Why Remember?

May 29, 2017                                NOTES NOT EDITED         

Memorial Day:  Why Remember?

Selected Texts

SIS—There are many good reasons why we should “remember” those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

As those who are regular members and attenders of FBC, you know I am a “Bible preacher.”  I normally take a portion of the Bible explain, expand it, and apply it.  I don’t often do topical sermons, except on special holidays.  Today is such a time and so this morning’s message with be a little different. I really want you to feel the struggle and emotion I went through as I prepared this Memorial Day sermon.  Hopefully, we will come away with good, Biblically-based reasons for why we should remember those who have died in battle.

One of the most significant holidays of the year is Memorial Day.  It is the “symbolic” start of the summer vacation.  If the weather cooperates Memorial Day will be celebrated under the sun with food, family, and games. 

NOTE:  It occurs every year on the final Monday of May.  Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service

NOTE:  On Memorial Day the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon.  It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.  The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon their memory is raised by the living, as the flag is raised with a 21 gun salute.   By this we resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Memorial Day is not a “holy Sabbath” or religious holiday as with Christmas, celebrating Christ’s birth, or Easter celebrating Christ’s death, or proscribed Biblical celebrations like Passover.  It is more a “civil holiday” that is part of the American culture.

That is not to say the Bible does not support the celebration of those who gave their lives in defense of others.  The Bible actually says a lot about “memorials.”  God wisely knows how quickly mankind forgets the lessons of the past and repeats mistakes in the present.  The Passover was a designated memorial (Ex. 12:14).  The storing of two quarts of manna was a prescribed memorial for Israel (Ex. 16:32).  Other memorials included the “stones in the Ephod, or breastplate of the priests (Ex. 28:12), the fringes on the garments of devout Israelites (Num. 15:39), the censers, or fire pans, used in the Temple ceremony, the twelve stones of Joshua (Jos. 4:7), and Joshua’s memorial stone erected shortly before he died (Jos. 24:27).  The N.T. adds one memorial that sort of sums up all memorials:  the Lord’s Supper.

While there is no specific command to observe “memorial day” service to honor men and women who have fallen on the battlefield, the importance of remembering such important events and experiences is a significant part of the Bible’s story.  Because, mankind tends to “forget” significant events and experiences, the Bible teaches it is proper and helpful to set up appropriate memorials.

I can think of no more appropriate and helpful memorial established in our day and time than Memorial Day, and I’ll give 3 reasons why.

1.  Because GRATITUDE is an important virtue. (Col 3:14-16)

I have been struggling with this issue of “Memorial Day” all weak.  As I was doing research for this message, I viewed hundreds of images associated with Memorial Day.  In my study I came upon this picture (Title Slide) that I am using today.  The war that most shaped my life was the Viet Nam War.  I remember the daily images on T.V. of row upon row of caskets with the body of young men being returned to American soil.  The Viet Nam War captivated the T.V. airwaves.  The official start date of the war is now 1 November 1955, six months before I was born.  It ended with the fall of Saigon, 30 April 1975, two months before I enlisted in the Navy.  It is America’s longest war.  I literally grew up with it.  Seven names are on the wall of young men from Moundsville, WV.  WV had the highest casualty rate of any state.

So, the images in the wall of the Viet Nam Memorial haunt me.  They gripped my soul and would not let go.  Here we have a generation of men forever enclosed in a wall, upon which their names are inscribed.  They for the most part, young men, who never had the opportunities to raise a family, enjoy a career, or “ironically” ever again celebrate Memorial Day.  They are “frozen in time,” forever young.

I am like that man on the other side of the wall.  I am not young.  I was able to go to college.  I was able to have a family,  and I am helping raise my grand kids.  I have and continue to enjoy a career.  I will be able to enjoy the Memorial Day celebrations.  I was once young, but have grown older.  It makes me stop and think about being on this side of the wall, and not “frozen in time as a casualty of war?” President Reagan reminded us (and I am quoting from memory):  “Those who died in war gave TWO LIVES.  They gave the life they were living when they went off to war; and they gave the life they would have lived by dying in war.”   I admit, that thought makes me shed a tear.  What I enjoy, I enjoy in a large part due to the sacrifice of those who died defending freedom.  While I enjoy food, family, fun, and games, they remain names inscribed in a wall.  Wrestling with a flood of feelings I scratched out these words to try to get a handle on what I was feeling:

What if I were a name on the wall,

Would it really matter at all?

