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Posted: 12/16/2007

	The Church and the Nations

EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11 How would you paraphrase the question that John the Baptist asked? Here are a few possibilities: "How do we know you are the Messiah?" "What can you show for your Kingdom?" "Why don't we see compelling evidence that you are the long-awaited King?" And perhaps even this, "Are you not going to get me released from jail?" Jesus gives an unequivocal response. His answer brings immediately to mind the 35th chapter of Isaiah. The list Jesus gives of His miracles matches the list Isaiah gives of evidence of the coming Kingdom. In fact He almost invites us to apply the images of Isaiah directly to His ministry. Water will appear in the desert, and you will see crocuses, swamps, reeds and rushes. The point is - things will change because of Christ's Kingdom. People will see the difference that His Kingdom makes. Things that were considered impossible - streams in the desert and flowers and reeds - will come forth. The lion that haunted the ransomed of the Lord will not bother anyone. Instead there will be singing and everlasting joy. Not to put everything in the abstract, Jesus mentions miracles, the same ones that Isaiah mentions. The blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked, and the lepers were cleansed. Things will be different; the impossible will dome. These are signs of the presence of the Kingdom. Is that true today? Is there a way to verify the claim that this continues as evidence of Christ's Kingdom? If this were true, then the countries where Christ's name has been established would reflect different levels of lepers, deaf, and blind than those lands where He is unknown. Or, turned around, those countries that oppress and persecute Jesus' followers would be countries that have not dealt with the blind, the deaf, and the lepers. Instead these people would be marginalized, pushed aside, not cared for. Here are a few of those countries and the levels of the blind, the deaf, and the lepers. Mali has a population of over 11 million. The number of blind, deaf, and lepers come to 1.1 million, or 10% of its population. For Myanmar, they represent 22% of its population. In Saudi Arabia the rate is 6%. The very oppressive country of Turkmenistan has a population of 4.5 million. Of these 800,000 are handicapped in these ways, or 21%. For Turkey it is 8%. In Mauritania and Kazakhstan these handicapped also represent 8%. Where Christ is not known, the miracles do not happen. The beauty of the list of miracles is how easily they can be interpreted spiritually. Under His Kingdom's power, the spiritually blind and deaf see and hear, and the lepers are made whole. May God bring that power and healing to those countries under the power of darkness.

		THE LEAST EVANGELIZED .... THROUGH THE EYES OF THE NIGERIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT In 2004 Anglican Frontier Missions branches in the US and in Nigeria joined together for a training of Anglican clergy in Abuja to do missionary work among the unreached tribes in and near Nigeria. The trip of this past October in Jos was a follow-up to that training, offering it to a larger and more ecumenical group. At the training we met a bishop representing one of the brightest spots in the leadership of the Nigerian missionary movement. The man is impressive, the Rt. Rev. Simeon P. Mutum. We spent a day with him in his territory. We met his aunties and cousins, saw his village, met the headman where he has concentrated his early ministry. But what is so original and groundbreaking is his assignment. Bishop Mutum is the "Bishop of Nomadic Mission." No territory, no state, no city. No nomadic tribe in particular. "Bishop of Nomadic Territory." He is speaks Hausa and lives in the midst of Hausa and Fulani. He comes from one of the smaller nomadic tribes of the north of Nigeria, but he will serve all the nomads of northern Nigeria. Bishop Mutum is very clear about how his diocese and ministry differ from all the others. He also has clearly marked out how his ministry will expand and have its unique shape. For beginners he will have no cathedral. His "office" will travel with him in his car. He does not see a future with lots of church buildings representing new congregations. He has no need for e-mail to communicate with his leadership. Moving camps don't have electricity. In fact, he does not receive this, since he has no computer. What he does foresee (the diocese and his appointment are very new.) is continuous training of leadership that will result in local discipleship of the villages and the camps where the nomads are found. He is the chief trainer, the master planner, the one who removes obstacles and sets up patterns for multiplication. This will be a bishop who travels without cassock or computer, who has no secretary or cathedral, who will not have building campaigns. What he will do is lead the church planting effort of the Anglicans in Nigerian into the millions of Fulani, Hausa, and other tribes. These are the people, after all, for whom faithful presence - wherever that takes the church - is the critical factor in their conversion to our Lord.

Church Steps . . . Towards the Nations Ponder - think through - what the ministry of Bishop Mutum must be, if he is to be effective. That thinking is challenging, since we are so embedded in more "ordinary" methods. Sunday Scenes gives a weekly comment on the lectionary for a cumulative perspective on the missionary theme of Scripture.