Sermon for August 29th (Sent out for Mission)

Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? (Pause) I’m not asking you if you are a Christian; I’m asking if you are a follower of Jesus Christ? For those of you who have been baptized, you were named and claimed by God Himself, cleansed from all your sin, past/present and future, and given a promise to have faith in: the promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ alone. At baptism, you were reborn a child of God, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit and you marked with the cross of Christ forever: you become a Christian. But I believe that many Christians, including all of us here today, have a very difficult time actually becoming followers of Jesus Christ.

Will you be a follower of Jesus? This morning, I want you to consider three important what being a follower of Jesus means. Followers of Jesus go to places they never intended on going, using their gifts for the sake of serving others with their eyes locked on their leader, their provider, their protector and their savior. You were called in today, to be sent out in mission.

According to the gospel of Luke, chapter 9, As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” What does it mean to follow Jesus Christ? For many, it means being squeezed out of this world, placed on the margins of society, finding yourself in neighborhoods you never wanted to visit, discovering yourself far away from every home you ever knew. Will you be a follower of Jesus Christ?

Jesus points out that in this world everyone knows their place, even the very animals of the field, such as the fox, and the birds of the air have a home that they know. The cattle in the fields follow the same path each day, grazing across the countryside, but they know their way back to their resting place at the end of the day. Some birds migrate over thousands of miles and over many months only to return to the nests that they made the year before. They know where they belong. The know where home is.


As a Christian, especially a Christian in America, you may also know where you belong. You know where home is. It may be a very comfortable experience to walk into this church on Sunday mornings. But this also creates a problem. A lot of other people don’t feel like they “belong” anywhere, especially not in a church, because of what they have done in their past, how they are living or what their last name is. That’s how this world works: everyone knows their place. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests” Jesus says. But Jesus put all these cultural understandings and traditions in the toilet as he brought the kingdom of God into this world. The Pharisees, the religious leaders, thought they “belonged” with Jesus inside the temple, but he kept hanging out with the sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors in their houses. Will you be a follower of Jesus Christ?

Being a Christian is important. We come into this place, into this church, to become Christians. It’s not the only place we could go, but it is a very good place. We come in to be inspired by God’s Word, reconnected to God’s people and empowered in our serving. But being a follower of Jesus Christ is not about coming in, it’s about being sent out. Where are you beng sent? The last few weeks, we’ve talked about being sent out to speak, sent out to lead, sent out to bear fruit, and sent out to give. This week, I’d like to talk to you about something that I believe God is passionate about as much as anything else: we are sent out for mission!

It’s easy for us to say that we love mission or say that we want to follow Jesus, but when the details come out about what that means, we shut up and stop saying anything. To follow Jesus wherever he goes means to join him with “no place to lay his head”. Each of us has particular comforts in our lives that we do want to give up easily. And, as Jesus points out, “Where your heart is, there is your treasure also.”

When a certain ruler asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus explained that he needed to sell all that he owned and distribute the money to the poor. Then, Jesus said, “come follow me.” Why did this person need to sell that he owned? Because that is where this man’s greatest assets were laid. Jesus’ answer would have been different for the widow who gave all she had to the temple treasury. Her greatest assets were not laid up in money. What do you hold to be dearest in life? How would you feel if Jesus told you that following Him meant using those assets for the kingdom of God? Pastor Mark Batterson says, “You greatest asset will become your greatest liability if you do not use it for God’s purposes. Is your identity in something other than your relationship to Christ?”

Will you be a follower of Jesus? What would hold you back? What if you were called to go to India as a missionary? Is your greatest asset your house? Staying in Adair county? Being within a few miles of your family? Is it your job? Is it your reputation? To be a follower of Jesus, would you sell that house? Quit your job? Be called a Jesus freak? Fly halfway across the world for two years? This isn’t about sacrificing all that you love; it is about using your greatest loves and your greatest assets for the sake of the kingdom of God. If your identity is in farming for example, God would not ask you to change who you are in order to serve him—He gave you those gifts after all!—but when you find your identity first in Jesus Christ, your gifts for farming would be used in service to God. As a follower of Jesus, that might take you someplace that looks very different than the fields of Iowa just like it did for Donnie in the video.

