. I decided to compare the estimated budgets of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Congregation with the budget for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I chose the ELCA because it is one of the largest denominations in the country. I found what I wanted. The ELCA has about 4,000,000 members. Lakewood Church has about 50,000 members. The ELCA's estimated budget for 2018 was around $90,000,000.. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church budget was also estimated at about $90,000,000.. Amazing! How does it happen that one congregation; albeit a very large one, has a budget comparable to an entire denomination? I have only served small congregation so maybe I simply just don't understand budgets for humongous congregations.

It is the fall and the fall tends to be the time when many of us begin looking at stewardship of finances and our budgets. Unfortunately, budgets and numbers in the pews are all that some pastors, councils, and congregations worry about. They have not yet figured out that the church is not about surviving and surviving happily, happily, happily. We are supposed to be about sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God given to us freely through the sacrifice, the bloody sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. 

Please, don't get pulled into the happy, happy, happy and wealthy, wealthy, wealthy theologies that false preachers present to you. It is not all about you. It is not all about me. It is not all about being happy and wealthy in this world. It is about Jesus willingly giving his life so that all who believe in him might receive eternal life in his presence in the Kingdom of God. It is about Jesus who died for you.

Although; we do have to deal with them, budgets are not our ultimate concern. Proclaiming the Good News through Jesus the Christ is or at least it should be.

May the whole church on earth focus on our ultimate concern, who is Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J