The Invitation

Tomorrow morning the Sanctuary Choir at FBC OKC will lead us through Experiencing God: The Musical. Over the past ten weeks we have had a little over 150 adults working through the Experiencing God small group study. We have also focused on the major themes in worship. This week we pull it all together in what should prove to be a remarkable worship experience. The musical brings the message and my role for the morning is to bring an extended invitation. I have spent the last several hours working on it. I must acknowledge that my normal pattern is to bring a spontaneous invitation at the close of the week's sermon. But, this week is different - not just because the musical components. Over the past ten weeks I have listened to numerous stories of how God is working in people's lives. I sense that the time has come for some to make their new or renewed commitments public as both an encouragement and a witness to those they walk beside.

We have also seen God stir in some remarkable ways in almost all of congregational ministries. God is so clearly at work in the life of this church. But, we are not without areas of challenge and places where we need to grow in faith and our followship. There are important decisions to be made that will shape us. I believe that we stand at a congregational crossroad where we will have to choose between being satisfied with being a "good church" or step boldly down a more difficult path where we might see God do something transformational. I sense that the time has come for some of our congregational leadership to step out and invite others to join them.

My hope is that the invitation in tomorrow's worship experience will be the time when we choose to experience the presense of God and say "yes" to God's leading.

Grace and Peace, Tom

Divine Diversity I Corinthians 12:7-13

I have to confess that I don’t like puzzles. I used to, but then came the summer of 1980. I was invited to join a friend, his family, and some other friends for a week at the beach. We would play at the beach all day, eat great seafood for dinner, and then head in for the evening. Someone brought a huge new puzzle with thousands upon thousands of pieces. We set a table up in the middle of the den and went to work. Each evening we would gather around the table and spend hours putting the giant puzzle together. After several evenings of solid labor the picture began to come together. On the final night we made the last push to finish our quest. And then it happened. With several small but significant holes left in the picture we ran out of puzzle pieces. We checked the box. We scrounged around on the floor. We checked every trash can. We looked everywhere. Apparently when the manufacturer sealed the box it was missing some strategic puzzles pieces. We stood around the giant puzzle and looked down on it. If memory serves me well, someone in the room speculated that some mean person on an assembly line may have pulled the pieces out as a mean joke. You would think that if thousands of pieces fit together perfectly it would be enough, but the beauty of the picture was forever flawed by the missing pieces.

In the book of Acts we read the story of the birth of the church in Corinth. It was a vital Roman colony along in the Greek isthmus. Paul poured 18 months into the birth of the church. He knew the folks that called this church family. He wrote to them trying to help them deal with some critical issues. A reoccurring theme in his letter to them was to remind them that they needed each other. He wanted them to remember that every piece – every person – and every gift - mattered. They struggled mightily with this issue. They fragmented over who had brought them to Christ – over where they fit in the social structure of the city – over their spirituality and their spiritual gifts.

It is amazing to think that some two thousand years later that many still are dealing with the same issues. Some boldly believe that their gifting and leadership are defining for the church. Some may think that their church tenure of economic status should command great respect. While still others quietly wonder if they make a difference - if they matter at all. Our church is blessed with a remarkable sense of unity and purpose, but even in our midst I imagine that there are some who sit beside you – and maybe even you – who wonder where they fit, how God might use them, and how they could make an impact in the world for God. This week in Experiencing God we will be looking at God’s Will and the Church. In the simplest of terms, I believe that God’s will for the church is to claim its divine diversity and act as one.

Look with me at I Corinthians, Chapter 12, verses 7 through 13. Paul starts with a defining statement in verse seven. 7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Before he begins the list of spiritual gifts he wants everyone in the room to be clear that the gifts are given for the good of everyone. He wants it clear that gifts of the Spirit were not given for the benefit of the individual, but for the benefit of the whole church. With this on the table Paul pressed ahead.