Looking at the text from Luke again, Jesus said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Why is mission so important? It is the difference between death and life. We have many things to do here on this Earth. Bills to pay, errands to run, dirty diapers to clean, chores to do, people to visit, games to attend . . . but Jesus informs us that what he is calling us to do is of such importance that it takes precedence over everything else. Yes there are other important things to do, but God’s passionate love for the broken and hurting people of this world is so intense that He puts everything else and all of us in service to finding them, healing them and bringing them words of hope.

At the beginning of August, I spoke to you about the importance of being sent out to speak. I gave you the top ten excuses you might hear for why people don’t want to come to church, but I encouraged you to speak up anyway for the sake of their eternal life and salvation. When we are sent out in mission throughout the rest of world, the reasons for not being a Christian are much different. Often, the closest church in 3 hours away and it is an underground church—hidden from the authorities Why? Because it’s illegal to be a Christian. In some places, when you become a Christian, you are at risk to be killed if your neighbors find out or disowned by your family who are of a different faith. People often don’t have a job, live in poverty, don’t have a Bible, are illiterate anyway and have never heard the story of Jesus. We are sent out in mission because there are people around the world who need to hear Jesus’ words of life.

Back to Luke chapter 9, “Another man said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Will you be a follower of Jesus? If so, you must do more than talk about it, you must start doing it. There are no doubt many reasons to turn back from this path and many excuses for why it won’t work for you. Moses certainly have a great deal of excuses when he was called by God in the reading from Exodus today and I bet that you are no different. But Jesus calls us to keep our eyes on Him alone and follow wherever he leads. When we start looking at ourselves, we’ll find many faults and weaknesses, when we look back we’ll start clinging to all we’ve left behind, but when we your eyes are on Jesus, you begin trusting Him to provide for all that you need.

Will you be a follower of Jesus? Followers of Jesus go to places they never intended on going, using their gifts for the sake of serving others with their eyes locked on their leader, their provider, their protector and their savior. You were called in today, to be sent out in mission. If God is pulling at your heart this morning to follow Him into the mission field, don’t stifle the spirit. There are forms in your pews that I would invite you to fill out and return to me, whether it is through the offering plate, after the service or sometime this week. There is no doubt that God is calling us into mission, but where we go and what we do is based on who he calls. My hope and prayer is that we begin a process today that sends out a small group of people on a short-term mission trip. The next several weeks, we’ll be meeting to pray and discern. The next few months, we’ll be planning and preparing. Finally, by next spring or early summer, I envision a group being sent out in mission for Christ.
But even if you don't feel called to be on such a trip, you still have an essential part to play. We need every follower of Jesus to be on board in order to make this mission successful. We need people gifted in prayer, planning, travel, organization, and giving as well as those making the trip because we are ALL called in to be sent out.
Jesus Christ had a mission on Earth--to preach the forgiveness of sins so that you might have faith in his promise of eternal life. The message is still the same and so is the mission. Amen.

Sermon for July 11th (A Vision of Emmanuel)

When I was a boy, my cousin Trent and I couldn’t get along. As young children, he was a jerk and I was a baby and that created a lot of tension whenever we got together. But as we started getting older, we finally found something we both enjoyed: soccer. One summer, my cousin Trenton and I stayed with my grandparents in Schleshwig, Iowa for several days. We were both just learning to play soccer. I had a book entitled: The Ultimate Soccer Book. It was a big, thick book and it had everything in it: World Cup rules, history of the game, penalties, how to correctly kick the ball off your feet, your head, your chest . . . this was indeed the ULTIMATE soccer book. I read through it and studied it so that I could be a great soccer player.

Trent on the other hand, being the little imp that he was, didn’t seem to care one lick about HOW to play soccer at all! He would just go out in the back yard and kick the ball around. He worked on dribbling the ball (he probably didn’t even KNOW that that was what it was called) and he’d try to kick it as hard as he could. And he’d run back and forth in the yard as I was reading about how to play. Everyone was waiting for the epic match.

Finally, I finished the book. The day had come. I went down, put on my shin guards, put on my special soccer shorts, opened the screen door and approached him, “Alright Trent. Wanna play?” And then I proceeded to get my cleats handed to me again and again by my little cousin. I tried out all kinds of cool techniques and chided him for not really knowing anything about the game, but he kept running past me and shooting the ball really hard into the goal. I had spent a week learning all there was to know about soccer, but he had just gone out and done it . . . and you know what? He was always better than me at that silly game.

