“Where there is no vision the people perish” (Hebrew Proverb)
“Where there is only vision, people have nervous breakdowns.” (Postmodern Hebrew Proverb as quoted by Leonard Sweet) – having the vision and dreams but not doing (not able to do) anything about them.
Larry of the Three Stooges caused concern for Moe when he cried out, “I can’t see! I can’t see!” Moe ran up to him and said, “What’s wrong Larry? Why can’t you see?” Larry called back, “Because I’ve got my eyes shut!” Of course Moe bopped Larry on the head.
VISION DEFINED
How true, that often we go through days, weeks and years with our eyes shut. Today’s subject about having vision is a call to look around you with eyes wide open. We must of course define vision for the context of our needs in the church. When you speak of vision people have differing ideas of what that means. It ranges from the experience of mystics and prophets seeing things in the distant future that others can’t see to the more contemporary concepts of vision involving corporations, churches, family planning, investments and retirement. These are the new stakeholders in casting vision. Vision has more to do with planning ahead and projecting for the future instead of seeing into it. Planning ahead is contingent on understanding the realities of the times. This picture is reinforced by Leonard Sweet, author, historian and futurist – “Visionaries can see life for what it is, can see God for who God is. They are people who can read the “signs of the times”, not the “signs of the future”.”
Seeing life as it is motivates us to plan for retirement or encourage our children to further education. Churches that are struggling to provide effective ministry, failing to plan for results, are in decline. Many are forced to close their doors because they lack vision. There’s been little or no effort to read the “signs of their times” – the realities of their communities and what the people need in a church. These realities press us to develop our own strategic plan so we can have stability and a strong future.
We will take steps to avoid the experience of aiming at nothing and hitting it every time. God is stirring us to realize He has an awesome plan for the church and we are privileged in this time and place to be part of that fascinating purpose! He doesn’t want us to miss the moving of His Spirit! If we can muster the courage we need to ride the wave of new opportunities with fresh initiatives we will experience God doing something in our church that is beyond description!
Whenever our family moved to a new town or city, we have spent time driving around and explore our new surroundings. We didn’t use a map or give much attention to where we were going. We had no particular destination in mind so a map held no value. We would come to an intersection (picture on powerpoint) and decide, “Do I go left or right?” One turn would serve as well as the other. Wherever we ended up we were okay with it because it was as good as any other place that we could have reached, we were not aiming for anything – junction living.
Change that scenario to Glenys and I needing to drive to another city to conduct a funeral and the process is completely different. We knew the drive would take a certain period of time. Our departure was factored on the distance and time we needed and a well-mapped plan to drive to the destination without getting off course. Along the way in the city Glenys would navigate and indicate markers and signposts that would confirm we were on route and when we should turn here or there – journey living, vision and purpose.
Students – planning for your future. You struggle with where to go for your post-secondary studies, what you want to do – this is a good struggle because you are choosing to live life as a journey, not a junction at a time!..
As members of the church active in our community – the more we understand our Kitchener/Waterloo world the more we will impact it for God. Visionaries speak to the challenges and needs of their times – whether responding to the Virginia Tech massacre or meeting the terminally ill on their own road. The more we understand the needs of the community and move together as a church to respond to people where they are the greater the influence we will have. The most powerful church is the one where its members are equipped and motivated to BE the church next door, down the street, in the market or at the ball game.
We can live a junction at a time and say with Jay Livingstone and Ray Evans in their 1956 published work, “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” – made popular by The Doris Day Show in 1968. Or we can decide to take a journey, having a point of reference and destination in mind. This will have huge impact on the difference we will make during the travel, the priorities we adopt in the journey. When we travel with a destination in mind, our purpose is crystal clear and the road we take is well known to us. We need that clarity of vision that Moses held in Deuteronomy 34:1-4. He climbed Mount Nebo and saw the land of Canaan as far as the eye could see – the land God promised Israel. It was this vision earlier on that kept him leading forward against the obstacles of idolatry, adultery, materialism, leadership lobbying and complaining. It was this vision that pushed Moses often to plead with God that he would spare the people from God’s anger thus diverting God’s many intentions to wipe the people out.