Amidst the times of laughter, food, and games,

Would anybody really stop to remember my name.

“Freedom isn’t free,” I heard someone say,

But so many ignore the reason for this day.

Fun and family and freedom for sure,

Were the reasons I fought, and so much more.

Am I now just a name on the wall?

Does our sacrifice really matter at all?

It is not glory and honor we seek,

But merely a nod to those of us who now sleep.

We willingly gave to gain freedom for all,

But, please don’t let us be, // Just names on the wall.

So, my Memorial Day message this morning is “our nod to those who now sleep, names etched into the memorials of history.”  For me, the answer to “Why Remember?” is first and foremost  a matter of simple gratitude for those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom.  The Bible tells me that “gratitude” is an important, an essential virtue, of the Christian life.  Colossians 3 exhorts us, thusly:

¹⁴ Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. ¹⁵ And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.

There is something particularly unappealing in someone who is not “grateful” for what they have received at the expense of others.  Is this not especially true of the freedom we have received at the expense of those who died in battle?  Why remember?  It’s a matter of simple gratitude. Can I really do anything less? Remembering

2.  is also essential to a proper ATTITUDE. (Phil. 2:6-8)

REWRITE:  I believe that the downfall of our nation can be traced to a “rotten attitude.”  Specifically, an attitude of “getting” rather than an attitude of “giving.”  An attitude of self-centeredness rather than an self sacrifice.

Someone has pointed out that democracies have not lived long upon this earth because quickly 51 percent of the people come to realize they can vote to take what belongs to the 49 percent.  The result is a society in which the “takers” quickly outstrip the “givers” and the society devours itself.  We see this happening today.

Prior to the last couple of generations, our national mindset was an attitude of giving, contributing, and yes, sacrificing.  In fact, the name sociologists give to the generation born about 1901-1945 is the “Builder Generation.”  These were people we had and attitude of “giving and doing” not “taking and lounging.”  These were some of the most successful years in our nation’s history.  The generation that followed, the Boomer Generation (my generation), still held much of the values of the Builder Generation—an attitude that highly valued production and sacrifice.

When two World Wars threatened our freedom, the Builder Generation lined up to enlist to defend the country.  Over one half million deposited their lives on foreign soil to defend and secure our nation’s freedom.  Many lied about their ages so that they could enlist before graduation from high school.  A patriotic attitude ruled this generation.  An attitude of duty and sacrifice.

This attitude continued through the Korean and Viet Nam era.  Of course, many were drafted, but they still served with distinction and devotion.  Certainly, others enlisted in Korea and Viet Nam because of the attitude that highly valued service and sacrifice.  One very moving story is that of the Morenci Nine during Viet Nam.

Morenci is a small copper mining town in the middle of nowhere in rural Arizona—and I mean nowhere!  I’ve been there to watch a high school football game.  This town has about 1800 residents.  Perhaps the most famous are nine graduates of the class of ’66.  These nine graduates—a significant majority of the graduating class in high school with only a total of about 300 or so students.

Nine joined the marines.  Nine went to Viet Nam.  Six never returned alive.  There’s a saying in regard to war, “All give some, some give all.”  Six of the Morenci Nine gave it “all.” 

One of the three to return, Leroy Cisneros, once said of their service,

“We were just trying to keep the tradition, do our part.” That’s an attitude that has for the most part evaporated from the pool of American thought.  “Do your part, carry your weight, give back.”  This was an attitude that once defined our nation.  It is an attitude we all should strive to have—and attitude of humble, sacrificial service.  An attitude of “contribution, not consumption.”

Why remember on this day?  To remind us of the “attitude” that honors a nation, indeed honors Our Lord.  An attitude of sacrifice and service.  That’s what we remember on Memorial Day.  The Bible instructs us in regard to such an attitude:

^{Phil 2   6} who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. ⁷ Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, ⁸ He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.

“Assuming the form of a slave” is not something that appeals very much to the modern American psyche.  I must admit, it doesn’t taste so sweet in my mouth when I say it.  An attitude of service and sacrifice leads us down a very difficult and challenging path.  It goes against our nature—our sinful nature.  Even though we know the Bible says “It is more blessed to give than receive”(Acts 20:35), we spend an enormous amount of our time and energy trying to “get more stuff.”

Remembering those who gave their lives for our present pleasures, helps us move toward an “attitude contribution” and away from and “attitude of consumption.”

