Love and Outreach

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

John 17:6-19

               Today I want to spend some time talking about that scary E word – evangelism.  This is not a comfortable topic for most of us.  We don’t tend to talk a whole lot about evangelism in mainstream churches.  We don’t talk about it because we live in a culture that values independence in every way, independence in thinking, independence in acting, independence even in faith.  The “spiritual but not religious” idea is one of faith being a very personal experience, one that doesn’t work in a group, within a community.  But scripture gives us a very different model for what it is to be the people of God.  If we are the stones that God uses to build God’s house, or even if we are the stones helping God to build God’s house, we cannot do it alone.  The corner stone, or Christ, is the necessary foundation.  It is the beginning, it is the base.  But it is not the whole of the house.  Jesus is who he is in relationship to us.  As much as we need Christ for our wholeness, for our grounding, for our center, Jesus also needs us and calls us to be the rest of the house.  That is an awesome idea, isn’t it?  The idea that God needs us.  But it is true.  Our confessions tell us that God created us to glorify God.  God calls us into relationship with God for our own sakes, yes, but also because God is a God of community.  That is why we are here in church today.  We, in this church, recognize that no matter what our culture tells us about standing independent of others, the reality is that we are a communal creation.  We are called into relationships with God and with each other.  To go back to the house metaphor, Jesus cannot be the cornerstone without a building to support.  And we cannot be the house of God, we cannot even be a stone in the house of God, alone.  Without others, we are not a house strong and full.   We need others in God’s house, in faith, to stand strong and tall, to help us to continue to keep our focus on our cornerstone. 

We need community and we need each other to build God’s house.  And while Clayton Valley is an incredible community of people, we are charged to bring in more bricks into the house of God, to expand the community of folk who seek God, who see God, who engage God in this place.  In other words, we are charged with evangelism, with sharing the Good News.  The Great Commission tells us that we are to make Disciples of all the Nations – that we are to include all people in the invitation to follow in the Way of love, giving the Good News that God is a God of love, for all creation, a God who invites us to be connected and who made us ONE, a community united in love.  Today is Mother’s day, and as we know, we’ve learned that it takes a village to raise a child.  In the same way, we care for each other as a village, as a community.

Again, I recognize that this is not comfortable.  But we are called to invite people to join in the celebration of community that we live here.  However, there are many ways to do this.  We do this by acting in a Spirit of love so that people want to know us and want to know what inspires us to act in the way we do.  We do this by reaching out in care to the people we meet and by example.  But we also are called to do this by inviting people into our Spiritual lives and our spiritual understanding by inviting them to church.  We need to continue to build God’s house through inviting new people to come in our doors, into our spiritual house.  I know this is not easy.  But this call is not just for those we invite to come.  This is also for our own health and the health of our community.  We are healthier when we are challenged by others to continue to grow and expand in our thinking.  We are healthier when we meet new people and learn how to be the body of Christ with them.  Our house is stronger with more bricks.  Studies show that building a church is done most successfully through the members of the church inviting their friends and acquaintances.  So what prevents this from happening?  What stops us from inviting people to church?

One reason people don’t invite others to church is that we aren’t excited about church.  We don’t want it to change, but at the same time, we don’t find it interesting enough to invite others to come.  If that is the case, I think we really need to reevaluate why it isn’t exciting for us.  And then rethink whether or not we want it to change.  The truth is, if a person is excited about something, they tend to share it.  Many of you have shared with me about books or TV programs or movies you thought I might enjoy.  You’ve shared with me about plays and programs that are exciting for you.  If you are excited about a program that is going on at church, you will share it with their friends and if their friends come and enjoy it, they will share it too.  If you like our senior program, or our Tai Chi class share it.  If you enjoy our quilting group, share that.  If you enjoy the men’s group, or women’s group, invite others to come.  If you enjoy our concerts or our Faith and Film nights…  If the service work you do: the lunch programs or Winter Nights or Convoy of Hope are meaningful to you, share them.  If you are fed by worship, share it with others.  If you appreciate what we do with the children through Godly Play… The other part of this is that if you are not excited about any of the programs going on here, including worship, then this is something we should discuss.  Because I am always open to trying exciting new things: things that you WOULD enjoy sharing.  I am open to even starting a different kind of worship service in addition to this one: maybe a Saturday evening service that has communion every week, if it is something you would be excited about enough to invite your friends.  I encourage you to begin a program here that will excite you, or to join the worship committee to make worship something that you truly enjoy.  Remember that you, the people, are the ministers of this church, and so you, the people have the responsibility for making it the church you want it to be.  If your faith is meaningful to you, wouldn’t you want to share it?  Does it feel too personal to share?  Again, that is not what Jesus encourages.  Jesus encourages a faith that is communal as well as personal.

