“Where two are gathered in my name,
there I am also.” Matthew 18:20
“As he was walking he called out to
them, “Follow me! I will make you fish for people!” They
immediately left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:17
During the most influential time of my
faith formation as a teenager I struggled going to church, just not
in the sense that we understand “struggling to go to church”
today. I did not struggle getting out of bed or getting ready or
making it to church on time. In fact, I think I was (or could have
been) the poster child for every teenager and church. I was there
practically every Sunday and I was involved and I loved it. My
struggle was finding a place in the church. I strongly desired a
leadership role in our youth group (which eventually I was able to
find) and strongly desired to find a way to worship, pray, or
encounter Christ that was not a three step process or the end not
already laid out. The truth is what I struggled with most was finding
my own place in the community of the church and, let's be honest,
there is not a lot of room for children and teenagers in church
community.
Yes, most churches have their own youth
and children ministries but those ministries are more about keeping
kids occupied and out of trouble. Youth ministry is more about
teaching kids who to hang out with and how to have good morals than
it is about becoming a devoted follower of Christ. The reason a
majority of teenagers quit coming to church as soon as they turn 18
or before is because the church does not have a place for them. They
do not have a role for them to play in the story of the kingdom of
heaven so they leave to find a role in a different story, one where
they are valued and accepted.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that
there is no such thing as an individual Christian. The kingdom of
heaven involves the whole community not just the individual. Jesus,
himself, calls and seeks out companions to be a part of his bringing
of the kingdom. He chooses not to go about his ministry alone but
with others. He invites others into his community to be a part of his
story. He seeks them out where they are and they also seek him out
and they bring others with him. According to John's gospel, Andrew
goes and finds his brother and brings him to Jesus; Philip went and
found Nathaniel and brings him to Jesus. As Jesus gathers his
disciples others begin to join him whom he did not seek out. His
disciples, while focused on just twelve, would eventually consist of
others who would join him including: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Chuza,
and Susanna, and many others. In fact, according to Luke the number
of followers of Jesus would grow to seventy. The kingdom of heaven
does not belong to just the individual. It does not just include the
individual but the whole community that encounters God's great
kingdom.
As we see with Jesus, we find that the
kingdom of heaven engulf others who are longing to be a part of
something great, something epic, something that is life changing.
Throughout the scriptures we see moments when the kingdom of heaven
reaches out and gathers people from across the nations. While praying
one afternoon, Peter had a vision of a sheet filled with creatures
that were clean and unclean. The voice of the Lord spoke to him
telling to get up, kill and eat. Peter denied to eat anything that
was considered unclean by the Jewish law but the voice of the Lord
said, “Do not call what I have made clean unclean.” Peter,
puzzled by this vision, receives word that Cornelius, a gentile, has
requested his presence at his house. Peter learns from Cornelius of a
vision he had three o'clock, “I was praying in my house,” said
Cornelius, “when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before
me. He said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms
have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for
Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a
tanner, by the sea.” Peter then understood the vision, “God shows
no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what
is right is acceptable to him.”
Peter learns the meaning of the kingdom
of heaven, he learns that Jesus meant what he said when he would
gather all the nations together, that people would come in from the
east and the west, from the north and the south to be a part of this
kingdom. The kingdom of heaven does not belong to the individual, it
belongs to the community. The kingdom of heaven shines through and
overtakes the community, as the saying goes, it truly takes a
village.
I mentioned I struggled finding my
place in the church as a teenager. During my four years of college I
barely attended church. There was not a place for me in the churches
I visited. I remember once at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, OK
being told that if you are from Texas you are not welcomed at their
church. Of course it was after the OU and UT football game in which
apparently every Oklahoman decides every Texan is evil and
vice-versa. Still, that moment I discovered there was not a place for
me in that church. I discovered that for many churches in a college
town, there is not room for part timers or seasonal attendees such as
college students. We were there to justify new buildings and programs
but we were not invited to be a part of the story they were telling.
I would argue this happens to a lot of
people, not just college students or seasonal visitors. I think, and
I am not expert in this, the reason church attendance is down or
churches are in being viewed as declining is because we are not
allowing people to join our story. I would argue that we are not
offering them a role to play in our story. I would argue that many
see the church as more of an extension of government politics than
the body of Christ; and that story is not appealing. I believe that
many view the church as a place whose sole concern is their soul;
therefore we're simply about baptism and salvation and once those two
are done, what story do they have to participate in?
Making room for people to participate
in the kingdom of heaven is vital for the church. There needs to be
room for everyone no matter their race, gender, orientation, age,
martial status, or (dare I say it) their sin. The kingdom of heaven,
according to Jesus is full of both sinners and saints, of thieves and
sweet souls, of prostitutes and tax collectors, of pharisees and
fishermen, of the sick and the healthy. The kingdom of heaven is full
of people saying to one another, “Holy cow, how did you get in
here?” “Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” The
kingdom of heaven does not belong to one or twelve or to seventy. The
kingdom of heaven belongs to everyone and everyone has a role to
play.
Ministry done with others is ministry
of presence; meaning we are present with one another in the midst of
working for the kingdom of heaven. There once was an elderly woman
who was asked to serve communion one Sunday. She was in her late 70s,
gussied up the way elderly women are. She stood patiently as people
came up to take from the bread and of the cup. There was kindness and
gentleness in her greeting as she served. As the procession slowly
winded down, a group of gangly teenagers made their way rambling,
whispering, giggling, nudging one another—causing ushers to spew
numerous “shushes” while sorting them into an orderly line. A
young man at the front of the group stepped forward to receive the
elements. She looked up, her eyes pouring tears, as she held the
bread before the young man and said, “The body of Christ broken for
you, Thomas.” The next teenager approached she repeated the words
again and again saying their name.
At the end of the service, a youth
consultant meet with 15 adults who served in the youth ministry.
Before the meeting started, he asked the elderly woman about her
participation in communion. She said, “Many of those kids I've
actually never met before. I was asked to serve in the youth ministry
by praying for the kids. I'm too old to run around with them, but I
told the associate pastor I could pray for them. Well, she took
photos of all the kids and asked them to write their names on the
back along with a prayer concern. All of us adults trade these
pictures each week so that each of us gets time to pray for each kid.
That was three years ago. Every morning, for three years, I have
taken out my photos as part of my prayer time. I spend time just
looking at the faces of those kids. I have beheld those faces for
three years, praying for them and their futures. And then suddenly
they are in front of me, and I'm handing them the bread of Christ. I
just felt so honored.”1
As I said earlier I struggled find my
place in the church. It wasn't until I met Lacy that I discovered my
call. Thanks to the good people of First Baptist Rockport and the
good people of University Baptist Church in Shawnee, OK, I found my
role in God's story. I found a role that held meaning and gave me an
ambition unlike I had ever had. I am here today because of two
churches who made room for me, one as a youth intern, and another as
their youth minister. When we make room for others, when we share the
kingdom of heaven with them and give them something grand to
participate in, it can be life changing and life giving.
We are called to be a people of God,
not individuals of God and we are called to live life together. We
cannot tell the story of the kingdom of heaven alone. Let us be a
community where lives are changed and discovered. Let us be a
community where the people, before they take their seat, before they
pull into their parking spot, before they leave home, begin to smile,
and then as they approach begin to laugh, and then as they enter they
smile uncontrollably because they know they are at a place where they
are deeply valued, a life giving community.
1Adapted from Contemplative Youth Ministry
by Mark Yachonelli
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