‘Get into the mix,’ Bishop urges

The character of the Bishop’s Ad­dress to Convention is both that of a sermon and of the state of the Diocese. While I welcome the opportunity to speak about the state of the Diocese, the best voice on this subject is already here in the reports that were submitted in detail and in spirit in your convention packets. They are a snapshot of a strong and growing diocese.

I will not repeat the reports. I will speak primarily this morning about the theme for this convention: “Becoming Bread for the World.” It says it all. Our focus today is about Becoming Bread – Bread for the World. And in order not to be too ethereal about the matter we should ask, “What does it take to become bread?” What does it mean? Or, how does bread happen?

Bread happens when we mix certain ingredients. There is a variety of recipes:

We usually start with wheat flour. There are a lot of wheat fields in this diocese, so use lots of wheat. And we use salt, butter, milk, sugar, yeast, etc. Mix it up and heat it up – and, voila! Bread. But notice that the items have to com­bine together in the mix. They do not make bread by sitting separately on the counter.

So the question is: How do WE become bread? We become bread by be­ing willing to get into the mix of things. To bring ourselves, our gifts — our souls and bodies (as the prayer says) – what we have to offer — to the mix. And all are needed.

As we read in Ephesians: “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evange­lists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” -for becoming bread for the world.

What each of us brings is impor­tant, more than we know.

To paraphrase Martha Graham: There is vitality, a life force that flows through you that gets translated into action – and there is only one of you in all time – and your expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.

It is not just about becoming Bread, but becoming bread for the world. That’s our calling. That’s our mission. It is a hungry, hurting world – and the time is now. We’ve seen the pictures, the human faces, the fear and the pain (in the slides that Bonnie Anderson has presented). It’s all too real. And, yes, we may not be ready and we may not be perfect, but the time is now.

Admitting that I am rushing Advent a bit, I offer the following from Madelene L’Engle:

God did not wait till the world was ready,
Till nations were at peace.
God came when the Heavens were unsteady,
And prisoners cried out for release.
God did not wait for the perfect time.
God came when the need was deep and great.
God dined with sinners in all their grime,
Turned water into wine.
God did not wait till hearts were pure.
In joy God came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
God came, And God’s Light would not go out.
God came to a world which did not mesh
To heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
The Maker of the stars was born.
We cannot wait till the world is sane
To raise our songs with joyful voice
For to share our grief, to touch our pain,
God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

It’s time to be out there, in our communities, our diocese, in the world.

Yet to be bread for the world is not only about being out there. It also means to bring the world into the church where we are. By God’s grace and holy goodness, we have the bread of life in our midst, Jesus present in Word and Sacra­ment; in worship and work, and in our faith community and fellowship. We can offer to others the bread that came down from heaven. But too many do not know about us. They do not know who we are. They may not know where we are.

If others do not know who we are and where we are it is not their fault. No other church or agency has more to offer than we do to fill the heart, touch the soul, to change the world. But we have much to do! Those hungry for the Bread of Life have to know where to find it – and that they are welcome.

We are called to act boldly – to tell the story, to tell our story.

Much is already going on: we find distinct growth and development in the Diocese and there is more to come. Look at the words that our Mission Strategy Committee proposed and that were adopted by Diocesan Council.

Hold on to these words:

Our vision is to be creative and compelling witnesses to Jesus Christ in the Inland Northwest.

Our Mission is to build dynamic, growing communities of faith.

We are talking about growth and development, about visibility and vitality

What this says is in faith: We’re willing to get into the mix. And it is already true all around this diocese: in social ministries; Jubilee Centers; anti-racism work, mission trips, steward­ship, our endowment campaign. It is in building our foundation for the future – RENEWING OUR MISSION.

More than a year and a half ago, and after three years of hard work and preparation, we launched a diocesan en­dowment campaign and as a diocese now have dollars and commitments of nearly $4.5 million. – money for mission that we did not have before the campaign.

You will hear later this morn­ing that after a very good summer, the been hard at work asking: How can we Become Bread for the world in ways we haven’t yet thought about and tried?

And this getting into the mix is happening in restarts of congregations that are moving toward new vitality. Let me name just two: Holy Spirit, Sand­point/Dover and Holy Trinity, Spokane.

And on the larger scale we have to be in the mix – becoming bread for world in the Anglican Communion. Is it what we are called to do? Yes! Is it easy? No.

And be forewarned: Becoming Bread doesn’t happen without heat (the bread must be baked).

If we are to give ourselves to God’s mission, get into the mix, from time to time things will heat up, both inside and outside the church.

And there is another element to be aware of – cautioned about. To get into the mix — to become bread — we can lose ourselves. To become bread is to be blessed, broken and distributed. It calls us to exchange our own agenda for God’s. To lose our own agenda (that’s what holiness is: replacing our agenda with God’s) can be scary and even pain­ful. To become bread is to be kneaded, stretched, rolled, reshaped — to be like clay in the potter’s hand.

To let go, to give of ourselves, to get into the mix may mean losing ourselves.

But wasn’t it the Bread of Life, Jesus himself, who said and showed that it is in losing our life that we will in fact find it. May God bless us and bind us in this holy process of becoming nothing less than BREAD FOR THE WORLD.