2111 Camino del Rio South, San Diego, California 92108 619-297-4366 Fax (619) 297-2933 www.fumcsd.org Sermon of June 24, 2001 Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, Associate Minister CALLED TO MOVE Genesis 12:1-5a Romans 4:1-5. 13-17 As I stand before you to preach my final sermon as your pastor, I feel called to take another look at a sermon I preached when I came to this church 13 years ago. In fact, it was my ordination sermon - the sermon I used as I prepared my papers to submit to the Board of Ordained Ministry as a requirement for my Elder's orders. In 1990, this church celebrated that ordination with me with Mark Trotter as my ordaining elder. It was one of many sacred moments that I have been privileged to share with you over these years. Some things do change. My ordination sermon was typed in 10-point font. This one is 14! And I now wear glasses. As I prepare to embark on a new journey, I want to reflect on where God may be calling each of us to go. We are called to move at various times in our lives. Many moves are the result of going off to school, a new job, family responsibilities or simply a new beginning. But there is another kind of move that we are all called to go on as a Christian people. It doesn't have a definite destination or time of arrival. It is a journey of faith. We are called by God to move - to really go someplace with our faith and with our lives. God doesn't tell us when we are going to get there... often we aren't even sure where it is we are going. The Bible is full of stories of persons who are called by God to move. These people weren't looking for God, but God was looking for them. That's how it often works. We don't go out and find God, but when we are open to life and humble before its mystery, God finds us. And so Abraham was asked to pack his bags, leave his home and country, and venture off to a land unknown. Moses was peacefully tending his father-in-law's sheep one day, when suddenly a bush burst into flames but was not consumed. When Moses cautiously approached the bush, he heard a voice calling his name. It was God calling him to go to the Pharaoh and lead God's people out of Egypt. Isaiah was in the temple at Jerusalem when an earthquake shook the temple building. Isaiah was called by the heavenly council to proclaim a message that would fall on deaf ears. Peter and Andrew, two brothers, were throwing their nets into the Sea of Galilee one day, when Jesus came over to them and bid them "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." We never know where we may be or what we may be doing when God calls us to move. Like the people in the Bible, we are called to be pilgrim people - a people on the move. We are called to embark on life-long journey of faith. God calls us to move so we don't get too set in our ways and stop growing. God calls us to move so we www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr062401.html 1/5
don't get stuck on the things of this world. God calls us to move so that we can be about the task of getting God's work done in the world. Sometimes God's call does require us to move physically from one place to another. Like Abraham and Moses, we may be called to leave behind the security of the familiar and move to new lands or new cities. But sometimes God calls for more than physical movement. God constantly calls us to move ahead in our spiritual journey of faith. The message of the Gospel is a dynamic message... a message of growth and movement. It challenges us to be open to new ideas and new directions. We are allowed to question and struggle with our faith when we are grounded in the love of God. I was recently on a retreat with Spiritual Director, Wilkie Au, as the speaker. In his most recent book, The Enduring Heart - Spirituality for the Long Haul he asks us the question, "Are we rooted or stuck?" We are rooted when we are at home with who we are, when we accept ourselves as we are, when we are open to growth, change and creativity, and we are able to share our authentic self honestly with others. Because our roots go deep, we are sounded in who we are as a child of God. We are stuck when we let past failures, poor decisions, and missed opportunities make us unforgiving of ourselves and cynical about life. We are stuck when we allow resentments toward others to weigh us down. We are stuck when we envy what others have instead of acknowledging the many blessings of our fives. We are stuck when we choose to stay in fife situations that do not allow us to grow because we cannot trust enough to make a change and we allow fear to rule our lives. Often our stuckness shuts us off from an intimate relationship with a God who wants to be close to us. God calls us to move, but how we respond to that call is up to us. Too often, I suspect, we respond as God's Frozen Chosen People. We don't really want to go anywhere... with our lives or with our faith. I'm reminded of Peppermint Patty in one of the Peanuts cartoon strips. Patty is shown with her new "carry-on flight bag." "It's beautiful, Patty," says Lucy. "Are you going somewhere?" "No," replies Patty, "I hate going places; I just like luggage." Becoming unstuck and hearing where God may be calling you involves the process of spiritual discernment. This discernment process is based on several theological truths. The first is that we can have access to God who dwells in our midst. Secondly, God's guiding voice can lead us if we listen with solitude of heart and without fear. And thirdly, God never coerces us, but does lure us toward a fulfilling life as co-creators with God. Many of us, having heard God's call to move, come up with a myriad of reasons for why we can't respond at this time. The prophets too had their share of excuses. I'm sure God has heard them all. Moses complained that he didn't speak well - that sometimes he stuttered and his speech was slow. Isaiah was reluctant to respond, as he was aware of his unworthiness. Jeremiah protested that he was too young and didn't know the right words to say. But Abraham did not offer excuses. This is why Abraham's response to God's call makes him a model of faith for Jews and Christians alike. Abraham and Sarah, as the "first family," became the parents of a new nation and the bearers of a promise of salvation for "all the families of the earth." This first family had a good thing going. They lived in a land of rich soil with a plentiful water supply. They had family and friends all about them. It must have been unsettling when God spoke to Abraham and asked him to sever all his roots, to move to a new land, and to trust his future to God's guidance. I can imagine that 'ole Abraham and his wife Sarah must have stayed up nights and had some serious family discussions about what they were being asked to do. I Imagine Abraham wasn't quite sure where he was going or what obstacles he might encounter along the way. Yet, at age 75, Abraham packed up his belongings, said goodbye to family and friends and left his comfortable surrounding in Haran to journey into the desert. One of the problems we have today, as I see it, is that we focus too much on a destination, on an ultimate goal on www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr062401.html 2/5
