Why We Need a Lofty Goal
July 11, 2004
Proverbs 20:18
6th Sunday after Pentecost
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
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Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18 King
James Version
God has given this congregation the ability to set goals
that are high and lofty,
difficult to reach,
worthy of our passion, energy, and sacrifice.
We don’t settle for second best,
because we strive for excellence.
This truly is our inheritance from Jesus Christ.
Jesus made the spectacular universe we live in.
Jesus has taken us into HIS family.
He has chosen this church to be his very own.
When we accept the fact that God loves us,
THEN
our vision shifts from low to lofty.
EVEREST
Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet high
and getting higher, by a few millimeters, every year.
The world has known about Everest since 1865
when it was first measured
and found to be the tallest mountain in the world.
For decades, nobody could climb Everest.
Everyone who tried, failed.
At last count
there are 120 bodies still up there,
frozen on the mountain,
too difficult to bring down.
Thousands of attempts were made
before humanity learned this lesson.
Nobody can climb Mt. Everest alone.
It takes a team.
Dear ones,
teamwork is a gift from God
to this church.
When we form teams,
seek God’s will,
and work together,
we are able to accomplish the impossible.
Tensing Norgay
was born and raised in the high mountains of Nepal.
The ridge of Mt. Everest
forms the border between Nepal and Tibet.
Tensing was a porter, a professional pack carrier,
in each of the seven major expeditions to Everest
between 1920 and 1952.
He spent those 32 years watching people
try to climb Mt Everest. Each of those attempts failed.
In 1953
Tensing was hired by Colonel John Hunt
not just to carry supplies
but to be the man
who would hire, organize, and lead
all the porters
in an attempt to climb the mountain.
Tensing hired nearly 300 people
to carry two and a half tons of supplies
for 180 miles.
They formed a series of base camps
each one supporting the one above.
Let me read to you what Tensing wrote about this:
“You do not climb a mountain
like Everest by trying to race ahead on your own,
or by competing with your comrades.
You do it slowly and carefully,
by unselfish teamwork.”
Unselfish teamwork.
That is a beautiful concept.
That’s what we do in this church.
We listen for
what we feel God wants us to achieve.
And if it truly comes from God,
it is going to be lofty
it is going to be beyond our reach
it is going to seem impossible.
Out of nearly 300 people from Hunt’s expedition,
only four could attain the highest base camp.
They were Tom Bourdillon, Charles Evans,
Tensing Norgay, and Edmund Hillary.
Bourdillon and Evans were chosen to go first,
but they couldn’t make it.
Let me read what Tensing Norgay wrote
about that.
“They were worn out, sick with exhaustion,
and, of course, terribly disappointed that they had not
reached the summit themselves.
But still... they did everything they could to advise
and help us. And I thought, Yes, that is how it is on the mountain. That is how
a mountain makes men great.
For where would Hillary and I have been without the others? Without the climbers
who had made the route and the Sherpas who had carried the loads?
Without Bourdillon and Evans, Hunt and Da Namgyal, who had cleared the way
ahead? .... It was only because of the work and sacrifice of all of them that we
were now to have our chance at the top.”
Dear ones,
we owe a great deal to all the men and women,
boys and girls, who have gone before us
and made it possible for us to be here today.
This church is a testimony to the faithfulness of
thousands of Christian disciples.
And now, you and I get to do our best to do great things!
THE MOON
Do you remember May 25, 1961 ?
I was 5 years old.
How old were you?
On May 25, 1961
this is what the President of the United States said:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before
this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the
earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to
mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none
will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
... in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon--if we make
this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must
work to put him there.
That speech came exactly 8 years and 4 days
after Tensing Norgay & Sir Edmund Hillary
stepped on to the top of Mt Everest.
When God gives you a truly lofty goal
he also gives you the ability
to form a truly excellent team.
If you were an American citizen
during the 1960s,
then you were part of the team
that put six Apollo crews on the moon
and brought them safely home.
OUR GOALS
In Proverbs 29:18
the Bible says,
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Last week
I shared with you my vision
for 100 small groups
gathering once a week
to participate in our 40 Days of Purpose
Spiritual Growth Campaign.
That is an impossible goal,
for one person,
but for a team of dedicated Christians
it is possible.
We are a church that needs
a lofty goal
to bring us together
to make us think as a team
to spark something inside of us
that says
I’m part of something wonderful
and what we are attempting to do
was helped along by thousands of other Christians,
and what we are attempting to do
truly honors God.
Now to him
who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
PRAYER
Thank you Lord for your plan, your vision, and your calling
for Mt. Olivet and Olivet United Methodist Church.
Your goals for us are lofty. That’s because you are a mighty God.
You challenge us with change because you designed us to grow.
Our success is not measured by achievement, but by faithfulness.
Lord, give us the ability to be faithful!
When the level of difficulty in our lives is overwhelming,
and we don’t know how or why we should keep going,
give us a glimpse of the future you have prepared.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.