So, why remember?  First and foremost for me it is about simple gratitude—saying thanks to those who died in my stead.  Second, it is to help stimulate the right attitude—giving instead of getting, contribution rather than consumption.  There is another valuable reason for observing Memorial Day:

3.  Fortitude. (1Sam 17:37)

Over the years I’ve read some fabulous stories about real American heroes on the battlefield.  I watched some great movies about the unconquerable resolve of the American Warrior.  John Wayne movies like, The The Flying Tigers, Sands of Iwo Jima, or Fort Apache, with describing the heroism of WWII, or The Green Berets, describing the heroes of Viet Nam.  Or, Heartbreak Ridge, with Clint Eastwood, chronicling the heroic efforts in a bloody battle during the Invasion of Granada. These movies always instill in me a feeling of pride, and perhaps even invincibility.  There is no Armed Forces on earth comparable to the U.S. military. 

Technically, America has never lost a war.  Politicians have mismanaged more than a few conflicts, and we have lost a few battles, but we have never surrendered.  Afghanistan will likely turn out much like Viet Nam in the end, but it won’t be because we cannot defeat them, but it will be because Washington, DC, lacks the resolve to defeat the enemy.  In the wars fought by Generals and not politicians, we always come out on top. Victory is always assured.

Fortitude is defined as mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.  Fortitude is confidence in the face of the enemy.  It is resolve in the time of challenge.  Fortitude is bolstered by a history of victory.

Nothing builds fortitude like victory.  The fact that we have lost over a million Americans in wars defending our freedom is a testimony of our fortitude.  The price for our freedom has been very high—anybody who has lost a loved one in war, especially a tender age, knows just how costly freedom really is.  I always like to remind people as they look at the Grand Old Flag, there is a reason the stripes are red.

Every monument marking the grave of an American warrior, whether in Arlington, Virginia, or Normandy Beach in France, is a reminder to the world of America’s fortitude and resolve.  When our freedom is threatened, we will send our very best, and we will pay the ultimate price if need be.  The symbol for our indomitable spirit is not a Musket or M-1, a tank or a fighter jet, but the symbol of American fortitude and resolve is the “grave marker.”  It reminds the world that there is no price we will not pay for our freedom.

It reminds us there is not enemy we cannot overcome.  Victory is in our blood as Americans—and certainly as Christians even moreso.

Here’s a grave marker that reminds me I am linked to a long line of men willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for my freedom.  This is the grave marker of my great, great, great grandfather, James Bonar, who died in a Confederate Prisoner of War camp in, Andersonville, Ga., that became a National Cemetery.  At one time this overcrowded stockade held 32,000 prisoners.  It was designed to hold about 10,000.  Most POW’s died of disease, starvation, or from untreated wounds.  My great, great, great grandfather lies in grave 448.

[SLIDE]

We have lost many a soldier, airman, sailor, and marine—but we have never lost a war!  Our fortitude derives from a clear understanding of our history—a history of victory in the face of sometimes insurmountable odds.

The is so true in regard to the spiritual battle of life—and life is mostly spiritual.  The symbol that breeds fortitude and resolve in the life of a believer is not “crown, or a shield, or a sword,” but an “empty grave.”  A familiar hymn reminds us:

An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

And because He lives, I too will live.  Because He conquered death, I will conquer death.  My fortitude in displaying my faith comes from “remembering” what Jesus Christ has already accomplished through His death and resurrection.  Victory is assured.  That builds fortitude.

The Bible says much about this type of remembrance that breeds fortitude:

^{1Sam 17   37} Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Our fortitude is built upon centuries of victories through God’s providential power.  God has never let us down—and never will.

4.  It reminds us of Jesus—The Ultimate Sacrifice

Another name for the Lord’s Supper is, “The Memorial Supper,” because the Bible says (1Cor. 11:24)

The Lord Jesus took bread, ²⁴ gave thanks, broke it, and said,  “This is My body, which is  for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

¹³ No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life  for his friends (John 15:13).

Of course, Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that truth, but not the only one.  Jesus recognized that true love, at any and every level, requires real sacrifice.  Real sacrifice means, “whatever it takes,” including my very life.  That is the measure of true love—it is the full measure of sacrifice.  If you want to know what is missing in your life, don’t look in your garage, or your bank account, but look in your heart.  Are you really—I mean really, really willing to sacrifice your life in service to the Lord Jesus Christ? 

