“Where Do You Want To Go?”

I don’t know of anyone who right now is not lamenting life in 2019. 2020 came in with a bang and changed everyone’s life. There is no one who has not been impacted by Coronavirus and social distancing and wearing masks and staying home. Most of us think about how things were before the world turned upside down and our very existence is something new and strange. If it were possible for us to do a do-over for this year I’m sure we would choose to do that - a do-over where 2020 happened and everything was the same as it were before.
But when we think back to last year, do you have a tendency to think about how much better things were and forget the issues that were going on. When we think back do we only think about the good - gathering together whenever and however we wanted, normal shopping, going to restaurants, school as it always was, worship and church activities as we were use to; do we think about the problems we were having then; issues we were dealing with, bills we needed to pay, decisions we needed to make….
The Hebrew people were dealing with the same conundrum. They didn’t care that life really wasn’t all that good back in Egypt, but they were ready to go back. Let’s remember the story. God began his people with Abraham, who had Isaac, who had Jacob. Then Jacob has 12 sons and through a series of events Jacob and his 12 sons and their families end up in Egypt. For about 400 years, the descendants of Jacob lived and flourished in Egypt and by then they were more Egyptian than they were Hebrew. They walked like an Egyptian, they talked, ate and even thought like an Egyptian. They dressed like an Egyptian and as we will see later in the desert they were vey familiar with the Egyptian gods. Understandable that after 400 years culturally they were Egyptian. Their other benefit was that when God established Jacob and his family in Egypt, he gave them the best land there. It was lush and green and the perfect valley to life and thrive. Until time passed and the Egyptians were in need of people to build storage houses for them and they see all these people living in the land of Goshen and the Egyptians seized them and made them slaves; slaves whose job was to build Egypt’s many storage buildings. It was a long hard struggle. They worked during the day and then had to care for themselves - care for their sheep, grow their crops, carry their water at night. Even the women were forced into slavery helping to make the bricks and the mortar while the men build the buildings. Elderly, young, everyone was made to work - 7 days a week of hard, hard work - there was no rest. They cried out to God for help and God sends them Moses, who made Pharaoh angry and that just increased the work the Hebrews had to do. Now they had to provide their own straw to make the bricks - growing, harvesting, processing it to be usable. They were building, they are making bricks, they were trying to raise their sheep and their food and carry their own water and now grow and process hay for the bricks. Finally, Moses is able to free them from slavery and they are taken out into the desert where God promises them he is going to take them to a land of ‘milk and honey’ - the promised land.
But the way to the promised land was not easy. They were no longer in the lush valley of Goshen, but in a dry desert. There was no quick access to water or food. Even though they were hardy people from working as slaves, this desert experience was new and they didn’t have a clear vision of where they were going - only that God - a god they didn’t know very well and Moses, a leader they didn’t know very well - kept telling them that this land of milk and honey would be wonderful… And after a while of this new way of life - this life as a nomad, moving, pitching tents, eating this stuff that fell from the sky and depending on water holes that were few and far between…. It is not that they weren’t use to hard work, it is just that this wasn’t the kind of life they had been use to. It was different and they weren’t real fond of the change. Even though here in the desert they truly had everything they needed; everything was provided for them; there were no Egyptian taskmasters whipping them; forcing them to work harder and harder……

