Mission MOSAIC

Bye for now ...

2010-02-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

I was hoping this blog might be a place for a group of people to talk about missions and our quest to "be" a missional church ... one that seeks the reign of God in the world beyond the institution called "church." Isn't it funny that the word 'church' is translated from the Greek word 'ekklesia' which in turn comes from two words 'ek' meaning 'out' and 'kaleo' meaning to 'call.' So to say "we are the church" is to say " we are a group of people who have been called out."

Anyway ... I have found it difficult to dialog with myself ... so for the time being I am suspending my posts on missionmosaic.blogspot.com ... Please visit my (random) reflection blog at imamosaic.blogspot.com and/or my weekly bible study blog at mosaicbiblestudy.blogspot.com ...

I pray you know yourself as beloved of God, as called by God ... and empowered to answer that call.

Missional Preaching

2010-01-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

I am currently at Garrett-ETS (Evangelical Theological Seminary) taking a 2-week intensive class on Missional Preaching. What a gift! Even though it is a bit chilly here in Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago, I am finding this to be a life-giving learning experience.   There could not be a better class for a deacon in the United Methodist Church!

Our instructor is John Dally, an Episcopal priest, who wrote a book called Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God. Although I rebel against the word "kingdom" and prefer to speak of the "reign of God," this book is well written and insightful as the preacher is called to move beyond "maintenance" of the institution to lead the church into "mission" in the world.

It occurs to me that missional could be another way to talk about "risk-taking" mission. Yet to develop a missional mindset we may have to go even farther. Dally quotes Darrell Guder (Missional Church) “Mission is not merely an activity of the church. Rather, mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation. Mission means “sending” … the purpose of God’s action in human history … our challenge is to move from being a church with mission to becoming a missional church.”     YES! Tell me how!

John challenges us every day to seek the reign of God … to proclaim the reign of God in all that we are and all that we do.    The questions that emerged for me as I prepared my first sermon for the class are: Am I living a missional life? How can I proclaim a credible missional message if I am not living a missional life? These are questions that beg to be explored as I inhabit the liminal space between the church and the world as a deacon.

So ... what does the reign of God look like in your life ... your church ... your world?

A City of Piles ... A Valley of Dry Bones

2009-12-15T01:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome our December Guest Contributor: Cathy Herzog, Mission Team Leader at Ashford United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas (her story adapted for blog)

Twice a month, Ashford UMC volunteers join others to make sandwiches for people on the streets in downtown Houston. Twelve to eighteen volunteers gather to make 1200 sandwiches. Two sandwiches are packed with a drink and snack item. Each person receives 2 packages.   Recently I joined the delivery team ... Usually we drop by 4 different locations. Last Monday it was raining and this night was different than other nights ...

That night we had left over sandwiches. After some discussion, we drove to a place where the massive highway system flies overhead. We stopped near a place called loaves and fishes. Four or five highways with huge pilings cover a large portion of land. The highways cross over the city below: by day busy streets with shops and office buildings, cheap apartments and luxury apartments side by side ... directly under the pilings - dirt.

As we stopped on the street by the dirt, someone got out and said “Anyone want a sandwich?” A few men and women were sitting at the street and there were piles scattered on the ground. As we got out and began to move through the sea of piles handing out sandwiches, the piles began to move. I realized the "piles" were blankets covering folks. The piles of blankets were not close to one another. They were probably 10 – 15’ apart from one another. It made me think of people in their houses, close but not too close; everyone taking their own private space. In all, around 50 people came for the sandwiches. My sense was that many of them were sick. They looked at me with eyes holding blank expressions. Most were very thin, but every one who was served thanked us. After each person got their 2 bags, we realized we didn’t have enough meals to go anywhere else.

We ventured out to the piles to reach out to the others and give out the meals until they were gone. It was muddy and the smell made me hold my breath ... which didn’t last very long because I have to talk to the folks!   I could see as I entered the “neighborhood” there were a few couples on some of the blankets. There was one pile from which the person didn’t come out so I put the meals next to him and asked his neighbor to be sure that no one bothered the food I was leaving. His neighbor looked at me in what I took as surprise and said "No one will bother it."

