What Can We Gain From This Time?
Series: Rerouting: Navigating a Changing World
August 23, 2020 – Brad Bailey
Intro
Well...good morning to each of you who have joined our gathering this morning... and welcome to each of you who may be watching at a later time.
We’re continuing our weekly series and focus entitled Rerouting: Navigating a Changing World. It’s based on seeing how this season of life can be a bit like when we use a map application... ... like Google maps and it needs to reset course...something in the route changes...and we see the word: “rerouting.” This can capture this season in life because in a similar way we were moving along in life...and then a pandemic brought change. Changes to our path. Change to our patterns. Changes to our plans.
As we come to this point in living through a pandemic effected season of life ...I want to express what is more than obvious. This is a strange time. There may be a lot of talk about a “new normal”...but I don’t think the current season reflects anything that is normal. And as we come to this point in the strange season...I want to simply acknowledge a challenge that we may do well to face together...that we will be in this strange time LONGER than many initially could have imagined. Every reasonable expectation is that the major restrictions to life may ebb and flow in the months ahead ...but the point of living without substantial risks won’t come for another six to nine months. That is a very possible and challenging reality. We may begin to enjoy some positive steps that bring back some normalcy...but we will likely feel the overall sense of what is unnatural and unsettled for a while. It means that a significant season of school and related activities... will lack a lot of the normal elements and experience. It means businesses and work roles may be in a tentative state for many people. It means that even if we have some forms of gathering in-person as a church ... it will likely be a while until we enjoy any large social events with the normal freedom to relate without risk.
My purpose in acknowledging that some significant restrictions may extend for another 6 to 9 months...is not to bring you down...but actually to build you up. To prepare us well. Sometimes the best way to confront a challenge begins with daring to face it...to face for what it may be.
I know that when I stop to consider another 6 to 9 months... it hits me hard... but it also allows me to stop avoiding what may otherwise just linger vaguely over me... and the looming effect can have a subtle control over me
When I step back far enough to see that there may be an extended season of living in the temporarily strange time...I find I can step back even further and see that God is even bigger. I can see God’s purposes and provisions are here in the midst of this very season.
So I want to take this moment to say what some of us may need to hear: We will get through this.
And I want to encourage all not to lose heart by accepting this as “the new normal.” Social distancing is not normal. The halt on so many primary pursuits and activities is not normal. Don’t let your spirit accept this as the new normal that will last forever. It won’t.
What I believe God wants us to stop and consider at this juncture...is what we can gain from this season. There’s no doubt that there are qualities that have come during this season. Just ask my dog. Actually countless dogs have loved having their masters home...and getting walked like never before.
But there is more... far more to consider. The question I believe God wants to challenge us with today is... are we going to grow through this? Will we become better people...more Christ-like in our nature?
The truth is that there is always a good which God can work in all circumstances. As the Scriptures tell us:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. - Romans 8:28-29 ?
In these words... we are reminded that God works good in all things. It’s vital to know that God is able to work good even from what is not inherently good. A new virus and the effects it brings is not good in itself. The losses are not good in themselves... but God is at work in all who receive the life of Christ. And he will use everything as an opportunity to me to become more like Christ. All of those qualities that I have yet to have developed... those fruits of the Spirit... the love, joy, peace, patience, self-control.
I sense that God is challenging me to stop and consider what I am making the central focus of my heart in the season. And I believe that is a challenge for each of us. What are we making the primary focus on our souls? We can give our hearts to the drama ... by over dramatizing it as the media often does ... or we can give our hearts to trying to deny it’s significance entirely... or we can give our hearts to blaming... to simply identifying a source we can then blame. [1]
I sense God challenging us to not define this season by that of the drama, denial, or blame... but by the opportunity to grow...to become a bigger and better person.
If I give my heart merely to groaning...I will lose heart. But if I give my heart to growing...I will find heart for this season. I believe that this season, with all it’s limitations, is also an opportunity for growth. And that is what God wants us to see today.
As I have shared some time back... this season in which some of the common activity of life became limited... could be viewed as an unplanned “time out.” During a sports game… when everything is going at the speed of the clock… there isn’t much opportunity to stop… to consider what adjustments should be made. That is what “times outs” are for… or the half time break. You and I are in a “time out”… or a half time break in the game of life.
