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I don’t know if many of you have
ever spent much time riding a city bus, but if you have, there’s one very, very
important piece of information posted on a bus, without which you probably wouldn’t
board it. It’s the one word posted on
the front that tells you where the bus is going. Now, this may not be your particular
destination, but if your destination is on the way, the bus will drop you. If you get on a bus with the wrong
destination, you’re in big trouble. If
you just get on any old bus, who knows where you might end up? Could be exciting, right?
We like certainty in this
life. We like to know where the bus,
airplane or car is headed. We like to be
very clear about where we are going. You
don’t just get on any old bus. You don’t
go to the airport and board any old plane.
You don’t take any random exit off the freeway just to see where it
might lead. We have tickets and GPS and
maps for a reason—we like to know where we are going.
So we come to church and worship a
God who isn’t always exactly clear on just where we are going. Now, we’re all very clear about the final
destination. There is no doubt about
that. God promises that those who
acknowledge Christ as Lord and King will dwell with him forever. Period.
But on the way, well, it’s a little
less than clear. I’d like to read a
selection of passages from Scripture:
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Genesis 12:1-4
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and
your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I
will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord
had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he
departed from Haran.
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain
to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him,
but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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Now, here are just a few examples
of calls from God. Sometimes, God can be
quite specific, as in the case of Moses or Jonah. Sometimes, however, God is pretty vague. Abraham didn’t get an end destination. He didn’t get much information at all—only a
call to go forth to an unnamed land and a promise to make of him a great
nation. At the age of 75, this was no
easy journey, but the Lord said go,
so Abraham went.
In the same manner, the disciples
aren’t given a lot in the detail department.
They are charged with making disciples of all nations, teaching them to
observe everything Jesus has commanded over the past 3 years, but the specifics
are a bit fuzzy. How exactly they’re
going to accomplish this is left in the margins. But they’re still called to go.
As Christians, this word ‘Go’ is an
important one, but one I think we have minimized over the years. Go is a challenge, one that should perk up
our ears and fix our vision forward on the next step in our lives. Go is an indication that we should not stay,
that we are being called to a new location.
Go is a word from God that should be heeded.
For centuries, the Presbyterian
church has heeded this call. We’ve sent
missionaries around the world to establish churches and schools and
hospitals. The legacy of our work is
often incalculable, and millions have come to know Christ as Lord and Savior
through the dedicated work of missionaries.
They continue to go forth today, often setting forth into unknown lands
and situations in the hopes of proclaiming the Gospel with faithfulness.
We as a church continue to go. The question for us today, is whether we go
as individuals or not.
For the last 6 weeks, we’ve talked
about Rich Warren’s Purpose-Driven Life. Through that experience, I hope you’ve taken
the chance to explore what it means for you to live with purpose for God. Today, I’m hoping to wrap up the entire book,
and there’s no better word to do so than ‘Go.’
God sends Abraham. God sends the disciples. God sends you.
As people, we are programmed to
seek comfort and stability. We like
that. I think it is part of our DNA, and
when we were living in a cave hoping that the next meal might wander into a
nearby trap, comfort and stability seemed like a great thing. They still do, only we get overly drawn into
a life of comfort. In short, we stop
growing. We stop going. We let others do the work, and we stop
looking for the places into which God has called us next. Each and every person today is continually
being called forward, called to grow in faith, called to explore new relationships
and engage in new challenges. We’re
called to take bold steps so that the work of the church may advance, so that
God’s Kingdom may expand, so that others may come to know Christ as Lord and
Savior.
How are you contributing to that
growth?
Are you willing to go forward in
your personal life of faith, to go forward in mission and evangelism, to go
forward in selfless love of others? Are
you willing to go?
Or do we reach a place where it’s
easier to stay?
It’s always going to be easier to
stay, but think of Abraham at the age of 75, leaving everything behind to
wander into a new life.
Think of the disciples, standing on
the mountain, watching their Lord and Savior ascend to the heavens, left with a
command to go and evangelize the world but no idea of exactly how to do so.
The key to all of this is in Christ’s
final words.
“Remember, I am with you always, to
the end of the age.”
If we have to figure this out on
our own, we’re lost, abandoned, and may as well never even try. How could we possible do this by human
strength? We may as well stay.
But we can go, and do so with
conviction and courage, because we have the promise of Christ to be with
us. He’ll never abandon or forsake us,
and he’ll never be more than a moment away.
You are in his hands, and he will lead you forward, and will protect you
on the way. We go because He goes with
us, and his power and Holy Spirit lead us.
The disciples would have fallen down laughing had they had to figure
this out on the way, but instead they could go back and join in prayer, trusting
that God would reveal the next step for them.
We are the same. If we have to figure it out, it’s a massive
task, far beyond what our tiny minds can imagine. But if Christ is with us, we don’t have to
figure it out. It’s like a corn maze,
which are so popular around here. We don’t
have to see the whole maze. We only have
to go forward with prayer and humility, trusting in the leadership of Christ
with each and every decision, continuing to move forward rather than hovering
back in fear, and we trust that each and every decision will lead us closer to
the faithful life, closer to the life to which we are called. We simply continue to go, and trust that we
will end up where God wants us to be.
Let us pray
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