“So a few months ago, I got to lead a team of Canadian pastors and denominational leaders on a Vision Trip to one of our offices in the Philippines. You see, we don’t do Mission Trips. We do Vision Trips. Because our model is a very decolonized model where we empower local leaders to find local solutions to the problem of violence in their communities.
So we don’t tell our Canadian partners, “Come and do!”; we tell our Canadian partners, “Come and see what God is doing in the Philippines – through our team and through our government and church partners and through your generosity.”
And that’s my invitation for us too this morning in Calgary – come and see what God is doing around the world through your partnership with us.
So towards the end our trip in the Philippines, we had the chance to meet with a group of survivor leaders. In fact, we met with the very same group of survivor leaders that you just heard singing on the screen. And as soon as we walked in, they started leading us in worship.
And they started singing this song, Jesus Strong and Kind where they sang the words – “Jesus said, if I am lost he will come to me.”
These survivors then went on to share their stories with us – how they were once lost to the darkness of the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children. This horrific crime where children are forced in front of cameras and abused online by western perpetrators for as little as $50 an hour in ways that I’m not even going to begin to describe in church this morning. This crime so dark that the youngest child we’ve ever helped rescue was 2 months old. This crime so evil that Canada ranks in the top 4 countries in the world fueling the demand for this crime. And this crime so prevalent that recent research shows us that half a million Filipino children, that’s 1 in 100 Filipino children are lost to this crime.
But then they went on to share about how Jesus found them – through our team of lawyers and social workers and investigators working hard with Philippines law enforcement to find them – backed by partners here in Canada literally funding the resources needed to go rescue them. All of this was mind-blowing.
But when it was my turn to ask a question, I found myself saying, “Wait a second – can we talk about your faith a little bit? Because we’re a bunch of pastors and denominational leaders and I think you can actually teach us something about Jesus right now from your experience in oppression. So please teach us!”
Now in hindsight, it was a bit awkward for me to say that because there were a couple of complementarian pastors in our group. But even these complementarian pastors were like, “No, seriously though. Tell us about your faith if that’s ok with you. We’d love to learn about Jesus from your eyes!”
In our Scripture reading today, we see a bunch of Greeks seeking Jesus. Now Greek people were people outside the Jewish religion. People outside the covenant community of God. People looked down upon as impure or unclean by Jewish society just like many religions and societies today look down upon trafficking survivors as impure or unclean.
And these Greeks in John chapter 12 verse 20 come to seek Jesus.
Verse 21 – “They came to Philip, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Naturally, Philip doesn’t know what to do in this situation. This is the kind of stuff they don’t teach you in seminary. Is the grace of Jesus really for these unclean outsiders?
Verse 22 – Philip went and told Andrew. And obviously, Andrew didn’t know what to do either. So Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And here’s Jesus’ response:
Verse 23 – “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Verse 25 – Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world – who love the ways of Jesus more than the ways of this world, will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Where I am, there will my servant be also.
You see, so many western Christians today are leaving the Church because they don’t feel the presence of God in the Church. Or they don’t see the Church engaged in some of the struggles for justice in our lifetime. So many western Christians end up leaving the Church while asking the question, “Where is God? And where is God in the face of injustice?”
I don’t claim to know much about life. But here’s what I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Here’s what I’ve learned doing the work of justice with the Global Church over this past decade: There are two places you count on experiencing the real presence of Christ – at the table and on the margins. The table. And the margins.
My sermon today is called ‘From the Table to the Margins’.
Jesus said where I am, there will my servant be also.
Jesus is at the table. His real presence is at the table. This is why when you’re being served the Eucharist, you’re told – “The body of Christ broken for you” and “The blood of Christ shed for you”.
I love something that your Pastor, David Harvey often says – you may come here one Sunday and not like the worship. You may come here one Sunday and not like the sermon – like maybe today. But here’s the thing: When you participate in the Eucharist, you will encounter the real presence of Jesus. And I am excited to encounter Jesus with you at the Table this morning. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.
But Jesus isn’t just at the Table. He’s also on the margins.
This is why when Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor”, he doesn’t just mean that people who are poor will be blessed. He also means that people who are poor are already blessed. Because God is already on their side – seated right next to them. And because Jesus is already on the margins – if we have the eyes to see him there.
Pastor Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Evangelical Pastor. And here’s the nativity scene at his church this past Christmas.
He also went on to say this: “If Jesus were born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza.”
Let that sink in: If Jesus were born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza.
Now, I know that this can be deeply uncomfortable for some of our western sensibilities – because we’re not used to seeing Jesus like this. But here’s what I want us to understand – to people experiencing physical violence and oppression, this Jesus is good news.
To children in Ukraine and Gaza under the rubble right now, this Jesus is good news.
To my friend Ruby, who I just got to speak with at a Vancouver church just a few months ago, who cried out in captivity, “God if you’re real, get me out of here” and was rescued by our team the very next morning – this Jesus is good news. Because in this Jesus, they see a suffering Saviour who entered into the world and experienced great marginalization.