Memorial Day fits right into the teaching of the Bible, especially when we remember . . . Jesus!  When we show we value sacrifice.  Every single trouble; every strife whether personal or global; every ugly, chaotic thing in life is a result of people focusing on ourselves instead of Jesus.  It is so easy as we sit in padded chairs in environmentally controlled sanctuaries with services planned and music performed for us, to forget that church is not about us.  Church, life itself, is all about Jesus.  Churches are literally dying on the vine because people attend for what they can “get out of church,” instead of what they can contribute.  As soon as something doesn’t go their way, these people move on . . . most of the time slamming the door behind them.

Folks, if we need to remember anything we need to remember this:  Jesus died on the cross so that we could have eternal life and we must never forget that we can live forever because Jesus died and rose again. There are very good and biblically solid reasons to celebrate Memorial Day. 

So, Memorial Day is perfectly suited to teach us some very important lessons in life about gratitude, attitude, fortitude and Jesus, Himself.

So, here we are celebrating a “secular holiday.”  But, God’s sovereignty covers the secular, as well as the sacred.  The Bible gives us ample reasons for why we should observe Memorial Day.  Why remember?  It is a matter of simple gratitude.  It is a means to develop a proper attitude, and it will build a much needed fortitude.

What if I were a name on the wall,

Would it really matter at all?

Amidst the times of laughter, food, and games,

Would anybody really stop to remember my name.

“Freedom isn’t free,” I heard someone say,

But so many ignore the reason for this day.

Fun and family and freedom for sure,

Were the reasons I fought, and so much more.

Am I now just a name on the wall?

Does my sacrifice really matter at all?

It is not glory and honor I seek,

But merely a nod to those of us who now sleep.

We willingly gave to gain freedom for all,

But, please don’t let us be,

Just names on the wall (JKC)

Divine Direction Pt 4: Getting Started

May 14, 2017                                             NOTES NOT EDITED
Divine Direction Pt 4—Get Started

Nehemiah 1:1-7; 2:1-5, 19-20

Series in a Sentence:  The quality of our lives, and our eternal destiny depends on making wise decisions, and wise decisions require Divine Direction

Sermon-in-a-Sentence:  You cannot finish what you never start, and you will never start until you have faith that God will help you finish.

In this series titled, “Divine Direction,” we have been talking about the importance of allowing God to guide each decision we make as we build the story of our lives.  We learned in part one that the most important question we must ask in regard to Divine Direction is NOT, “what” should I do, but “Who” should I seek.  God must be the focus of our lives if we are going to find and follow His direction.  Second, we discovered that Divine Direction is not a matter of trying to “find the missing dot” as we make decisions, but to apply the Way of Wisdom in choosing between various options.  God will not always tell us exactly what to do or where to go, but He promises to give us the wisdom to make godly choices.  In part 3, we looked at some of the particular steps involved in the process of finding and following God’s Divine Direction.  We learned that we must be willing to deal with a lack of details.  We learned that the only certainty in life is uncertainty and predictable persecution.  Therefore, we must place our complete trust in God.  This brings us to part 4.  Here, we “Get Started” following God’s Divine Direction in the next chapter of our life’s story.  Here we will learn some specific steps in taking “the next step.” 

When thinking of God’s Divine Direction, a common expression is this: “Where God guides, God provides.”  Several theological principles and doctrines are implied in that statement.  The most recognizable doctrine is that of “providence.”  Providence is not a biblical word.  In fact, the Hebrew language doesn’t even have a comparable word to our word, “providence.”  Even the Greek language does not a full counterpart.  However, the doctrine of Providence, like that of the doctrine of the Trinity (a word that also does not appear in the Bible), has solid biblical support from beginning to end.

Divine Direction, or Providence, can be seen throughout God’s interaction with His Creation.  Not only did God create the universe and all that is, but He also maintains it and sustains it.  This is sometimes called the doctrine of preservation. 

Way back to Adam, God preserved His relationship with Adam by sending them away from the Tree of Life that would have allowed them to live forever in sin.  God preserved Noah and his kin by providing a boat to sustain them during the flood.  God’s providential care continued through Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God preserved Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the flames of the King’s wrath.  God preserved Daniel in the lions’ den.  God’s providential care continued right down to the sending of His Son, Jesus.  He continued to preserve His people and His creation through the Apostles, and the saints down through the ages.  God providential Hand has never been lifted from His creation.  The word, “providence,” may not appear in the Holy Text, but examples of it can be seen throughout.  Providence is represented by the Divine Direction God provides for our lives.

