Pentecost 2B 07/06/15 The gospels are very open in sharing the opposition that Jesus faced in his ministry. They are not afraid to have Jesus himself report that he was accused of being a glutton and a wino or, in this Gospel, of his family trying to restrain him when the people thought he was insane. The religious people accused him of even worse by suggesting that he was actually in league with the prince of demons. After Jesus offers a convincing reproof of this charge, his mother and family arrive and try to have a word with him. When they cannot get to him because of the crowd the word is passed to him that they are outside. His reply is to recast the idea of family in terms of relationship to God rather than in terms of blood. “Who is my mother and my brothers?” he asks and then goes on to answer, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” It is not that Jesus turns against his mother Mary and the family. His mother will follow him and stand beneath the cross when he is crucified. He will entrust her care to his beloved disciple. His brother, James, will become the leader of the Jerusalem church and will be a faithful follower. Jesus does not despise his family but rather calls on his listeners to understand that as important as family is, our relationship to God defines to a much greater extent who we are. St Paul used the term in his letters when relating to the church as the “Household of God” a much more inclusive, accurate and comprehensive understanding of “family” for the church. There was a time in our culture when it was important to be identified as a member of the church. It was the respectable, acceptable thing to do. While it was recent enough that some of us can still remember it, things have changed drastically. We can lament this change, talk about how terrible it is, and find all kinds of things to blame it on, whilst perpetuating a downward spiral of inward looking and criticism, or we can take advantage of the situation. In a time when people no longer just turn up in churches because it is the thing to do, we are given the opportunity to bring them in by offering them a relationship with God. What we have seen as a breakdown may actually be a breakthrough as we find a chance to offer people something beyond just belonging to “the family” by offering them the opportunity to become disciples of Jesus Christ in the Household of God. So often in the church, the first discussion revolves around the question of how we can grow the numerical size of a congregation. This is the wrong first question. It is not about growing the physical size of the family, the congregation; the first question should be about how we can help people do the will of God and all grow spiritually together. Our number one goal should not be to make sure that a congregation
physically survives but that the reign of God is spread throughout the world. Although we may have deep and strong emotional links to a particular congregation, it is not our organisational survival that matters in the end, but, rather, whether we are able to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. When we face our maker as we all shall do- I believe one of his questions to us individually and as a community will not be: “Well done good and faithful servants you buried and preserved your talent”, but, “did you try your hardest to spread my Gospel to the people of Kew?” If we are able in all conscience to reply yes to that latter question now, if we can do that, everything will take care of itself. Sometimes one hears the objection that the congregation can’t reach others if it isn’t here and that is true, but the reign of God does not depend on one particular congregation existing. God doesn’t need first and foremost a self preservation group. CS Lewis writing in “Mere Christianity” in 1952 put it this way: “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 199. Archbishop Justin Welby giving the Lambeth lecture in March this year put it this way: “I want to start by saying just two simple sentences about the church. First, the church exists to worship God in Jesus Christ. Second, the Church exists to make new disciples of Jesus Christ. Everything else is decoration. Some of it may be very necessary, useful, or wonderful decoration – but it’s decoration… I am under no illusion as to the seismic shift that needs to take place in order for this to happen. But a seismic shift is what we need. For this country will not know of the revolutionary love of Christ by church structures or clergy, but by the witness of every single Christian.” (Lambeth Lectures 05/03/2015) It depends on those Christians who are part of the Household of God being faithful in the best way they possibly can and using our resources more in ministry and less in the maintenance of our organisation. Many of us have been involved in organisations that were dying. It may have been a Rotary, Lions, or Kiwanis club or any of a number of other groups. If you have been there you know what it is like to have the focus shift from the work of the group to the survival of the group. People are sought out not because the organisation can help that person or because that person can contribute to the mission of the group but rather because they are a warm body who hopefully has some money to spare. In fact we don’t even mind if they don’t really believe or model the objects of the society- we will sycophantically turn a blind eye! They even may end up being chairman, secretary or treasurer, because they have a pulse!
Martin Luther’s definition of sin as a heart curved in on itself is instructive for us here. The Church which is concerned primarily for its own life or survival, a church that is curved in on itself, is signing its own death warrant. As the wonderful missiologist Lesslie Newbigin said: “A church that exists only for itself and its own enlargement is a witness against the gospel. One could say both a lack of action and too much frantic action thinly mask a lack of confidence in the sufficiency of God.” There are many young families, old families, single people of all ages in Kew who need Jesus Christ and the Church. We need to reach them not because they will help us but because we need to help them. It is not about enlarging the family so it can survive, but rather it is about helping others to know the joy of a relationship with God in Jesus Christ with this community as the Household of God and this beautiful church as the focus and testament of that good work. There are all kinds of plans, programs and special campaigns that congregations can run to try to draw in crowds. Some of them are awful and some of them are very good. In evaluating and planning them, however, we need to keep in mind that our goal is to make disciples of Jesus Christ and not perpetuate an organisation. We are about the work of inviting people to come and do the will of God for their lives and for the life of the world. We have the way to a full and abundant life that offers meaning and hope to a world gone mad. Whatever kind of program or plan we may embark on, it needs to be for the purpose of helping us reach people for God. If our congregation doesn’t survive, then let it be that we went down fighting to bring people into a life-giving relationship with God through Jesus Christ and not a death a thousand cuts trying to perpetuate an institution. Jesus does not despise his family but rather calls on his listeners to understand that as important as family is, our relationship to God defines to a much greater extent who we are. When we focus on this call from Jesus in our planning and decision making as a parish, then we will know that we have truly become the mother, the brother, and sister of Jesus. Amen Fr Robert