REMEMBER OUR MISSION
Psalm 30
Luke 10:25-37
Stephen Hamilton Wright
First Presbyterian Church, Wausau, Wisconsin July 11, 2010
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There was a great big church meeting in Minneapolis last week. Thousands of Presbyterians got together for our biennial General Assembly, a mix of business and connections and learning and politics. I was there for just a few days in the middle, as an observer without an official responsibility. I listened to testimony and debate in several different committees. I did not attend any of the meetings of the Committee to Review the Standing Committees. At several points during several debates I thought about how much distance there is between the minutiae of denominational governance and the work of a local congregation, and the additional distance to how individual Christians respond to church teachings, either local or national, and church law. While I was listening to the Form of Government Revision Committee debate whether the Session of a local church is responsible for the congregation’s mission or directs the mission, I started thinking about the Gospel reading for this week: the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Here is the way in which the larger church and the people at home both connect and disconnect: if Jesus were telling that parable to American Christians today, I think he would change the characters. He might say, “A man was going from Grant Street down along Kickbusch Street. He was robbed and beaten and left for dead. A minister happened to come by, but he had to get to a Rotary meeting; and an elder came by, but he had to get to a mission committee meeting. Then a gay Muslim businessman came by, and he helped. Which of these three proved to be neighbor?” Every church meeting should start with that question: what does it mean to act as a neighbor?
Our mission is simple. Our mission can be stated quite simply. Mission means where we are sent, and we Christians are sent to work we can name clearly. Doing the work is not necessarily easy, but the work Jesus gives us is clear. He sends us to help whoever needs help—not whether we think they deserve it or not, not whether it interferes with our schedules or previous financial commitments, but whoever, whenever, wherever. The words of Jesus are quite clear about this. Anytime someone asks Jesus “What must I do?” to be in the kingdom or have eternal life or be a really good person, Jesus answers in very practical action points that bust boundaries and defy doctrine. Can you imagine Jesus sitting still to listen to a debate about whether a Session directs mission or is responsible for it? Wouldn’t He say, “Get on with it!”? It’s not only the larger organization of the church, either. We Presbyterians, even in Wausau, have been known to take a long time to start new projects or welcome new members. And we spend a lot of time fussing about doctrine, such as heaven and hell and the nature of God and the right way to read the Bible. Jesus didn’t have those worries. On the record, at least, He never talked about such things. You know what He said instead, in one version or another, over and over. Jesus said go, sell your stuff, give the money away, and then follow me. Go pick up that poor man lying in the ditch and help him. If it happens to be the Sabbath, do it anyway. It is not easy, but it is really simple. We are here to help our neighbors.
If we don’t do it, somebody else will. If we do not answer Jesus, someone else will take our place. We all know this Parable of the Good Samaritan, and if we pay attention, it should make us crawl. Who has not looked at someone who really needed some help, and gone zooming by? It might have been someone with a flat tire or a raised hood, or someone in distress making a phone call from an airport, or another kid at school who didn’t have lunch, and we thought, “Her mom will bring lunch, and it’s not that long ‘til school’s over,” or “That person’s problem isn’t my business,” or “Everybody has a cell phone now to call a tow truck, and I’m in a hurry”—aren’t we always in a hurry, and scared of getting involved, and hungry for our own overloaded lunches? Jesus told this story about serious religious citizens who failed to help someone, and a foreign pagan who came along and did help. Beyond giving basic help, he did more than our government and our insurance companies would do; he told the innkeeper that he would pay everything it cost to take care of the rescued man. The story does not say anything about the faith of the Samaritan; that seems to be beside the point. We know, though, that Samaritans in general were looked down on by their Jewish neighbors, partly because the kind of religion they practiced seemed wrong. They believed the wrong things. They worshipped the wrong way. Jesus uses this story to say that those are the wrong ways to measure people. What counts is whether we help other people when they need it, whatever their religion or ethnicity or social standing. If we don’t help, Jesus will look for someone else.
Hang on, though. Think about this. The good news is that Jesus believes in us. Jesus believes in us. Jesus would not have told this story unless he believed that we could be bumped into more active connection with the people who need God’s love. Jesus tells all the parables because He believes that we can do what He says. He knows. We know how to help. We know how to share. We just have to decide to do it. We need to reshape our personal spending priorities to leave a little more room for giving to others, or organizations that help others. We need to change our attitudes about who really needs help, and recognize that a history of bad decisions does not make people undeserving of support and love. The Jewish Scriptures Jesus quoted did not differentiate between poor people and foreigners who deserved help, and those who were, as we might say, “working the system.” Jesus believed that all people should be able to eat, be recognized, and be cared for. Jesus seems to think that anyone who chooses the label of His name can get the message, and actually do something about it. It’s true that Jesus was an optimist. He believed a lot of good things about a lot of people others thought were basically useless. Well—we are far from useless, so we can help others who often get counted that way. We are good people, who can do lots of good in the world today and every day. It isn’t about building up the church; it’s about building up the community all around us, and helping whatever neighbors we can meet. We know how to do that, and that’s good news. That’s why Jesus believes in us.
We have a mission. We are called to serve our neighbors in the whole world. The way we organize to do it doesn’t matter so much, as long as the work is done well. If we sit on our hands or make excuses, Jesus will look for someone else. The good news is that Jesus believes in us. Listen to Him. We can do what He sends us to do.