INTRODUCTION: In 1989 the movie – The Field of Dreams – was released. It starred Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, an idealistic city boy and ex-hippie turned Iowa corn farmer. Standing in the middle of his corn field, Ray hears the ghostly voice of a dead baseball player – Shoeless Joe Jackson – telling him to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field. The voice repeatedly tells him “if you build it he will come!” later on the voice tells Ray to “ease his pain.” It also encourages Ray to “go the distance.”
With this crazy vision in his head Ray builds his baseball diamond – complete with bleachers and flood lights – in his field. His wife is semi-supportive of her husband’s weird obsession but she is more worried about their finances. Soon the ghosts of baseball players who had been disgraced in a 1919 White Sox game start to appear, but only those who believe can see them.
Not long after Ray visits a reclusive writer in Boston – played by James Earl Jones- to find out exactly what is meant by the voices and the purpose for the field. At first the writer, Terence Mann is reluctant to even hear what Ray has to say but he eventaually relents and agrees to go with Ray to meet with another ex-baseball player, Doc Graham. This after ray hears the voice saying, “go the distance.” We find out later that Mann hears the voices also and he heard and he heard the voice telling Ray to go the distance.
Back in Iowa, Ray Kinsella is faced with the prospect of ruin and the loss of his farm. His brother-in-law pleads with him to give up his crazy dream and sell the farm to him and his partners but Ray is reluctant, especially after his little daughter tells him that “people will come.” Ray’s daughter exhibits a childlike faith that solidifies her father’s resolve to keep his filed of dreams. In a memorable speech James Earl playing Terence Mann, tells Ray about baseball and how important it was as a part of American life. Jones says to Kevin Costner: (Insert video clip: Scene 29 “Field of Dreams”) Take a look
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
If you build it they will come! I have always liked that concept. Not just because of its significance in the movie but because of the truth that can be perceived in that simple statement…if you build it people will most definitely come. But I am not talking about baseball diamonds here…I am talking about a church. A bigger church than the one we now have…and not just for our ego but for the people of God. I know that there are many churches in Queens NY and some might say ‘why do we need one more?” I’ll say to them, “why not?”
To borrow from James Earl Jones’ speech, I will say that there certainly has been one constant in America but it is not baseball at all; it is faith; faith in the God of the Bible. This nation has been founded on Christian principles. But like the character says: “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again…” When we see the state of this country we can say that this indeed is true. And still there are those who will seek to erase all vestige of this heritage from the public square.
When we consider the prevailing culture, what will your children and grandchildren face? The future does not seem to hold much promise but I remember Moses sitting down the children of Israel as he expounded to them a time honored truth – words by which they should live: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deut 6:4-5 these words were to be a code by which they should live. It was a command that would be in their hearts. Moreover, he commanded that this statute be passed down to successive generations, to the sons and grandsons and it was to be taught diligently to the children.
Over the years the vision of Grace has been defined and redefined. As we grow we find that God is cutting away the rough edges and bringing us closer to His vision for us. We know and we understand that the vision is for an “appointed time.” But it will take a people who have been able to catch the vision; and a people who are willing to run with it. And in the end it will be our children and your grandchildren that will benefit from the sacrifices that we are willing to make.
The prophet Isaiah in speaking of the nation’s eventual restoration prophesies: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” Isaiah 54:2-3
I would like to apply that prophecy to Grace Ministries. I think the time has come when we can enlarge the place of our tents and launch out into the deep in the New Year – 2007. There is no doubt that the Lord has blessed this ministry. We have lacked for nothing and our needs have been provided for. Like any ministry we have had our mountains and we have had our valleys but we have not met a situation where God has not been faithful. We believe that the blessings of the pass portend the hand of God in the future…and if we build it they will come…the people most certainly, will come.
We get set to enter the New Year with the great expectancy that God will open the doors for a new church building. In the last month or so we have actively put forth feelers and we feel it is only a matter of time. I want to take this time tonight to set the groundwork for this move of God. Our finances at this time do not reflect that of a ministry ready for a big move but we have two things that will vastly even the odds: a people that are willing to “go the distance” and faith that what God has done yesterday, He will do again tomorrow.
