Gather for Worship, Scatter for Mission: Sermon

Why I wrote this sermon:

This sermon was preached the Sunday before we sent 20 teenagers and adults on a mission trip with Appalachia Service Project to help restore homes affected by poverty or flooding. I want to give people a framework for understanding what we do and who we are as God’s church. We gather for worship, fellowship, and faith formation, and then we scatter for mission.

After the sermon and through the next week, people talked to me about how “gather and scatter” stuck with them and helped them understand their faith better.

May this help you and yours as well. —Jason

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3; Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 10:1-11, 17-20

Introduction

It may not seem like it, but within this very modern sanctuary, we are participating in something ancient – we’ve prayed for people and commissioned them to go out on mission to serve. That’s the tradition of God’s people. It’s always happened.

Some of the first stories in Scripture are of going. God comes to Abraham and says, “Go to a place I will show you and I will make you and your lineage a blessing to all nations.” Your life, Abraham, is about blessing others. I’m blessing you with grace so you can bless others.

God comes to Moses and says, “I want you to lead my people as they leave slavery in Egypt and enter the freedom of a new land.”

In the last part of the Gospels, we have the Great Commission, where Jesus tells the disciples, and you and me, “As you go through your life and as you go through this world, make disciples.”

And though the Great Commission gets a lot of press and a lot of attention, this was the model of Jesus’ ministry for a while – we are not meant to stay and just be a religious enclave unto ourselves. God’s people have always been sending and a going people.

You could think about it like this: We gather and then we scatter. 

We gather for worship and discipleship, and we scatter for mission. We gather on Sundays to worship and to build our faith and our connections and after the benediction we scatter out into Dutchess and Ulster County and live lives on mission.

When you leave this parking lot, you are entering the mission field that Christ calls us to.

So, commissioning the participants who are serving with the Appalachian Service Project in Clay County, West Virginia, is a visual representation of what’s happening every Sunday.

Hope on a Mission, Dutchess Outreach, the Community Day at Freedom Park, hot cocoa for the students, we may not be aware of it, but we are scattering for mission.

That’s what using your GPS is – it’s giving yourself to bringing about good in the world by using your gifts, passions, and skills. That’s being on mission.

And there is plenty work to be done. The field is ready, Jesus says.

So, as we think about our ASP team heading out, let’s look at Luke 10 and name three things that matter for them and for us.

1. We Go in Pairs, Not in Power (Luke 10:1-4)

Jesus doesn’t send them alone. He sends them two by two.

My old pastor in Mississippi used to say, “Jesus sent them to the highways and hedges, the hills and the hollers.” West Virginia has a lot of hollers and God has called many of you to go and serve the people there. He sent them together – for safety, for prayer, for encouragement, and maybe a little sanity to stay grounded.

Ministry was never meant to be a solo act. It’s shared. It’s relational. That’s true for the 12 disciples, for the seventy, it’s true for the 20, and it’s true for us. Nobody carries the kingdom alone.

Notice this – Jesus sends them out without power. They are not in charge. They don’t walk in superiority or with all the answers. They walk and are received as guests. 

When you go on a service trip, you are entering unfamiliar territory. You are entering another culture and someone else’s story. You are entering their town, their home, and their yard. You are on their turf and you are a guest.

You are giving up comforts and you are meeting people on their terms.

So you go with confidence and humility.

2. We Go with Presence, Not Performance (Luke 10:5-9, 16)

Jesus says to stay where you are welcome. Eat what’s given. Heal, listen, bless.

He doesn’t say impress them, but be with them.

Yes, build porches but also take the time to sit on them, to enjoy the people you are with. Ask questions of others. Be curious. Listen to stories. Laugh, pray, sweat, and rest.

The kingdom of God always comes to us through the faithful presence of another person. (Repeat)

We pray every week: “They kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And how does that happen?

It happens when someone shows up and says, “You matter. I’m with you.” It happens when someone faithfully follows the next step God has for them.

So as you go as God’s sent people, you do so, bringing a spirit of kindness and care that the people you serve will feel and appreciate. It’s construction and communion – being with one another.

That’s the heart of the mission – a helpful, faithful presence.

Remember, sometimes in prayer you are the asker and sometimes you get to be the answer to a prayer.

3. We go with Perspective, Not pressure (Luke 10:10-11, 17-20)

Jesus is clear – not everyone will say thank you. Not every project and not everything you do will feel meaningful. That’s okay.

When the disciples in the story come back all excited, Jesus grounds them a bit: Don’t rejoice in the power. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, it’s okay to be happy with the results, but better yet, you know that God loves. That’s your identity, and even if you didn’t get world-changing effects, you made yourself available and did the right thing at the right time in the right way.

We’re just trying to serve. It’s about being a faithful presence, opening yourself up to others, sharing yourself, and being teachable.

So, we pray not just for safety but also for softness. That in the drive down or back great conversations will happen. That when there is a break and you are drinking cold water under a shade tree, that you’ll have a sense of purpose and meaning, and a tangible sense of what it means to be a person who wants to create more good in the world. And that as your serve individuals and families, that you’d be teachable and open. And maybe you’ll do something you didn’t think you were capable of.

It's not about the outcome. It’s about the offering. 

So, we will pray for you and we look forward to hearing your great stories, which will make great memories for the rest of your life.

We thank God for you and we pray that you’d see how God is already at work in the place you go and in the people you meet.

And may God bring you home rejoicing. Amen.