But new is hard; change is hard; and having to move in a direction you weren’t planning on is hard; when you are forced into a transition you hadn’t expected - or even a transition you had expected but it wasn’t quite what you wanted it to be, the tendency is to want ‘to go back’. Back to the way things were before; back to what you were comfortable with - even if the way things were wasn’t all that great…. The past just holds this allure of comfort because it is what we were familiar with. Even if this transition is going to take you somewhere better, you are still a little skeptical.
So the Hebrews began to grumble and complain and they ‘wanted to go back’ to their life in Egypt. And as they reminisced it was the enjoyable things they remembered - the fish they ate, the cucumbers and melons, and the onions and the garlic. They remembered pots of meat and sitting around fires…. They had forgotten the lashes from the whip and the hard work from sunup to sundown - and then the extra work to provide for themselves. The good ole days were just the good times - none of the bad. “We want to go back!” They shouted. “We want things the way they use to be….”
Familiar cry for all of us. Change is hard. Moving forward is hard. And yet that is always what God is asking us to do. He is always asking us to move. There is not one story in the bible where people are told to stay put. It is always, ‘pick up and go’; or this is the new covenant; the new way. Paul reminds us that God tells us we have to grow and learn and do new things and learn new ways.
Jesus respected the fact that there were people who wanted things to stay the same; who wanted the status quo; He didn’t think that is what they should do but he respected it. That is why when approaches the cripple at the pool of Siloam Jesus asked him - “Do you want to get well?” Now we think that should be a no-brainer. Of course we would want to get well. Of course we would want to be healed. Or would we. Remember this fella has been a cripple for most of his life. This is all he knows. He lays by the pool; he begs and receives money and food from those he begs from; this is the life he is used to. If he is healed, that will all change. He will have to find employment; people will treat him differently - some will accept him but there will be those who will shun him because they will suspect that it was ‘the evil one’ who did the healing. The Pharisees were most displeased with him because he was evidence of what Jesus could do. Jesus knew that if he is healed, this is going to be a whole new life for him and not necessarily an easy one. So before he heals the paralyzed man Jesus asks - “Do you want to be healed?” Do you want your life to change? Do you want to move in a new direction? The paralyzed man said “Yes” and immediately he was healed, he picked up his bed and walked into this new life. Do we wonder if sometime in the future this healed man is going to say, “I wish I was back there by the pool. All I had to do was lie there and people gave me money and food. I want to go back to being paralyzed….”
Because that is what we are when we get stuck in remembering only the good in the past; when we are afraid of changes, of transitions, of new directions, of following where God is taking us. The Apostle Paul says to us in the passage we read from Philippians - Forget what is behind and move straight toward what is ahead.” Even like the Hebrews when you don’t know what that straight ahead might be, even if the way is difficult, even if like the paralyzed man you don’t know what your life is going to be like - we as the people of God are called to go straight ahead. Without worry, without fear, knowing God is leading us in the way we should go - even if it is new, or hard, or different, or not what we expected.…
We don’t know where the world is going. We, just like the Hebrew people in the desert are stuck in this new way of doing and of living and at looking what is around us. We can get hung up on thinking things can return to the way they were, which let’s admit it is doubtful, or we can depend on God to lead us in the new direction he has for us as the church of Jesus Christ. We are learning to worship in a new way; we are learning how to be the church in a new way, we are learning we really do need to lean on God for peace in the face of everything around us that is ‘new’.

Don’t be paralyzed; don’t be like the Hebrews who wanted to go back to ‘the way things use to be’ just because that is the familiar and the easy. Just know that no matter what change may lay before us as the church; no matter how we may have to change and adapt; whatever transition we may be forced to face, remember the words of Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plan I have for you” declares the Lord “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Amen!

MANY BRANCHES

How many of you remember the Frank Sinatra classic:   “My Way”   - For a reminder listen to a couple of verses from that song…
Regrets I've had a few, But then again too few to mention, I did what I had to do,  And saw it through without exemption, I planned each charted course,  Each careful step along the byway,  And more, much more than this, I did it my way, For what is a man,  what has he got, If not himself then he has not, To say the things he truly feels, And not the words of one who kneels,  The record shows I took the blows, And did it my way.

There is a good part of us that hear these words and think, ‘Yea’!  “That’s right”  “That’s what we have to do”  “Great song”  “Great inspiration”.  “Good for him”  “We all need to be more like that!”  That is the message we get from the world around us - we gotta take care of ourselves.  Pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps.  It is up to you to make something of yourselves…….   And on and on.  The message is just as the gospel of Frank Sinatra teaches us - what we admire, what we strive for, is to be strong enough to stand up for ourselves and do it “MY way”.

