To whom are we sent?

To whom are we sent? In Acts 1 Jesus tells his disciples that they will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

In his own ministry Jesus concentrated on Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem preaching mainly to the "lost sheep of Israel" - his own people. He did not actively seek to preach to Gentiles. However, during this time he became aware that his Kingdom would bless the Samaritans (who were contaminated by syncretizing canaanite worship into Judaism) and the Gentiles (see Matt 15:21-28).

As I reflect on Jesus' ministry it seems that our context is drastically different. There are no crowds of basically religious people eagerly hoping for a Messiah. There are some who might be called "back to church" and we should try to win these back. The majority of the population in Britain, however, are more like the Samaritans: they are comfortable in their consumerism (Baal worship) and do not feel the need to worship the Living God.

I have been preaching recently on Luke's gospel. Nearly every week we see Jesus challenging the Pharisees. These super-religious people were the stalwarts of organised religion in their time, but they "rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John" (Luke 7:30). The ordinary Jewish people responded to John's preaching and were baptised. The Pharisees, who thought they were good enough already would not submit to John's baptism because of their arrogance and pride. They missed out on the joy of being in the Kingdom of God with Jesus.

In winning back those who are the lost sheep, we need to embrace Jesus' understanding of the Kingdom of God. Grace and mercy, healing and forgiveness are more important than rules and status. I am concerned that many inside the churches at present are like the Pharisees - full of themselves and what they want, rather than getting excited about joining with Jesus in his mission to bring home the lost sheep. We need to be with Jesus praying for more workers to become active in the harvest (Luke 10:2).

Jesus' mission to the Samaritans was unsuccessful in Luke 9:51-56, but in John 4 when he exercised his prophetic gifting with the woman at the well there was a positive response. In Acts we see the Samaritans accepting the gospel when it was accompanied with miraculous signs and healing miracles (Acts 8:6-8).

We need to be out and about amongst the Samaritans of Britain with the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. We cannot expect them to come to us. Maybe as we get a few more lost sheep back in the fold some of them will become the missionaries amongst the Samaritans of our land?

Who are these Samaritans? I think they are the ordinary people of Britain who are in employment, who own their own home, drive everywhere, drink more wine than they used to, sort of believe in God, used to be in the brownies or the cubs, but have never been active church members as adults. These are people I meet when I baptise their children, or officiate at their weddings. These are the people who want Dad to have a christian funeral and who might describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious."

The Gentiles are an even tougher nut to crack. The initial cross-cultural missionaries were Jews. Paul and Barnabas were living in a gentile city, worshipping with Jewish christians and those who had converted to Judaism. As Gentiles came to faith the church grew in its understand that the good news of Jesus was the gospel for the whole world.

When Paul and his friends went out on their missionary journeys to gentile cities it is interesting to note that they always started with the Synagogue. They looked for religious people who would respond to the message of Jesus and form the basis of a missional community in the city they were trying to reach.

What or who are the equivalent people today in Britain who will be at the heart of mission to the Gentiles?

I don't know the answer to this question. And at the moment I find myself drawn more to mission amongst the "Samaritans". This is where I am seeing fruitfulness. These "samaritans" are the "people of peace" that I am finding at the MCFC supporters club. These are the the bulk of the people living in my parish. As we do our Alpha courses and establish our "new wineskins" (Cafe Church, cell groups, praise services etc) these are the people who we are able to integrate into church life. Most of them don't want traditional Anglicanism just as the Samaritans in Jesus' time did not want to worship at the Temple. But they know when they are worshipping "in Spirit and in Truth."

Maybe I should change the title of my blog to be "to-the-Samaritans" ??