Still in the “Prologue” of Nouwen’s, In the Name of Jesus, he tells about one of his mentally challenged parishioners at Daybreak, the community where Nouwen lived out the rest of his ministry.
Bill wanted so badly to be a part of the body of Christ. In Nouwen’s Catholic tradition, that meant Bill had to go to class every week to learn about the church. Bill understood little about the class. But to the class he went.
While my tradition is quite different—with pros and cons, no doubt—what Nouwen records about Bill’s experience has a great deal to say about the simplicity I long for in the church, and the simplicity we are called to cultivate in our congregations:
“Even though the long and often complex presentations and discussions were far beyond his mental capacities, he had a real sense of belonging to the group. He felt accepted and loved.”
Belonging.
Accepted.
Loved.
The church Jesus hoped would spread his Gospel is one today who is willing to be salt and light in our communities, not just another institution or organization, and certainly not another mere club.
I’m haunted by the opening words of Jesus’ public ministry in Luke, particularly because that is the text from which I am to preach this Sunday. Jesus could have started his ministry in any way. A miracle. A spectacular display of power. A brand new word. Instead, Jesus read an old passage of Scripture from the back pages of Isaiah. In so doing, he established what should be the mission statement of all churches for all times. From Luke 4 by way of Isaiah 61, Jesus said:
“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.”
So how do we in churchland go from that vision to talking about the color of the carpet or the shape of the newsletter?