However today as we hear the message of Jesus, the words are exactly the opposite.  We are not to do it My Way - but are to do it Jesus’ way.  We are not to be independent and on our own and “You gotta take care of yourselves cause no one else will”…….. We, as the children of God are to be connected to the vine and we are to have an attitude, not of independence, but of dependence.
During those final 40 days of instruction between the resurrection and Jesus’s asention Jesus gives the disciples, and by reference us, these final directions of how to live and we get some great word of encouragement.  
If you remember, Jesus  has met the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  The disciples had traveled back home and back to their fishing jobs.  This particular morning as they were done fishing Jesus greets them on the beach with a great breakfast of fish and bread.  So they all sit down together, they eat their breakfast and begin to talk.  Scripture tells us that, as you might guess, after Peter denied he was a follower of Jesus on the night of Jesus’ arrest, Peter carried with him some heavy guilt.  He had denied his Lord. He kept stressing over how he could have done this - he was a failure - he had failed Jesus.  This weighed heavy on Peter…..  
We’ve all been there. We have done something - multiple things - and we carry this guilt around with us.  Guilt can be paralyzing.  Regrets can incapacitate us.  Feeling guilty can limit our ability to live for God; to work for God as he desires; Guilt and regret can destroy our relationships; it can even separate us from God.
Jesus knows that he has to deal with this before Peter is going to be able to live up to what Jesus needs Peter to do. He needs Peter to become the leader of this new church; Peter is going to be the leader of the disciples as they gather together to do the work that God wants them to do…  And Peter will not be able to do any of this if he carries around this guilt from his night of publicly denying his Lord Jesus.   So as they sit around this campfire on this morning on the beach, eating their fish and breaking their bread, Jesus lets Peter know that he is forgiven; that his mistakes of the past are just that - past mistakes; that God has forgiven him - that God has forgotten these missteps and now Peter can get on with his life.  That is the gist of that familiar conversation between Jesus and Peter:     “Peter, do you love me?” - Feed my sheep.   “Peter, do you love me?” - Feed my lambs.  “Peter, do you love me?” - Take care of my sheep.  Three denials - and three times Jesus assures Peter that all is well and that the roadblocks are clear and that Peter can get on with the business of what Jesus is asking Peter to do. 
But the morning continues as Jesus then takes Peter and says, “Let’s go for a walk” and they go down the beach.   The disciple John is a little jealous that Jesus is spending so much time with Peter - and keep in mind that it is John who is writing this account of what is happening this morning on the beach.  Peter and Jesus begin walking down the beach as Jesus is giving Peter some further instructions and some further encouragement and further information about what is going to happen.  John, writing this account, throws in this little sentence that says in affect -  I was the one who sat by Jesus at the last supper and I heard him say that someone was going to betray him and Peter betrayed him and I didn’t…….. Peter then, walking along with Jesus looks back at John, who is following them, says “What about him?”
Doesn’t that sound like us?  How many times do we get caught up in what everyone else is doing, or has done, or didn’t do, or did 10 years ago?  How often are we held back from doing what God wants us to do because we are worried about what someone else has been called to do and it is different than what we have been asked to do and what they have to do is easier, more fun, less time consuming, than what I have to do. Especially if you are from a large family like mine where the older brothers always got to do the fun stuff. How often have you said   “I want to do what they have to do…….”
