St. John’s Episcopal Church
Tallahassee, FL

James 3:1-12          Mark 8:27-38

Today is Visioning Sunday at St. John’s, 
a day on which we will gather 
after the 10 a.m. service 
to begin to think 
and talk 
and listen 
and pray 
about who we are as a parish 
and who God calls us to be 
in the years ahead.

But if we’re going to talk about vision, 
is raises the question, 
“What is vision?”

Grab your bulletin, 
and I want you to look at something.

Look at the very top 
on the very front, 
right under our logo 
at the words printed 
between those two thin blue lines.

“Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, 
St. John’s welcomes you.”

I love that statement. 
I hope you do to.

That statement 
is not unique to St. John’s, 
but it does reflect something 
right and true 
about who we are 
and who we invite 
to come along with us. 

“Come, 
you who are certain 
and you who are doubtful.

“Come, 
you who are sinners 
and you who are saints. 

“Come, 
you who are 
old and young, 
rich and poor, 
gay or straight, 
black, white, or beautiful shades of brown.

“Come, 
you who have been hurt by the Church 
and you who seek to be healed.

“Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, 
St. John’s welcomes you.”

That is wonderful.

But that, my friends, is not a vision.
That is an invitation.

Vision is the answer to a different question.

It’s as if someone might say, 
“Okay. You welcomed me on my spiritual journey.
I’ve joined you! 
I’m ready! 
I’m here!
Now . . . 
where are we going?”

That is the question 
that we as a parish 
now set out to answer 
for the coming years.

* * *

You see, your vision is your essence.
Vision is who you wish to be, 
and it’s the lens through which 
you view the world 
and the change you wish to make within it.

It doesn’t have to be complicated; 
in fact it should cut through the chafe 
and get right to the heart of the matter.

Do you know what 
the Disney corporation’s vision statement is?

Disney’s corporate vision statement is
To make people happy.

Ask any person who works at Disney World 
from the janitor to the CEO 
what the vision is, 
and they can tell you in a heartbeat: 
“Our vision is to make people happy.”

That then shapes how everybody there behaves. 
It shapes the world they’re trying to build 
and the lens through which 
they view whatever it is they do.

* * *

But not all vision statements 
are quite so bubbly.

Today, Jesus gives us his vision statement, 
and while it’s just as pithy and to-the-point,
it’s not exactly Disney-fied.

No, 
Jesus came to this world 
with a singular vision in mind.

And that vision was always . . . 
the cross.

Jesus’ essence—
the lens through which 
he viewed the world 
and the change he wished to make within it—
was always cruciform. 
It was always, always going to be about the cross.

Today, after the disciples recognize 
that he is the Messiah, 
Jesus begins to lay out the vision.

“Then he began to teach them 
that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, 
and be rejected by the elders, 
the chief priests, 
and the scribes, 
and be killed, 
and after three days rise again. 
He said all this quite openly.”

And poor Peter—
despite the fact that he was the one 
who got the question right 
about Jesus being the Messiah—
does not get the vision.

Peter says, 
“Lord, I don’t know. 
All this talk of suffering
and rejection 
and death . . . 
Lord, are you sure? 
‘Take up your cross and follow me,’
is not exactly a winning vision.” 

To which Jesus turns around and says, 
“Hush up, boy. 
Get behind me, Satan. 
This is the vision!”

What Peter didn’t know 
is that Jesus’ vision—
Jesus death and resurrection—
would lead to the greatest single change 
the world has ever known.

Through death would come life. 
Through despair would come hope. 
Through suffering would come salvation 
and a new world—a new creation—for all of us, 
including you and me.

That should teach us something about the difference 
between secular vision 
and the vision of a Christian people.

You see, 
in the Christian life, 
if our vision doesn’t involve a little risk . . .

if it doesn’t wake people up 
and shake people up at least a little . . . 

if it doesn’t make some people in the world
scratch their heads and ask, 
“What in the world 
are those Christians doing over there?”
then it’s probably not a vision worth having.

* * *

So what about us? 
Well, I have my own sense 
of the vision that’s emerging among us at St. John’s.

In a world beset by so much anger and antagonism,
I believe our vision here at St. John’s 
ought to have something to do with love.

In a world beset by so much cruelty and hate,
I believe our vision here at St. John’s 
ought to have something to do with healing.

In a world beset by so much division and ostracization,
I believe our vision here at St. John’s 
ought to have something to do with inclusion.

In a world beset by so many grudges 
and people just having to be right all the time,
I believe our vision here at St. John’s 
ought to have something to do with grace.

Love, healing, inclusion, and grace. 
You hear me say those four words all the time
because ever since I’ve set foot in this place 
I’ve been convinced that God is calling us 
to be a beacon for those things. 
I think it’s who we are. 
I think it’s the world we’re trying to build.

But I want to hear from you.

So come to Visioning Sunday 
after the 10 am service today 
where we are going to ask three questions.

Question 1: A stranger says, 
“Tell me about your church. 
What makes it special? 
What keeps you coming back?” 
What would you tell them?

Question 2: Imagine the world 
five years from now. 
What is the one thing you hope 
everybody in Tallahassee 
knows about St. John’s? 

Question 3: Imagine the world 
ten years from now and fill in the blank: 
The world around us 
will be a better place in ten years 
because we at St. John’s ____________.

Then, after each question 
once each table has had a chance to talk, 
I’m going to ask you to report out 
only five key words 
to describe your conversation 
for each question.

Those words will be the words 
that we then take to a small group 
of people made up across the congregation 
to begin to discern the next vision for St. John’s.

* * *

Y’all, we live in a changing world, 
and that’s the one thing 
that’s not going to change. 

Having a vision—
a clear focus
on who we are,
where we’re going,
and the world we wish to build
together with God—
means that no matter
what the world throws at us,
we will be able
to adapt and grow.

Not for ourselves,
but for the God who loves us and—
ever since that fateful day on the cross—
has been determined
to show the rest of the world
what it truly means
to love.

So come, and be part of discerning St. John’s vision 
for the next many years ahead, 
as we take up our cross 
and follow him.

Amen.