Bono once said this in an interview.
"Stop asking God to bless what we do and instead find out what God is doing because that is already blessed."
That's the language of the Missio Dei.
It's a kind of clue to where Jesus really is working in the world today.
Last week I sat down for a chat with one of our former homeless people who we managed to get housed, and is doing really well now. At one stage he was so desperate for a home, but praise God he now has one. He was so desperate for a family, he now has one. He was was so desperate for a saviour, he always had one. He just didn't know it. As we were talking, he was a bit fretful because Dawn and I are leaving to move to London. I put his mind at rest by talking up the new guys coming to take over from Dawn and I and reassuring him that he would be well looked after. We got around to reminiscing about a little procedure that we put in place a long time ago, especially relating to some debt he had on a service charge at the place we have managed to get him into. I was so tempted to just pay it for him, but I felt in my spirit that he needed to do it. Someone had given him one of those ultra cheesy WWJD bracelets and he never took it off. He was seriously worried about this money he owed and knew if he built up any more debt he would be kicked out of the room he lives in. His trouble was that alcohol, and paying the service charge, were constantly battling, and the alcohol was winning every time. So, as we were talking this particular time, and just as I was about to give in to my soft side and sort it for him, my eye caught a glimpse of his WWJD bracelet. So I asked him to look at it. I asked him what it meant. He replied, "What would Jesus do? So I asked him what do you think Jesus would do in is situation Mate? He relied, "Do the right thing."
And.
Miraculously.
In the simplicity of that moment.
Something shifted.
He managed to pay off his service charge.
Somehow.
It took a while, but every time I met him, I began to ask him what would Jesus do? He would always reply, "Do the right thing."
To this day this little spiritual mechanism has helped this guy to move forward in many areas of his life.
When thinking about this?
I guess the relationship I built with this guy connected with the work Jesus was doing and still is doing in this guys life. Just as he is working in my own life. And every body else's life for that matter.
Bono's words seemed wise.
"Stop asking God to bless what we do, and instead find out what God is doing because that is already blessed."
My heart led me to Ezekiel 37.
The valley of the dry bones.
And I have been reflecting on our five years here in Durham.
I guess I'm bound to seeing as I'm leaving.
I pictured the almost derelict hall in Saddler Street Durham. I gazed into the first week at Sacriston, a Corps that had been told it was about to close but had won a reprieve. I pictured the hall that looked like a lavish memorial to Salvationism. A memorial that was unwelcoming and had absolutely no chance of connecting with the world. I saw the small group of bedraggled people sitting in the hall that first Sunday. They'd been whittled down to just a few through years of decline. I could feel the vibes coming off them thinking "Who are these officers? They must have done something wrong to be sent here? I pictured the plants growing out of the gutters on the outside shouting out to people on the street "There's no one at home!" Dawn and I both cried when we saw it.
But.
What we saw was the valley of dry bones.
We knew from attempting to plant a church in Liverpool that there were some facts that we had to understand.
Fact 1: The hard sell evangelistic approach to spreading the word, is dead.
Fact 2: You can't put new wine in an old skin. (Oh and that's biblical!)
Fact 3: Deep change, not incremental change, has to happen for the Salvation Army to move forward and I'm talking spiritually.
Fact 4: love, and loving people is the main thing.
Fact 5: Seriously building relationships with the whosoever is essential.
Fact 5: Acceptance, love and compassion are needed.
Fact 5: Jesus is already working in the lives of ourselves and others.
So, here we were in our first days in Durham faced with a demoralised tiny congregation at Sacriston. A rapidly deteriorating hall complete with damp and mice. At Durham we were asked to look at a derelict hall in a seriously austere city dominated by a thousand years of traditionalism regarding the church, oh and a bit of damp and not mice but rats!
It was a valley of dry bones.
A dead place.
We were a bit overwhelmed and even though we were armed with a serious vision to build a house of prayer? A brand new Salvation Army Corps on one hand and revive a dying Corps on the other? The strange little voices screamed in our heads, "No chance guys."
But.
The one thing that we understood was that Jesus was already at work.
So whatever death was knocking about.
He is the life giver.
So the first thing we did is pray.
The second thing we did from the bedrock of prayer, was set about trying to find out where Jesus was. And of course he was busy knocking on the door of people's lives. So we followed suit.
And eventually we heard a rattling sound.
The homeless guy, asking himself the little question, "What would Jesus do?" And then responding to himself, "Do the right thing!" That's the rattling sound of life being breathed into the spiritually dead.
I guess Jesus doesn't care too much for maintaining a tradition.
He really doesn't. (He spends half the New Testament trying to smash them!)
He doesn't care for strategies and structures.
He really doesn't.
He doesn't care which version of the bible we prefer.
He really doesn't.
There is so much he must get frustrated with.
But that's us sometimes, we like to create the perfect church don't we?
But.
I believe he cares about us.
He cares about using us to reach others.
I believe he cares about every life.
I believe he is working in the human race.
To save it.
From sin, from itself, and from missing out on the wonder of his friendship.
To breathe life into this world.
And I've glimpsed that life.
As we draw to a close of our ministry at Sanctuary 21, a place where Dawn and I have been involved in from scratch. We would want to give God all the glory.
All we've done is work hard to try to find out and be where God is and try to be his open arms to the whosoever.
And there is life now in Sacriston and Durham. Many people at Durham have been drawn to that life. Sacriston has a completely new congregation that is growing and spiritually vibrant.
An Army has risen from the ashes of decline.
And I can safely say we've found him in the lives of the lost and the broken. In the streets, in the dark doorways, in the broken down Salvation Army Corps, in the derelict building, in the demoralised group of Salvationists, sitting with the Alcoholics and the drug addicts, the homeless, the lonely, in the lifelessness of the lost.
Anyone who doubts that God can bring hope from lifelessness, well I can testify he is on the worlds case, he's on your case too! He's on mine!
Open your ears, open your heart.
You will hear the rattling.
The life that will give rise to a mighty Army.
So.
In the words of Bono.
""Stop asking God to bless what we do and instead find out what God is doing because that is already blessed."
Blessings guys.
