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Have you ever gotten to the point where the sum and
substance of your entire defense is one word, one small word? I
have. One evening, years ago, I returned home late from the church
and was greeted by a very agitated family. They were all trying to
talk at once and it sounded very much like they were saying at
different speeds and different volumes, “There’s a rat in the washing
machine!” Upon getting them to calm down I asked them to speak
slowly, calmly, and one at a time. I believe it was Chelsea with her
dancing eyes who served as the spokesperson, “Dad, there is a rat in
the washing machine. Get it out.” Now I am irrationally freaked out
by rodents. Rationally I know that I am much larger and there is a
limit to the harm that one little rat could do to a full-grown man.
However, irrationally I am convinced that he could take me. I
instructed Tammy to get rid of the rat. She then put a title on me of
which I am often proud, “You’re the man.” That is when my famous and
almost always futile one word argument was employed – “So?!”
My eloquent defense was defeated by the clear appeal, “So, get that
rat out of the house.” How and when I finally exterminated the house
of that one rat is a story for another day, but suffice it to say that
my one word defense was inadequate. It usually is and yet I continue
to employ it.
I think sometimes we do that with God. We hear this wonderful
challenge from the scripture and are invited to embody it. Our
response to God is often, “So?!” Three weeks ago I spoke about Jesus’
Great Commission, the last words of Christ that Matthew recorded,
instructing the church to make disciples of all nations. We hear
those words as the charge to the church and that this is what the
church is to do, but many of us don’t. If God were to say, “You are
the church and this is what the church does.” I’m afraid that too
often too many of us would say, “So?!” I’m glad when Abram received
his instructions the story went much differently. His story, which
really is the start of our faith story begins in Genesis 12:1-4a.
Hear now the Word of the Lord:
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1Now
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. 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless
you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I
will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will
curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
4So Abram went, as the Lord had told
him. |
I’m glad when Paul wrote to the Corinthians about God’s desire for
their lives, they did not discard his letter, but preserved it for us
to hear the promise given in one verse, 2 Corinthians 9:8. Hear now
this word of the Lord:
8And God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work.
This is
the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. In these
passages the biblical authors made it clear that God chooses to
use us as conduits. As we continue our series on
Fulfilling the Vision it is imperative to have a sense of where we
are going and how we are sent. We are commissioned to be instruments
of God’s grace to all the world, wherever we go. God chooses
to use us as conduits.
You are Commissioned to be Blessed
This is
the first role of the conduit. You have to receive that which you are
to convey to others. Abram was in a difficult position. On the one
hand, his family line had reached a dead end. Genesis 11:30 reported
that Sarai, Abram’s wife was unable to have children. Walter
Brueggemann tells this story beautifully in his commentary on Genesis
reminding his readers, “The marvel of biblical faith is that
barrenness is the arena of God’s life-giving action.” Abram is told
to let go of what he has – his country, his kindred, and his father’s
house, and go with closed eyes to that with which God wants to bless
him. Abram believed and obeyed without any visible evidence. This is
what we call faith. Abram believed what God said. And what did God
say? Five times in just two verses some form of the word “bless” is
used. God commissioned Abram to be blessed, but it would take letting
go of what he knew and moving toward what he did not know.
Jim
Collins began his best-selling book Good to Great with these
words, “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key
reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great
schools, principally because we have good schools… Few people attain
great lives in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a
good life.”
Abram
could have settled for a good life: stay in Haran, build a good home
with Sarai, tend sheep, and die. But God called him to a great life.
“I will make of you a great nation.” All it would take is for him to
leave everything he knew and move toward what he did not know.
Paul
was trying to communicate the same kind of faith to the Corinthians
when he wrote, God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough of everything…” God’s
desire is to bless God’s children. This is not a prosperity gospel it
is a parental gospel. Jesus asked, “Which of you fathers, if your son
asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead.” Parents want to
bless their children and God wants to bless you. God wants your life
to go from good to great. But it may require that you let go of
something. Because, God chooses to use us as conduits.
You are Commissioned to be a Blessing
Remember that one word argument that is seldom effective, “So?!”
Before it is ever asked there is a “so that” provided in each of the
scriptures that we looked at. Abram was told, “I will bless you…so
that you will be blessing.” The Corinthians were assured,
“God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance,
so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work.” The people of God are
commissioned to be blessed and we are commissioned to be a blessing.
Victor Hamilton wrote in his commentary on Genesis, “Abram must be
more than a recipient. He is both a receptacle for the divine
blessing and a transmitter of that blessing.”
And that is part of the blessing. A couple of weeks ago I was given
two articles about giving. One of them was clipped out of The Eagle
from March 21st entitled “Research finds that it’s good to
give” and one that was clipped from Science Magazine which provided
the data quoted in the article from The Eagle. The articles
highlighted research done at the University of British Columbia and
Harvard University regarding giving. One of the research projects was
to randomly give people money ranging from $5 to $20. One group was
told they had to spend that money on themselves by the end of the
day. The other group was told that they had to spend that money on
someone else. Two interesting finding emerged. People who spent the
money on someone else were significantly happier than those that spent
it on themselves and the level of happiness did not vary on the amount
of money that they were given to spend. The researches then wondered
why people spend so much more on ourselves and our pleasures than on
someone else. Upon further research they assembled a new group of
subjects and described the experiment: random amounts of cash, two
groups, one spends on themselves, the other spends on others, who
would be happier. They found that a significant majority of those
asked (69 to 40) thought that personally spending money would make
them happier than giving money.
It is easy to do – to hold on to Haran rather than go where God is
guiding us, but it is not the way of blessing. We have to let go of
the blessing to become a blessing and that, ironically, is part of the
blessing. Did you get that?
Last Sunday night we distributed Faith Ledgers at our Advance
Commitment dinner. You will find some on the information table in the
Welcome Center that is coming together nicely. The Faith Ledger is a
document where people record above and beyond gifts and unexpected
blessings. It is really a record of being blessed and being a
blessing. In the week since this Faith Ledger was distributed I have
already heard three incredible faith stories. One of our leaders
committed an amount to Fulfilling the Vision that was the
largest amount they had ever committed to give away. The next day
they received a check they had been expecting, but it was twice the
amount they had expected. Another member took a similar step of faith
and this week discovered a tax return which exceeded the amount
committed to Fulfilling the Vision. I heard another story this
week about a totally unexpected check that arrived the day after a
commitment. These stories happen to often for me to believe anything
but that God still chooses to use us as conduits. God
commissions you to be blessed. It is the divine plan, but the
blessing is not to be hoarded, it is to be distributed. You are
blessed so that you will be a blessing. God is able to provide you
with every blessing in abundance, so that by always
having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good
work. How has God already blessed you and how are you using that
to be a blessing? Remember, God chooses to use us as conduits.
As you
consider your part in Fulfilling the Vision let me remind you
that this effort is about ministry and facilities that facilitate
ministry. It will take members of this church making legacy
commitments, that is, making the largest commitments you have ever
made as you step out in faith. It will take more individuals and
families making commitments than we have ever had in the history of
this church. We cannot respond with the often used and seldom
effective one word defense, “So?!” I am confident that God will do
something extraordinary, because God chooses to use us as
conduits. Amen. |