READING THE TIMES
Reading the times is absolutely non-negotiable rule #1. To quote Rick Warren in “Purpose Driven Church”, “With every new generation the rules change a little. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always be where we’ve always been.” It means if we live one junction at a time rather than live a journey we will never get anywhere.
Non-negotiable rule #2: In reading the ‘signs of the times’ we must capture the message of our text which is Matthew 16:1-4…
The point of this dialogue concerning Jonah is Jesus’ emphasis that as Jonah was a prophet to the people of Nineveh and was “God’s last word” to the people as offered by author & theologian William Barclay, so too the coming of Jesus to the world with the events of his crucifixion and resurrection is the final act of God to demonstrate His passionate appeal that people would know the Kingdom of God is with men. God is appealing to us to know today – right here, right now – that he is in the world and wants to channel His love to other people through the church; he wants us to bring other people over for coffee so to speak and introduce them to Him so they can be in relationship with Him! SLIDE 8 It is the message of Revelation 21:3-5 (The Message): “I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate." This is the message of our Promised Land! Like Moses, we must keep that vision constantly in view. It will change how we wake up in the morning and the way we interact with people on a daily basis. It will govern our priorities. It will affect what we want to do with the trust God has given us and we will never be the same again. In our pursuit to read the times we do so against the backdrop of what defines us – the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and in the tomb is God’s final word. That is the anchor on which we must ground our activity, the foundation on which we must build. We must constantly remind ourselves that it is only a matter of time before the end and the clock is running down.
Reginald Bibby, the Canadian guru of statistical study, tells us in his book, “Restless Gods” that “People from British Columbia to Newfoundland are providing some interesting evidence of the existence of God, on something of an unconscious level. These kinds of findings point to a great opportunity for religious groups who have something to bring.” Bibby shows how people want a church that addresses all of life – “spiritual, personal and social” (p. 187). The signs of the times suggest that people are ready to hear what we have to say – and provide!
We must seek to understand where people are spiritually, socially and personally. One powerful example of how this works is the story of a visionary man whose vision was so clear that he took a friend to the outskirts of town to view acres of marshland on which he would see his dream materialize. He urged his friend to invest a small sum of money in a partnership that would give him a bright and prosperous future. The friend declined, feeling his friend’s vision was quite fascinating but certainly unattainable. The man with the dream was Walt Disney and his vision of Disney world sits on that land today. What is most interesting is that Walt Disney built this empire during the depression. One record tells us about “December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression.” (http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html) Reading the ‘signs of the times’ Disney knew that people needed a diversion, an escape from reality. They needed confidence that good overcomes evil and images of heroes and heroines.
I long to be so connected to life at all levels that I want to be guilty of the outline provided by Donald C. Posterski in his book “True to You”. He speaks of God being “the plus sign in people who intentionally open themselves to divine presence and power.” In painting the flawless picture of the Christian life he says that people who are so touched by God’s Spirit (SLIDE 10) “Think more clearly, feel more deeply, speak more truthfully, love more extravagantly, serve more creatively, and give more lavishly.” This is deeply needed if we are to live a life of empathy (entering into the experiences of another’s world).
Posterski offers another alternative of course. He comically labels the alternative but at the same time it can make us uncomfortable. He said, “Christian evangelists feel about as welcome in the modern world as skunks at a garden party.” The secret is learning to keep the heart of evangelists but allow it express itself in blue-jeans. Mission versus methodology…
WRAP
• Are you living life a junction at a time? – No real sense of purpose or direction, taking things as the come?
• Are you living life as a journey? – Destinations, signposts and objectives clearly understood and pursued?
• Learn to read the ‘signs of the times’ – determine to know how people are feeling, what they are saying about the church and what they need from your faith community – and dare to take the challenge.
• Keep your heart on the cross and the empty tomb.
