Our Shared Values - Growth

Last year, we spent time speaking clearly & listening deeply to one another about what the values are that bind our Cathedral community together. Who is it we believe God has made us to be? Who is it we believe Christ is loving us into becoming. From this came five core values, five things we believe Jesus dreams for us to love: 
Spirituality & Faith, Diversity, Communication, Growth, Service

This week, I'm looking at one of these each day through the lenses of scripture, tradition and reason/experience.

Growth

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ -- Matthew 28:16-20

There are two pillars of Christian practice given to us by Jesus -- the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

The first is the Great Commandment: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:37-39).

The Great Commandment tells us how to live -- giving our lives away in love to God and our neighbor (with the story of the Good Samaritan reminding us that our neighbor is often the person most different from and challenging to us). The Great Commandment is an invitation to the inward journey of prayer, worship and study and to the outward journey of giving and service (more about service tomorrow).

The Great Commission is the passage quoted above ... the final words of the Gospel of Matthew. It's called the Great Commission because Jesus is telling us that this life of love is not just for us but for the world ... and we are commissioned not to keep this Christian life to ourselves but always to be inviting people into it.

In other words, the Church is supposed to grow ... certainly in depth of devotion to Christ, certainly in depth of service, but just as certainly in numbers of the faithful.

Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple (1881-1944) said famously, "The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members." It is a wonderful rephrasing of this Great Commission ... and expresses beautifully what we as Anglicans believe.

As much as we are tempted to think about shaping the Church based on our own desires, the Great Commission and Archbishop Temple's wisdom remind us different. We do not exist for ourselves. Every decision we make should not be based on our own comfort or desire but on answering the questions "how will this love the world outside this church better?" and "how will this bring the world that does not know Jesus closer to Jesus?"

When we claim growth as a value, we are committing ourselves to a life of change ... because every time the community expands, it will change. When we claim growth as a value, we are committing ourselves not to worshipping the liturgy or whatever "the way we've always done things" is, but instead we are committing ourselves to giving away power to the newcomer, and sharing our stories with the stranger.

This kind of change can be scary. After all, what attracts many of us to church is its familiarity. The very word we use to describe our worship space -- sanctuary -- speaks of a safe place where we cannot be touched. And yet, if we are to grow, by definition we must embrace this change ... even without knowing precisely what it will be or where it will lead.

But that's OK ... because what we do know is this. That Jesus didn't just give us the Great Commission and leave. He gave us the Great Commission and ended it with a promise: "Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Amidst all the change, that is one thing that will never change. And that has always and will always make all the difference.

As we prepare for our annual meeting and conversations next Sunday, think about this:

Why is growth important to you? To us?

What are the opportunities for us to embody growth today and in the future?

Tomorrow: Service.

See you Sunday!