Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of those cutesy, church-lawn signs that try so hard to be amusing or warm and fuzzy to send the message that Christians do indeed have a sense of humour. I concede that the signs are popular, although I have never heard of anyone deciding to attend a church because of said, witty signs. Some are O.K. and cause a chuckle every now and then.  But sometimes, they end up being trite, trivial, or, worse of all, just downright bad theology.

But having said all that, there is a sign that has caught my interest, here in the city. It is on the sign board of the church where my wife works, St. Luke’s Anglican Church

“Jesus lives in the community. He only visits the church.”

            Right on!

             It reminds us that Jesus never sat in the synagogue or Temple waiting for people to come in to see him. He never held office hours. He never expected people to schedule appointments with him. He never invited anyone to come to church with him, although there are a few times he told someone to scurry off to the local priest to get their approval or blessing and confirmation of healing. He never counted attendance, although we know that someone in the group of disciples was counting on occasion, 5000 here, 4000 there. He did not base his ministry or mission in the basement of his church, hoping the poor would find him.

Jesus went to “church”, often, but during the rest of the week he was found in the community, rubbing elbows with the people, connecting with them where they lived, creating relationships with them by meeting them where they worked, shopped, and congregated, and where they were dealing with the daily tasks of their living.

Jesus was a go-getter! His ministry was on the streets. He was found on the corner of Front St and Main. He sent his disciples back out into that world time after time, even though it was risky.  “Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves… whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you… cure the sick who are there and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Matthew 10:3, 8-9)

                Jesus never ever put himself behind some sort of stone-wall. Therefore, the ordinary man, woman and child never ever had any problem finding him.  Compare the results of his type of ministry with the declining results of the institutionalized church.

            It should make you stop and think!

            Maybe, you’ll see the sign.