You can watch video of this worship service at the following links -
Vimeo -
https://vimeo.com/496706827?fbclid=IwAR35exCA3M-bmERlHFaRYRzeRjONqx2NqyckEF92lIy7-xq3PWJ6WYGXJz8
Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/david.p.charlton.9/videos/10164636815195298
As we gather today, on this first Sunday of the new year, we are hoping that the new year will be much improved over 2020. We survived 2020, although with a number of losses. We survived, although with great difficulty. We survived, although with much uncertainty. And while we know the turn of a calendar page into a new year doesn’t magically bring the change we want and need, it does bring us hope that this year will be different from the last. I will offer no predictions about 2021, as I do not have a crystal ball, and if 2020 taught us anything, it taught us that we do not know what lies ahead. In fact, when I stopped to purchase a 2021 planning calendar the other day, I wondered, do I really need this? I scratched so many events from my 2020 calendar that I wondered if it was an exercise in futility to buy a 2021 planner. I did, however, leave all of the 2020 events on my electronic calendar. I did so for a couple of reasons. One, because I didn’t want to add all the regular events back in once the pandemic comes to an end, and two, because I wanted reminders to pop up on my devices of all we have lost. I wanted the reminder of the nights when the Bethel Bible Study met, when the Fellowship Meals were scheduled, when we would have been in Vacation Bible School, when we would have had kids at church camp, when we would have been working with the Christian Appalachian Project. Those reminders served as an encouragement to pause and pray for all who were impacted by the events not taking place. They were reminders as well to have hope, the hope that one day, all of those events will return to us. I want to be hopeful, and I am hopeful, and I hope you are hopeful as well. Let us hope and pray.
For the past several weeks I’ve been telling you about the series of message that I begin this morning, titled A New Heart for A New Year. The series is based on a Celtic prayer, from which we have taken five themes – Vision, Light, Wisdom, Courage, and Trust. It is a beautiful prayer, which I offer to you now –
Lord of my heart, give me vision to inspire me,that working or resting, I may always think of you.
Lord of my heart, give me light to guide me,
that at home or abroad I may always walk in your way.
Lord of my heart, give me wisdom to direct me, that thinking or acting, I may always discern right from wrong.
Lord of my heart, give me courage to strengthen me, that amongst friends or enemies, I may always proclaim your justice.
Lord of my heart, give me trust to console me,
that hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy.
Lord of my heart, save me from empty praise,
that I may always boast of you.
Lord of my heart, save me from worldly wealth,that I may always look to the riches of heaven.
Lord of my heart, save me from military prowess,
that I may always seek your protection.
Lord of my heart, save me from vain knowledge,
that I may always studyyour word.
Lord of my heart, save me from unnatural pleasures,
that I may always find joy in your wonderful creation.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall me,
rule over my thoughts and feelings, my words and actions.
Obviously, there are more than five themes in that prayer, but we have selected five of the themes to use for this series. I say we because, as I have mentioned, I am working with four Disciples ministers from around the country on this series, which will also include a study curriculum that will include printed materials and videos. As a group, we share Scripture ideas and a few other thoughts for the messages, but where we are doing the most collaboration is in writing a study curriculum and producing a video series for a study that will accompany it. Each of us took one of themes, chose a person to interview, and then conducted the interview via a Zoom session. My theme is that of wisdom. For that interview, I chose a friend of mine who I believe embodies wisdom, especially in the sense of the counter-cultural, against-the-grain wisdom that exemplifies the gospel.
This morning we begin with vision; Lord of my heart, give me vision to inspire me, as the prayer says. Our Scripture text isEphesians 1:15-23 –
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people,
16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength
20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Lord of my heart, give me vision to inspire me, as the prayer says. Or, as Paul writes, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.
A great story of vision can be seen in a video produced by CBS News in May of 2018. The story concerns then 4-year-old Austin Perine of Birmingham, Alabama. Austin saw a story about a young abandoned panda bear and heard that the young bear was homeless. He asked his father what it meant to be homeless, and then asked if people could be homeless. Learning that there are a lot of homeless people, he had a vision of feeding homeless people. He asked his parents to take all the money they would give him for his allowance and for buying him toys and instead, help him to buy food. Once a week then, he began to go out and feed homeless people, and with each sandwich and drink he gave out, said don’t forget to show love. He wears a superhero cape and a T-shirt that says show love. When asked why he does this, his response is very simple – it’s just the right thing to do.
Here is a question to ask in response to that story – what were you doing when you were 4 years old? I was trying to figure out how to tie my own shoes. I was trying to figure out how to get out of brushing my teeth or washing my hands before dinner. I certainly wasn’t thinking about living out such a compelling vision of feeding homeless people. Not when I was 4-years-old! Where does a 4-year-old find such a vision for life? It is really impressive to witness a 4-year-old who has captured such a vision for the work of God, and that vision came about because he allowed God to open the eyes of his heart.
