SERVE local community

Today wraps up this short series on mission. We have been looking in particular at the three action words we use here at this church to describe our mission: love, grow, and serve. We have already talked about love and grow. So, today we finish up with a look at our activity of serving. Much like the other weeks when we talked about loving and growing, we could easily run in several direction with this mission of service. We could think about our service to God; we could think about our service to one another; we could think about our service to the world. When we talk about mission, clarity is helpful. So, a concise definition is better than a broad definition. That’s why we narrow our focus. All of these aspects of serving are good things. But we want to be precise so that our mission activity has a clear focus.

This is why we say in particular that our mission of service is focused serving local community. Yes, we support and send missionaries to serve around the world; and this is good. Yes, we have people who volunteer with organizations like World Renew which travels around the country to serve by providing disaster relief; and this is good. and yes, we serve one another here in this place when a need arises; and this is good. But we in particular want to emphasize the way our mission of service applies to a very specific context. It is the community of people who live and exist right around us outside of this church.

Before I get to reading the passage for today, I want to make one connection which brings us forward from last week’s discussion about growing meaningful relationships. If you were here last Sunday, you remember we talked about Naaman from 2 Kings 5. One of the lessons we pulled from that story showed us the way that God often provides opportunities for meaningful relationships with people who are not necessarily part of our inner circle. It was a reminder to keep ourselves from becoming isolated and cut off on our own little relationship island in which we only ever connect with people who are mostly just like us.

I want us to remember that and carry that lesson forward this week so that we can be mindfully aware of the automatic tendency we might have of confining our definition of local community. When I say that our mission as followers of Jesus includes the activity of serving local community, I want us to be aware of the ways that—maybe unintentionally—we trim down our idea of local community to mean only people like us.

Look with me at how this idea of local community takes expression in this story today from Mark 6. It begins with what appears to be an example of what I was just talking about. It begins with Jesus taking just his disciples and pulling away in order to isolate his own little tribe apart and away from everyone else. But look at what happens next, and then we’ll consider what this means for our understanding of serving local community.

Mark 6:30–44 NIV

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” 39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Look at what happens in this story and how that impacts the way we think about serving local community. It begins with Jesus looking to break away for a little R&R with his squad. He says to his disciples, “let’s get away for a bit to get some rest.” But immediately the story brings other people back in. The local villagers see Jesus and his disciples pushing off in a boat, and they follow around from the shoreline.

Jesus had compassion on the local community — disciples wanted to send them away

Without hesitation, Jesus turns his attention to these people who were there waiting for him. Mark clues in his readers by including the detail that Jesus had compassion on them. God’s heart goes out to these people because he loves them. But what about the disciples? This was supposed to be their chance to get a little breakaway time with Jesus. Did their hearts feel the same compassion for these locals the way Jesus did? Mark doesn’t exactly tell us; but maybe he does. Mark skips over whatever it is Jesus says while he spends the day teaching these people. Mark jumps right ahead in the story to the next thing that the disciples say to Jesus: “get these people out of here; send them away now.”

Notice the different dynamic between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus embraces these local people who followed him. The disciples are trying to push away these local people who followed them. In some stories of the gospels, Jesus is the one who goes to where the people are—he is the one traveling around from village to village. In this particular story, it is not Jesus going to where the people are; it is the people coming to where Jesus is. In fact, it seems like Mark is intentionally highlighting this point by including details in the story which draw this out. Jesus is intentionally trying to pull away to a remote place with just his disciples. The crowds of local people run along the shore so that they also arrive to this remote place. Jesus welcomes this local community; but it appears as though the disciples do not.

Alright, even though Mark says that Jesus spends the day teaching these people, all of this is the set up for what Mark sees as the real teaching Jesus has in this story; it is a lesson for his disciples on what it means for them—and us—to serve local community.

