This Monday night, St. Mark’s Goals Team will meet for the first time in quite a while. Our agenda will have three primary parts: looking at what’s been accomplished over the last year, looking at the growth measurements we established last year and working toward a set of recommendations to give to the Vestry. As you may remember, last spring we established five areas of focus: worship, spiritual center, communication, physical environment, and service. As the time for this meeting approaches, I’ve found myself reflecting on where we’ve been in this last year, how we’ve grown and what we need to do at this point. As I’ve done that, I’ve also been thinking about why we’re doing the things we’re doing. Why do we want to grow? For me, the answer is simple: we want to grow because we want to share with others what we’ve found at St. Mark’s. In order to do that sharing, we’ve done quite a lot of things. We’ve created our mission statement to remind us that we are living into our call to be faithful. We’ve looked at the needs of the community around us and at our own resources. We’ve built on the passions and talents of the people of St. Mark’s and—step by step—we are moving toward our goals.
There are some risks involved in meeting our goals. The first risk is that we’ll have to change. If we continue to be successful in attracting people to St. Mark’s, we will change. That’s what happens when new faces and voices, new ideas and passions come into a community. That’s a very good thing because any organism that doesn’t change will surely die. It’s also a very difficult thing because none of us are fond of change—even the changes we think we would like to make. If you have any doubt about that, recall the last time you decided to make a change in your life to improve your health or your relationship with another person. Change is not easy.
The second risk related to meeting our goals is that we can become so focused on getting the tasks done that we forget the reason for those goals. The tasks take on a life of their own, and it’s easy to forget that the purpose for our work is to invite others to share the gifts of faith. The tasks are important. The things we do to enliven our worship, to be a spiritual center where people can explore their beliefs in all sorts of ways, to communicate clearly with each other and the world outside our walls, to be good stewards of the physical spaces built by those who came before us and to serve God through service to each other and to the world—all these things are important. The things we do help people find us, help them feel comfortable when they visit, and welcome them into our community—into this part of the Body of Christ. These things are important, but they are not the reason people come back the second and third time. They are not the reason people decide to pitch their tent with us. They are not what people are seeking when they come to our doors.
Our gospel portion tells us clearly why they come here. Some Greeks come to Philip and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” They don’t ask to be healed. They don’t ask to be taught. They don’t even ask to be fed. They simply ask to see Jesus. That’s all. And that’s everything. People who come to our door will be able to see Jesus in this place—in this community— in our worship and in our fellowship—but only if we are seeing him also.
As we approach Holy Week, I invite you to be on the lookout for Jesus. I invite you to watch for him. I invite you to search for the one who loves us enough to die for us. I invite you to seek out the one who promises to be with us until the end of the age. Search for his face in the people around you. Search for his face in the children and young people who bless this community. Search for his face in the Prasad family as they give thanks for the blessing of Maya Jasmine. Search for his face in our headlines and our news stories. Watch for him in the streets and in the grocery store. Watch for him as you approach this altar. Watch for him as you approach the difficult relationships in your life.
Watch for him. And as you watch for him, look to see what happens in your life and in our life together.