CONTINUING THE WORK OF JESUS

Acts 1: 1-11

As the covered wagon rolled and pitched

Along the prairie track,

One sat looking forward

and One sat looking back.

One searched the wide horizon

For a bright and better day;

And, one saw the disappointing road

'Till it too slipped away.

As the covered wagon rolled and pitched

Along the prairie track,

One sat looking forward

and One sat looking back.

The danger on occasions like this is that we lose the focus of our worship. Having stated that, let me make some introductory remarks before I get into the heart of my sermon.

• Let me begin by echoing the words of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the church at Philippi: "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now." Back in the late 1970s when I had the opportunity to serve as Moderator at Blue River, preached in this sanctuary, taught in your Bible School, and led a youth retreat ... I learned to appreciate the commitment of this congregation. Now as District Pastor, I continue to appreciate your commitment to the Church including the Northern Indiana District. You faithfully support the ministry of this district through both your financial and human resources and through the hospitality provided in the use of your facilities.

• Let me also add a few words of appreciation for your pastor and my friend, Craig Alan Myers. Ten years of mutual ministry together! In a time of too many short pastorates, which leads to ineffective ministry, you are to be commended for mutual respect, commitment to working at differences, and the mutual support and encouragement that leads to this 10-year celebration!

• I began my ministry as District Pastor 6 years ago this fall, as the same time as Craig was elected to District Board. Over these past 6 years, Craig has served as both Ministry Commission Chair and Vice-Chair of the District Board, as well as a member of the Executive Committee. I have deeply appreciated his service to the District, which may have come at some cost to this congregation and his family. His understanding of Church of the Brethren Polity, his commitment to calling strong leadership for the Church of the Brethren, and his responsible follow-up to detail has made my job easier.

• I have appreciated both Craig's sense of humor and his willingness to dialogue about the deeper issues facing the church today. We may not always have agreed on particular issues but our commitment to Jesus Christ and the Church, and our mutual respect for each other's positions, have led to a friendship that I cherish.

• One more word of appreciation goes to Laura for her behind-the-scene support of Craig and his ministry involvements and for her own deep faith. I am sure there have been times when district commitments and pastoral responsibilities have competed with personal and family time. Thank you, Laura, for your support of Craig's ministry.

Now, lest this begin to sound like a retirement dinner or a eulogy, lets move on to the sermon and begin to ponder what God has in store for the future of this congregation.

Do you ever do that? Ponder, I mean. Robert Fulgham, in his book It Was On Fire When I Got In, (pp. 57-59) writes:

I've thought about that word ever since I came across it in the story of the birth of Jesus. "Mary pondered all these things in her heart" is what the Scriptures say. When you think about what the phrase "all these things" refers to, it's no wonder she pondered. Here's a teenage kid who has just had a baby in the back stall of a barn....Her husband is muttering about taxes...there's all this traffic of visiting astrologers, sheep ranchers, and angels, who keep dropping by with questions and proclamations and chorales. ... It certainly would give a person something to do some heavy thinking about. I'd say "ponder" is the perfect word for what Mary was doing.

It is in that spirit that I would invite you this morning to do some pondering - about your life and the direction you are traveling, about the church and its future, about what it means for the Blue River Church of the Brethren to Continue the work of Jesus.

Let me share a personal story.

In the Spring of 1976 I was finishing my studies at Bethany Seminary, considering my future while also working part-time for a church in Lombard. It was a warm April afternoon and the ice cream stand directly across the street from the church seemed to be calling my name. As I walked out the front door of the church and started down the sidewalk, I was confronted by a young girl about 4 or 5 years of age riding her tricycle. She rode right up in front of me, stopped, and greeted me with these words: "Hi, Mr. Minister!" And then followed this intriguing question: "What are you going to do tomorrow?" And then, without waiting for a response, she was gone on her tricycle, on down the sidewalk.

In that moment, I had no answer; for I did not know what my tomorrow held. It required some careful pondering. Over the past 20 years, my mind has frequently flashed back to this little girl on her tricycle and her question -- "What are you going to do tomorrow?" -- and to do some further pondering on my life and my tomorrows.

I would suggest that question confronts each of us individually and as a church, and calls us to do some important pondering: "What are you going to do tomorrow?"

According to Fulgham, "to ponder is not to brood or grieve or even meditate. It is to wonder at a deep level."

Permit me to share with you a second personal story, dating back to 1971. I was a senior at Manchester College...the Vietnam War was national news...and a Church of the Brethren youth from Elkhart County was arrested for failing to register with selective service. As I followed his story on the front pages of the Goshen News, I was led to ponder this question: "What do I believe in enough to take that kind of stand...to be willing to count well the cost?"

There is a second question for you to ponder -- What is it that you really believe in and would be willing to take a public stand for? Like the early Brethren gathered around Alexander Mack in Germany, considering adult re-baptism in a land where that was illegal, who were counseled to "Count well the cost."

