St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church
3800 East Third Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
(812) 332-5252
Sermon for the Third Sunday After Epiphany (January 27, 2008)
Liturgical Color: Green
Reverend Dr. Lyle E. McKee
A Great Light
Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Welcome to our World Mission Sunday. I'd like to begin by thanking the Council for designating this year "The Year of Global Mission" and our new Mission Committee for working hard to schedule a multitude of special events, including the conversation with missionaries David Wunsch and Kate Lawler on Wednesday evening and this special worship service today.
As I have lived this week with the words of Matthew for today in the background, I have observed them being lived out in many ways.
If this weren't World Mission Sunday, I might take up the differences between last Sunday's story of the call of Andrew and Simon Peter from Luke's gospel and the story recounted by Matthew this morning. But I've decided to leave that up to you.
It is far more appropriate to this day that we look at that phrase that began to take on new dimensions for me this week. I refer to verse 16, in which Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah:
...the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
Several ways of interpreting that verse come easily to mind. Certainly we need not look too far back to see the connection to the birth of our Lord. With the dawn of Christmas morning, the darkness of the world yielded to the great and brilliant light of Jesus' life among us. Our hearts, likewise, grow warm and are illumined by the presence of Christ's light, pushing aside the darkness or our hardness of heart.
But the image of light dispelling darkness was most poignantly real for me—and many other folks here at St. Thomas—on Wednesday evening. Kate Lawler and David Wunsch, missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who serve as regional directors for southern South America, opened for us a window of full sun as they told the stories of their work in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay. I would like to call to mind in this fuller assembly some of the ideas and metaphors I found illuminating with regard to our best approach to the mission of the church.
The first darkness-dispelling thought is one we've heard before, but it is well worth repeating. It is that of "accompaniment." The work is inspired by the story from Luke of the Road to Emmaus. You will remember it as involving two disciples, who journey from Jerusalem following the crucifixion, disheartened and questioning whether Jesus was the Messiah they thought him to be. And as they walk together, they are joined by one who opens the scriptures to them and who is only revealed as their resurrected Lord when they arrive at their destination. Jesus is recognized in the breaking of bread-in the celebration of communion.
"Accompaniment" has as its root the word for bread—"panis" in Latin, "pan" in Spanish. Mission as accompaniment takes as fundamental the scriptural revelation that we are most fully known and most fully the Body of Christ when we share in the holy meal instituted by Jesus. On that road to Emmaus, the disciples traveled together as equals, neither above the other, neither ahead or behind. They walk side by side, immersed in the same reality, sharing perceptions and gifts, in mutuality. These companions, by doing so, come to be in the presence of their Lord who is fully known in the breaking of bread.
So it is in the best modern practices of being in mission. David and Kate walk side by side with the people and the Christian leaders in South America. They do not perform their work for them, as if the people are unable to do the work of the church themselves—whether it be helping those in need, preaching the gospel, or advocating for justice. There is full mutuality in sharing gifts. They live in and are immersed in the same reality, culture, and language as those with whom they labor and minister. And they engage in the blessings of worship, recognizing Jesus in shared communion even as the faces of those with whom they work reflect the face of their Lord.
Mission—regardless of where we engage in it, or how—is first and foremost about respect, honor, and care for others. It concerns walking with—accompanying—others. The days of thinking of missionaries, or ministers, or Christians, as those who bring the gifts or skills or gospel to others are thankfully declining.
The second darkness-dispelling idea is a metaphor. A butterfly. During their presentation on Wednesday, Kate and David displayed a picture of a butterfly with its image reflected, perhaps in a pool of water. I thought it was even more apt for the point they were making than a picture of a butterfly alone—a common symbol of the resurrection. An odd-looking, worm-like, earth-bound caterpillar is transformed into a beautiful, colorful butterfly that is able to catch the wind and fly free. So too are we, as the symbol is traditionally used, transformed in spirit by the saving grace and forgiving presence of Christ in our souls—becoming joined with the eternal. Life opens up and the spirit soars as we grow in grace.
For mission, the image of the butterfly portrays the profound changes that are wrought in us by virtue of our relationships with others. Every encounter with another human being alters us, changes us, and brings new truths to us about ourselves, about each other, about God. And these encounters are most powerful—they have their greatest potential—when they are nurtured in respect, mutuality, and shared gifts.
That's why I especially appreciated that the picture included the butterfly's reflection. It suggested a mutuality that was the root of the transformation. Not a single butterfly, but two, who in their encounter with one another enhanced the beauty of both. Accompaniment. Mission. A great light.
