Mission Possible 2020

For many of us, particularly those of my generation, this is a very familiar theme. While we didn’t watch a lot of TV at my house, this was a can’t miss for both my parents and grandparents. This show was a thriller - every minute had you on the edge of your seat. The opening theme song started with a long tone - a match was struck and then what appeared to be a fuse, albeit in simple 1960s graphics, was lit, and the sparking fuse would burn across the screen, while scenes of dangers and close brushes with death from previous episodes would play in the background. Then later a movie series came out with Tom Cruise. The suspense and cutting edge technology used had another generation awed and captured. The iconic theme song and opening sequence remained the same:

Dunt dunt duh duh dunt dunt..

Always, - the lit fuse ended when the Title of the show came on the screen:

Mission Impossible

In reading our passages this week, I imagined a similar “opening sequence”. In our Gospel, Jesus is playing out the scenes of his ministry with the disciples. He knew he had trained them, given them all the necessary tools and teaching. Now he was departing and giving the great commission - the Mission to his disciples of then and now.

Mission Impossible?

The Mission, impossible by the world’s view - the mission to tell the Whole World the Good News of Christ!

So, church, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to BE THE CHURCH!

I know this week churches throughout the United States were “commanded to open”. Let me tell you. THE CHURCH NEVER CLOSED! Never in the life and ministry of Jesus, or in the lifetime of his apostles, did the Church reside in a building built just for that purpose. Most believers of “The Way”, which is what they called Christianity in the First Century, were banned from the Temple, pagan or Jewish, or local synagogue, due to their belief in Christ. They had to find new, innovative, First Century ways to gather. This new way to minister for and with one another, this telling of the Good News to the far corners of the known earth, this New Mission, this New Way - which began with less than 20 people in a rented upper room, would transform the world so completely that even time itself would be measured by that transformation. I know we brag about the new 21st Century - but think for a minute - those living in the First Century, those who were never bound by a building or borders - would begin a paradigm shift so great that everything before them would be known as BC or BCE - again - TIME ITSELF WOULD BE MEASURED BY FUTURE GENERATIONS DUE TO THE TRANS FORMATIVE, WORLD CHANGING, PARADIGM SHIFTING MINISTRY OF A SIMPLE CARPENTER OF NAZARETH AND HIS HANDFUL OF DISCIPLES.

Think about it - every time someone writes the date as 2020 - no matter their belief or unbelief, no matter the religion they practice or lack thereof, the very writing of this date is an acknowledgement of the change brought by Jesus to the entire world and the mission he left the church, his Body on earth. This all accomplished not only without buildings, but without television, internet, modern transportation, and satellite communications.

Ha! Tom Cruise and the MI team ain’t got nothing on that one!

And folks are worried about whether we can “get back to church” in a building?

This week we celebrate the Ascension of Christ. That is the time when the Resurrected Christ was taken bodily up to heaven in the clouds. After the resurrection, he spent the next 40 days with the disciples teaching them what His death and resurrection meant for them, for the world. Then he gave some last minute instructions: Go, he said, Go, witness to the ends of the earth. That is our mission. And it is possible!

And it is for all of us!

This mission is personal

We are called by name. If you are old enough to remember the old Mission Impossible TV series or even the fairly new movie series with Tom Cruise, you might remember how the show started after the opening credits. It started pretty much the same way each time. The leader of the team would go to some location, where there would be a key, that would open a drawer, or safe or even phone box, how he would know each time is beyond me. Then, the narration - Good morning Mr. Phelps. This mysterious voice, whom no member of the Mission Impossible or MI team ever laid eyes on, knew the leader by name. The mission would be told, the tape self-destruct. It was all very mysterious and anonymous, except - they knew them by name. There would be all kinds of dire warnings, but it was clear, this mission was for no one else except the MI team.

In the same way - Jesus is not saying to wait for someone else more qualified, who has more technology or training before you fulfill this mission. Jesus is giving the disciples, is giving us, by name, this mission. It is our mission!

