Gloria Dei Lutheran Church | Urbandale, Iowa

Lost in America: Something's Gotta Change

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, June 22, 2008

[Silence] Statistically speaking, every minute, 83 people die without knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Every minute of every hour of every day of every week. If you thought 60 seconds of silence was uncomfortable, we might want to consider the eternity of the 83.

We live in a time where every minute matters. And in this time where every minute matters, where at every minute, people are perishing without the saving news of Jesus Christ in their heart and yet, at the same time, we find out that, on average, every year some 3,200 churches close because no one is coming and no one is trying. At the same time that every minute matters, we discover that between 1970 and 2000, the population of the U.S. increased by 72 million people. In that same time period, our own church body, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, declined in membership by 350,000 people. At the same time that every minute matters, in Iowa District West, what we are a part of, the 176 congregations on the western side of Iowa, we discover that last year, 70% of those congregations declined in attendance and membership. Another 10% remained the same and that is a trend that’s been going on for decades. In a moment like this where every minute matters, something has to change. As every minute passes and people here and around the world are perishing without the news of Jesus Christ and His salvation something has to change.

We are no longer living in the world of the 1950's and 60's and yet so many churches and congregations still act and behave as if we are. In the 50's and 60's, all you had to do was open up the doors and pretty much, people came. We were a church society here in America. For the most part, we were a Christian society here in America. It is no longer the case. We are no longer a church society. It is no longer a social norm that on Sunday morning, one gets up, puts on a certain tie or a dress and goes off to church. That’s considered abnormal today instead of normal as it was a few decades ago. Something has to change because every minute matters. No longer is the mission field just across the oceans. It’s outside our doors. No longer can we envision that a mission outpost is a hut someplace in Africa. In reality, every congregation, every church is a mission outpost because they’re in the middle of a mission field. The sad news is they don’t recognize it and they don’t know. Something has to change because every minute matters.

Every congregation needs to come to the realization that they are in the middle of a mission field and they are a mission outpost, including this congregation. We are a mission outpost. And if you’re a mission outpost, you think differently, you act differently, you have a different approach to your ministry.

There are many things about a mission outpost but, for this morning, I really want to pull out two, two very important aspects of being a mission outpost. The first one is this: A mission outpost exists for others. If you’re manning a mission outpost, you’re there to serve other people. It’s not there for those who are manning the outpost itself but it’s there to serve others who are in the mission field. You see, when you’re a mission outpost, you first and foremost recognize that you’re in the middle of a mission field. That’s where it has to begin. We have to recognize that we’re in the middle of a mission field. Now it’s easier when you’re in some hut in Africa or you’re in some island in the Pacific and you’re surrounded by pagan religions or eastern religions. It’s so self-evident that the people around you do not know Jesus Christ, that they don’t have a saving relationship with Him. It’s easy to see yourself as a mission outpost in the middle of a mission field. But the reality is it’s no different for us in North America. It’s no different for us on the western side of Des Moines.

Over the past few decades, our country is becoming less and less and less Christian. We have entire generations who have grown up that have never stepped foot in a church and they have no idea about Jesus Christ and His salvation. It is incorrect for us to assume that our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers have even had the chance to hear about Jesus and His love and His forgiveness and His salvation. You’ve heard me say the stats probably ad nauseam, that over 50% of those people living around us have no relationship with a church and you know they have, at least a great deal of them, no relationship with God at all. We’re surrounded. We’re in a mission field. It’s not just across the seas anymore. It’s across the street. It’s across in the next cubicle, the next classroom. We’re in the middle of a mission field. That means we’re a mission outpost.

And if you’re a mission outpost, that means that you think differently. You operate differently because you recognize that it’s not about me. It’s not about my wants, my needs, my benefit. It’s about others. Now that can be a bit of a challenge for us and sometimes I think it is very tempting to think of church and congregations as a club or an organization and that means membership has its privileges, members have their rights that they can demand of the organization. But if you’re a mission outpost, that’s quite different. A mission outpost says we’re here for other people. We’re here as God’s instruments to reach out with the gospel. It means we think just a little bit differently. Instead of every time we hear there’s going to be a new worship service or there’s going to be a different style or Grace Place is changing or Vacation Bible School is happening or there are camps at church or there are adult bible studies or there’s baseball or softball or basketball, all the plethora of things that are happening in the congregation, instead of the first thing coming to our mind is, “Hum, how does that fit into my schedule?” And so the first thing coming to our mind, “Hum, I wonder how I can benefit of that? I wonder how that fits into my needs?” Instead we change our thinking and the first thing we ask is, “How will that reach into the mission field? How can that serve to bring the gospel to the people who don’t have a relationship with God?”

Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that the needs of the members of this congregation, the needs of believers should not be met. In fact, I’m saying the exact opposite. If we’re going to be a mission outpost, then we need to be equipped spiritually. We need to be equipped with our faith. But what I am going to suggest to you this morning is that our needs are met differently than maybe what we’re used to thinking. If you’ll just hang with me, I’ll get to that in a minute.

Right now, can we see and focus on the fact that we’re in the middle of a mission field and, as a mission outpost, we’re here to serve others and to put the needs of others before us, the needs of those who have not heard of Jesus. Is that not what Christ has done for us? Did He not put your needs above His own? Did not our heavenly Father sacrifice His Son so we could be saved? Did not Jesus lay down His life so we could taste heaven? Look at the example of St. Paul and his whole philosophy of ministry. He’s writing to the Church at Corinth. He says this, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I made myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible.” He uses the analogy of being a slave and free. He says, “I’m free. I don’t belong to anybody. I’m not anybody’s slave.” He says, “But voluntarily, willingly, I become a slave to everyone so that some might be saved, so I might have the opportunity to share the gospel.” He goes on to say, “To the Jew, I become a Jew.” Now what in the world does that mean? He is a Jew. That’s what Paul is. He was raised in a Jewish home, he had Jewish parents, he is a Jew. So why does he say to the Jew, “I become a Jew.” Because in Christ, he’s been free of all of the ceremonial and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, all of its traditions, he’s free from that but he says, “If by me not observing those rights, those ceremonies, if that puts up a wall and a barrier for me sharing the gospel with my fellow Jews, then I’ll follow every one of them. I’ll follow every ceremonial well. I’ll follow all of the traditions if that means I have an opportunity to share the gospel with my fellows Jews. He says to the weak, I become weak. What he’s talking about there is in court, they had a little bit of an issue. You see, some members of the congregation thought it was okay to go off and buy meat that had been sacrificed to the false gods. You could get it cheap. So Saturday night, you go over and buy a sack of ribs that were sacrificed to an idol, you bring it home, you have a barbecue, have a good time with your friends. Some people in the congregation didn’t like that. They said, “You can’t do that. You can’t take meat that’s been sacrificed to some false god and then use it.” St. Paul said, “You know what, it doesn’t matter. Meat is meat. We know that’s not a god.” But he says this, “But if that causes offense, if that puts up a barrier between us and being able to share the gospel, he says then, “Fine, I’ll forego the discount meat. I’ll buy the premium stuff if that means I can share the gospel with them.” He says, “I’ll become all things to all people so that some might be saved.” He didn’t change the message but he was willing to do whatever it took, make whatever sacrifice, be inconvenienced in any way possible because St. Paul recognized that every minute counts.

My friends, we need to pray to God that He changes our hearts and He changes our attitude so the first thing we ask is not, “How will this benefit me?” but, “How will this reach out into the mission field? How is it that I can willfully, joyfully, voluntarily make sacrifices so others can hear the message?” It can be something as simple as saying, “You know what, when I arrive early for church, instead of considering it a bonus that I can get a spot right next to the door, I’m going to park in the back 40 because I know guests, when they arrive, they arrive at the last minute and they could have a spot up front.” Now those of you, because I’ve seen it before, who have trouble, don’t do that. If you need to park close, park close. I’m just saying that’s a small thing. If it means, “You know what, I’m going to teach in Grace Place in the summer. It doesn’t work into my schedule. I’m going to have to jostle things around. It’s not going to be convenient but if that means I have an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with a young life, I’m going to do it.” “If that means I’m going to be a missionary to a new service that’s starting, like the 9:00 we have down in the Family Life Center, I may not like the style, I may not the time, I may not like the location but that doesn’t matter because if that means there’s an opportunity to reach into our community and share the gospel, then sign me up.” It means, “If I have to take a week of vacation and spend it down in Honduras ministering to people that I would never be associated with but if that is a means by which I can share the gospel, then sign me up.” It’s a whole change in attitude of saying whatever it takes, all things to all people so some might be saved because we know every minute matters.

