Seven Exhortations for Mission
A sermon preached at the opening mass of the 50th Synod of the
Diocese of the Holy Trinity, June 5, 2026.
A Biblical Pattern for Mission
The call to mission can cause anxiety. It makes us think we need to create some program that will produce results. Through our cultural business lens, we see the need for a business plan and a target market. Who will buy what we are selling? Mission becomes our clever program, carried out by our wisdom and labor.
We see a different pattern in the Bible. The foundation for the first mission of the church was a community of people hiding in an upper room, praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. No plan. Just prayer and waiting. When the Holy Spirit came, the mission depended on each member simply doing what the Holy Spirit called each to do.
A recent book entitled The Patient Ferment of the Early Church revealed a startling truth about the meteoric growth of the early church from the end of the first century to the beginning of the fourth. The church had no program for mission and made no effort to recruit members. What is did have was small, home-based communities with a robust prayer life and a connected and attractive communal life. They “did life” together in a way that stood in stark contrast with the surrounding culture. People were drawn to them—in large numbers.
You never know what God is doing. But we can be certain that it is something other than what we can see with ordinary vision and merely human understanding. The God who “hath put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble and meek” is always turning things upside down. From the standpoint of the kingdom, when we think we are doing well, it is time to “take heed that ye stand lest ye fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). When we think we are not doing well and are brought to our knees before God, we are closer to God’s power and vindication.
Seven Exhortations for Mission
I want to offer a few exhortations about mission:
First, believe in the power of God. Mission is not crushed by being small or by a lack of resources. It is crushed by a lack of faith that cultivates a bad attitude. We must believe that we can do all things through Christ, and that Christ can work through us. We must persevere in prayer, never doubting that God has called us to do what we are doing. Ask God to increase your faith. Pray, “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief” (Mk. 9:24). Remember, Jesus said that if we have faith like a mustard seed, we can move the mountain that is our barrier to fruitful mission (Matt. 17:20).
Second, be willing to be challenged to do new things. We tend to get stuck in unfruitful habits and patterns. These need to change. When the Holy Spirit comes to lead us into mission, the Spirit will call us to do things we have not done before. None of the original apostles expected to become world travelers and die for Christ in foreign countries. God may not call us to physically move. But God will call us to move in new directions and do new things.
Third, avoid the cultural pessimism that has infected many contemporary Christians. Jesus is Lord. He is in control, and he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25). Keep your eyes on Christ and the kingdom. Believe in your vocation to do what he has called you to do. Do not be distracted by pessimism about the world. The Bible tells us that the world is passing away with its disordered desire, but he who does the will of God will live forever (1 Jn 2:14). We are on the winning side. Act like it.
Fourth, do not think about how you are going the change the world. Think about how you are going to be faithful in the small things God has called you to do. Remember the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14f.). Your faithfulness in using your unique gifts is what God hold you accountable for on the Day of Judgment.
Fifth, develop the pattern of praying and waiting for God in your community. Develop a group, a Remnant, in your church or mission that is willing to gather regularly to pray, talk about mission, and listen for what God is calling your to do. Be willing to be redirected by what God tells you. Sometimes God has to change us before he can give us the things we ask him for.
For many years I prayed that God would send us mission minded younger people. I came here in 1986, and I received the most robust answer to that prayer in 2003. In retrospect, I realized that we had to be formed as community that was ready to receive the people I was asking for. So, God first changed us, then God answered my prayer. Be willing to be changed into the kind of community that can receive the blessing God wants to give you.
Sixth, do not be insular or self-focused. Do not be a preservation society. Under the guise of mission, too many of our churches are fighting to hold on to the way they did things fifty years ago. As a result, they do welcome and take an interest in new people. Our faith is a living faith. God welcomes us into communion with himself through our practice of the faith. We must, in turn, welcome those who are outside into our communities. Take an interest in and pray for the needs of the world around you. Welcome the strangers God sends to you. Do not just tell them about who you are. Get to know who they are. Practice biblical hospitality. Be signs of Christ’s love for others, as Christ is the sign of God’s love for you.
Seventh, persevere in the work you have been given to do. Do not be discouraged. The only way our work will fail is if we give up. “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13).
Conclusions
These are some of the lessons I have learned over the last forty years. I remember thirty nine years ago this summer. I had been at St. Matthew’s for about eight months. I was convinced that this was not going to work. We were struggling. We were meeting in an unattractive space in an upper room at the Community Church in Corona del Mar. I did not see a way forward. I talked to my friend and mentor Bishop John Cahoon. He told me not to give up, but to persevere in the plan and vision God had given us. I am glad I did.
I believe in the plan and vision God has given to the Diocese of the Holy Trinity. I believe in all of you, in your gifts, and the ability God will give you to fulfill your callings. I believe that God will bless our work if we trust him, if we wait and pray for the Spirit to come to us in a new way, and if we are faithful to persevere in our missionary vocation. I look forward to working together in our common mission in the coming year.
