Two weeks ago I had the great pleasure of preaching at a service at Custer Road UMC, my home church. This service marked the beginning of youth week for the the student ministries as well as marking and honoring the ministry of Rev. John Baldwin, who is beginning ministry in a new field these days, after 20 years of youth ministry at Custer Road. It was a rare privilege to preach this service! My good friend and colleague, Rev. Dana Coker, presided at the table. Dana and I grew up together at CRUMC and have since both entered into ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. What a night! Thank you to Rev. Mike Baughman for putting it all together!
And They Went
Genesis 12:1-4
Begin w/Drum Groove (Joe, then Sarah and Matt Hammer)
“I want you to go back in time with me….to a time before this magnificent organ was here in this place, to a time before the swine flu, to a time before Jon and Kate had eight, to a time before the proliferation of the cell phone, before facebook, twitter, or even email, there was a man, a tool…of God, an instrument of the Lord’s, a servant of God. That man’s name is Baldwin, John Baldwin. But we’ll get to him later. Come back with me, farther in time, to a time before trains, planes, and automobiles, to a time before printing presses, before personal hygiene, before the Romans….their was a man, a tool of God, an instrument of the Lord’s, a servant of God and his name was Abram.”
Hear now the key story to the book of Genesis, the key piece to the first five books of the Bible, and one of the most important stories for us today as followers of Christ.
Read Genesis 12:1-4
The Word of God, for the people of God…thanks be to God.
You know this is a pretty popular verse in preaching circles! Often, however preachers stop preaching on this text after verse three, the blessing part.
But I don’t know about you, I find the fourth verse to be incredibly intriguing…
So Abram went as the Lord had told him. Abram heard from God and he went.
You know, if we listen, I think we hear from God all the time but after we calculate the costs of following, of going where we are called, as God tells us, we often, decide its much too costly, much to dangerous and we stay right where we are.
But Abram, however, gave up his security, and he went.
Consider this:
God called Abram, promised him, blessed him, saying that Abram and his descendants would bless all creation. It is important to understand what blessing means in this context, for here the word has cosmic implications. It means well-being in all aspects of life. The common good, if you will. All of the families of earth will have what they need to live, not just survive but thrive. It means that all will be blessed by the descendants of Abram.
God is promising Abram that his descendants would bless all of God’s people throughout time. It’s a big promise and a promise that Abram had to know would never see fulfilled in his lifetime…
And so Abram had a choice to make: follow God, go into the unknown, and claim God’s promises, or, he could stay where he was and stick with what he knew.
Knowing that he had a choice in the matter, Abram still chose to give up nearly everything to go and to follow God! He gave up his economic security (which is a word for us to consider in our present circumstance), his religious security (which we who worship in this beautiful place tonight without fear for our lives would do well to consider), and his social network, his social security and he went.
Abram faced this incredible dilemma when God spoke to him, as John Wesley put it, “could Abram trust God farther than he could see him?”
Could Abram have faith, could he act his faith, so that he could be a blessing to all of the peoples of God? Did Abram trust God enough to put his story into God’s story, even though he knew that he would never see the fulfillment of God’s promises of blessing to the world in his lifetime?
Could Abram do it? God had to wonder. Could he give up so much to follow? We know the answer is yes, and Abram went as the Lord told him.
What an incredible example for us of what it looks to be people of faith.
To be a tool of God, to be a servant, an instrument of God, we have to be a little bit like Abram. To be a tool of God, you have to be willing to trust more than what you can see. But, that trust is not a passive thing; rather, it is an active thing, a living thing, a vibrant way of life. You also have to work, you have to claim God’s promises by living into them and out of them, and you have to live in a way that embodies the values of the Kingdom of God as set forth by Jesus!
(pause)
To be a tool in God’s hands is to become part of something greater than ourselves. If we offer ourselves to God, we become a part of something grander than our youth group, something greater than our schools, something richer and more profound than our businesses or even our country.
For to become a willing tool of God we become agents of God’s Kingdom on earth!
And becoming an agent of God is highest calling. It requires faith, trust, community and hope, for we will not, we cannot see the end result, the final fulfillment of God’s dream in our lifetime.
But be assured…as tools of God, as tools the size of mustard seeds in the hands of God we will see the signs of Yahweh’s reign in our lives. For when we are about God’s work, when we put our story into God’s story by aligning our priorities with God’s priorities, we will see God’s Kingdom come in our lives and the world around us.
Abram was called; God blessed him, so that he would be a blessing! And, he went! And by going, he, and Lot, and Sari and the rest established a pattern for God’s people: We are called and loved by God, blessed by God and sent out by God into the world to bless others! That is part, for us, of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
They went and others followed.
Remember Moses, the one who had difficulty speaking. The one who, with God’s help, challenged and beat the most powerful man and empire in his time. And he went!
Remember David, just a small boy, who, with God’s help liberated his people from a fierce oppressor! And he went!
