Steven Croft who has just become Bishop of Sheffield after a 5 year period leading the Fresh Expressions initiative for the Church of England and Methodist Churches has reflected on his work in a short book called Jesus’s People, What the Church should do next..  In a section which looks at whether the church should be concerned with its own self-interest or with saving the world he noted that for some Christians, Church was a personal thing which caters for their own particular need.  He illustrates what he means by an example from a YouTube Video which you can access via the internet.

If you go onto YouTube and type in ‘myChurch’  you will come across a series of amusing videos which portray a Church geared entirely to one’s personal needs and desires. The Video is called meChurch.  It takes the form of a spoof advert in which  a series of people say what sort of Church they want and it is immediately granted to them.

So the lady who has had a busy week and on Sunday is so tired that what she wants is a Church service which only begins when she arrives can have her wish granted at iChurch.  The lady who would like the Vicar to call round a deliver his sermon rather than her having to go to Church to hear it finds him knocking on the door.  A couple with a small baby say that they want a church that when the baby makes a lot of noise they aren’t meant to feel like the bad guys.  The Camera pans to an empty church and the response comes  - say no more. If your toddler is screaming, you stay seated and the others can leave.  And so it goes on – people ask for all sorts of things and the iChurch will deliver because, as the advert ends it says – whatever you need, we’ll get for you because at iChurch its all about YOU

Steven Croft says  that it is very natural for us to think – What will I receive and gain from belonging  to a Church because  our focus in a consumer society is much more on what we might gain than what we might have to offer and contribute.  Whilst it is very important that our needs are met in worship which engages us; in good teaching which educates and challenges us and in  fellowship which makes us feel we belong,  we can’t expect the Church to simply mould itself into our own particular and personal needs or it will simply become the iChurch of the YouTube advert – totally centred on what ‘I’ want. 

A Christianity  which fits into our image and which allows us to think only of ourselves is a long way from the Christianity you meet in the New Testament.  There you will find a Church which reaches out to others – that calls the faithful to discipleship in a co-operative proclamation of the Gospel to a world which is in need of salvation. An authentic Church is always seeking how to serve others.

It may not be immediately obvious that today’s Epistle is about Paul asking the Christian Community in Corinth to dig deep into their pockets and give money for the Church in Jerusalem which is operating under considerable difficulty.  Praising them for their spiritual gifts Paul asks them to take an extra step and he reminds them of the generosity of Jesus who gave everything for us.  This is all about Paul’s famous Collection  in which he asks all the churches he has founded to become generous toward the Jerusalem Church. His appeal is that the Christian Community shouldn’t keep the good things Jesus has given for themselves but out of gratitude to God they should reach out to others.

It sometimes seems that the Church today is divided into  two kinds of Churches.  There are the Churches which can be called ‘gathered’ churches who exist only for those who gather together Sunday by Sunday and whose purpose is to bring more and more people through their doors for a worship experience which concentrates on the individual.  The emphasis is on personal salvation and on a collective worship which emphasises this.  Lots of our hymns and praise songs concentrate on this – the word ‘’I” is the most common word in them.   The favourite song in such churches might be something like I really want to worship you my Lord (You laid aside your majesty) –a song I like very much and find personally uplifting.  The other kind of Church concentrates on the Society outside and preaches what is called a ‘Social’ Gospel which seeks to improve not the personal life of the individual worshipper but rather the society around them.  In the one there is an absolute concentration on bringing the believer into the ‘fold’ of Christ’s Kingdom which demands a purity from all that taints in the outside world.  The other is concerned with improving the lot of society by engaging with its structures be they schools or workplaces or town councils or third world charities.  The favourite Hymn of this sort of Church might be ‘We have a Gospel to proclaim’  - again, a hymn I also like.  The truth is, of course, that both these are caricatures of the Church as it ought to be because both are necessary if the Church is to be authentic. 

