May 30, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

GLANCING BACK—PLOWING FORWARD
Joel 2:28-32
May 30, 2010

I’ve rediscovered something I enjoy doing since moving into our house here in Idaho two years ago. Since I was a little kid, I’ve enjoyed watching plants grow. I have vivid memories of planting flowers and watering them regularly when I was just a kid—and getting all excited when they grew and flourished! And now that our kids are raised and out of college and are all married, I feel more free than ever to browse the aisles of Home Depot or Lowes or local nurseries and pick up plants that I want to add to our front yard or back yard. And my wife never even fusses when I come home with more plants!

In the past couple of weeks, I dug out two undesirable trees which were in our yard when we bought the house and replaced them with trees that better fit the locations, and then this past week planted more than a dozen perennial plants I came across at local stores. I suppose if it’s a vice, it’s a relatively cheap vice—and one that pays off in beauty in the long haul!

Monday I spent four hours in the yard—planting and mulching and trimming some things. And now and then, in the midst of my efforts, it felt good to just stand up, try to straighten my back out (something that’s a little harder than it was a few years ago!), and just take a good look at what I’d accomplished! It felt good! And gave me encouragement to keep going!

I suppose the title of my sermon this Sunday almost presupposes a farmer’s perspective—Glancing Back—Plowing Forward. And I need to confess to you that I’ve never plowed a field once in my life! (Somehow, I’m guessing that doesn’t shock most of you!) But I do believe that in life there is merit in occasionally glancing back to see how we’re doing and what’s been accomplished and see if there are corrections that need to be made—but we do so only to help ourselves better anticipate what is ahead so that we can keep plowing forward. That’s always the goal!

That’s what I want us to do today. As you’ve heard, we’re going to conclude our service today by rededicating the old bell that hung in our old church at the corner of Pine and Main Streets (if you see Pine and First Streets on the plaque by the bell, understand that Main Street was originally called First Street). But before we do, I want to share with you a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament prophet Joel—chapter 2—and I’d like to apply those truths to us and to our church today. The truth is that this Old Testament passage had a special role in the birth of the Church in New Testament times—for Peter quoted extensively from this passage on the Day of Pentecost after the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the followers of Jesus. It was the text of Peter’s sermon that day. Listen now, as I read—
[Read Joel 2:28-32, NIV]

It was a marvelous time to which the Word of the Lord pointed through the prophet Joel in these words! The words were a message of hope for those who first heard it. God was speaking words of reassurance into the lives of some very frightened people in Jerusalem. Joel and his original audience probably heard the words as a message to Israel alone, but, as we look back upon the passage and how things unfolded, we can clearly see that the Lord’s message went far beyond those who first heard it.

From a New Testament perspective, Joel’s words pointed to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Early Church which we read about in Acts 2. And from a current perspective, we can reasonably say that we are still living today in the Era of the Holy Spirit. The promise is that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all people, that our sons and daughters will “prophesy,” that our old men will dream dreams and our young men will see visions. And while “the great and dreadful day of the Lord”—the day of judgment—is to be feared, the promise is clear: that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. There will be deliverance for all who turn to the Lord in submission—and those who are saved need have no fear of the Day of the Lord.

Let me clarify something. We miss the meaning of “prophesy” if we think of it primarily as a foretelling of the future. The prophets of old were as much involved in “forth-telling” the truths of God’s ways—telling it as it is, so to speak, and declaring the character of the Lord. They proclaimed His righteousness and justice, His grace and mercy, His love and compassion, and His special word to them in their situation—whether it be encouragement, comfort, challenge or judgment.

And the indication that people will prophesy, dream dreams and see visions is not an indication of unrelated phenomena as much as they all relate to the outflow of a very real and vitally close relationship with the Lord. It’s in the context of such a close relationship with the Lord that He communicates His Word and His understanding to individuals who then communicate it to others. On the human level, we might look at prophecy as an ability to speak to others out of a deep personal knowledge of God as well as a God-gifted insight into the lives of people.

And the goal has always been and will always be “changed lives”—lives that have been delivered and redeemed! And when we speak of signs and wonders, I wonder if there can be anything as remarkable and as wonderful as a life that has been redeemed?!—the one who has fallen put back on his/her feet; the addict set free; the wounded healed; and, most notable, the sinner forgiven and made new in Christ!

When you go back to the Hebrew word for “spirit,” we find that it means “wind” or “breath.” In a sense, God’s Spirit gives life to all people—He “breathes life” into us. The promise then from Joel is that God will breath new life into all who call upon the Lord for salvation—and that’s essentially the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I’ve said that I want us to glance back a bit this morning. Why? Why look back? Because when we glance back we see how the Lord has worked in marvelous ways in the past—both in our individual lives and even in His Church! Why glance back? Aren’t we just supposed to focus on the present? And isn’t the past out-of-date and irrelevant anyway?