Another reason people don’t invite others to come to church is that they feel uncomfortable about that “e” word.  We have experienced evangelism that is aggressive and manipulative and we don’t want to be part of that.  I understand that.  I can share with you story after story of uncomfortable situations I’ve found myself in where the other person has been trying to evangelize me.  The fact that I’m a pastor usually only makes this worse because our most vocal evangelists usually have a problem with women pastors.  These strangers take up our time, they beat us over the head with a God who would destroy us if we don’t follow the path these evangelists have laid out for us.  They invade our personal lives and spaces without invitation. Many of the most prominent preachers also lie about so many things: they tell you that if you just give money, God will bless you ten-fold.  They tell you that if you just do what they say, that your life will be easy.  They tell you about a God who wants your money, and then they are caught, again and again, in scandal, in corruption, in hypocrisy. I understand why we want nothing to do with this.  But there are other ways to invite people and other reasons to invite people.  As I mentioned before, if you were excited about a movie you saw, you wouldn’t hesitate to encourage others to see it, too.  If you were excited about a class you took, you wouldn’t hesitate to encourage others to attend it, too.  Our mega-churches grow because people have that same excitement about their church that others might have about classes or movies.  And again, if you aren’t excited about church in this place, then we need to change it and do something different.  Also, we do not have to threaten people to invite them.  I don't believe God needs us all to believe the same thing.  Not by any means.  But inviting people to share in what makes us happy is just plain kind, it is polite, it is generous.

This also means that we have a responsibility for making friends outside of the church. Approaching strangers and trying to invite them usually doesn’t work.  But connecting with others, making friends outside these walls and then inviting them to join us in an activity… these are things we can do. Connecting with people outside of these walls in order for this place to stay healthy and in order to continue to build the house of God is a part of our calling as people of faith.  Faith and our churches mean something.  I want you to start thinking about the ways this place has made a difference in your life and I am asking you to volunteer to share those stories.  We do so much good in this community… we feed people, we participate in things like Winter Nights and Convoy of Hope, we offer space for recovery groups and 12 step programs, we offer community programs and education.  We raise money for Monument Crisis Center, for Contra Costa Interfaith Housing.  Why would we want to keep this quiet?  Clayton Valley is a warm, caring place that does a great deal of good for the size that we are.  We remind all who come that God loves them just as they are. 

The Church, big C, has some special challenges at this time in history in terms of outreach.  We know that church decline is a real issue.  When we look at the numbers of church’s closing every day, at the increasing numbers of “nones” and “dones”, we know we are in a crisis time.  Every day I read new articles written by pastor colleagues who are either coming up with analyzes and “solutions” (none of which have worked) for the dying of mainline Christianity, or are writing about why this is actually a good thing – that the people in our churches are there not because it is just a cultural thing to do but really because of their faith, for example.  But they all point to the same thing.  We cannot expect that people will just wander in off the street to find us.  We can’t expect that anymore.  We can’t count on visitors to just show up anymore.  But it still remains important that we build and create and invite a community into this place.

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.  After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.  It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.  As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.  Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.  The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave.  He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.  Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fire-y sermon.  I will be back in church next Sunday'.

Just as the man without a church is an ember without a fire, our fire is hotter and fuller when we invite new members in.  Clayton Valley is a healthy, vibrant community.  I have heard it said that , “Clayton Valley is the best well-kept secret in the area.”  In many ways we are becoming more visible for taking stands on important issues, for the flag, for our PFLAG group, for our commitment to interfaith work, hunger work, presence in the community.  But we have a long way to go.  Let’s see if we can stop it from remaining a secret.  We are charged with spreading the Good News.  Clayton Valley is part of that Good News.  We are strong stones in God’s house.  That is a Good News I am proud to share.  And I hope you are as well.  Amen.