Merge

February 20, 2011     

3rd in Series: Discerning God's Vision: Signs Along the Journey

Psalm 33: 13-22, Matthew 11: 25-30, Titus 2:11 -3:9                                     

 

     

     Someone once prayed, Lord let me be like the rain drop that falls into a great river, that I may become part of the river; that I may go, that I may move, that I may become the river. That wonderful image has really appealed to me as I have thought about and prepared this sermon this week. I have thought what an apt image that is for me, for us and our longing to be part of God's plan and vision for our work in the kingdom of God.

 

            Today we are finishing up our series, Discerning God's Vision: Signs Along the Journey. The sign for today is merge. As we have journeyed the last four weeks, we have taken a look at some of the road signs that alert us to what to do as we travel. The first week we saw how Jesus yielded to the way of God as he was seeking the vision for his life and ministry in the wilderness after his baptism.

 

            The next week we considered Paul's teaching to the church at Corinth, where he told the Corinthians that the church is the body of Christ and every single part is important to the whole. We noticed that at a 4-way stop...everybody is supposed to stop and wait for their turn to go; a driving lesson that teaches us to do the same in this church family...to stop, wait, respect, and listen to all the voices we have here.

 

            Last week we talked about the aspects of our journey of discernment that might get a little bumpy. The road sign was rough road ahead. King Asa was the biblical character that we read about. Even though he was faithful in following God and leading Judah to be faithful, he also had some great challenges...great bumps to cross over.

 

            We also may come across some bumps, misunderstanding about exactly what we are supposed to be hearing from God, the tendency to rely on ourselves for a vision, and the bumps and curves that change might throw our way.

            The subject of discernment and vision could carry us on for four more weeks or longer because this activity is one that our church should do continually. But today I will end the series  with Merge because we need to think about the time after we hear from God...What happens then?

 

            The thing that vehicles do when they merge is very interesting. If you are a driver, you know what I'm talking about. The maneuver depends on several things, the amount of traffic, the time of day, the condition of the road, the length of the ramp, the speed of the cars, and the power of your auto engine.  When you head down a ramp to enter...say...a freeway or interstate, you must accelerate until you get to an appropriate speed, you have to pick your place in the traffic and then drive into the flow of cars, trucks and 18-wheelers.

 

            Merging certainly takes skill, luck and sometimes...nerve! One ramp I despise is the one intersecting 321 and 85 going north to Charlotte. Merge ramps I think can be a place of mishap sometimes. I don't know how many odd items I have seen beside an on ramp...shoes, bicycles, mattresses, old tires, chairs, tables, boxes. Looks like that merging can be a point where we may shed some things to become part of something else.

 

            This morning we are looking at a bit of scripture from Paul's letter to Titus. This small book of the NT is a powerful little epistle where Paul is instructing Titus on how to be a leader. Titus was a converted Gentile who had been left as a bishop on the island of Crete, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea off of the south-eastern tip of Greece. Paul instructs Titus to be bold and to continue to uphold the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of all opposition.

 

            The theme of the book of Titus is the inseparable link between faith and practice, between belief and behavior. Actually the bit of scripture that I read this morning has at its heart a message about just these things. What the scripture does is give us is a word of encouragement. It is encouragement to follow through in the faith God gives us. In this way we demonstrate our faith and belief in God. Such follow through strengthens our faith and is a witness to the world about us.

            Titus was facing many Jews who had come to believe in Jesus. But Titus' leadership and his word was being discounted by them because he was "not of the circumcision." He had not first converted to Judaism and come under the law. He had not come to faith just like they had. He had not followed tradition, not done it like it had always been done.

 

            Titus encountered opposition and quarrelling because he was different. The council of Jerusalem had already declared that Gentile believers did not have to take part in the Jewish sacred rite of circumcision to be a part of the family of God (Acts 15: 12-21). Even so, some on the island of Crete wanted to be obstinate and continually argue.

 

            Paul told Titus to stand up and continue to preach the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to lead the people to move away from their laws...they way they had always done things...into the life of good works. I really like how Paul says it in his final words:

Isn't it true that when we are devoting ourselves to working together, when we are letting go of our differences, when we are acting like the body of Jesus that we are, then we are certainly more fruitful.

 

            This is not only true in the church, it is true for our own lives. Dissension causes disruption. Quarreling causes crankyness. Bickering causes backbiting and bad feelings. Titus was told by Paul to lead people to rise above those things.

 

            There is an inseparable link between faith and practice; between belief and behavior. It is like the link between learning a skill and becoming good at it. When I was in seminary I learned Hebrew and Greek. I learned how to parse words, understand tenses, identify genders, and account for moods...but since I do not practice these skills every day, I am no longer proficient. The same thing happened to my proficiency in algebra, French, physics, and biology. There is a definite link between faith and practice, belief and behavior...just like between learning and practice.

            As we move through this time of discernment and as we participate in the retreat next week-end, we will hear from God in many different ways. We have already been in conversation, in discussions, in prayer, etc., and we have already heard from God, although we may not know exactly how just yet.

 

            As we proceed and we gather as a group, we will begin to be able to articulate what we are hearing. We will begin to hear and see God's vision for us more clearly. Why? Well, first of all because that is what we are seeking.

 

            Jesus himself said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 (ESV). That is his promise to us. We don't need to go into this time of discernment and visioning without hanging onto that promise from our savior. He himself said...that all we need to do is ,to ask, to seek, to knock. If we earnestly do what he said, God will give what we ask...what we seek...his vision for us and our church!

 

            The discernment and visioning will be much like dreaming. We will dream with God. We will take our ideas and our dreams for the ministry of our church to God and see just what God thinks...see how they fit with what plan God has for us. Seeing the vision will be the outcome. This is receiving the faith and believing part.

 

            The vision we receive will eventually develop into short and long term plans. This part of the process will be a bit more challenging. Planning will be the start of beginning to practice our new found faith in God's vision for us. Knowing that we have heard from God...we take our faith and turn it into action.

 

            And then after the plan comes the implementation. Paul talked about that part when he told Titus to lead the churches of Crete into good works...into those things that bear fruit. And here is the really challenging part. It is where the ministries and work we are doing becomes part of our regular behavior.

 

            What will be required of us...well...may be challenging. In fact, I am willing to say now that it will be. People who seek God are not usually given piddy little things to do...remember what God asked Paul to do? remember what God wanted Moses to do? and how about Queen Esther? God gave them people saving things to do...things that were not only life risking and breath taking...but they were people saving!

 

            But hey, God went with them every step of the way, right? God never let them down, right?...so if you are here today and you want to be part of something GREAT that God is going to show us to do...then get ready...we're asking, seeking and knocking...and Jesus promised that we will receive, find and it's going to be opened to us!

 

            Merging...that is what we want to do. Get up to speed with God our father, find our opening, get up our nerve and move into that great flow of kingdom life that God has for us. Think of it this way. The vision that God is going to give us is like a great river, and we are like the drops that fall from heaven into that great river to become part of it.

 

            We 're going to move, round this obstacle and that obstacle, following and flowing with God into the future. How exciting is that?!!! Amen!