What Dr. Sinclair Ferguson recently said at Westminster Seminary California about the ministry of Word and Sacrament is applicable to the missional witness of every Christian church: it is tough but also terrific.
It is tough because our missionary mandate is understood through the lens of the theology of the cross. Not many among our members are wise according to worldly standards; not many are powerful, rich and influential. Since Chiesa Evangelica Riformata Filadelfia (CERF) was constituted in 2003, we've gradually been realizing that it takes the vigor originating in the weakness of the theology of the cross to be a church that confesses historic Reformed theology in its worship, preaching, catechetical instruction, and family worship. In the midst of the glamorous, boastful, self-promoting, and sophisticated culture in Milan, Italy, our theology of the cross teaches us that our methodology must arise out of our theology, and that the forms in which we present the message of the cross must be conformed to the contents of the message of the cross. After all, the wellspring of our theology of mission is the authority given the Lord Jesus himself, the authority of the Crucified One, the Man of Sorrows who had no beauty to make him and his message desirable to men and to their cultures.
More practically, in the midst of the scheming, subtle, seductive, selfish, split, swinging as well as spiritual "Milanese" culture, we are trying to imitate the apostolic application of the theology of the cross by devoting ourselves to doctrinal teaching, practicing brotherly love, growing in our appreciation of the sacraments, persevering in corporate prayers, and learning to abound in works of mercy toward those who are in need (cf. Acts 2:42-47). To give you an idea of how this works in our small congregation, I'll tell you a little about Matthew, a young man who arrived in Italy three years ago from Nigeria.
In September 2009, Matthew showed up at our worship service one Sunday morning when about thirty-five to forty people were gathered together. Though he came from a large charismatic church, for some reason he continued to participate in our services in spite of his difficulties with the language. We spontaneously invited him to stay for our monthly agape meals. He began to feel welcome among us as some of our families opened their homes to him. After a few months, Anna’his Italian fiancée’visited him. Matthew met Anna when he landed on the Sicilian shore at the end of his two-year journey from Nigeria to Libya. At that time, Anna worked as a volunteer in a center where first aid was given to these desperate people in search of a job and of a better life in a foreign country. So we began also to know Anna little by little.
Matthew continued to attend CERF, becoming more involved in the life of the church. In the summer of 2010, he studied the Heidelberg Catechism under the guidance of Mr. Chris Coleman, a Westminster California student who helped CERF as an intern. In the meantime, we'd been helping Matthew deal with Italian bureaucracy in order to have all his documents right, so he could have lawful status and a legitimate job. In the providence of God, at the end of last summer, Matthew was forced to leave the room he rented because some immigrants living with him were violent and often drunk and were in trouble with the police. Matthew could not afford to rent a room, so one of our families hosted him for a few months. We helped Anna find a job in Milan, and on December 17, 2010, Matthew and Anna were married, and now Matthew will start a new job.
It has been tough, but it is also terrific to see Matthew and Anna worshipping with us each Lord's Day, and we pray that their children and their children's children will worship as members of CERF.
It is tough for our small confessional congregation to be mission minded in our pragmatic, technocratic, and depersonalized culture, but it is also terrific to see some new families regularly attending our services, participating in the catechism class as well as our weekly meetings. It is terrific to see the power of gospel reconciliation at work not only in the lives of Italians, but also among a few Chinese and Hispanic people in our midst.
It has been tough and terrific also for our Lord. It was tough for him to be misunderstood in his mission by John the Baptist, even though he prepared the way for him as the Messiah (cf. Matt. 11:2-19). It was also tough to be rejected in his mission by the people of the villages he went around to preach and to do good (cf. Matt. 11:20-24). However, in the midst of misunderstanding and rejection, the Lord Jesus rejoiced in the terrific unfolding and application of the covenant of grace:
At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matt. 11:25-27, emphasis added)
