Northside Church - Sydney
Dear God, If Only – Week 1: …my VISION was bigger
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well I was determined not even the heat and it was a hot day, babe was with me and she will testify. I can only think of two other days in my entire life that were hotter than this day. Not the oppressive humidity, we were ringing wet from the very extreme humidity, none of this was going to detract me or deter me from enjoying this moment which I look forward to for pretty much all my life. We're in Washington DC and I was standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at a spot that I guess was somewhere around where Dr Martin Luther King had made that momentous history-changing "I have a dream" speech and I look down along the huge sort of water area there. I'm sure many of you have also seen, toward the Washington Monument, I try to imagine the quarter of a million people estimated who were there that day on the 28th of August 1963 to hear this 17-minute speech that would redefine American history, that would impact the civil rights movement as nothing else had prior to that. And you know, they did a poll a number of years ago among professional communicators in America and among those who lecture in the field of communication. And Dr Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech came in as the number one speech in America of the 20th century. And certainly in my humble opinion as a communicator in my years on this earth, I have not seen a better example of vision casting ever. I can remember in 1963, as a little boy, barely out of my mother's arms, sorry, sorry. As a mid-teenager, thanks for that, appreciate that, I can recall seeing TV images of their dead speech, a bit jumpy, black and white, you know, and I remember as a young boy, as a young mid-teenager, let's get it right, I can remember being just amazed even at that stage of my development to think that so many people could be influenced by one man's vision. And this was years before ever imagining that God would call me into a vocation where in my own small way I would have the opportunity to vision cast in front of people as part of my role as a pastor over many years of ministry. This is long before I ever dreamed that that would be my privilege. So what about the power of a vision? The awesome power of a vision to stimulate, to inspire, to shape people's thinking to, in this case, change the course of history, the power of a vision. We expect it in CEOs, that's the big emphasis today, oh we did men and women of vision to lead these great companies of ours. We expect it, although rarely find it in our politicians. We expect it in coaches, in mentors, in fact anybody who's in a leadership role and friends, I think that's one of the problems with the word vision. As I think about this, I think over the years many of us have come to associate the word vision exclusively with leadership, whereas there's a strong need for each and every one of us individually to establish, to develop a God-inspired vision of what's possible in us and through us if we entrust our lives into his hands. The pages of the Bible, in fact the pages of history, are filled with ordinary men and women, humble men and women, who captured a vision of what was possible and they chose to respond to God's invitation to follow, and one of the classic examples is the guy we just read about, Nehemiah. Amazing story. Many of the people in the Bible and in history went on to become great leaders, yes, but many also, although limited in their sphere of influence, nevertheless they discovered in a strong and a very powerful way their reason for existence. That's a big part of vision, a reason for existence. They discovered why they've been placed in certain situations, why they've been given certain gifts and abilities, and it raises the obvious question for you and for me, do you have a vision for your life? Do you have a vision for your life? Are you actively seeking God's leaning and guidance in the formulation of a plan that will see your gifts utilised to the max, that will see your life count for something, that will see you stand before Jesus and hear from the master a heartfelt, well done, good and faithful servant. You in your own way with your gifts, you have made a difference, well done. You know friends, these questions transcend age, they transcend vocation, they transcend social standing in life, these questions speak to our sense of spiritual awareness, they really do. They relate to what we might call our life sight, how's your life sight this morning? In other words, our ability to see beyond what appears to be, our ability to see beyond the obvious, to see deeper, to see into the things of the spirit, you know, I love that passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 where Paul says, "We fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen." What can be seen last only for a time? Some versions say just for a moment, but what cannot be seen last forever? We're talking eternity here. And so when I talk about developing a vision, or if we believe we already have a vision, and I know many of you do, then we talk about expanding that vision, stretching that vision, making it even bigger, when we talk about these things, we're talking about our overall effect in the says disciples. We're talking about our spirituality at the deepest level, really are. You see, when we allow God to expand our vision and open our spiritual eyes, a number of things, a number of significant things happen, and that have, they have the potential