“Bridge to the Community”
"3rd in a 4-part series"
Sermon Transcript for September 28, 2008
By Pastor Andy Kinsey
Set Up for Skit
And Jesus says, “You shall be my witnesses to the end of the earth.”
Over the last two weeks we have been sharing how God calls us to build bridges – to God, to others, to the community, to the world.
We may have our own ideas about what that may mean and how we may go about it, especially in terms of witnessing and reaching out. Nevertheless, we seek to fulfill Christ’s calling.
Let’s take a moment and listen to how one church – the famous, or infamous, Shady Pines Church – fulfills, or does not fulfill, the mission to witness and to build those bridges God calls the church to build to the wider community.
Skit: “The Construction Committee”
The Message
Would anyone out there like to help? Famous last words!
What’s the verse from Scripture? Wherever two or three are gathered together, watch out!
Our committee seems to have wonderful ideas about how they could use the bridge to reach out to and witness in the community. They all see possibilities. Even Mrs. Forrester means well with wanting to give a special gift. The only problem is that her giving doesn’t seem to be accompanied by a greater vision, by a more compelling direction.
To be sure, giving is what God calls us all to do. Indeed, that’s what God commands. However, giving toward the mission of Christ’s work in the world is what keeps us all on track. We need to remember how the mission is Christ’s mission, not our mission!
And so, we can see that the members on the Construction Committee are very much excited about the possibilities of building a bridge to the community. They are enthusiastic about the prospects of building a bridge. For this, they receive an “A”. They all are on board!
However, we can also see that they don’t fully understand the deeper truth on how they themselves are to move across the bridge to share in God’s mission. It doesn’t really occur to them that they are the ones whose hands and feet need to cross the bridge.
Therefore, it’s wonderful that the members of the committee can construct bridges that look nice. Great! It’s unfortunate that they are not able to see how they are to cross them!
After all, that’s what bridges are for – whether it’s the bridge to God, the bridge to other people, the bridge to the community, or the bridge to the world. Bridges are built to be crossed!
The Bridge to the Community
And one of the bridges built to be crossed the bridge to the community.
Surely, this is already taking place! I haven’t been at Grace Church very long, but I have already seen several bridges to the community – e.g., the Preschool, the Food Pantry, the Franklin United Methodist Community, the Flood Relief Effort, the Marriage Enrichment Seminars, the Spanish Class, the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast, the CROP Walk, to name a few! The list goes on and on!
*Show pictures of Preschool Classes, Food Pantry,
Franklin UM Community, Flood Distribution Center here.*
There are a number of bridges from the church into the community. God’s Spirit is indeed at work!
But seeing these bridges also raises a question: What would the community
of Franklin/Johnson County miss without Grace Church? Suppose we would drive
by Grace Church and there would be no Grace United Methodist Church!
*Show picture of Grace UMC here.*
Now you see it! Now you don’t! What would happen if Grace Church ceased to exist? What would the community miss? What would we miss?
Good questions? I believe they lead to other questions: Do we fully understand our impact in the community? Do we underestimate our influence in the community? Or, does the community take us for granted? What do you think?
Personally, I believe we do not fully understand the influence we have in the wider community. I don’t believe most churches do. That is, I believe there are more bridges to be built!
For example, what kind of bridges may we need to build to our officials in city and county government?
*Show pictures of Courthouse and City Hall here.*
What needs can we address together to improve this section of God’s creation?
The same goes for law enforcement and health care.
*Show pictures of the County Jail, City Building,
and Johnson Memorial Hospital here.*
What kinds of bridges may we need to construct to those serving in these areas? How may we reach out? How may we partner with those who are working here? As United Methodists, we have always believed that God calls us to serve the needs of the wider community, the needs of the underserved. Bridges are built to be crossed.
And not only law enforcement and health care, but also our schools
and institutions of higher learning!
*Show pictures of Custer-Baker, Middle School,
and Franklin College here.*
What is God calling us to do to support – children, youth, staff,
administrators, coaches, and teachers? Who are the persons we need to say,
“What can we accomplish together that we cannot accomplish alone? What
kind of bridge do we need to build?”
In our back yard alone are two schools! What are the key ingredients to being a good neighbor to them? And here, maybe we don’t need to build new bridges as much as we simply need to walk across bridges that have already been built! Remember: God is already at work!