Remember Jesus himself, who though fully God was also fully human. He chose to speak words of love and liberation, even as he was being executed. And he went!
Remember Stephen, who acted and spoke in the love of God, even though it became the death of him. And he went!
Remember Francis of Assisi, who gave up his life of privilege to rebuild God’s church. And he went!
Remember Margaret Fell, who, while in prison in 1667 wrote Women’s Speaking Justified, citing the Bible in defense of the then crazy idea that women might have something to say of value in church. And she went!
Remember John Wesley, who though he greatly preferred the comfort of preaching in the sanctuary, chose to preach in the coalmines, thus ignited an explosion of faith in the British Isles that led to the creation of the church you worship in today! And he went!
Remember Martin Luther King, Jr., who though only 26 years old, at the urging of his colleagues decided to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Despite frequent threats and attempts against his life and the life of his family he proclaimed liberation, struggled for peace and justice. And he went!
Remember Mother Teresa, who, after her death, we learned that she had profound doubts about the very existence of God, but in spite of her doubts she chose to serve the poorest of the poor in India and thus blessed not only the poor but blessed the world by inspiring it. And she went!
Remember Shane Claiborne, our modern-day Mother Teresa, who by the way he leads his life inspires many of us to further radical love and action in the world in the name of Jesus. And he went!
And this brings us to another one of God’s faithful and precious servants, a tool of God, an instrument of the Lord. Remember our brother John Baldwin, who followed God’s call to this place, where he has been in ministry to thousands of God’s children for twenty years.
God called John to a pilgrimage life of blessing others, and John went.
We all have our own stories and memories of how John has blessed each one of us.
My initial memory of being blessed by John comes from 1990. It was the fall of my seventh grade year and the time had come for the fall retreat. Now, one of my main challenges in life, as Tim Morrison has confirmed for me on numerous occasions, is that I think too much. I had managed the week before the retreat to convince myself that there were many compelling reasons why I shouldn’t go on this retreat: I wouldn’t know very many people, I would be lonely, there was important school work to be done, I needed to practice, etc.
I had worked myself up to the point where I declared on Friday afternoon to my family that I wouldn’t be joining the other youth on Friday night. I kind of got emotional about it! I’m not saying there was a flood of tears but certainly there was moistures involved!
My mother, in her infinite grace and loving wisdom, headed up to church as people were gathering and she told John that I had decided not to come.
I will never forget the power of what happened next. I was home, feeling pretty sorry for myself and the phone rang. I picked up the phone, trying to hold back the tears from affecting my voice and said, “hello?” The voice on the other end of the phone was John’s and he said that he heard I had decided not to come to the retreat that weekend and that he was sorry to hear that because he was looking forward to getting to know me. He also said that there was still room and still time and if I changed my mind I was welcome to come. He treated me like a full person, and not a child.
Friends, to this day, I remain thankful for that phone call, and thankful that God urged me to say yes and I went.
And the retreat was AMAZING! I met lots of new friends, had a wonderful time, we went to the old Texas Stadium, I fell off the top bunk of a bunk-bed, and, I can say this because she’s not here, I even kissed a girl for the first time! (Which was reason enough to go!) It was awesome! And the retreat was good too.
God was so active through John that night! Had the Spirit not prompted John, had John not said yes to the Spirit, had he not picked up the phone and called me, I don’t know that I would be standing up here, 19 years later as an ordained in full-connection United Methodist Minister, preaching!
God called John, God blessed John so that John could be a blessing to others. And, as we all know, he is.
And God has called John to a new ministry, and because John is a man of faith, a man who trusts God’s promises, he has responded to God’s new call in his life.
So it should be for us. God is calling to each and every one of us, out of love. God is blessing each and every one of us so that we will bless every family on earth. God is calling us to love the common good! May we be inspired by John’s willingness to go where God calls him!
For those of you who are former students of John’s here by yourselves, or with your spouse or even your children, for their parents and the staff of this magnificent church, and for John’s colleagues who are here tonight, be inspired by John’s example and may the fire of faith and action that live in your hearts, may it be rekindled and renewed and strengthened by the example of the saints who have gone before us and by the very breath of the Holy Spirit!
For the students who are attending youth week, wow, this is an important week for you! As I look out over this congregation, I see friends who I made on youth week, and on tours, and retreats, who still encourage me and love me today. Undoubtedly, many of you will make friendships this week that will be with you for the rest of your lives.
But just as importantly (begin to move) perhaps more importantly, you will see God at work this week, if you choose to look for it. May you be open to hearing God’s call in your life. Make no mistake; God is calling you to a life of faith, of love, of action, of blessing for all of God’s creation. May you catch glimpses of God’s work in your life and in the lives of those around you this week. And may you have the courage to go, to put yourselves in the line of endless splendor, to claim who God has made you to be: a blessing to all of God’s creation.
In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
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