This Sunday's Lectionary Passages: Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
I'm back. I haven't written a post in a while, but I just couldn't let this one pass, so I'm up writing tonight.
There are a couple of church/ministry buzz words that we hear quite a bit these days. Although, I think buzz words are kind of funny, I want to talk about these words. "Community" and "missional" are words that you are likely to hear within minutes if you are carrying on a ministry conversation with anyone who is "in the know." It seems that these days every church strives to be missional and also to be a community.
I'm going to try to leave the buzz lingo behind now and talk about what these words mean without trying to impress you by using them in every sentence. That is the funny thing about buzz words, people often use them without giving them much thought. So I'd like to approach the subject in a different way.
The Revised Common Lectionary readings for the third week of Easter all involved the risen Jesus eating with the disciples. In Year A we read about Jesus meeting the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and revealing Himself to them in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:13-35). In Year B (This year), we read the rest of the story (Luke 24:36b-48). This time Jesus appears to the other disciples and eats with them. Finally in Year C, we read of Jesus making breakfast (bread and fish) for the disciples (John 21:1-19). As we read each of these stories we think back to the last meal Jesus shared with the disciples before he went to the cross. Jesus told His disciples that whenever they sat for a meal and broke bread and drank wine that they were to remember Him and His body broken and blood poured out. After He rose and appeared to His sad, doubtful, and fearful followers, He revealed Himself in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:30-31).
It is no wonder then that historically Christian worship has always centered around a table. In the New Testament church it was literally a table where a meal was shared. Over centuries this became the altar table where communion is celebrated. But, sitting at a table and sharing a meal is something that has been lost to us in this day and age of hustle and bustle and the fast food drive through. I wonder if we can guage how connected we are by the number of times we actually sit down with others at a table and share a meal each week? I think that the dinner table is truly at the heart of community. There is something powerful about sitting down with others and eating together. People linger over food. They talk. They share and open up. We get to know each other. Is it any wonder then that Jesus instituted a meal as the center of worship for His followers? Let's not forget that COMMUNION is at the heart of Christian community. Let's also not forget that COMMUNION brings the presence of Christ among us and without His presence we have no Christian community. Without Christ among us, we simply are a gathering of lost, scared, wounded, and doubtful souls.
In each of the stories mentioned above, the risen Christ suddenly shows up among His lost followers and basically says, "Let's eat!" It was as they ate, that they remembered what Christ had told them about his death and resurrection and it all started to make sense as He explained scripture to them. It was in eating together that their eyes of faith were opened and they saw their risen Lord and friend right there with them. It was as they ate that their point of view was changed. They went from being lost and disoriented to having clarity and purpose because they experienced the real presence of the risen Lord!
In these three stories there was also an element of repentance. Today we often connect repentance to people carrying bullhorns and signs and screaming about Hell. The word easily invokes feelings of guilt. But I think that perhaps repentance has a lot more to do with a true change in one's perspective. It is a turning around or a dramatic shift that only really happens in a real encounter with the real and living and loving Christ. In the first story it says that Jesus opened the eyes of the two disciples and they were able to see Him for who He was. In the second story it says that Christ opened their minds to understand the scriptures as they related to Him. In the third story we have a tender account of repentance involving Jesus and Peter that takes place after they had eaten breakfast. Peter, face to face with Jesus is given the chance to restore the relationship which Peter broke when he denied Christ. The Love of Christ leads to repentance and repentance restores communion (community).
Finally, all three of these stories end with mission. In the first story, the two disciples rush off back to Jerusalem to proclaim that they had seen the Lord. In the second story Jesus says, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:46-48) In the third story, Jesus personalizes the mission for Peter when he repeats three times, "Feed my lambs." Just as Jesus had just fed Peter, reminding Him of His love, He now asks Peter to go and feed others with His love.
So I see a progression here. We gather, Jesus shows up and asks us to eat, He feeds us with His word and from His table, our point of view is changed (repentance) which restores true communion (community), which naturally leads to us wanting to go out and share the beautiful news about what we have experienced (mission). Worship is a gathering of lost individuals who encounter the risen Christ, are changed through repentance, are brought into communion with Christ and each other, and leave with joy and purpose (a mission to call others into this beautiful community).
I wonder if when we use the "community" and "missional" buzz words, we really know what we are talking about. I wonder if many churches when they talk about being missional are simply trying to gather a group of lost, sad, hurting, confused, doubtful, and broken people. That is okay, but if that is where it stops, the mission is not complete. I would even go as far as to say that there are many large churches that have been very successful at gathering a large crowd, but the crowd is still waiting for Christ to show up. In that case, all you have is a community of lost, sad, hurting, confused, doubtful, and broken people still looking for real hope. There is no real Christian community until the risen Lord shows up and invites us to eat. There is no real Christian community until there is a real encounter with Christ's love that leads to repentance, or a change in perspective. There is no real Christian community without communion. In other words, we need to allow Christ to be at the center of our fellowship and to feed us. Only then can we feed others. We can then call others to the table with us and say to them, "Let's eat!"
The call to worship is really a call to eat. If we want to be truly a Christian community that is missional, we must first be a worshiping community where Christ is made real among us and we share the daily bread of His word and His body and blood at the table. Let's not let the buzz words become a substitute for the real thing!
