The call
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series V, Cycle A
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9 (C)
God calls Abraham to leave his homeland and go to the country that God had promised him. God pledged Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham obeys God by setting out with his aged, barren wife and his nephew, Lot.
Lesson 1: Hosea 6:3--6 (RC); Hosea 5:15-6:6 (E, L)
Hosea prophesied in the early part of the eighth century B.C., a contemporary of Isaiah. Underneath the pronouncements of judgment is an impassioned entreaty for his people to know and love him. God threatens to turn away from his sinful people until they repent. The loyalty of the people is superficial, like the morning cloud or dew (v. 4). God concludes that he would rather have his people know him and love him than engage in meaningless ritual actions (v. 6).
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25 (C); Romans 4:18--25 (RC, L); Romans 4:13--18 (E)
Paul holds up Abraham as an example of saving faith. Abraham was accepted by God not because he kept the Law but as a result of his obedience to the Lord. He trusted in God's promise and it was regarded by God as righteousness. His acceptance by God could not have come through keeping the Law, since he had not yet been circumcised, but through faith. Those who likewise have faith in the God of Abraham, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, will also have their faith regarded as righteousness by God.
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26 (C); Matthew 9:9--13 (RC, E, L)
Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector for the despised Roman occupiers, to follow him. Matthew accepts his challenge to discipleship and proceeds to invite his old cronies to his house to dine with Jesus. This action scandalizes the Pharisees who are shocked that Jesus was freely associating with notorious sinners. Jesus responds to their criticism with an observation, a criticism and a pronouncement. The observation: ''Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick.'' The criticism: ''Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'' This ties in directly to the First Lesson (Hosea 6:6). The pronouncement: ''For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners'' (vv. 12--13).
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 33:1--12 (C) - ''Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord'' (v. 12a).
Psalm 50:1, 8, 12--15 (RC); Psalm 50 (E); Psalm 50:1--15 (L) - ''Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving ...'' (v. 15a).
216
Prayer Of The Day
Merciful and gracious God, with broken heart and tears we confess to you our moral and spiritual weakness, reflected in a shallow faith and superficial repentance. By your Holy Spirit, free us from spiritual pride and fortify our faith, so that our entire lives might prove to be a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9
Blessed for blessing. God instructed Abraham to go to a land that he would show him so that he might bless him and also bless all the people of the earth through him. Like Abraham, God blesses those who journey forth at Christ's beckoning. We are blessed in order to transmit God's blessing to all the world.
Faith of our father. Abraham is the father not only of the Jews, but of the Moslems and Christians too. He is our father in faith. Unfortunately, not all who belong to Abraham's family share the faith of our father.
Lesson 1: Hosea 5:15-6:6
God, the spurned lover. Hosea paints a passionate picture of God. He is not so much the judge or the sovereign, demanding obedience to the letter of the law. No, he is like the lover who has been betrayed by his beloved. Hosea's painful ordeal with his own wife is a metaphor of God's relationship with his people. Hosea presents us with an emotionally wounded deity who is almost beside himself. ''What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judea?'' (v. 4).
Loyalty due and dew--like loyalty. In verse 4, God bemoans the lack of loyalty on the part of his people. He describes it using the simile of morning dew (v. 4) - ephemeral, fleeting, easily absorbed. God yearns for the loyalty and faithfulness he regards as due him. All he receives is dew--like loyalty.
The kind of sacrifice God desires. In verse 6, God says that he desires steadfast love and not sacrifice. Actually, he yearns for the sacrifice of our love and loyalty as opposed to a superficial sacrifice of a cultic nature. It's not that religious sacrifice was bad but that it was devoid of heart and soul.
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25
Faith, the long and short of it. Paul informs us that Abraham was not only a man of faith but of hope, as well. Actually, faith and hope are two aspects of the same reality. Faith is trust directed toward God in the near term, in the present moment. Hope is faith projected into the future. It is faith in the long term. Abraham exercised faith in the near term by going at God's command. He showed forth faith in the long term (hope) by believing that God would make of him a great nation someday, even though he would never live to see it. Now you have the short and the long of it, faith, that is.
God is able. Paul states in verse 21 that Abraham didn't waver in his faith convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. This skeptical generation has partially disabled God. The gospels record that often times, before Jesus would heal somebody, he would ask whether or not they believed he was able to heal them. Their faith seems to have had an enabling capacity for Jesus. Is our faith enabling God to do wonderful things in our life?
The power of praise. Verse 20 states that Abraham ''grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.'' In some mysterious way, praise allows us to plug into the power of God. Perhaps, this power derives because in worship God's Spirit enters into our spirit.
217
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26
Why does Jesus eat with sinners? The Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples why he dined with tax collectors and sinners. This was not a real question, of course; it was a criticism. They could not conceive of any reason why a righteous Jew would ever eat with blatant sinners. Nevertheless, the question remains a good one and a fruitful topic for a sermon. Possible answers: He eats with sinners to demonstrate God's love for them. Because God wants to save them. Because sinners are the only ones open to God. Maybe Christ eats with sinners because that's the only kind of human being available. The Eucharist provides a very special occasion for thanking God that he does indeed eat with and reach out to sinners.