Clarifying Point
Now, before going on, let me clarify something: When we say we believe God is calling us to build bridges to the community, we are not talking about creating another program so much as we are talking about establishing relationships! Repeat: not so much a program as a relationship! To be sure, God calls to create programs. God calls to build ministries. We need good programs! We need good ministries. We need good facilities.
But when we speak of building bridges to the community, we are speaking about relationships – relationships! Relationships are the bridge to the community! Do you follow?
Transition to Ministry on a New Mission Field
And that’s where you come in! Where are YOU in the community? What neighborhood do YOU live in? What school do YOU attend? What business or line of work are YOU in? What groups do YOU associate with? What sports do YOU play?
I ask these questions for two reasons: 1) we all have relationships in these areas; and 2) because we have relationships in these areas we all have opportunities to build bridges in these areas, to witness to Christ!
Because in case you didn’t notice it the mission field is now here!
The mission field is now here in Franklin, in Johnson County, in Indiana. The church is now on a new mission field, and you and I are the missionaries! Over 60% of persons in Johnson County are not affiliated with a church.
To be sure, as Pastor Bob will emphasize next week, our mission as Christians is to the whole world, and as a congregation, we are certainly called to connect with the church everywhere! The world is our parish. The need is great everywhere.
But the mission begins here! It begins here, in this community! In fact, if we really want to get personal about it, in keeping with our theme, we need to confess it begins right here – in our own hearts, with our relationship with God! That’s how close the mission is!
The Acts of the Apostles
In fact, it’s what our passage from the Book of Acts is saying. Did you notice? At the beginning of the Book of Acts, Luke writes about how apostles, following Jesus’ death, were instructed to wait in Jerusalem to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s what Christ commanded the apostles to do – to wait! The were to wait for the Spirit to come to give power and guidance.
But not were the apostles commanded to wait, but they were also told to be Christ’s witnesses, beginning in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth. Like a pebble dropped in a pond, the apostles were to have ripple effect on the world.
In fact, from the beginning, the gospel was meant to be shared with others. It was not meant to be cooped up in the church!
Instead, the gospel was given to the church to communicate to the world. It was given to communicate God’s movement in our lives:
Beginning in our hearts
Moving out into the immediate surroundings of the city
Going to the far counties of Samaria and Judea
And finally traveling to the rest of the world
That was the movement. Do you see it?
Inward – the changed heart
Outward – to the world in mission
Upward – in worship and praise
Forward – to Christ
And what we want to keep in mind in all of this is that, from the beginning,
this movement, this movement of God focused on mission to others – both
near and far.
The bridge was built not simply to welcome folks into the church as it was to send folks out of the church into mission in the world.
That’s why we are here! God created the church to take the gospel to the world, to witness to Jesus Christ.
And my question is, “Are we/you in step with God’s missional movement?” Are we taking the steps we need to take to build and to cross bridges on this mission field, to share the gospel with others – inward, outward, upward, forward? Or, are we running into things because we are looking down too much?
How we understand the church and the church’s mission sets into motion whether or not walk with God in mission! Club? Spa? Ark? Hospital? Outpost?
Bonhoeffer reminded us on this point in the 1930’s: He said that the church is truly the church only when it exists for others.
And William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said during the same period that “the church is the only society in the world that was created for the benefit of its non-members.”
The great temptation of any church is to retreat behind its walls, to look downward, to look backward, and to forget why it’s here, why it exists, to fail to walk in step with the Spirit’s movement.
Surely, the passage in the Book of Proverbs is true: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Or, as another translation puts it, “Where there is no vision, the people stumble.” When we focus only on ourselves, we lose sight of what the Lord is doing!
The other day I came across a story about a great pastor and teacher by the name of Harry Ironside. It was a story about a group of dissidents who had left a church to begin what they hoped would become the “perfect church.” In fact, as Harry Ironside shared, so excited were these folks and such a blessing they thought they would be to God that they put out a sign in front of their church that read – “JESUS ONLY!” The only problem was that this church didn’t reach out; the members ministered only to themselves, not to others. One day when Dr. Ironside drove by the church, he noticed how the first three letters of the sign had fallen off. The sign read – “US ONLY!” A revealing truth, to be sure!
Makes me want to ask another question (I am full of questions today): Would anyone here like to help build more bridges?
The need is great. The laborers are few.
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