The witnessing community.
Psalm 97: 9-12
Hymn: As we are gathered MP 38
Prayers:
God our Father, you have never left yourself without witness. The world of nature testifies to your power; In the world of people your love and your justice are to be seen.
Lord Jesus Christ; Witness to the Father’s love, Yours is the vital and crucial evidence. You are the key witness pointing people to the truth about God and humanity.
Holy spirit, Witness within the hearts and minds of people, you also encourage us to give evidence on behalf of Jesus.
God: Father, Son and Holy spirit, help us to be effective witnesses to you.
Lord, we know that you have appointed us to demonstrate the reality of your love in our lives and words. Yet, we confess that we have often given more evidenced of our own selfishness than of your power to transform our personalities. Forgive us. Help us to point away from ourselves to the reality of your love. May our actions and words convince people of the truth as it is in Jesus.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer.
Reading:
Micah 4: 1-7
Hymn: Behold the Mountain of the Lord MHB 904
Behold the Mountain of the Lord - YouTube
Readings:
Acts 17: 22-31
Matthew 3: 13-16
Hymn: The love of God comes close MP 940
The Love of God Comes Close - YouTube
Now we are able to meet regularly, there is a great danger for the church. There is a very real danger that we will concentrate on the wrong things. The things which most easily attract our attention, rather than those which are actually important.
Rather like a crowd of people who thought that they were witnesses to a crime:
the
pavement was
blocked by a crowd of excited people; watching two men, who appeared
to be having a violent quarrel.
One
man pushed, thumped and shouted; accusing the other of picking his
pockets, and stealing his wallet. The other man protested his
innocence; and told the crowd that false accusations were being made
against him.
That
is what appeared to be happening. What actually went on was
different. The two men were not only both crooks, but also clever
psychologists.
The
noise and action was designed to hold the crowd’s complete
attention, while several accomplices pushed among the people, and
picked their pockets.
A similar situation can exist in churches, in fact it does exist in some. The church group honestly believes that they are called to be representatives of Christ to the world around, but in fact they have become content to be little more than a community of believers.
In many sports, it is the practice to occasionally gather the team together into a huddle, so that they can plan the next move. So that the members can contribute to the strategy, or so that the captain can tell them what to do next. The huddle is an important part of the game, of the team’s response to the actions of the other side. But it is not the game!! It is not the objective of the team, it is one means of working towards the objective.
To represent Christ to the world around involves more than meeting together on Sundays. There are congregations where the chapel building blazes with light and echoes to the sound of religious music every Sunday; and the car parks are full with cars bringing the congregation in from miles around. These churches are often called successful, and others want to be like them, but nothing happens between Sundays, in some such places the local community knows nothing of what happens there, and on occasion, the congregation know nothing of the local community.
Churches often lack a clear vision of outreach and witness, either for individuals, or for the group, that, together, they can undertake a Christ-centred mission to the world all around them. The tendency is for congregations to function as church families. There is nothing wrong in that aspect of the church’s life. But, if that is all there is to church, then it has become like the huddle on the sports field. Few spectators would part with heard earned money to watch two sport’s teams huddle for 90 minutes. Few sports p layers would want to join such a team. Both spectators and players want something more from their sport.
In our lives, we are often selective about our words and actions. About where we go, and what we participate in. These choices make us the people we have become, and often make us predictable.
A few years ago I worked near a local branch of Netto, a discount supermarket. Most days I went in and bought a pint of milk, and a sandwich for lunch. One day, there were no sandwiches on the shelf, and I asked the assistant whether they had not had any sandwiches delivered that day. “Oh yes” came the reply, “We just haven’t got round to putting them out yet. Hang on a minute, I’ll get them.” A few moments later, he returned with a cardboard box full of sandwiches which he opened and handed me a sandwich, the flavour I always bought! I was so predictable that even the supermarket assistant knew what I was eating for lunch.
The reality is that we are often no less selective in our church lives. Because people are generally creatures of habit, we select the aspects of the Christian life which we are happy with, which make us feel comfortable. Having done this, we settle down into our cosy church family, never questioning whether there is anything which we should be doing; which we need to be doing; which would make the family more exciting!
