Disciple: The Theology of Yes
Accomplishing the amazing simply by saying “yes”
By The Rev. Sarah D. Hollar
“But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26)
What if we believed Matthew 19:26? What if because we had seen it made manifest in our own lives we knew it was true? What if “with God all things are possible” was not cause for deliberation but an effortless assertion? In that case, rather than automatically running through reasons not to do something, maybe our default position would reset to yes!
If that were to happen, in times of shrinking resources, could we see signs of new life when they present themselves? In times of unwelcomed change, could we see God’s grace pushing us into something new? In downturns, recovery and stress, could we notice and celebrate blessings we previously overlooked? With our new default, each response would come out, yes. Yes. Yes.
THE DIFFERENCE “YES” CAN MAKE
At St. Mark’s, Huntersville, sitting on 13 acres off an old farm-to-market road, we have a small brick church made from the red clay dug out of the creek bed that runs along our property. This church will never seat more than 150 people. We have a wooden house built in 1889 that originally served as the rectory and now houses the Sunday nursery and children’s Sunday school classes. We have a 1950s ranch-style building with a basement that serves as our office space and parish hall. We have beautiful green land and great old trees and meeting space that is ever so problematic for our current needs. Making events fit our space is often exhausting. Yet because we are car lengths away from the Charlotte city line and real estate is pricey, our site is quite appealing.
People with a variety of needs drive up our hill and timidly ask, “Would you be willing to let us meet here?” “We can’t find another space.” “No one else has room.” “They want more money than we have.” “They don’t say outright, but we think they’re worried we won’t take care of their property.” In those moments, the people of St. Mark’s remember Matthew 19:26 and answer, “yes.” Our default has become a mindset where we will move these folks here, and we’ll move there, and the new people can have the space in between. For a long time, we did not notice the incremental effect. Then one day we looked at the calendar and realized ours was no longer a quiet, historic church on a hill; it is a vibrant Episcopal church and a center for communities to exemplify compassion, encouragement and hope.
ALL ARE WELCOME
Every Sunday and Wednesday evening, 50-plus people use St. Mark’s parish hall and kitchen for their Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Every Monday night, another 50-plus people use the parish hall and kitchen for their Narcotics Anonymous meetings. On weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., La Escuelita San Marcos opens the parish hall doors for one of three bilingual preschools serving 150 of the 734,000 non-English speaking residents in Mecklenburg County. On weekday afternoons from 3:00 to 7:30 p.m., a tutor welcomes elementary school children from both indigent public and elite private schools for remedial reading and math instruction. Sessions are offered at prices parents of each child can afford. Saturdays find Daisy and Girl Scout troops using the parish hall to learn that girls are more than their body image. And on Sunday afternoon, after good Episcopalians, members and visitors have downed the last of mediocre coffee and cheap cookies, Grace Community, a Laotian evangelical church, arrives to use our church, nursery and playground as their faith home.
With no strategic plan, with no feasibility study, St. Mark’s, a church founded by slave holders, a body just trying to understand and live out 21st-century Christianity, became a racially, ethnically, economically, religiously assorted community bound by kindness and respect. How did it happen? We read Matthew 19:26, believed and said, “yes!” It’s funny how one yes leads to another. It’s funny how the kingdom of God seems to get closer and closer when the default is set in that direction. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get new church T-shirts: We’re people of the Yes! Say yes with us.
The Rev. Sarah Hollar is the rector of St. Mark’s, Huntersville.
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