Monday night as I returned to the sidewalk I was led to lower my head and raise my hands to pray to God specifically for the people under this bridge on that rainy cold night. My hope is that our little act of kindness lets them know they are not alone in this world and their lives have not been lived in vain.   I know homeless people exist ... these people with few sparks in their eyes ... these people you find living in "pile cities." I believe they probably have never known a life much different from what I saw and smelled and heard and felt.   With hunger in their bellies, they dive in to eat as soon as they get their bag. Yet every one looks back at us one more time to say "Thank you."

I’ve read where the homeless don’t look directly at people. But I’ve found this to be the exception not the rule. Most look at us and say "thank you." Several of them will shake my hand. This past Monday, I even got a couple of hugs – one from a man under the bridge. I often hear people say “those people” don’t appreciate things given to them, they complain about this or that. For sure that has not been my experience.

As I continue to reflect on my experience last Monday night, I agree whole-heartedly with the founder of this mission to feed the homeless. “This is the church, the church as it is meant to be!”

Thanks for sharing Cathy! Peace, Cindy

As Cathy sat and told me her story ... I thought about Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones found in Ezekiel 37:1-14. The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ ... Thus says the Lord God to these bones ... "I will put breath^* in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." As I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone ... there was no breath in them. Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people ... I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live!’ (excerpts chosen by Cindy-Click the link at the beginning for the entire passage)

A Modern Affirmation (of faith) begins: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the one true Church, apostolic and universal ... An apostle is a follower of Christ who carries the Christian message of LOVE into the world. An apostolic church is one that "sends" people to be the hands and feet of Christ. This will always be a risk-taking endeavor. Through Spirit, God is at work in the world to bring life to the lifeless, and God invites the church to participate in mission to the world.   Yes, Cathy, you had an extraordinary experience of "church."   Risk-taking mission? Absolutely! Thank you for sharing your story with the world (or at least the readers of this blog!)

So ... tell us ... where does Cathy's story touch you?

"I must be the change that I want to see in the world."

2009-12-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Gandhi said, "I must be the change that I want to see in the world."

Change. What is the change that I want to see in the world?
I want to see PEACE in the world ...

PAIX (french) ...
LAPE PAZ (Creole) ...
ACAHUKMA (Choctaw Houma Indian)

How do you say peace in the language you first learned?

When I talk about peace in the world, I am not just talking about peace as a calm feeling inside a person. I am not talking about a world full of people who live in their own isolated place of inner tranquility. I am also not talking about peace in the sense of an absence of physical conflict or a world where we would just ignore each other to "keep" the peace.

I mean Peace in the Hebrew "Shalom" sense of the word. Shalom means completeness in number, safety and soundness in body, welfare and health and prosperity, peace and friendship in human relationships and with God in a covenant relationship. (bibleworks word analysis) The last part sounds like something Jesus would say! (Matthew 12:28-31)

There is a communal sense to the Hebrew way of shalom ...Listen to the beauty of this communal blessing that many of us have heard a countless number of times in our own communities:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you "shalom." (Numbers 6:24-26)

Now look a little closer. The Lord (Yehovah = our God) bless (barak = adore) you and keep (shamar = protect, watch over) you. The Lord make his face (paniym = presence) to shine upon (owr = light up or illuminate) you, and be gracious (chanan = show compassion or favor) to you; the Lord lift up (nasa' = sustain or endure) his countenance (paniym = presence) upon you, and give you shalom. (enhanced by bibleworks word analysis)

As I struggle with what it means to change so that I am the "change I want to see in the world"
Hear this blessing going out to all who sit with me in my struggle and desire to change ...

My dear friends in Mission, May God adore you and protect you. May God be present to you, illuminate your life, and show you compassion. May God be a sustaining presence in your life and lead you into relationships of wholeness with God and with others.

One last question for you to ponder. Please share your thoughts with our readers:
What is the change that YOU want to see in the world?

Rethink Church this Christmas

2009-12-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Rethink Church this Christmas is the new clip from UM Communications that will air on Headline News from Nov 24-Dec 27. Have you seen it? How effective is it?

Thoughts and a Prayer for Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

There once was a passage of Scripture I read ... and pondered. It is a passage that we can read in all four gospels more than once in some with the details somewhat different. Don't we always find that stories change as we tell them over and over and over ... and the meaning deepens.

