Challenges… They’re in the same category with “crisis”—the Chinese characters which individually read “danger” and “opportunity”. Sometimes I think, “O Lord, please, not another growth opportunity!”
But challenges, along with crises—and all the accompanying dangers and opportunities—are what help us grow in becoming what God has intended us to be. I was certainly challenged Friday morning when I saw on Good Morning America the pastor from a church in Long Island, N.Y., who with his congregation was praying for pennies from heaven to help expand their church, but instead they were showered with millions. A parishioner who wants to remain anonymous donated his $3 million winning "Ba Da Bling" scratch-off lottery ticket to The True North Community Church in Port Jefferson. Now I’m not telling you this as a “God answers our prayers story”—if God answered these kind of prayers we would all be millionaires.
This is a challenge story! If you won the lottery, would you turn it all over to PUMC? The pastor of that church, when asked that question, immediately replied, “No! I would certainly give some of it to the church. But all of it? My wife would never let me!” An interesting challenge of faith and stewardship.
Will you pray with me: God of amazing generosity, there are some among us Lord, who are right now thinking, “Okay, God, give me the challenge. I’ll donate some of it to the church!” Truly, we would all love that challenge, but more often the challenges before us are difficult and put our faith to the test. We want to avoid trouble, or go on with life and let it be over with. And yet, we know that you call us to journey through the challenge, no matter how difficult it might be. We ask you to open our ears so that we might hear your words, and unlock our minds so that you might give each of us the particular message you would have us receive and understand. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts, along with our actions of faith be acceptable in your sight, O God, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
The Bible is states in many scriptures about God’s expectation that we are to tithe 10% of what we get back to God. If you won $3,000,000, would you tithe 10% to the church? That’s quite a challenge, isn’t it? I am in awe of the person who handed the winning ticket over to the church, giving up every last cent of it. Amazing.
Sometimes challenges come in lovely ways—opportunities that might call on us to stretch ourselves, but with little risk on our parts. More often challenges come in ways we would rather not have to face. I recently saw the admonition, “Don’t let your worries and challenges get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case.” There are days when I feel like Moses!
Moses certainly did NOT want to be the one chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? (Exodus 3: 11) An interesting question, since he had been raised in Pharaoh’s family… Obviously he had been born to live in the Pharaoh’s household for this very reason. God answers him: “I will be with you: when you lead the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” Moses continues to argue with God, trying to convince his own Creator that he’s not the right person for the job. “I don’t have authority,” he argues. ”If I come to the Israelites and say to them ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?” what shall I say to them?” (Interesting here: In the protest he begins bargaining. “Hmmm… If I can get God’s name, then I’ll really have power.”)
Continuing on in chapter 4, Moses tells God of his fear of the people’s distrust (4:1), his speech difficulties (4:10), and his sheer cowardice (4: 13): “Oh, my Lord, Please send someone else.” How many times have you prayed or thought that in your lifetime? Even Jesus prayed, “Let this cup pass from me.” Sometimes we just don’t want to go through what life or God is calling us to go through.
Many times I have looked back at my life or talked with others looking back at theirs. I’ll bet that just about each one of us here this morning could say of an experience or challenge he or she has gone through and claim, ”If I had known ahead of time what I was going to have to do/go through, I would have said ‘No way. I can’t do that!’” And yet, through God’s grace and the amazing work of the Holy Spirit we find ourselves doing what we need to do—and coming out the stronger for it. When we work with God, rather than pushing against God, we also come closer to God, strong in our faith and discipleship. Look at Moses. Despite his misgivings and resistance to the challenge God put before him, he perseveres. He deals with his people rebelling, sinning, and talking against him. He leads them to the Mount Nebo, overlooking the promised land. But alas, Moses is only to see the promised land, and he dies that very night at the age of 128 years, according to Deuteronomy 34: 7. Moses reminds us that success is always found in the journey, not really the destination.
In Matthew 16, Jesus puts the ultimate challenge right in our face. “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (vs. 24-25)
When our daughter Erin was going into the eighth grade, we took a backpacking trip in Yosemite that included a day-hike up the cables of Half Dome. For those of you, that have never done that, it is trek up the side—not the face—that has cables held up by poles drilled into the solid granite. Resting against those poles are two by four boards, which us can use to rest for a moment while keeping yourself from sliding back down the mountain. Our family made it up okay, but when it was time to come down, Erin took the first step or two of the descent, started to get anxious, and then down-right panicked when someone above her dropped a water bottle which bounced a couple of times before slipping off the crest and free-falling down into the valley.
We weren’t sure how we were going to get Erin down—a helicopter seemed to be in order. But as I talked to her, I asked her to put her faith in God. We prayed, and asked God to bring her through this just as God had done over and over with her challenges with Fragile X and her severe learning disorders. With God’s grace, she got herself together and made it down that mountain. Erin discovered that in putting herself completely in God’s care, she was given what she needed to not only make it, but to end up with new life—a life of knowing to turn to God in the midst of fear and challenge. Had she not turned to prayer and put herself into God’s hands, we might have needed that helicopter after all. For Erin that would have been choosing a kind of death—the death of not being able to turn to God, to choose Jesus; the death of belief in her own abilities to get through the most challenging of times, with God’s help.
Most likely we’ll never have $3 million to give to the church. But aside from money all together, how much of yourself do you really give to the church, and more importantly to God? Will you take on the challenge of giving yourself to Christ not just in word and on Sunday mornings, but in all that you do, every moment of your life? Now there’s a challenge!
The Great I Am—God is with us and will take care of us, no matter how difficult the challenge—even in impossible circumstances. I Am, the One who is all, and in creating us has covenanted to be present with us and to us no matter what. Will you turn to God in the midst of a challenge? Will you choose Christ—that is doing the tough stuff even if you don’t feel good enough or really don’t want to do what is called of to do? Will you stand up for Christ—and each other in a way that doesn’t persecute someone else, but looks for God’s healing and direction in the challenge you are engaged in? There is nothing you—and we—can’t do if it is God’s will. The Holy Spirit will abide in us, direct us, and give us exactly what we need, no matter who difficult the challenge.
Let us close in prayer: Gracious God, there are times when circumstances overwhelm us, and we know ourselves to be totally inadequate for the task at hand. We are beginning to understand that in those times you say, “Good. Now I can work!” You calm our anxieties when you announce, “I AM. I am all you need.” Lord, may we humbly continue to ask for faith to trust ourselves and our anxieties to your care. May we say “Yes, Lord. I choose you and I choose life. I give myself, all that I am and all that I have to you!” May it be so. Amen!