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"When Jesus Changes Your Plans"
December 28, 2003 The Rev. Dr. Will Eisenhower
[first part missing from tape] for me, and I know I can speak for the lovely and charming Mrs. Eisenhower as well, this has been a wonderful time with you--a wonderful chance to get to know a part of the world that I never, ever, ever thought I would ever live in. And some of you recall that the option for us, as we were trying to decide where God was going to call us next, was either here or North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And yet, we felt that God was really laying on our hearts a desire to come here, a desire to be the Interim with you. And I'm so thankful that we were listening to God because I'm sure now, in retrospect. . . Though you may not be able to claim certainty ahead of time, you know, looking back on how God has blessed something, you can claim certainty after the fact and say, "Yes, God really meant this to be." And because you were so wonderful, and welcomed us, and loved us, and accepted us, and allowed me to sort of step up and assume the role of leadership in the life of this church, we're a little bit different as a congregation. We're a little bit different than we were 15 months ago. And we are ready for some things now. When our new Senior Pastor arrives, you know, you will be ready for some new challenges.
Just as that is true, I can certainly say that Nancy and I are different than the people that we were when we arrived. As a matter of fact, I would say of all of the people that have changed as a result of us being here, I think we have changed possibly the most of all. And that's been because you've loved us, you've accepted us, you've allowed us to minister and to share in your midst. And my heart is very, very full as I think of that. And I am so glad to be able to say "thank you" to all of you for being so good, knowing that you will love and accept our new Senior Pastor and his family in the same way. And so I look forward to the wonderful things that God is going to continue to do in you and in this congregation on into the future.
Now I've chosen this morning an at least indirectly related passage. And you may want to read along with me if we turn together to Matthew chapter 2. We're going to pick up a part of the story of the wise men, or the magi. What we know is that the wise men, following a star, showed up in Jerusalem and said, "Where is he that is born king of the Jews?" that Herod consulted with the religious leaders and they said, "Well, the prophecy says that when the Messiah arrives, the birth is to take place in Bethlehem." Now, if we begin the story right at that point: they know "now is the time," they know Bethlehem is the place. If we begin in Matthew chapter 2, verse 7:
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Now, when we pay attention to the details in Scripture, we end up (and this is frequently the case and it's the case here) we end up seeing that what our common notions about a Bible story are really don't square with the picture that Scripture presents us with because, I dare say, when we don't think about it, all of us just sort of naturally assume that the wise men arrived in Bethlehem the same night that the shepherds did because in our Sunday School Christmas pageants we have the angels, and we have the shepherds, and we have the wise men, and it all sort of pretty much takes place within the same time frame. On our Christmas cards we have it that way. In our manger scenes, our creches, you've got baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, angels, shepherds, wise men. Well, when we look at this, we discover several things that indicate that was very probably not the way that it was.
For starters, the wise men (and that may not even be the best way to think of them). The wise men were magi from a nation to the east, Iran or Iraq. They would have been the magicians of the day. They would have been the astrologers of the day, but they also would have been the scientists of the day, because we're talking about a period in time where what we would now call "superstition" and what we would now call "science"--though in our mind there's a huge difference between what we regard as simply "superstition" and what we regard as "science"--you know, there was a time when all of that was a common area of study. And so these would have been the scientists of the day, the religious experts of the day, and regarded in the Christian tradition as very, very important because they were an indication that the Gentiles were intended, from the very beginning, to come to Jesus, right along with the Jews. You see? The Church has seen this as a very, very important first illustration of the fact that the king of the Jews was not intended to be for the Jews only, but that the king of the Jews was intended to be the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and that there would be a response to what God has done in Jesus that would include, actually, most of us. Most of us, you know, don't have Jewish backgrounds. Most of us come from a Gentile line. And so in the wise men, in the magi, we see our own selves. We see "us" illustrated for us, you know, at the earliest point.
Well, how early is this? Very probably the magi did not arrive on the night of Jesus' birth. There are several little pointers to that. We notice that it says, "on entering the house." It doesn't say, "on entering the stable." It says that they entered the "house." It doesn't say that they "saw the newborn infant." It says that they "saw the child." And for several other reasons, including we know, as the next part of the story, that Herod becomes very, very angry and the order that he gives is not to have every "newborn infant" slaughtered, massacred, but every "child two years and under." So we're talking about a later period. And that's important. And who they are is important. And what they symbolize is important.
