Rough Road Ahead

 

               Here at Pisgah we are involved in a time of discernment and visioning. What that means is that we are setting aside time, thought, conversation, prayer and involvement into seeking God's vision for the future of Pisgah UMC.

              

               I believe that all of us strive daily to figure out such things for ourselves individually. That is particularly true when we are faithfully attempting to follow the example set for our lives by Jesus Christ  our Lord. We ask God questions like: What is the purpose of my life? How can my family be the best example of people who are Jesus followers? How do I overcome my struggles today and be a witness to God's transforming power in my life?

 

               A church family like Pisgah UMC has own set of needs when it comes to figuring out what God wants for them. Lots of questions come to mind for us about our future. Will we be a viable church in 10, 20, or 50 years? Will our children grow in the faith and continue to live for and reach others for Christ? How will we be able to do the things that God has for us to do, such as feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and lift up the oppressed of our world?

 

               Discernment is another word for hearing from God. Vision is another word for seeing as God sees. Basically what we want...is to be on the same page with God. That way we know that our lives and our work in ministry will be supported and blessed by God. If you believe that, say Amen.

 

               Today is the third installment of our series Discerning God's Vision: Signs Along the Journey. During this part of our journey of discernment and visioning, I am going to talk about some of the things we might face as we try to hear from God. The road sign for today is...Rough Road Ahead.

 

               Two weeks ago, we looked at Jesus' life. We read about how Jesus when he was baptized was led by the Holy Spirit into a deserted place to contemplate his mission and the future. We saw how Jesus, time and time again yielded to the way of God, to the way of the Cross; the vision that God had for the salvation of you and me. We saw that Jesus never wavered from that vision.

 

               Last week we read from Paul's letter to the Corinthians and heard him explain how the church of Jesus Christ is like a body where every part is essential to the whole. Paul's words explain the inclusive, the all encompassing, nature of the Church of Jesus Christ. Paul said that even those parts which we might think of as least important must be considered, respected, and honored. As a church, our task is to include the voices of all our members when we are discerning God's vision and will for ourselves. Who knows who God may give a word of discernment to? Because we are one body in Jesus Christ, we are called to listen to all voices.

 

               In our scripture today we look again at Paul's words to the Romans. The Roman church was filled with both Jews and Gentiles. The letter that Paul wrote to them lays out Paul's theology of salvation, and in the reading this morning Paul highlights the importance of living in the Spirit of God. Once again Paul uses a common image...that of the flesh (body)... to make his point.

 

               Living in the flesh as Paul calls it means living according to ourselves; what we think, feel and determine is best for our life. Whereas living in the Spirit means living in relationship, in connection with God, or in spiritual terms, living in accordance to the will of God.

 

               The text that I read from 2 Chronicles tells the story of King Asa, the king of Judah who lived most of his life according to the will of God. This Old Testament character's life illustrates the value of following God. You may not have read much in 2 Chronicles for a while, so let me give a little background. King Asa was the great, great grandson of King David, the second and most renown King of the Jews.

 

               Prior to Asa becoming King the kingdom that David had ruled had become divided. After the death of King Solomon, David and Bathsheba's son, Solomon's son's, Rehoboam, became King. There was great unrest among the people at that time because of the hardships that King Solomon had heaped upon the people (read in here taxes). The people had hopes that Rehoboam, the new king, would be a less demanding king. But, it was not to be. He determined to be even more demanding than his father.

 

               As unrest in the kingdom continued, there arose a past enemy of King Solomon called Jeroboam. The northern tribes of David's kingdom were led to succeed, and they crowned Jeroboam as the king of Israel. The 19th verse of 2 Chronicles, chapter 10 has these words, "So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day."

 

               Meanwhile Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem where he ruled over Judah, called the southern kingdom, which eventually included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the Levites and priests, and any others of the12 tribes who wanted to worship God at Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.

 

               King Asa ruled the southern kingdom for 41 years. When we look back at Jewish history, we see that most but not all of the kings of both the northern and the southern kingdoms were wicked despots who caused the people much hardship, and eventual destruction. In 722 BCE, Israel fell to the Assyrians, and in 587BCE, Judah fell to Babylon and Solomon's temple was destroyed.