---------------------------------

Have any of you heard any talk about building a  “Wall?”  It’s a wall that one man wants to build, many people oppose him, and nobody wants to pay for it.  It’s a wall that will represent one of the most phenomenal building projects in all history.  Of course, most of you are thinking about Trump’s border wall.  He wants to build it.  Many in Congress oppose it.  Mexico doesn’t want to pay for it.  But . . . I’m not talking about Trump’s wall.  I’m talking about Nehemiah’s rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.  Nehemiah wanted to build it.  The Amorites opposed it.  Thankfully, the Jews were willing to pay for it.

Nehemiah completed the project in only 52 days under great opposition.  The builders had to work with a tool in one hand and a sword in the other.  Engineers that have studied this project, completed in only 52 days under the toughest circumstances to be one of the great construction feats in all history.

I often wonder what inspires Trump to want to build his wall, but it was Divine Direction that led Nehemiah to take on this project.  Let’s read a few verses that introduce us to Nehemiah and his project.

So, as we come this message titled, “Getting Started,” I will state the obvious because it is so important:  “You will never finish what you do not start.”  A preacher I admire a great deal says it like this, “It is often the start that stops us.”  This is obvious, but it is true. 

I learned this lesson in the course of my college and university careers.  I learned that he hardest part of writing an essay or a research paper was the first sentence.  They call it, “writer’s block.”  Sometimes I would be mentally paralyzed for days, even weeks, not knowing how to get started.  Often, ti was only the looming deadline and impending grade of “F” for not completing the assignment that gave me the impetus to get started.  Then, I usually would write feverishly through the night finishing just in time to turn it in.

It is indeed, “the start that often stops us.”  With this in mind, we will pursue this matter of, “Getting Started.”   We can never finish what we never start and we will never start until we have faith God will help us finish.  Our divine example in this regard will be the great Hebrew leader, Nehemiah.  Though not particularly gifted and skilled for the construction job he took upon himself, Nehemiah had great faith—a “spiritual compulsion” as we learned last week—that what God was “guiding” him to start, God would “provide” the means to finish.  LET’S READ OUR TEXT TOGETHER:  Neh. 1:1-7; 2:1-5.

We will never finish what we never start and we will never start until we have faith God will help us finish.  Paul had such faith when he declared (Phil. 1:6)

⁶ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Just as Paul was convinced of God’s faithfulness to help us finish, I am also very convinced of another matter: “God wants more of us, from us, and through us than we are experiencing right now.”

Successfully discovering and implementing God’s Divine Direction for our lives involves three integrated parts:  a holy dissatisfaction, a passionate prayer, and an expectant start.

1.  Holy Dissatisfaction (3-4)

Any successful undertaking, whether in business, government, or church, begins with “dissatisfaction.”  Success requires change.  Change will not happen until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.  Until we are dissatisfied with the status quo, we will not seek change, and without change we cannot experience anything new or better.

Notice that Nehemiah could no longer accept the state of affairs in regard to his beloved homeland, Jerusalem.  For nearly 70 years, the city lay in ruins, the walls crumbled one stone upon another, and the temple destroyed by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar.  Only a remnant of people remained in a city that was in shambles.  Recall what we read earlier of the report given to Nehemiah by Hanani:

 ³ They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.” ⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Why is our nation is such a state of decay?  We are as divided now as we were at the height of the civil war.  Most of the time of our representatives in Washington is spent in court:  either defending themselves from calls of corruption, or trying to impeach the president.  What about the state of the Church in America.  8 out of 10 churches that call themselves, “Christian,” are in varying stages of death.  Where is the “holy dissatisfaction” with the status quo?  Where is the weeping?  Where is the fasting and praying? 

The first step to “Getting Started” is a holy dissatisfaction with the way things are.  Have you ever wondered why someone invented the automobile?  The answer is quite simple:  people got tired of shoveling horse manure.  That may be crude, but it illustrates that we never do anything new until we are fed up with the old.  Then, this holy dissatisfaction leads us to

2.  Passionate Prayer (5-11)

Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him  and keep His commands,  ⁶ let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive  to hear Your servant’s prayer that I now pray to You day and night  for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins  we have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.  ⁷ We have acted corruptly toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave Your servant Moses.  ⁸ Please remember what You commanded Your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.  ⁹ But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth,  I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell.”  ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and strong hand.  ¹¹ Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive  to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today,  and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.

