Jump in the Deep End Part 2 Staying Awake

Transcription

1 Rev. 2:1-5, Mark 2:18-22 Jump in the Deep End Part 2 Staying Awake No one puts new wine in old wineskins.but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins This morning we continue our series on Jumping in the Deep End, seeking to pay attention to what it means to be persons of faith and a church of faith that is willing to take the risk of jumping into the deep end of the pool. In part one, we looked at the importance of being willing to take a leap of faith. Because in this journey of life, as much as we would like to have it all figured out, we know that the future is uncertain. So, like Abraham we do not always know where we are going, but we move forward in faith knowing that God goes before us and that God is with us. The question we asked was this: When was the last time either as individuals or as a church we jumped into the deep end? When did we step out in faith looking for those opportunities to allow God to use us and make a difference for the kingdom of God? Today we are challenged to take a closer look at those things that may hinder us from taking those steps. And to realize that it may be our own spiritual perspective that can obscure our vision for seeing the changes we need to make. We are watching the presentation by our Conference Mission director, Nicole Cardwell Gross as she discusses the importance of Jumping in the Deep End. So let s listen to this section of her talk. (show video clip) You know, hearing this part of Nicole s presentation may make us feel uncomfortable, because the idea of throwing out the old life jackets seems unnerving and maybe irrational. I guess it s because getting rid of old things that we have become fond of can be hard to do or even painful. Have you ever tried to clean out your house, maybe at rummage sale time, and you had a hard time deciding what you wanted to part with. OK, Joanna and I are going through that process right now. We know it s time to start thinking about downsizing, but we each have our things, some things that we ve had for years, and the thought of getting rid of some of them can be difficult. But we both know, that in the end, it will be much better when we do. So we all struggle with this personally, but how much more of a challenge it is when it comes to what we cherish in the life of the church. We have a rich history, full of special memories, wonderful traditions, Page 1 of 5

2 parts of our worship, our programs, our ministries and the idea of changing the way we do any of them can make us feel very uncomfortable. And maybe that s just the reason it becomes a spiritual issue we can allow our traditions, the things we get comfortable with, to lull us into a state of complacency and we no longer take the risks of faith that are required to make changes. I know these can be hard words for all of us to hear. I m sure the words written in the book of Revelation chapter 2 to the church at Ephesus were not easy to hear either. The writer commends them for their patience and endurance but then sternly brings this word of admonition: I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen: repent and do the works you did at first. What a powerful expression of reminding us of keeping our priorities where they need to be. Remember your first love. If you ve ever fallen in love you remember the feelings you had, the intensity of your affections, the level of devotion you were head over heels in love. But we know what can happen. The feelings can diminish, and the relationship can become routine, and we can take each other for granted. The same thing can happen in our relationship with the Lord, where we become too comfortable in our faith life, and we lose that first love commitment we once knew and we can allow that same condition to impact our church life where we allow our traditions, and our routines to keep us from plunging into new areas of ministry. I think this is an important concept to grasp, especially now when we know our church is going though changes. This is the issue: we don t want our wonderful history to keep us from seeing the future. Rather we want to build on that history so that we continue to be the church awake and alive for Jesus Christ for years to come. So I want to suggest a few things for us to think about and pray about as we seek to step forward into that future. The first has to do with Nicoles point about our practice of ministry. She pointed out that we do not change the message, but we do need to constantly check our methods. The message is about the good news of Jesus Christ, the message of God s amazing grace, that we are loved by God and we can experience the forgiveness of God and find new life when we trust a Page 2 of 5

3 living Savior. That message is who we are and what we are about. It is the mission we identify with to share the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world with our words and actions. If we forget that is our primary focus, then all we will become is people trying to stay afloat on old life jackets. I read about a large manufacturing plant that was built to produce shoes. The management invested great sums of money and many hours of hard work into this plant to produce the finest shoes possible. There was a lot of money spent for salaries, machinery for shoe making and for materials from which the shoes were to be made. Well, the plant was in full operations for several years, workers were busy doing various tasks, the machines were running at full blast, when one day the president who owned a number of these companies came by for a visit and asked the production manager: How many shoes have we produced so far? To which the manager had to answer: None This company has been running all this time and no shoes! The manager replied: That s right, no shoes, but we are really busy, in fact we have been so busy, that a lot of our workers have been stressed out, but we are very good at staying very active. Unfortunately we know that story can apply to the church of Jesus Christ. It s not shoes, but disciples we are called to make. And we know that we can keep very busy doing good things, people working very hard, but the primary focus must remain the primary focus. Reaching people with the good news of the Gospel, making disciples of Jesus Christ. It is our mission and our message. So we have to ask ourselves, which of our methods are helping us to do just that, and are there methods we need to re-examine and re-evaluate, are their methods we need to re-structure, or even let go of. These are tough questions, but important ones for us as a community of faith. Which leads us to take action on a second matter. It brings us to a word from John the Baptist and Jesus during the season of Advent. You find the same word in our Revelation Scripture read this morning. That word is Repent. We have to ask ourselves: Where do we need to repent? Or where do we need to make changes. If we feel like personally we have fallen asleep or if we see ourselves becoming too comfortable with our spiritual life, then I wonder if the Holy Spirit is Page 3 of 5

4 speaking to our hearts to wake up and let go of those things we need to let go of and seek the Lord s direction for our personal journey and our journey as a community of faith. We cannot let our traditions or our methodology as good as they have been or as comfortable that they make us feel keep us from jumping into new territory. Did you know that African Impala (an African antelope) is an amazing creature that can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance greater than 30 feet. Yet Impalas can be kept in a zoo inside an enclosure with a simple 3 foot wall. The reason why? Impalas will not jump if they can't see where their feet will land. I wonder if we are often like the African Impala, If we aren t sure where we will land when we can t see where we will end up, will we just stay comfortable where we are? I think that is the third step we must take. Goes right back to the first part of our series. It s going to require us to take those leaps of faith. It going to require us to trust that God who is faithful will guide our steps and our leaps and be with us in our future in our personal faith and in our church. So what are the life jackets you have been wearing? What are the old life jackets we need to let go of? Jesus said: "No one puts new wine into old wineskins: otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins: but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins" (Mk. 2:22). Think about the properties of wine and wineskins. When wine is new, it is in a state of fermentation. It bubble s and as the fermentation gases are released it will expand. A new, fresh, pliable wineskin can absorb such expansion and slowly age-with the wine until the fermentation process is complete. But if you put fresh wine into an old wineskin you are asking for trouble. The old wineskin is no longer pliable. It is fixed and somewhat brittle. The activity of new wine will stress it to the breaking point. And so both the wine and the skin are lost. The lesson is clear. We can't put new ideas into an old way of thinking. We can't get new results with old behaviors. What are the old wine-skins in our lives we need to cast aside, what are the new wineskins we need to find? What are the steps of faith each of us need to take to fully surrender the future to God? Maybe that s the crucial place to begin to surrender that which makes us comfortable and place ourselves and our future into God s hands. I close with the words of an old hymn by Ira Stanphill that Page 4 of 5

5 reminds us of where our focus needs to me. It s called I know who holds tomorrow. Let these words give you hope in the midst of uncertainty and faith no matter what tomorrow brings : I don't worry o'er the future, For I know what Jesus said. And today I'll walk beside Him, For He knows what is ahead. Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand. But I know who holds tomorrow And I know who holds my hand. Page 5 of 5