Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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Sometimes small events have enormous consequences. A fine Union commander, Major General John Reynolds, during the first day's fighting at Gettysburg, looks back over his shoulder, sees some high ground, and orders the Federal reinforcements, just then arriving, to dig in there. Moments later Reynolds is struck by a bullet in the head and dies instantly -- the first general officer to be killed at Gettysburg -- but Reynolds is often credited with the victory. Because he chose the right ground -- Big Round Top, Little Round Top, Culp's Hill, Cemetery Ridge. Didn't seem too critical at the moment, but his decision had enormous consequences. Or the sloppy German railroad clerk, who (because he was sleepy, or had a headache, or -- some say -- was bribed) didn't check passports carefully and allowed the exiled Vladimir Lenin to re-enter Russia in 1917. Little things, big consequences.

God's Call to Paul

This story, in Acts 16, of Paul's vivid dream (a Macedonian man begging him to come over and help), and of Paul's can-do response, seems innocent enough at first (even a little silly). until we understand that Macedonia, while it lies just across the Aegean Sea from Paul's stomping grounds in Asia Minor -- Macedonia was in Europe, not Asia. God was calling Paul to a new continent. Paul had wanted to go East, you remember, to continue his missionary work in that old mid-eastern world where he, as a Jew, felt comfortable, but God said "no" and sent him west, to Europe. A seemingly small thing, with enormous consequences.

What is our Call?

We are starved today for spiritual direction. We live busy lives but plain. How we would love to hear God say, "Do this!" or "Do that!" Why, we would up and do it -- we think! But the soul, the rudder of life, what gives it direction and makes it interesting, is missing! We take wonderful care of our bodies, give an amazing amount of attention to exercise and diet, spend billions on health care. The body is not our problem. We also develop the mind, build it up, devote endless resources to education. We may not be good at it, but we surely believe in education. The mind us not our problem.

But, with all this, because there is no spark of soul, we turn out unexciting, well-ordered people. They've had their shots, learned their ABCs, landed decent jobs with benefits and pensions, and will probably live to be a hundred. But for what? Ho. Hum. Albert Camus said when they write the history of modern man they will say only two things: "he fornicated and he read the newspapers."" Yuck! We don't want to be like that. Yet, too often, we are. Like good, seaworthy ships, with hulls sound as a dollar and crews at the ready, but with no sails to give us power nor any rudder to guide us, we sit at anchor. Caught in the spiritual doldrums, going nowhere. At least Paul, God bless him, had purpose. How we envy one who hears the word of God and finds courage to pick up and go, to push off into uncharted waters, to brave new continents -- in other words, how we envy those who find some real purpose for their well-oiled equipment, their healthy bodies and educated brains -- some purpose other than the neat-as-a-pin life, manicured lawn, life we too often settle for.

Be God's Person Even When He Seems Silent

We'd like to be more like Paul, spontaneous in his response to God's call, a vibrant man who lived on the cutting edge. We should remember, however, that, as far as we know, Paul did not have one of these dreams every day. The Bible tends to report earthshaking events, major turns in the road -- not every day life. Paul, and all the other saints, had to get up every day and live, just as we must. They had to shake out their bones and stretch their tired muscles, and get around a hundred distractions, and get some work done. They had to do it when they were inspired and when they were not, when they were sure what God wanted them to do and when they were not so sure. There is no reason to think that God directed them, with specific instructions, every step of the way. When people today say they wish they knew what God wanted them to do with their lives, they seem to be asking for seamless directions -- as if God were Triple A, and they could go to Him and get one of those trip-tiks for life, and it would tell them exactly what to do, and where to go, what road to take, what restaurant to eat in, every hour of every day. But, in the real world, it's not like that. We step out every morning to do God's will as best we know it, and pray always to know it better.

We have prayer to help us discover the will of God, we have scripture and the traditions of the church. If God is not speaking to us directly today (and the Bible says God is sometimes hidden from our eyes), we refer to these things! Or we contemplate the personal experiences we have had with God, drawing on the great reservoir of our own experience and the experience of others. Don't hide behind the excuse that you haven't heard the voice of God, that he hasn't laid out for you his blueprint for your life. Learn what you can of him (and you can learn a lot), and move. God will correct your course, if it is wrong. Life is short. Get going. That's something of what it means to live by faith.

Open Yourself to God's Voice

And, while we're at it (living God's will as best we can know it), we remain open always to any special word, any specific direction God might have for us. Most of us, I dare say, if we dreamed of a Macedonian man begging us to come and help -- most of us would attribute it to the burritos we ate the night before. It's true -- we have an instant and immediate way of dismissing such signs. It's a defense mechanism against God and the Holy Spirit. And armed, as we are today, with the weapons of modern psychology, we can analyze anything to death. "Was it really a man from Macedonia, or was it my alter ego trying to make me feel guilty? Perhaps it was a father figure, speaking to some unresolved issues I have with my own father." We can explain away almost anything. It keeps God at arm's length. Learn as much as you can about the will of God, live by what you know, and open yourself to God's voice.

Have the Courage to Obey God

Finally, find the courage not only to hear God's Word but also to obey. Did you ever wonder why so many important moments in the Bible begin with the words, "Be not afraid." The angels said it to the shepherds on the night of Jesus' birth, "fear not." They said it again to Mary Magedeline on Easter morning. Why? Because the presence of God, the Word of God, is a scary thing! Hearing God's direction for us is even scarier. It scary in a theatrical, dramatic sense -- to be sure. But also in a real sense. It calls for all kinds of things that frighten us: it often calls for separation from the familiar, for example. Think of Paul leaving for Macedonia. Leaving the safety of the harbor (sure), but also leaving friends, leaving a culture which he knew, leaving behind the churches he had established. Leaving for a new, and unknown world. Putting his hand into the hand of God and setting out. If you haven't visited Ellis Island since it was restored, you should do so. As you stand there beforee hundreds of pictures of all those immigrants, and hear their recorded voices, you understand quite well that courage was the issue. To leave everything (at a time when to return was a practical impossibility), to spend your last dollar for passage, to say goodbye to parents, brothers and sisters, to the town where you and your family had lived for generations, and set sail for a new world -- that took courage. It takes even more courage, sometimes, to separate ourselves from the comfortable and the familiar and do what God would have us do.

Choose and Commit!

People avoid commitments. Some never get to the point of saying, "I'm going this way, or that." They tell themselves that they are keeping their options open. And it's true: if you go west you can't go east. If you marry this person you can't marry that one. If you agree to play on the football team, you won't have Saturdays to yourself. One minister calls that kind of trade-off "a small dying." Well, if that's what it is, then it's never truer that "in dying we live." For it is in committing our lives, letting our personal freedoms die a little, that we find eternal and abundant life. It doesn't have to be a Macedonian. It doesn't have to be far away. There's lots of people out there saying, "Come and help." "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." Our response is not limited as much by our resources as by our reluctance to sign up, not so much by misunderstanding as by disobedience. And in that failure, in that refusal to seek, and hear, and do the will of God, we become beeautiful ships without sails or rudders. We become people all dressed up with no place to go. May God help us to get outside ourselves; to rise up with courage and live, and love, and find our being, before we waste all our days waiting for a map.