We find Jesus in the midst of a great crowd of hungry people ... so many people the disciples wonder how in the world all would be fed. One small boy offers five barley loaves and two fish. "Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them ... they were satisfied ..." (excerpted from John 6:11-12)

Can you close your eyes and see Jesus lift up the loaves and the fish to give thanks. Can you open your heart and feel the inspiration of God? Is this a miracle? ... perhaps the real miracle in this passage is that the risk-taking offering of one small boy inspired the people to share what they had with one another until all were satisfied. This is not a new idea ... many commentators believe this could be the point of the story.

I wonder ... what small child in the world today could inspire us ... those of us who have so much ... to give to those who have so little ... until all are satisfied. Does hunger and poverty bother you? The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has many projects that address hunger and poverty. Online donations are easy and 100% of your donation goes to the project you choose. Check it out: UMCOR.

Risk-Taking Mission? I guess it depends on what your definition of risk-taking is. Today there are many people for whom this kind of giving is a risk-taking hardship. Maybe you can't give but why not take this moment to pray:

O God of all Creation:
You have cared for the earth, and have filled it with your riches. Abundance flows in your steppes, through the pastures and wilderness. You provide for our land, softening it with showers, bathing it in light, and blessing it with growth.

The hills sing with joy; the meadows are covered with flocks; the fields deck themselves with wheat; and together they glorify your name!

On this occasion of our Thanksgiving, we as a nation take rest from our labors to consider your many blessings. We thank you for our freedoms, and for the opportunity to contribute our skills, our attributes and our values toward the good of society.

We thank you for the mixture of our cultures, blending us into one people under God. Help us to be a light unto other nations, and to further the cause of freedom and justice all over the world.

We remember those who are less fortunate than we. We lift up in prayer the victims of poverty and racism, and all those who suffer from forms of political and economic oppression. Let the word that goes forth from our mouths speak of your peace, and let us proclaim our hope in Christ as Savior of all humankind.

We pray that you will bless all those who gather here, as we have come to experience your presence among us. Give us your guidance, O God, and empower us for your work. For we claim nothing for ourselves, but return all honor and glory unto you, and offer our thanks and praise. Amen.

From "Prayers for God's People"
Thomas P. Roberts, editor

Source of Prayer: http://www.godweb.org/thanksgivingprayers.htm

Why Don't Christians Go To Church?

2009-11-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Last week George Barna conducted a seminar entitled "Why Houston Christians Don't Go To Church." This link will take you to an article written by Texas Annual Conference Bishop Janice Riggle Huie ... Why Don't Christians Go To Church? about some of the things she learned.

The most interesting thing I learned from her article is that I am the demographic for unchurched "Christians" in Houston. FYI: Barna considers an unchurched Christian to be someone who hasn't attended church in the last 6 months or feels no commitment to any church they did attend. Keep in mind that this seminar refers to "self-identified" Christian people and does NOT address non-Christian people at all.

Why not take the time to read this article and comment on the most interesting thing YOU learned.

Who are you trying to reach out to? Does this article change the way you think about the people you are trying to reach out to? Why or why not? In what ways does this article keep us in a "safe" zone and out of "risk-taking" mission? In what ways does this article invite you to change your thinking? In what ways does this article affirm your thinking? In what ways does this article frustrate you?

To take a look at the numbers for yourself, please contact me for a PDF file of the Barna findings. Peace, Cindy

Rethink Church: What if Church were a Verb?

2009-11-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Rethink Church is sweeping and ambitious – to invite the church and those unchurched who seek spiritual fulfillment, to become more outwardly focused and engaged in the world. The campaign seeks to offer the church, not as a place to come to and stay within, but as a base of operation for expressing faith by moving out into communities and around the globe to become part of God’s plan for world transformation.

Are you ready to become more outwardly focused and engaged in the world?
How does it make you feel to think about moving out into the community?
Where do you see a need in the community? What is that need?

The grand hope is to spark a global conversation about what it means to live as a person of faith, a disciple of Jesus Christ, in the 21st century. If the campaign is successful, it will be the catalyst for a radical return to understanding of what the gospel means to us today.

