Under the Roof

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

September 13, 2015

Under the Roof

Mathew 28:19-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything

that I have commanded you.”
************************************

The roof was enormous,

more than four acres in width and length

covering a huge, bustling factory.

Underneath the roof,

the roof that kept out the rain and the wind,

the snow and the heat of the sun,

stretched assembly lines

running in every direction,

lines that conveyed metal parts

as they were forged and machined,

metal shapes on their way to

becoming parts of engines

for Chevrolets, Buicks, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs.

This was a great General Motors foundry

just north of Buffalo back in the 1960s,

a teeming place that clanked and clattered,

trucks endlessly docking

under the roof’s edge around the back,

half of them there to deliver materials and supplies,

the other half to carry away finished products.

Every word spoken was shouted,

shouted to rise about the din, the roar, the clatter

that was everywhere under that roof.

Not far away was another factory,

another building,

this one with a much smaller roof,

a roof that kept out the rain and the wind,

the snow and the heat of the sun.

Trucks came and went there, too,

delivering materials and supplies

and carrying away finished products.

But there was no clanging,

no clattering under that roof.

There was almost a stillness,

a silence that approached the cloistered,

voices speaking softly,

as though sharing secrets,

with only the rumble of hand trolleys

being pushed through the space

providing a background hum against the stillness.

This was the Kittinger furniture factory,

a place in its day famous for crafting

exquisite chairs, desks,

tables, bureaus and other furniture

out of the finest, most exotic mahogany wood.

There were no machines here;

the work was done by hand:

boards cut, holes drilled,

surfaces planed

pieces joined,

all by hand.

At one station a man named Max worked quietly.

He’d come from Germany in the 1920s,

come to this country,

as almost every immigrant has,

in search of a life better than

what his own country offered him

in those turbulent years

following the first world war.

Max found work under the Kittinger roof.

Max found a place where he could ply his trade

as a craftsman, making furniture,

beautiful furniture,

shaping and forming wood,

bringing it to life;

a man so passionate about his craft

that on nights and weekends

he could be found in his shop at home,

crafting furniture for his own home,

and in later years

for the home of his daughter and her husband.

Factories: large buildings under a roof,

buildings where things are made,

all kinds of things,

from small technological marvels,

to enormous industrial machinery.

A church is hardly a factory,

but here, under this roof,

we too make things.

We make disciples.

We make disciples because

that is what our Lord Jesus Christ

has instructed us to do:

“Go therefore 

and make disciples of all nations,…”

Our Risen Lord’s words spoken to the 11;

our Living Lord’s words spoken to you and me.

“Go and make disciples.”

“Make disciples.”

Two thousand years ago,

before there were church buildings,

the apostles scattered throughout the land

and made disciples as they traveled,

sharing the word with all who would listen.

Today, we do most of our disciple-making

under roofs,

roofs of church buildings,

church buildings large and small,

old and new, wood and stone,

in urban and in rural areas.

We make disciples under this roof.

We make disciples not through

any mechanized process –

there’s no assembly line here –

no, we make disciples by

nurturing, teaching,

supporting,

comforting,

guiding,

being present with one another.

We make disciples not by converting –

that’s God’s work through the Holy Spirit.

We make disciples by first remembering

that the root of the word “disciple”

is “learner”.

So, we make disciples by encouraging learning;

by nurturing learning,

by helping learning:

learning about God,

learning about Christ,

learning about the Holy Spirit;

learning about the love that is ours,

the grace that is ours,

the forgiveness that is ours,

the peace that is ours,

the joy that is ours

from God through Jesus Christ.

We make disciples by living

our Lord’s two great commandments:

the first, of course, to love God,

and the second,

to love our neighbors as ourselves.

                                   

We make disciples by living

our Lord’s words to us

that it is by our love

that we are known as his followers.

We make disciples here in worship

as we gather together, all of us,

singing, praying,

listening, and learning,

renewing ourselves together at our Lord’s Table.

We make disciples in classrooms.

We make disciples in the many different groups

that do ministry, joyful ministry,

in the name of Christ.

We make disciples as we extend hospitality

to one another,

friend and stranger alike,

in every setting,

including at a picnic table

over hamburgers and three-bean salad.

If discipleship is grounded in love,

then surely we forge a foundation

for discipleship

in the children who come to our pre-school,

children who come from other traditions,

other faiths,

but children who come to learn

and laugh and play under our roof,

a place where love,

acceptance, tolerance, and respect

are found in every classroom.

If discipleship is grounded in love,

then surely we forge a foundation

for discipleship

among those who gather under our roof

to learn English as a second language,

men and women like Max,

who came here from far distant lands,

as our own ancestors once did,

men and women who gather under our roof

to learn in a place of warmth, welcome,

and acceptance.

There’s been a great deal of talk this past year

about our roof,

that physical barrier

that protects us from rain and the wind,

the snow and the sun’s heat.

Our roof caps this place

where disciple-making goes on 7 days a week,

from early morning to late at night;

and sometimes,

especially for our middle or high schoolers,

it may go on even all night!

To make a disciple is to help to awaken,

nurture and bring out

all those characteristics,

all those qualities that Jesus would have us live:

selflessness,

joy,

compassion,

kindness,

forgiveness,

mercy,

 and of course, love.

So, “Go: make disciples”.

Beginning with yourself,

remembering that to be a disciple

is to be a learner,

something we do all the days of our lives.

Go: make disciples:

here under this roof,

at home,

in the community,

in all places.

Go: for our Lord Jesus calls us.

AMEN