Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Mission Partners: Grace and Peace to you from God, our Abba Father, from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and from our Counselor and Comforter, the Holy Spirit. So shall it be!

On August 28th, in the year of our Lord 2005, Pastor David Goodine of St. Paul Lutheran Church, New Orleans was faced with a dilemma. Weather reports indicated that Katrina was, as they say in the South, “acomin’.” The Mayor was repeatedly warning all residents to evacuate. People were streaming out of New Orleans. The Pastor’s wife Beth, the children, and he were ready to load up and head north for safety. The Goodines had a car and the means by which to leave.

However, about 60 members of St. Paul either did not have the means to leave, or were ill, infirm, immobile, on heavy medication, elderly and in no medical or physical shape to depart. After some prayer and deliberation, none too long, Pastor Goodine and his family stayed to care for those people, not knowing whether they would all be harmed or even perish all together.

I shared this story of heroism last month with a few soldiers who live in my neighborhood in Virginia. In response, welling up with tears in their eyes, they said they could appreciate the sacrifice. They said they could identify with the sense of responsibility, the courage. But they were blown away (no pun intended) by the fact that Dave Goodine AND his family were willing to remain in harm’s way, by the notion of putting not only yourself but your loved ones in harm’s way. I tried explaining about the source of Pastor Goodine’s motivation. But, they, being agnostic, could not fathom what Christ’s community was all about, at least, not yet.

Yes, Pastor Goodine and his family stayed because of their keen sense of responsibility to those people in need. They stayed because of the love they have for them. They stayed because those people were part of their community of Christ. Yes, indeed God had them stay because of the strong bonds of community… Now Christ reveals to us in John 15 what His community is about. In verses 12 and 13, he says, “Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Now, in Christ’s community, in which He is the vine and, we, the branches, Dave Goodine, his family and we love, as Christ loved us. As Our Father in heaven sent His only Son to lay down His life, so was David Goodine willing to lay down the life of his family for his community of believers.

As you and I know and experience, people all around us are searching for community. They are desperate for attention, for love, for a sense of belonging. In this age of the ipod, tivo and videophone, they are desperate for actual, in person contact with people they can trust. In this age of transiency and movement from one community to another, one job to another, one school to another, they pine for any solid foundation. Of course, they actually yearn for the rock of salvation; they pine for the rock of ages.

But left to their own devices, people will find some kind of community, perhaps not such good ones – on the internet, at nocturnal establishments...Indeed, left to their own devices, people will find some kind of community. After all, what was Communism all about? Communism, as you may know, is a term developed by Karl Marx from the Old French word for "common" and based upon the Latin word communis, or "essential goods". It was thought that essential goods should be owned in common and thus shared. People searching for a good community. They were searching for a place where there wasn’t the extreme haves and the have-nots. The were searching for fair distribution of material goods and rations. They were looking for fellowshipwith fellow workers and compatriots. They were searching for a realm where much good could be done for many people. During the Korean War, my entire family, whose ancestors had lived in North Korea for perhaps thousands of years, fled to the South, fled communism. They were not so much against the general idea of communism – creating good koinonia, sort of speak, but against its fundamental flaws.

The fundamental problem with communism, was that the movement was unrealistic. The flaw was that it did not assume that sin is rampant in this world, nor did it assume that Satan was at work, for that matter. It did not assume that individual’s hearts are proud and selfish, as did free-market capitalism. Original sin was not a factor in Marx’s system. So when things got out of control, violence, harshness, was its answer. The rudimentary defect in communism was that it tried to do good things without Christ. Jesus says to us in verses 5 and 6 of the text – “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gatherthem and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

 Brothers and Sisters in Christ - Every worldly kingdom, empire or movement (large community) has its fall. And without Christ, they are destined to be just a blip on the radar screen, doomed for a takedown, a comeuppance.

So now we arrive at the community called the church about whom Christ said, “...the very Gates of Hades shall not overcome it.” Just about every major and comprehensive survey of the unchurched reveals that the two main reasons why people, new members and old members continue to stay at a church and not become another backdoor, side-door or even front-door loss, is # 1 – friendship or friendliness and #2 involvement. Friendship and involvement. Sounds like community…

Surveys say that within 30 seconds to a few minutes, visitors decide whether or not they will come back to visit at a church, based on an instinctive assessment of the parking lot (availability, proximity to the entrance, etc.) How much does this church care about the “community around its facilities? is the question and then the attentiveness of the welcoming staff is an additional issue, etc…

Let’s assume that this friendliness or attentiveness is there. As you know, the surveys reveal that this is not enough to enable the newcomer to become a long term member of the community. In fact, this member or participant will probably be a side or back-door loss, unless somehow he becomes a stakeholder, serves the community, grasps the teachings and values, and becomes involved with the community’s people, programs, caring groups, etc.

Fellow Mission Partners: We have seen remarkable acts of love and kindness through the LCMS and her congregations– the response to the tsunami, the hurricanes, the earthquakes. And many of our congregations no doubt are forming and serving communities, in Christ, very well. However, when you and I visit our congregations, it becomes apparent that many of them could be doing much better at forming and serving communities, nowhere near their full potential, in Christ. They could be more intentionally forming friendships with people in their community who are unbelievers. They could be stoking more mission involvement in their newer members. They could be loving more, as Christ did and does.

 About 3 years ago, I lived in a townhome community about 15 miles or so from the Southeastern District office. Our next door neighbors, who had newly become Mormon, moved in from California. The folks from the nearby Mormon Temple came to help every day. They brought in the chicken casseroles. They came to help unpack. They came to take shifts caring for the two young babies. They came to hold prayer meetings. They took our neighbors under their wings, giving them a tour of the community. As a practitioner of mission and outreach work, I was impressed. I was certainly not impressed by their teachings, but I was impressed by their attention to detail, passion and faithfulness to their work of building communities.

We have seen other religious and non-religious groups that do a good job of building communities. We have seen the strong bonds, loyalty, camaraderie, faithfulness they build – whether it be the NRA, Harley Davidson, or Southwest Airlines. But Brothers and Sisters in Christ –God has given the people of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod great gifts and talents. In Christ, we can do an even better job of building communities than those organizations or groups. After all, they do not have the Rock as their foundation.

When a week had passed by after the debacle that was Katrina, we still had not heard from Dave Goodine and the people of St. Paul. I wanted so badly to hop in my car and drive down to point out to the Coast Guard the location of the church. Eventually I figured out that my trip would have made more work for the relief workers, and so I stayed put. Pastor Dave and I finally connected on the phone after he and his people were evacuated by the National Guard. His first words were, “Jotham, we had a good time”. Yes, Dave and his cohorts had a good time serving 200 meals a day out of the church kitchen, without running water or electricity, but gas available to run generators, and water to boil available in swimming pools. He and St. Paul had a good time temporarily housing and protecting 35 kids from the neighborhood community. He had a good time hearing that people who were not members of St. Paul, but lived in the neighborhood community, were referring to St. Paul as – “our church”. And you bet he had a good time sharing the Good News to those who had become a part of the St. Paul community.

Christ has Dave Goodine and his family ablaze. Christ also loves those people “out there”. Christ died for them too. Now He sends us out Ablaze, as His Community Ablaze. I pray a Blessed, community-like, mission-filled Christmas to all of you. Thank you for your prayers, volunteering, financial support, encouragement and partnership!

- Jotham+

 
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