"Who is Our 'Man from Macedonia'?"
Acts 16:6-15
Our Scripture passage from Acts starts out with a series of experiences which must have been extremely disheartening and discouraging for Paul and "his companions."
They had made huge commitments and sacrifices in order to go out on this long and dangerous missionary journey, but things weren't working out as they had planned.
They had, perhaps, mapped out what was going to happen before they left.
They had envisioned going to the province of Asia and gaining a whole bunch of new converts there...
...but...
...but...
"the Holy Spirit kept them" from doing it.
Next on the agenda was the province of Bithynia, "but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them" go and spread the Good News there either.
It's interesting to note that these are all places that Paul or other missionaries had already visited.
(pause)
We can't know exactly how long Paul and his companions wandered "all dressed up with no place to go" but it could have been weeks or even months.
Anyhow, we are told that "Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas intead."
And then it happened!!!
Paul has a vision at night.
Paul sees a man from--Macedonia--that's in Europe!!!
That's across the sea and into a totally new area.
In the vision "a man from Macedonia...stood urging Paul, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'"
The weeks or months of walking and waiting, of wondering and praying had led to this.
They weren't going in the direction they had planned for themselves at all.
They were off to Europe following the Spirit's lead.
And as we see, pretty much right away, they meet a woman named Lydia.
Her heart is ready to receive the Word of Christ.
As we are told in verse 14: "As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul's message."
Then she and her entire household were baptized and a brand new church was started in her home.
Who is our "Man from Macedonia"?
What doors are being shut and what doors are opening up?
What vision is God giving us as we seek the future mission of this Church.
And a Church must have a mission.
A church without a mission will most certainly die.
God is alive.
The Holy Spirit is active.
There is a plan for those who are willing to do what God has called us to do.
There is a future for those who listen to their "Man from Macedonia."
Are we listening?
I've been pretty 'blown away', shall we say by the response of the community, the other United Methodist Churches in our district and Conference to what YOU all did when the Superior Creek Lodge was shut down.
You immediately opened this church up as a temporary shelter.
And Marcy, along with the help of some others has been tirelessly working to find permanent housing for the families who were literally put out on the street last month.
Now, why do I say I've been blown away by the response to what this church is doing and has done?
Well, to me it's a no-brainer.
This is just what churches do, isn't it?
Why else do we exist?
But, wow.
We were on t-v, on the front page of the newspaper and are the talk of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church.
I can't hardly go anywhere without someone saying to me, "I really appreciate what you all are doing over there at East Ridge United Methodist Church."
Just about every single United Methodist Church in the Chattanooga District has sent a check to our church in order to help pay for housing, electric bills and so forth for the displaced families of Superior Creek Lodge.
Many, many people in the community--folks I've never met have sent checks and letters.
A woman named Teresa Henley wrote the following: "My faith has been renewed by what your church is doing!
I fell out of church years ago due to not seeing God or Jesus anywhere.
This is what church is all about and I'm thankful there are some churches still left that do the true work of the Lord."
Alex Boyle wrote: "Your church has stepped up to serve as Christ would have us to.
You have no idea how deeply touched I was to see your church van in the parking lot of that condemned hotel in East Ridge...
...To see at least one church doing what Jesus would do, was such a wonderful blessing to me."
Someone who signed their name simply D.R. wrote: "Thank you and your church for this worthy missionary work right here in our own back yard."
Our District Superintendent is quoted in one news story saying that "East Ridge is a model for how churches should work."
District Superintendents don't say things like that very often.
The East Ridge Chamber of Commerce awarded us "East Ridge Business of the Month."
Dunkin Donuts gave me a "Community Leader" award a week and a half ago.
Again, what YOU ALL did and are doing for the folks from Superior Creek Lodge is outstanding, a miracle, a work of God...
...but why are people so shocked?
Why is it such a big deal?
Isn't this what churches are supposed to do?
A colleague of mine recently started a new appointment.
In the sanctuary she noticed that the flag pole was so close to the pulpit that the flag actually draped over the pulpit a bit.