We also read today a passage from Exodus. This passage comes from the wilderness journey which is a story that God gave us so that we can learn about our journey to become better at being God’s people.  In this particular passage, Moses is up on top of Mt. Sinai receiving the 10 commandments and receiving a lot of other information as God lines out exactly how he wants his people to live.  In all these instructions is included the design for the tabernacle - the place where God wants his people to gather and worship.  God very specifically orders particular objects to be a part of the worship space.  And then God tells Moses, I am going to give particular people each a particular talent  so that they will be able to craft these particular pieces that I want in my tabernacle.  And so in this passage of Exodus we actually get to read the names of these individuals God has chosen and gifted to craft these items that will be know as the ‘furniture’ of God’s sanctuary.  This is important to notice - no where does it say, “God went to these fellas and asked them if they would like to be the ones to perform these tasks.”  God just simply says - these are the ones I am going to tell they will do this!
As Jesus walks along the beach with Peter, he tells Peter “The time is coming where you are no longer going to make your own decisions.  The time is coming where you will be lead where you do not want to go.”  In other words, God has chosen Peter to lead his church and there is little Peter can do about it.  God is telling Peter this is what you are going to do now…..
And Peter is not to worry about what John is going to be called to do and John is not to worry about what Peter is going to do or the fact that Peter had sinned greatly.
Traditionally in the church lectionary - the list of sermons that are suggested for each Sunday - this Sunday is always the Sunday where we are to remember the words of Jesus - I am the vine and you are the branches……  I am the boss and you are the disciples.  You job is to do what I call you to do.  You job is not to worry about the other branches on the vine; your job is not to want to do what she or he is doing; you job is not to judge whether so and so is able to or good enough to do what God has called them to do; your job is not to do it your way.
Jesus says, “I am the vine and you are the branches. Staying connected to me means that I will always give you whatever you need to do what I have called you to do; gifted you to do; you don’t have to do it your way or worrying about doing it your way cause as long as you stay connected, it will be fine…….”
Sounds good; sounds challenging; but practically what does that mean for me?  
It is simple, well it sounds simple but since we are people that think we have to do it My Way it can be kind of a struggle.  We have to spend time, every day, walking with Jesus.  Just like Peter did that day on the beach.  And what that looks like in your own life you have to work out.  It means that sometime during the day you find a moment - even if it is only 5 minutes (and I know you are busy but all of us can find 5 minutes for God….) Find some time each day to just sit quietly and ask Jesus to guide you.  Not prayer so much, just ask Jesus what he wants you to do and sit quietly…
And what you will realize is that it is not about doing it “My Way”, it is not about worrying about guilt and regrets, it is not about what anyone else is doing, it is about living the life God has for me.  And it is remembering that as long as I stay connected to Jesus, as long as I remember I am a branch connected to the vine, It will be OK.

