Chan Willis – C.P.C.

                                                                                                                                                                March 7, 2010

“Packing for the Trip”

Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Acts 1:6-11

            For those of you who were here for last week’s 10:30 service, it would be a prime example of why I hold on firmly to the belief that what will make a worship service pleasing in God’s eyes does NOT depend on what the pastor does.  Let’s see…  First I apologized for the wrong page #’s for the Scripture readings… even though the puzzled looks on everyone’s faces didn’t clue me in to the fact that they were correct.  Unfortunately, I had the ONLY Bible in the sanctuary whose page #’s were different!  Then later, I lead the congregation in the reading of the “The Nicene Creed”… which I would soon find out was a different version from what was on the screen.  Well, at least the choir and I ‘were on the same page’.

            But I’ll tell you the way that I most greviously ‘misled’ you.  And you may not even think I did.  Do you by any chance recall what the New Testament reading was?  From Matthew 28:16-20.  The passage most commonly known as (like it is in your pew Bible) “The Great Commission.”  “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  There is NO more succinct, direct command to the church… no more precise set of ‘marching orders’… than these parting words of Jesus Christ.

            And yet, what did we talk about?  About how we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are supposed to fulfill that commission?  How we are to carry out that command?  No.  We considered how some of those early disciples of Jesus doubted.  Of how quickly the excitement of the moment of miraculous encounter with the Risen Christ… or in the Israelites case, of Moses’ parting of the Red Sea… gave way to questioning, uncertainty.  I completely ignored one of the most defining passages of Scripture from the aspect of what we are to DO as Christians… instead focusing on who we ARE as Christians.

            …AND, while none of you took me to task on that omission, the burden of ‘guilt’ still lays on me.  My bad.  Shame on me.  ‘Baaad pastor.’  Its one thing to read the wrong page #.  It’s another to overlook foundational verses of God’s Word to His people.

            So, to give this passage its due, I would ask you to consider just how we as a church are fulfilling this Great Commission.  Are we making ‘disciples?’  Are we ‘baptizing?’  Are we ‘teaching?’  Jesus emphatically tells his followers… He tells US… to “Go.”  Where are we ‘going?’

            Lent is a season of ‘preparation’, of introspection.  A time for us all to consider how our lives live up to God’s standards.  How we are fulfilling the purpose that Jesus is calling us to serve.  The purpose that Jesus endured the cross for so that we might claim the hope of the empty tomb.  To go and tell others about the reason why we do not fear like those around us who have no hope.  To go and tell others about this Jesus who brings healing to mind, body, and spirit.  To go and tell others about a Heavenly Father who has promised, through His Son, to be with us always…even to the end of time.  Jesus tells us to “Go.”  Where are we ‘going?’ 

            My friends, I know that CPC is a great place to be.  Full of warm, good-natured people who genuinely care for each other.  A place where you can come and enjoy pleasant conversation, enjoy a donut and cup of coffee, and participate in an hour-long meeting (roughly J) that will hopefully give you something to think about over the course of the week.  Well, I could have just described a meeting of the Kiwanis Club (which does actually meet in our F.H.!)

            But I certainly hope that we are more than that!  Especially at this time of year, in which we are anticipating that day of Easter, which defines who we are in our life of faith (and more?), we should be thinking about what makes us special!  You and I have been given a prize greater than any Lottery ticket could provide.  You and I have been given the opportunity to meet someone far greater than even Drew Brees or Brad Pitt.  You and I have been given the keys to unlock a door to a mansion much greater than the Biltmore Estates.  What we have, in Jesus Christ, is LIFE.  A joyful life…an abundant life… a secure life… eternal life.    It is with this message of hope to others that you and I are called to GO!

            So… are you ready?  Are you ready to go and make disciples?  (Remember “Gomer Pyle”?  Sgt. Carter—“I can’t hear you!”)  You’re probably thinking, ‘yeah right.  Me?  ‘Go and make disciples?  Me, go and talk to someone about Jesus?  I’m too timid.  I’m too unprepared.  I’m too imperfect.  I’m too Presbyterian.’  Well friends, the good news is, ‘God uses cracked pots.’  You don’t have to be a trained Bible scholar.  You don’t have to have seminary training.  You don’t have to be a Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, or Rick Warren.  I know that I’m sure not!

