Genesis
12.1-9 is both a simple passage to understand and one of the most
important in the Bible. This is where God begins to forge the nation of Israel.
And also here, we begin to understand
God’s purpose for Israel, Israel’s mission. And it should sound
familiar, for it is the same thing to which God calls the church.
The
synagogue and the church are two separate communities with common roots – the
synagogue being the mother of the church – both called by God to be a light to
the world.
Let’s
think about it. What is the purpose and mission of the church? First, to
continue doing what Jesus did when he was flesh and walking the earth. Jesus is
no longer enfleshed in the world, so the church is now the flesh and blood of
Christ, or the body of Christ, or the second incarnation of Christ. As the body
of Christ we are called to continue Jesus' ministry of healing, feeding,
blessing, and proclaiming the Kingdom of God just as Jesus once did, and
continues to do, now, through us – his new flesh.
Put
another way, the church is to be a sacrament to the world. A sacrament is
something that helps us to experience the grace and presence of God. By
continuing Christ’s mission in the world, we, the church, become a sacrament to
the world – helping the world to experience the grace and presence of God.
That, at least, is the ideal.
When
God decides to move Abram from southern Iraq to Israel, he tells him why: “I
will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make you name great
SO THAT you will be a blessing … and IN YOU all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.”
In
different words, God is telling Abram that he will build a nation out of his
descendants for the purpose of making that nation a sacrament to the world.
They would become a nation through which all people would experience the mercy
and presence of God.
The
purpose of Israel and the purpose of the church are the same.
It
is indeed a high calling that Abram is being given here. And in the calling of
this one man, lies the beginning of both Israel and the church. But the calling
was difficult, and rarely are great results not accomplished by great
sacrifices.
In
a world where your proximity to your clan and kin determined your safety, Abram
was to travel hundreds of miles away from civilization, from family, from clan.
Everything familiar would become history; and everything new would be
unfamiliar. It was quite a sacrifice, but a sacrifice to which God called him,
for a great purpose.
It
was a big sacrifice and a hard one. But Abram did what God told him to do, kinda.
God told Abram to leave southern Iraq and go to Israel. Abram left southern
Iraq and went a couple hundred miles to the northeast, to a place called Haran,
which is now northern Syria or southern Turkey. But there was civilization
there. And he and his father and other family members did very well for
themselves the 15 years they spent in Haran.
Finally,
after Abram’s father died, Abram received another call to go into Canaan, now called
Israel. Such is the story, at least, as St. Paul tells the story in Acts 7.
Abram
was rich when he finally left for Canaan. He had about 1000 servants, cattle,
sheep, donkeys, etc., etc. There is safety in numbers. Perhaps that is why he
stayed in Haran so long – to accumulate a large entourage. Most importantly, he
left a settled life for a nomadic life. Always moving, never in one place long
enough to call it home. And he lived that way the rest of his life.
In
a way this church is a little like Abram in this story. We aren’t being called
to a nomadic existence. We haven’t been called by God to relocate in the middle
of the wilderness in northern Montana, or any other far away destination.
No,
we didn't move 1500 miles away, just a mile down the road. Not quite the
sacrifice Abraham was called to! And, as we are already finding out, life will not
be completely different, for we will do what we always do, worship God and eat
casseroles - and let us hope much more!
And everything familiar will not pass, and everything new will not be totally
unfamiliar. But this is certainly a transition, and in some ways even a
sacrifice.
We
moved because we believed that First Christian Church was still being called by
God to be a witness to, and a sacrament in, our neighborhood. It was also
believed that that effort was being hampered by our old facilities.
But
it was stated specifically many times, moving to a new building was not going
to be like magic, or that movie “Field of Dreams,” “Build it and they will
come.” Or in our case, “move and they will come.” No, moving was to end some of
the negatives that would prevent us from growing. But moving was not something
that would cause us to grow.
If
you want to learn to fly, a fear of heights or fear of flying will prevent you
from being successful. Overcoming those fears will remove obstacles to your
success, but the removal of the obstacles is not going to teach you to fly.
Lessons and experience are how you learn to fly.
Our
moving was like overcoming our fear of change, an obstacle to our growth. But
now we must learn some lessons and gain some experience. Because so far, we
have simply removed an obstacle (and there are others) that was preventing us
from being able to move forward.
In
a book called Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a work of science fiction
and humor, a protagonist named Arthur Dent learned to fly – literally fly
unaided, just his body flying through the air. The trick to flying was this:
forget to hit the ground. Where most people fail flying is when they hit the
ground. But if they would simply forget to hit the ground, well, they'd still
be flying wouldn't they? Kids don't try this at home.
The
way to becoming a healthy church sounds almost as strange. We need to forget
about growing if we are ever going to health. That's right, moving to a new
building isn't going to cause growth, and focusing on growth will also lead to
failure. You see, growing should never have been the goal in the first place.
The
purpose of the church isn't to grow. To put the focus on growing is to mistake
God's calling. The church is called to continue doing what Jesus did when he
was flesh and walking the earth. As the body of Christ we are called to
continue Jesus' ministry of healing, feeding, blessing, and proclaiming the
Kingdom of God just as Jesus once did, and continues to do, now, through
us.
Put
another way, the church, like Israel, is to be a sacrament in the world. A
sacrament being something that helps one to experience the grace and presence
of God. When we fear having to close the doors we usually go into survival
mode. Our primary goal becomes adding some young couples with children to help
with budget and add fresh blood to take over some of the work because we are so
tired of doing so much. And we forget, or perhaps we never learned, what it
really means to be “church.”
Instead
of meeting on Sundays because that is what good Christians are supposed to do,
we should be coming together to share our spiritual lives with one another to
build a spiritual community that can have a sacramental presence in the
neighborhood.
Instead
of meeting on Sundays because that is what good Christians are supposed to do,
we should be coming together because we have a deep and abiding love for God,
and we want to share, and we want to worship.
Instead
of wanting new members to keep the church from closing, we should be focused on
sharing the gospel so that lives can be changed by the transforming Spirit of
the living God!
One
way is focused on keeping the church afloat, extending the life of the
institution. The other way is centered in a spiritual oneness with God and
wants to reach out so that others can also experience that. One way is being a
religious institution – which no one is really looking for by the way, the
other way is truly being the Body of Christ.
The
irony is, like flying by forgetting to hit the ground, forgetting about growth
and focusing on spiritual development and a desire to share our faith ...
usually leads to growth.
So
by learning to be more spiritual and even perhaps evangelistic is how we grow
the church? NO. Forget about growing the church and instead learn
to develop a deeper relationship with God and overcome your fear of sharing
that with others.
That's
not a formula for church growth. But it is a common trait of healthy churches.
Growth isn't the point; it is a by-product – usually – of being an authentic
Body of Christ. Forgetting to hit the ground, is the only way to truly soar!
Amen.