Sermon for 6-29-08 Carbon Cliff; ‘Hope: In a New Place, a Different Land’

Genesis 45:1, 3-8a (NLT), Psalm 105:1-6, Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT), Luke 10:1-9 (Message)

Well, folks, it’s almost time for the move. Are we prepared? Sure doesn’t feel that way. I keep seeing the things that still need to happen, all the things that we still need to accomplish, and I have no clue how we’ll be ready to even get to the challenges we’ll be facing, much less handle those situations.

Do we know about the place we’re headed? Well, maybe more than Joseph did when he was taken to Egypt. We’ve visited there a few times – not Egypt, the new place. And how is it there? My standard answer to people has been that there are challenges and opportunities. But a lot of things there are a little intimidating, not just challenging. Then again, I look forward toward where we’re headed and I can’t help thinking how great it really could be.

The people there? Not much different than the people here. Kind of reminds me of that story about the man who was headed to a new city. He met a farmer outside of town, and asked him what the people there are like. The farmer asked, “What were the people like in the town you came from?” “Oh, just horrible!” said the man. “They were mean and rude, and you couldn’t trust a one of them.” The farmer replied, “I’m afraid you’ll find the people in this town just like them.” It wasn’t too long until a second man came up the farmer, and asked the same question. Again, the farmer asked what the people were like in the old town. “They were the absolute best!” said the second man. “So kind, friendly and helpful, I hated to have to leave.” “Wonderful!” said the farmer. “You’ll be happy to find that the people in town are just like them!”

That’s one of the lessons that we learn from Joseph’s life: how important our attitudes are when we face new places and different lands. To be honest, he seems pretty full of himself at the beginning of the Bible narrative. That could have been part of the reason that his brothers were so resentful, so much so that they considered murder. Isn’t it amazing how being sold into slavery and spending years in prison for a false accusation can change a person’s outlook? The lessons that life had taught him would help Joseph as he went from the depths of the dungeon to the heights of power in Egypt.

I know that I’m taking away a lot of lessons from our getting ready for the new place, and as it seems to happen with any good lesson, I see the lessons reflected in the pages of scripture.

The lesson that really jumps out this time: GET RID OF THE JUNK! It’s incredible how much stuff we have accumulated over the years, stuck on the shelves or shoved in the attic or basement. We’ve hauled out bags and bags of garbage, and we must have given away more than we’ve kept. But it’s going to be so much better moving on without all the extras.

Jesus showed so much wisdom in telling his disciples, “Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.” Traveling light helps you move more quickly, respond more easily, sprint just a bit faster when you need to. It’s like the writer of Hebrews reminds us, to get rid of the weight that slows us down.

Of course, we’re reminded in Hebrews to get rid of the sin that trips us up. Paul took both of those to heart in the way he did ministry, trying to get rid of both physical and spiritual baggage. And he tried to share that wisdom with others. He expressed it in the letter to the church at Philippi: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”

Paul also shared another good bit of wisdom for heading to a different place: keep your focus. “I focus on this one thing,” he tells the Philippians, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” I think that was what Jesus was trying to get across to his disciples when he told them, "Don't loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.” They needed to keep their focus as well, keeping their actions directed forward and their conversations focused on Jesus. I know that in the midst of preparing to head out, it’s been easy to lose focus; everything that we have seems to have a story connected with it, and if we aren’t careful, we find ourselves looking to the past and forgetting the future.

Another lesson I’m learning: you don’t have to be a lone ranger in a strange place. There are others that can travel along with you – some from the old place, some from the new. Those other folks can help get things organized and help tote the weight. Paul brought in others in his ministry, sometimes taking people with him, like Barnabas and Silas, and sometimes picking them up on the way, like Luke and Timothy. Jesus knew that the disciples would need help, so he paired them up before they headed out. He also knew that the opportunity for ministry was huge, so he told them, “ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.” Even Joseph found people that would help him on his way up, like the butler that told Pharaoh about him.

I’m learning a lot of lessons about heading to new places, but the most important lesson, and one that I need to be reminded of again and again, is that God is in the new place as much as in the old one. Joseph may have felt abandoned by his family after being sold into Egypt, but he came to recognize, through the winding path that his life took, that God had something special in mind, planned even before Joseph’s brothers worked out their scheme.

Once Joseph’s brothers came to him in Egypt – well, OK, after Joseph tested his brothers to see if they had changed – Joseph tells them of the insight he had been given about his life path. He told them, “God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you!” Just as God sent Joseph ahead of his family, so Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him, to prepare the way for him in the towns to which he intended to go. Just as certainly, we are being sent out to prepare the way for Jesus to come, to keep his family alive and well, and to preserve many who will survive the ravages of the sin that trips them up. And I am sure that we are being sent by God, not by evil intent or by the whims of any person or group. But it’s not just being sent out, it’s being called forward to this new place. Like Paul said, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” We too press on to reach the end of the race, knowing that there may be many stops along the way, places where we are called to give a blessing of peace and to remind those there that God’s Kingdom is right at their doorstep.

Now maybe through all of this, you’ve thought that I’ve been talking about my family’s move to Illinois City. And true, it has been on my mind lately. But this time, I was really talking about us, you and me, all of us. Because all of us are on the brink of moving to a new place, a place that we might see as familiar, but can be one of the scariest places I know. It’s a place called “Tomorrow,” and ready or not, it will come. The question for us is what our life tomorrow will be like. Now we can move into tomorrow thinking that it will be filled with difficulties, that the people will be mean and rude and untrustworthy. Or we can recognize that God is sending us ahead into this new land, with people around us that can help us rise to the top. With God’s help we can get rid of the baggage in our lives so that we can focus on making God the focus, bringing our thoughts and actions into line with Jesus’ call on our lives.

So as I look toward the tomorrow to which God has called me, I want you to know that I won’t completely forget the past. I will remember the wonderful works God has done in this church family, God’s miraculous actions and God’s gracious judgment. You all will be in my memory, and in my thoughts and prayers. God has blessed me in bringing me to this place and this church family, to share in your ministry and your lives, if only for a little while. I look forward to hearing how God has called you forward, into a place and time that God has only meant for good. Let us give glory to God’s holy name, and may the hearts of all who seek the Lord rejoice! Amen.

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