And I'm going to ask us to pay attention to the importance of that last verse, verse 12. "And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road." When we seek to honor Jesus Christ, there are decisions that we need to make. And I want us to see illustrated here the fact that decisions that might be made according to worldly criteria--when the biggest feature of our life is our desire to honor Jesus, when that's the focus, we discover that worldly criteria become inadequate for helping us to decide on things small and on things large. They were ordered by Herod, the civil authority, to come back and make a report. Well, you know, they did not. They did not. And when Jesus is our authority, what we discover is that if civil authority and God for us in Jesus Christ, when what they are asking of us are incompatible, we need to do what honors God rather than what honors men. We need to not continue to follow the dictates of civil authorities. We always should for as long as possible, but when you get to the point where God says, "Don't go back to Herod" and Herod says, "Come back and make me a report," you have to do what God says.
Now, what else? Well, in nearly every way that we can think of, it would have been appropriate for them to go back up to Jerusalem and to retrace their steps. But it says, "Having been warned in a dream not to return that way, they left for their own country by another road." Sometimes what God asks of us is not what logic dictates. It's not what the rulers, the civil authorities, say. It's not what logic dictates. I mean, it would have been perfectly logical (if "logical" had had the final word), it would have been perfectly logical for them to say, "OK, this is good. We came, we gave gold and frankincense and myrrh, and, now, hey, I mean, you know, Bethlehem's kind of a dusty little town and Jerusalem is the capital. Let's go back up by way of Jerusalem, where we can get our supplies for our camels." That would have been perfectly logical. But, no, God said, "Don't do it that way."
So what the civil authorities say, what logic says, what natural indicators would say, what natural criteria would indicate--we always want to do what is normal and natural unless what is super-natural and super-normal comes and tells us otherwise. And if we intend to honor Jesus Christ, if that's the center of our lives, if we want Him to be our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords, then what would naturally be indicated by a situation, you know, needs to be set aside. So I've said civil authorities, and logic, and all of the empirical evidence, and then, last of all, what is familiar. What is familiar to you--they're very familiar with the road out from the east, out to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem. They have to go back by a way that they're not familiar with.
Now, does Jesus sometimes ask us to do what is unfamiliar to us? And what is not in line with what the empirical evidence would dictate? And does not seem to us at a particular moment in time to be logical? And is even what our culture says the opposite to? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, sometimes that is true. Sometimes God has a way that is better than the way that is familiar, and in line with the empirical evidence, and logical, and what culture dictates.
Now, the tricky thing is--the tricky thing is though it's true (as I just said) if we're honoring Jesus, if we're being obedient to God, sometimes we end up having to do something different than the familiar, the natural, the logical, the respectable. But man, oh man, if there's a mistake that Christians have loved making down through the ages, it's saying, "OK, well I'm just going to do something unfamiliar, and contrary to the empirical evidence, and not logical, and contrary to what society is telling me. And that will be sure to honor Jesus, right?" Well, no. Not necessarily. Reinhold Niehbuhr used to say, "There's a difference between being a fool for Christ and being just plain a fool." And sometimes, in our eagerness to be obedient, we aren't fools for Christ. We can be just plain a fool because we go, "OK, I want to honor Jesus, so I'm going to do these things that are, well, silly, really." No. Being obedient to God, as God has revealed His heart to us in His Son Jesus, as we celebrate it at Christmas time--that's the constant.
And what we're saying is that the familiar needs to be the variable. And the things supported by the empirical evidence needs to be the variable. And the thing supported by logic, and by our culture, by society--those things need to be the variable. That's infinitely different than the stance that would say, "OK, I'm always going to do the opposite of what society tells me. I'm always going to do the opposite of what would be logical."
As in: the town that I served as Interim prior to coming here, in Prescott, Arizona. You know Prescott's a fairly small town and we all kind of know about each other. And there's a church in town--it's not a Presbyterian Church, as you're going to be able to tell as soon as I describe it to you, and not a mainline church. In fact, many of the people in the town would call this church--it's an independent Bible Church that many people would just say is a cult. And we don't need to sort of settle that one, but there's a church in Prescott, and you may know of religious fellowships just like this. Periodically, they decide that they want to have a "march for Jesus" around the courthouse downtown. Now, if they applied for a parade permit, I think there's every reason to think that they would be given an opportunity, kind of like any other organization. But they never apply for a parade permit. They just gather and begin marching. And then, you know, when the police arrive to try to disperse them, they get to say, "Oh, my gosh! Look at this! We're so faithful we're being persecuted for our faith. This is a wonderful thing." Well, no, it's not a wonderful thing. And, actually, you're making Christianity look bad in the eyes of everybody because you've decided that honoring Jesus is always the same as disobeying what the civil authorities tell you.