Because Jesus knows what it’s like to be a victim of violence. Jesus knows what it’s like to be racially discriminated against. Jesus knows what it’s like to be a refugee fleeing violence. Jesus know what it’s like to be wrongly convicted and executed by corrupt government authorities.
Just like he’s present at the Table, Jesus is physically present with people on the margins. The question isn’t whether or not Jesus is on the margins – the question is whether or not we have the eyes to see Jesus on the margins.
Jesus says, “Where I am, there will my servant be also.”
Here’s a question for us this morning: Are we physically present where Jesus is present? Are we physically present where Jesus is present?
We’re all going to be present at the Table today. And I hope you bring your full self to the Table this morning.
But the beauty of the Christian faith is that we’re not just meant to stay at the Table. We’re meant to go from the Table to the margins. From the table to the margins.
Now hear me on what I’m not saying here. I am not saying that we need to be at the Table so we take Jesus from the Table to the margins. No, no, no – I’m saying we need to be at the Table so we can cultivate the eyes to see Jesus on the margins. And so that we can cultivate the heart to join Jesus on the margins by standing in solidarity with people in oppression.
But here’s something else that we’re reminded of when we’re at the Table receiving his body that was broken for us:
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world, will keep it for eternal life.”
We receive the body of Christ broken for us so that we can embody the body of Christ broken for the world!
Because we, the Church are the Body of Christ. And the Body of Christ was always meant to be broken for the world as an act of voluntary sacrifice.
Jesus gave himself freely for us so that we can give ourselves freely for the world that he loves so much. Jesus subjected himself to multiple forms of marginalization so that we can do the same towards our marginalized neighbours.
And participating at the Table is our reminder to be the Body of Christ to the margins.
St. Teresa of Avila once said this:
“Christ has no body on earth but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which He looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands. Yours are the feet. You are his hands. You are his body.”
Are we being the Body of Christ here on earth after we gather at the Table? Are we embodying the Body of Christ broken for us to this world that God has placed us in?
You know, as I think back to my experience of Jesus on the margins through these survivor leaders in the Philippines that morning, here’s what keeps coming back to me: The voices of these survivor leaders singing, “Jesus said, if I am lost he will come to me.”
“Jesus said if I am lost he will come to me.”
You see, when these survivor leaders were singing these words, they weren’t just declaring a future reality – they were also declaring their present reality. That when they were lost to the darkness of Online Sexual Exploitation – Jesus came to them through his Body, the Church.
When my friend Ruby who was lost to the online sexual exploitation of children cried out to God to rescue her, Jesus came to her through his Body, the Church.
That when these children were lost to the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children, there were people here at Westside Kings and at churches all across Canada literally funding their rescue as monthly Freedom Partners.
The Body of Christ broken for them. The Body of Christ, the Church, representing Jesus coming after them.
And here’s what I find beautiful about the Table – it’s this picture of Jesus breaking himself for us for the healing of this world. Jesus giving of himself freely for the healing of this world.
Are we embodying Jesus in giving of ourselves for the healing of this world? Are we dying to ourselves for the healing of this world?
We’re in a season of Lent right now. And Lent is about giving up our comforts, our rights and our privileges for the healing of this world. In a western world that is obsessed with fighting for, “MY rights, MY comforts, MY privileges”, we’re supposed to be the voice crying out in the wilderness shouting, “Take my rights, take my comforts, take my privileges for the healing of this world.”
Because THIS is what it means to embody the body of Christ broken for the healing of this world.
Are we living our lives in such a way that costs us something but is healing to the world?
If I were to ask the question, “Who here cares about Justice?” I know every single hand would go up. So I’m not to ask that. Instead, I’m going to ask you this:
Is seeking justice actually costing you something? Does seeking justice actually involve some element of taking up your cross and dying to yourself everyday? Do you love your neighbour enough to hate the comforts and luxuries of your own life? Or, do you love your neighbour just enough that you’ll seek justice for them as long it doesn’t actually cost you a thing.
Westside King’s – I know you already know this but let me say this again – so many western Christians say they care about justice – as long as it doesn’t cost them anything. So many western Christians say we care about justice – as long as we don’t have to give anything up.
It’s like Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler who believed in Jesus but walked away discouraged because he had too much wealth and power to lose by following Jesus.
Friends, this may sound harsh but I know you can handle it so I’m going to say it anyway: Christians who say that they care about justice without justice actually costing them anything aren’t actually serious about following Jesus. Because justice Jesus’ way will cost you something. Always…
“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
So as you think about how to respond to what you’ve heard this morning:
I want you to join your church at the table and on the margins. I don’t say this lightly but as an outsider who’s been regularly tuning into your services for a few years now, and as an outsider who serves the Canadian & North American Church at large, I get the sense that the Holy Spirit is doing some beautiful work of renewal here – centered around the Table. I want to challenge you to jump in wholeheartedly into this work of renewal here.
Because unless we are a people of the Table, we will not be a people on the margins.
Because unless we learn to experience Jesus at the Table, we will not know how to experience Jesus on the margins.”
Full Sermon Recording here:
It was so great to have you with us!