Set Apart and Sent Out

"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'  Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off."       -- Acts 13:2-3

            My wife and I were having a discussion last week, and somehow we got to talking about “church language,” the words we Christians throw around that you don’t hear so much in the secular world.  Words like “sacrament” and “atonement,” “consecration” and “discipleship.”  We know what we mean by these terms (don’t we?), but often using fancy technical language creates barriers we don’t intend.  “Take the word ‘disciple’,” my wife said.  “Why would someone want to be a disciple?”

            That kind of stumped me.  “Why wouldn’t you?”

            “It sounds like you are going to be disciplined, punished.  It sounds like you’re a member of a cult.”

            “Oh,” I said.  “Like a minion.”  “Yeah,” she said.

            We have had discussions like this about the word “atonement.”  A beautiful word to those who have their soteriological Christology down pat (how’s that for some fancy words).  That just means that if you understand that atonement is about the salvation offered to us through the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross, then it’s a great, positive and attractive word.  A fine name for a church.

            However, if you look at the word “atonement” through the eyes of someone who is unchurched -- someone unfamiliar with the Christian message (in other words, the people we are supposed to be attracting) – then it is a barrier.  I’ve run into many people who have no idea what it means.  Even for those who do, it’s not a word people use in everyday conversation, doesn’t come up often in secular media, and for many it means something negative.  Like the disciple/discipline connection, for many people the word atonement brings up the image of being punished, atoning for your own sins, making up for your faults through suffering.  Maybe not the best name for a church.

            But here we come into the season of Lent, that time on the church calendar that brings together these 2 esoteric themes of discipleship (and, yes, discipline is part of that), and atonement.  To be a disciple, or student, of Christ is not a transformation into a mindless minion.  Rather, it is a commissioning which we receive when we are baptized.  A commissioning is a moment when you are set apart for some special task.  The commission we received at baptism means we are all part of the “school” of Jesus, each of us learning, growing, and serving every day in the ways that He teaches us.  It means we all have the responsibility to share what others have shared with us.

The eternal challenge of sharing the message of God’s love is to tell God’s story in ways that help people hear, understand, and respond to his call to become disciples.  That is the mission of all Christians – to be disciples who make other disciples (Matthew 28).  It happens in the way Christian parents raise their children, teaching them to pray, worship and live out God’s commandments.  It happens in the way Christians treat their neighbors, relatives, co-workers, and people they meet on the street every day.  It happens in the way we tell our stories of what God has done for us and encourage others to find the same grace and peace that we hold in our own hearts.  These are some ways we live out the mission of Christ and the commission of our baptisms. 

In Lent we get back to the heart of that mission and return to the grace that started it all – the cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus re-commissions us all by offering us the sign of his grace…the cross, marked with ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.  That cross is our badge of belonging to the “school” of Jesus’ disciples, pledged to deepen our faith and broaden our love.  In the time of Lent, urged forward by our discipleship we approach the cross of Jesus and the mystery of atonement.  The cross on our foreheads remind us of our destination.

This year, Ash Wednesday will be March 6.  You can come get ashes at 2:30 in the afternoon, or at the 7pm communion service.  The remaining Wednesdays of Lent will feature services at 7pm.  Our theme this year is “Lasting Hope,” with messages drawn from the psalms.  100 Lasting Hope devotionals are available one to a family on a first come/first served basis starting March 3.  They may also be ordered online for $3.00 each from Augsburg Fortress ($6.00 for large print). 

On Sundays of Lent, we are looking at our commissioning as disciples by demonstrating ways God’s people serve.  First off, we are celebrating a wonderful anniversary this Lent of a remarkable service ministry of Atonement.  This March 9 will mark the 10^th anniversary of the start of our Helping Hands Food Pantry.  To help us celebrate that amazing ministry, we are inviting you to participate by “doing the can-can” and bringing in 2 canned goods each week…

The first Sunday (March 10) we spotlight world hunger and the 30 hour famine that Atonement youth will be undertaking March 15-16.  If this sounds like our youth will be going without food for 30 hours, you’re right!  They will be doing activities and raising funds for people throughout the world for whom food is scarce.  The third Sunday (March 24) we will be highlighting the work of Lutheran Disaster Response, and the fifth Sunday of Lent (April 7) we will be looking at the ministry of ELCA World Hunger.  Opportunities to donate to these worthy causes will be given at each service.

The alternate Sundays in Lent, we will be celebrating special commissionings in our midst.  On March 17, we will commission 3 new Stephen Ministers to do special ministries of caregiving in our congregation: Detlev Aeppel, Laurie Chiaramonte, and Kirsten Westbrook.    These people have completed 50 hours of training and are committing to 2 years of one to one Christian caring for people in crisis and transition.  On March 31, our bishop’s assistant Khader Al-Yateem will join us to commission our 2 new Synod Parish Deacons: Esthel Kane and Rebecca Parker.  These people have completed 2 years of supervised training and discipleship under my guidance and have been approved by the Synod to be Parish Deacons here at Atonement. 

These commissionings are just specialized instances of the commissioning we have all received through our baptisms into Christ – to study and practice the ways of Christ, to follow him in the path of the cross, to be set apart and sent out for the good of all the world.  From the ashes of Lent to the glory of Easter, we follow Jesus, the apostles, and the saints of every age – we walk alongside all believers and hopers and dreamers and martyrs and missionaries and healers and teachers and preachers…everyone who believes that the world needs love and that God’s love is here for them and for us, for me and for you.  Come and join us on the journey of hope. Lent is here, and school is in session.

Peace,

Pastor Scott