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The Mission of Jesus The Holy Eucharist of the 111th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Washington The Reverend Paul R. Abernathy, Rector With apologies to visitors and guests who are with us tonight, given the state of union or disunion, depending on one's point of view, of the Episcopal Church, this is a "family" sermon addressed to my sister and brother Episcopalians. + I worship Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. He is my way to the truth of eternal life - life with God, now and forever. Scripture, tradition, and reason are my authorities. Scripture, God's word written, is my first authority. I am a grateful recipient of "the faith once delivered to the saints" 1 - the saints, who, as the body of believers, are the church. I fear for my church, which, "by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed" 2 , is adrift, a less than seaworthy vessel for safe portage to the Kingdom of God. If this, in any way, expresses your beliefs and values, then, you belong here. I follow Jesus, daily striving to live his life of love, unconditional benevolence to all, and justice, right and fair dealing toward all. I read Scripture as the record of his teaching. In my experience, life often is ambiguous; hence, the opposite of faith isn't doubt, but certainty. Therefore, I have questions. Sometimes, I wonder about Jesus. Yet, this very question - Who is Jesus? - dominates my life and defines my destiny, which is to be in right relationship with God and all creation. I share this life of exploration in my community of fellow seekers - the church. I fear for my church where doctrine has become a source not of union, but division. If this, in any way, expresses your beliefs and values, then, you belong here. I love the Episcopal Church - her apostolic doctrine and discipline, grounded in Scripture and summarized in the Creeds, her decent and orderly catholic liturgy inscribed in the Book of Common Prayer, her role as the via media , the middle way, historically, between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and, contemporarily, between religious fundamentalism and secularism. I found a home in the Episcopal Church where the sacraments are duly observed and the word truly preached. Here, I was washed in Baptism, nourished by the Eucharist, and commissioned for service in the church and in the world. I fear for my church, which seems to be falling apart at the seams. If this, in any way, expresses your beliefs and values, then, you belong here. Wherever we are and however we may be characterized or categorized - although no "label" fully can define or describe any of us, complex human creatures we are! - traditionalist right, progressive left, or moderate middle, we - you and I - belong here at the 111 th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Washington. So, my sisters and brothers, in the name of Jesus, I welcome you. Please turn to someone near you - preferably someone you don't know or, even if known, someone with whom you may disagree - extend your hand, and say, "In the name of Jesus, I welcome you!" + I realize that in referring to our differences, I raise the specter of our unhappy, indeed, some might say, our unholy disputations over matters of biblical authority, human sexuality, and jurisdictional boundaries. Unhappy and unholy because our conflicts cloud our vision and dilute our passion for mission. Unhappy and unholy because our conflicts whet our natural appetite for congregationalism in which we live and move and have our being not as a diocesan family, but as a geographical configuration of individual, self-interested communities. I could make a case for not having mentioned any of this. However, I do not believe that liturgy is a respite from the ills that plague us - an oasis of forgetfulness in the midst of the desert places of our lives. Liturgy is a kairos moment, not a fantasy hour. A kairos moment into which Jesus calls us with all our fears, so to speak to us at the depths of those fears. A kairos moment in which Jesus, who knows all about fear, speaks to us about mission. In regard to Jesus knowing all about fear, our gospel passage 3 immediately follows that moment when Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem ." 4 That moment when he reached "the tipping point" in his life and ministry. That moment when everything - his baptism, his wilderness temptation, his inauguration of his ministry with the words of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" , his calling his disciples, his preaching, teaching, and healing - had brought him to the awareness that the time had come to fulfill his destiny. That moment when every step in his journey had to be toward Jerusalem. That moment when the shadow of the cross of his sacrificial death inexorably began to lengthen over his life. Jesus knew all about fear, which he faced and took up like a cross, as he set his face to go to Jerusalem . It is this Jesus who speaks to us tonight about mission. But before we listen to Jesus, his ancient, yet, eternal word, let us, for a moment, look at our current day context. + We live in an incontrovertibly multicultural and pluralistic world. A world of peoples with many belief systems and sets of values. The world, changed and ever changing, makes Christian mission more challenging. Our Christian, especially evangelical, mission no longer can be as simple - as if it ever was - as telling people about Jesus, so that they may be as we are and believe as we do. Perhaps our mission, by necessity, must continue to focus more on common human, not especially Christian, concerns - alleviating poverty, advocating for the civil rights of all people, addressing the ill, indeed, evil of the economic exploitation of any people and the environmental devastation of any land. In our changing world, Christian mission is so challenging that sometimes I think that's why we fight so much among ourselves so that we don't have to do the hard work of discerning the nature of Christian mission in our day. Nevertheless, a patient Jesus still speaks to us - in his word, sharing universal, eternal principles to guide us as we grapple with the manner and method of our mission today. So, following the counsel of an old Pentecostal preacher, who said, "Sometimes, you have to take a Bible text line by line and precept by precept," let us listen to Jesus, who says. "The harvest is plentiful." 5 Christian mission is perpetual. Always there is work. Never is it done. "But the laborers are few, therefore, ask the Lord." Christian mission is prayerful. Never is it anything that we do in our own power, but always that which Jesus empowers us to do. "Go on your way." Christian mission is personal. Never is it for a few, some, many, or even most, but always for all of us, each of us, wherever we are on our life's journey. "Greet no one on the road." Christian mission is purposeful. Always is the time to make haste. Never is there time to waste. Truth to tell, if Jesus doesn't want us to waste time greeting people, then, he surely doesn't want us to waste time arguing! "Say, ' The Kingdom of God has come near.'" Christian mission is providential. Always is it about God's redemption. Never is it about my, your, our, or anybody's agenda - for no matter how sincere we may be about whatever our agendas are, we always still can be sincerely wrong. Perpetual, prayerful, personal, purposeful, and providential. This is the character of Christian mission because this is the character of Jesus who calls us into mission. As he is, so it is! As it is, so let us be about the mission of Jesus! + Yes, our fears may well persist, ever threatening to discourage our hearts and dampen our spirits. Yet, out of the depths of our fears, Jesus speaks to us, calling us to mission. So, my dear sisters and brothers of the Diocese of Washington, let us dare answer, "Here we are Lord, send us!" Let us dare praise Jesus with our lips and with our lives, knowing that those who dare always to praise him never can be truly afraid! 1. Jude 3
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