Monday Musings – Mark 2:13-17
The feedback from yesterday’s sermon has been pretty encouraging not so much from my particular sermon but with how the text has challenged how we view life and mission with Jesus. As we see Jesus calling the presumably most unredeemable person in Capernaum and feasting with his friends to boot, this causes us to ask some serious questions of ourselves. The most important question I have gotten from some of you from Sunday is, “what now?” How do I start this? Where do I go? How do I meet folks like this?
Here are my thoughts and some clarifications from yesterday’s sermon:
1.) Breath, it’s ok! Each of us has a different context of people whom we are uniquely called to be faithfully present . Don’t set yourself up for failure by over thinking this and erecting another set of religious rules that are contrary to the Gospel. That is not what God wants. He wants our free and unrestrained obedience that loves His Word and wants others to hear it. A good place to start is prayer. I would pray and ask God to reveal to us where God has already put people in our lives. Who are they? What are their stories and backgrounds? Do I even know their names? Write down a detailed list of people God has in our life. Pray for them by name and circumstance. If is just one person or family, devote yourself to them in prayer and mission. God will bring more people but be faithful in what you have in front of you. This could be unchurched/non-Christians or disenchanted “churched ” friends or “Christians” who need a GRACE ORIENTED church like Grace Church.
2.) Don’t force it! We can’t produce diversity on our own without resorting to cheap tricks. We can only allow the Gospel in us be the platform for connecting with people who are very different from us. Whether it’s racial, social, economic differences that separate people, seek to let grace and love be the bridge. Ask God for help in this. Have we met our neighbors and are we doing “Front Porch” ministry. This doesn’t mean we have to have front porches, it just means we have to give ourselves an opportunity to be seen and able to meet our neighbors. I promise you if you get outside, others will to. Theres is just something magnetic about people being outside on a beautiful day. I have also found that parks are great place to meet people who are different from us. I received a call from Bob Niedzielski yesterday who was on cloud 9 after going to a local park and finding himself in a sea of people who were very different from he and his family. I’ll let you talk with Bob about his experience with a Muslim family they already knew. The point I want to make is simply be where people are. Smyrna has amazing parks and they are filled with people on every beautiful day. Let’s get out there.
3.) Anchor it to Gospel Community! Simply put, invite another family or 2 from Grace into your missional engagement whether that is over dinner or out to eat! You can go to parks together and see what happens. Pray together for God to open doors and then go open your mouth as a team. This is called missional community. In time, we will call these at Grace Church “GRACE COMMUNITIES” where mission and community will be tied together. We are not meant to be missionary silos, God gave us the community of the church to go together. Not every family at Grace will have the same calling but 2-3-4 families can unite for a common missionary focus.
4.) Reminder, your table and time are the greatest missionary tools you have! Just like Jesus sharing meals with people, we need to extend our relationship beyond casual encounters. Let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting of crossing cultural barriers. Don’t treat them as a project, rather assume that the people God leads us to are meant to be fully included in our everyday lives. Assume that they will fit perfectly within our fellowship at Grace Church and any Grace Communities we form in the near future. Assume it’s natural to include them in outings or gatherings we either host or participate in. Simply befriend them and pursue them. Amanda and I have yet be turned down on either going to dinner with someone at a Restaurant or over to our home for dinner. Let’s invite them in!
5.) Celebrate EVERYTHING! Let us know at Grace when you have even the smallest encounter with someone. This will produce a missional excitement among our young church and keep us all outwardly focused. We are here to champion each other in the mission God has uniquely called us to. Let’s create a celebratory community that that prays for the lost to know Jesus and shouts with joy the turning of every sinner to Christ!
I love you guys and so grateful to be on mission with you all!