We pick it back up at verse eight. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. This is not Paul’s definitive list of spiritual gifts. We hear other lists in the Book of Romans, in Ephesians, and even later in this same chapter. But this list is different. Its intention is to speak to the places where the Corinthians had faced the most issues and to the gifts that most profoundly impacted how they functioned as a community. Some of the gifts focused how they lived out their lives of faith as a community of faith. Some of the gifts were expressed in their worship together. Still others of the gifts were expressed in their witness to those around them. All of them were essential for the life and witness of the church.

This list was not for the Corinthians alone. Each of us has been given a specific gift or gifts for the ministry of the body. We often think of the word “ministry” in terms of those on a church staff…those in “ministry.” I bring you good news, while some have been set aside for full time ministry ”MINISTRY” belongs to each of one of us. You are a minister of the body of Christ! Each person’s ministry is different, each one called distinctly, and each one is commissioned by God! It means that your unique gifts are God given for the common good of the church and our witness in the world.

We pick our passage back up in verse eleven. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. This echoes what they had heard from his letter only moments before. In the verses that precede our focal passage Paul wrote; 4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. These gifts, these acts of service, this way of working in the Kingdom begin at the hand of God. No one can take credit for the gifting they have been given. It is God given, at God’s discretion, for the good of the whole of the church. There should be no pride in the gift, only a sense of gratitude and an attitude of humility as we serve side-by-side.

I saw that lived out powerfully in the Friday night performance by the Kids Off Broadway kids. Some spoke; others sang; others supported the kids in set design or staging logistics. There were three distinct cultures and languages among the kids in the choir. It did not seem to matter. They were in this together. They spoke, they sang, they danced – and they touched us. In their diversity and in their simple gifting they led us in an evening of worship that pointed us toward Jesus. We experience this same kind community the first Sunday of each month when we come together in a diversity of gifting, culture, and language to worship God side-by-side. We witnessed this kind of blending of gifts when we served alongside of one another on a Saturday morning in McKinley Part in the heart of the Classen-Ten-Penn community. We claim it every time we set self aside long enough to worship together, to serve together, to work together.

We hear again from Paul in verses twelve and thirteen. 12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Paul’s vision is unity not unanimity It is not about all of us being alike, but rather celebrating the divine diversity of gifts, talents, and abilities that emerge from the hand of God. In a single sentence Paul addresses the boundaries of culture and status – and dashes both of them. Although we come from different homes and different lives, we are made one by the act of God. Although we are gifted in different ways, we are made essential to one another by the hand of God. The sum is really greater than total of its parts because God blends us together for the ministry God envisions for the church. God’s will for the church is for us to be one – leveraging our gifting to strengthen each other and to impact our world for God.

We are called to live out of our gifting…our God-given gifting…for this moment…for this time…for this community and the world. I still think about those missing pieces on that puzzle that I worked on over 29 years ago. I have to ask if the missing pieces for us to be the kind of church God intends us to be are sitting and wondering if they matter. Yes! You matter. Everyone one of you are essential. I am not concerned about whether you are a teenage or senior adult; whether you are male or female; whether you are rich or of simple means; or whether English or another is your first language. The critical questions if you are a part of this church family are “what gifting has God given you that are essential for the life and ministry of this church? And where are the places where you can leverage your gifts to strength the life and the witness of our church family?” We need you. We need each other. Viva la difference.

A Power Global Testimony of Faith

Testimony of Faith by Matthew Tin Za Uk offered at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City on June 7, 2009

First, I would like to thank God for this opportunity to share my testimony with the wonderful membership of First Baptist Church this morning. My family and I are refugees from Burma. My family arrived on March 17, 2009. My name is Mathtew Tin Za Uk and my wife is No Lawng. I have two sons and one daughter. My eldest son and his family are living in Malaysia.

