54 Guess Where You''re Going!

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"Guess Where You're Going!"

Before I tell you "Where You're Going", I want to share a story
about someone who went somewhere. Every morning when Ellen Lawson
prayed, she did so by looking at a large postcard showing Christ against a
background of rich gold leaf. She had brought the card with her from the
East to settle in the State of Washington in the West. - enjoying the dramatic
scenery there - snow-capped, Mount St. Helens. When her 19 year old
son visited they decided to hike to some hot springs on Wind River in the
Columbia River Gorge. It was no easy hike. Thirty-foot cliffs dropped
off to the rushing river blow. On their way back down from the springs,
she slipped and fell over one of the cliffs. As she was falling the air
whooshed around her. Looking below her she saw rocks and river.
"I'm going to die" she thought - "either crushed on the ground or
drowning in the cold water. I'm dead, she said.
When she landed, a beautiful golden screen took up her entire
field of vision. Behind it, filtering through, a yellow light. The light glowed,
filling her with inexpressible peace and joy - a light she wanted to be with
forever. Grudgingly, she pulled away from the light to respond to her
son's voice, calling her name. The rescue people were there. She had
landed on rocks but had no spinal injuries. She only had a crushed arm
and other minor injuries.
At home, after it was all over, she kept recalling the brilliant light
she had seen. She sketched the golden screen, and a few days later make
the connection - the gold leaf behind the Christ on the postcard she had
brought with her and which she always focused on during her devotions.
When she was near death - that is what she saw. The overwhelming
peace and joy came from the light around Jesus. She said, "I had been
somewhere at one with a heavenly light."
A Glimpse of Forever - Guideposts
Being at one with a heavenly light is precisely the reason we are
here today - for this is the Body of Christ....the members of the body are
here - we are the hands and feet of the Christ - the eyes and ears - the
heart - and the whole is equal to more than the sum of the parts - the
LIVING PRESENCE OF JESUS - THE LIGHT OF JESUS IS HERE
- in us - ordinary people - extraordinary ordinary people - because we
are strengthened for having come.
Unbeknownst to many, there are many unbeknowns here! "With
angels and archangels and all the company of heaven" we meet here
today. A woman with a very gifted young son - Travis - a dynamic little
boy who had at age 5, asked Jesus to be his personal Savior. His mother
sensed she was to prepare him for something. Instead it seemed he was
preparing her - One night when he finished his prayers, he placed his
hands on her cheeks and said, "I just love you Mommy, I just want
you to know that I love you."
A few days later she awakened before daylight and saw Travis
sitting on his bed - just sitting in the purple predawn. "What's the matter,
Babe" she asked him. "Don't you see them?" He sounded
disappointed. "See what?"
"These two angels." (She saw only the familiar room, but she felt
something extraordinary was pressing in on them.) Some days later, he
insisted on walking to school early - why early - "Because I've got to"
he said, "I've just GOT to." On his way to school the Idaho community
experienced an earthquake and he and his little girl playmate were buried
under rubble and died.
After all the arrangements had been made and everything taken
care of, back home in her living room again, Janet was lifted right out of
the room and placed by a beautiful gate. A cluster of happy people stood
within the gate. In utter amazement she recognized the youthful robust
faces of all of her family and friends who had gone before her. In the
center of all of them - the radiant, light-filled form of Jesus. As she
watched, He stretched out his hands to welcome a child - Travis - who
ran forward and grasped the hand of Jesus, looking up at Him with eager
brown eyes. Then Travis looked at her, saying that nothing could make
him as happy as being where he was. Nothing on earth could compare to
it. Janet tells us: That scene at heaven's threshold is as vivid in each
detail today as in the measureless instant when I was allowed to
see it."
A Glimpse of Forever - Guideposts
There's no need to GUESS WHERE YOU'RE GOING - you
already know. All of us are headed for the Light, but what God wants
you to know today is that the Light is all around and within you - even now
- especially now. People lived in darkness until the light came - Jesus was
the light as prophesied by the Prophet, Isaiah - as quoted in our Scripture
lesson today - Matthew 4:12-23.
There is no better way to find yourself in the Light of Jesus
than by finding and fulfilling your spiritual calling. God has
something special for you to do, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
The Methodist Bishop called a minister acquaintance of mine,
whose seminars on preaching I have enjoyed attending. The Bishop said
to him: GUESS WHERE YOU'RE GOING - telling him that he was
going to be the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.
Moses, hiding out in Midian because he killed a man back in
