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Have you ever broken an arm or a hand, a leg or a finger? Then you know how hard it suddenly becomes to do even the simplest tasks. Ever try to tie your shoe with one hand? Or open a jar with one hand? Or fold a shirt with one hand? Things we are used to performing with utter ease using two hands become agonizingly slow and take all our concentration when only one is available. Even then, the results can be sloppy and embarrassing. Some tasks take two hands, two people, two wills, two hearts. One simply isn't enough to get the job done. In today's gospel lesson, when Jesus sends his disciples after the young colt that he will ride into Jerusalem, he sends out a team to get the job done. Just as when Jesus had sent his disciples out to preach and heal and exorcise demons (he sent them "two by two"), Jesus continues to keep his disciples operating as teams. I wonder. Do you think the two disciples chosen for this latest duty looked forward to this "mission" with the same sort of anticipation that they had enjoyed when venturing into Galilee? Instead of miraculous healings and exorcisms, they have now been appointed "donkey thieves for Jesus." A young colt was a valuable commodity in those days. As a pack animal, it offered the means of a livelihood, and as a mode of transportation it offered a certain amount of status and afforded some income. Sashaying into the big city and simply helping themselves to some stranger's property hardly sounded like a mission for the sake of the Messiah. But Jesus makes this impossible-sounding mission possible by anticipating every question these disciples might face. First, they are sent as a team of two so that they might lend one another strength and companionship along the way. As team members, they could take turns feeling confident or scared, leading or following, doubting or believing. As two, they also presented a more plausible picture to those who would question them about taking the colt. One man skulking up to untie an animal that was not his own was surely a thief. But two men, engaged in conversation while confidently untying the colt, looked like a mission. When the "bystanders" asked the two disciples exactly what they were doing, as Jesus had foretold they would, the disciples are not only prepared with the answer Jesus gave them; they can corroborate each other's story. A strange story sounds less odd when two witnesses testify to its truth. I grew up in the 60’s watching the TV show, "Mission Impossible." The strength of the old "Mission Impossible" was that every story, every mission, was a team effort. No one was the run-away "star" of the show, unlike the 1990’s movie version starring Tom Cruise. In the old show the complex schemes they cooked up to fulfill their "impossible missions" were utterly dependent on the performance of every single team member. Some of the team members had more glamorous roles than others. But at the end of the successful mission, it was the team that had pulled it off. The final take in each show was always of all the teams coming back together and acknowledging that it was only because of team effort that the impossible had been made possible. Impossible missions. It’s very important that people hear and understand their mission. Whatever mission we are given, it is imperative that we clearly understand it. A Presbyterian pastor was about to walk into a packed sanctuary one Sunday when he saw three Episcopalians he had met the day before on the golf course. The pastor welcomed them and said to his head usher, "Get three chairs for these Episcopalians." The usher didn’t exactly understand the mission given to him, so the pastor repeated himself, ""Get three chairs for these Episcopalians." The usher shrugged and walked to the front of the sanctuary. He faced the congregation and announced in a loud voice, "Okay, everybody! Let’s give three cheers for the Episcopalians!" Oh how we need to clearly understand our mission in life. Jesus has called all Christians to join his "impossible mission force." And we should be prepared to be offered some pretty crazy-sounding assignments. Your mission and mine…"should you choose to accept it"…will lead us into some strange situations. We may not find ourselves being "donkey thieves for Jesus," but chances are we will find ourselves doing things and saying things we would never have dreamed possible. What are some of the "impossible missions" God has given you in the past? Being on Christ's "impossible mission force" may involve "glamour duty"; teaching, preaching and healing. Or it may involve "garbage duty", perhaps as a Minister of Recycling or Minister of Maintenance. Right now we need some St. John ministers of Stewardship and ministers of softball, ministers of Construction, and ministers of Teaching summer Sunday School. Sometimes accomplishing an impossible mission will take comedy, like the sight of a grown man riding a young colt in a ragtag procession. Sometimes an impossible mission is accomplished only through tragedy, like a death on the cross. If there were ever any doubt that God can make use of any thing and any situation to accomplish God's intentions for the world, we have only to look around the sanctuary this morning. Take a look, seriously. It is one thing for today's gospel text to declare that something as dusty and humble as a colt could be put into service for the Lord. What is really astounding is that God has purposefully chosen the struggling, sinful, broken church to be the "impossible mission force" for proclaiming the gospel to the world. Do you ever get caught in the trap that says, "God can’t use me. I’m only an ordinary person. I’m not a Peter or a Mary." It’s a trap, because it is God’s way to choose "donkey people" to do amazing things in this world. I don’t know about you but there are days when I feel like a "donkey person." There are days when I feel pretty lowly and unimportant. There are days when I feel like I’m tied down to one place. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that I am loved. You are loved. And we have a purpose in life! The Lord needs donkey folks like you and me! Later today we will be holding a groundbreaking service, turning over the first shovels of dirt as we begin construction on a new addition. As we look back on the history of God working in this church we can see many "impossible missions" made possible: a brand new little church in rural south Anchorage when a superintendent thought it impossible; a small church in the 60’s that wanted to welcome people even if their skin was different; a transition from small to medium to a large congregation (Do you know how many churches have tried and failed at this?); new additions have been added when funds were tight. And now we stand at the threshold of another so-called impossible mission…a multi-million dollar building which will nearly double the size of our church. From the beginning this project has not been about concrete, studs, and trusses. It has been, and it continues to be about a rag-tag people called St. John United Methodist Church who want to be faithful to the mission God has given us. That mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God’s light. Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, in his South India Diary, tells of the union of churches which took place in South India in 1947. At the second synod, a memorable sentence was spoken: "The demand to know where we are going is one which no Christian has a right to make." The bishop writes, "In a very real sense, we do not know where we are going, but we are trying to meet day by day the plain requirements of God's will." In a real sense St. John does not know exactly where we are going. We don’t know what life and ministry will be like 10 years from now. We have some ideas and we will plan. But our biggest plan is not about building or staff or programs. It is about God. God is our plan. Jesus is our life. The Spirit is our strength. Are we ready to be a part of the greatest team effort ever put forth to the world? We can stay true to our mission and accomplish all that God intends if we remember two things: we are part of a team; and we believe in our hearts the words with which Jesus sends us out on our mission: "The Lord needs me to do this." |
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04.13.03 - Mission Impossible (Mark 11:1-11)