Amen!

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Years ago now I went to a conference at Montreat called Wee Kirk or Smalll Church. It is a meeting of fellow ministers who work in small churches. Thinking of that I went back to my notes to try and help us to really understand what God is grooming us for here at Conover . ’For Such a Time As This’ - what is our purpose purpose here serving God and what has God prepared us to do.
“For Such a Time As This” comes from the story of Esther in the Old Testament and has become a catch phrase to help God’s people - us - understand that each of us has been gifted with abilities and each of us has a purpose in the work and worship of God. And that when we find ourselves in situations, when we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory, when we find ourselves in times and places where we are called to stand up to the plate, whether we are comfortable with that or not, we come to understand that God has prepared us ‘for such a time as this’.
To understand the story of Esther lets get her into historical perspective. As usual we meet God’s people in the wilderness cause that is where we are most usually find them. God’s people spend 40 years wondering around the wilderness and God brought them into the promised land. Back then it was known as Cananaan, during Jesus’ time it was known as Palestine - today we would call it Israel and the West Bank. They lived there a little over a thousand years - sometimes following the ways of God but more often straying away from God and worshipping the local idols. Eventually God got so frustrated trying to lead his people into what was best for them and best for God that God allowed Assyria to capture 10 of the tribes of God and scatter them all over the area around the Mediterranean Sea. Then God concentrated his efforts on the remaining 2 tribes, trying his best to help them and guide them however eventually they also abandon God and so God allows the Babylonians to come into Jerusalem and capture these 2 tribes and carry them off into Babylon where God’s people lived in slavery. The story of Esther takes place during this Babylonian exile.
We open up with the king of Babylon, Xerxes, (although his name is recorded various different ways in different versions of the Bible!) who has just hosted a party that has lasted months! The party consists of many of the powerful leaders of the nations around Babylon and the King needs to make sure that at all times he appears powerful. Any glimpse of weakness will alert these other powerful kings that perhaps they could come in and defeat Babylon. Remember that even though these guys are partying together, they are also sizing each other up and looking for that ‘edge’ in case the nations go at war with one another. So after many days of eating and drinking Xerxes wants to show off his queen who was a very beautiful woman. Her name was Vashti and Xerxes summoned her to come and parade in front of all these drunk men in her scantily clad outfit. And she refused. Now, in our day in age of strong, independent women, we think “Good for her! Way to go!” but in the day and age of ancient Babylon, this was unheard of. Not only would anyone refuse the king anything, but for a woman to refuse a man, especially the king, was unthinkable. Xerxes has been embarrassed in front of all of these powerful leaders and Xerxes’ advisors quickly pointed out that this was unforgivable and he had better show his strength. Now Xerxes is conflicted because he does love Vashti - but he really doesn’t have a choice. Normally he would have her publicly executed to show people what happens when you defy the king, but because he cares for her he sends her away - which leaves the post of Queen of Babylon open…..
The solution to this problem is to have a nationwide beauty contest. Some think this is where the story of Cinderella and her glass slipper came from when all the women wanted their foot to fit, all the women of Babylon wanted to be the Queen and began to apply for the contest. There was a man named Mordecai, who was a Jew, who worked in the palace of the king and he heard about the beauty contest. Mordecai had raised his niece, a girl named Hadessah (who we know by her Babylonian name of Esther) and she was very beautiful. So Mordecai encourages her to enter the contest, but Mordecai cautions her not to let anyone know of her Jewish heritage. The Jews, remember, were living as slaves in Babylon; they were 2nd class citizens and as a Jew Esther would have never been allowed to enter the contest.
After a year long elimination process, Esther won and she is now the Queen of Babylon and Xerxes is very pleased with her! Meanwhile, Xerxes has appointed Haman as the Prime Minister and while no one in Babylon likes the Jews, Haman had an unnatural hatred for the Jews. Haman, who feels he is quite important, declares himself such an important leader that everyone must bow to him as a god. Mordecai, being a good Jew and knows the first commandment, is not willing to bow before Haman which makes Haman crazy. So instead of just punishing Mordecai, Haman figures this is his opportunity to get rid of all the Jews he hates so much. So Haman goes to Xerxes and asks Xerxes if he can kill all the jews and Xerxes says ‘sure’ and Haman begins his plan. Mordecai, who remember works in the palace still, gets wind of the plan and knows he has to do something.
So he goes to Esther and tells her that she is in a position to do something about this. Well, Esther, is a little reluctant to do anything. She may be the Queen but this is a pretty ornamental office - her job is to do what the King asks her to do and to be available for him and she is only allowed to speak to the king when she is summoned. So Esther argues with Mordecai that there is nothing she can do. And Mordecai reminds her of two things - one is that she is a Jew and if Haman kills all the Jews then why does she think she is going to escape. She will get killed with all the other Jews. And he reminds her of the power and purpose of God. “Don’t you think, Esther, that God was behind all of this? Do you really think that you are here on your own? You think that maybe God has put you in this place so that you can do something about the extermination of all of your people? - maybe you are here ‘for such a time as this’.”
And Mordecai speaks to all of us. If we truly trust in God; if we truly understand our life as the people of God - then we need to remember that God is guiding and directing us in the way we should go so that we can be in places and in times to do what God needs done. When we find ourselves in a new place, in a new situation, if a place or an event or a situation that we would have never chose for ourselves - maybe, just maybe, it is God saying, “I need you for such a time as this to do what I need done.” And we realize that God has given us the tools and the gifts and whatever else we may need to do what needs to be done.
To make a long story short, Esther risks her life by approaching the King unsummoned and convinces Xerxes to cancel Haman’s genocide of the Jews - and she has been able to save her people.
That is the point of this story - be willing to open yourself - as individuals or us as a church - to the places you find yourself in and remember we are people of God, and we are here to do what He needs us to do - For Such a Time as we find ourselves in now.
Amen