What is vision? Well, vision is absolutely essential, that is for certain. Honestly, in most of 2020 – beginning in March, when our experience of the pandemic began – I felt as though I was stumbling around in the dark, trying to figure things out. I appreciate the encouragement I have received from so many of you, and I appreciate the prayers and the kindnesses, but I can’t shake the feeling that I have spent the past months in a dark cave, where I coudn’t see my hand in front of my face. In that darkness, I have wrestled with the questions of what we need to do as a congregation, how we move forward, and how we adapt to this new reality? I have felt very much in the dark as I have struggled to find a sense of vision. Under the best of circumstances it is difficult to capture vision, but it is so important and so essential that we do.
Vision keeps us moving forward, it helps us to discern what it is that God is calling us to do, where he is leading us, what he expects of us. Vision leads us to understand what other people need from us and what our community needs from us. Vision is a way to “read the times” and to understand the needs that surround us. Vision is more than just physical eyesight. Vision is a particular way of seeing. As Paul writes, vision is when the eyes of your heart [are] enlightened (verse 18). Vision is the ability to see what not everyone can see. It has long been fascinating to me that when we work to help someone understand a concept – those of you who are teachers know this well, whether you are a schoolteacher, a Sunday School teacher, or whatever is your teaching capacity – that we do not say, when we come to understanding, I understand. Instead, what is it that we say? I see. Isn’t it interesting that we refer to understanding as seeing?
As important as vision is, in these recent months it has become more and more critical. In an organization, vision is a must-possess ability of the leader, or the organization will not grow and prosper. In a business, vision is critical. In politics, vision is critical. In churches, vision is absolutely critical. For our national leaders, for our state leaders, and for our local leaders, this juncture in history brings tremendous challenges. Here in our church, we who are in positions of leadership discuss how we can continue to move forward, and it is not easy. We have done the best we can, relying on the leading and guiding of God’s spirit.
But it’s not just organizations and businesses, politics and churches that need vision; individuals need vision as well. When we consider vision, as individuals, we are compelled to think about life as a calling. It’s not just people who are called to vocational ministry, such as myself, who are called by God. Every person who is a follower of Jesus has a calling placed upon their lives, and that vision asks not to think simply of how we will make a living, but what we will do with our lives, and there is a world of difference between those two perspectives. There are, of course, surprises that come along the way, and those surprises require us to have the flexibility to adapt to changing realities. We certainly learned that lesson in 2020!
What is your vision as we move into 2021? What is the vision God is placing on your heart?
Vision is being able to see what to do, where to go, and how to get there, and it is those three themes to which I now turn.
1. What is your vision as to what to do?
In my text I have emphasized the word your. I have placed it in italics and in bold print. What is your vision?
One of my favorite passages of Scripture, which is the favorite of most of you as well, is I Corinthians 13. We all love that passage. But you know what’s interesting about chapter 13? You can’t have chapter 13 without chapter 12. Chapter 12 is the set up for chapter 13. In chapter 12, Paul writes about church unity. Do you know how Paul defines church unity? Well, he is writing to the Corinthian church, which was a church that certainly had its share of problems. They were, to be honest, a mess. There was a lot of conflict and a lot of struggle amongst the church. Before Paul writes his great passage about love, he writes about unity. Interestingly, he doesn’t write about unity as people getting along. He does not define church unity as everyone being in agreement. Do you know how Paul defines church unity? Paul defines church unity as each person in the church fulfilling the calling God has placed on their lives. Paul uses the analogy of a body, which is an analogy we use often. We refer to the church as the body of Christ, or the body of believers. In comparing the church to the physical body, Paul mentions the eye and the ear, the hand, and other parts and functions of the body. He says that no part of the body is more important than the others and it takes all parts of the body, working together, to be in good health and properly functioning. It is the same with the church. Each person who is a part of the church has a particular function to fulfill, and each of those functions is necessary and needed to keep the church operating in a healthy manner. For optimal church health, it’s not just a few people who fulfill their functions, but all people fulfilling the calling God has placed upon them.
I want to plant a seed in your heart and mind today. I want you to think about what your vision is to which you have been called. What is your function in the body of Christ? What is it that you are to do in order to keep the church – the body of Christ – properly functioning and at optimal health? What is your particular niche in the mission and purpose of the body of Christ, both here in our own church and in the context of the larger, universal church?
God gives us a vision as thechurch universal, and as achurch, but there is a vision for each of us as well. What is your vision?
2. What is your vision as to where to go?
Whether or not we realize it, we are all missionaries in some sense. Some churches have a sign that is visible as you leave the sanctuary, proclaiming you are now entering the mission field. We all have a mission field to which we are called. The mission field isn’t just overseas; it isn’t just in another country; it’s in our own community, on our own street, in our own backyard. The mission field is wherever we are, because we are called to always be on mission.