to change our lives and to enhance our effectiveness as people, as disciples of Jesus. Most of all, the mundane begins to matter. Given that the mundane, the menial, the routine make up a lot of what you and I experience in life, you'd agree with that, but most of life, unless you're in some really exciting job, much of life is made up of the mundane and the menial, then it's vitally important that we do these tasks with a sense of purpose and a sense of intentionality. Having a vision of where we're heading and why we're heading in a certain direction, these are key factors in making sure that that process of enjoying the menial really is there. It was whilst in theological college, in fact very early in theological college, that I found out there are a lot of mundane aspects to ministry. I don't know where I got the idea from, maybe going to too many Billy Graham Crusades or something. I thought it was all about, "I'm the platform with the microphone and the lights," and that was going to be my right to see, "Well, that's a tiny little part of ministry," and I found that out very early in the piece. Ministry involves setting up meeting areas. Sometimes it means being the first to arrive and the last to leave means filling in forms and taking routine phone calls and cleaning up mess sometimes. But when the overall vision is to lead a great church and that's always been my all-consuming passion from day one, then these menial tasks are generally handled with relative ease and composure because you see them as contributing to the goal that God has placed in your heart. And you realize that even the simplest, most menial tasks can make a difference if it's going to help that program work, make that aspect of the ministry look better or whatever. Second Jesus might have got a bit bored in the carpenter shop sweeping out the shavings week after week, day after day setting the tools out for his dad, the chief carpenter to do his work, I mean year after year, knowing what was ahead of him, he would have had the spiritual eyes to see the crowds, to see the healings, to see the enormous transformational impact he would have on the then-known world, and what he's doing is sweeping shavings. Year after year after year, but my image of Jesus Christ is he would have done that with great joy because he knew that was part of the plan, getting to know people, getting to appreciate the value of work, getting to understand relationships and how life works. That was all part of the plan of his messiahship. One of the reasons why people become bored and disenchanted with life is they have no vision for the future and under those circumstances the predictable routine aspects of life are seen as a drudgery rather than as a delight. Here's something else that happens when we allow God to give us a vision, expand our vision, open our spiritual eyes, procrastination is turned into motivation. You see, if I'm unsure as to where I'm meant to be heading, I'm going to put off crucial decisions, I'm going to avoid potential opportunities, I'm possibly going to be resistant to change, I'm going to push back a little bit, I'm going to become maybe set in my ways, whereas if I have a vision as to where I'm headed, even if it's still being formed, I'm going to be very aware of every opportunity around me that may propel me toward my goal, I'm going to be less inclined to put things off, I'm going to be unlikely to be resistant to change, I'm going to be motivated to pursue activities, studies, relationships, whatever that are going to help me achieve my goal, is that not true? We touched on Nehemiah and the reading and many of us are familiar with this amazing story, I love Nehemiah, it's a story of vision, it's a story of urgency, it's a story of motivation, high motivation, it's where they actually boast about the speed with which they complete the project, 52 days, they're in the Bible, how about that, we did it in record time, you just don't get the sense that Nehemiah is a sort of a demotivated kind of guy, I don't think he would have had too many days to head back, what's on today Nehemiah, I don't know, just to see what's on telly, we've got plenty of time, you just don't get that impression with this guy, he's full on, having a God-given vision will do that for you, he gets you very passionate about life, gets you really stirred up, gets you on fire, something else happens when we allow God to give us a vision and open our spiritual eyes, preoccupation with me switches to a focus on we, you know friends I was thinking about this you know I can't think of one significant vision that God has given me over the years either in relation to the church or my family or my marriage or my personal life, my life as a disciple, I can't think of one significant vision God has given to me and he's given me many that hasn't involved other people in one way or another, now that's one, one of the many relational benefits of pursuing a dream, of attempting to fulfill a vision, we have to reach out, we invariably have to involve others, we have to trust, what's the old saying here, mountain climbers help each other, in the reading from Nehemiah chapter two, I love the fact that Nehemiah initially chose some close companions, did you get that point, as James was reading, he chose some close companions and he took them with him to survey the ruins, hadn't told anybody yet about what was, what God had told him, he just said look guys, I want to show you something, I want to show you a need, I want to show you a situation where I think we can make a difference and