Our mission is lived through, not completed by a deadline

Jesus was clear when the disciples asked him when the mission would end. “It is not for you to know”. We were simply to LIVE the mission, daily, in every aspect of our lives. These instructions would be carried out through and in partnership with the Holy Spirit, God with us every step of the way. This first assignment, these instructions were to be lived out, not just part of a check list to be checked off and go on to the next assignment. THIS IS THE ASSIGNMENT, THE MISSION, AND THE WAY OF LIFE UNTIL THE COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD. This is where the similarity changes a bit from the Mission Impossible team to our instructions from Christ. For there is no self-destructing tape or warning that we are on our own. Quite the opposite, we are given a partner to live this mission through in the Holy Spirit. This is our lifelong task, this mission, theses instructions. GO out into the world and witness. Live as you want others to see the living Christ. As Methodist Christians, this understanding is quite different than our other Christian siblings. We do not practice the relatively new theory of dispensationalism, where Jesus will only come when the world is so depraved that there is no hope. I believe that Jesus comes again and again in our lives and that WE, as the Body of Christ, are to work this mission to transform the world - to build the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. Then the promise of a New Heaven and New Earth are fulfilled, become one. If we are to truly live out our mission to transform the world to Disciples of Christ, bringing about the Kingdom - this cannot possibly be accomplished by what the church has now become . We must break from the confines of our one hour on Sunday morning, among those we know, sitting in our comfortable pews, singing our familiar songs, behind the closed doors of a rarely used building. We must be committed to our Mission to BE the Church each and every day in all we do!Then our mission becomes our own transformation, and our gathering on Sunday morning becomes just a part - a celebration of all we do all the other days! For through the Holy Spirit, we are transformed to be a living witness.

The mission takes patience in seeing the results

We used to have a hard time sometimes keeping volunteers at the APEX Youth Center in New Orleans for more than once or twice. Most would say they felt discouraged. They would come once or twice, talk to a couple of kids, or should I say talk AT a couple of kids, and I don't know, expect the heavens to open up, choirs of angels to sing, and immediately every kid granted their halo just because the Great Volunteer showed up in the hood. It takes time, patience, Jesus was with Peter for 3 years, and Peter still kept messing up. Even after he watched Jesus go up to heaven, did you know Jesus still had to come to him in a dream and tell him "You just don't get it do you? ALL MEANS ALL!" But Jesus loved Peter, kept the relationship and Peter eventually got it, although tradition tells us he still was rather rough around the edges right to the end of his life. It takes patience, and we don't get to always see the difference we make. I know we get frustrated sometimes and wonder are we doing any good at all here? We can have a well attended, wonderful event and wonder why our church isn’t full the next week. Yes it takes patience and sometimes we can't see the Spirit at work right away, but it's there and we trust. And above all - we stay on the Mission!

Because..

The mission requires that we know who we live in always

You don't have to know the bible inside and out. You don't have to have some great theological perspective, or know the statements of faith and doctrine. You have to know Jesus, live in Jesus and bring that light to others. Life is less like a one person sprint and more like a relay race. Bring the light to the next person, this is our mission, our instructions. Let God do the rest and trust and have the patience that God will.

A missionary physician in one of China’s hospitals cured a man of cataracts. A few weeks later 48 blind men came to the doctor from one of China’s wilds, all holding on to a rope guided by the man who had been cured. He had led them in this way, walking in a chain 250 miles to the hospital. He didn't know how to do the surgery, yet he was probably more important to their healing than the gifted surgeon, for he led the way. The multitude may appear not to know or even care about their condition, but don't let this discourage us, for many are fumbling blindly after light. It is our happy mission to tenderly and tirelessly seek them, and bring them the light of Jesus.

We abide in Him, He in us. Through the Holy Spirit this mission becomes not only possible, but gloriously possible. “You WILL receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you WILL be my witnesses” This is the promise in the scripture. There are times I can almost hear the words of Christ, sometimes even with your very voices - “Don’t worry, Lisa, I got this. And I got you!” If we do nothing else, can we be that voice of a Loving Jesus for someone? Can we do it today?

