The Mission of the Church

             There is probably nothing more impressive than watching someone give up their own agenda and take care of someone who is hurting.  I’ve seen this a number of times and it always makes me humble and joyful at the same time.  Jesus came to us to help us with our burdens.  He promised to make lives easier and more meaningful.  In Matthew’s gospel, he tells us to come to him, all who are carrying heavy burdens and he will give us rest.  That is a beautiful statement and the essence of the ministry that Jesus brought to this world.  It isn’t the rich and the prominent who need the care that Jesus offers, it is the downtrodden and the poor who need his work the most.  As followers of Jesus, we are called to that ministry first and foremost.  Our job is to take care of each other; to look out for those who are hurting and oppressed and to do what we can to make their lives better.  When we do that, we are spreading Jesus’ love into the world.

            When we go downtown to the theater or to a sporting event, there are always people on the street trying to get the crowds attention.  They have signs talking about hunger and being homeless and other problems.  They are only a small portion of those who are hurting in our community.  I know that I can’t fix very much of it, but I try to do something for those people who are asking.  I am always being told not to do it because they will probably take the money and go buy booze or drugs with it.  I reply that after I give the money, it doesn’t belong to me anymore and whatever they do with it is their option.  Focusing on the worst that people are and what they do doesn’t help much.  It only prolongs the pain.  Yes, sometimes the money that we give goes to simply continue the problem; but we have no real way of knowing that. There was one man in Washington DC who pounded on my car window and said: “Preacher, give me ten dollars so that I can go into this liquor store and get me a bottle!”  I drove right on. I know that I didn’t help him at all, but I was terrified. When we really want to help, the gifts that we give come from our hearts and are intended to help.  That is really the beginning of honest help.

            Jesus wasn’t really appreciated for who he was and what he brought to humanity.  As he says in the lesson from Matthew, John came neither eating or drinking and they say he has a demon.  The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say: Look a drunk and a glutton”

All that the establishment saw in Jesus was trouble.  He called them on their hypocrisy and their treatment of those who were poor. He called his disciples to watch a poor woman putting a small mite in a collection box and commented that she had given more than any of the rich people who were calling on the poor to give.  He was impressed with her willingness and desire.  More is not necessarily better.  It is intention that means everything.  

            Jesus created our mission as a church to provide care in this world and he also provided for us a way to measure what we are doing.  The important thing is to care for those who have less and to provide comfort for those who are in distress.  When we do that, we are continuing Jesus’ mission on this earth.  That is why the church exists.