Every now and then God does something which guarantees that those among whom He is working will never be the same again. Whatever it is that He does may seem small and insignificant at the time, but after a while you come to realize that He has done something which has changed everything.
We’ve just celebrated Christmas again. After two thousand years this event still grips us and has power to move us. It seemed small at the time, this birth. Another tiny infant, born to a teenage Galilean girl. Caesar never knew. The Roman governor was not affected. King Herod came the closest, but his reaction was one of fear and hatred; he thought he had gotten rid of the problem, once and for all. To only a few shepherds and a handful of travelers from the East was this event of much importance. The rest of the world ignored it, never even knew of it. And yet, now, as someone has put it, all the armies that have ever marched, all the books that have ever been written, all the laws that have ever been passed, none has done so much as this solitary life. This one small event, in which God did something which guaranteed that those among whom He was working would never be the same again. Every now and again God does something which changes everything for those involved in it.
Here at the end of this year and on the threshold of the new one, that interests me. That intrigues me. Because I would love to get rid of the mistakes of 1997 and be ready for a new thrust in 1998. I would love to be ready and open for God to do a new thing in me and for me in this new year. There is so much rubbish from the past to be dealt with! There are so many sins, so many mistakes, so many miscues. I really wish I could start over, don’t you? I really with I could have everything changed and reshaped. Don’t you feel that way too? Don’t you feel the need of a fresh beginning?
It was New Year’s Day, 1929. Cal-Berkeley was playing Georgia Tech in the Rose Bowl. Roy Riegels, a Cal defensive back recovered a Georgia Tech fumble, ran laterally across the field, turned, and then scampered 65 yards in the wrong direction---straight toward Cal’s goal line. One of his own players tackled Riegels just before he would have scored for Georgia Tech. On the next play, Georgia Tech blocked the punt and scored. From that day on, Riegels was saddled with the infamous name, "Wrong-way Riegels." For years afterward whenever he was introduced, people would exclaim, "Oh, yeah. I know who you are! You’re the guy who ran the wrong way in the Rose Bowl!" If ever there was a person who wanted a new beginning, he was. A new beginning.
Louisa Fletcher Tarkington wrote for all of us when she mused: “I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again, Where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches, And all of our poor selfish griefs Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, And never be put on again”. The land of beginning again.
Well, there is. There is such a land. But it is going to take some faith to get to it. It’s going to be a journey, maybe even a long journey. And getting there may not be easy for everybody. But I assure you that the Land of Beginning Again is worth going to, and that it is the place where God will do something that will change you forever. You will never be the same again.
This is going to be a participatory message. I have planned it in a very informal way. It will depend on your getting involved, directly, out loud. I’m going to pose four simple and straightforward questions in just a moment, and I’m going to ask for one or two people to respond to each one. I’m doing this because I believe that you have much to share with one another, and because I know that as we both share our faith and confess our faith failures, we will learn a great deal. And more than that, we will become better companions of one another on the journey. The very premise of this message is that God wants to do something in our lives to bring us to the land of beginning again. But we don’t always see it. We don’t always believe it. I think we can help one another see and believe.
First let me pose the questions, so that you can begin thinking about them. After that, I’ll sketch the Scripture story and then lead you through your response to these four things that will point the path toward the land of beginning again.
The first question is: What comfort zone may God be calling you to leave, in order to start the journey to the land of beginning again? What comfort zone may God be calling you to leave so that you can get a fresh start?
The second question: What frightens you most about what God may be calling you toward? If you are interested in a fresh start, that means unknowns out there. What frightens you about that unknown? That imponderable toward which God is calling you?
Third, a confessional question: In what ways have you resisted God’s willingness to bless you? God wants to give you a good life, not a miserable one. God wants to give you joy and fulfillment, good things. Now have you, for whatever reason, resisted receiving His blessings? Tell us how.
And finally, do you begin to sense new or deepened ways in which God is calling you to bless others? In this new year, in this land of beginning again, is it possible that, even though it all feels stressful, and even though it’s tough to have to change, is it possible that out of all that, God wants you to bless somebody else? Can you sense that happening as you approach the Land of Beginning Again?
Now to our Bible story, just to review it. Abram was 75 years old. I imagine he was pretty well settled. He had lived in the city of Ur among the Chaldeans all of his life. In that time he had accumulated flocks and herds, property and wealth, one wife, one nephew, and gobs of servants, retainers, and hangers-on. If you had looked at Abram you would have said, his life is not going to change much. He has settled into a rut.
But Abram heard something else. Deep down in his soul, Abram felt a restlessness. He sensed a need for a change in direction. He, like Roy Riegels, had been heading toward the wrong goal, and God tackled him. God turned him around and set him on a new course.
“Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
God has a way of doing this, you know. And nothing will ever be the same for Abram again.
The first thing that Abram had to do was to go. To go from his kindred and his father’s house. To change his perspective and do something different. If we want to begin again, most of the time we have to stop doing what we’ve been doing in order to start doing something else. We can’t just keep on running toward the Tech goal line and still think that we’re going to help Cal win the game. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house....” Drop the old ways. Leave them forcefully behind. Or else there will be no journey to the land of beginning again.
