Service to the lost and the least – Luke devoted an entire chapter of his gospel to it, Jesus lived his entire life in pursuit of it and went to the cross in order to fulfill it, God sacrificed his only Son to accomplish it, and countless prophets risked their reputations, their families, and their lives to preach it. Is it any wonder that mission is one of the key pillars of the life of any church? While we exist to worship God, as well as to feed and nurture one another; we often find that the best way to accomplish those things that is to serve those who are not with us. Mission gives us a sense of purpose, makes us feel good about ourselves, and takes us out of our own cares and concerns to focus on the needs of others. The amazing thing about missions is that by doing mission well, we end up with a stronger, more vital, and more lively church internally.
As I mentioned last month, the theme of the 2009 Missouri Annual Conference was “somewhere out there…” which was designed to get us thinking less about the people inside of the church than those outside of the church. Because the people inside exist to serve the people outside. If we only serve one another, how are we different from any other civic organization or club? The difference should be that the center of our being is being disciples of Jesus Christ, and being a disciple means embarking on a perpetual search to find more disciples. No matter how we cut it, our mission is to seek, to find, to serve, and to love those who are out there somewhere.
As I have been reading about the life of John Wesley in preparation for next January’s classes, I find myself once again drawn to his conclusion that the dichotomy between personal holiness and social holiness; between personal piety and social mission; between personal devotion and service to others, is a false one. As Wesley sought to live a more pious and holy life, he found himself increasingly drawn to service to others, in soup kitchens, prisons, hospitals, factories, and schools. He viewed these activities as his true Christian vocation, as opposed to focusing on Sunday morning worship.
We seem to be moving in that direction here at Shiloh UMC. I was pleased to see all those who helped with the Block Party, as I was equally pleased to see all the neighborhood children running around with smiles on their faces. This month we will launch our partnership with SERVE in an effort to make a dent in the need for food in Holts Summit. Who knows what we will embark upon next? After all, the future is out there, somewhere.
Yours in Christ, Pastor Dave
