MINDING OUR MISSION

Mark 4:1-9

Luke 10:25-37

Stephen A. Hamilton Wright

First Presbyterian Church, Wausau, Wisconsin                                                                             August 22, 2010

This sermon is a short reflection following wrap-up presentations by the church’s Youth Group regarding its mission trip earlier in the summer, and children and leaders from the ecumenical Vacation Bible School which met in our building during the past week.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

            Well, this is an exciting day.  It is an exciting day near the end of an exciting summer for our young folks.  A week on a mission trip for our older youth, and Vacation Bible School for the younger ones, and now, within ten days, many of them will be back in school.  A week and a half after that, we kick our program back into high gear with choirs and church school and everything else that’s been in recess.  It is a good time.  We are always excited to see young people active in church and standing up front.  So, as we bask in that glow and anticipate moving forward, let’s make sure our feelings are tuned to the right pitch.  Let’s channel our excitement to make a difference.

            Our purpose is mission.  Our purpose as Christians is serving others.  Someone has said that mission is for the church as fire is for burning.  Mission is for the church as fire is for burning.  We want to keep that in mind as we celebrate younger generations’ activities.  We have accomplished something, both in the youth group trip and in Vacation Bible School.  In the first, a variety of services were performed for people in Michigan, and our youth strengthened relationships among themselves and were formed further in a pattern of serving others.  With the Bible school, the focus was more directly on those younger kids, giving them new ideas and experiences to digest, while they also did some service by planting things and recycling.  But the work is not done, in either case.  The greatest accomplishment from both experiences should be planting seeds in these young lives that grow into the habit of serving others.  Now, when we talk in the church about service and mission, we mean a lot of things.  We certainly mean teaching and nurturing people to follow the way of Jesus, and we mean caring for our own members who can no longer care for themselves, and we help other believers face the struggles of life.  That kind of internal nurture and care is part of the love of God that we learn from Jesus.  It is an important part, but only a part, of our larger mission of love.  When we congratulate ourselves on the successes reported from this summer, beware that we are not celebrating signs of institutional survival and the hope of growth.  Instead, give thanks that this congregation has planted seeds and stretched muscles toward continuing Christ’s mission of caring for God’s whole creation and all its people in ways that make a difference both right now and into the future.  That’s worth celebrating.  That’s why we are here.  Mission is the reason for the church.