Since I’ve come here, I’ve been waiting for inspiration about where God might be leading our community of faith here at Emmanuel. I’ve wanted to be a good leader for all of you, but I also want to be sure that I’m being a good follower of God as well. I don’t want to focus on my dreams and ideas if they are not what God wants. When people would ask me about the church’s direction or needing a vision for the future I would think to myself, “Well, yeah, that’s true. But I can’t be SURE just yet that I should say anything. I don’t KNOW for certain. I don’t have all the information just yet. I haven’t read the ULTIMATE future of Emmanuel church book . . . yet!” So I didn’t say anything. But the vision was there. I just had to go out and start kicking it around a bit.

The Holy Spirit has finally inspired me to step out in faith and share with you a vision of what the ministries here at Emmanuel might become. It’s a vision for ministry that I am passionate about because I know that God is passionate about it. When I was called here to Emmanuel, I imagined what this place could become and I’d like to share that vision with you this morning.

In the book of Thessalonians, Paul says, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, BUT test everything, hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” Therefore, let God guide your listening and ask yourself a few questions. Is this vision biblical? Does it inspire you? Can you imagine it? I have committed this vision to God. If it’s not in his plans, I believe that it will become obvious! But if this vision takes hold of your heart and imagination as it has of mine, God will take care of any obstacles according to His will and in His time.

Finally, I know that we are not a lot of things. We are NOT Lutheran Church of Hope in Des Moines. We are not Willow Creek or Saddleback or the Crystal Cathedral. Those are indeed larger churches and we are smaller. I don’t envision a day where we have 1000 people at worship on a Sunday. . . we are going to look different than other churches do. This vision is not for them, it is for us, here. But we don’t need thousands of people to attend here each week in order to impact thousands of people each week! Let me paint a picture for you of what we might become. I see a day when Emmanuel is a place where we are coming in to be sent out!

Coming in to be inspired and reconnected with God’s Word and God’s people. I see a day when all members are expected to be involved in a small group, whether it’s a bible study, prayer group or service group—to be supported and grow in their walk with Christ at every stage of life. All visitors would be connected to a group from day one to build relationships and discover how God is active in their lives.

Why would you come in to this place? I see a day when you would come in to find your identity as a child of God. Not just on Sundays but every day. Any day of the week, you could come in to learn God’s laws and hear your forgiveness. The worship service would be the opening event for a week of spiritual growth where you were challenged and supported by other Christians. Jesus is the gate—not a wall to keep people out, but a gate that they might walk through. The doors to this church would not be the “gate” to this community—JESUS is the gate. We would come in to get the tools to be sent out.

I see a day when our community is:
Coming in to be empowered to serve. Everyone coming into this place would be encouraged to discover their individual spiritual gifts. It would be the job of every church leader, paid or volunteer, to help others discern their spiritual gifts, teach them how to use them, free them to use them and motivate them to use them. I see a day when our community, the body of Christ, worked like a team in mission for Christ to glorify his name and spread His message to the world. But just as we would have a purpose when coming in, we would expect to have a purpose when we were sent out.

I see a day when our community doesn’t just come in but is sent out:
Sent out to share the message of the cross. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I’m not just talking about being TOLD to go out and not doing it, but actually being trained to talk and expected to share the message of Jesus with others. I see people believing it was part of their identity to share this message, not to just hold onto it for themselves. Imagine if everyone who came into this place was taught to do the following four things: share the forgiveness of sins with someone, lead a person to believe in Jesus Christ, magnify the meaning of baptism with others and connect them with a church. I see a day when we care as much for the lost people of this world as God does.

I see a day when our community is::
Sent out to train, support and become leaders, pastors, and missionaries for the sake of God’s kingdom around the world. I see a day when everyone’s eyes are watchful for the gifts in those around them, so that they can encourage and support their children and their friends to become pastors or leaders of the church. I see a day when the dollars we place in the offering baskets come back to us in the face of missionaries that we have supported and the stories of people brought to Christ through our support. I see each person in this church leaving a lasting legacy for God’s kingdom with their time, money and talents.

I see a day when our community is:
Sent out for short-term and long-term missions both in America and foreign countries early and often. You’ve heard miss America contestants talk about their dreams of World Peace, fighting poverty and getting rid of homelessness. Imagine if the people here at Emmanuel were making that dream a reality with their own bare hands and sweat. Spreading the gospel of Jesus not just with words, but with actions on the behalf of others. They say that you can’t look at the world the same way after you’ve spent time in another country. I see a day when our minds and hearts are transformed by the very people we are seeking to serve.

