TEAM JESUS, part 4: A COACH'S PERSPECTIVE -- TAKING THE LONG VIEW
This is the final sermon in the series, "Team Jesus." During Lent, we'll be looking at Holy Communion, it's meaning and the part it plays as a spiritual practice.
Matthew 17:1-9
A player's perspective may be limited. He or she may see only to the end of the game or the end of the season, striving to win that title or trophy. A coach's perspective goes farther than that. Coaches take the long view. Their goal is to build a program that will result in winning teams year, after year, like what Hayden Frye did at the University of Iowa.
From God's vantage point overlooking time from its beginning to its end and beyond, God takes the really, really, really long view with a thousand years being like one day to God. And to understand our part of God's game plan, we need to learn to see things from a new perspective, from God's perspective.
What I need in my office is one of those big wall calendars that shows a year at a glance so I can chart in special events, projects and seasons of the church year. Even though my planner has both months and weeks in it, it's still too easy to get caught up in the moment, making seeing how everything works together and where I should be going difficult. My perspective can become very limited. That's when it becomes easy to confuse a means with an end. Without a broader perspective, many of us may stop and not go further.
In Matthew 16, Jesus told his disciples that he was going to take one for the team for the salvation of all people. In fact, he told them, if they wanted to truly be called his followers, they needed to take one for the team, too. Six days later, he took Peter, James and John on a hike up a mountain where they all had an incredible mountain top experiences.
Sunlight poured from Jesus face. His clothes were filled with white light. With Jesus stood Moses and Elijah who were in deep conversation with him. I don't know -- maybe Peter was caught up in the awe, the glory and the excitement of the moment and decided that the best thing to do was to pitch some tents and live there.
But that was not what God intended. The experience on the mountain that we call the "Transfiguration of Christ, was not an ending where they lived happily ever after in their own little paradise. It was a means for the continuation of something that was far greater than Peter, James and John and the rest of the disciples.
So Jesus led them down the mountain to continue Christ's ministry to proclaim the good news, to care for bruised and hurt lives and work for justice and mercy. That ministry has transfigured the lives of you and me and countless others down through the ages and will until the time when Christ returns and God's creation is brought back to the way God created it to be.
What that means to us is that just because we have new carpeting, done all this remodeling and installed the elevator, our work isn't done. The elevator is not an end, but a means that enables us to continue Christ's ministry in our community to God's end that all might be saved.
Sure, the new pew cushions make the sanctuary more comfortable, the refurbishing of the main floor make the church seem more welcoming and the elevator makes life easier for us all, we need to remember that it's not all about us. There are those in this community who are living bruised and hurt lives and need to know someone cares and loves them.. In our neighborhoods, people need to a place where they feel welcomed and accepted, and outside are the doors are those who are longing for something better in their lives.
We can't stay on our cozy and comfy mountain top forever if we want to be truthfully known as a caring community offering opportunities to grow in mind, body and soul. If we want to be true to who we are and whose we are, we'll take the elevator down to the street level and prop open the door. We'll go out and down the streets to become involved with our neighbors and our community in order to make a difference in people's life. And we'll invite. Invite. Invite others to meet Jesus in our lives and in the life of our church.
You see, that's what fruitful and thriving churches do. They see things from God's perspective, not just their own, and they take the long view, building up a church that passes on the faith to future generations.
And we do want to be a fruitful and thriving church, don't we?
Matthew 17:1-9
From God's vantage point overlooking time from its beginning to its end and beyond, God takes the really, really, really long view with a thousand years being like one day to God. And to understand our part of God's game plan, we need to learn to see things from a new perspective, from God's perspective.
What I need in my office is one of those big wall calendars that shows a year at a glance so I can chart in special events, projects and seasons of the church year. Even though my planner has both months and weeks in it, it's still too easy to get caught up in the moment, making seeing how everything works together and where I should be going difficult. My perspective can become very limited. That's when it becomes easy to confuse a means with an end. Without a broader perspective, many of us may stop and not go further.
In Matthew 16, Jesus told his disciples that he was going to take one for the team for the salvation of all people. In fact, he told them, if they wanted to truly be called his followers, they needed to take one for the team, too. Six days later, he took Peter, James and John on a hike up a mountain where they all had an incredible mountain top experiences.
Sunlight poured from Jesus face. His clothes were filled with white light. With Jesus stood Moses and Elijah who were in deep conversation with him. I don't know -- maybe Peter was caught up in the awe, the glory and the excitement of the moment and decided that the best thing to do was to pitch some tents and live there.
But that was not what God intended. The experience on the mountain that we call the "Transfiguration of Christ, was not an ending where they lived happily ever after in their own little paradise. It was a means for the continuation of something that was far greater than Peter, James and John and the rest of the disciples.
So Jesus led them down the mountain to continue Christ's ministry to proclaim the good news, to care for bruised and hurt lives and work for justice and mercy. That ministry has transfigured the lives of you and me and countless others down through the ages and will until the time when Christ returns and God's creation is brought back to the way God created it to be.
What that means to us is that just because we have new carpeting, done all this remodeling and installed the elevator, our work isn't done. The elevator is not an end, but a means that enables us to continue Christ's ministry in our community to God's end that all might be saved.
Sure, the new pew cushions make the sanctuary more comfortable, the refurbishing of the main floor make the church seem more welcoming and the elevator makes life easier for us all, we need to remember that it's not all about us. There are those in this community who are living bruised and hurt lives and need to know someone cares and loves them.. In our neighborhoods, people need to a place where they feel welcomed and accepted, and outside are the doors are those who are longing for something better in their lives.
We can't stay on our cozy and comfy mountain top forever if we want to be truthfully known as a caring community offering opportunities to grow in mind, body and soul. If we want to be true to who we are and whose we are, we'll take the elevator down to the street level and prop open the door. We'll go out and down the streets to become involved with our neighbors and our community in order to make a difference in people's life. And we'll invite. Invite. Invite others to meet Jesus in our lives and in the life of our church.
You see, that's what fruitful and thriving churches do. They see things from God's perspective, not just their own, and they take the long view, building up a church that passes on the faith to future generations.
And we do want to be a fruitful and thriving church, don't we?
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