We Are On A Mission From God
We Are On A Mission From God
John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd once starred in a movie called, “The Blues Brothers.” They played a couple of ex-convict, wanna-be musicians who were trying to raise money for an orphanage. Anytime they were asked about their work they said, “We’re on a mission from God.”
While that wasn’t true for them in the movie, it is true for us. We are on a mission from God! Either that is true or we have no purpose, no mission at all! We are called to bear fruit. In our Gospel text we are told that each tree is known by its own fruit. We are called to grow. We are called to bear good fruit. We are on a mission from God!
Before taking the offering, a pastor said, “I would like to remind you of four good reasons for giving.
1. What you are about to give is tax deductible.
2. You cannot take it with you.
3. The Bible says it is the root of all evil.
4. If our church doesn’t pay its electricity bill, we will be singing in the dark next Sunday!”
There are far more positive reasons for giving than those four. The Bible does not teach us that the primary reason for generous giving is to balance the church budget. The Bible tells us that we give our money because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. We give in response to the spiritual work God has done in our lives. We give because we are on a mission from God!
At Christ the King we say that it is our mission is GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL. We say that our mission is to make disciples for Jesus Christ by inviting and welcoming all to serving God and God’s people by joining in GATHERING for worship and fellowship, GROWING in faith and understanding, and GIVING of ourselves and our resources. We are on a mission from God and it is a mission we are moving toward accomplishing.
Today is All Saints Sunday, a day when we give thanks for all believers, but especially those who have gone before us and passed the faith onto us. We give thanks for the saints like the disciples and the apostle Paul, Martin Luther and Mother Teresa. We also give thanks for those saints in our own lives that have made a difference in who we are and how we see our mission in life. We think of Sunday school teachers, pastors, friends and relatives who have modeled the faith for us. As we look around this place we can give thanks for Pastor Paul Olson, who started this congregation and helped build it into what it is today. We know that he didn’t do that alone. It was done with the help of a whole host of saints or believers, other pastors and lay people, who built these buildings and started so many of the ministries and programs that are in place. Their faith caused them to bear fruit, fruit which we continue to taste and enjoy today. We can give thanks for those saints, many of whom are sitting in the pews right now, who have provided us with this legacy and led us forward in mission.
I am so proud of and thankful for the wonderful stewardship in this congregation. You have generously supported the ministry of Christ the King with your gifts of time, talents and money. There is no doubt that we are moving toward accomplishing our mission of Gathering, Growing and Giving.
In the last couple of years your gifts have enabled us to add several new staff positions which will continue to enhance our ministry:
A full-time Shared Ministry Director,
A part-time Visitation Pastor,
A full-time Minister of Music, and
The equivalent of another half-time Youth Director.
They are doing excellent work, as is the rest of the staff. We have a wonderful staff. You, the members of the congregation, do a fabulous job of supporting them. We are on a mission from God.
We are on a mission from God as we GATHER for worship and fellowship.
We gather for traditional worship services and for our Celebrate service.
We offer special services during Lent.
We have the Blue Christmas Service and Services of Prayers for Healing.
Worship is alive and well at Christ the King.
We are Gathering for Fellowship in some new ways. In addition to social events for children and youth we are now offering a ministry to young adults and we have just created the new Gen M, group for those 55 and older.
We are on a mission for God as we seek to GROW in faith and understanding.
We are now using the new “rotation model” for Sunday School and the ROCK is going well.
In confirmation we are expanding the mentor program so that youth can develop a relationship with an adult Christian other than their parents.
We have added a Bible study at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays as a supplement to our regular adult forums.
People have been signing up for listening to the New Testament on tape through the Faith Comes by Hearing program.
We are on a mission from God as we GIVE of ourselves and our resources.
Over the last couple of years giving to Global Missions has increased dramatically and we have been enriched through our relationship with our
companion congregation in Nduli, Tanzania.
We have also engaged in a Mission Partner relationship with four ethnic churches in the Twin Cities.
More youth and adults than ever are participating in the Appalachian Service Project.
We have expanded our involvement with Habitat for Humanity.
Our confirmation kids regularly serve at the Peace Palace and Pastor Paul’s Ministry, which provides food to people in need.
The narthex has been overflowing with gifts for the coat drive, the school supplies collection, and your gifts of food for the food shelf.
Gifts have been sent to the victims of floods, hurricanes and tornados.
People are giving generously of their time and talents to serve on committees, teams and task forces.
We expressed a need for a new sound system in order to expand our Celebrate worship team and to eliminate dead spots in our sanctuary. A recent new member has come forward and said they will provide that. That is a gift in excess of $60,000!
We are on a mission from God and some wonderful work is being done.