I know everyone’s circumstances are different. This season of containment may have come when you weren’t working and already had a lot of down time. Others may have kids home during this time, so it has been even busier in some ways. Others… may just be working from home more. So I know we all have different circumstances... but I know that nearly everyone has some aspects of life in which the pace has been slowed...and the plans are more limited. Nearly all of us are having some sort of break from “life as usual”…and we have an opportunity to gain from this season.
If you were to watch an NBA game ... you will see that time outs are limited and they’re highly valued. A coach never wants to “waste” a time out. They want to save them... because using time out’s well... can be a significant part of winning the game. And using seasons of change well...can be a significant part of a successful life.
Another thing we can see when we look at an NBA time out...is that it offers provides an opportunity for rest but also rethinking...and it has to be intentional about that rethinking. Players don’t just walk by the coach and grab a few minutes to play video games. They usually take a minute to get a towel and some water.....and then they gather around the coach and consider what needs to change going forward.
In the same way... depending on your circumstances...this season may offer some break in pace...but also some opportunity for perspective...to intentionally consider your life. [1b]
From my experience in life… the more I am outside my regular routine… the more I find God is able to speak to me about life…about the big picture.
When I am out of my usual place or patterns…God has often re-stirred vision… expanded my vision. Initially in this season…I felt the sense of having to STOP so much… it seemed like a halt to momentum I had for various things. But then I began to sense the potential as well. I began to see things I hadn’t seen. When you can’t do what you are usually doing… you begin to imagine new ways of doing things.
A few days ago I was interacting with Eric whose getting baptized at our beach gathering in a couple weeks... and I asked about this season...and he wrote:
“It's been a very challenging season but I have grown even closer to God during this time. It has certainly been a huge amount of changes but many of them have been really good changes that will lead to greener pastures down the road.”
That captures so well what many us can discover...a season which is “Challenging...but discovering good changes.” That is the process I believe God has for each of us in this season.
So this is the question I believe God would have us ask today.
If this season is providing a break from “life as usual”... what can I gain in my perspective and growth that could ultimately serve my life?
Let me note three broad ways to consider what we can gain in this season...
1. Look at the future...and consider your purpose.
Consider the big picture. Consider the calling of God...and consider if that has become lost or limited as the greatest purpose and passion in your life.
I believe that we all have different things we fear being stolen. We might fear someone breaking into our home or car. But we don’t realize that the most valuable thing in life.... that is the most often stolen...is our purpose. It is stolen with by a thousand messages that draw us into secondary efforts...such as security... or success... in exchange for the significance God calls us to.
God created us to be co-managers of creation...and Jesus redeemed us to serve God in the redemption of the world. If we use this juncture in our lives to stop and consider that purpose...it may be our opportunity to reclaim our purpose. It may be our opportunity to allow God to get us back to the big picture.
Some of you may recall a rather significant vision which came to one of the first disciples of Jesus. Jesus had risen and ascended and the Book of Acts records what unfolds. They are all Jewish... and at that point they were locked into their Jewish tradition...which was only seeing God in relationship to the Jewish people. And then.... one of those core followers... Peter...is given a vision... and it is so strange to him because it implies that he is to welcome Gentiles...those who had been deemed unclean outsider. (Acts 10:1 – 11:18)
Simon Peter was staying at the house of a Gentile...Simon the Tanner in Joppa. Peter was up on the roof praying, probably to escape the nasty smell of the tanner’s house. It’s kind of ironic...considering that Peter was a fisherman...but perhaps he is trying to avoid the unclean nature of a tanner’s who worked with animals that were unclean. So he wants to withdraw and goes to the roof...the common flat space one might go to pray. And as he prayed, he fell into a vision. In his vision, he saw a sheet let down from heaven containing both clean and unclean animals. He heard a voice say, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” (Acts 10:13) Peter knew that the vision was nt about the animals but what they represented in the way he had defined people. As he explained, “God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28) That is, one should not designate one group of human beings as ritually pure and another as ritually impure. And in that dream and direction... God restores the calling that had always been there... when he first called Abraham and told him he would become not only a father to a new nation... but through whom ALL the nations of the world would be blessed.