Egypt, saw a bush burst into sudden flame and a voice spoke: I AM
THE LORD YOUR GOD, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC,
AND JACOB. I HAVE HEARD THE CRY OF MY PEOPLE. I
HAVE SEEN THEIR SUFFERING. I HAVE COME TO
DELIVER THEM. NOW, GUESS WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
(To paraphrase a bit!)
Even though Moses had no theological or oratorical gifts or training,
even though he was scared to death of the mighty Pharaoh, he went to
lead his people out of Egypt. (Exodus 3)
Little boy Samuel, asleep in the middle of the night, hears his name
called. It was God called, but Samuel thought Eli, for whom he worked
was calling him. Three times he went to Eli to say, "You called?" Eli
explained that it was God calling, and that Samuel should say to God:
"Speak, Lord. I am your servant, and I am listening." (I Samuel 3)
If you want to be true to your calling, even if you don't know what
it is (!), you need to say those words: "Speak, Lord. I am your servant,
and I am listening."
What you need to listen for is the voice inside yourself that speaks
to you - you know - the one you would rather not listen to if you can help
it. That's the voice that when others say "who" when some good deed
needs to be done - your voice - God's voice within you says, "You!". "I
should go." The whole universe always waits for your answer.
Isaiah - to put it in modern vernacular - didn't want to go to church
one Sunday. Frankly, he didn't get anything out of the sermons, the music
was to hi-falutin - never could stand Johan Sebastian - but his mother
made him go. Scooched down in the pew, hoping to get in and get out -
after all, he could legitimately leave after two thirds of the service was
complete - there was a loud rumble, the sanctuary was cast in a smoky
kind of light and a voice said, - Who shall we send - who will go for
us.....and Isaiah, crouching still lower, said, Not me, Lord. I swear!
And I run around with a lot of people who swear too - I'm part of
perverse generation of which I am the "perversist!"
Only with a little divine intervention did he get his tongue cleansed
and his vision cleared. He said, Here am I. Send me. ( Isaiah 6)
If you start listening daily and develop a pattern of hearing the
voice and responding, you're in for a treat. Scientists have just discovered
that doing what we know to be right really makes us feel good. No
kidding!
Doing what we know within us is right and what God wants us to
do is paramount to peace within your life. Your heart will be restless and
the only way beyond the restlessness is by listening and responding to the
Voice - heading not away from but IN TO the Light. No need to guess
where you're going.
We all survive death - We couldn't get out of life dead if we tried.
Our bodies, yes, but we ourselves - no. We are spirit - We were - we
are and we will be.
The only really important thing to do in life is to connect our Spirit
with THE SPIRIT OF THE UNIVERSE - WITH THE UNIVERSAL
CHRIST - WITH GOD. And our connection is not vague and ephemeral,
but quite pragmatic and personal.
We make the God connection by really caring for and helping the
people around us. We connect with God when we stand on the shore of
the mighty ocean and marvel at its rhythm, its power - its aroma.
We "see the light" make the connection of our Spirit with God's
spirit when we seek to help the helpless - children, animals, God's creatures
of every kind - up to and including - yes - you got it - cockroaches.
(You've got to admire them - they've been around longer than anybody.)
If you go to Galilee today they will show you a boat that might
have belonged to Andrew and Peter or perhaps the Zebedee family. In
one of the most remarkable archaeological finds anywhere in the Holy
Land which is full of them, a boat was found sticking out of the mud one
summer when the level of the Sea of Galilee dropped dramatically in a
period of dry weather. With great care it was lifted clear of the sea bottom,
cleaned and preserved. Now in a special exhibit, millions of visitors can
see the sort of boat Jesus first followers used for fishing. It has been
carbon-dated to exactly the period of Jesus' life.
The boat is a vivid reminder of the day to day existence of his
followers and of what it cost them to give it all up and follow Jesus. So
why did they give up a prosperous business to follow an itinerant preacher?
Why do you give up your precious time to come here? Why do people in
the millions regularly change their priorities and begin to walk with Christ?
The answer is in Jesus himself - in the astonishing magnetism of His Presence
and Personality. We come here because here we feel Him close to us.
Here we can pray to know him better. In this place we can hear Him
calling us.
Sometimes His call comes slowly, starting like a faint murmur and
growing until we can no longer ignore it. Sometimes he calls people as
suddenly and dramatically as he called Peter and Andrew, James and
John.
Then you find yourself fishing for people just as our Scripture said
(Matthew 4:19) "Follow Me and I will make you fish for people."
Amen.

Sermon Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)January 27, 2008 10:30 a, m. Matthew 4:12-23

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.