Today, I would like to share some with you about my life-story. I was born in the Chin State, and I grew up in a Christian family. When I was a child, I wanted to be a faithful servant of God. So, I always submitted my life to God. By the grace of God, I went to seminary in Burma, and finished with my B.Th. (Bachelors of Theology) and my Master of Arts in Missions, in 1999.

After completing my studies, my family and I were sent to an unreached area as missionaries. We served in a land where the people were very strong Buddhists, and had been Buddhists for a very long time. While we were there, we were always harassed by the Buddhists and other non-believers. Sometimes they would report us to the Burmese military. They would throw stones and rocks at me for preaching the Gospel among them.

But as I experienced this oppression, I would remember the lives of our American Baptist, missionary fore-fathers; Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann who first came to Burma in 1813. I would especially remember Dr. Arthur Carson and his wife who came to the Chin State in 1899 and ministered directly with the Chin people. They loved us and literally gave their lives among us so that we would be Christians. So I have a strong conviction in my heart, that all I do will be satisfying to my Lord when I face him.

Today, my family and many Chin people are running day and night to escape from the Burmese military. As you know our country is under the control of a military dictatorship. So, we fled our country. When we arrived in the USA, everything was new to us. We were so afraid because we have no home, we have no future. We have no parents; we have no relatives or friends.

But as soon, by the grace of God, we met with First Baptist Church, we feel like we are safe again, like in our parent’s home. Now we have a future vision, because of your kindness, your compassion. I would like to especially thank Pastor, Brian McAtee. He takes care of my family and the Chin people. He helps us in our daily activity, also.

Finally, I would like to say again thank you to First Baptist Church, for everything that you have done for our Chin people. You have received us like your own children. I would like to say your grace is sufficient for us until today. May God bless you more and more, so you may continue blessing others in the future.

Counting the Cost - Adjusting Your Life to God

The silver haired minister sat and stared at the rural Baptist congregation in the mountains of North Carolina in the moments for he was to deliver his sermon. They had gathered in that same weathered white clapboard church week after week for years. He knew their lives and had listened to their stories. He also knew how they would hear his message for the morning. They liked sermons that affirmed and encouraged them. They liked Jesus stories where he healed the hurting and fed the hungry. They like stories like David and Goliath and about how Moses led the people out of Egypt. He was also keenly aware of the kind of sermons that they struggled with. So he slowly rose from his seat and walked to the pulpit and said; “Today we are going to hear from Jesus. His words today are not gentle. Don’t get mad at me. It’s Jesus who said’em and Jesus who tells us to follow’em. My job is to preach the whole of the Bible, not just the parts we like. So listen up close and hear some hard words from Jesus.” And with that said he took a deep sigh, took one more look around the room, and began his message for the morning.

I can appreciate the moment. Some of the things Jesus says calls us and demands of us in significant ways. Over these past couple of weeks in our Experiencing God journey we have been asked to listen for God’s voice, to dare to respond, and now to count the cost – of adjusting our life to God and God’s will. This is no easy task. It is so much easier to keep doing what we have always been doing; to live and operate out of our comfort zone.

Our problem is that this one named Jesus sometimes confronts with words that can shake us to our foundation – that can cause a spiritual lifequake – that demands us look at everything with fresh eyes. But our reality is that "Some churches, preachers and TV programs present the gospel as though they were selling a used car," writes R. Alan Culpepper of Mercer University. No money down! Attractive terms! Low, low monthly payments! "They make it sound as easy as possible, as though no real commitment were required. Jesus' call was far different. He was not looking for superficial commitment or a crowd of tagalongs. Instead, he required his followers to be totally committed if they were going to follow at all"[i] We hear this call loud and clear in Luke 14:25-33. Join with me on a roadside with Jesus.25-27One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple.

The crowds following Jesus began to grow. Some were drawn by the miracles and others were captivated by the way we spoke with such authority. Jesus understood that many in the crowed followed just for the show. He wanted them to understand the cost of discipleship – the real price for followship.