Peter had become bound within the walls of what had become the smaller view. He needed a paradigm shift. In that dream....God restored the big picture. It brought Peter into the larger purpose of God. It brought the whole of the new people called the church into the larger purpose of God.
In that moment the sun rose and shined light on the larger purpose of God for Peter’s future....and the future of all. It was a needed reset. I believe that this season provides an opportunity for each of us to regain clarity about God’s purpose for our lives...about what matters most. This is a season to dream with God... to ask God about HIS heart for YOUR future.
It’s in times of big change that we can be challenged to get a bigger perspective. It’s often been noted that in the late 1800s no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad. Trains dominated the transportation industry of the United States, moving both people and goods throughout the country. But then something new was developed – the car – and incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry could have taken advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. But they missed the greatest opportunity...and ...because they had become so attached to the being in the train business...that they could not see that they were in fact in the transportation business. As As Tom Peters concludes, “Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.” [2]
This is a time to become clearer on what is our real purpose. Many see this as having great potential for the church... for how we understand who we are. This season in which large extended indoor gatherings involves some health risk... is a challenge for an aspect of what we value... but it is also an opportunity to consider our most ultimate purpose as the church. Let me explain... I believe deeply that the local body of Christ is both a spiritual body as well as one which unites as real lives with real commitment. When we look at Jesus... he gathered real lives in real gatherings, and he created a centered commitment to a core to which he was faithful for his entre ministry. But the nature of gathering was never an end in itself... but rather it was connected to growing and going out. Time with Jesus was spent learning how to live in relationship with God and how to join the working of God in the world. This may be a season in which we are realizing that gathering is essential...but we are not in the gathering business...but in the growing and going business. Our building is a facility... which truly facilitates so much... in terms of gathering...but this is a season in which we will adapt how we gather because the gathering is not the end...but the means to growing and going that defines us.
Here’s what I believe we can gain in such a time. I believe it is a season in which we should actually gain an appreciation for gathering in person...and for having our own facility to facilitate that. I believe that we should recognize that obvious losses of not gathering in person... from joined in the diversity...to all the forms of love and care that are only expressed in our eyes and smiles and ears... to praying in the full presence of another... to the whole realm of children doing so together...and youth doing so together...and in all this... having the power of our voices united. That is why I am as committed to the local church of real people who gather in the real presence of one another.
But...I embrace that this season offers an opportunity to grow... to grow in adaptability... and to grow in facing the realty that gathering is not an end in itself...but a means to a purpose that exists right now. If we think that the church is closed because a building is closed from larger meetings...then I believe we don’t know what business we are in. We are not in the “gather in a building business”...we are in the gather to grow with Jesus and to go with Jesus business.
It means that this season is hard... but healthy. I want to take seriously the challenges of not seeing and connecting with people face to face ...of kids not having the kind of physical gatherings that are essential...and so much more. But I want to also gain all that I can from God using this to reclaim that such gatherings must be only a means to their greater end.... and end which is still at hand right now. If we can reclaim our calling to grow in the life of Jesus as work in us...and being Jesus in the world around us...then we will be the church who will understand what it means that we don’t so much go to church....but rather we are the church.
And while that is an example that we may all share in... my real point is that I believe each of us may also have some more personal ways in which we may have lost clarity on our purpose...or had it become reduced. Some of you may personally be experiencing changes that seem like they have taken away your purpose. God may want to show you that this is a season to understand that what has changed is the means...but not the ends.
History shows that times of change like we face right now... bring the challenges from which all great innovation has come. Now...I know that most of us may not be the master innovators who create some world changing innovation. But innovation is reflected in every aspect of adaptability. And I believe that each of us has a God-given capacity to adapt to changes.
I was initially focused on adapting the immediate needs of our communal church life...and found I was slower to on personal life patterns. But now I exercise in my garage... just began some morning walks with friends from the gym...meet with team members in my backyard....and have been developing fresh ways to engage those who don’t yet know Jesus. I am realizing that I have just begun to really look forward ...and consider God’s purposes in fresh ways. I want to encourage each of us to look at our lives....and see God’s purpose...and align with that purpose. A good word for many of us is this...
