Sermon
Isaiah 56: 1-8
Matthew 15: 10-28
The Long View
As many of you know I have been selected by the Methodist Church
for ministerial training. My training starts in September not all that far away
now. But while I am beginning to panic about the work coming up I have also
taken the time to stop and reflect on the journey I have been on.
I was asked during my candidating about my call to ministry.
More specifically I was asked why now? My answer went something along the lines
of “The timing of my present calling followed a 20 year period of reflection”.
I was being facetious of course but there was an element of truth in what I
said. I originally felt God calling me to ministry when I was 17 but my
minister at the time felt that I would best served if I got some life
experience first. So I did. 20 years’ worth!
As I look back over that time I realize that all the effort
and time that I will need to put into becoming a minister is only a fragment of
all the energy and effort my life has been so far and there is a certain relief
in that while the next 5 years will be an incredibly hard slog, I have been
through difficult periods before.
In the book of Isaiah the prophet is saying to the returned
nation of Israel that although it looks like they have been cut off and separated
from the others being returned to Israel that if they keep to the long view they
will be accepted. In the Gospel of Matthew we see the Canaanite woman keeping
the prophetic long view about how the Gospel would eventually come to those
initially excluded from the promises of God.
So we see the Long View is very important. Oscar Romero was
the Catholic Archbishop of El Salvador. He was shot by government troops in a
chapel of a hospital will celebrating communion. He has become a hero of mine
because of a poem he wrote called:” The long View.” I’m going to share that
with you now.
It helps,
now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom
is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We
accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise
that is God’s work.
Nothing we
do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies
beyond us.
No
statement says all that could be said.
No prayer
fully expresses our faith.
No
confession brings perfection.
No pastoral
visit brings wholeness.
No program
accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of
goals and objectives includes everything.
That is
what we are about:
We plant
seeds that one day will grow.
We water
seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay
foundations that will need further development.
We provide
yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot
do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This
enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be
incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for
God’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may
never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master
builder and the worker.
We are
workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are
prophets of a future not our own.
What strikes me most about that piece is that we can never fully
know what God is doing. How frustrating is that? We are often like children
that want to know everything. Unfortunately only God knows what the future
holds and what the ultimate reason for everything is. Paul expressed it well
when he wrote “But now I see through a mirror dimly.” But that is the important thing and as soon as
we realize that God is in control we can relax and let the work of God begin
because we no longer have to worry about who is managing the project that is
our lives, our world our faith.
That doesn't mean we do not have obligations. Both the Isaiah
passage and the passage in Matthew remind us that while we are not masters of
our destiny we are masters of our behaviors and our lives. Both passages
remind us that while we cannot see the entire picture we are called to live
lives that bring glory to God. Please note I didn't say righteous lives or perfect
lives. I didn't say lives that are holy, I said lives that bring God glory.
We need to live lives that reflect the love and Kingdom of
God. When people look at us they need to see a people who are so sure that God
is in control that they are free to live just the way God wants them to.
Ask yourself this question: When people look at me, do they
see the love of God reflected back to them? It’s a horrible question to ask. It
points fingers at us and if we are honest the majority of the time we would
have to say a resounding no! But then when we look back over the time that God
has been involved in our lives we see times when we have reflected God in the
most wonderful of ways. The time you sat with someone who was struggling. The
time you gave food to a homeless person. The time you prayed for someone and
your prayer was answered.
And that should give us hope! Hope and joy that God is
faithful and true and while we cannot see what is really happening we can see
glimpses. Small peeks into the realm of a truly wonderful God who truly does
care.
Don’t let what is around you affect you. God says to the man
that has been castrated just because you cannot have children doesn't mean you
cannot worship! Jesus affirmed the Canaanite woman’s faith when she believed
even though she wasn't a Jew.
Just because you feel insignificant doesn't mean that God
cannot use you. Commit yourself to God. Ask him: “What do You, Lord, want me to
do for you?” And when he answers do it. Take a step of faith and do it.
And when you do it take the Long View. Remember that every
small contribution we make is building something that is so much bigger and
greater than anything we could ever imagine. And when the going gets hard hang
onto the words that Jesus will say to us when we see him again: “Well done my
good and faithful servant. Enter now into your eternal rest.”
Amen.
