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Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 3-9-08, Lent 5
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "Vision 2008: Discovery"
Text: Jer.29:11; Ezk.37:1-14
Theme: Discerning and discovering God’s plans for us.
Introduction
Upon returning from an overnight retreat awhile ago, we discovered that an outside pipe had broken, gushing water into our front yard, and the plummer who responded to the emergency had to turn off the main water source to the house in order to fix the problem. But after that, our toilet had a peculiar problem. Another plummer suggested that some sediment might have come through the line when the outside pipe broke and settled in one of the valves in the back of the toilet, causing it to make a hissing sound. I thought about it, took the lid off the back of the toilet, listened to the hissing sound, and in a moment of discernment, figured that, as usual, I had no clue. Well, the other day, while wandering the hardware store looking for some stuff, I got the bright visionary idea that I might just be able to fix the toilet. I asked for help, and a man gave me suggestions as to what I might do. I bought a valve that he thought might be right – for about $9.00 – even though he suggested I could remove the other part, flush the sediment out, and it would probably work fine without replacing it with a new one. I got home, started to rewire some light fixtures, and in mid-project, thought I should fix the toilet first. So, I took off the toilet lid, located the valve, and reached in to remove it. It was a very confined space! After about ten seconds I figured I would probably be in trouble. I was right. I got the valve out, with some struggle, I flushed it with water, and made my discovery – there was the culprit – a 1/16” piece of sediment! I was proud of myself. But I’ve heard it said somewhere that pride comes before the fall. As I looked into the back of the toilet, I also discovered that in my struggle I broke another part that I couldn’t fix. Well, the $9.00 part went back to the hardware store and another plummer came to our house to rebuild the whole toilet – for a couple hundred bucks! But, you should know that my rewiring project was a success. The lights worked great and nothing blew up!
Having a vision is important. I had a vision for my home project. I even took time to discern what to do. I discovered the problem, too. But, in my hasty, reckless action, I only made things worse!
We’re doing some visioning here at Glendale, too, and as far as I can tell, it’s going a lot better than my home project went! We have spent some time prayerfully discerning God’s will. And now we are adding a Discovery phase to our congregational visioning. We’re “brainstorming” – sharing ideas for our future ministry here at Glendale. Today, we did that during Sunday School. There will be another “brainstorming” session this coming Wednesday after worship, and another next Sunday. Every member of the congregation will have the opportunity during the Discovery phase of our visioning process to share their ideas – either by attending one of the “brainstorming” sessions, talking directly to me or one of the elected leaders of the congregation, or sending your ideas by email.
Point
God has a plan for His people – that’s a common understanding. The prophet Jeremiah said: “For surely I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jer.29:11) That was God’s promise to the ancient Israelites when they were in exile in Babylon. And God kept His promise!
And during this season of Lent we remember that God’s plan for His people continued to unfold: “For us and for our salvation [Jesus] came down from heaven…he suffered death and was buried [and] on the third day he rose again [and] He will come again…”
And, God’s plan continues to unfold for us here at Glendale, too. Our job is to discern God’s plan through prayer, and our work is to share ideas and make decisions by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And then we will put the plan into action.
Problem
The story is told about a man who went to a bookstore. He asked the woman behind the counter where the self-help section was, and she said, “If I told you, that would defeat the whole purpose.” (Brian Kiley, The Big Book of New American Humor)
We need to remember that our visioning process is all about discerning and discovering God’s plans for us. It’s not a self-help project!
Martin Luther once said: “When you pray, rather let your heart be without words, than your words without heart.”
So, let’s continue to pray heartfelt prayers that we might be discern God’s plans. Let’s pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray before, during, and after we brainstorm our ideas, so that when our visioning process is done we can say: “It seems right to the Holy Spirit and to us, so this is what we will do.”
Power
We know that God has a plan: “For us and for our salvation,” God’s Son, Jesus, “came down from heaven…he suffered death and was buried [and] on the third day he rose again [and] He will come again…” God gifted His Church with the Holy Spirit, and told us to get busy sharing with the world the good news of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
But, we will never be a part of God’s plan unless we are part of that good news, and refuse to participate in the bad news of any false gospel that points away from the one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
In today’s OT lesson – Ezk.37 – we read that the prophet had a vision of a valley of dry bones, symbolic of the people of Israel. God asked the prophet: “Can these bones live?” And the prophet answered: “O Lord God, you know.”
We now ask of our own congregation: “Can Glendale live?” And only God knows.
The Lord breathed the breath of life into the dry bones and said: “I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves…And you shall know that I am the LORD...I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live…”
We thank and praise God for the gift of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, who gives life to the dead and breath to those who have none! That good news is, and can only be, and must always be, the solid foundation of our Glendale Evangelical Lutheran Church!
Conclusion
Discernment, Discovery, Decision – those are the three phases of our visioning process, and now is the time. And so, we continue to pray that we might discern God’s plans for us. And we brainstorm our ideas for our future ministry together. Get engaged! Get involved!
“For surely I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Amen.
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