One of the reasons we glance back to the past is because it’s clearly a biblical principle. Glancing back in time is woven into the fabric of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we have the special holidays—their annual feasts—which were to serve as reminders to them of God’s faithfulness in the past and the assurance of His power and grace to work in their lives in the present and in the future. It gave them hope and assurance. It’s in the New Testament that we have Jesus initiating for us the Lord’s Supper, by which we are to look back and be reminded of the price He paid for our salvation and the depths of His love and grace for us.

You see, we don’t live in a historical vacuum. It’s probably naïve, not to mention foolish, for us to ever think that we can ignore the past and just focus on the future. Sure, when God has forgiven our past or even when God has forgiven others who may have brought hurt into our lives, we aren’t to focus on the past—but it’s still true that glancing back can help us appreciate the powerful way God redeems lives and it can remind us of how much God loves each one of us.

Our personal stories of faith become important to us and to others. That’s what so many of us have enjoyed about our Sunday evening Prayer and Praise times—as we’ve heard how the Lord has worked powerfully in the lives of fellow Christians. It’s inspiring! It’s one of God’s blessings for us all—and it serves a tremendous purpose in our lives!

Every congregation—every church—has its story to tell, too. These stories are rich in the mercies and faithfulness of God—and they’re meant to be told in order to strengthen and encourage us in plowing forward into our future! It’s part of the unique fabric that makes us who we are—and it most certainly impacts how the Lord uses us now and in the future.

I’ve related stepping into the pastorate of an established church to marrying into a family that is rich in its own history and stories—and when you step into it, you’re absolutely clueless of that past. When I married into Cindy’s family, my curiosity prompted lots of questions about their family’s past. I knew that Cindy had had a brother who died at the age of 8 when she was just a baby, having spent his entire life in an almost vegetative state due to a cerebral hemorrhage as an infant. She learned more about her brother Gary in our first few years of marriage than she’d ever learned simply because I started asking questions—knowing that this heartache had surely impacted Cindy’s family in tremendous ways and thus impacted in secondary ways the life of the one whom I had married!

Coming to Valley Shepherd 2 ½ years ago, I’ve asked a fair amount of questions here and there about the past—because I want to know how the Lord has worked in this church in past and how He has shaped the faith of this particular body of believers! Knowing that we were going to rededicate the bell this morning, I asked more questions even this week to find out more about us. And what I’ve come to believe is that the old bell that we’re about to rededicate is a tremendous symbol of our mission as a church and of our role in this community!

Let me show you something. [Show old picture of Meridian.] Lila Hill, our local historian, who probably knows more about the history of Meridian than everyone else put together, told me that this is the oldest known picture of our town. There are just a few buildings in it—that’s it! If I’m recalling right, the picture was taken about 1897. Boy! Has this town come a long way since then! And do you see the church on the left side of the picture? [Go to slide of picture with arrow added.] That’s the first church built in Meridian—and what I want you to catch is that the old bell we’re rededicating this morning was hanging in that church belfry! Isn’t that cool?

That church was the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and when they merged with the northern Methodists in 1916, putting behind them the factions from the Civil War, the group of people who had recently started the Church of the Nazarene here in town bought that church building—along with that bell—from the Methodists and it became the Church of the Nazarene. Here’s what it looked like in 1916 when we bought it from the Methodists. [Show picture of old church.] By the way, we paid just $1200 for that building and property back then!—and they had paid just $16 for the lots they had bought in 1894 on which they built it! That building was torn down around 1954 and a new brick building put in its place—the older brick part of our former church facility that’s on the corner of Pine and Main Streets today. And the bell was reset in the belfry and was there until we came to this property.

The bell we’re rededicating this morning represents our connection with the very heart of this community! The founders of this community first put that bell into place—and it can be for us a rich symbol of commitment to our community. And, recognizing that it first hung in a Methodist Church, it represents the richness of our Wesleyan theological heritage—that so much of our theology as a church is founded on the teachings and practices of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.

This bell represents the many years that our congregation has been proclaiming the Gospel in Meridian! The bell was there from the beginning! It’s certainly one of our last links to our beginnings as a community! But think of the people whose lives have been transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ across the years—through the ministry of this congregation. We heard one of those stories from years past at Bernice Johnson’s funeral recently—as the minister who preached her funeral told how through Bernice’s persistent influence, his children, and then his wife, and then he came to know Christ through this church—and the Lord sent him out many years ago as a pastor (now in Colorado).