the Bible says he took them out and he showed them the walls as inner group of confidants and only as they got the message and only as they saw the situation and that's always good for motivation, that people really see the need, only as they saw it, then he unfolded the vision and said guess what, we're going to rebuild this, we're going to rebuild, I see all this rubble, we are going to rebuild this in record time and it's going to be to the glory of God and no longer are we going to be a city in ruins, there's not fortify, we're not going to anymore be a shameful city in the region, we're going to rebuild these walls, very quickly in the story of Nehemiah it goes from me to we and all God inspiring visions do, they make that, they make that trip very very quickly as we start to explore the possibilities that God puts before us, two more things very briefly, here's the first one, help becomes hallelujah, help becomes hallelujah, it's another way of saying, it's another way of saying we start to see possibilities rather than problems, I'm certainly not suggesting we never ask the Lord for help, not at all, but I'm strongly suggesting that people of vision are more inclined to identify and give thanks for what God is doing rather than complain about what he's not doing, that's a big difference. People with vision are more inclined to thank and praise God for what he is doing rather than constantly complaining and help, what do you do in Lord, we need you here and you understand what I'm saying, that's a different mindset, here's one final point, when we allow God to expand our vision and open our spiritual eyes, our weakness becomes his workshop, our weakness becomes his workshop and this highlights a faith principle we can trace back to the early Old Testament times, people like Abraham and Moses and all those great giants of the faith, here it is, if the vision is big enough, if it's going to challenge us, stretch us, increase our reliance on God, if it's going to need God to show up for it to have any chance of being realized, that's when he does some of his best work in us, that's when God can really do some powerful work in you and me, that's when he takes our humility, our submissiveness, our acknowledgement of our inadequacy and by the power of his spirit he takes us to unprecedented levels of achievement and effectiveness, I'm sure there are many of you here this morning who, like me, are very thankful to God for the magnitude of some of the visions he's given to you over the years, because although they've appeared very daunting at the time, we're here today operating as we are because we in his strength rose to the challenge of those visions, I'm so glad God sets the bar high for people who want to get into the deep water with him, because although it's pretty overwhelming at the time, those of you who know my story, you know, like I was kind of part of my reason for coming to Sydney, I was kind of running away from a building project, hello, you know, God's got a great sense of humour, I knew the next step in my last church was a massive building program because we were just, I thought I'd just, you know, I've been there for a long time and I'll just lead that to my successor, well God had other ideas, he said, no Graham is part of your leadership development, you are going to endure and enjoy a building program, and we have and we, on both counts, endured and enjoyed, I'm so glad for the visions that God has given, because although daunting we're here who we are, you're who you are, I'm who I am because we've risen to those challenges. In that sense we've grown and developed as people where it's like Paul says, you know, his strength has been made perfect in my weakness, God can do a lot when we recognise our inadequacies, it becomes his workshop, does his best work there, so today, second Sunday, into the new year, and I believe I'm among the most pertinent and relevant questions we can ask ourselves, ah, what is my vision, what is my vision, where do I see my life, my marriage, my family, my career in one, two, three years, where do I see my walk with God, which encompasses all of these things, and the follow on question which takes a lot of faith, it takes a lot of courage, is this one, what is needed now to start building a bridge between my present reality and my preferred future, what is needed now, maybe even today, what is needed to start building a bridge between my present reality and my preferred future, earnestly, prayerfully, in discussion with the significant people in my life, what decisions do I need to make so that the mundane starts to matter, procrastination becomes motivation, me, me switches to we, help becomes hallelujah, and our weakness becomes his workshop. How important is the creation of a God-inspired vision for individuals and for a church? How important? Well, Andy Stanley has written a book entitled Vision Earing, he's come up with this original word, Vision Earing, and that's the title of his book, and he says this, a vision gives us a reason to get up in the morning. If we don't show up, something important won't be accomplished. The vision will not be realized without our participation, our submission, our sacrifice and execution. He goes on, under these circumstances, what could be, what should be, won't happen, won't happen. Friends, God's word to me today and to our church, and I think to you, to all of us, is let's get a vision of what could be, of what should be, for us, for this church, for his kingdom in 2012 and beyond. Let's try to get them fresh, are we? [BLANK_AUDIO]