When this happens, the church can find itself set in a local community, which they would say was important. However, they may have no connection to that community, even to the extent of being ignorant of the make up and needs of that community; the community which they would often profess to witness to.
Do you remember when cars came with optional extras? The price quoted in the catalogue was for the basic car. If you wanted the extras, then you had to pay more, they were not a part of the package. When my father bought his first new car, the “extras” which had to be paid for, included; the heater, the safety belts, the number plates, a door mirror. Even after it became a requirement to have safety belts fitted, they were still listed as an extra. We would now expect a car to have all these items, and many more.
The outreach of the church to the community is not an optional extra. Whether the actions of individuals, or the corporate mission of the congregation, it is the calling of all the church, it is an essential part of what we do as Christians. Our Christianity is not just a part of our lives, it should dominate our actions, our thoughts and our deeds. The choices which we make should include our Christianity in such as way that it makes us become what we are, not something that we hide from others for fear of mockery or worse.
Sometimes, we hear people say that Christianity has been marginalised. We are only as marginalised as we allow ourselves to be. Susannah and I often talk to people over our market stall. We have no qualms about dismissing our trading activities as “Our Day Job” and continuing to talk to people about our church work as our main job.
The Church was not brought into being, in the hope that it might, incidentally, have some sort of good effect, beyond its own walls. Instead, it was raised, commissioned and equipped for a very definite, powerful, ongoing and life-giving reason - to be his witnesses, and to undertake Christ-like, spiritual ministries, in the world all around.
Micah prophesied that the people many nations would come to learn of the God of Israel; Simeon said that God’s salvation would be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and Jesus said that his followers were to be the light and salt of the world. This involves telling people.
The opportunities for doing this can be many and varied. We don’t have to be standing on a street corner, preaching at people, only a few of us are called to such ministries. But in our everyday lives, the Lord will provide us with opportunities to talk to people about our faith. Perhaps someone will ask us what we are doing at the weekend, don’t be afraid of telling them that you are going to church! Someone may say something your faith prompts you to disagree with; don’t be afraid of saying so, and why.
It is not possible to
list all the opportunities, I don’t suppose Paul anticipated having
the opportunity to talk to the entire city council, even less would
he have prepared for it. But, once the chance was there, he took it,
and spoke to them about why he was doing what he had been doing.
Billy Graham’s missions of the 1960’s used the slogan “Evangelise or Perish”. In 2011, Martyn Atkins put it to the Methodist conference in the form “Evangelism in the main thing.” Rev Jane Leach of Wesley House considered that “There is a danger ……. that we come to see the perpetuation of the Church as we know it as an end in itself and those we seek to evangelise as a means to our end.” Instead of “understanding ourselves as people called to love those whom God loves and to share with them what we have come to know of God, because they, too, are God’s creatures and they too are beloved.”
Many nations will not come if they are not called, if they are not told what is happening. Those living in darkness will not be enlightened if noone is available to perform that task. Salt serves no purpose if it stays in the salt cellar. Our calling is clear; it is to be involved in the world and make it a better place. Jesus is particularly damning about salt that has lost its savour, that no longer does what it is supposed to do; it is fit for nothing, only to be thrown out.
Hymn: How shall they hear MP 250
Prayers:
Father, we thank you for all your faithful witnesses of past days who have testified to your living presence.
We praise you for the prophets who pointed forward to your coming in Jesus;
for the apostles who carried their witness to him throughout the world,
and for the bible which today points us to Christ.
We remember with gratitude those who first brought the gospel to our land, and those who by their witness have brought us to faith.
We thank you got the martyrs whose witness has been bought by their death, and for all your people who have faithfully borne witness to you in their lives.
Father, help us in our turn to be good witnesses.
Amen.
Hymn: We have a gospel to proclaim MP 728
We Have a Gospel to Proclaim (Singing the Faith 418 / StF 418) - YouTube
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Love of God,
And the fellowship of the Holy spirit be with us all,
Evermore.
Amen
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