A Vision for Christian Life:
Sincere Commitment to Mission

April 1, Lent-2007

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What is your mission in life? Did you know that you have one? Everyone has a mission, but that doesn’t mean that everyone pursues it. In some ways we are given a mission from God just like Tom Cruise did in Mission Impossible. It’s sort of like God comes to us unawares, and gives us a mission that we can choose to accept or reject. We can hear God’s calling to mission while reading a book, watching television, listening to music, in a conversation,… anywhere.

Regardless of our situation, all of us have been given a mission by Christ. You were given a mission whenever you said “yes” to Christ. For example, this morning we accepted the confirmation class into membership. They may not have been aware of this when they joined, but the moment they said “yes” to Christ and accepted Christ as their lord and savior, they were given a mission, even if it will take years for them to discern just what their mission is.

The word “mission” literally means to “send forth,” and whenever each of us said “yes” to Christ, we were sent forth. The problem is that many of us don’t know what we were sent forth to do. Sometimes it takes a while in life to discover what we are called to do.
It took Steven Bigari a long time to discern God’s will. Bigari was a West Point graduate and ex-army officer who moved to Colorado Springs to work for his friend and mentor, Brent Cameron, after leaving the military. He took over the management of several of Cameron’s McDonald’s franchises. In 1990, they faced something of a financial crisis. Taco Bell had introduced at 59¢ menu, and it was eating away at McDonald’s dominance in the fast-food market. Brent Cameron scheduled a breakfast meeting with Bigari to discuss strategies for overcoming Taco Bell’s growing competitiveness.

Sitting at a booth in a diner, Cameron said to Bigari, “So, what’s your plan.” Bigari had thought long and hard about what to do, and he suggested that they cut the vacation time of the employees, as well as other assorted benefits. Cameron motioned Bigari to follow him to the entrance vestibule of the diner. Standing in-between doors, Cameron put his finger in Bigari’s face, and angrily said to him, “You can afford to give up your rizzing-razzing vacation, but they can’t, so I hope you have a better plan that that.”
Bigari took to heart what Cameron said. He realized that he hadn’t been considering the welfare of his employees, and he was called to care for them. He had been thinking only of the bottom-line. Slowly, he developed another approach. He talked with his employees about the factors that limit their energy at work. He discovered that many were single parents with children, parents for whom childcare could cost almost as much as they earned daily at McDonald’s. He discovered that many didn’t have cars and were working several jobs. So he changed his approach.

He convinced a church across the street to offer free childcare for the children of his employees. He decided to find ways to help his employees improve their lives. He and Cameron offered no-interest loans to their workers so that they could buy things like cars and computers. He helped some go back to school so that they could better themselves. Over time, his restaurants gained a reputation for being caring and considerate to their workers, and people wanted to work for him. When Cameron sold him the franchises, he increased these efforts. Eventually, expanding them, he created a non-profit organization that he called McFamily Enterprises.

The result was that the restaurants turned around their situation and became profitable and progressive. His ideas emerged out of his desire to create a better business, but they also arose out of his faith. Faith plays an important role in his life. Several years ago, he sold his franchises, and has created another non-profit company to extend these same benefits to the working poor throughout the Colorado Springs area, and he continues to find ways to use business to help the poor (adapted from a February 4, 2007 New York Times article, “Thinks about the Little Guy”). You see, Bigari was a man who listened to Christ in order to bring Christ into his work. He found his calling in his work, and in it was a calling to create a workplace that bettered people’s lives.

Sometimes our mission is our work, but sometimes our mission is outside of work.
Larry Stewart could have told you all about finding a mission outside of work. Before he died this past February, Larry Stewart was known throughout the Kansas City area as the Secret Santa. His mission in life was to give away money to those in need. In 2006, he gave away $70,000. He did it in an unusual way. Although he was a man who gave frequently to charities such as the YMCA, the Salvation Army, and other charities, his mission was to wander the streets of Kansas City, looking for the homeless, the poor, and the struggling, and to give them gifts of cash—generally $100. Often he would walk up to a homeless man, or someone in need, and say, “Oh, I’m sorry, you must have dropped this,” as he thrust a $100 bill into their hands. If they protested, he would smile, walk away, and say, “Merry Christmas.”

He got the idea of giving away money early on in his life. Back in the middle 1970s, he was fired from a job in sales. He had little money of his own, and struggled to find another job. Running out of money, he lived in his car for eight days, the last two of which he couldn’t even afford a meal. Having not eaten for two days, he walked in to the Dixie Diner and ordered breakfast. Afterwards, he tried to bluff his way out of paying the bill by telling them that he had lost his money. The owner of the diner, Ted Horn, walked over. Then he dropped something on the floor behind him. Bending over to pick it up, he gave it to Steward and said, “Oh, you must have dropped this.” He had given Stewart a $20 bill.

Stewart never forgot this act of kindness. He slowly put his life back together, although later in the 1970s, after getting married and having a son, he once again lost his job and struggled to make ends meet. At one point, he bought a gun and seriously contemplated suicide. He even drove to an isolated spot to kill himself, but finally realized that God hadn’t put him on this earth to take his own life.

