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May 25, 2008

Know Your Needs

May 25, 2008 Know Your Needs
Isaiah 49:8-16a,
Matthew 7:1-3, 7-11

This morning I’d like us to think about the following:
God, our loving, creator, provides for all our needs. Do we know how to tell the difference between wants and needs? Are we willing to ask for what we need even if we aren’t quite sure what it is? Are we able to gratefully acknowledge God as the source of everything?

We begin with the Isaiah passage. Chapter 49 describes a beautiful dialogue between the servant of God and the people of God. In the section that we did not read, the servant describes his call, gives his credentials, if you will (from the NIV): “Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name…the Lord says…It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

For the Israelites, the servant was any number of prophets or people who were used for God’s redeeming work. Moses was seen as a servant of the God. Cyrus the Persian King was also seen as a servant of God for he allowed the exiled Israelites to return home to Judea. As Christians, we often refer to Jesus as the light to the world. This passage is one we reference when referring to Jesus in this way.

Some people would have us believe that Jesus was the last word from God. But the Isaiah passage reminds us that God can and does call many persons to be his servant. When God formed us in the womb, is it not logical that God’s desire was that we would be a devoted son or daughter? The servant says as much when speaking about his experience of God. And when the people insist, “The Lord has forsaken us, the Lord has forgotten us,” the servant uses a parental metaphor. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

Hear God saying, “Child, even if you have experienced a human parent who abandoned, wounded, or neglected you. If your parents have not forgiven you or loved you unconditionally, do not let that color your relationship with me. Be assured and confident in my loving presence. Even if it seems as if I am not with you, I am. As your heavenly parent, I will never leave you to face the world alone or unprepared.”

We need to be careful and not move off this too quickly. We can underestimate the power of these words and need to remember that not everyone is living in that reality right now. It is one thing to say, God will never leave me to face the world alone or unprepared. It is another to live as though we believe it. Notice that I said, live as if we believe it. For it is in the living as if, that we will come to believe. How many of us in this room have questioned God’s faithful presence? Something happens and we wonder, “Where is God in this?” or “Why is God letting this happen?”
In our desire to find answers to unexplainable situations, many of us turn to persons involved to see if their behavior brought this on. It’s what is often referred to as a “rush to judgment.” It’s not always malicious, but it’s not healthy either. “If only she hadn’t done that…” “It serves him right after what he did…” While we might find ourselves judging others, I believe more often we judge ourselves—harshly. “If I was a better person…” “I don’t deserve…” Corey read from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians—the early church in the city of Corinth. And Paul’s writings align with Jesus’ teachings. Do not judge—not ourselves or others. Don’t spend your time focusing on others or judging them. It is God alone who has the right to judge, and God withholds judgment until His appointed hour.

Our role is not as judge. Listen to Eugene Peterson’s version of Paul’s words. “Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his master. We are guides…not security guards. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me…where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless.”

It is no coincidence that before the judgment verses, Paul classifies himself as guide and servant of Christ—not judge. I believe this highlights our human inability to see ourselves and others clearly. What we need on our faith journey then is an objective, loving guide (friend) to help us assess our situation, ourselves. Not someone to judge or tell us what we should do.

One example from my life stands out clearly for me. The car I was driving had outlived its usefulness. I purchased it from my God mother for $800 a few years earlier. It was a big old silver-gray Chevy Impala, with red velour seats. The car had a leaky roof. When it rained, the front seat got soaked. Because the seat was that crushed velvet looking velour, it soaked up the water like a sponge. I’d have to take three/four bath towels and fold them over the back and bottom of the seat to keep me from getting wet. In addition, the car was having mechanical difficulties and was rusting out underneath. It started to become an embarrassment as I’d drive around hoping that no one would see me.

The man I was dating kept encouraging me to buy a better car. “I can’t afford one” was my refrain. Why the hesitancy to buy a new car? Three years before this discussion about a new car, I had left my first husband. I was broke, didn’t even have a car. I lived near the el in a studio apartment with electric heat. I was working as a file clerk making $5.50 an hour. Friends gave me rides if I’d ask. I had a metal folding cart with wheels that I took to the local grocery store a few blocks from my apartment.

Over the next three years, I had been promoted to Office Manager at my job. My responsibilities grew. My hours of work expanded, and I was financially rewarded for my work. I had been given two significant raises in two successive years but I still saw myself as financially strapped. I couldn’t get my mind around the fact that I could afford a better car, hence the refrain, “I can’t afford one.” That explains the physical reality of my situation after leaving my first husband, let me share with you the emotion reality.
It was like starting over. I was learning to rely on myself, not rely on a man to take care of me. And I was learning how to take good care of myself. This was all new for me. And it was hard. But I while I was learning to depend on and take care of myself, I was also learning that I did not have to be alone. I was developing relationships with healthy, good people of faith, and my relationship with God was growing too.

What happened to me, I believe happens to many of us. Even if we grow and change, we don’t see it in ourselves. We judge ourselves by our past mistakes instead of seeing the new behaviors we have developed. Maybe we still see ourselves as the child we were or the sick individual we were instead of the adult that we have grown into.

