September 3, 2006 Sermon

It All Comes Together
Genesis 45:1-13

Last week we dropped our daughter, Laura, off at her trade school in Ann Arbor. Two days later she called, irritated that she could not find South Quad, where a friend (also from this church) lives. She had no map but tried to find the building, logically enough, by walking along the south edge of campus. But using logic at a liberal arts university does not always work. Turns out South Quad sits along the western border of the campus. West Hall lies at the center and East Quad is the southernmost dorm at the school. The area called “The Hill” does not have a real hill. North Campus has a few hills, but you go east to find North Campus.

We need maps. Often we cannot see where we are going. One of the great tricks of the spiritual life is recognizing how to get where God wants us to go. We call this spiritual sight discernment. Discernment is one of the six primary activities this church promotes. Pray for discernment. Discern, and follow, your path.

Joseph discerned the future a little quicker, and better, than anybody else. God gave Joseph vision. His brothers may have sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God gave him the ability to discern the future through dreams. Joseph correctly stated that Pharaoh’s dreams predicted a famine. Pharaoh made him Second-In-Command. Joseph used his new power to prepare all Egypt for the horrors to come.

When Joseph’s brothers came to buy food to survive the famine he recognized them. They did not know him. Joseph saw (or discerned) better than others. He used his discernment to push his family along the path he had foreseen for them. But in Genesis 45 he finally broke down. He cried, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” He had forgiven his brothers, but he still loved his father most of all.

Joseph made a speech that showed he saw the big picture. “Do not blame yourselves,” he told those who faked his death and sold him to a caravan of slave traders. “It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save the lives of many.” Joseph saw God’s plan. The famine would last five more years. But Joseph saved his family by compelling them to live under his protection in Egypt. God had promised Joseph’s ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that they would father the Chosen People, the nation through whom God would bless all nations. Joseph played his part in God’s plan to keep that promise.

Now Joseph’s brothers can see how it all comes together. Now they can discern God’s plan, God’s map for the future. But when it comes to discerning God’s plans, we usually stay in the dark with the brothers. How can we catch up to Joseph? How can we see what God has in store: for us, for our loved ones, for the world?

We can discern God’s plan far more easily when we look back into the past than when we look forward into the future. The Northern Lakes Community Church belongs to the Presbyterian branch of the church family tree. Presbyterianism emerged in Scotland in the 16th century. It crossed over to Ireland when greedy landlords forced thousands of Scots off their farms. It crossed over to America when the potato famine and penal laws passed by a pig-headed British Parliament starved the Irish out of their homeland. (Can you tell I have no English blood in my veins?)

Before the Revolutionary War the American colonies received perhaps 250,000 refugees from Scotland and Ireland—most of them Presbyterian. They settled into the land then opening on this new continent: the Carolinas and the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Pennsylvania. Those areas still have strong Presbyterian populations. Well educated and encouraged by their churches to become politically involved, Presbyterians quickly took the leadership of our emerging nation. More Presbyterians signed the Declaration of Independence than men from any other denomination. The British called the Revolutionary War the “Presbyterian Rebellion.”

Our spiritual forebears built hospitals, schools, seminaries and missions to the poor everywhere. We led the U.S.A. for nearly two hundred years. We had the most Presidents, senators and Supreme Court justices. We gave the nation a string of fine small colleges. We gave more money to charitable causes than any other denomination, including the far more numerous Roman Catholics. But starting in the mid 1960’s something went terribly wrong.

In just forty years the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. has lost more than half its membership. Our national meetings have degenerated into arguments. We no longer send out many missionaries—neither overseas nor to the needy here at home. Our average age has climbed into the 60’s. We baptize a sad fraction of the numbers we brought into life with Christ within my lifetime.

What happened? We Presbyterians lost our way. We lost sight of the path God had envisioned for us. We failed to discern God’s will for our members, our congregations, and our denomination. It might be too late to for the Presbyterian Church to regain its vision.

But the Northern Lakes Community Church has not lost its vision. Our church exists to make disciples and send apostles. This is our mission statement. We’re here to bring people into a saving relationship with God in Christ—and to send them out to serve the world in the name of Jesus. In our bulletin we list six ways God has called us to accomplish this mission. Helping people discern the specific way God has called them to serve is one of those six.

It all comes together. God’s Word rightly states that without vision, the people perish. With God’s vision we can accomplish tremendous things. So how can you discern God’s plan for your life?

We discern God’s will through Bible study, prayer and conversation with our fellow Christians. Discernment requires that we read the Bible, pray and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ with a specific eye on God’s future for us. This may sound selfish. Nothing could be further from the truth. Discernment leads to ministry. Joseph’s discernment led to the saving of his family. Centuries later God would offer salvation to all humanity from one of the descendants of that family. What ministry does God call us to accomplish through discernment?

Can anyone here seriously claim they read their Bibles too much? Can anyone claim to pray too long and too often? Can anyone claim to spend too much time in Christian fellowship? Observe these basic disciplines of the Christian life and you will see God’s will for your life and ministry through new eyes.

About fifteen years ago a small group of Presbyterians began feeling led by God to start a new church. They prayed about it. They gathered together and talked it out. The more they tried to discern God’s will in the matter, the more firmly convinced they became that God had called them—nobody else, and at no other time—but them to plant a Presbyterian Church. Because they gained this vision we are here today.

Look at the ministry accomplished because of the discernment process those faithful Presbyterians followed. Our children come to know Christ. People across our nation get blessed by our mission trips. Christian friendships sustain us. The food pantry in Interlochen survives. The list goes on. This is where God has sent Northern Lakes Church. Where has God sent you? Discern—and follow—your path.