I wonder what your testimony is. What have you had to leave in order to begin fresh? More to the point, what comfort zone are you now in that God may be calling you to leave? What do you find it hard to give up, but you know you must, in order to begin again and go where God wants you to go?
Example: Grew up in very narrow circumstances. One neighborhood of one city (mother grew up there too). One church, one school system, public university, seminary. One kind of people. First job a whole 100 miles away. Second job moved closer to home! 1971 to move here! Different world; churches different; people more diverse racially, politically, etc. Fascinating and yet frightening. God Himself called mysterium tremendum et fascinans, a mystery at once frightening and attractive.
The second question: What frightens you most about what God may be calling you toward? If you are interested in a fresh start, that means unknowns out there. What frightens you about that unknown?
Go from your country to a land I will show you. What land? Where was it, what were the people like, would he be able to cope with it? Nothing reported! Just sheer openness. Crossing threshold into something new hard for any of us, no matter how faithful. New experiences, new people, new challenges, all may seem insurmountable. Confessional: what is there about the immediate future that frightens you, makes you not want to go there?
Example: Cherry Shephard, fear of death comment. Psalm 23, interruption; honesty
Example: Might make a mistake in listening to God’s call. Might be the far country of the prodigal son, our own desires, destructive, rather than God’s call to another land. Land of beginning again has no road map!
Third question: a confessional question: In what ways have you resisted God’s willingness to bless you? God wants to give you a good life, not a miserable one. God wants to give you joy and fulfillment, good things. Now have you, for whatever reason, resisted receiving His blessings?
“Go to a land which I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great”
God wants us to succeed! Old poster with grammatically incorrect but spiritually right legend, “God don’t make no junk”. There is a false modesty that avoids accepting God’s blessings. There is a resistance to becoming great. We choose mediocrity instead!
Example: Pharisee and publican. “Lord I thank thee that I am not as other men are”. Today’s Pharisee equally wrong-headed, “Lord, I thank thee that I am just like other people, not a standout nor an overachiever, but just a regular guy, neither better nor worse than the next person.” We stand on the law of averages.
But isn’t it possible that God wants to bless you with greatness?
Example: Difficulty we have in accepting compliments. “It was nothing”. Grandmother’s meals, “Not as good as last time” (We always wondered about her first one!). So pleased that as I have expressed appreciation to musicians and others for last Sunday, have accepted praise without making excuses. Spiritually healthy!
But have you resisted God’s desire to bless you?
Finally: do you begin to sense new or deepened ways in which God is calling you to bless others? In this new year, in this land of beginning again, is it possible that, even though it all feels stressful, and even though it’s tough to have to change, is it possible that out of all that, God wants you to bless somebody else? Can you sense that happening as you approach the Land of Beginning Again?
“Go from your country to the land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing.... in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Land of beginning again not for self only, but for others. The greatest gift God has given us is the gift of one another. How pleased to discover that even on Christmas Day some reached out to others to share and to give, just to inquire about health. What a gift we are to each other when allow God to use us!
What do you sense is happening in your life as you approach land of beginning again that could turn you into a blessing for others? As approach new year, do you feel led to resolve to be there for others in some new or deepened way?
Example: Very peculiar year for me. Both sides of ledger. Few would have any idea all that it took out of me concerning Rev. Arnold’s departure. Actually was involved in that entire year, very time-consuming and energy-draining. Many things wanted to accomplish left undone. On other hand, Rev. Dixon’s coming has been great boost. Not only because he is working with people in need, but pattern established has helped me focus more clearly on special needs. I feel God’s call and blessing for persons in crisis.
Feel God’s call and blessing for young adults; let marriage enrichment lie fallow for a while, for a variety of reasons. But feel need to rebuild and to extend.
For unreached. Out there a land of beginning again. Hoping for support to begin Bible study in neighborhood to reach new people who do not feel welcome here.
For those with differing interests and styles: hoping for support to begin new worship service at a time when those employed on Sunday morning or just wanting a different experience can be reached.
For undertrained: Hoping for support to begin some new Sunday School class that might introduce Scriptures to those not well grounded.
At this time in my life feeling God’s call to do some things differently. Not to be afraid to be a blessing!
Have not mentioned key words of entire passage. God says, “I will”. I will show you. I will make of you. I will bless you. God’s promises. Can survive anything if God is in it.
Why did God choose Abram? Was it because Abram was a better man than others? No evidence. Turned out to be capable of lying and of idolatry.
Smarter than others? No evidence. Better educated, more wealth, anything this world calls success? No. Abram was faithful. Faithful to see God at work. Allowing God to work in him and through him.
I am not calling you today to do better. That’s the world’s way of making new year’s resolutions. I am not asking you to try harder, to give more, or to set more lofty goals. All of that is a formula for failure! Just asking you to let go and let God have His way! For He wants to bless you and He wants to bless others through you. Just trust and obey, for there’s no other way.
