The reality check of the gospel

Now that we have had our parish mission conference we are formally in the process of putting the mission action plan together. The them for use in the next little while is revealing God’s mission. As a parish we are part of God’s amazing plan to redeem all of creation, but we need to be clear that this is not a mere administrative task, but it is a serious intentional commitment to costly discipleship.There was a wonderful spirit—a sense of excitement, holy imagination, and a palpable feeling of God’s presence among us yesterday. We did a quick Christian based meditation and it was clear how in the space of a 3 minute song we were able to transcend what we were doing and in some ways feel God’s peace that is beyond all understanding. We’ve shared ideas, dreamed dreams, and felt that nudge from the Spirit to step out in faith for God’s kingdom. Now we start moving  from the *inspiration* of the conference to the *implementation* of a plan. And into this precise moment—the fragile space  between a holy dreaming and a practical plan—the words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel today land with a powerful, and perhaps unsettling, clarity.Today’s passage, as adapted to our mission planning, isn’t meant to scare us. It’s meant to strengthen us. It’s meant to set us on a firm foundation, so that the work we do will not be our work, but His. So that the tower we build will stand. So that the mission we undertake will be fruitful, lasting, and gloriously salty.