Where Jesus calls us to ‘go’ is not in front of TV cameras or filled stadiums.  Where Jesus calls us to go is a little village in Mexico… or a Habitat home in Abita Nursery.  To work at the Food Bank… or in the kitchen at home.  To invite your neighbor to church… or bring your child or grandchild.  To host a small Bible study in your home… or volunteer at Rock On or Cross Country.  You don’t need to be some ‘spiritual giant’ to share the gift of Christian faith with someone. All you have to be is willing to serve Christ.  All you have to be is willing to ‘go.’

How?  How do we get ready to ‘go’ and share with others, in various ways, the Good News of the Gospel?  How are we ‘packing for the trip?’  What do we need to prepare ourselves for that journey of faith God is calling us to? From today’s passages, I see three things that we always need to ‘pack with us’ as we GO to serve God...  3 “S’s.”   They match up well with the verse that says to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.”    Scriptures… God’s Word.  His heart.  Spirit… God’s Wisdom.  His soul.  Sacrifice… God’s Will.  His strength.

First, we need the Scriptures.  As that Cajun comedian Justin Wilson said, I ‘garawntee’ that you cannot fulfill God’s purpose for your life without knowing the Scriptures.  If you are going to follow someone, you have to trust them.  To trust them you have to know them… know their character, their mind, their motivation…to know their heart.  And there is NO better place to get to know God than through His Word.  If you are going to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength,”   you have to know God well enough to fall in love.  You have to read the letters of love written by and to your loving Heavenly Father.

This understanding of God through His Word doesn’t come simply by reading it by yourself.  It comes from talking about it with others… friends, spouse, co-worker… and especially to your children, and grandchildren.  Talk about the Scriptures when you get up, and when you go to bed.  When you’re at home, or in the car.  Make sure that others know that what God says to us through these ’Ancient Words’ is important today… to YOU!  This Bible is not merely human words on a page… it is God speaking to us.  It is our spiritual weapon.  With it, we are dangerous… and we can do whatever God says we can do, as long as we operate according to His Word.

In addition to ‘operating according to His Word,’ we are also to operate according to God’s Spirit.  When Jesus was preparing to leave the earth, to ascend into heaven, His disciples wanted a ‘timetable’, some assurances as to just when God would restore His Chosen People to the power they felt they deserved.  Jesus said to them, ‘You will receive my power all right’… “when the Spirit comes upon you.”   

Too often, we think we know that God is speaking to us His will… when its really just us speaking in a loud voice.  J  Just as His Word speaks to our heart and mind, God’s Spirit talks to our soul.  We can have a good idea of God’s purposes… but until we seek His Spirit, we’re just spinning our wheels.  You can have a 12-cylinder monster Hemi engine under the hood, but if you don’t have any gas in the tank, you’re going nowhere.  “‘Not my might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord.”    God’s Holy Spirit is the ‘fuel,’ the energy we need for our ‘trip.’  The Spirit is ‘soul food.’

You can be a student of the Scriptures… you can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit… but you must then be willing to sacrifice.  Each one of us must come to grips with what we are being called to ‘give up’ in service to our Lord.  It may be to sacrifice your time… in study, in prayer, in helping at church, or in the community.  The most valuable gift you have to give to God is your time.

It may be to sacrifice your pride.  To let go of that which you really don’t want to let go of, so that someone else can grow in the use of their gifts.  It may be to sacrifice your power.  To humble yourself before your brother or sister, just as Christ humbled himself on the cross.  If we are going to “go and make disciples,” we must first be willing to put others ahead of ourselves… to, in the words of a contemporary hymn, “give your-self away.”  Scripture.  Knowing God’s heart.   Spirit.   Feeling His soul.   Sacrifice.  Relying on God’s strength.  That ‘holy trinity’ we must make sure we have so that we can ‘get up and go’ for Jesus’ sake.

At the end of the Acts passage, as the disciples stared into the heavens at their Lord’s ascension, “two men dressed in white” appeared, and asked them why they were looking into the sky…saying to them, “this same Jesus…will come back…”  My friends, I believe those heavenly messengers… that Jesus WILL come back.  Remember His words in John 14:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God.  Trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms…   I go there to prepare a place for you.  (and)  ...I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ, many do NOT know the way.  That is why it is SO important that you and I GO… to make disciples, to baptize, to teach.  YOU ‘know the way to the place that Jesus has gone’… the question is, are you ‘packing for the trip?’  I pray you are…