The Great Ends of the Church: Witness

I Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:  Grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

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Introduction

I'm going to throw out two different data points. First, according to a 2011 Pew Research study, there were 2.2 billion self-identifying Christians worldwide. Second, according to the US Census Bureau, an estimated 7.9 billion people make up the global population. Can you tell me how these two numbers connect? 

What if I add some additional context? One in six children lives in poverty, which makes them the largest bloc of Americans living in poverty. One in ten Americans is food insecure, meaning they don't have consistent access to enough food. One in ten Americans lives with medical debt. One in four women and one in nine men have experienced violence from a partner. 

So tell me, if almost one out of four people are "Christian" (or profess to be Christian), how do we end up with staggering statistics such as these? How do we end up with starving people, hurting people, lonely people? How do we end up with a polluted earth with toxic emissions that lead to public health issues and urgent care for creation? How did we end up here, now, when one out of four people profess to be "Christian," a follower of Christ? 

In our last great end, we are told that the Church exists to demonstrate "the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world." And wow, it might be an understatement to say we still have some ways to go when it comes to exhibiting the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

Historicity of Jesus’ Ministry

Before we jump into Paul's epistle to the Church, I want us to take a step back and reflect on Jesus' ministry. I don't know about you, but in Sunday school, I was taught that Jesus came to earth, did many great things, and then died on the cross (which was the crux, or primary purpose, of Jesus' ministry). Yet what if we got it backward? What if the cross was not the purpose but the consequence of Jesus' true mission (which was to break bread with a bunch of pagans and sinners)? 

Who did Jesus break bread with at the table? Was it those who were righteous and pious? No! Jesus broke bread with the tax collectors, prostitutes, gentiles, the sick, and all those who were anything but what we might think of being "worthy" of God's grace. And what did we do to Jesus after seeing him minister to the least of these? The result of Jesus giving the fringes a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven was crucifixion. We crucified him, put him to death, and hung him on a tree because the people (we) could not bear the thought of the Kingdom of Heaven, including people who we didn't deem worthy. 

Jesus' ministry was not so much about the cross as it was the act of giving us that foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. 

Imitators of God

Paul begins this letter to the Church by encouraging them, giving thanks for them and the presence of God's Spirit that dwells with them. In this exhortation, Paul highlights the call to be imitators (not perfecters of God) and how the Thessalonians (and us) are encouraged to amplify the message of God's life-giving word by being living embodiments of setting a table of welcome and inclusivity. 

Again, we are called to be imitators, not perfectors of God's message. We are not the judge and jury when it comes to who has a place at the table of God; if we were, we would end up in the same situation Jesus tried to correct by eating with prostitutes, tax collectors, and gentiles (the exclusion of those we deem to be "unworthy" or fit by our standards). As imitators of God, we are here to offer a glimpse of what a community in the Kingdom of Heaven might look like (and here's a secret in case you didn't know, you'll be eating with people you like and people you can't stand). And while we might make mistakes, we strive to do better and be better with God’s grace. 

The Report Card

Coming to the end of this first chapter, Paul gives the believers an initial report card, "For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you." In our pursuit to exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven, what would Paul, what would God, say to us? Would we be condemned for welcoming in a small congregation and then complaining about them being here while they wait for their church to be finished? (What kind of exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven is that?) Would we be celebrated for our participation in the Midnight Run, donations to our local food pantries, and our meals delivered to Jan Peek? I don't know. 

It is clear that something needs to be done. It is clear that even though we've made meaningful strides, there is still much more work to do. Dr. Bill Drummond, Professor of Urban Analytics at Georgia Tech and Presbyterian Minister, has said, "If we do nothing different, by 2040, all our current churches sized 100 and less will be gone." I like to believe that we won't be a part of those congregations that drop off, but it all depends on the vision we cast and how and if we choose to exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. 

Conclusion

As God sent Christ into the world to eat with the outcast and the marginalized, Christ also came to call us and lay claim to our hearts. And in laying claim, Christ calls us to ministry and to be agents of change in a world that is yearning, a world that is hungry, and a world that is thirsty. One in four is a mighty large number, and while at times it feels we are doing this work alone, we are connected to the great cloud of witnesses and to the love of God that encourages our work and witness.   

Let it be said that our witness stands with the poor, with the marginalized, with the hurting, and with all who have never received welcome, and that our witness stands with those who are hurting right or in need of a friend in our own sanctuary right now. In our one square inch, let us be the one out of four people of faith who work to exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven now so that we may repair the brokenness of our hurting world. And in our witness, create a healthy community of faith that perseveres and thrives on the heart of God that we wear on our sleeves.