His Mission

Still thinking about our perspectives on mission - here's Newbigin on the topic of "The Logic of Mission" which he rightly says aboiut the mission of the Church can only rightly be understood in terms of a Trinitarian model.

His mission. It is of the greatest importance to recognize that it remains his mission. One of the dangers of emphasizing the concept of mission as mandate given to the Church is that it tempts us to do what we are always tempted to do, namely to see the work of mission as a good work and to seek to justify ourselves by our works. On this view it is we who must save the unbelievers from perishing. The emphasis of the New Testament, it seems to me, is otherwise...

The church is not so much the agent of the mission as the locus of the mission.
(pp117,119, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Lesslie Newbigin)

Fake or what?

IS mission our absolute priority? are we to wrestle with relevance, ruthlessly striving for competence and credibility in the marketplace?

I find myself more and more frustrated that the passion for mission is driving us further and further away from Christ.

Is it just me or is worship not our priority absolute ? Is 'relevance' or 'credibility' the issue, how about being plausible and real ? i'm not sure about ruthless(?) buit our striving shouldn't it be after the things of Christ and obedience to participation in the life of God, Fatehr, son and Holy Spirit, out of which flows and moves the very Christ-like life we are called to ?

Then I come upon this from a series by BBC called the Monastery. ( more at Paul Fromont)

"I’ve been to a few churches around town and they just annoy
the **** out of me because they’re so fake, and the people look so lost, and the
people on the stage just look so plastic and so charming and so seductive, and I
just think ‘I don’t believe in these people’. These people are not an expression
of faith. So, I’d much rather just slip into a church and sit there for 10
minutes and have a bit of quiet time, or pray at home. I don’t feel that you
necessarily have to turn up at a certain place at a certain time dressed in a
certain way to express your faith and live out your faith. I think there’s other
ways of doing it." (Tony Burke).

Paul then says:

Why do we, as churches, settle for so
little when we have so much, when we are who we are in Christ, because of
God’s wonderful grace and love?
I have been reflecting on Paul’s letter to the Roman church(s) over
the last few days. It’s glorious and the call of the church to be the faithful
people of God, new humanity in Christ, is simply breathtaking. Against that
backdrop it’s a sad indictment when words like “fake,” “plastic,” “lost,” and
more besides, can be attributed to the body of Christ.

Given our recent Pentecost journeying and reflections (previous posts) I wholeheartedly agree! Somehow I think we are kidding ourselves, we need to get under the surface issues and wrestle with the harder issues beneath. Maybe though, that is too much for us to face as we already know its easier to point the finger at society and critique the church and challenge and barrate about mission relevance, when the very heart and core of our faith is what needs addressing; dare I suggest that in this way we will stop simulating church and exercise the faith the Gospels call us to live.(see Pentecost 7).

Love shaped living

Reading this morning Psalm 119 v41-48

41 Let your love, God, shape my
life with salvation, exactly as you promised; 42 Then I'll be able
to stand up to mockery because I trusted your Word.
43 Don't ever deprive me of truth, not ever - your commandments are what I depend on. 44 Oh, I'll guard with my life what you've revealed to me, guard it now,
guard it ever;
45 And I'll stride freely through wide open spaces as I look for your truth and your wisdom; 46 Then I'll tell the world what I find, speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed. 47 I cherish your commandments - oh, how I love them! - 48 relishing every fragment of your counsel. 49 Remember what
you said to me, your servant - I hang on to these words for dear life!

These words echo over yesterdays word for Pentecost. They concern how our life is shaped according to God's love and truth. I like how such wisdom shaped life then is placed in the 'open spaces' and the telling in public. Such boldness and confidence.

I came across Gracian. Some things never change. I found these words on the Art of Living well which is what i believe we are called to. The temptation after Pentecost is perhaps be encouraged that the Spirit is at work still in Christ's Church and so we set about getting busy in order to prosper and grow the church. I think not.

Baltasar Gracian was a Spanish Jesuit. (1601-1658) a philosopher and writer, scholar and satirist, he frequently expressed himself in epigrams. A Jesuit priest he was counselor to kings. He made a careful study of the powerful and elite. His work spoke wisdom, like Solomon's, into the then chaos of the world and perhaps they still have relevance. Needless to say his writings were later confiscated and banned by the Church.

THE ART OF LIVING WELL

The art of living well. Of living abundantly! Two are done quickly with life,
the fool, and the dissolute. The one because he does not know how to preserve
it, and the other because he does not know its value. As virtue is its own
reward; so is vice its own punishment: for he who lives too fast is quickly
through, and in a double sense: while he who rests in virture, never dies. For
the life of the spirit becomes the life of the body, and the life lived well
gathers unto itself not only fullness of days, but even length.
Gracian’s Manual, § 90 (see here)

Pentecost... What is going on here?

Today was the culmination of Waiting on Pentecost for us. At our Roslyn worship hub we had a beautifully covered table with swaiths of colourful cloths. The whole service was put in a series of envelopes and people simply had to select this and we did whatever it said. It was a wonderful time as people selected and came in excitement to see what would be done next. We had people play music and read and pray. We had a new song from Brazil with a great rhythm! Participation at all levels and what was happening next hightened our sense of Pentecost. Colourful streamers and pingpong balls with attached streamers to throw at the very end of the praise songs and praise shout!

I preached from under a colourful umbrella a reminder of the puring out of the spirit and life now lived as Christians and as a Church under the umbrella of the Spirit. However, it doesn't work inside where we are safe warm, etc. it is about being sent out! Should have had an umbrella for everyone to go with, especially since it was pretty wet out today.