Jesus starts at their place of primary identity, their family. In the first century world your name, your home, your culture, your religion, your sense of community, and most often even your occupation was determined by your family. Jesus tells them that if they want to be one of His, they had to be willing to walk away from their family identity and base on their identity on their choice to follow. Even in our 21st century world this still seems hard. My family is so very important to me. This seems too great a price. Would I be willing to go wherever God calls and do whatever I understand he calls me to do even if that seperates from family. We did it when we moved to SEAsia. God blessed, but it was not without sacrifice. I can imagine that first century crowd stirring uncomfortably as they heard his words.

Jesus continues; Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. Next he tells the crowd that they have to be ready to pick up a cross to follow Him. “When Luke’s audience heard “bear your cross” or ‘shoulder your cross (added tco)’ they did not first think of adding additional responsibilities or bearing up under some burden….they heard it as a call to put their lives on the line as a consequence for following Jesus.”[ii]. This kind of faith is not some idealized understanding of faith. We heard a testimony of this kind of faith from Matthew earlier in our service. Let’s be honest, few of us have been asked to face arrest or had rocks hurdled at them for the sake of the gospel. The faith of the global Christians challenges us and inspires us. They remind us that what Jesus is talking about is not an inconvenient faith, but the kind of faith where we are willing to put everything on the line.

Scholars debate if the purpose of these hard words were to shake up the lukewarm disciples or dissuade the perspective followers in the crowd from joining him if they were not ready to adjust their lives and the way of living to God.[iii] I think probably some truth in both perspectives. I believe that Jesus wanted both his disciples and the crowd to seriously count the cost of a God-centered life. He gives them two pictures to help them understand.

28-30"Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.'

31-32"Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce?

I could not help but laugh out loud when I read one of the commentators recommending the proclaimer encourage the congregation to consider what it might look like to count the cost of the renovation of a historic church or for a church to move boldly out in missions. I thought to myself – this is our everyday world. The haunting question was whether in the counting of the cost we count in our count out faith.

The amazing part of the two images that Jesus offers is that the one who begins is more focused on being embarrassed or failure than they are about faith. Jesus’ words are not an edict to make sure we can succeed before we try bold things for God, but rather that we are prepared to follow through regardless of the cost. How do I know this? Hear the words Jesus claims at the close of the two images; 33"Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. This week we chose Eugene Petersons interpretative translation to help us look at this passage. But I think that this last line in even clearer in the New International Version. It reads; 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Jesus wanted the crowd – and us – to understand that he calls people to a sacrificial faith. In simplest terms; becoming a committed disciple means moving from a faith of convenience to a faith that follows Jesus, wherever he leads regardless of the cost.

I can imagine how quiet the crowd must gotten as they listened to Jesus’ words. I can only begin to imagine the look on peoples’ faces as they processed what Jesus had to say. They had to wonder if Jesus really meant that they had to be willing to walk away from everything for the sake of following God’s will or they could not be one of Jesus’ disciples. In my mind’s eye I can see people begin to slip away from the crowd and slip away from Jesus because the price was just too high.
· I wonder how many of us in this room wonder if God really expects us to be willing to put following God ahead of everyone and everything else.
· I wonder how many of us would like to slip away and claim the cultural understanding of faith that demands less of us and promises us that our best life now.
· I have to wonder if we ready to hear God’s voice, to boldly say “yes,” even when we understand the cost.

This week our Experience God sessions will ask us to be ready to adjust our lives and be ready to count the cost so we can respond to Gods voice. How will we answer?

[i] Culpepper, R. Alan, “The Gospel of Luke," The New Interpreter's Bible [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995], 293. Ref. in Homiletics, “Deep- Discount Disciples”
[ii] Vinson, Richard B., “Luke,” Smyth and Helwys Bible Commentary (Macon: Smyth and Helwys Pub. 2008), p.493.
[iii] Influenced by “Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons” at www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/sunday23cg.html.