Because..

The mission requires urgency in its application

So while we need patience in seeing the results - we need a sense of urgency to the instructions at hand. But I find that I am often like the apostles. Jesus gives me a set of instructions and I just stand there looking up with my mouth hanging open. You know, I get invitations every week from one of the hundreds of prayer groups across the city. I know our city needs prayer, but it needs action. While we need time for quiet conversations with God, we also need prayer as movement. Prayer is something woven into the fabric of our lives. It’s why we weave it throughout the service, accept it as part of the flow, not something we do, but something we breathe, we live. A prayerful state of mind while cleaning a storm drain or serving a community meal does more good than a bunch of preachers gathering for 5 hours, only to set another meeting as the entire goal of the prayer gathering. We need to adore the Risen Christ, lift our hands in praise and adoration to the Living God. But standing there with our empty hands without using those hands to reach out to our neighbor is not the adoration God seeks. Lift your hands to God. Raise your eyes to heaven. But use those hands to work for the kingdom and those eyes to see the suffering around you and be a witness for Christ. A real witness.

I am sure some people, overcome by the Holy Spirit, feel the need to "Do Something for Jesus". They walk around, giving tracts, putting the fear of God into people. Bible thumpers is what we used to call them as kids.

Have you ever been accosted by one of those people carrying signs and tracts? “Where are you going if you die tonight?”, is their message. Often I look at them, haggard, screaming, angry and I think - hopefully not the same place as you. They scream at you, tell you you’re going to hell, and then you look at them. They are so sad, angry, and mad at the world. They carry signs of hate and anger, instead of Love and peace. Do they think people want to be part of that? I often hear we should "Bring people to Jesus". How about bringing Jesus to people?

We are to live the Jesus of love and bring that to our neighbors and family.

And we do that because we know that our

Ours is a Mission Possible!

I do not believe that for one minute God caused the misery of COVID-19 and the death and isolation that has come with it. I do believe that if we are faithful to our Mission - that it is Possible to be the Body of Christ in the midst of the pandemic. We must accept that mission. It can be an opportunity to begin, just as those disciples did 2000 years ago - to begin a new era. To put away our comfortable complacency and bring Jesus to a hurting world. Maybe we won’t be able to meet all together at 317 Termino each Sunday for a long time, but maybe we can begin 20, 30, 100 small house church gatherings, where we invite our expanded social isolation circles to experience the love of Christ with us? Maybe by practicing radical love in a world filled with anxiety, we can fulfill our Mission to Love our Neighbor as ourselves. Maybe we can find new ways to minister with the marginalized, the first responders, the front-line workers - to bring the Love of Christ to them, instead of insisting it can only be found confined to stained glass and comfortable pews.

This is our urgent task. And even Jesus knows us so well that he knew we wouldn't really hear him the first time he said it. GO! He said - be witnesses, build the kingdom. Yes, there are some things you don't know yet and some things you will have to wait on, but GO, tell what you have seen and experienced. GO and Love. But I guess the disciples had what my kids have - SDD, you know selective deafness disorder, because what did they do? They just stood there. The very Risen Christ had just been taken up to the clouds before their very eyes, and gave them some pretty specific instructions for this mission. But they just stood there looking up. I love almost the elbow poke the angels give - What are you doing looking at the clouds? You know he's coming back.

Go!

Outside your buildings, over the Zoom meetings and Social Media platforms

GO!

Make disciples in your homes, in your families, among your neighbors, in the farthest reaches of the earth

GO!

Don’t be confined by walls - use every gift at your disposal including technology to reach those who you never could have invited to a building anyway!

GO!

Be a witness for Jesus Christ!

Don’t just stand there!

Know Christ is with us!

GO!

We are not left alone!

GO!

Live our Mission Possible!

Amen.

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