I see a day when we see our church not as a destination, but like Grand Central Station for welcoming new Christians through the gate of Jesus, training them for the Christian life and sending them out again to share the Word with others. I see a day when we expect all the age groups in our church to be involved in this adventure, whether through writing letters to imprisoned missionaries, cleaning up after natural disasters, or taking mission trips.

I see a day when our community is:
Sent out to plant new mission start churches and to revitalize existing congregations. I see a day when we are planting a new faith community at least once every three years. What kind of impact might Emmanuel have on people in this state, on this country and in the kingdom of God if we could share the blessings we have here with people who can’t imagine finding joy at church, or can’t imagine finding a church in their area at all? Yes, OUR church is in a small town, but the world is big and growing. They say farmers feed the world—we are used to big challenges. What might we do when we use our gifts to plant the seeds of the gospel.

Finally, I see a day when our community is:
Sent out to bring God’s love and healing to thousands of people each year who are sick, disabled, scared and lost. I see a day when thousands of people in our communities, our nation and world—people who have never stepped foot inside a church building—will be blessed by one of our social ministries and know “God is with them” wherever they are and whoever they are. I see our name, Emmanuel, God with us, driving us in our mission to places we’d never step foot in before—to people we never cared about before. I see lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit? I see God using our hands and feet in service to others.

I see a day when Emmanuel is focused on changing hearts, changing lives and changing our world. We are called in to be sent out and give the message of the cross—the power of God for salvation. We are called in to be sent out and share the power of the Holy Spirit together with all people, so that the sick, the depressed and the apathetic may have life in Jesus Christ and have it abundantly! Finally, we are called in to be blessed and sent out to be a blessing—meeting peoples’ most basic needs. When a person’s belly is finally full of bread, perhaps their ears will be prepared to hear about the bread of life, their Savior, Jesus Christ.

I believe that God is calling us all to come to Him so that we can be sent out. Jesus is the gate. Do you see a day when this community of faith might look like this vision I see? If so, then according to God’s will and in God’s time it will happen. God will do it. I pray that you will join with me as I seek to follow God’s guidance in our lives together as your pastor, as your servant and as a fellow member of the body of Christ. Amen.

Sermon for October 11th

Some of you here love Jesus, but aren’t ready to leave your old life behind. Your old opinions of others. Your old ideas about life and death. Your old worries. So just like the rich man in the lesson today, you try to be a good person, but have never really commited your life to Jesus. There are probably many good and not so good reasons for this, but it all comes down to this: you don’t like God’s agenda for your life. You’d like to keep your own.

Some of you, in one way or another, HAVE left something behind to follow Jesus. Maybe it was a boyfriend long ago who did things you weren’t comfortable with as a Christian. Maybe you changed jobs or careers to be able to serve others more faithfully or to be more involved with your church or your family. But while you have tried to commit your life to Jesus, you still don’t like God’s agenda. Why the persecutions, for example? Why must people dislike you for what you believe? You aren’t trying to upset anybody, but people still don’t like you. Why must THAT be part of God’s call? Maybe you thought that following Jesus would mean a life without conflict, without sadness and without fear and you have found that to be very untrue. Many of you just want to be a lukewarm Christian, nice and comfortable, but God keeps demanding that you stand up and be counted.

But what do you all have in common? God is calling you to a common purpose—to follow God’s agenda and to leave yours in the dust. Not because it will be easy or because it will make life easier, but because wherever else you run to, you cannot escape God’s call.

Jonah was called by God to preach to the Ninevites, to call them to repent for their sins, but Jonah did not want to. He ran away. God found him out at sea, sent a big fish to swallow him up and then spit him back where he wanted him—to preach to the Ninevites. The apostle Peter left everything to follow Jesus, but when the going got tough, he betrayed his Lord and denied him three times. But even death couldn’t stop Jesus from being raised from the dead and finding Peter again. To forgive him and send him to support the new Christian community. These two people both reacted to God in different ways at first, but in the end, they both wanted to run from God’s call on their lives, but God just wouldn’t have it. They wanted to follow their own agendas, not God’s

What is God’s agenda for this church? We all have our personal dreams for this place. Or perhaps we just figure that what you see is what you get. But all of our dreams, our ideas, and our fears about this church come second to what God desires for this church and for this community. Some of you love Jesus, but you aren’t ready to leave your old life behind. Some of you have already left a lot behind to come here and aren’t sure how much more you really want to give up. But God is still calling you and the question is, what is God’s agenda for you, for us and for this community? And will you follow God’s agenda or your own?