New Ministry Launches At FBCOKC

This weekend FBCOKC launches a new Hispanic focused ministry. Carlos Simonini is providing the core leadership. His wife Debra will work closely with him in this new endeavor. The hope is a bilinqual ministry will emerge that will allow us to minister with both those whose first language is Spanish as well as those who claim English as a first language but who share a Hispanic/Lantino culture. I can hardly wait to see what God will do in and through this new ministry initiative.

Grace and Peace, Tom

Moving Mountains A Crisis to Belief

I remember the first time my father tried to help me to understand the joys of the combustible engine. We walked out to the car, opened the hood and he started pointing at things. He talked about pistons, carburetors, spark plugs, camshafts, crankshafts and an array of other engine parts. He described in great detail about the process I would need to follow to change the oil in my car. I have to confess that his passion for how engines worked and the mechanical language he spoke with such comfort was absolutely lost on me. No matter how hard he tried, the mysteries of the engine escaped me. I heard what he was saying, but just never got it. To this day I still take my car by the shop for every oil change.

It seems that there were times when Jesus wondered if his disciples understood anything he was teaching them. He spoke, they listened, but when it came to the real life every day practice of faith they just kept missing it. They just did seem to get it. We encounter one of these moments in Matthew 17:14-21. Come with me at as we listen in on a crisis of belief. Eugene Peterson begins the story in his interpretative translation The Message this way; 14-16At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, "Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he (tumbles tco) [is pitched] into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him."

The story starts like many others when a family brings a hurting member of their family to Jesus. Over and over across the sweep of the gospels we see them come to Jesus. They come wanting Jesus to do something – anything – to help their loved one. In this story the see their son twisted by seizures, claimed by a demon, suffering with no end in sight. The boys father comes, falling to his knees, begging for Jesus to help. What makes this tragic scene even more shattering was found it its last line; I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him."

These words struck Jesus and drew an immediate response. 17-18Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Since Jesus has sent the twelve out with the authority to heal and caste out demons they had seen him feed the multitude and walk on water. They had listen to Jesus teach and heard Peter’s great confession of faith. In the moments just before our story Peter, James and John had been on the mountaintop and had witness the power and the wonder of the transfiguration. Now, he discovers they have failed a family desperately in need. It sounds as if he can hardly believe it. What more did he have to do? What more did they have to see? What more did he have to say before they would understand the power and authority they had been given as his disciples?

Jesus first had to deal with the matter at hand. He saw the pain of the man and had to respond. Bring the boy here." He ordered the afflicting demon out—and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well. It would be a good story if it ended right here. A boy who was broken was restored; a family who was shattered now experienced joy. It is a great healing story. It is a great act of restoration.

But the moment was not complete. The disciples knew there was a problem and they faced it head on. 19When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, "Why couldn't we throw it out?" I imagine the question must have hung in the air. Jesus looks at them and answers; 20"Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."

The disciples faced a crisis of belief. They knew what Jesus had told them. They knew what they had witnessed. But the somewhere between the word and act the crisis occurred. It is the moment when they know what we are called to do but the seed of doubt blossoms. When they came to this moment they faced the same issue we face every day. We wonder if we have enough strength, enough resources, or even enough heart to follow through on what God calls us to do. Casting out a demon is no walk in the park. It required the disciples to confront evil face to face. It demanded that they become participants in the eternal conflict between God and evil. It would be scary. It would demand great faith. It was more than they could muster.

Jesus wanted them to understand the power of faith. They had the spiritual resources they needed. God has called them. God had commissioned them. God was with them. The presence and the power of God was available to them. Jesus wanted them to know if they took God seriously – if they took God at God’s word – if they claimed the kind of faith he meant for them – then they could do what seemed impossible. He wanted them to understand that it was not about them changing their minds; it was about changing their hearts. It was not about them just hearing and understanding – it was about them believing.

