Thursday, October 25, 2007

Hello, Goodbye: What If I'm Wrong?

In the previous two posts in this series, I talked about the indications we had that our impending move from Friendship Lutheran Church in Amelia, Ohio to Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, was God's will for our lives.

But what if I'm wrong?

I'm reminded of a story I've told many times. It seems that a farmer excitedly ran into the office of his pastor one day. "Pastor! Pastor!" he said, "I know what God wants me to do with my life!" He explained that he'd been out in his field when he noticed a strange cloud formation. The clouds seemed to form the letters, "GPC." The farmer said he'd wondered about the meaning of this sign, when it dawned on him. "It can only mean one thing, Pastor: GO PREACH CHRIST!" The pastor knew this farmer. He was a great guy committed to Christ. But none of his gifts seemed appropriate to pastoring. "Are you sure," the pastor asked, "the letters don't stand for, GO PLANT CORN?"

Christians undoubtedly misinterpret God's specific intentions for their lives all the time. But that doesn't mean that they have to retrace their steps or rue their choices.

Regular readers of this blog know that one of my favorite books of recent years is The Will of God as a Way of Life by pastor, historian, and author Gerald L. Sittser. As a young man in college, Sittser was certain that God had called him to be a doctor. He was sure this was God’s plan for his life. But while in college, he got turned on by theology and ministry. A new certainty supplanted the old one. Now, he was sure God was calling him to be a pastor.

This is what Sittser did and to the extent that such things can be measured, he was a successful pastor.

After several years though, he felt that God was calling him to yet another profession. He was sure that he needed to go to graduate school, earning advanced degrees in History so that he could teach at the college level. This he did. Again, he was successful.

As he looked back over his life at that juncture, Sittser was sure that God had called him to everything he had done, including his marriage to Linda and having their beautiful children. Friends told them they had the perfect life. They were convinced that in it all, they could see the sovereign hand of God.

But then, tragedy struck. One day when his mother was visiting Gerald and his family, a drunk driver struck the vehicle in which they all were riding. His wife, his mother, and one of his children were killed. Was this the will of a sovereign God for a family that had always sought to do God’s will?

Some Christians, particularly those whose lives have never been touched by tragedy or those who have never helped a friend through a tragedy, might answer with a breezy facility, “Of course.”

But such thoughtless responses hardly do credit to God, to those whose lives have been snuffed out, or to the ones left behind.

After these multiple tragedies, Sittser still believed in the goodness of God. The willingness of God to share in our sufferings on a cross and the tears cried by Jesus over His dead friend Lazarus are two clear exhibits of evidence of that.

Sittser still believed in the power of God. Jesus’ resurrection and His continuing ability to change people’s lives for the better are evidence of that.

But he also believed that he needed to look exactly at what the will of God means.

All of his life, Sittser had assumed that the will of God was about the future. If things he thought were God’s will turned out okay, he assumed this to be God’s affirmation of his having made the right guess about God’s will for his life. I suspect that most Christians adhere to a similar view. It’s certainly the view I held until a few years ago.

But as Sittser looked at the Bible’s understanding of the will of God, particularly as evidenced in the writings of Paul in the New Testament, he made a startling discovery. The phrase was never used of the future, only of the present.

In other words, the will of God is not some mystery shrouding our futures which we must, through agonizing prayer and discernment, seek out.

Instead, the will of God is about how we live in the present moment. And how we are to live in the present moment is crystal clear. As Sittser writes:
...the New Testament offers no hint that Paul agonized about the will of God as it pertained to the future. He gave himself to the present because he was eager to use what little time he had to do what he already knew God wanted him to do.

If we sense any agony in the heroes of Scripture, it is not in discovering the will of God but in doing it....
The only time we have to know and do God’s will is the present moment.

So, what exactly is the will of God for our lives in the present moments in which each of us live our lives? Even a perfunctory reading of the Bible will give us the answer or answers to that question. It would include these imperatives from Jesus:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die...” [John 11:25-26]

...”’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’...’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:37-40]

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you...” [John 15:12]

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:19-20]

“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” [Mark 16:15]

“...strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness...” [Matthew 6:33]
All these passages make clear what God’s will is and for any given moment of our lives. We're to love God and love our neighbor. We're to make God's Kingdom our highest priority. We're to serve our neighbor is Christs Name. Most importantly, we're to turn from sin and trust that even when we fail to do all those other things, Christ has died and risen for sinners so that we need never be afraid of today or tomorrow. God will be with us and we will be with God forever.

If we haven't dialed into God's specific will for our lives, that's okay. The Bible says that God remembers that we are dust, that is, mortal and imperfect. Paraphrasing it, we could say that God remembers that we can be hard of hearing when it comes to discerning what God wants for us.

It's under these circumstances that Martin Luther said believers should "sin boldly." That means that after we've read God's Word, prayed, and talked it over with respected Christian friends, we may still not be clear on what God's will may be. But if our intent is to love God and love neighbor, we can't go wrong.

Even when we go where God sends us, it's no guarantee that we'll be "successful." God, as he saying attributed to Mother Teresa puts it, doens't call us to be successful, just faithful. But wherever we go, if we constantly submit to God, we can do the will of God, loving God, loving neighbor.

I may not know what I'm doing in going to Saint Matthew. But if I'll surrender each moment to Him, God will know exactly what to do with my time at this wonderful congregation.

[Note: My blogging friend, Mark D. Roberts, has been writing a series of blog articles about his departure from a church after serving as pastor for sixteen years. Mark, I notice, has been addressing the question of the will of God in recent posts. I deliberately avoided reading these pieces by Mark so that I can see how his reflections compare to my own. I suggest that you do what I'm going to do now, read Mark's posts on this topic.]

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