Epiphany 7
16 February 2025
Vineville Baptist Church
Macon, Georgia
- Gregory Pope
TO RISK SOMETHING BIG FOR SOMETHING GOOD: THE COVENANT PRACTICE OF RISK-TAKING MISSION
Series: Five Covenant Practices of a Vibrant Church
Joshua 1.1-9
Hebrews 11.32-12.2
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,“My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1.1-9)
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 11.32-12.2)
I begin the sermon this morning outside the sanctuary standing at the Corner of Vineville and Pierce, looking out at the Macon community, secretly hoping no one sees me, thinking I’m a street preacher who’s lost his megaphone! I speak to you from out here because this is where our worship unfolds into personal ministry, sacrificial service, and risk-taking mission.
I look at this large edifice we’ve been given and I pray that within its walls our hearts would be as large if not larger. I pray that we would listen for God’s voice in scripture and worship, and upon hearing God’s voice risk ourselves for Love’s sake out here in the world. Because that’s what the church does, that’s who the church is.
We sometimes think of church as “the place where certain things happen” – worship, teaching, fellowship, consignment sales. Another larger deeper way to see the church is as “a body of Christ-followers sent on a mission.”1
In recent decades it’s been called “the missional church.” It takes the word “missions” and turns it from a noun into an active verb or a verbal adjective, if you will. And the meaning of “missions” has been evolving. To be a church that emphasized “missions” used to mean that we gave money to the cooperative program or to some denominational entity to support mission work in other parts of the world.
And while we continue to do that, the church is beginning to realize that “missions” is our calling right where we are. We not only send missionaries into other parts of the world, we begin to see ourselves as missionaries in our own community.
Another part of that transformation is the realization that as a missional church we are here for others not for ourselves. A while back I came across a comparison expressing the difference between a missional congregation and a maintenance congregation. Most churches are a mixture of the two, but one is usually dominant. As I share this comparison I would like for us to ask ourselves: Are we a missional or a maintenance congregation? Are you a missional or maintenance church member?
#1. When thinking of its vision for ministry: The MAINTENANCE congregation says: “We have to be faithful to our past, doing what we’ve always done.” The MISSIONAL congregation says: “We have to be faithful to our future, even if it means doing what we’ve never done before.”
#2. When contemplating some form of change: The MAINTENANCE congregation says: “If this proves upsetting to many of our members, we won’t do it.” The MISSIONAL congregation says: “If this will help reach someone on the outside or change people’s lives in meaningful ways, we will take the risk and do it.”
#3. When thinking about new ideas: In a MAINTENANCE congregation the majority of members ask: “How will this affect me? Is this what I want?” In the MISSIONAL congregation the majority of members ask: “Will this increase our ability to reach those outside the congregation?”
#4. In measuring effectiveness: The MAINTENANCE congregation asks: “How many people show up? How much money is in the bank?” The MISSIONAL congregation asks: “How many disciples are being made? How many people are being helped?”
#5. As to primary concern: The MAINTENANCE congregation is primarily concerned with the survival of their church – its organization and structure, its committees and facilities. The MISSIONAL congregation is primarily concerned with the survival needs of the community, with understanding how people outside the church think and what can be done to help open their hearts to the Gospel.
#6. When thinking about growth: The MAINTENANCE congregation asks: “How many Baptists able to give and serve live within a twenty-minute radius of this church?” The MISSIONAL congregation asks: “How many unchurched people hurting and poor, in need of love and hope live within a twenty-minute radius of this church?”
#7. When looking at the community: The MAINTENANCE congregation asks: “How can we get these people to attend and support our church?” The MISSIONAL congregation asks: “How can the church love and support and these people?”
#8. Regarding focus: The MAINTENANCE congregation thinks about how to save and grow their church. The MISSIONAL congregation thinks about how to serve and heal the world.
What kind of church are we? What kind of church member are you? What kind of pastor am I?
While the maintenance question is not always the wrong question, the maintenance question must always take a back seat to the missional imperative.
A faithful, vibrant, New Testament church sees itself as a community of disciples brought together by a common calling to be a “sent people.” The Bible says that we are created in the imago Dei – the image of God – for the missio Dei – the mission of God. Our God is a missionary God, a sending God. The church is a missionary people, a sent people. Jesus said, As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
The mission of the church is the mission of God. And according to Paul in his letter to the Ephesians God’s mission is to restore and unite all of creation, reconciling the world to God through Christ.
A missional church has a global vision and its ministry is incarnational. It puts flesh and bone to the mission and ministry of Jesus. The church embodies God’s mission in the world by walking in the way of Jesus and inviting others to follow Jesus as fellow disciples.
The missional church makes mission its passion, not tradition and the past, not success and the future, not its building, not its music, not its preaching, not its programs. The missional church is not building-centered, pastor-centered, or program-centered, but community-centered, ministry-centered, globally-centered, Christ-centered.
The passion of the missional church is to join God in the healing of the world. Theologian George Retzlaff talks about “prepositional theology.” He says Jesus gave himself FOR others, poured himself out FOR others, lived and died FOR others. That means we are the church, the faithful Body of Christ, when we are a people FOR others, a church FOR the city of Macon, FOR the state of Georgia, FOR our country and the whole world – anywhere God might call and send us.
So the question we must always be asking is: Where is God calling us right now? And what is God calling us to do?