Let’s do something fun here for a moment. I want you to think through when you became part of Valley Shepherd Church and stand up when I speak of the years you became part of this congregation—and remain standing until I have you all sit down. We started in 1916. Do we have anyone who was part of the church prior to 1920? Who of you came into the church before 1945? Before 1970? By 1990? Let’s add now those who came to this church between 1990 and our move to this facility? Now those who have come in the last 2 ½ years since we started worshiping here? And what I want you to see are the lives that have been impacted by the Gospel across these years! God has been faithful in changing lives! He’s been faithful in helping children embrace faith in Christ! He’s been faithful in helping teenagers make their way through critical years! He’s been faithful in helping homes become places of grace and faith! Thank the Lord! You may be seated!

But now our task is to move forward, isn’t it? And the encouragement and strengthened faith we receive from glancing back helps us to do that! And we must plow forward—and we desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit in order to be effective in the mission He has entrusted to us!

Let me remind you of our simple mission statement:
PASSION FOR GOD
COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE
We are to give ourselves wholehearted to the Lord—to love Him and serve Him with wholehearted abandon! And out of that love, we are to give ourselves in service to others—seeing their needs and caring for them, striving in all we do to point them to the ultimate source of help in their lives—Jesus Christ.

And it takes us all! That’s part of the power in the word of the Lord through the prophet Joel. He declared,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days…
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Joel 2:28-29, 32)
The work of the Gospel is for us all—men and women, young and old—all regardless of our status in life. The Holy Spirit is poured out upon us all that we might all be part of God’s redemptive work in our world! The Lord wants us all to see ourselves smack dab in the middle of His planned future for His Church!—and He promises to equip us with His Holy Spirit for the otherwise overwhelming challenge!

And while we recognized those this morning who have sensed God’s call into ministry as a primary vocation, we need to acknowledge that anyone who is a follower of Christ has been called into ministry! The Bible doesn’t make a huge distinction between clergy and laypersons—and some of you may not even know what the terms mean. (Which might not be so bad!)

Every follower of Jesus Christ is called to be part of His redemptive work in this world—to represent Christ in our corner of the world, to bring hope to hopeless people, to share with others the reality that God’s ways are better than our ways, to proclaim the love of God for each person and to help them realize the grace and mercy of the Lord for them. Those who proclaim the Gospel best don’t have canned speeches to recite to others—rather, they know how to love people. They’ve learned how to listen, to care, and to empathize. And as we journey with the Lord, the Holy Spirit gives us insight about what to say, the right timing for when to say it, and boldness to be honest, personal and clear in helping people respond. All the while, we’ve got to be willing to “get our hands dirty” in responding to human needs around us—being willing to take a stand, to speak out boldly and fearlessly, and get involved—sharing our time, our money, and our energies to make a difference in people’s lives.

Glancing back, that’s what prompted people of this congregation to get involved in ministries like Upwards and the Meridian Foodbank—as well as our garden ministry and our backpack ministry which work hand-in-hand with the foodbank. That’s why we encourage our people to work with Love, INC here in Treasure Valley, and with Hands of Hope. It’s why we encourage mission trips. And it’s why we’re looking ahead to starting a ministry called Celebrate Recovery—a tremendous tool to help people find in Christ the help and strength to overcome all kinds of hurts and addictions. And it’s how we make a difference in the lives of people!

Just this week I had a couple of conversations which reminded me of what the church is really all about and how we can make a difference in people’s lives. One came from a guy on our church softball team—and how the Lord had put before him an unexpected opportunity to impact one a family member who has seemed to be so far from Christ. Another came from one of our dear ladies who asked me to pray for a young neighbor of theirs going through great hardships. She shared how she and her husband have been praying for this young man’s salvation and the salvation of his live-in girlfriend—and just trying to reach out to them in love every way they could. And it was clear to me that they saw that the Lord had put this young couple next door to them for a purpose! That’s how we make a difference in the lives of people!

I’ll never forget the story of a pastor friend of mine who was about to begin a new pastorate. They had a wayward son who had created great heartache for them. The son had determined that even though he had moved out on his own, that he wanted to move with his parents. The pastor hesitantly and with embarrassment explained the situation to his new church board, and that church board responded, “Pastor, you let your son come, and you let us love him into the Kingdom.” And that’s exactly what happened too!

It’s how we make a difference in people’s lives! And it’s what we’ve all been called to do. It’s what the mission of Christ’s Church has always been—to love others into Christ’s Kingdom. The old bell we’re about to rededicate is a great reminder of God’s faithfulness across many years to reach out redemptively in this community to draw people to Himself. It’s still what He wants to accomplish! And you and I can be part of that great mission—and God wants to pour out His Holy Spirit today upon men and women, upon young and old, in order that we might together be effective in helping others understand their great need for what the Lord alone can do for them. Just as the Lord has delivered us from our sins, He wants to deliver others—“and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”!