printer-friendly email a friend

God is in charge

enlarge>> Dr. Rev. Lawrence Lundgren

Written: 6/5/2010

‘Going out, Not Knowing’ focus of opening worship message

Moving forward knowing God is in charge was the focus of the Rev. Dr. Larry Lundgren’s message during the opening worship of the last session of the Western New York Annual Conference Saturday morning, June 5, 2010.

Rev. Lundgren shared inspiring encouragement as he lifted up answering a call to go where we do not know the people.

He looked at the human reaction of fear, noting Numbers 13, 27, 31  “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey… But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large.  We can’t attack those people, they are stronger than we are,” and the fact that Joshua was intimately familiar with the paralysis that brought to Israel.

“It killed the dream of freedom preventing an entire generation from claiming God’s promise,” Rev. Lundgren said.  “It kept them from acting at all, preventing growth and change.  Fear killed the possibility of a hopeful future and froze them in a doubt-filled present.

Joshua knew what Israel learned too late: fear kills, but trust in God makes alive!

He shared the call to Abraham who when called to go… obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going, Hebrews 11:8.

Dr. Lundgren shared the sign which youth hung in a High School Sunday School class after studying Abraham’s call.  It reads: “The sign of God is that you will be led where you did not plan to go.”

He also noted a song by Bob Dylan, “Gotta Serve Somebody” to demonstrate how everyone, regardless of status or position, will find himself or herself serving.   “It might be the devil or it might  be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

“Faced with that challenge Israel made a decis ion,” Rev. Lundgren noted.”  “The end of the book of Joshua says, ‘Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel’ Joshua 24:31

“Yes, they overcame their fears.  But then, in the next chapter of Israel’s history, the period of the judges, we read: ‘After those people had died, their children grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel.’ Judges 2:10.

“Why? How?”  Rev. Lundgren asked.  “Did their fears of the challenges defeat them?”

He shared that after the affirmation, on October 6, 2007, of the resolution to seek formation of a new Conference and Episcopal Area, Bishop Fisher asked him “How is it with you?”

“Unlike my usual response which would have been about what I thought, I told her what I felt.  ‘I am humbled.  The decision of today is not what I expected.  It was not what I voted for.  But it is an expression of the will of God.  I am humbled to acknowledge that what I thought was a carefully discerned understanding of the will of God was wrong.  I can only now move forward supporting this decision of Holy Conferencing.’  I was forced back to my understanding of what make us Wesleyan: Holy Conferencing and connectionalism!”

Rev. Lundgren noted that a young person he is close to does not see the need of the church, asserting an ability to read the Bible and pray just as well at home as church and a wariness about the people in the church nearby.

“Our heritage asserts that faith cannot be lived in solitary.  It must be lived in community,” Rev. Lundgren said.

“In the next fourteen days we find ourselves on the edge of the Promised Land.  Like Abraham we are, called to go to a place we will later receive as our inheritance. We are called to go even though we do not know where we are going… We are called to focus on the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

When Bishop Matthews and later the District Superintendent called and said, “We would like you to consider an appointment to Baldwinsville United Methodist Church,” Rev. Lundgren noted that his internal response was: “Baldwinsville, is land flowing with milk and honey.  But the people there, I do not know them…

“I have no clear picture what this new Annual Conference will look like.   We see only the basis of a structure before us.   But we know that the architect and builder is God.  How do we know this?  It comes form our covenant  We know that when we gather together in Holy Conferencing, God is in our midst.”

Referring to a recent workshop at Henrietta; Faith UMC where Leonard Sweet disparged the strong emphasis in current church growth literature on leadership development, Rev. Lundgren noted that Sweet’s contention was that the church does not need more leaders.  We need more followers.  Jesus told people to Follow me.

Applause erupted as Rev. Lundgren reminded those gathered that Jesus did not call us to lead Him.

He went on to share a story about one deeply religious woman, who responded to a frustrated question from her daughter as to why she was religious.  He noted that the woman sad “Every morning before you are awake, I rise and walk into the living room.  I lift my arms and ask, “Who’s in charge here?”  The answer always come back: ‘Not you!’  That’s why I am religious.  Because I’m not in charge.”

“The journey of faith begins with the realization that we are not in charge, and from there we can proceed to align ourselves to the One who is in charge.  Jesus is declaring to the disciples, Go into the world knowing who is in charge and what it will mean to act upon that knowledge!

Jesus is clear, however, that to act on that knowledge is not always easy.

The Lord declares I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you; hope and a future.  If you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me if you seek me with all your heart Jeremiah 29:11-13.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Comments

1. David Meade wrote on 6/6/2010 7:57:21 AM

I am grateful for the example of "follower-ship" of Dr. Lundgren and others, and pray that hope will triumph over fear in the days to come.