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It was a hot summer afternoon when my wife, Kim, and I enjoyed some rare time together riding a bicycle built for two. During the ride we encountered a long, steep hill. We wondered if we could make it up the hill, but decided that together we could do it. I stood up at the front of the bike pumping my legs until they burned. After much straining we finally made it to the top. Wiping sweat from my face I said to Kim, "We did it! We really did it!" Kim replied with the same sense of accomplishment, "We sure did! And it’s a good thing I kept my brake on the whole time or else we would have rolled down the hill." Isn’t there something inside each of us that wants to push the brakes to any forward movement in life? Something that is naturally resistant to change and new ideas? I must confess that when I first heard from our Music Team that they wanted to move the bell tables, I was somewhat negative about the idea. Is your first reaction to a new idea generally negative? What needs to happen in order for you to let off the brakes on a fresh idea? Today’s scripture is from Isaiah. This is a rather fascinating text because it points out the real reason for the fact that God chose Israel to be his people. Since the days of Abraham the Hebrews were raised with the belief that God was THEIR God. The books of what we call the Old Testament were THEIR writings. The temple in Jerusalem was THEIR place of worship. This kind of exclusive relationship was cultivated with an array of purity laws. The Israelites were not supposed to associate with Gentiles. They were not to allow Gentiles in their temple. They were told to shake the dust from their sandals as they left Gentile land to return to Israel. Throughout their history they often missed the point of their chosenness. God chose them in order that they might be a light for the Gentiles. God chose them so that God’s love might be revealed to all people. When have you and I been like the Hebrews? When have we enjoyed the comfort of our own little group of Christians so much that we ended up excluding others? Let me ask you, "Have you gone to a church and felt that everyone else was a great, big, happy family and you were the ONLY outsider?" We all know what it feels like to be excluded and made to feel like we don’t belong. Many years ago I attended a family wedding and had a chance to talk with an older lady about the problems in her church. She shared with me that she had stopped going or giving because of the appointment of a new pastor. She talked as if she expected me to sympathize with her problem. I was sympathetic until she stated that the problem was that the new pastor was black. So I asked her, "What kind of person is your new pastor?" Then she dropped the bomb, "Oh, I haven’t even met him!" It was at that moment that I realized I was face to face with a real, live racist. Here was a Christian raised in the church for over half a century who had never fully understood the reason God chose her. Isaiah’s words reveal the true nature of God and the reason for choosing Israel to be God’s people. God chooses us so that others might be led into grace and a loving relationship with God. It is not enough to simply accept Christ and the gift of salvation for ourselves. We are saved so that others might be saved. We are chosen so that others might be chosen. We are included so that others might be included. Hidden within the words of Isaiah is this message: LET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS DETERMINE OUR MISSION. God spoke to Israel through Isaiah with these words, "I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." This is radical stuff! The same message permeates the teachings of Jesus. LET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS DETERMINE OUR MISSION. We are so used to the reverse. We are used to deciding whom we will help and whom we will not. The power to choose is a tremendous force in our lives. Giving it up is not easy to do. Many years ago an old Scottish woman traveled to country homes to sell thread, buttons, and shoe strings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad she would toss a stick in the air and go whichever way the stick pointed. One day she was seen tossing the stick several times. Someone asked her, "Why do you toss the stick so many times?" She answered, "This gall-durned stick has point every time to the road to the left! I want to go on the road to the right. It looks smoother!" And so the woman kept on throwing the stick until it pointed towards the road she wanted to travel. Don’t we do the same thing with our spiritual journey? As long as God leads us where we want to go we don’t mind following. But when the road ahead looks rough….when we face the problem of AIDS…when we are confronted with the needs of the aging…when we are asked to support a new church building…we are tempted to keep on tossing the stick so we can move in some easier direction. Standing at a crossroad is a time to reassess our purpose for existing as a church. Are we here to love and accept people into a relationship with Christ or to maintain an institution? It all depends on how focused we stay on our mission. The history of the railroad is an exciting part of our national heritage, particularly for us in Alaska. Over a hundred years ago locomotives pulling hundreds of freight and passenger cars were as common as the car is today. The 20th century ushered in a new technology and new forms of transportation such as the automobile and airplane. During this time of change and growth the railroad industry maintained their usual methods of operation. In other words, they put the brakes to change in their basic philosophy of business, and America witnessed the gradual decline of the railroad. What they failed to understand was: They weren’t in the railroad business. They were in the transportation business! As a church are we in the business of maintaining an institution and a building? Or are we in the people business? Our purpose as a church of Christ is not to get new members in order to increase our budget, or to look good for the superintendent, or to fill the sanctuary because it makes for a better worship service. Our purpose is to welcome and accept others with the love of God simply because God loves them. This is something we can do together as the Church. It is something we can do individually wherever we are as the Church. I’d like to share a true story about how one Christian let the needs of another determine her mission. Mary was riding a New York bus along Manhattan’s west side on a blistering hot summer day. She sat in her seat pondering all her many problems when she noticed a tall, well dress middle aged woman sitting in the back of the bus. There was something about her that caught Mary’s attention. She guardedly stole another glance and just as she did the woman turned her face and their eyes met. The look of naked pain in her eyes shot through Mary with the force of a physical punch, hitting her in the stomach, right where it hurts. She looked away quickly and then a thought came to her, "Go and sit beside her." She argued with the thought, "I can’t go and sit beside a stranger on an empty bus. She’ll think I’m out of my mind." But the urge came even stronger. So Mary got up and went to the back of the bus and sat down next to the distressed woman. "Excuse me, but I wanted to come over and sit with you. You seem to be so sad." The woman turned and looked at Mary full in the face, her dark eyes wide with astonishment. Then she covered her face with her hands and began to cry quietly. Mary reached out and gently took her hand just held it. "I just want to tell you that it’s going to be alright. I don’t know the problem…and you don’t have to tell me. But it’s going to be alright." The woman finally spoke, "I can’t believe this. I’ve never had anything like this happen to me in my life." Mary put her arm around the woman and gave her a sisterly hug. "It’s okay. You have a lot of strength inside you." "No," she said miserably, "I don’t have any strength." "Yes, you do. It’s there inside you…and God is with you." "This is incredible," she said. "I have never felt so horribly shattered and alone in my life…and you, a perfect stranger…I can’t believe this is happening to me. Who are you? Would you give me your name and address?" The woman had to get off the bus. She put a hurried kiss on Mary’s cheek and smiled. Three days later Mary received a letter from her. It began… Dear friend. This was a holy experience for me…today when you came and sat beside me…" That’s what it had been for Mary. I’ve heard people say that one’s faith is a personal affair. I agree insofar as God wants to have a personal relationship with you and me. But faith in Christ is not personal and private when we build walls around it, reluctant to risk meeting a genuine need in another child of God. God gives us faith so that we might share it with others. God gives us hope so that others might have hope. God gives us love so that we may love others. This new building is a huge step for us towards welcoming and accepting the new people who are coming. It’s a goal that rests on top of a hill. We’re somewhere in the middle on a bike built for 700. Are we going to push forward in faith? Or will we allow fear to force us to put on the brakes? Up to this point St. John United Methodist Church has been a praying and pedaling congregation. May God give us the faith to stay off the brakes as we keep on going! |
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03.17.02 - Releasing the Brakes (Isaiah 42:5-9)
