The Long View

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.