               During his reign, King... Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim (idols) ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him.  (14: 2-5).

 

 

 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled (2 Chronicles 14:11–12).  Great story. And one that demonstrates the victory that a people can have when they are seeking God.

 

               As we seek God in this time, we too may experience bumps. I remember when I was living in Boone, I had various occasions to come down the mountain which usually involved Hwy 321. The whole 4 years I lived there, the road from the bottom of the mountain to Blowing Rock was a rough road. I remember seeing this very sign (Rough Road Ahead) at the bottom of the mountain...and the sign did not lie. It was a twisty, barrel trimmed, bumpy way to the top. It was good to be warned about what is coming ahead.

 

               This journey we are taking to seek God's vision will have its own degree of rough riding. One big bump some of us may be experiencing is that we just don't understand what it means to get a "vision" from God. We already have a mission statement, and so why do we really need to spend time and money to do this?

 

               Pisgah UMC does have a mission statement. Do you know what it is? Here is the mission statement that the church has had for quite some time: Our Mission is to win souls to Christ. The difference between a mission and a vision is simple. The church's mission is a general statement of what they are up to. It is general, not specific, not future oriented.

 

               A vision is specific. It is a clear mental image of the preferred future. A vision concentrates on the future. "It focuses on thinking ahead, rather than dwelling upon or seeking to replicate the past."[1] What we are about is not to figure out what our mission is, we already know that. What we want to know is what the future is supposed to look like for us. That way we can make plans to get there.

 

               Another rough place in the road may be that we want to rely on ourselves rather than on God. That is very easy for us to do...maybe without even realizing it. I wonder what would have happened to Judah if King Asa had tried to rely on his army alone that was outnumbered by the Ethiopians 3 to 1? All of us have dreams, desires, likes and dislikes when it comes to church. In order to follow God, we need to mesh those things with where God want to take us.

 

               The last thing I am going to say about rough patches is about change. Many of us don't like to see things change. We want the future to be just like today, just like yesterday.  We like to say that things are good now and have been good in the past...so why go changing things?

 

               I am very nostalgic. I love and look back fondly to the past seasons of my church life. The reason is, that was when I learned about God, and I grew in my faith. I must remember though, that others are coming along now. It is time for me to let go of my personal preferences. I have to let God show me how to give others the same opportunity to learn about Jesus. I must let God show me how necessary it is for me to give the gift of a strong church to someone else, someone younger, someone who will carry the gospel into the future after me.

 

               Friends, it is okay not to change...if... that is God's vision for our church. Yet, I want to remind us, that God is a transforming, creating and re-creating God. I wonder if God would not have a church keep up with the world? I wonder if God does not want the church and the message of Jesus Christ to be relevant and meaningful to the current generation and culture.

 

               Don't get me wrong, I believe that the message of God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness that is found through Jesus Christ does remain unchanging. But, the way we transmit that message must be able to reach the people of our current age and our future.

 

               Today people have Ipods, Iphones, and Ipads. They have MP3's, Droids, Notebooks, Netbooks,  and Wiis. They use Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Kindles, Apps, Bluerays, Bluetooths, and watch Blues Clues, Blue Bloods, and a multitude of stuff I've never heard of. 

 

               The world around us is changing moment by moment, and the church of Jesus Christ...to be relevant and meaningful to this and the future generations, has an obligation to faithfully seek God for the vision God has for its future, to change if that is God's vision.

 

               The 50's, 60's and 70's were nice...but let's face it, this is 2011, and much to our dismay, the Leave it to Beaver world will never return. I hate that, but it's the truth. Time never moves backward, it always moves forward.

 

               The good news is this. God is there in the future. God sees what the potential is for us. God knows how we can as our mission states, ...win souls for Jesus Christ... Paul tell the Romans that they must live in the Spirit, and not in the flesh. We can take from what he says that we too are supposed to live in the Spirit, which means to seek God.

 

               Today I challenge each one of us. I challenge us to live in the Spirit, not through our own egos, our own desires, our own wants, and likes but rather...I challenge us to seek God's vision for our preferred future.

 

               Let's not leave this task to someone else, God is calling you, God is calling me, God is calling us. How will we respond?

 

Amen.

 

© 2011 Judy H. Eurey

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