21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you." 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyoneʼs sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyoneʼs sins, they are retained."
(NET Bible)
The Christian life can be quite adventurous and not as boring as many people think. For some their ministry does not vary all that much geographically. They were born on a farm or a town or in a city and they've spent their entire lives there. Perhaps for some people they have had one major move and that was it. I can remember several people when I was a pastor in Queensland that had not travelled to another state, much less overseas. Now, of course Queenslanders would say, "what is the point of travelling when you have everything where you live"!
Others have moved from place to place by mixtures of choice and necessity. Increasingly, the people of New Zealand are becoming more aware of those who have been displaced and sent as refugees from repressive governments and famine plagued lands to have a new beginning in a strange and foreign land which we call home.
So, there are people on the land, the jet-setters chasing a better job -- and then the refugee. People are moving around in our world, but what does it mean to be "sent". Jesus said, "as the Father has sent me, I am sending you"
"I am sending you" is a statement that will mean travel for the first disciples and Apostles to the far ends of the ancient world. The boundaries they would cross would be more than between countries. As Paul said, it would be boundaries between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, social norms between male and female.
St Mark has theme which runs through his Gospel of Jesus crossing the boundaries. [Rick Strelan picked that up in an Open Book commentary several years ago] That mission has not changed. Being sent, being in mission, is still crossing the boundaries and bringing good news.
Before speaking about being sent from place to place, it is good to get clear on this. Mission is more than travel. To those of you who are on the land and have a family dairy farm, or live in Marton or Palmerston North, or lived in Christchurch all your lives –except for a wild OE in the UK when you were 20—the term "being sent" also happens at home! It means being a missionary to your local community. It means being Jesus to both those disgustingly familiar to you, and the stranger in your midst.
Then there are those who travel. I guess I have been one. Betsy and I will have been married 40 years this August and we have calculated that we have moved on an average of every 2.5 years. Also I have one of those jobs where I am sent. As an Intentional Interim Pastor before being President I was sent somewhere every three months. Now going back to that position it will be a new place every six to nine months. Like seminary graduates I still wait in eager anticipation for an assignment. My next one is to a parish in Brisbane.
It makes our Christian lives much more exciting when we know that we are people who have been 'sent'.
People in mission both at home and on the road are given Christ's peace, his commission and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It is for God's continued mission to this world. All three parts are necessary: His peace, his call, his breathing upon us the Holy Spirit.
We as Lutherans especially link our commissioning as missionaries, as sent ones, to our baptism. Jesus gave his first disciples what is called the Great Commission. That commission has yet to be revoked, and it is linked to baptism. "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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age". (Mt 28) Here again is "sending" in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Synod theme comes from John 20 which says, "As the Father has sent me so I am sending you". Our Logo on the bulletin cover proclaims "Love Comes to Life". It is a nice phrase and truly has a positive ring to it. However, in preparing for this message, I had to seriously think and pray about how does that happen. How does love come to life and where does it come to life?
Sometimes my experience with congregations as a President (bishop) seems to be a bit counterintuitive as I don't always see their loving side at meetings! But I have been a parish pastor and know that the local congregation, and the ministries of the local church, are places where love comes to life. It happens in many ways especially in ministries of caring. My wife and I have experienced your care. Thank you.
Our text from John says that as Jesus spoke his peace to the disciples, and commissioned them, he then breathed upon them to receive the Spirit. Anytime God breaths on us there is life. We come to life, and the work we do has life in it.
Two people of talent can play the same piece of music. One does it flawlessly, but somehow it lacks that character which brings life to the music. The other brings it to life and to the hearts of those who are privileged to listen. I am not a musical, yet even I can detect there is some difference. Love is that way too. The (heavenly agape) love of God in our hearts leaves a mark on what we do. It has life within it. And with life there is growth. Love come to life.
"The Lutheran Church of New Zealand is a place where love comes to life." How does that sound to you? Is it a bit contrived? Do you know so much about some of the people here that you could doubt it could happen? Well, if that is the case let's look back at that portion of John 20 and see who is the principal actor in the scene. Is it the disciples standing up boldly calling on Jesus and saying, "here we are, send us wherever, we are ready"? No, that is not the scene at all. They are still just trying to get their heads around Easter morning and the resurrection, and they are still afraid that they might end up dead. Even bold Peter who had vowed to follow Jesus anywhere and die with him has lost all that bravado as his teacher faced the cross.
Jesus is the one who acts, and he first gives them his peace, then he gives them a call to go, it is followed by breathing on them to receive the Holy Spirit; then they are given what is called the Office of the Keys. That means (as I see it) primarily the authority of God's Word. "If you forgive anyone's sins they are forgiven". That also goes with "being sent" because we are sent with authority.
Police, Prime Ministers, Governor General's, are examples of people under the authority of someone and represent them to others. As Christian pastors and laypeople we are under Christ's authority. Being sent is to be sent in his name.
So, as a Church in New Zealand we exist here not in our own power alone, but in the power of our Lord and Saviour. His power and authority has been given him from the Father and he has called us to be his disciples and do the works of love here in our (really his) mission field. At times when we can be discouraged by our numerical size and lack of influence we can remember that we do not stand here alone. We belong to a larger Church, which in one sense is our larger Lutheran Church of Australia, but just as relevant are other Christian churches. Some of them have sent representatives to our Synod/Convention today. Thank you for coming and I know that you share with us what it means to try to live out this theme where the Christian Church is a place where Love comes to Life.
My journey with you will end in a few months when I return to Australia, but we know as Christians there is no barrier to the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace that we share around this globe. We have the one Holy Spirit and are part of the larger Body of Christ.
Yes, it is right there where "love comes to life". .... Amen.
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Rev. Robert Erickson
Lutheran Church of New Zealand
June 18-19, 2011
Opening Sermon of Synod