Here’s the write up for one of the keynote speakers at the LCMC convention this last week that I attended: Assigned to a tiny Lutheran congregation in Glendale, Arizona in 1978, Walt Kallestad quickly learned humility and value of strong communications: Within the first few months, the congregation had dropped by 50 percent, and the young idealist was faced with the challenge of rebuilding constituency or finding a new profession. The challenge has obviously been met. Today, under Walt's direction, Community Church of Joy supports 8,000 participants.” When pastor Kallestad came to that church in Arizona I’d like to bet that everyone had the same dream: that church was going to grow, more kids in church, more ministries, more excitement! And then, all their dreams were shattered when they lost members, they lost ministries. I bet that they lost excitement too. But God’s agenda was different than their agenda. I’d also bet that no one in that tiny Lutheran church could imagine that God was going to use them to reach 8,000 people in their community. Because they needed to leave their agendas behind and follow God’s agenda.

Marilee Pierce Dunker, the daughter of World Vision founder Bob Pierce, was also a keynote speaker this past week. World Vision is one of those groups where you sponsor a child in order to give them food, water, education and shelter. Anyway, she told a story about her father, when he traveled to one of the many impoverished countries in Africa. He had spent some time in one of the villages, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ as an evangelist and was about to return home. One of his coworkers who lived in the village came up to him, right before he was about to leave, with a young girl who’s mother had just died from AIDS, leaving her an orphan. This coworker asked Mr. Pierce, what should we do with this girl? He was just about to leave, remember, so you must understand, he had to get back on the plane to America, to his regular life and family, so he said, “Well, you can take her in, right?” The woman told him straight out, “I already have too many mouths to feed and pressing the child into his arms she told him, “You take her.”

Jesus told the man who had come to him, “’You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the man heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” What would you have done? How would you have felt if your dad had come home from a trip one day with another child that had just been orphaned? Or what if your spouse came home and said they just gave away all the money in your bank account to take care of some child in a country you had never visited, never seen, to a family you had never even known? How far are you willing to go to follow God’s agenda for your life?

There was a missionary who had worked in his mission field for twenty years, working side by side with the people and speaking the words of life, the words of Jesus Christ to anyone who would listen. When he was asked if he felt successful in his work he said, “Oh yes, definitely.” When he was asked how many people had become Christians since he arrived he thought for a moment and then answered, “One person.” No doubt, this had not been his plan upon arrival. No doubt, most of us would consider him and his ministry to be a failure. But if the story that Jesus told about the shepherd who left ninety-nine sheep to find one that was lost is any indication, it appears that this missionary was following God’s agenda.

You see, you don’t have to experience an amazing vision from God in order to find out God’s agenda for your life. 1st Corinthians puts it this way, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.” And where can you find that proclamation? It was written down for us in scripture and is made hearable whenever you listen to God’s Word preached in its truth and purity. This is why it is so important to preach according to scripture and not according to our own dreams or our own agendas. You do not need supernatural visions to realize God’s will and you do not need to go to the library to read up on all the best business models or psychological treatises to find out what people need. Visions are fun and the library is full of much good and helpful material, but God’s agenda is quite clear in scripture: he is interested in saving sinners from condemnation by giving them faith in Jesus Christ. This is God’s agenda for others and God’s agenda for you.

Everything we do here at Saint Peters must be with that mission in mind, with God’s agenda in our hearts and on our lips. Bob Pierce, that World Vision guy, stared into the eyes of that little orphaned girl and realized that his faith couldn’t simply be an idea anyone. He couldn’t just sit back and go on with life as usual. He pulled out his billfold and took out all the money he had, five dollars, and gave it to his coworker saying, “This is a down payment. I’ll be sending more as soon as I get home”. And so World Vision was born giving the chance for millions of people around the world to be fed and nourished in their bellies and in their faith through child sponsorship.

