"Shared Ministry"
Peter Eichten
Sunday, April 24th 2005

Today’s gospel is about what it means to be Church.

The gospel we are going to hear today comes from John. It’s a fairly familiar story where we hear the Jesus of John talking about “In God’s house there are many dwelling places, and I have prepared these places for you.” Some translations have used mansions. This is often a reading that is used at funerals. And as such the interpretation is that it’s about having a place kind of reserved for us in heaven. That’s fine, but I don’t think that’s actually what John had in mind as he wrote this.

First of all, the concept of heaven the way we understand it just wasn’t available in the 1st century, there just wasn’t an understanding of an after life the way we have come to understand it.

Secondly, the Greek word that gets translated as “dwelling places” or “mansions” was a word that actually meant a temporary resting place for travelers, like an Inn, a place where one might find communal welcoming and a meal. What John is saying here is that what Jesus has done, more accurately, what has been done by the early Church in the name of Jesus, is they have created Christian Communities in many different places. It is in these communities where disciples can find temporary refuge and comfort as they strive to live the life Jesus taught. As they strive to be disciples. Being a disciple was difficult, because disciples were always at odds with the dominant systems of the day.

Latter in this passage we are going to hear Jesus say that he has shown the disciples the way, and a couple of the disciples are going to say, they don’t know the way. Jesus then has to be very direct, and says “Very truly, I tell you, those who have faith in me will also do the works that I do.” In other words, “The Way” is to live as I have shown you! That is, to work for justice, and to live a life of compassion and love. And then, along the way there are these small communities, these small churches, and they are places where you can come for some comfort and refuge.

I’d ask you, as you listen to this passage today, try to hear it in the context of the Christian Community, and discipleship. “The Way” Jesus has shown is his works, his ministry of justice, compassion, and love, and the places that are prepared are these early church communities. This passage is about the very essence of what it means to be Church. To be Church means to be gathered and to be sent. We gather for refuge, comfort, sharing, and we are sent into the world to help bring about the Kingdom. To be gathered and to be sent is what it means to be Church.

We continue to create, build, and refine that understanding of Church here at St. Joan’s. We gather on Sunday mornings, and many of us gather in our small Christian Communities to be inspired, to share, to be challenged, and to be comforted, and then we are sent into the world to do the work of Jesus, to work for justice and to challenge the dominate systems of our day that keep people oppressed and in poverty, the same way that Jesus and his disciples did in their day.

This is Church to be gathered and to be sent. The past few days we’ve gotten another part of what Church is about with the passing of a pope and the election of a new pope. But that institutional part of the Church is only a very small part of Church. Many of us today as Catholics and as Americans feel like we are surrounded by institutional leaders who have a rather small vision, a vision entrenched in the status quo and the dominant culture. But we have to realize that at the same time, we are also surrounded, right here in the Twin Cities, by many who have a much larger vision. I’m talking about many of you, and people that you work with in the trenches on a daily basis – folks working to make the world a better place. People that take the ministry of Jesus into the streets. It’s here that we need to spend our time and energy – and not worry too much about presidents and popes. If we lead, they will follow!

To be Church is to be gathered and to be sent. One of the ways that we can be sent is to participate in Shared Ministry here at St. Joan’s. You all have received the form this morning, and I would encourage you to prayerfully consider how you can best share your gifts and talents.

As Church we are gathered and we are sent. Our gatherings either here in the large group, or in our small Christian communities, or other small groups often give us the inspiration and the courage we need to go to the streets and do the work of Jesus. My wife, Jane, and I have been fortunate to be involved in a small Christina community for many years. Our present small community has given us incredible inspiration and courage. A couple of years ago we dove head first into the St. Joan of Arc Housing Ministry. We sold our house in the suburbs and bought a duplex in the Philips neighborhood. We live in the upper apartment and lease the lower apartment as an affordable house.

Affordable housing is still an issue in the Twin Cities, even though we don’t hear as much about it as we did a few years ago. Housing is affordable when a family pays no more than 30 percent of their income for housing costs. In the metro area right now there are over 185,000 lower-income households that pay more than this amount for housing, many pay as much as 60% or 70% of their income for housing. When folks pay that much for their housing other areas of their lives suffer.

The SJA Housing Ministry began in fall of 2001, and has been moving forward over the past 3 ½ years. It took us a while to get it going and I’m happy to report that today the SJA Housing Ministry is doing quite well. Since we began, we have put 7 affordable housing units on the market – and more are on the horizon. We have had over 200 volunteers that have participated in one way or another in the program.

I will briefly explain the program. There was a group of 12 people that met in 2001 to discuss and learn about the affordable housing shortage. One of the things we discovered was that there really wasn’t a housing shortage. There was plenty of housing; it just wasn’t being utilized fully. So, instead of building new units, SJA Housing Ministry focuses on making present housing affordable. That’s done by adding an apartment in one’s basement, or by taking a multiple unit building and making one or more of the units an affordable unit. Our current project that is just finishing in the Hawthorne neighborhood in North Mpls is an example of taking a multiple unit building and making part of it affordable. As a matter of fact I would like to invite you all to see this project this afternoon. From 12:30 – 1:30 there will be an open house at this project. Details and directions to the sight are in the bulletin.

And we are ready to start another project on Park Ave next month. We are working in a partnership with the Third Way Network, to make these projects happen. It’s basically a partnership between SJA, Third Way, and the property owner. You can learn more about Third Way Network and the partnerships created to make these projects happen at the open house this afternoon.

Our commitment to creating these affordable units consists of contributing $7,500, and providing volunteers. All of the units that we have created thus far have needed remodeling work. Volunteers are used to help with the construction. Volunteers are also used to help find prospective properties – we have Scout Trainings periodically that teaches volunteers how to do that. And we also have a mentoring program where volunteers are used to mentor a family as they move into their new affordable living unit. So, there are a number of ways to volunteer in the SJA Housing Ministry.

The bottom line is that for $7,500 and lotsa sweat equity from volunteers St. Joan’s is able to put an affordable housing unit on the market. I’m sure I’ve raised some questions for you about this ministry, and again, all those questions can be answered this afternoon at the open house.

This ministry is just one example of how St. Joan’s is taking the ministry of Jesus to the streets in a very concrete yet unspectacular way. The ministries that we do, from working in the SJA Nursery, to teaching Sunday school, to pounding nails on a housing project are all ways that help to transform the world, to make the world a better place. And each in their own way is putting forth an alternative and larger vision than that given to us by the dominant culture.

To be Church is to be gathered and to be sent. This is “The Way” that Jesus has prepared for us. It’s about justice, compassion, and love. Please consider sharing part of what it means for you to be sent by sharing your gifts and talents with the ministries of St. Joan of Arc, and by filling out the shared ministry form.