Later that week, he went to a diner, and after dinner gave the waitress a large tip. Seeing how much she appreciated and needed it, he remembered what Ted Horn had done for him. It was then that he conceived the idea of giving his money away. After getting a new job, he spent his spare time looking for people in the Kansas City area who seemed to need help. He gave $100 to a homeless man in a thrift store who needed a scarf and a coat. He gave $100 to woman looking like she was in distress. Everywhere he found a person in need, he gave his money away.

What he also noticed was that the more money he gave away, the better he started doing financially. Eventually, he got into communications, starting a company called Network. Network worked on behalf of Sprint Communications. In 2000, his company sued Sprint to get commission fees that Sprint had underpaid. Winning the lawsuit, the company received $60 million, and Stewart himself pocketed $5 million. What would you do with all that money? Stewart immediately started giving it away.

He expanded his efforts, enlisting celebrities such as George Brett and Dick Butkus to act as “elves,” giving money away to those in need. He invited others to join him in his effort, expanding his network of elves to include celebrities and normal folk. By the time he died this past February, he had given away millions (adapted from a Kansas City Star article, “KC’s Secret Santa Revealed,” Nov. 16, 2006).

Stewart was a man who listened to Christ’s whisper to give away money. He found his mission in the midst of his own personal crises. And he showed that real mission always grows. The more we give, the more we get. And the more we get, the more we get to give.

All of us have a mission, but not all of us seek it. Still, a lot of people do. There are a tremendous number of people in this church with missions that have done wonders inside and outside of CPC. Think about all the mission that goes on here and beyond. The prayer shawl ministry is one that comes to mind. So far we have given over 200 prayer shawls to people struggling with cancer, recovering from surgery, and otherwise in need. We have members involved in Project Hope, which creates tote bags full of necessities for parents of Children at Children’s Hospital. He have members involved in the Harmony Zelienople Long Term Recovery efforts to help people recover from the terrible floods two years ago. We have a member who volunteers for a suicide hotline. Another makes care cards for those in need. So many people are engaged in mission beyond this church.

At the same time, so much of what this church does is mission, and the mission of this church is your mission because you are part of this spiritual family. For example, our youth groups are mission. They reach out not only to youth in our congregation, but far beyond our congregation. Our youth group has changed lives of youth at risk. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Last week we had to get one of the church’s steam radiators replaced because it was cracked and was leaking water everywhere. One of the workers, a man who is not a member of Calvin Church, told me that his son had become a member here years ago when he had been in some trouble. But becoming part of the youth group, he really turned around his life. After high school, he entered the Air Force, eventually being sent to Afghanistan to serve on the ground doing security and reconnaissance. Today, he is a police officer in Georgia and is doing tremendously well. Part of his turnaround had to do with being a part of this youth program.

The drama program is also mission. You would be surprised at the number of people who have been influenced and touched by the plays we have put on. Many people, both in and out of the church, tell me that the plays they have acted in and seen have taught them about scripture and living the Christian life
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Right now our mission committee is preparing to engage the congregation to serve a mission program on the North Side of Pittsburgh called the Pittsburgh Project. It is an amazing program that cares for the poor of Pittsburgh in so many ways. The one mission we are hoping to get members involved in is a tutoring program for young children. It entails volunteering one hour per week to work with an at-risk child, to help her or him become better at school, with the idea that a better education can lead to a better life. The Pittsburgh Project does much more. For instance, when the city of Pittsburgh closed down a pool across the street, the project asked to lease it and run it. The City agreed, and last summer was the first summer since the pool went into operation that there was virtually no violence at all. The project is also buying a field across the street, a field that had been a haven for violence and drugs, and has created a safe zone. They also have bought buildings at a nearby intersection that is among the most violent in Pittsburgh. These were building filled with dealers and addicts. The project is rehabbing the houses to bring in small business and thereby build up the area. They have teams that also rehab old homes of the poor to give them better housing. They have a church of almost 100 worshippers, a church that is filled with ex-cons and ex-addicts, but that also has a few doctors and lawyers sprinkled in. Finally, they have a mediation team that tries to intervene in the midst of violence. They have a mediation team of eight members (most of whom are ex-cons and ex-gang members) that seeks out violent situations, especially those involving guns, and literally gets in the middle to try to convince each side to find another way to overcome their disagreements. I was told that a little while ago there was potential violence, and one of the mediation team members literally stepped between two people with guns drawn and pointing at each other. He managed to find a way to get them to talk and overcome their differences.

We are also looking at working with the Medical Benevolence Mission of the Presbyterian Church, a mission to bring medical care both locally and globally. They engage doctors, nurses, and social workers to improve the health of the poor worldwide.

The point of all this is that all of us have a mission, and our church itself is a mission. And the way we find not only our own mission, but the church’s mission, is by becoming a church and a people for others. Being a church and a people for others is what our passage is about. The passage teaches that we are judged by the degree to which we are willing to care for others in need.

Each and every one of us has a mission. And our mission is to find a way to care for others. So my question for you to reflect upon is, do you know what your mission is?

Amen.

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