The exciting thing is there is so much more that we can do! God calls us to bear fruit, to continue to grow, to continue to become more like Jesus. God is a giver. God has given us all that we have, even life itself. Jesus gave himself for us. He left the glories of heaven to come to earth that we might know what God is like. He showed us the boundless nature of God’s unconditional love by dying on the cross so that our sins might be forgiven and we might have the gift of eternal life. We are created in the image of God. We are created to be givers. Life at its best is lived for giving, not getting; helping, not hoarding. Life is for service and not survival.
Unfortunately, that is not what the world tells us. The world tells us to get all we can, to accumulate all of the toys and possessions possible. The world tells us to do everything we can to be comfortable.
Would you like to guess the name of the best selling chair in America?
La-Z-Boy.
Not Risk-E-Boy.
Not Serve-R-Boy.
La-Z-Boy. We want to immerse ourselves in comfort. We have developed a whole language around this. People say, “I want to go home and veg out.” We talk about being couch potatoes. Couch potatoes in their La-Z-Boys. Millions of people in churches these days could be called “pew potatoes.” They want some of the comfort associated with spiritually following Jesus. Yet, Jesus is still looking for people who will go on a mission for him and follow him on the path of service. He is looking for someone who will say, if you will pardon the expression, “I may be small potatoes, Lord, but this spud’s for you!” (1)
In order to help Christ the King fulfill her mission, in order to build up this community of faith, in order to reach out with compassion to those in need, we each have to respond to God’s call to “Bear Fruit.” We have to grow as givers. We have to understand that we are on a mission from God.
Author John Maxwell writes, “You have to keep pushing beyond what you think you can do to find out what you are really capable of. It’s not the first, but the last step in the relay race, the last shot in the basketball game, the last yard with the football into the end zone that makes the difference, for that is where the game is won.” (2)
We need to keep growing and we need to do it now. Sometimes we think, “I’ll give more when I am older.” Or, “I’ll give more when I make more money.” Or, “I’ll give more when I have more faith.” The truth is the time is now. Older, richer, more faithful, may never come. The sudden death of Paul Wellstone, and the others who died in that plane crash, remind us of the shortness and uncertainty of human life. We don’t know how much time we have got. We don’t know that we will ever have more money or more faith, but I can tell you that growing in giving leads to growing in faith.
Someone has said, “It is easier to act your way into a new way of believing than it is to believe your way into a new way of acting.” If we want to grow in faith we need to act in faith, we need to take some risks. We can’t just rest on our laurels and become pew potatoes. We need to get out of the La-Z-Boy and begin to serve the Lord who has served and saved us. We need to live as people who know that you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.
Esther and I are tithers, but we didn’t always tithe. It was something that we grew into over time and now we have grown beyond a tithe. We have found it to be both a source of joy and a source of growth in faith.
We do act our way into a new way of believing. Many, if not most, of the people I have known who began to tithe didn’t stop there. They began with a commitment to grow to a full tithe, but once that goal was reached, they continued to expand their giving. They did so, not out of duty, but out of delight and a deep abiding trust in the goodness of God. Those who come to understand the meaning of tithing also come to understand that the “offering” begins after the tithe is given. God is not telling us to give more than we are able. The scriptures tell us, “.... the gift is acceptable according to what one has - not according to what one does not have.” (2 Cor. 8:12) Giving in proportion to the way we have been blessed by God is a true transformation of the heart. That transformation is what we are called to on our mission from God.
I would commend tithing to you. If you aren’t tithing now, try to grow into it by increasing your gift by 1% of your household income each year until you reach a tithe or grow beyond a tithe. I know you will find joy and reward in it. Esther and I have found joy in it and we are going to grow in our giving again this year. We are going to do it because we are on a mission from God.
We are all on a mission from God. We are on a mission to help people know the love and the grace of God.
That mission calls us to bear fruit.
That mission calls us to carry on in the tradition of the saints who have gone before us and left a legacy for us to enjoy.
That mission calls us from being couch potatoes to commit ourselves to Christ and say, “This spud’s for you.”
That mission continually calls us to ask ourselves, “How much will I grow in my giving in the coming year?
As we grow in our giving we will grow in faith and we will move toward accomplishing our mission from God. Amen.
Let us pray:
O God, we give you thanks that you give us a mission and that you trust us to accomplish it. Help us to be people who bear fruit. If we feel our faith is insufficient, give us the courage to act our way into a new way of believing. Inspire us and empower us to follow the example of Jesus and to continue to grow in our giving for your work, so that we accomplish the mission we have from you. Amen.
1. John Ortber, “If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat.”, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2001. Page2 21-22.
2. John Maxwell, “Leadership 101”, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.