“Don’t be stopped by change. Let purpose pull you forward.”
?Now let me more briefly mention two more aspects of what to consider in this time out.
2. Look around you...to see opportunities.
The apostle Paul is a dynamic example of how a central purpose will learn to see opportunity even in limiting circumstances. If you read about Paul in the Book of Acts... or from throughout his writing in the New Testament.....you hear of a life that sees a whole world to be reached by the news of Christ. So we may wonder how such a life could continue when his plans were contained by house arrest or imprisonment.
And one of the great lines we hear...is one that can serve us all...it is the words “and while he was there.” What we find is that wherever he was...even when detained...he found ways to fulfill his purposes. Wherever he was... he looked around and saw opportunities. We know that it was from prison...that Paul wrote letters to the various churches... which set forth the faith and practice of the Gospel. We know it was from prison that he prayed most. Paul is a great example of one who always had plans but new he never had control. He shows us that a purpose centered life is always intentional... but also adaptable.
And that may be a vital part of what we can gain in this season. I am learning that purpose is something that we will find ways to fulfill wherever we are. In fact... when patterns in life change...when particular forms of fulfillment change...it can be an opportunity to identify even more clearly what our real purpose is... beneath any pattern or form.
In doing so... we will discover that when we feel stuck...the real problem may be that we simply stopped. Sometimes when we can’t do what we have always done we just stop. We may feel stuck ...we may refer to being stuck... but what we really are... is stopped.
So consider this season as an opportunity to look around and see opportunities to fulfill your purposes. Ask yourself... how you might finish the phrase “while I was here....” Are there opportunities that you would not have engaged if you had not been where you are right now?
And finally...one other aspect of life that this time out should consider.
3. Look within you... to consider what is controlling you.
When there is a time out... there is an opportunity for a sports player to consider if some negative experience in the game has gotten a hold of them. It could be that they felt that the referee had made a bad call...or didn’t see a foul committed against them... or is disappointed in a shot they missed. Each of these can take over their minds...and they can be playing with a mind that is distracted with anger or regret that will not serve them well. And the time out is an opportunity to stop and restore their mindset.
And the coach may be the one who identifies the dispositions that they see ... issues that will be essential down the stretch of the game. In the same way... this may be a time in which God wants to note those dispositions that will affect your life down the stretch.
So the apostle Paul says we should “examine ourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). [3] Like David wrote in his prayer in the Psalms...
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:23-24
We can dare to ask God to show us what is not right. We can use this season be tested. ...to show us what is not working well...and why. There is a uniquely subtle type of stress that many have been facing during this season... and it’s been noted that stress can be like the squeezing of a sponge... it brings out what is inside. Rather than avoiding what we find... we can welcome God to show us and to lead us in the ways that reflect life with Him.
So let me come back to the central challenge. As to the question: Will we get through this? I am confident that we will get through this time. But the question that may be equally important is this: What will I have chosen to focus on this season... the drama...the denial... the blaming? If I do... I may lose heart in my groaning rather than gain heart from growing. I may come out of this time out no better for it. I may not gain what this season offers. So let ne close putting the central question before us again:
If this season is providing a break from “life as usual”...what can I gain in my perspective and growth that could ultimately serve my life?
PRAYER
Notes:
1. When we read the Psalms...which is the book of inspired prayers in the Old Testament part of the Scriptures...we hear the honest cries of the human heart. We hear question that one struggles to understand. We hear the fear that one faces. But then we hear a choice.... a choice to direct one’s soul. When we hear the words... But then I look at what I see in God...and the Psalmist says... Bless the Lord o my soul... ‘trust in God...o my soul.... who am I to think I understand. We see that our inner disposition is that which we cannot simply turn on or off....but we can turn in a direction.
1b. We do well to hear the wisdom from Scripture... in the Book of Proverbs...
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. - Proverbs 4:25-27 (ESV)
We are told to LOOK at what is before us... and to PONDER our path. We are to stop and consider of our feet are walking in a way that is solid and good.
2. Drawn from What Business Are You (Really) In?
3. Regarding the encouragement to take time to look at our own lives.. inwardly and outwardly... consider:
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) - Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Matthew 7:3-5 — "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