When you look in scripture at the stories of God calling people to do something, it begins with a calling to a particular task. To Moses God said, “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go and then lead my people out of Egypt across the wilderness toward the Promised Land.” God said to Joshua, “Joshua, Moses is dead. I now need you to lead my people.”
In almost every case there is some objection as to why it cannot be done. Moses says he can’t approach Pharaoh because he’s not a good speaker. Jeremiah says, “I’m just a boy.” Like most of the prophets in scripture who are called by God: They don’t want to do it because they feel they can’t or because their afraid of the consequences or because they don’t believe they have the resources to do what God is calling them to do.
But we can never determine our response to God’s call based on the resources we think we have. That’s not the point. That’s not the question to ask. The question to ask is: “What is God calling us to do? Where is God leading us?” And as we follow God’s leading it’s up to God to provide the resources. The testimony of God’s people is that God provides what they need.
What God calls us to do is often bold and costly. Listen to how the writer of Hebrews describes those who say yes to God: I do not have time to tell about . . . [those] who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength . . . (But) others were tortured . . . Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, sawed in two, and put to death by the sword . . . the world was not worthy of them (Heb 11:32-38).
And some of you are afraid to supervise children in Worship Care! I promise you: we do not give them stones, saws, or swords! But there is almost always a risk of some kind when God calls.
Think of the bold and risky things Vineville Baptist Church has done in the past. You have a rich history of mountaintop moments as well as seasons down rocky roads. You’ve helped start three other churches in the Macon area. You were the first white Baptist church to welcome a black Mercer student into its membership. Our Morning School was just voted best in Macon. God has done marvelous things through us. And God wants to continue to work through us.
God wants us to be strong and courageous. God does not place much value on making sure people who follow him lead comfortable, respectable lives. As John Ortberg says: God would not make a good flight attendant.2 Our comfort and convenience is not really a priority for the God of the Bible.
Whenever God calls someone to do something in scripture, rarely is the response: “O wonderful! What an opportunity! What a great challenge!” No. Almost always the response is fear.
In fact, if there is a strong challenge in front of you or in front of us as a congregation, a course of action that would be helpful to the people around us, but we find ourselves scared about it, there’s a real good chance that God is in that challenge.3
God knows people get scared. So God makes them a promise. God said to Joshua,“Have I not placed a mission before you? Go and do not be afraid or discouraged, but be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” And every time God makes that promise of presence and provision God comes through.
So what is God calling us to do? At the heart of what God calls all of us to do is to be above all else courageous citizens of the Kingdom of God. It was the heart of Jesus’ message and ministry: “The kingdom of God is at hand,” he would say. Most of his parables began with the words: “The kingdom of God is like . . .” And the message of the kingdom is that God in Christ is recreating, renewing, reconciling, and redeeming a broken and hurting world. And we are invited to join God in that Risk-Taking mission.
The mission of God is not Predictable, Comfortable, Safe, or Convenient. Jesus said, For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. I think that also translates to: For those who want to save their church will lose it, and those who lose their church for my sake will save it.
Risk-Taking Mission includes acts of ministry people do to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others in the name of Christ.
The practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service reminds us that congregations are not ends in themselves. Our goal is not to be a maintenance congregation preserving and perpetuating ourselves. We are simply resources God uses to change lives and transform the world.
God places congregations in a world troubled by many challenges. A majority of the people with whom we share the world live with incredible uncertainty and danger because of: Schools that struggle to provide basic education, and many children fall through the cracks. Criminal justice systems that are overcrowded and do little to restore people to functional, positive participation in society. Medical services that are overburdened and unprepared to serve unmet needs, especially those of the poor, the uninsured, and the unemployed. Immigration issues and environmental threats intensify fear and prejudice and greed. Drugs, alcoholism, gambling addictions, global war, family violence, overwhelming poverty all rob people of hope.
As followers of Christ, we cannot live as if these things have nothing to do with us. Christ moves us closer to suffering, not farther away. We cannot just pray for those who suffer, asking God to do for us what God calls us to do with God.4 God did not tell Joshua just to pray about the Hebrews in the wilderness. God told him to be strong and courageous – courageous enough to do something.
We are called to Risk-Taking ministries that push us out of our comfort and convenience to make a real difference in the lives of hurting people: Ministries that require hands-on face-to-face engagement with the needs of people we might ordinarily not come to know, providing service and friendship to those in our community who have the least power – the poor, the unemployed, the stranger, the hungry, the homeless, the abused, the addicted, the orphan.
There are so many ways we can participate in God’s mission for the world. Our task is to pray and discern where God is calling us. And then say yes to challenge and risk – not because we feel adequate, but because God promises to be with us.
So: Are we willing to risk ourselves and be a church for the world? Christ gave himself FOR the world. Will we risk ourselves FOR the world?
Two friends of mine wrote a song that is actually a prayer. May it be our prayer this day:
God, what a world you have given us
Brimming with promise, weeping with pain
Help us to know it’s home and it’s holy
Help us to love it like you do. Amen.5
___________________________
- Darrell L. Guder, ed., Missional Church, Eerdmans, 2001, 80-83
- John Ortberg, When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box, Zondervan, 2007, 141
- Ibid., 142
- Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Abingdon, 2007, 83, 100
- “God! What a World!” written by Darrell Adams and Paul Duke.