We had our gathering lunch to follow. Conversation covered several things, but most of all we were concerned with ways in which we as a church lived and moved and witnessed in the public spaces of the communities we are part of. All part of our overcoming of how we perceive gospel and culture's interaction. Only as we live as if it were threat do we build barriers and walls. Yet our sentness as a church means travelling light under the umbrella of the Spirit over us and in us. This will be an ongoing thing for us to now build upon. What IS going on here?
Paul Fromont I see has written this (below) and it struck me as relevant to us here.

I found myself asking, time and time again: “what is gospel,
what is good news in these contexts?” “What would it look, feel, sound, taste,
and smell like to embody gospel in these contexts?” And, “where was the Spirit
at work; where are there hints of gospel?”
The other big questions to reflect on is: “what is it that alienates, isolates, and victimises us in relation to each other; what is the place of the “powers” in this process?” And, “Who is my neighbour, and how do I love my neighbour as myself?”
Henri Nouwen writes:
“…Beneath all the great accomplishments of our time there is
a deep current of despair. While efficiency and control are the great
aspirations of our society, the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and
intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression,
and a deep sense of uselessness fills the hearts of millions of people in our
success-orientated world… And the cry that [so often] arises from [the
hollow and empty places of our lives] is clearly: ‘Is there anybody who loves
me? Is there anybody who really cares?...Is there anybody who wants to be with
me when I am not in control, when I feel like crying? Is there anybody who can
hold me and give me a sense of belonging?’ From In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (pp. 33-34)

Waiting on Pentecost...10

Day 10. Ephesians 2 v19-22

'Embrace is grace.' (M. Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, p147)

Insider-outsider language prevails so much in many spheres. Within the church such language is surely inadequate it leads to terms such as OUT-reach being used without much thought for the image this conveys. Yet read passages such as this Ephesians text and there is an intensity about the ways in whch the cross breaks barriers and joins us together and gets us to embrace; outsiders are no ooinger outsiders and in a sense insiders no longer insiders.

Organisational theory uses the term autopoiesis to convey an understanding that the environment is to be seen as a part of the system because it is an essential part of the interactions. That is, easch element simultaneously combines the maintenance of itself with that of the others.
Its a bit like seeing a tree in an orchard and recognising that the weather, the soil and the wider orchard all play a part in its growth. They are part of the system to be considered. The tree adjusts and grows accordingly. hence the inner rings will be larger or smaller for instance due to the season it has had.

To begin thinking in such a way forces us to address barriers and a radical change to our thinking and behaviour. What if we were to allow Christ to shape our identity as God's people not determined by social, cultural divisions, but to be a glimpse of and experience of embrace.
What are we so afraid of in the world, societies and cultures we are part of in the environment?

Waiting on Pentecost...9

Day 9. romans 15 v1-13

When you see a job needing done what do you do?

What does servanthood mean for us in truly practical terms?

Paul challenges us today not simply to do what is 'convenient for us.', it isn't about our status and little power plays. Move beyond such things We are rather called upon to look after the good of all those aorund us, asking ourselves " How can I help?'

Seems to me that is the nub and rubbing question we need to keep asking ourselves daily.
In the midst of a society where people tends to express and act according to what is good for me and stuff you sort of ways, I wonder what we might begin to look like and witness to. As Paul also says here "Just think of all the scriptures that will come true in what we do!'
Such service is like the overflowing and brimming over of the hope of Christ within us.

So when we see a need, will we lend a hand? looking after the good of those around us.

Waiting on Pentecost...8

Day 8. Matthew 9.35 - 10.15

Become what you believe was our heading for the day.This, I confess, is a key text that has shaped my missionary calling and one to which I constantly return. It concerns sending out.... no big fund raising..."you don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, all you need to keep you going is three meals a day. Travel light.'

These are words that run deep for me, but the more I consider the church in mission, I long for us to travel light, to realise that beyond all else, it is people who are the equipment.

Last night the girls and I went to hear Julian Lloyd-Webber play cello at the Town Hall as part of his NZ concerts with the NZSO. We had great seats and it was a wonderful experience. As I listened, but also as I observed him play, he had no music score, but cliche as it is, he was so much at one with the instrument and lost in that musical zone with the whole orchestra as it played. It was his attention to the instrument, equipment- the little glances up at the conductor, over and around the orchestra as they played together. There appeared such a simplicity, though it was far from it. And of course the years of practice and just sheer giftedness made it an amazing experience to hear him play live. I believe that there was an attentiveness among other things here that teach us something of our part in the church as equipment, each with our particular gifts as part of the whole body and making our unique contribution.

Still travelling light....

Waiting on Pentecost ...7

Day 7. Romans 12

Tonight at Caim we had a Pentecost gathering. We heard the text and people were invited in quiet time to come write up what God may be saying to us on a board(they could write a word, phrase or draw)

Romans 12 seemed to gather some things up: a firm reminder of God in Jesus as central and our all in all, that changed from inside out as we embrace what God has done for us, we are the body and we should just get on with what we are made to be, rather than seek to be something else we are not. There were some quite profound
We concluded with an act of placing ourselves before God. If they wished to come forward and kneel. A prayer was said over each and others could join in laying on hands.

‘As you place yourself before God now,
God to enfold you,
Christ to touch you,
the Spirit to surround you this night and always. Amen.’

There was a waiting around last night that was unrushed.
some comments:
‘Changed from the inside out’;
‘do not be afraid’ ;
‘let go… God will catch you’
‘forgive’
‘see things from another point of view’
‘Bless your enemies and then the sandpaper helping to make things smoother’
‘Lover to the poor, lover to the lost,
Lover to the down hearted
Do these things by the strength, direction, love and ability of your Father.’