If we could just go back a few verses from today’s Gospel we would meet the demon-possessed man whom Jesus released by turning the unclean spirits out of him and transferring them to a herd of swine who then rushed headlong over the cliff top.  In this encounter with Jesus, the man was personally saved and you might therefore put him into the first sort of church I mentioned.  But after he was cured, Mark tells us that the man returned home and, as Jesus had directed him, he proclaimed how much Jesus had done for him.  That might put him into the second kind of church.  Of course, the truth is that he is in both kinds of churches because Personal Salvation and Community Proclamation go hand in hand.

There is a rhythm of life in an authentic church which is about being gathered together to be with God and then sent out to proclaim Him in the world.  In the Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to share His life and so grow close to God through a realisation that we are personally saved.  However, Jesus has another purpose in calling his disciples to personal salvation.  Secure in the knowledge of their own special place in God’s heart they are sent out to share his saving love with others.  In Mark 3:14 we read of Jesus calling the first disciples – those whom he wanted­ who came to him ­ and immediately he sent them out  to proclaim the message.  In Luke 10 Jesus sent out 70 of his followers to proclaim to Kingdom of God and at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel – Chapter 28: 19 he gave his followers the ‘Great Commission’ to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Trinity.  The Commission is to proclaim Jesus to the world – to Society at large.

This rhythm of being gathered and being sent out is at the heart of what the Church of England seeks to do.  Because we are the National Church we have many opportunities to work within the structures of society as the leaven in the lump – to be engaged with that society at all sorts of levels- schools, community groups, local charities, town and district councils, hospitals, prisons, and so much more and to bring God’s saving love to many situations.  In order to do this we are gathered, Sunday by Sunday and daily if we wish, so that we are fed and nourished with God’s word, with the Sacrament of the Eucharist, through corporate praying and singing in a worship which concentrates our hearts, minds and souls on God from whom we, like the first disciples, draw our strength, inspiration and vision.  We are gathered and sent out, week after week to witness in the world to God’s holiness, mercy, justice, freedom and love.  Because, as the Established Church, we are uniquely placed to do this then there is a great responsibility placed upon us and that is true of us here.

Part of our Vision Statement is that,

"using the gifts we have been given and the building we have inherited, we will create new opportunities for serving our community and so proclaim Christ and His Kingdom.”  We also said that , our vision is to respond to God’s love and live our lives in ways that will attract people to Christ.

Here is that rhythm of sharing our personal and corporate experience of God’s love with others as we serve our community.  This is also what is behind our Vision to build onto our Church new facilities to equip us for our 21^st Mission.

This building is already a focus for much of our ministry and missionary outreach.  It is here that the Jairus’s of our modern world can come in their need and seek, prayerfully, the healing love of Christ in times of personal tragedy or need.  Here the people without hope can come and, as it were, touch the hem of Christ’s garment and find their lives changed as they are freed from what holds them back from a whole and holy life.  Here too, others come, maybe for other reasons – a concert, a school visit, a civic service, a fellowship meeting, an art society exhibition, a Christmas Tree Festival; a service of Remembrance; a cup of coffee on market day, a place where young babies are welcomed and fellowship and simple worship is offered.  Here the big events of life are surrounded by prayer – birth, marriage, death.  So much happens in this centre of community life – and every time someone comes into this place – for whatever purpose – God surely touches their lives – holds out His love to them.

This weekend we are thinking of those who offer themselves for ministry as a fulfilment of their personal vocation but we also should be thinking of our vocation as a Church.  What is our ministry and mission to the society we are called to serve? What do we need to fulfil that mission?  A personal sense of God’s saving love for each one of us and as a faith community – certainly – but also a desire to reach out to others, using the gifts God has given us – including the Gift of this Church building as well as our own personal gifts and insights.

People tell me that perhaps our Vision to equip this building with new facilities, whilst a desire, is also a huge undertaking and a daunting prospect.  Of course it is, but if we really believe that St. John’s has something vital and important to offer those to whom we have a responsibility under God  to proclaim His love for them, then we shall have the determination to make our dream come true because it is an essential part of our vocation as a Church.

So let St. Paul have the last words –from today’s epistle:

Remembering that the context of all we do is our response to the generous love of Jesus Christ who for our sakes gave, and goes on, giving everything-

St Paul challenges us:

“It is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something – now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.”