We gather in Christ’s name and celebrate the 169th Annual Conference in Northern Illinois. We are here in Holy Conferencing and listening to the word of God and giving attention to the world where we are living in response to Our Lord’s commands.

We are exciting and contagious people because in Jesus Christ we were touched, transformed and renewed as new disciples. We belong to a global community of believers that includes every sort of human being.

I awoke this morning with great excitement and joy because I believe our Lord will do good things for us! We are living in a world and a time of expectation—of miraculous expectation.

Mark 4:1-9 records Jesus' parable of the sower who casts seed indiscriminately upon various soils. Some seeds are eaten by the birds which see the seeds as nothing other than survival rations. Some take root but wither and die because they lack needed fertilization. Some are choked out by thorns and fail to produce. But some of the seeds fall on good soil and produce an abundance of fruit. Much seed has been broadcast. There seems to be little that has resulted. Yet the harvest is great!

Celebrating God’s Vision

My dream is that as we gather around Jesus’ table, our main speaker will be Jesus himself.

Mark tells us, “Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables.” (v 1-2)

Look at Jesus. He repositioned himself to face people with great compassion. He did not stay in the synagogue or any traditional place, but went out in a boat to teach the crowd from the lake to shore – relocating himself so he could see the people.

I've learned the hard way that repositioning is not optional when we inviting people into God’s kin-dom journey. Our church is faithfully in process of re-location physically and spiritually for changing society. As called leaders, we have no choice but to figure out how to invite the multitudes who need to hear of the grace of God through Jesus Christ. And if they do not hear us from where we now stand, we must move towards them.

It is important to notice that Jesus himself moved from where he had been to be able to be heard by the people. With a deep sense of compassion and purpose, Jesus called them into the beloved community of discipleship journey. But he could not accomplish this from his “pulpit” on the shore. He had to go out in a boat.

It is amazing that people in bold faith have figured out how to make things work when it seems impossible, inventing ways to get around roadblocks and dumb policies, creating networks of support and learning. Here we are God’s people who have a bold faith and gather together to dream God’s dreams and to offer common direction to Christ’s church.

We gather here these days to be with Jesus Christ and listen to each other through holy conferencing.

Jesus’ Incredible Hope

Said Jesus: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (v 3-8)

Even if the odds are against you, don’t give up. Not everything goes to waste. In fact, some of your efforts will yield results out of proportion to your effort. What I take from this story of Jesus is the incredibly powerful affirmation that you and I really can make a difference. No matter how much or how little seed we have in our hands, no matter the limit or reach of our capabilities, God will use us. That’s why we have complemented the portrait of Jesus’ invitation with this portrait of the sower. It is a reminder that we are called not just to bring our burdens to God but also to bless others. The work isn’t easy—success is not guaranteed. But the promise is that what we do and what we sow in the name of Jesus Christ will not go to waste.

Night or day, whether the farmer sleeps is awake, the seeds sprout and grow. Many of the laws of vegetation are known to us, and predictable. Yet what a recurring miracle it is that we can place seemingly dead seed in the ground and experience in a few days green shoots arising from the ground!

So it is with the grace of God, mysterious and invisible to our eyes, even like the sprouting of seeds in the soil. The gospel of John quotes Jesus saying, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

We need to hear that encouraging affirmation again, “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” What a wonderful promise of God is in our journey to Harvest 2020!

During the past four years folks from our conference have done pioneering work done in learning how to engage large numbers of people in growing our conference and its outreach. Yet even in the presence of strong evidence for how well these processes work, many leaders hesitate to venture down paths that they have not previously walked. Jesus’ boat is out there a ways from shore, but they hesitate to get their feet wet in order to join him. Some have had so many bad experiences that they refuse to change their ways regardless of their ineffectiveness. But we are forced to accept two simple truths: First: We can't force anybody to change. And second: No two people see the world the same way. We can only engage people in the change process from the beginning and see what's possible. If the issue is meaningful to them, they will become enthusiastic advocates. People only support what they believe.

Called to Make a Difference

What might we see, what might we learn, what might create together, if we became this kind of listener, one who celebrates the differences among peoples? I know we would be delightfully engaging our passions in God’s amazing mission. I know we would be surprised by the extent of the difference. But even in spite of those differences, we would be even more surprised by all our common connections as human beings and children of God. Then we would be wonderfully comforted by how much closer we could become as in hearing each other we more and more recognized our connections as God’s children.

Said Mark Twain, “In all my travels the thing that has impressed me most is the universal brotherhood/sisterhood of mankind—what there is of it.”

Ever the classic but often cynical American author, Mark Twain, puts his finger on a painful reality: In spite of the common bond we all share, its painful absence is only too obvious in many situations and places. In these places, parched and dry from lack of human love and care, miscarriages of justice and neglected stewardship that set brother against brother, sister against sister. Our holy conferencing turns us to Christ, the well-spring of living water, who nurtures a new life of true fellowship. Here we gather to plant our passion/compassion for beautiful God’s kin-dom future.

Brothers and sisters: Here is our call:

We must reach out to all who have not yet heard in a way that touches their hearts that through Jesus Christ God has declared an unconditional love for them. That’s our mission. As we carry out that mission, we dare not neglect the ongoing support and nurturing of each other as professing Christians. But out mission is not this essential housekeeping duty of caring for one another. That’s something we must do in order to have the needed strength for the mission. Our mission is to care for each other so that we are enabled to reach out to the millions who have not yet heard and received the Good News that they too are beloved children of God.

Our annual conference, serving this wonderful and diverse area of northern Illinois is blessed with opportunities beyond count for reaching out with God’s love. We may need to wade or even swim to get to the place where we can be heard as Jesus himself found necessary. But we are surrounded by millions of God’s children who have not yet ever learned that they are indeed God’s beloved children! Blessings and I welcome again to 169th Annual Conference!

Amen.