REACHING OUT
Matthew 10
Preached by The Reverend Alex Thomas, St. Andrew's, Langley, BC, 1993

In the tenth Chapter of Matthew, Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission. They are to proclaim the Good News, "the kingdom of heaven has come near", cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. They reaching out to others with good news both in words and in action. . The Church basically has the same mission. We are to reach out to others both in Evangelism and Service. Evangelism is telling or proclaiming the good news in Christ through word and example. service is serving others in the world, working on changes which will help others to live, to help make their lives more human and frilly alive. "A Society is judged by how we treat the people most in need".

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Outreach begins with a certain attitude before it can be an action.

The attitude that we need to have is that which was expressed many years ago by Archbishop Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury, when he said, "The Church exist for those who are not its members." The whole purpose of the church to reach out to others in the world in evangelism and service. Our outreach is not just on the periphery of our life together. It is not just one of the things we report on along with everything else at annual meetings and church committee meetings. It is at the center of our life. In fact we can say that the church does not just have a mission. The church is mission. It is the reason for our being. It is the reason for our existence.

Incidentally some practical theologians today have pointed out that there is an increase of fighting and general disharmony in the church today. We have so much strife that there has been a whole discipline develop in recent years called conflict management. There are conflict management seminars and workshops for churches all over North America. It is supposed by some that the reason that we have these problems is that we do not have an over pervading sense of mission.

When you have a sense of mission that is urgent and consuming, there is no room for fighting among ourselves. When we lose our sense of mission there is in-fighting, gossip, and all kinds of ways that we destroy one another. "Where there is no vision the people perish" says one of the proverbs. It is likened unto the situation in the last world war when there was more fighting and bickering in the barracks when they were not in the midst of battle, When they were in the midst of battle there was no room for fighting among themselves. They knew their mission, they knew that their lives depended on one another, and their mission was all consuming.

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Let me illustrate the importance of grasping our mission by a modern parable.

The story that Im going to tell is the story of the Greater Pendleton Sky Diving Club. It was originally put out in an audio-visual form National Stewardship Commission. It was presented with cartoon characters and was quite humorous. People laughed a lot when they saw it but could not help but get the point of the story at the same time.

The Greater Pendleton Sky Diving Club began with a small group of people who loved to skydive! In the beginning the few members there were in the club spent all their spare time learning about skydiving and practicing their jumping out of airplanes, opening their parachutes at a particular time, and guiding their way to the ground. They became quite skilled and would even hold demonstrations of their skill and proficiency in skydiving. The whole community was proud of the accomplishments on the Greater Pendelton Skydiving Club, and often it would be mentioned in conversation that if the community ever faced a disaster like an imminent forest fire in their area, the Skydiving Club would be an invaluable resource.

The skydiving Club was urged to include more people in their membership, so they launched a membership campaign and many more people joined the group. As time went on they felt they needed to upgrade their facilities because the little building they used as a club house was far to small to hold the increasing membership. They raised money and membership fees and they built a brand new facility which included a lounge where members could gather for social times and enjoy one anothers company. Later they added a dining room where members could bring their friends and delight in full course meal Sometimes the Club would bring in special after-dinner speakers to talk about skydiving and all the latest They might even run a seminar on the subject. Then they added a gym where members and others in the community could came and work out. The Greater Pendelton Skydiving Club became known far and wide for their excellent facilities.

One day disaster struck the community. A large forest fire developed in the forest close to the community. It was destroying much of the forest area and was threatening the community itself The Greater Pendleton Skydiving Club was called into action, with all their members, 200 strong, a mighty army of skydivers purported to have the skills and proficiency necessary to land into strategic positions to fight the fire and avoid the disaster. They gathered at the airport. Much to their dismay, they faced the reality that they only had one airplane and five parachutes. Not only that but many of the new members knew a lot about skydiving, but had little practice. You see the Greater Pendleton Skydiving Club had spent all their money on social facilities and programs about skydiving, rather than on the equipment and practical training necessary for the main purpose of their existence, which was skydiving.

The Greater Pendelton Skydiving club does not exist any more, but if your should drive into Greater Pendelton, much of it rebuild since the big fire, you will notice a plaque where the Greater Pendelton Skydiving Club used to be. Some of the old timers of the community will tell you how skilled and proficient they were and what great leisure facilities they had.

How important it is to never lose sight of our mission.