the end result, rather than trusting God's presence in the journey itself. We would prefer a spiritual "triple A club" where we could leave the office with a highlighted map showing us exactly where we are going. But Abraham, as a man of faith, trusted that God would appear in those unlikely times, with those unlikely people we might meet along the way, in those surprising places. It is when we are open to God's presence in the middle of our simplest daily tasks, that we recognize God in our midst... encouraging us, sustaining us, guiding us and giving us strength. It is when we realize that we are already on a journey and we learn to trust God in our travels, that we truly five by faith. Abraham may not have been sure where he was going, or what was going to happen to him, but he certainly knew who was traveling with him on his walk of faith. Abraham entrusted his future to God when he responded to God's call to move. For this reason, the apostle Paul, in our Epistle reading this morning, looks to Abraham as an example of faithful obedience, a person who responded to God's call even when the path ahead was unclear and uncertain. For this reason the Bible tells us that God changed Abram's and Sarai's names to Abraham and Sarah as a symbol of their trust and faith and their willingness to act on that faith. The story of Abraham is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Perhaps it is because I find myself called to move once again. To let go of fear, uncertainty, and unanswered questions requires a trust like that of Abraham, that no matter where we go, God goes with us. Like Abraham I am not sure where I am going or what specifically I will be doing in the days ahead. I do have some hints that involve my writing, spiritual formation and advocacy for the mentally ill. I trust that if I remain open to God's readings, I will be blessed just as I have been blessed these past 13 years as your pastor. I have so many wonderful memories; some very personal like my ordination, my son Matthew's confirmation, my daughter Sarah's wedding in this church, and the support and love of my husband, Stan. I have been enriched by the meaningful worship, challenging preaching and outstanding music. I have been blessed by your support and encouragement of me, especially as I went through the dark times of my depression. Your acceptance of me has allowed me to reach out to others struggling with clinical depression... something I never expected when I first came here as your pastor. I feel called to continue to work to erase the stigma associated with mental illness in the church - especially with pastors and church leaders who continue to suffer in silence. With the help of medical professionals, counseling, the support of loved ones, and the grace of God, persons with mental illness can five M and productive lives. But mostly I have been blessed that you who have allowed me to walk beside you in your faith journeys through times of great joy and times of despairing sadness. God's call to move comes with a promise... a promise of blessing. In the Old Testament blessing is understood as something concrete and tangible such as descendants, fame, land, crops and herds. Again, we find an emphasis on the outcome or the goal of our journey. Today we still measure our blessings in terms of concrete, measurable factors. Instead of counting our sheep or our descendants, we look to bank account balances, to the stock market report or to the number of degrees we hold, and the material goods we have acquired. The remarkable thing is that Abraham never saw the promised tangible blessings in his lifetime. He never saw his descendants. In fact, he was even willing to take the life of his son, Isaac, the only one who could give him these descendants, as an act of faith in his God. Moses, too, another man of faith, never actually entered the promised land. But what these persons of faith discovered is that the blessing need not be a measurable, tangible result or outcome. Blessing in Hebrew means "to sustain life." The real blessing is discovered in one's faithful obedience to God and in the companionship of God we share in our travels. For it is in the journey that we experience transformation. It is in the journey that we become new persons. Being in relationship with God is the real blessing. Both Abraham and Moses received blessings along the way as they responded with a "yes" to God's call to move. Just as God called Abraham, God continues to call unlikely, unsuspecting persons like you and me to journey forward in faith. God continues to call unlikely, unsuspecting communities, like this church, to share God's promises of blessing. Real faith is when we respond to that call, either as individuals or as communities of faith, without any certainty as to the destination or the ultimate outcome. Rather, we come to realize that we are partakers of God's promise of blessings when we respond in faith, when we are willing to take those creative risks, www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr062401.html 3/5
when we are willing to move and to keep on going, no matter what the obstacles. Walter Brueggemann has suggested that our spirituality is a walk with God through recurrent patterns of being securely oriented, being painfully disoriented, and being surprisingly reoriented. Two weeks ago all of us minister's were in Redlands for our church's Annual Conference. The theme of the Conference was "Our Calling." We celebrated our connectional ministry through inspirational worship, fellowship at meals, working for justice issues through the legislative process, and visioning the future of the United Methodist Church in this Annual Conference and in the General Church. Bishop Swenson said, "God calls us to community, to a mutually supportive, empowering and accountable life together." We used the verse from Isaiah, "I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" So after celebrating, we recognized that each of us is called to be sent out into the world to share our unique gifts. Each of us, 'in our own way, is asked to respond to the call to do "a new thing" in our world as God leads us. This then is our call. It is a call to go on a trip. It is a call to a fife-long journey to really go someplace with our faith and with our lives. It is a call to recognize that all of fife is sacred so that we might be sensitive to all of God's creation. The God who calls us to move also comes with us. Because God is with us, we are able. The roads won't always be straight or smooth. but God promises to make our journey possible. And so I invite you today to live out our Call to Worship this morning as you Come along with me as a sojourner in faith. Bring along a sense of expectancy a vision of high hopes a glimpse of future possibility a vivid imagination For God's creation is not done. We are called to pioneer forth toward a future yet unnamed. As we venture forward, we leave behind our desires for a no-risk life worldly accumulations certainty of answers. Let us travel light in the spirit of faith and expectation toward the God of our hopes and dreams. Let us be a witness to God's future breaking in. Come along with me as a sojourner in faith secure in the knowledge that we never travel alone. AMEN www.fumcsd.org/sermons/sr062401.html 4/5
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