The rich man left, grieving, because the promise of eternal life wasn’t worth giving up his past life. The disciples all abandoned Jesus on the cross when they realized that God’s agenda for their lives was going to get them killed. Each one of us would rather follow our own desires rather than God’s agenda for us, but Jesus says, “That’s because it’s impossible for us, but not for God.”

Following the commandments will not save you. Giving away all your money will not save you either. Sponsoring a child in a foreign country won’t make you look better in God’s eyes. But don’t act like these things aren’t important just because they won’t save you. God’s agenda involves you doing some things for the sake of others and not just for your own salvation. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ involves doing many things that won’t save you. But until you actually believe that Jesus did something you could never do on your own, none of you will follow him, none of you will share your faith because you’ll always find your agendas more promising.

However, you will not find joy, peace, love and inspiration by continuing to follow your agenda. God is calling you, and not just today, in each moment of your life, to follow Jesus Christ, but you would not. As the disciples put it, “Then who can be saved?” As your pastor the most truthful answer I can give you is this, “It is impossible for you. Not by following your own agenda. Not even by doing the best you can.” But hear this! Please! Stop! Now! Listen! Dear God please give you all ears to hear this! For you it is impossible, it always was and always will be. But not for God. He is in the business of doing the impossible, what you could not do, would not do and will not do. Jesus saved you before you even knew him. Jesus loves you. Jesus forgives you. God wants you on his agenda for the sake of the world—your choices do have consequences for you and for others—but your salvation is also on God’s agenda and he has not left that in your incapable hands. He has left that in the hands of Jesus, who has accomplished it already in God’s name for you. That’s the good news. Amen.

Sermon for May 24th

Jesus’ disciples, such as you, are in the world, but not simply in the world—SENT into the world. And in this world you need protection, because you do not belong in the world.

The earliest monasteries were set up when Christians, overwhelmed by the sins of society, left the cities and went out into the desert to pray, to reflect and to be alone. Eventually, these solo Christians got together in groups and lived in monastic communities with one another. It was a way to focus on their faith together without being affected as much by the outside world.

Many young adults, growing up in small churches across the United States, overwhelmed by the sins and hypocrisy of their friends and family, leave their small hometowns and go off into the city to party, seek education and find their own way. Eventually, these Christians get together with a group of people surrounding common interests or ideals, hang out on weekends and drink coffee together. It’s a way to focus on life in the world and become accepted without being affected too much by their faith.

Jesus’ disciples, such as you, are in the world, but not simply in the world—SENT into the world. And in this world you need protection, because you do not belong in the world.

A community of faith, such as this one at Saint Peters, is NOT built around this church building. This church is not, finally, what we have in common. It is a place where we gather, but, as a building, it does not protect us from the world and it cannot be a world of its own. In some small towns, the church is its own world, where people come to escape the trials and tribulations of the day and get wrapped up in a new kind of place where there are always programs to be a part of, a choir to sing with and mission trips to go on.

In other places, the church is truly a sanctuary, where people go to find protection in afterschool programs to keep kids off the streets, out of gangs and out of the reach of drug dealers. In some countries, the church building is the only place to freely express one’s faith without the fear of death or persecution ensuing. But the community of faith Jesus speaks about is different than all of this.

A community of faith, such as this one at Saint Peters, is NOT built around our church building. While we have many people from Cornwall, a great many of you are not. Therefore, our church probably won’t ever simply a hometown congregation, the town won’t revolve around what we do and when we do it. If that is our goal, we’ll find that, for many, this is not their home. If we try to force being accepted in this way, it won’t work out very well.

A community of faith, such as Saint Peters, will also find it difficult to be a sanctuary. Our sanctuaries are our homes, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life, out in nature. If we need to find something to do, we find afterschool programs somewhere else, through sports teams or activities in other cities. So, if we get tempted to fill this church only with programs and special events, they might just feel like extra things that we have to do. And if WE feel that way, many other people in this area might feel the same way too. They don’t need another place to call home and they don’t need a sanctuary. So, is there anything left?

Everything is left. At least everything that Jesus Christ spoke about in the prayer we heard today. Jesus disciples, such as you, are in the world, but not simply in the world—SENT into the world. And in this world you need protection, because you do not belong in the world. Churches in our society have often been sanctuaries for Christians, a place where they could feel comfortable believing in Jesus Christ, to remind them that they did not belong to a world that was going to pot, but that they had a different citizenship, a heavenly one. However, people in sanctuaries, like the desert monks, have a tendency to forget an important piece of Jesus’ prayer: while not being in the world, while needing protection from the world, disciples are sent INTO the world. And when we spend all of our free time at church, it’s tough to meet new people and share the news of Jesus Christ to people who have not heard.