Wizard of Oz film

The Wizard of Oz is one of those classic films that many people have seen and remember. It was filmed and released in 1939. So, we are not talking about anything recent. But the story is what makes the Wizard of Oz a timeless film. Dorothy Gayle lives on what she thinks is a boring farm in Kansas. A tornado comes through and transports Dorothy to the mythical land of Oz. And for the rest of the story Dorothy travels through Oz looking for the wizard in order to find a way to get back to Kansas again. Along the way, Dorothy discovers a new community of friends in Oz who travel with her. And in the end she learns the lesson that something of this very same community of friends was right in front of her all along back in Kansas. (The same actors who play the roles of Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion also play the roles of the local farmhand workers on the Kansas farm.)

Now, on the one hand there is something relatable to all of us in this story; that we all need the company of a local community in which we feel a belonging. Even though Dorothy finds herself in a remote place which is far from home, she still feels the embrace of a local community which serves and helps one another. A theme like that makes a movie like the Wizard of Oz relatable because we all need that.

But on the other hand, Hollywood movies almost always seem to end with some kind of happily-ever-after in which everything returns to a perfect world where everyone is content. I think we all know better that real life does not work that way. But that doesn’t seem to stop us from looking for it. Dorothy just wants to get back to Kansas. She learns the value of a local community even when she is far from Kansas. But in the end she gets back to Kansas.

This is where real life does not follow the movies. I have been here at this church for over three years now, and I think I have picked up on enough stories to make a few observations. I have heard plenty of stories of where this church came from during the late 70s and 80s. It was a time when Grandville was seeing some expansion with new housing. There were plans coming together for a new shopping mall. Fellowship Church launched at a time when people were coming in looking for a new place to belong. People were coming into Grandville looking for a church to join; and Fellowship church was a new exciting place during that time in Grandville.

Here is where I have to be rather blunt in my observations for a moment. Grandville is not like that anymore. The Grandville that I have been exposed to in the three years I have been here does not match the descriptions I hear from people about the Grandville that used to be. Maybe in the movies Dorothy can get back to Kansas. But in real life, time keeps moving forward. The Grandville of the 70s and 80s and into the 90s is not here anymore. That’s a reality we need to face. For some, perhaps this is still a cause for lament. You miss the Grandville that used to be here and there is a sense of loss that goes along with admitting it is not the same anymore.

what does it mean for us to be a church which serves local community now that local community is not what it once was?

And now here comes the real part that we cannot ignore. What does it mean for us to be a church which serves local community now that local community is not what it once was before? Like the disciples in this story from Mark 6, we now find ourselves in a remote place; and our numbers here in Grandville seem scarce from what they were at one time; and our resources feel slim in this Grandville that has become different. Maybe the lesson Jesus has for his disciples in that remote place of Mark 6 is the same lesson Jesus has for us here in this place today.

the local crowd of people that follow Jesus and disciples around the lake to this remote place are not what the disciples were looking for

The local crowd of people that follow Jesus and disciples around the lake to this remote place are not what the disciples were looking for; those people are not the local community that the disciples were expecting. And when it came time to actually think about serving and helping this local community in this place, the disciples do not know what to do; the disciples want Jesus to send those people away somewhere else.

Jesus — “you give them something to eat”

Look at how this story unfolds. The people there need something to eat. The disciples tell Jesus to send them off. How does Jesus reply? He tells the disciples, “you give them something to eat.” The disciples push back again. They tell Jesus, “we don’t have those kind of resources. There are 5000 people out there and only 12 of us.” They are telling Jesus it can’t be done because they don’t have enough. We don’t have enough people; we don’t have enough resources.

Jesus takes the bread and the fish, but he gives the disciples an assignment

Jesus comes back at them with a question. “Well then, what do you have? Go and see.” They manage to turn up five loaves of bread and two fish. Perfect, says Jesus, that’ll do just fine. Jesus takes the bread and the fish. But he gives the disciples an assignment; they have the task of going out into this crowd of local people and arranging them in groups. This is where Jesus does the miraculous. He gives thanks and begins breaking apart the food. The disciples’ job isn’t finished yet. Their next task is to take the food from Jesus and distribute all the pieces to the groups of people. And then it is their task to go gather up all the leftovers when the meal is finished.

they give Jesus what they have and Jesus does what only Jesus can do with what they have given to him