As I pondered that question as a college senior, it became clear that for me the answer was: the Church - I believed in the Church then, and I believe in the Church today. After hearing God's call to ministry and having that call affirmed by the Maple Grove congregation, I changed my plans for an accounting career to go to Bethany Seminary to study for ministry.

One of the things that Craig and I share is that the call to ministry led to a dramatic change in our vocational plans. For me it was from an accounting career to ministry, for Craig it was from the legal profession to pastoral ministry. Have you ever pondered what Craig would be doing today as a lawyer? Couldn't you see him arguing for one of the presidential candidates in Federal Court? Ponder carefully God's call upon your life.

Our scripture lesson from the 1st chapter of Acts reminds us of a time when Jesus left his earthly ministry in the hands of his disciples. Hear again Jesus' final instructions, beginning with verse 8: "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

And then, "...as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?"

These verses in the first chapter are but the introduction to what we know as The Acts of the Apostles. For we read that they returned to Jerusalem where, first, they devoted themselves to prayer and then, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, they spent time together in worship, in fellowship, and in continuing the work of Jesus.

The early followers of Jesus needed to spend some time pondering what life would be like without the physical presence of Jesus. Was this the end or was this the beginning? Had not Jesus told them that he was going "to prepare a place for you" and had he not promised to send "another Advocate to be with you forever"? And they pondered Jesus' closing words: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

They pondered their future and then they set about continuing the work of Jesus.

As individuals and as congregations, we need to do the same today. Too often we wonder aimlessly through life, like the Israelites during their first 40 years in the Wilderness, rather than pondering on where we are going and where it is that we want to arrive at. I am reminded of the following excerpt from Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice has become lost and strikes up a conversation with the Cheshire Cat.

Alice says, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to walk from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where," said Alice.

"Then it doesn't much matter which way you walk," said the Cat.

"...so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough!"

As we ponder on what it means to be a Christian and what it means for us to be the Church, I invite us to reflect as well on our Church of the Brethren identity statement:

Continuing the work of Jesus

Peacefully Simply Together

I. Continuing the Work of Jesus

As we deal with the transitions in our life and ministry, let us not forget who we are or whose we are.

We are unique and gifted persons created in the very image of the Creator God.

We are loved and forgiven persons redeemed by the power of Jesus Christ.

We are renewed and inspired persons empowered by God's Holy Spirit.

And together, as the church, we are continuing the work of Jesus in our world today.

As we seek to be the church, alive in the world today, let us remember that it is not our work, but rather the work of Jesus that we are about.

II. Continuing the Work of Jesus

A second point for us to remember as we prepare to face our tomorrows is that we are continuing the work of Jesus. It is not as if we were beginning a new work that has never been done before. We are continuing a ministry that belongs to Jesus and was first continued by a small band of frightened disciples holed up in an upper room in Jerusalem.

John's Gospel tells us (20:19) that the disciples were afraid and kept the doors locked! But note that Luke reports to us in Acts 1:14 that behind those locked doors, they devoted themselves to prayer! And after the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Church began to grow -- 3,000 on one day -- as day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

The work of Jesus began to spread, beginning in Jerusalem and then to Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. That work of Jesus was picked up by our Church of the Brethren ancestors in Germany in 1708 and has continued in this country since 1719.

Today and tomorrow we are part of a church that is continuing the work of Jesus.

III. Continuing the Work of Jesus

And what is this work of Jesus that we are continuing?

In Luke's Gospel (4:18-19), we hear Jesus -- at the beginning of his ministry -- describing his work with these words:"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

In Matthew's Gospel (28:16-20), we hear Jesus -- at the end of his earthly ministry -- challenging his disciples to continue his work, saying: Go therefore and make disciples...

Again, in John's Gospel (13:34-35), we can recall these words of Jesus:

"I give you a new commandment,

that you love one another.

Just as I have loved you,

you also should love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,

if you love one another."

In Galatians 6:2, we hear the Apostle Paul reminding us that continuing the work of Jesus means that we will:

"Bear one another's burdens,

and in this way

you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Finally, in 2 Corinthians (5:17-20), Paul reminds us:

"...if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:

everything old has passed away; see

everything has become new!

All this is from God who reconciled us to himself

through Christ, and

has given us the ministry of reconciliation...

So we are ambassadors for Christ..."

These passages, I believe give us glimpses of the work of Jesus that we are continuing.

Conclusion:

Amidst all the changes in our world and the busyness of our lives, I ask you to do some pondering on these questions:

• "What do you really believe?"

• "What is really important enough for you to count well that cost" and

• "What are you going to do tomorrow?"

Like the early church may we ponder these questions together, as we prepare to move forward into our tomorrows ... continuing the work of Jesus ... remembering that what Jesus said to those disciples so many years ago, he says to us as well: "I am with you always, to the end of the age." Amen.

Sermon by Herman Kauffman
Blue River Church of the Brethren
November 19, 2000