Do you consider yourself to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?
What are some of the things you do because you are a follower of Christ?
What does it mean for you to live as a person of faith?
What is the gospel message in the context of the world we live in today?

The primary audience for the rethink church campaign is individuals who lack a church life today, primarily those 18 to 34 years old. Research shows young adults are predisposed against mainline denominations. The campaign will challenge them to think of church, not as a static institution, but as a movement of people empowered to transform the world. It will urge them to think of church, not as a noun, but as an action verb – a movement of people seeking to make disciples of Jesus Christ by gathering in buildings on Sunday, seeing the world as its parish and doing faithful things in it.

If you are a person seeking God but not the church,
how do you envision the church?
What is the most effective way for us to share the gospel with you?

At the same time, Rethink Church will speak to the people in the pews of The United Methodist Church. It will call us to see our local church in a much broader way – not solely as a building in which we worship, but as a conduit into our communities through which we may live out our faith by touching people’s lives. As awareness is created by the Rethink Church media campaign, seekers will be drawn to congregations. Those of us in local churches will have an opportunity to show, by doing, what rethinking church looks like.

So .. is the church just a place to worship?
Do you want more?
Do you want to touch people's lives?
How are you willing to change in order to "rethink" church?

These paragraphs are excerpts from Rethink Church 101: As the next evolution of the “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” welcoming and advertising campaign, RETHINK CHURCH seeks to redefine the church experience beyond the church doors and invite people to become engaged in the world. The campaign aims to spark a global conversation around the rhetorical question, “What if church were a verb?” You can access Rethink Church by using the Web Link on this site. You might also look at the emergingumc blog and the missional church network if you are interested in this direction of thinking ...

The questions are mine ... What are your thoughts? Peace, Cindy

What is Risk-Taking Mission?

2009-11-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

What is risk-taking mission? For me it begins by stepping beyond my comfort zone to touch those who are suffering ... physically, emotionally, and spiritually. For in touching those who suffer and entering into their pain, I am changed. I think transformation may be the greatest risk of all ...

So ... let me hear your voice ... what makes a mission "risk-taking" for you?

Risk-Taking Mission

2009-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Recent study and discussion about Risk-Taking Mission has taken me to a new depth of struggling with my faith as I seek to know and do God’s will. In the spiritual life, struggling with our faith helps us to learn and to grow closer to the God who is in the midst of all of our struggles, leading us and loving us.

At a recent workshop on Missions, someone asked me about a phrase I used. I made a reference to the “prophetic voice.” The following meditation emerged from my struggles since the workshop. I hope it will help people understand what I mean when I use the expression “prophetic voice” and to enter into our discussion.

In Matthew 13:45, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

The formation of a natural pearl is almost a miracle: a fragment of an irritant gets embedded on the inside of an oyster shell, and the oyster works to surround that irritant with countless layers of mother of pearl to organically produce a rare and precious jewel. The evocative beauty of pearls has attracted people since ancient times.

In a long teaching discourse, with eschatological (end-time) overtones, about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus uses the rare and precious pearl to make a point. So shall I …

The prophetic voice is the irritant. It is the voice that gets under your skin. Certain sources call the irritant a foreign substance. A prophetic voice is one that sounds a message that is so provocative that people react to it with voices of their own! Just as the oyster works to expel and overcome and enfold and embrace and finally include the irritant within itself to produce the pearl, the healthy community works to listen, understand, speak out and engage the prophetic voice to produce risk-taking mission.

If the oyster is able to expel the irritant, there will be no pearl. If the community silences the voice, there will be no risk-taking mission. If the irritant kills the oyster, there will be no pearl. If the voice kills the spirit of the community, there will be no risk-taking mission. After time and work the oyster will produce something new: a pearl of great price. After time and work genuine community will produce something new and only God knows what “risk-taking missions” will one day produce a “pearl of great price.”

At the workshop, I asked people to pray … Perhaps you might open your heart and your mind to the Spirit of God in Christ and pray this communal prayer right now … Most Holy and Gracious God, send your Spirit upon the world … Help us to love and care for one another and for others as Jesus loves and cares for us. Help us to work together so that your will is done. We are not asking for the whole picture but we are asking you to show us the next step on the way to the kingdom … Amen.