There you have it!  Greatness, both personal and corporate, are as close at hand as your prayers.  But the only way we will ever reach heaven’s heights is from our knees.

If Christian people did not say grace at their meals, there would be almost no prayer in church life at all.  Notice that “holy dissatisfaction” is followed by “passionate” (notice the emphasis on “fasting”) prayer.  Great Christians pray.  The story of the movement of Christianity from Pentecost to today is a story of prayer.  Years ago I read, “We can do great things after we pray, but we cannot do anything of worth until we pray.”

Let me restate the theme of this message on “Getting Started.”  God wants more of us, from us, and for us than we are experiencing now; but, we will never finish what we never start and we will never start what we do not have the faith God will help us finish.

Before we ever experience the greatness God wants for us, we must develop a “holy dissatisfaction” with the status quo, and embark on “passionate prayer” for the move of God in our lives. 

The question becomes:  “Do you long for God to do more in you and for you?”

Here is the practical application of this four-part series on Divine Direction—How to Discover and Implement God’s Plan For Us to Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.

3.  An Expectant Start

I am not talking about just any new “start,” but I emphasize an “expectant” start.  Let me go back to Paul’s confident expression of faith we read earlier:  God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

We will never finish what we never start and we will never start until we have the faith that God will help us finish.

So, “getting started” is like receiving some great, new gadget in the mail.  Everything needed for that gadget to work and start blessing our lives with delight is in the package.  We have dreamed of receiving this package for years, and now it has arrived.  If we just sit and admire the package, we can continue to dream about all the delight the gadget COULD bring into our lives, but we will never experience anything but a dream.  We must open the package.  When we do, we see more packaging with all the independent parts—and, that dreaded book, “The Instruction Manual!”  Everything that is needed for us to enjoy that new gadget is in that box.  And, all the instructions we need for putting that gadget together is in the Instruction Manual.

This is how it is with God’s Divine Direction for our lives.  All we need to put God’s plan for our lives in action, we received when we accepted Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior.  That’s why Paul was so confident he could “finish the race,” because He knew God would provide all the resources needed—Where God guides, He always provides! 

So, let’s “Get Started” on the glorious plan God has for our lives.  The package has arrived.

(1)  Dream Big

As we learned earlier, the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was a massive construction job.  It was a “Big Dream!”

Our realization will never exceed our expectations, but God’s promises always will.  The Apostle Paul described how faith in God is the foundation for Big Dreams, when he said that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).

This is why I said that “I am convinced God wants more of us, from us, and for us than we are experiencing right now.

Would you allow me a moment to share what has been on my heart for the last several years, especially in that last several months.  Over the last several years, especially since my heart attack 71/2 years ago, I’ve been consumed with the fact that I’m getting old.  I wish it were true that one is only as old as one feels.  I feel pretty good.  I feel I can still hold my own in a fight, so to speak.  But, it doesn’t really matter how I feel.  The calendar doesn’t lie.  Each birthday reminds me of the passing of time.

There’s a commercial for Viking Cruise Line that says something to the affect, “The only thing we don’t have enough of, is time.  Time is the only scarce commodity.”  I believe that.  Each breath I take, I am one breath closer to taking my last one.  Paul tells us, “make good use of time for these days are evil” (Eph. 5:16).

Now that I have completely suppressed the mood and bummed us all out, let me tell you why this is important to me.  Forty years ago, in the middle of the jungle on the island of Guam, I had a vision.  I hesitate to share this with you, because it sounds “sensational, theatrical,” and quite frankly, “unbelievable.”  With nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate my way, I followed what was probably the path of wild hogs, feral cousins of pigs first introduced by the Spanish in the 1500’s for food.  I came to a clearing in the brush.  Before stood a burning cross.  Like the burning bush of Moses, the cross burned but was not consumed.  It was perhaps ten to twelve feet high.  Whether I saw it with my mind or with my heart, matters little to me.  It was a very real encounter with God that made a very real impression on my life.

The feeling of terror and awe that came over me is indescribable.  I stayed just a few seconds it seems, and then I ran as fast as I could back to Proteus Point where my submarine was tied up to the Submarine Tender preparing to go to sea.  I never shared this story with anybody for years.  This is only the third time I have ever shared it.  I went to sea for three months.  It gave me time, and solitude to contemplate what this vision meant.