Where will you go in this community? Even though the pandemic has reduced some of our ministries, there is still a lot going on in terms of the ministry of our church and other ministries in the community. Anywhere I go in the community, I encounter people in our church out doing ministry. When it was possible to visit over at the hospital, I saw a group of people who were always volunteering there. In the waiting room they would not only keep families up to date on the progression of their loved one’s surgery, but they offered words of comfort and assurance, and prayers, as well. It was very obvious what those prayers and words of comfort meant to the families. They offered prayers, not because it was their job – they were volunteers – but because they felt called to do so. When I go to the Serenity Center, for the food distribution, that is done outside now because of the pandemic, but even in the cold, unhospitable weather, our church and other churches have volunteers there, ministering to those who come to receive much-needed food. Some of you here this morning have been out in the cold in recent weeks, helping to distribute that food. I can go on and on with examples of the ways people from our congregation have been moved to goand to live out the vision God has placed upon their lives.
How is God calling you to go, even if it is outside of your comfort zone? Even though it is not easy to do, don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone. I don’t know how people perceive me, but this – standing up in front of people to speak – is not my natural habitat. As I have told you before, I am, by nature, a very reserved individual. It took me a long time to get accustomed to standing before a congregation on Sunday mornings. When I was an associate in Anderson County, I would preach one Sunday evening a month, and a couple times a year on Sunday mornings, and it would terrify me. I was so nervous about getting up in front of the church to speak. What helped me was the fact that we had a large pulpit I could stand behind. In fact, the pulpit in that church was identical to the one we have in this building, in the Keystone Sunday School classroom. I was grateful to stand behind that large pulpit, where I felt safe and secure. Over the years, I’ve grown comfortable enough to venture from out behind pulpits, which is good, as this small, plexiglass pulpit does not offer much to hide behind. When I began visiting in hospitals, years ago, I was so nervous. If the door to a hospital room was closed when I arrived, I knocked very tentatively and nervously.
Over the years of my ministry, there have been so many times that God has pushed me out of my comfort zone. Often, I have felt like a baby bird, safe and secure in the nest, and then the parent bird comes along to push me out of the nest. Looking down, I thought, if I don’t fly, that’s a long way to fall to the ground. Leaving that nest required flapping my arms as hard as possible to make it work, and while it was not easy – most of the time it was very difficult – I have always been grateful to God for that push out of my comfort zone. I understand how hard it can be to leave your comfort zone, so when you say, Dave, I don’t know if I can go there, or do that, I know what you are talking about, and I know how difficult it is. You aren’t speaking to someone who doesn’t understand what it is to be nervous, and uneasy, and frightened. I know exactly what it is like. I have been there many times, and after all these years, am still there much more often than I would like to admit.
Where will God’s vision take you? Where is it that you need to go? I’m not talking about 1,000 miles away. Maybe it means when the church is able to once again take a mission trip, you will choose to go with us. Maybe it means walking across the street. Maybe it means walking down the hall of your office to a coworker’s desk. Where will you go?
3. What is your vision as to how to get there?
Vision does not always take a big plan, but you need some kind of plan. Sometimes, it’s a very simple plan that is needed. Regardless of the plan, larger or small, it needs to move our vision from within our heart and mind and into our hands and feet. It needs to move from a dream to a reality. It needs to move from a thought to an action. I’ve had a lot of good thoughts in my life, but many never moved beyond a thought. I’ve felt my heart moved, many times, over the years, but it didn’t translate into an action. It’s great to have a vision of what to do and where to go, but it doesn’t do much good if there is no plan to make that vision into a reality.
Living out our vision does not require a big, complicated plan. I find it fascinating that, in the gospels, we see so much of the ministry of Jesus taking place as they traveled. Read through the gospels and take note of how many of the stories take place as Jesus and his disciples were simply walking along, traveling from one place to another. It was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, it was traveling through Samaria, it was in the daily journey of encountering others on their journeys that so much of their ministry took place. We learn in Sunday School about Paul’s missionary journeys. Look in the back of your Bible, among the maps, and you will most likely find one that traces Paul’s missionary journeys. You have a journey to take as well. It doesn’t have to cover the amount of territory covered by Paul, but you have a journey to take in following the vision God has given to you. How will you get to where God has called you to go? What kind of action steps will you take? A journey begins with the first step. Perhaps you’ve been telling yourself for weeks, months, or years that you need to take that first step. Don’t wait any longer. Now is the time! It’s always the first step that is the most difficult, but you know what? Once you take the first step, you find that the second step is a bit easier. The third step is a bit easier, and on and on. It’s not to say that every step is easy, or that difficulties will not be present, but it does get easier to move forward once we take the first step.
What is the vision God has given you for the coming days, the coming weeks, the coming months, and the coming year? Lord of my heart, give me vision to inspire me, the prayer says. My prayer is that God will inspire you with vision, and that you will be empowered to go and do.
Lord, give us vision to inspire us, in the year ahead, and beyond.
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