For the past two week our Experiencing God small group studies and the messages on Sunday morning have focused on hearing God’s voice. Our struggle is found in the moment between hearing God speak and choosing to do something about it. It is a quiet crisis of belief. Today you heard Scott share his story of responding to God’s voice. We will hear from stories several others in the coming weeks. I’ve spoken to still others in phone conversations, in small group meetings, and in church hallways over the couple of weeks who have heard God’s voice and shared stories of how they have begun to respond. I believe that God is up to something special in our midst. God is calling people in our midst to new steps in faithfulness. God is speaking into ordinary lives and calling people to take simples steps toward extraordinary faith.

I believe that God is calling us as a church family to continue to reach out into our community and the world in boldness. On Thursday I drove to Texas to meet with the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington, his wife who leads their congregational mission organization, and the great mission strategist Bill O’Brien. In a very ordinary side room at a Braums in Denton we agreed to do something together that could launch a new era in congregational collaboration in missions among Baptist. In November we at FBC OKC will host a meeting of somewhere between 35 to 50 pastors from leading moderate Baptist churches across the nation to look at how we work together to help reach the world in word and deed in the name of Jesus. The potential is extraordinary. We will look at how we come together in faith to move mountains.

I am confident that God is speaking across the life of congregation. For some the call is about giving of your life or your life skills. For others the call is about giving of your resources. For others the call is about joining this congregation and its journey with God. Regardless of what kind of call you might be hearing it is time for us to claim an unapologetic crisis of belief. It is not the kind of crisis that makes us doubt God – but rather that makes us reexamine how we have been living out our lives of faith – to be like the disciples and dare to ask the question “why have we not been able to do all you have asked of us?”. This crisis of belief will demand that we rethink what it means for us to take God seriously. This crisis will make us change our ways to doing life and faith. This crisis of belief will call for us to listen for God’s voice and to respond to God’s call regardless of the price or its seeming impossibility. It is about us accepting that God can and will speak into our lives – to hear – and to allow God to reshape our lives according to His purposes. But, be forewarned. There will be moments when we will join the disciples in fear and trembling wondering if we are up for the task. There will be moments when we will wonder if we have the spiritual resources to sustain us. There will be moments when we wonder if we are more driven by the balance sheet than the voice of God. There will be moments when the task before us will seem bigger than we are. There will be moments. But in these moments we will have to decide if we are ready to take God seriously. We will have to decide if we trust God enough to say “yes” and follow through.

The words of Jesus still hang in the air for me; "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle." Are we ready to listen and boldly respond?

God Speaks Again Joshua 6:1-5

There have been moments in my life when I felt the gentle nudging of God’s direction in the depths of my soul. Sometimes it emerged from prayer. Other times it came from Scripture. Still other times it came from the voices of people I trusted. But there have been other times in my life when the call of God was so clear, so unmistakable that I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. My call to ministry late night at the close of my freshman year in college was one of those moments. My call to missions that carried me and my family to Southeast Asia was one of those moments. My call to come to serve as a part of the First Baptist family was one of those moments. Can you think of moments in your own life when God nudged you quietly or stirred you unmistakably? What did those moments feel like to you? How did you respond? These moments and how we respond to them can shape and define our life’s journey.

Our focal passage for the morning comes from Joshua, Chapter Six. You probably remember that Joshua was Moses’ right hand and when it came time for the people to enter the Holy Land God assigned him the task of taking the people in. Joshua’s story is a story listening for God’s voice and following God’s leading. The closing verses of Chapter Five paint a picture of one of those critical moments for Joshua. 13 And then this, while Joshua was there near Jericho: He looked up and saw right in front of him a man standing, holding his drawn sword. Joshua stepped up to him and said, "Whose side are you on—ours or our enemies'?" 14 He said, "Neither. I'm commander of God's army. I've just arrived." Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, "What orders does my Master have for his servant?" 15 God's army commander ordered Joshua, "Take your sandals off your feet. The place you are standing is holy." Joshua did it.