When I returned from being submerged for three months, we returned for our regular three month “Rest and Recuperation” in Hawaii.  While attending church in the city of Kailua, I surrendered my life to full time Christian service.

I share this story because my dream from that day was to win thousands, perhaps millions to Jesus Christ.  I’ve seen many come to Jesus Christ over the last forty years—I think into the thousands, perhaps.  But, the dream has not been completely fulfilled.  There are many more people to be saved, and I have fewer years to share the gospel.

So, it is that “Big Dream” that still drives my life.  Do you have a “Big Dream?”  You don’t need a vision on the Island of Guam to have a big dream for God.  In fact, it is probably a testament to my lack of faith that God would have to speak to me in such a sensational way.

Without a “Big Dream,” you will never do “Big Things.”  You will never understand what Paul meant when he said God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).  My body may be getting old, but my imagination is as good as it has ever been.

Divine Direction requires we “Dream Big.”  But, we cannot start big.  We must

(3)  Start Small

When I think of the massive construction project Nehemiah took on, I am reminded of some words from the prophet Zechariah:  Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin (Zech. 4:10)

Nehemiah did not start with a wall, he started with a stone.  In fact, he didn’t even start with a stone.  The wall that Nehemiah finished was, as I have said, considered to be one of the great construction projects in all of history.  Indeed, the walls of Jerusalem were massive.

The exact dimensions are still being argued.  The walls were built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times.  They were anywhere from 3 to 4 miles in circumference around the city.  The average height was about 40 feet and the average thickness about 8 feet.  The wall was massive . . . or, whuuuuuuge! as President Trump would say.

Remember what I have said several times, “We will never finish what we never start.”  The old Chinese Proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” This applies to life just as to  building of a massive wall—it begins with the first stone.

I am not suggesting that starting small means “thinking small.”  The reason so many churches do not grow—among many reasons—is because people “think small.”  I say, “Think Big!”  Just start small.

Before you can run, you must walk.  Before you walk you must crawl.  Before you can crawl you must learn to sit.  Think about how you as a parent rejoiced with gladness at your baby’s first step—you know, “The Drunken Frankenstein” walk.  You baby got up on his or her wobbly legs, then teetered as if suspended by ropes, and took a step.  Boom! Down they went.  Did you say, “Why did you fall.  You should never have even tried to walk.  What kind of idiot are you anyway!”  Of course, you didn’t say that.  When they took that first little wobbly step learning to do the Drunken Frankenstein, you jumped and clapped and giggled like a little girl—and I’m talking about Dads!  Got loves it when we take even the “smallest” step of faith.  Though, I’m not sure He giggles like a little girl.

One of my most influential preacher used to say, “Think Big.  Start Small.  Move with the movers.” 

This brings us to the most important element in discovering and implementing God’s Divine Direction for your life:

(3) Take the Next Step! (19-20)

Everything I’ve said so far is to get you to this point:  “taking the next step.”  “God wants more for you than you are experiencing now, but you will never finish what you never start, and you will never start if you don’t have faith to take the next step.”

I don’t know who said it first, but it is a great line:  “Inch by inch, anything is a cinch.”  There is also that famous joke, “How do you eat and elephant . . . [the people answer] . . . one bite at a time!”

Are you dissatisfied with what you have done for God with your life?  Does your heart cry out to God to use you more than you could have ever imagined He would use you?  In short, are you ready to stand before God—face to face—and give an account of your life?

The answer to those questions should be, “No!”  But, the answer can become a “Yes!”  Just take the “next” step.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding.

Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so building a wall begins with one stone.  What is that first stone you need to put down to begin building a new life with Jesus?  I don’t care if you are 8 or 80—you can take the next step to a glorious future.

Just follow Nehemiah’s example.  Pick up the first stone.

If you are not quite sure what the next step is, continue to pray.  Don’t give in to the status quo.  Don’t give up on your Big Dream.  Maybe, you want to become a consistent giver to God’s work.  Start with one dime out of every dollar, every week.  Maybe, you want to take a place of leadership in our church.  Start by joining a Sunday School, and then perhaps taking a seminary class.

Whatever you do . . . do something.  Take the next step!

The story of our lives is written with the pen of our experience dipped in the ink well of our decisions.  With as much as our “eternity” at stake, it is absolutely essential to get each and every decision right.

Divine blessing comes from discovering and implementing Divine Direction.

Dream big.  Start small.  Take the next step.