Go!

How many times in our own households have we said, “Well, I would never do thus and so,...and that turns out to be the very direction in which God sends us.

“Go on your way,” Jesus says.

We're always worried about long-range objectives and short-term goals.

Jesus is taking care of all of that.

Our part is in the doing, the process.

Paul says: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God is in charge of results.”

Our Stephen Ministers say, “We are the care-givers, and God is the cure-giver.”

I know that I have to keep re-learning that all the time.

I could spend lots of time in conversation with a particular couple or person, and think that we are making progress and that good things will happen....and then....nothing happens, and I get frustrated.

But I shouldn't – since my part is planting seed, and tending it as best I can.

God is in charge of the results...somehow, sometime...God knows when.

And we will be just as surprised as the 70 as to how it all turns out.

We may have an occasional burst of enthusiasm, get up a special offering for this or that, until our worry about results sets in.

--We soon realize that our donations to the Food Pantry or to St Anthony Center will not end poverty and hunger around the world.

--four families at a time that we aid through Family Promise will not end homelessness even here in this county, let alone the rest of the world.

--that Curran and Phoebe Hospitals in Liberia that we aid cannot resolve all that nation's ills.

And so we get depressed and wonder what good came out of our efforts.

Jesus sends us out and flings us up against the great injustices and problems of a fallen and troubled world, and we break like waves dashing upon the rocks.

Hold on a minute!

We see one wave crashing, but God sees a whole reshaped seashore.

What good were our efforts?

Jesus says, “I saw Satan falling from heaven like a flash of lightning.”

In other words, those little things which we can do, which seem so small and often ineffectual, are signs of the ultimate change of all creation.

They point just a little bit toward God's plan for the outcome of all life; a small part, but a part nonetheless, of a very big picture.

Go on your way.

The kingdom is not about eternal nothingness as other religions might suggest, but about joyous activity; caring and being cared for, in the context of the praise of God.

Say “Peace be to this house.”

The house which has never known peace will finally be made whole.

And we can apply this to an individual family, to a congregation, to a nation, to a genetic grouping, to the whole human race.

Cure the sick, since illness and death will in the end be overcome by God.

Announce “The kingdom of God is come near.” in whatever we say and do in Jesus' name.

Rejoice that God has grabbed hold of us, and will not abandon us, will give us what we need, and forge us into the community we will finally be.

Well, there is the whole plan, as Jesus lays it out, or at least as much of it as we will know this side of heaven.

So let's look at some of our activities in its light:

1.July 4 event What results are there?

--We have a number of volunteers doing small portions of the entire event.

--There is much conversation, getting reacquainted with members and the multitude that passes by.

--The total number of people who get something to eat, or talk, or pick up devotional materials or extra Sunday School books, or sample the program here in the nave, increases each year, and some are looking especially to come back because of a good experience in the past.

--And yes, it is all given away, much to the amazement of many.

“What's the catch?” they ask. No catch!

It is a sign that heaven is a free gift of God which cannot be bought or sold – only shared.

2.Several families in the parish are struggling with a pile of problems.

Our Outreach Committee members are quietly figuring out ways to be of assistance.

3.On a much bigger scale, our participation in Family Promise continues.

Somewhere around 1,000 volunteers around the community are each doing a little bit in this effort to surround a handful of families with the support, encouragement, and resources they need to be successful.

These are collectively pointers to the nature of the heavenly community, where there is enough and each has some way both to give and also to receive the loving care that is needed.

The task is to announce in words and actions that the kingdom of God is come near.

Even the smallest efforts can be part of God's plan.

We have and can do much more than we think possible.

The verbs are in front of us, ready for our action:

Rejoice...Announce...Cure...Say..Go! Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.