CHANGE THE WORLD, STARTING TODAY

This week was definitely one where the world showed just how “messed up” it is. So far the authorities believe that eleven young women, and possibly more, were murdered in a home in Cleveland.. A man who had lost his job is accused of shooting ½ a dozen former co-workers in Orlando. Suicide bombers killed dozens in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Then three dozen people were shot at Ft. Hood, allegedly by a comrade in arms, driven to this supposedly by the thought of killing those of the same faith, and people taunting him about that faith.

It was pretty easy, after a week like that for me to do as Cheri asked in worship and say to my neighbor “The world is messed up”. Thankfully, that was followed by “let’s change the world”. That’s what this week’s worship celebration was about, changing the world. Not an easy thing to do, as you can see, the world needs a lot of changing. Fortunately, Jesus left us a step by step set of instructions,

The Gospel of Matthew is one of my favorites. Not a surprise that a lawyer loves the book written to convince those into the laws of the time, that Jesus was the one they had been waiting for. Chapter 25 has a story of God sorting those worthy to go into Heaven and those not. A scary thought for those of us who are into God’s grace, the thought of our forgiving creator God, sorting us into the worthy and unworthy piles. However, taken as step by step instructions for how to change the world, it’s perfect.

In the modern, Message translation : these folks are worthy because they did any of the following to someone overlooked or ignored by society:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a home,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.

The ills of our world seem so overwhelming: hunger, lack of clean drinking water, homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, crime and a lack of hope. Then again, I’m sure living in a city of dying, poor people was daunting to Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. She began her career trying to serve God, not sure what to do.

What she found, was that her destiny was to serve those at the bottom rung of the world, those dying in the gutters of her city one of the most hellish places on the planet. She began simply trying to give one person a place to die in peace and with some measure of comfort. Her advice for changing the world, take baby steps on the path above. Pretty good advice, but even better when you realize it comes from a Nobel Peace Prize winner who you know as Mother Theresa.

So we’ll start with baby steps and beyond, but again, that’s what you have to start with. In 1982, Karen Olsen was a marketing executive in New Jersey. Everyday she passed a homeless woman, Millie, on the street. Finally, she stopped and bought Millie a sandwich. By 1986, Karen helped found what was then called Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN). By 1989, IHN went national, using the unused rooms in churches and synagogues to provide housing for homeless families. Last year, IHN, which is now called Family Promise, helped 45,000 otherwise homeless families.

Two years ago, Cheri got an answer that made the world look a little messed up as well. The Methodist Church wants to plant ten new churches in the Toledo Area. They have invested over a decade plus and thousands of dollars training Cheri to be a church planter. And to say people in power nudged her to plant a church, is a mild rewrite of the facts. So, Cheri, after a year or more of study, prayer and planning, proposed The Village. The answer from the powers that be was a resounding “NO”.

Now, that could have been that. Cheri could have just taken the next, safe appointment and helped another church do what it was doing. But she did not. We, her team, could have just taken this rejection and given up, but I am proud to say we did not. Our reaction, “well, we’re going to “be the church”, and eventually we will be called a church”. And that’s what we did.

Two years ago, a Christmas time, a group of us gathered, as the Village and one of our first acts was not a study, not worship, not even a social outing. No, we provided a Christmas time meal and a night’s worth of fun and entertainment to a group of homeless families thanks to Family Promise.

From there, we are following the plan:

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink – we’ve given hundreds of water bottles out on a dozen or so occasions to our community and we’re just getting started.
I was hungry and you fed me – we’ve fed dozens of families and hundreds of people through Food For Thought, Family Promise, and The Saint Mark’s Community Meal.
I was homeless and you gave me a home – working with Habitat and Family Promise, we’re working to give dozens of people homes.
I was shivering and you gave me clothes – we’ve worked with Hannah’s Socks and St. Paul’s Community Center, and will continue to do so, to gather clothes for those who need them.
I was sick and you stopped to visit – the Village is working hard to expand healthcare in America as part of Interfaith Worker Justice/Jobs with Justice.
I was in prison, and you came to me – well, we need to work on this one, but Cheri does provide pastoral care to a young man serving twenty to life.


But we’re just getting warmed up here. The Village has only been worshiping together on a weekly basis for a few weeks. We’ve got lots more work to do as the Village is about following Jesus and thereby changing the world. What are you going to do to take your baby step this week? If you need some suggestions, come to our events page, or better yet come in person next Sunday and check out the get connected board.