The second thing about a mission outpost is this: A mission outpost shares in the blessing of the gospel. You share in the blessing of the gospel. What I am suggesting here is that our needs are met to the service of others, our spiritual needs and we are built up in our relationship with God when we serve others and we put their needs above our own. Think of the missionaries you have met, the missionaries that you have heard their presentations. In my book, they are some of the most spiritually mature men and women I have ever seen because they spend their life sharing the gospel. They spend their life making sometimes tremendous sacrifices but instead of that tearing them down, it builds them up in the faith. St. Paul essentially says the same thing. He says, “I do all of this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.” He says, “I share in the blessings of the gospel.” When you are sharing the good news of Jesus with someone else, when you’re reaching out with the gospel, you’re reminding yourself of what God has done for you. When you see the power of God’s forgiveness in someone’s life, when you see someone who is just broken, they are weighted down because of their guilt, because of their conscious, because of shame and remorse and you see the power of God in their life, as they recognize there’s a God who loves them, a God who loves them so much that He sent His Son into the world, when you see they get it in their eyes that Jesus came and lived among us for them, that Jesus went to the cross and He’s already paid the punishment for their sin, when you see the burden of guilt and shame lifted off of them, how can we not also have our guilt and shame lifted off of us as we’re reminded of God’s love and grace? When you see God walk along side someone who is struggling and they’re not sure what tomorrow will bring and you see how God empowers them and encourages them, works in their life, how can you also not be encouraged and empowered in your own life?

If you want to go deep in your spiritual life, if you want to have the depths of your faith enriched, then share it. You know the old adage, if you really want to know a subject matter well, teach it. Because if you have to teach it to somebody else, you’re going to go deep. You’re going to make sure that you know that subject matter better than anyone else so you can present it to someone else. If you want to go deep in your faith, then share it. Because when you share your faith, I guarantee you that will send you deep into the bible and it will send you to your knees in prayer. And your relationship with God will be enriched. We share in the blessings of the gospel. We share in the blessings of seeing God call people to faith or reignite faith whether as individuals or as a congregation, that we witness that. How can we not be excited? How can we not be invigorated by seeing that, all of a sudden, in the next moment, it won’t be 83, it’s going to be 82. Or maybe it’s going to be 80 or 70 or 60 because we can make a difference in the middle of a mission field and we’re a mission outpost. I know it’s easy to get discouraged and we say with numbers like that, every minute that many people are perishing, how in the world can we make a difference? I can get down about that, too.

Usually, when I get down about that, I remember a story. You’ve probably heard it but I still love this story. It was from the original version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s the story about the couple who are walking along the beach. Do you remember it? There’s a couple walking along the beach. They see off in the distance, there’s a guy and they can’t really see what he’s doing. They keep walking a little bit further. They get a little bit closer and they realize he’s bending down and he’s picking something up and he’s throwing it out in the ocean. And he just keeps doing it time and time and time and time again. They get a little bit closer, a little bit closer. Finally, their curiosity just gets the best of them. The guy is reaching down and he’s picking up starfish and he’s tossing them into the ocean. Finally, they have to ask the guy, “What in the world are you doing? I’m sorry, we’ve been watching you for 20 minutes as we’ve been walking down the beach.” And the guy says, “Well, these starfish can’t survive outside salt water. They have to get back into the water. They’ve been washed up on shore.” And they almost laugh and they said, “We’ve been walking on this beach for an hour. There are miles of them. There are literally thousands upon thousands of starfish. How in the world do you think you can make any kind of difference at all?” Without saying a word, he reached down and he picked up another one and he tossed it in the ocean. He said, “I made a difference for that one.”

We’re a mission outpost and every minute counts. But we’re a mission outpost one life at a time and we’ll make a difference for just that person. Amen.