The story begins with the disciples being isolated in a remote place surrounded by people they did not expect to be there, and feeling overwhelmed and under resourced to do anything about it. Jesus says to them, “well, what do you have? Let’s just work with that.” They give Jesus what they have and Jesus does what only Jesus can do with what they have given to him. But then Jesus gives it back to the disciples and it is their turn to finish the job and go distribute to the people what Jesus has provided.

serving local community does not happen when we lament or fret about what we lack

serving local community begins by taking whatever it is we have from God, and letting God do what only God can do with it

Do you see how this works as a model for us to understand what it means to serve local community? Whenever we might find ourselves stuck feeling overwhelmed and under resourced, Jesus brings the same question to us that he brings to his disciples. “What do you have? Go and see. Let’s just work with that.” Serving local community does not happen when we lament or fret about what we lack. David defeated Goliath with a slingshot. Joshua brought down the fortified city of Jericho with a marching band. Gideon overthrew the vast Midianite army with lanterns. And the disciples served a vast banquet with food to spare using a single sack lunch. Serving local community begins with that simple request from Jesus, “What do you have? Go and see.” Serving local community begins by taking whatever it is we have from God, and letting God do what only God can do with it.

Jesus is choosing to empower and partner with his followers in the task of serving others

But it doesn’t end there. Jesus made it the disciples’ job to go out among the local people gathered among them and figure out how to arrange things so that the disciples could best serve them all. The disciples were the ones who had the task of grouping the people so that they knew how to manage the task. The disciples were the ones who handled the leg-work of taking what it is that Jesus provides and getting it into the hands of the local community. It doesn’t appear that Jesus micromanages this process; he seems to let the disciples figure this one out for themselves. In other words. It appears in this story that Jesus is choosing to empower and partner with his followers in the task of serving others. Give to God whatever it is you have to give; let God do what only God can do; and you do whatever God places in front of you to do.

Step one. Identify local community. Who is it that God is putting in front of us right now?

What does this look like in your life right now? Step one. It starts with identifying our local community. Who is it that God is putting in front of us right now? I mentioned earlier my observation that Grandville is not what it used to be 20, 30, and 40 years ago. Our local community is not what it used to be. If we are looking to serve local community the way this church served local community in the 80s and 90s, there are people we are going to miss. It starts with identifying local community. Who is God putting in front of us right now?

Step two. What has God given us to work with right now?

Step two. What has God given us to work with right now? Let’s not get stuck sitting on our hands and doing nothing because all we can do is lament what it looks like we may be lacking. There may be times when you look at what it is you have to offer and think to yourself, “why bother? This looks like so little. What I have to give seems so insignificant.” That does not slow God down for a single second. Whatever it is you have to offer for time or ability or resources; give it to God.

Step three. Trust God to do what only God can do

be ready for God to do what only God can do

Step three. Trust God to do what only God can do. Let me state this a bit more actively. Be ready for God to do what only God can do. I won’t quite say anticipate God to do what only God can do. On that morning when Jesus instructed his disciples to get away with him, I would dare say that not a single one of them anticipated what was going to happen that day with five pieces of bread and two fish. Jesus had to prep them a bit with some instructions because they were not anticipating what was about to happen. After all, God seems to have a habit in scripture of showing up in ways that nobody is expecting. We cannot always anticipate God’s move. But we can be ready for it when we see it. Trust God to do what only God can do; and be ready for it.

Step four. Do what it is that God gives you to do

And then step four. Do what it is that God gives you to do. When we identify who it is that God is putting in front of us as local community; when we examine what it is God has given us to work with right now; when we see God doing what only God can do; those things all signal go-time for us. Those things mean it’s time to step in and do what God has given us to do.

God chooses to partner with you and what you have to offer in order for his circle of grace to spread even wider to an even larger local community — be ready to be a part of what God is doing around us

I intentionally phrased this as a group project. Serving local community is not just something that you do alone. It is something that we do together. But you do have a part in that; it is not for other people here besides you. We all have a place in serving local community together. You are here today because you are a part of God’s family—his church. God’s circle of grace is big enough to hold you inside of his love as part of God’s community. And God chooses to partner with you and what you have to offer in order for his circle of grace to spread even wider to an even larger local community. Don’t miss out on that. Be ready to be a part of what God is doing around us.