When our church council met earlier in February, we took some time to consider what God is doing in the communities where we live and work, to think about local mission. Local mission is the way our congregational mission to proclaim the good news of God in Christ in word and deed sends us to witness to Christ in love and to serve the people we come in contact with everyday.

Matthew 5:38-48

For the past two weeks, I've been watching the competition at the Olympics. Part of the storyline at the Olympics has to do with whether or not any athlete can handle the pressure and rise to the occasion. Often, the commentator will say, "If he's going to win the gold, he's going to have to be perfect." Or, "She needs a perfect run, if she has any hope of making it to the podium." Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't, and the athlete falls short of the goal. Quickly reports run to athlete to ask, “Do you feel like you’ve failed? As if all your work has been in vain?” Though they are the best in the world at what they do, I wonder if they do often feel like they have failed, fallen short of expectations, been less than perfect. I wonder if in our own lives, we don't sometimes feel that we have to be perfect, or else? When we fall short, are we failures?

On February 5, the Church remembers the martyrs of Japan, particularly 26 martyrs, including 8 European missionaries, who were crucified in Nagasaki in on February 5, 1597. Siegfried Schneider tells a story from that day. "On the way up the hill a nobleman tempted the youngest boy, Louis Ibaragi, who was only twelve years old to renounce his faith, He would not yield but eagerly asked: 'Where is my cross?' When they pointed out the smallest one to him he immediately embraced it and held on to it as a child clings to his toy" (Sigfried Schneider, Ofm, The 26 Martyrs of Japan, Chuo Press, 1980, p. 16).1 That's usually the way we tell the stories of those who sacrifice their lives in witness to the Gospel. On the surface martyr's crisis is a choice between saving her or his live and remaining faithful to Jesus. Yet, the heart of the issue and reason for the persecution in the first place is often the church's public witness to Jesus Christ.

From time to time, I think we all have an argument within ourselves where we question the value of what we’re doing right now, worshiping. Week in and week out, we dutifully come into this sanctuary, participate in the prayers, hear God’s Word of forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, receive the sacrament, share our money for the sake of God’s mission and a host of other actions that have become the way we express our faith in faithfulness to our God. But, let’s be honest, we’ve all had our moments of wondering if any of it matters.