Alice in Wonderland is a magical story about a young girl who falls into a hole in a field and falls into another world unlike anything she’s ever experienced. She’s in a new place with strange beings. She has no idea where she’s or where she needs to go. In one of the more memorable scenes she meets up with a smiling cat and asks, “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to go”, said the cat. “I don’t much care where” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.“ “So long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if only you walk long enough.” [Title Slide]
There are a lot of people and churches who seem to live out of Alice’s philosophy. But not so with God and his church. God cares greatly about where we’re going in life or he wouldn’t have had the prophet Jeremiah tell Israel, “I have a plan for you…” (Jeremiah 29.11) Fortunately for us, God has a plan for us as well and has given us a GPS (God’s Preferred Steps) to guide our steps. Just like 12th street and Kanis Avenue and County Road 38 are the same road bed the three goals God has given us form a single path on which to travel.
The first goal is to move towards becoming a prayer centered and prayer driven church and is summarized by the word pray. A second goal is to help everyone associated with Asbury to belong to a small group which is summarized by the word belong. And the third and final goal that will help us fulfill God’s plan is characterized by the word serve.
[S] “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Corinthians 12.4-11, NIV)
[S] The third goal that God wants Asbury to pursue is that of helping every child, youth and adult attending Asbury to find their place to serve Jesus. Paul wrote, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (vs. 7) That means that its God’s plan for everyone associated with Jesus to serve. And by serve I don’t mean just volunteering in the church or for the church. Serving Jesus is more than that. Serving Jesus is about empowering and equipping people to discover and use their God-given gifts as an extension of and demonstration of Christ’s physical body in the world. Christ is not physically present any longer so Jesus uses us to love others through the gifts he has given us. The Serving of Christ will be expressed then by serving the church, each other, as well as serving others throughout our daily living. [S] As Mother Theresa put it, “I am a pencil in the hand of God.”
People have approached Mother Theresa over the years to give thanks to her for what she has done for them or for another. They like so many others saw Mother Theresa as someone who responded to the suffering out of her own kindness, grace and love. But she didn’t and she did what she could to make sure that they knew it was Christ working through her.
Let me share this story with you told by one of her disciples that took place during morning mass. A well dressed Indian woman rushed in and threw herself at the feet of Mother Theresa bowing and kissing her hands and feet. A stern look appeared on the Mother’s face as she pulled a hand away and pointed to the crucifix on the back wall. The woman was oblivious to this and kept kissing her. Mother Theresa then took the woman’s hands in hers. And then taking the woman’s hands she pointed to the crucifix and said, “It is not me, it is him. Give your thanks to him.” (Finding Calcutta, Poplin, pg. 30)
She believed that everything she was able to do in this life for others was done by God’s power through her. Like a pencil in your hand, she was a pencil in the hand of God.
[S] There was a single parent family with very limited resources which meant that the family ate lots of peanut butter and jelly. One day six year old Sami noticed that a family in her apartment complex had even less than she and her mother. “Mom,” she said, “those kids don’t smell very good.” She held her nose. “They always wear the same clothes.”
The mother tried to explain that they didn’t have money to buy new clothes.” Sami looked down at her outfit and said, “Let’s give them ours.” Her mom smiled, “That’s sweet, but they’re boys.” Sami thought for a minute and then headed off for the kitchen where mother could hear her opening cupboards and drawers. She peeked in and saw Sami standing on a chair making a sandwich on the kitchen counter. “What are you doing?” “We need to share. Look we have a whole jar of peanut butter. Wanna help?” The mother kissed her on the forehead-a kiss Sami quickly wiped away. “Mom, we don’t have time for that. They need us.”
An hour later they delivered a picnic basket with four peanut butter sandwiches, some fruit, and chips. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for both families.
Little Sami was a crayon in the hand of God.
[S] Sometime ago in The Upper Room devotional there was the story of a small town Methodist Minister who shared about how he would go to the hospital to visit members or go to a home for a pastoral visit, but that in recent years an illness had affected his feet and legs preventing him from driving and getting around. It impacted his ministry so much that I get the impression that he went on disability. His days of serving were over, or so he thought. And then one day he asked himself, “How can I carry on ministry under these circumstances? He said, “I can minister through intercessory prayer, writing personal letters and cards, e-mailing messages and making telephone calls.” He went on to say, “Finding new ways to minister has taken away frustration about my limited mobility and made me grateful for the Christian outreach that is possible from my living-room chair.” Every day God provides him with opportunities to use one or more of those methods to serve Christ in reaching out to people in need.
He was a keyboard or a mouse in the hand of God.
He reminds me of one of our members John King. Whenever anyone receives copy of the monthly Circuit Writer you have been served by John. John is one of several Christ followers who fold the newsletters and place those two round sticky tabs over the open edge to keep it closed for mailing. When I see him at his task he always reminds me, “Pastor, I can’t teach and I can’t sing, but I can do this.” And because he serves Jesus this way he plays a part in helping us to become better disciples of Jesus.
[S] I have a simple question. What kind of church do you want to be associated with, a sick and weak church or a healthy and vibrant church? If you want to be part of a healthy church that will require helping each other find their place to serve.
And to help us accomplish this we will be creating an Involvement Team which will design and steward the process that helps each person (child, youth and adult) attending Asbury to find their place to serve. We will need disciples to serve Christ through this team. If you would like to be one please contact a pastor or the church office. If you would like help finding your place to serve then there are forms at the Welcome Center that will help you get an idea of what is available through the church. Fill out a form and return it to the office and someone will follow up with you. And if God is putting something new on your heart let us know so we can help you walk through the wilderness of starting something new. Sunday schools and small groups should study Servanthood and spiritual gifts at least once a year and encourage and help one another in serving Christ. Or take personal responsibility and learn about spiritual gifts on your own. The United Methodist church website has some articles on this along with a spiritual gift survey to help people discover the gifts Christ has given them. Or like the Methodist Minister take some time to rethink serving by making a list of needs in the church and community that you could give yourself to and start serving Christ.
I hope that every time you see or hold a pencil, pen, crayon or a mouse in your hand that God would use it to remind you that so are you when it comes to serving Christ. Do you serve Christ in some extended capacity beyond regular worship and small group? If not, why not? And knowing what you now know, what are you going to do about it?
[S] Imagine you’re standing at the shore of the Red Sea like the Israelites who had a life and death decision to make. They had God’s future literally opening up before them and the past catching up to take them back. One decision would lead them to the Promised Land and to becoming the community God had in mind, and the other would keep that from happening. The Israelites didn’t have a clue as to what their future looked like, but that didn’t stop them from forging ahead with God’s will for their life together.
I’m not sure what God’s ultimate vision for us is. But I take great comfort in knowing that God has given us the first set of directions that will get us there. All we have to do is keep our attention on the pathway of pray, belong and serve and God will take care of the rest.
Each one of us has an important decision to make, a decision that will have consequences one way or the other. I say, let’s join hearts and hands and forge our future together. Take a moment to make your decision known to God and then commit yourself to helping the rest of us pray, belong and serve.