So stand with us! Help us to build! We do not desire to build for ourselves but so that successive generations will have a place to grow in the grace and goodness of the Lord; where families can worship together and where we can learn to inherit the land together.
1. IF YOU BUILD IT…
a) Nehemiah had a vision to build back the walls of Jerusalem
- Nehemiah saw how his people suffered because of the distressed walls
- Nehemiah had a plan for rebuilding
- Nehemiah called on the favor of man and the “good hand of my God” to see him through
-Nehemiah built up the people’s faith for the task
b) Nehemiah received a buy-in by the people
- “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to do this good work.
- “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”
c) David had a vision to build a temple
- God prevented David from building because he was a man of war
- God established Solomon for the task
- The purpose of the temple was as a central place of worship for the people
- A place of worship always mean that people can call upon the Lord together
APPLICATION: In building we must be careful to observe the statutes and the commandments of the Lord. This was David’s advice to his son Solomon so that “you may possess the land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:8
2. GO THE DISTANCE
a) A vision to build means going the distance
“Be strong and do it.” – David to Solomon
b) “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
- Nehemiah faced quite a few detractors in his project – Sanballat, Tobia the Ammonite, the Arabs
- Nehemiah never gave up: “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 6:3
c) Going the distance means “putting your hands to the plow.”
- “No one having put his hand to the plow, and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
APPLICATION: Going the distance does not necessarily means winning but it means having the tenacity to see something through to the end. Many people are unsuccessful today because they did not have the ability to persevere. God has called us to go the distance and by faith we will.
3. ENLARGE THE PLACE OF YOUR TENT
a) Bring a larger vessel
- The size of your blessing is determined by the size of your vessel
- We believe that God will open doors and that He will pour out unto us this coming year – 2007
- Our desire for a larger place is a testament that we are divinely discontented with what we have and we want to move forward
b) Bringing a larger vessel is an act of faith
- The command at the start of 2006 was to: MOVE FORWARD
- We move forward one step at a time
c) “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4
- The disciples had fished all night and they had caught nothing
- Jesus told them to launch out and at His word they did
- Their nets were not big or strong enough for the catch that was available
APPLICATION: 2007 means that it is time to enlarge the place of our tents. The prophet Isaiah in prophesying of Israel’s restoration, told them to “stretch out the curtains of your dwellings.” He said that they should lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes, “for you shall expand to the right and to the left and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.” (Isaiah 54). I would like to apply that prophesy to Grace ministries.
4. EASE HIS PAIN
a) Field of dreams is a place of reconciliation
- Ray Kinsella is reunited with his father at the end of the movie
- He realizes that his command to build a baseball diamond was to “ease his father’s pain.”
- He finds out at the end that the whole thing was about lost opportunities that he had with his long dead father and he gets the chance to reconnect.
- Throughout the movie there is a subplot that revolves around missed opportunities with his father
b) Field of dreams is a place of forgiveness
- There is one scene in the movie
- Ray Kinsella and his crazy “Field of Dreams” is an attempt by a young man to “forgive his father,” for the times they never spent together
c) Field of dreams is a place of reliving lost dreams
- The 1919 White Sox players, Doc Graham, Ray’s father all had dreams on the field that they never had a chance to live to the fullest
CONCLUSION: “Field of Dreams” is a movie not only about baseball but it contains themes that resonate deeply with people of faith. It is about redemption and the forgiveness of sins. The baseball diamond not only represents a place where future generations can play but a place where sins of the past can be reconciled and people can find restitution. As the disgraced players of old come back to play they find some sort of peace and a laying to rest of the past. In applying the analogy to Grace I would like to point out that this ministry is not just a ministry poised for future generations but it is a place where those of us who have made mistakes in the past can find that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus…that His grace is sufficient and while we may not be able to forget the past we can certainly bury it…and we can play again because there is a new generation who are longing to learn from our wisdom. Like Ray there are many who live with the pain of a messed up past but in Jesus the past is cancelled and there is only hope in all of our tomorrows.