The third idea that sticks with me from the presentation of our missionaries this week centers on the picture of a fully mature dandelion. I'm sure you can conjure up your own image. You might imagine a mass of white wisps of seed still in place, together forming a full sphere of shimmering, translucent silver-white. A globe of potential.
The words underneath the picture of the dandelion shown were "Vulnerability and Transformation." Not the yellow flower, but the mature seed-containing orb, is the best symbol of vulnerability and transformation. I suspect that all of us have had the youthful pleasure of plucking up such dandelions from the spring landscape in order to whirl it about us or blow upon it gently, watching the individual seeds, each with their own kite-tail taking them to a new place of growth. The globe of white is the essence of vulnerability. The slightest touch or the easiest breeze can separate seed from stem.
And once separated, the seeds begin the process again. They land, take root, and are transformed from single, tiny seeds into those troublesome and abundant yellow flowers adorning (or plaguing) our yards, stems reaching up towards the sun.
Vulnerability and transformation. These are the two edges of the sword of mission as accompaniment. Both are essential to the process, and without the one the other will not appear. In the encounter with another, openness—vulnerability—is that element without which transformation is precluded. We might remain safe, like a dandelion forever preserved in a desk-top paper-weight. But as that glass-enfolded dandelion will never propagate, so a person unwilling to be open to those encountered along life's path will forever be lost to the transformation of both that might have been. Vulnerability and transformation. Accompaniment and mission. A greater light.
David and Kate also talked about a program they run in South America. It's called Young Adults in Global Mission. It intends to immerse young people (say 20 to 30 years old or so) to a concentrated experience of accompaniment. They are encouraged by what they see in transformed lives among the folks being served and in those young folks who return to the United States to live differently. I commend the program to anyone who may hear this brief description and sense a call to be a part. I'd be happy to assist in making the necessary connections.
Finally, I'd like to use this opportunity to speak about world mission to make one more point that often gets missed. That is about the purpose of mission.
Even after all I've said, I suspect there are those present who will continue to think of mission as purely a matter of "taking the gospel to those who have not yet heard about Jesus." Even after all the talk of accompaniment, of growing light, of resurrection, vulnerability, and transformation, I'll bet some of you don't yet really see that mission is truly about fully relating with people-whether here in Bloomington, working with the homeless or people without health care, or in Chile, advocating with them for policies that assist women experiencing violence in the home.
In order to help emphasize that mission is far more than making new Christians, here is a bit of report from the work of the Lutheran World Federation:
"On the edge of the Sahara Desert in the west African nation of Mauritania, green shoots push through the dry, yellow sand. The Lutheran World Federation has helped the village of Ganki dig a second well for a fruit and vegetable garden. Every day, residents pull buckets of cool water from wells deep in the sand and proudly water and weed around their young plants. Many enjoy drinking the refreshing water themselves! Beans, sorghum, and mangos are just some of the plants residents are able to grow in this harsh climate. This fresh food gives residents the nutrients they need, and the chance to grow additional produce to sell for some extra income when the plants mature.
"Water covers a third of the land in the water-rich country of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's rivers are a way of life. They are used to transport goods for commerce and trade, and children bathe and play in them every day. They are a source of food, and nourish the country's staple of rice. Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh uses rivers and streams to transport women who bring much-needed healthcare services to remote villages. The women visit villages once a week on a speedboat and bring with them a doctor or nurse. The women also teach classes in literacy, nutrition, and hygiene, including instructions to wash hands and food with clean water.
"In Tanzania, we support a unique fish farming project, developed with local people. Farmers are given 2-inch fingerlings and instructions on how to construct a fish pond. In just a few months, the ponds not only provide an abundant food supply, but a means of profit as well when there are extra fish to sell. There are more than 5000 ponds in the country now as this idea spreads!
"For all humans, water is the source of life. As the Revelation 22:1-2 text makes clear, water is also wondrously baptismal and cosmic, wondrously revelatory of Christ's work of redemption for all creation. We 'lap the infinite freshness' of God's healing grace for all the nations."
These examples may help us understand concretely that mission is about sharing the gospel in all of its fullness—witness to Christ, yes, but that can as easily take the form of feeding the hungry or working for justice as spreading the gospel in verbal form. Mission is about encounter, accompaniment, being vulnerable to learning and sharing, and watching for the blessings and transformations that inevitably flow.
Take a stroll with someone you think of as different. Accompany them. Walk a mile in your moccasins while they walk in theirs. And you will begin to sense a holy presence along the way. And if, perchance, you share worship together or meet a need, the presence of our Lord will be made known in the breaking of bread. A great light will illumine some niche of your darkness—and theirs—and God's mission will be served. Amen.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto eternal life. Amen.