What happened was that my friend helped me to take an honest evaluation of my life. He helped me in two areas. First, financially I could afford a better car. We sat down and figured out my income, expenses, and how much extra income I had to put toward a car.

The Saturn dealership had recently opened, and I ended up purchasing the smallest model, with minimum extras, brand new. I can’t tell you what a thrill it was for me when I drove that car off the lot.

The second thing my friend helped me to see is that I was not that same person I was three years before. I had grown and changed. It was ok to leave behind this old car and move on. With God’s guidance and help, I was able to provide for myself. I could celebrate how I had changed. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still work to do. As John Wesley taught us, we are constantly moving on toward perfection. However, some of us don’t give ourselves permission to celebrate and say good job often enough. We need to get comfortable enough to celebrate and reward ourselves without worrying about going overboard.

It is so important to take time to evaluate the person we are today. What has influenced our life? Are those influences the ones we want to continue to influence us or do we want something else to guide us?

Whose voice do we hear in our head as we make decisions, as we look at the world? Is it the voice of a distracted mother, a critical father, a confused teenager who is not sure what she’s doing, a strong, steady grandparent, an inner child who throw tantrums because she’s afraid, a bible thumping evangelist who thinks “I should”, a loving Savior? Those are just some of the voices that run around in my head. Who inhabits yours?

Brothers and sisters, to honestly evaluate ourselves is very important. To look back at where we started, to take an honest appraisal of how we got to where we are, to be open to help from a loving, friend is very important. When we have taken an honest evaluation of our situation, and don’t let ego or fear blind us or rule us, then, then, we can achieve the balance necessary to sustain a God-centered life.

When we come to God from a place of balance, then we are able to seek, ask, and knock in the manner that Jesus speaks about in Matthew chapter 7. “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.”

In the Old Testament and Jewish tradition, seeking is another word for prayer, with God’s will as the objective. Think of knocking, as referring to knocking on the door of mercy. This was also a Jewish expression for prayer. So what we discover is that Jesus encourages us to pray, not with a mindset of a shopping list directed to God. Pray with an expectation, both for God’s response to our need and our ability to identify our needs rather than our wants.

God does not fulfill our wants. However, God has proven over and over again that God will provide for our needs. How difficult to sift our needs from our wants. How natural it is to focus on our wants. Some of us will say, but our wants are not even for ourselves. They are for others. That can make it so much harder when it seems as if God doesn’t answer our prayers on behalf of others. Maybe we want someone’s health to get better. We want our spouse to be a more of a partner. We want our child to be more like other normal children.

In all these areas we can pray for health and healing. At the same time, it is important to pray for the person who is sick or hurting that they receive what they need from God. Maybe what a dying friend needs is honest dialogue about the situation. Maybe a person who is addicted to drugs and alcohol needs to be held accountable for their behavior and not enabled to continue using.

We can also ask God to provide us with what we need, even if we don’t know exactly what we need. We can pray, “Lord, I’ve racked my brain and don’t understand this situation. It is painful and I hurt. Please give me what I need. I trust that you know what it is. I also trust that you will provide it for me.”

It’s paradoxical how this works. Even if we don’t know what is needed, we seek, knock, and ask for an open line of communication with God. This way, we’ll be more able to see and receive it the need when it arrives. When we focus on what is not happening or prayers that are not met, we get disillusioned, disappointed, and disheartened with God and life and close down even more.

Can we turn our focus from what is not happening? Can we believe that God always gives us and those we love what we need? If we can do that, we will receive the gifts that God has in store for us. The gifts that will enable us to live fully in today—not regretful or embarrassed about yesterday and not worried about tomorrow.

When we align our will with God’s, blessings will come. We’ll be amazed. I have been in dialogue with Garrett-ETS since last fall about getting a student intern for the upcoming year. By early March, no one had come to meet with me and the prospects were not good that we would be getting an intern. Later that month, I interviewed one young man. It was apparent to me that he was not a good spiritual fit for our congregation. So instead of responding out of fear that we might not have any student intern, we decided the young man I interviewed would be better off serving another congregation.

And I did something that I’m encouraged to do more and more. I wrote “Student Intern” on my prayer list and I began to pray for a student intern. Well guess what happened. I received an email from a young man, named Adam Thompson, who has been working at Sojourners Magazine in Washington DC. He is returning to Chicago this fall to continue his theological studies at Garrett-ETS and is looking for a student intern position in an urban church with a strong call to social justice. Adam visited our website, and liked what he saw.

When I read Adam’s email, I picked up the phone and called him that same day. It was a Friday afternoon. He answered the phone and we had a wonderful, spirit-filled conversation. Adam is here today. He and I will be meeting after church today to finalize our commitment to each other this fall. When I was telling this story to a colleague, who will not have a student this fall, she said something profound. “Hey girl, you went to the source for what you need—God. I was focusing on Garrett and how G-ETS could make it happen.”

I pray that you would take time to discover who you are as a person of faith in community with other people. Listen to and focus on voices of assurance. Trust in God. Trust yourself. Have open communication with God about your needs. Share with other people your struggles and your successes. We need not wait until we get it all together!!

Our story of how God has provided for us during our time of need can be a light to people in our lives today. You too can be a servant of God.

Posted by vickie at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)