Can you imagine what this moment must have felt like for Joshua? An angel of God appeared to him and let him know he was not alone. There is a phrase we hear that echoes Moses’ encounter at the Burning Bush. “Take your sandals off your feet. The place you are standing is holy." What made the place holy was that the presence of God. We sometimes of this room as a holy place, but any sense of its holiness is not found because of the beautiful architecture but rather because of the moments we have experienced the presence of God in this place. For Joshua the holy place – the divine encounter was on a roadside outside of Jericho. For those who call this place home. we have come with expectation to this room and God has responded. Our song sings out and God stirs. Thanks God for the experiences from yesterday. Thanks be to God for the experiences that still await us.

But Joshua’s story at Jericho was not done. God speaks again. We hear it in one of those childhood stories with significant adult meaning. 1 Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out. 2-5 God spoke to Joshua, "Look sharp now. I've already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its crack troops." I can almost imagine what Joshua must have been thinking. “What do you mean you have already given me Jericho? Don’t you see the walls? Don’t you see the soldiers? Don’t you see the sad band of wanders I am supposed to lead?” Joshua’s task was a God sized task. It was beyond his capabilities. It was beyond his resources. The only way that Jericho could be taken was for God to act.

There are times when we are clear on God’s call – the direction he has for us to go – but the task seems too big. We can be paralyzed by the fear of failure. The problem is that if God has called us to a task then it is not our reputation at stake. We can find freedom in the fact that it is God who called and that God’s reputation is significantly more valuable than ours. If God beckons us then it is our task to be faithful and God that will empower and respond.

There are other times when we face a God sized task that we can be frozen because we are locked into a theology of scarcity that looks at what we do not have. We focus on the limits of our personal or financial resources. We keep trying to make it work with what we know we have on hand. The problem is that a theology of scarcity simply does find a place in scripture. We are told over and over again that God’s provision is sufficient. If we are called to a God sized task – or any task given by God – then God can and will provide the way.

Our congregation, like countless congregations across the country, is facing a season of economic concern. We see God stirring in so many places. We witness God’s fresh movements in so many ways. We see the evidence that God has called us to the great task of the restoration of this great church. We have been faithful in the renewal of the brick and motor. We have opened the doors of the worship and ministries of the church to our wider community and we see the way God has responded. We cannot allow a theology of scarcity to claim us – or to be frozen by the fear of failure – but must be confident that God can and will respond to us and through us. God’s call is clear. God’s stirring is unquestionable. We will together experience the wonder of God’s provision for us and through us.

God lays out the plan for Joshua; Here's what you are to do: March around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram's horn trumpets in front of the Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests blowing away on the trumpets. And then, a long blast on the ram's horn—when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs. The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man straight on in."

I want you to know that an engineer could tell you that a seven day march around town would not have weakened the support structures adequately to cause the walls the fall. A great jazz musician could tell you that the burst of the trumpets could excite, engage, or even entertain, but music could not cause the walls to fall. The dramatic image of the march and the music might have made those within the walls concerned, but would not have caused the walls to fall. The real story is about the people of God being faithful in doing what God told them to do. God’s people were faithful and God responded. I love this story because it borders on the absurd. Joshua was given an impossible task – a God sized task – and he decided no matter how difficult it seemed the right response was to hear God and go for it.

The rest of the story is just as you would expect. The people marched. The priest played their horns. The walls collapsed. Jericho was given to Joshua and to the people of God just as God had promised. The good news is that God still calls. God calls us to the little decisions that shape our everyday lives and sometimes God calls us as individuals and as a congregation to God sized tasks. The God who was faithful to Joshua is still faithful today. Our task is not to have it all worked out. Our task is to look for those holy places where God stirs, to listen for God’s voice and to be faithful to follow. There are walls to great ministry that wait to be torn down.