There are also some unfortunate side effects of being the “hometown” church, even though, for many, it seems like the best of all worlds. Often, in a hometown church, new town members, especially the doctors, lawyers, principals, feel like they need to become a member of the church or else people might begin to wonder about them. They need to make connections. The hometown church often becomes part of the world. It “belongs” to the world in more ways than one. It can become very political and very hypocritical. People in hometown churches, like so many Christians in society, have a tendency to forget another important piece of Jesus’ prayer: you are in the world, but you do not belong to this world. Jesus explained that the world would hate his disciples because of what they believed and how that affected how they acted, but it is easy to just want everyone to like you. It’s easier to focus on becoming part of the world than to focus on your faith.

But Jesus’ disciples, such as you, are in the world, but not simply in the world—SENT into the world. And in this world you need protection, because you do not belong in the world and you are hated for this.

A community of faith, such as this one at Saint Peters, is NOT built around this church building. Why do you come? Is it to feel accepted? Is it is feel safe? Is it to look at the pretty building? If so, you probably don’t like Saint Peters that much. It might be good enough for you, but you won’t want anyone else to come. You’ll be embarrassed that you’ve spent so much time and trouble on something that doesn’t really mean much of anything.

Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.” Jesus prayed that his disciples might have faith. That they would have a relationship to God. So that even in the world that hated them, they would be protected by God and be one with him. Not one with each other, as if our own agreement or our own community was the most important thing, but so that you might be one with God. Just as Jesus and his Father are one, Jesus prays that those whom God has given to him would be one with God as well. Jesus isn’t trying to make a church—he’s trying to give faith.

God gives his name and his words to Jesus. Jesus then gives God’s name and his words to his disciples. These words make the disciples hated by the world and, yet, protected in the world. Jesus’ disciples find their home in God and in his love for them. Jesus’ disciples find their sanctuary in God and in his words for them. “In the world you face persecution,” Jesus says, “But take courage; I have conquered the world!” This community must be built on Jesus or we are lost.

It is God’s name that makes you a community of faith and that community stretches out so much farther than this building. You wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t called you. At your baptism, God named you his child, once and for all. You can either hide that name by hanging out with others with the same name to the exclusion of all else, or you can hide that name while you are with others in order to try to protect yourself from them. But God will continue to call you by name until you hear the truth. A building can’t protect you. Hiding the truth from your friends can’t protect you. God himself is your only protection in this world. He gives you all that you have: a good name, true friends and neighbors, a devoted family and, finally, eternal life. This community of faith must be built on Jesus or we are lost.

A community of faith gives God’s word in good times and bad. When one of you is acting badly, a community of faith doesn’t turn a blind eye, but they talk with that person about their decisions. Loving doesn’t always mean tolerating each other; sometimes it means protecting one another from bad choices or calling someone out for bad behavior with the hope of repentance. If you don’t trust in God’s words, in his name, then it doesn’t matter how well you get along with one another, or how good you look to the outside world, you aren’t a community of faith.

A community of faith gives God’s word in the bad times as well. God’s word doesn’t just mean telling people off; it means struggling through sins with people, holding them close when all others would turn away until finally, through love and prayer, repentance happens. Whether that takes one conversation or years of praying. And it is here, where a faith community is at its best: when God gives the word of forgiveness. When God speaks the final word, “By God’s authority, your sins are forgiven.” That’s what this community of faith is based on: Forgiveness. God’s words. God’s name. Not one building. Not one town. Not one event. One faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus disciples, such as you, are in the world, but not simply in the world—SENT into the world. And in this world you need protection, because you do not belong in the world. This protection cannot be found anywhere other than in God’s word and in God’s name. Some of you have tried to escape the world you were sent into because it threatens you and your faith. Others have become so much a part of this world that you have compromised your faith and forgotten your first love. Take hold of Jesus and his promise and trust in his word alone, “In the world you face persecution,” Jesus says. It can be a threatening place “But take courage; I have conquered the world!” Trust in Jesus Christ alone. Amen.