She spent a good bit of time trying to find a better spot for the flags.
She tried several places, but they were always in the way of something.
Finally, she just placed them out in the hallway.
Nobody noticed for a couple of weeks.
Then one person noticed, and that person told other people.
Before she knew it, the entire congregation was in an uproar due to the fact that the flags were no longer in the sanctuary.
She hadn't been trying to make any kind of statement, and certainly wasn't trying to upset anyone--but suddenly she had a crisis at her new appointment.
So, she and a couple of members were finally able to find a suitable spot for the flags in the sanctuary.
When she told me about this my response was: "That church needs a mission."
When churches aren't mission driven, they become inwardly focused, petty, and well--quite frankly--they aren't doing God's will.
And if they keep on that way--they will die.
There's an old story about a church that was having a fight over the length of the candle sticks on the altar as the city burned down around them.
(pause)
In any event, this church is good at following God's call.
You have proved that.
And, I think it's fair to say that for the past 3 or so years--one of our biggest missions has been reaching out to the children and families living at Superior Creek Lodge.
For instance, the entire structure of how we "do things" was altered in order to accommodate unsupervised children in our worship service and Sunday school classes.
And that's just one example.
The East Ridge Cares 4 Kids after-school tutoring, mentoring and feeding program has been so exceptional, so professionally run.
You all have been more than willing to sacrifice a lot for the sake of listening to our "Man from Macedonia" crying out: "Come over and help us!"
Now the Superior Creek Lodge stands empty.
And I would expect that it will someday, in the not too distant future, be torn down.
I miss the kids from there playing basketball in our parking lot and knocking on the door asking for water as I work on my sermons or Bible studies.
I miss picking the kids up on Tuesdays and Sundays.
I miss the adults that we interacted with so much.
Now I'm not saying that East Ridge Cares 4 Kids is over and finished.
I don't think it is.
But things are gonna be different; they already are.
Things are different, but the needs of the surrounding community continue to escalate.
For example, our food pantry has been used more in the past few weeks than ever before.
We continue to get more and more calls from desperate people who need help with light bills, paying rent--you name it.
I'm meeting a growing population of homeless people who live in tents at Camp Jordan.
And in the city of Chattanooga only 20% of the population is in a church this morning...
...and that might even be a high estimate.
And we are the most "churched" area in the country.
We are the Bible belt!!!
Clair and I were out in Sacramento, California two weeks ago.
We had a meeting with the pastors of the church Clair's sister attends.
It's a really neat church.
It's what they call a "church restart."
It's a United Methodist Church which, a few years ago, had gotten down to having about 25 persons in worship every Sunday.
But they were given a "vision" from the Holy Spirit.
They became "THE CHURCH" for people who have felt "shut out", "shunned", "judged", and "burned" by churches in the past.
They told us that they didn't set out to "be this" but this is what God did with them just the same.
They now worship about 250 people, and are just starting their growth.
In any event, in that meeting, the pastors told Clair and I that almost no one goes to church in Sacramento.
Their "Church re-start" is now the largest United Methodist Church in the city.
If the Church is not listening to the call of the Holy Spirit--if the Church is not going where Jesus wants it to go--the Church will die.
When Paul had the vision of the man from Macedonia, he had every excuse in the world not to obey God.
"Go to Europe?"
"It's too long of a trip."
"The people are different than we are."
"It's not in the plans."
"It's too dangerous."
"I'm not up to it."
It wasn't easy for Paul and his companions to live out God's call on their lives.
As they set sail for Macedonia, little did Paul and his crew know that they were headed for the greatest missionary journey of their lives.
Now, it's tempting to say, "That's all well and good for Paul, but I'm no Paul."
That's true.
But Paul was just a human being.
He wasn't Superman.
He had the same weaknesses as the rest of us.
The only thing that sets him apart from anyone else is that he listened to the guidance of the Holy Spirit--and did what God called him to do.
That's what you all did when the Superior Creek Lodge was shut down.
That's what you will do again.
May it be so.
Amen.