Well, that's not supported by Scripture. Nor is always doing the thing that is unfamiliar to you. You go, "OK, now, I know that God wants my life with Him to be hard, so I'm always going to do the things that are the hardest because I'm sure that God always . . ." Well, no, actually. Sometimes God asks you to be faithful doing the easiest thing for you. It's just that honoring Jesus needs to be the constant and all of these other things need to be the variable.
Now, I don't know if the Eisenhowers going to Fargo sort of completely fits this or not. Because it is not the case that the civil authorities told us we could not go to Fargo. But it is the case that it doesn't seem logical to me that God would . . . I mean, if I were to ask what would be the logical thing for God to do with us--well, during the last months, there is another church--a large, a two-pastor church, another church in the Grand Canyons Presbytery (which is to say, the presbytery that I just came from). And, honestly, if you wanted to ask me what's the most logical thing for God to do with the Eisenhowers now that we've had a taste of the Northland, now that I've discovered things about you all like it is not the case that when you go out in the wintertime that you're in danger of being eaten by a polar bear. I've learned some things about life in Minnesota that I did not used to know.
But logically, surely God would say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. We're sending you back to Arizona now." That's the logical thing. So I can't say that it's contrary to what civil society would say, but I would say, you know, this is not really in line with what logic would dictate, with the empirical evidence. I mean, you know, we've seen churches looking for Interim Senior Pastors that I think are much more in line with my gifts, and talents, and skills. Just starting with, you know, I played guitar with you. First Pres, Fargo, does not have any contemporary worship services. All of their worship services are formal and traditional. And not just formal and traditional, but sort of old-time Presbyterian formal and traditional. And so you look at the logic of it, you look at what the empirical evidence would sort of indicate, and you go, "Well, God, I mean, we've got some other options that really sort of seem to line up better . . ."
And familiar? I can truthfully say I'm not that familiar with North Dakota. Neither my wife nor I are really all that familiar with North Dakota. And yet, when we first learned--I mean, I think this is true of both of us. I know it was true of me and I think it was true of Nancy. When we first learned that there was such a thing as First Presbyterian Church, Fargo, North Dakota, and that their Senior Pastor had left, and that they were looking for an Interim and Acting Head of Staff, in our hearts both of us thought, "Oh, wow!" Do you understand? I mean, it wasn't a certainty, you know, but it was an enthusiasm. It was an interest. It was sort of a delight. It was like, "Wouldn't that be funny?!" Wouldn't that be funny if God sent us from as close to the North Pole as we are right now, even closer?
And so, just from the beginning of this process, you know, it was out of our desire to honor Jesus, it was out of our desire to be faithful, it was out of our desire to seek God's guidance and allow Him to send us and direct us. Now again (and this is probably something that does need to get belabored from time to time) the thing is not to say, "OK, we know it's got to be against what society says. We know it's got to be illogical. We know it's got to be contrary to the empirical evidence. We know it can't be what's familiar to us." No. That's not how the decision is made.
It's just you get your priorities straight, and then you allow these other indicators to be important or not, depending on what the hand of God seems to be doing. And in the Presbyterian system, it's very, very important that we see, as Presbyterians, a call from God as something that has to get confirmed both on the pastor's side and on the church side. So if the church becomes certain, but we're feeling like, "Wait . . . um . . . it just doesn't feel right to us." Or if we're just raring to go and on the church side they're kind of going, "Hmmm . . . well . . ." Then that's not from God. But when both sides agree, that's how you can decide on things like this.
The way that Presbyterians do things is certainly not the only way to be a Christian. And at major times, it's not even the best way to be a Christian. But the Bible shows us the things that ought to always be true of us, Presbyterian or not. And the Bible shows us, on page, after page, after page, people listening for God's guidance, people willing to do the familiar thing for God when that's what God is asking and people willing to do the unfamiliar thing.
Now, just to conclude, for us as a family, for the Faith "family of faith" in the days ahead, I just want to alert you to the fact that some of you might be saying, "Well, gosh, you know, when that Will Eisenhower was with us, you know, we did some changing. Boy, am I ever glad that the day of change is over and done with now. We changed, and we're done, and now we're just going to status quo all the way." I just want to say, "No." There will surely come for you all, times once again where you have to say, "OK, now, it's familiar, but is this what God is asking us? It lines up with empirical reality, but is this what God is asking us? It's logical, it relates to society really well, but does it honor Jesus?"
Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for being a wonderful God. Lord, we thank you for your Word, which is our light in darkness. Lord, we ask that your hand of blessing would continue to be on this wonderful congregation. And it's in the strong name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Will Eisenhower Interim Pastor Faith Presbyterian Church Minnetonka, Minnesota
[Transcribed from an audiotape of the 9:00 a.m. worship service on December 28, 2003.] |
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