How to know when you're ill. Jesus came to be the physician to the sick. That is, he came to bring healing to those who realize their illness. If a person becomes ill but doesn't know he is sick or denies his illness, that person cannot be helped or healed. How does one know when he is spiritually ill? Anxiety becomes crippling. Relationships break down, starting with one's relationship with the Lord. Life becomes joyless. These are but a few symptoms. The first step to wholeness occurs when the afflicted person acknowledges his diseased condition. The second step is to put your life under the care of a physician you can trust. Jesus said: ''Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick'' (v. 12).
PREACHING APPROACHES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9
Sermon Title: How To Secure A Blessing.
Sermon Angle: There is no shortage of self--appointed preachers who are ready, willing and able (they claim) to unleash a torrent of God's blessings. All one has to do is demonstrate faith by sending in a little cash. The Abraham narrative shows us that blessings flow from our relationship with the Lord; they result from faith and obedience.
Outline:
1. God desires to bless us like he did Abraham
2. How did Abraham obtain God's blessing?
- he believed God
- he obeyed God
- he persevered in hope
3. Because Abraham was faithful, he was a font of blessing for others
Lesson 1: Hosea 5:15-6:6
Sermon Title: Levels Of Loyalty
Sermon Angle: God's love and loyalty is as dependable and life--giving as the spring rains, according to Hosea (v. 3). The loyalty of God's people for their Lord is quite another thing; ephemeral as the morning dew on a summer's day (v. 4). The loyalty and faithfulness of God and that of his people are on two entirely different levels. We can always count on God's faithfulness, but can God count on our loyalty to him? God desires that we know and love him as we grow into an ever deepening level of loyalty.
Outline:
1. God's love for us has always been there for us but our love for God has often been lacking (v. 3)
2. Loyalty is not highly valued in our individualistic culture, leading to brokenness and unhappiness
3. Relationships are more essential than outward actions (v. 6a)
- God yearns for us to know and love him
- He also requires faithfulness in our earthly relationships
4. Know the joy of moving to deeper levels of loyalty with God
218
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25
Sermon Title: The Flesh Is Weak But The Spirit Is Able
Sermon Angle: Paul says that Abraham trusted in God's promise of becoming the father of a great nation even though his body was ''good as dead'' (v. 19). His spirit was able and willing, even though his flesh was weak. In Paul's thinking, the flesh not only represents our body but our propensity to sin. We err by putting too much confidence in our flesh (physical strength) but our God is able and, by faith, we are enabled to do great things through the power of the Spirit.
Outline:
1. Abraham was old and physically weak
2. He was enabled by faith in God's promises to be the father of nations and our father in faith
3. The Spirit of God within us is our vital force, not our physical strength
4. Let God empower you for life's journey
Sermon Title: Generativity For The Geriatric Set
Sermon Angle: In our youth--dominated culture, those of advanced age are marginalized because it is believed that they don't have the capacity or strength to accomplish anything worthwhile. How mistaken they are. God has done great things with older people. Moses was quite advanced in years when he was called of God to deliver the Hebrews from their bondage in Egypt. Abraham was old when the Lord ordered him to leave his familiar surroundings for a new land, a new task and a fresh identity. Sarah was past child--bearing years when she became pregnant. Our God is the Creator of all generativity and he can launch new and creative endeavors through people of any age.
Outline:
1. God used Abraham and Sarah in their sunset years to start a new nation
2. God is the source of generativity, not youth (give examples of older people who lead productive and creative lives)
3. To what new thing is God calling you?
A Great evangelist of the nineteenth century, Dwight L. Moody, describes three different kinds of faith. First, there is struggling faith, which is compared to a person struggling to survive in deep waters. Second, there is clinging faith, which is likened to a person clinging to the edge of a boat while his body is still in the water. Finally, there is resting faith, which finds a person securely inside the boat and is free to reach out to other poor souls who are thrashing in the sea of life.
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26
Sermon Title: Mercy Me
Sermon Angle: After Jesus called Matthew, numbers of other tax collectors came to dine with Jesus. This scandalized the orthodox Pharisees, who were more concerned about maintaining their spiritual purity than in reclaiming sinners into the company of the committed. They indignantly queried the disciples as to why their master ate with sinners. Jesus chides the Pharisees' narrow, egotistical outlook and then quotes from Hosea 5:6: ''I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'' Jesus teaches that the Lord is a God of mercy and he looks for mercy and compassion in those who are his own. As used in the sermon title, mercy is a verb, though it is not normally so used. Those who are weak and those who are sinners are crying out, ''Mercy me,'' much in the same manner that the lepers cried, ''Lord, have mercy on us.''
219
Outline:
1. There are two kinds of religion
- a narrow, judgmental religion that separates the believers from others
- an open religion that issues from gratitude and leads to compassion
2. Jesus denounces the former and demonstrates the latter type of religion
3. Many cry out ''mercy me'' and the church must invite such ones to Christ's table of grace
Sermon Title: The Call
Sermon Angle: Both Abraham and Matthew got a surprise call from God. The call had nothing to do with moral rectitude. Neither was especially deserving of a call because of past performance. It was an act of God's grace. What is noteworthy is that both of them responded faithfully to the call and followed God's leading. Every Christian has been issued a gracious call from Christ to a new life. To enter that new life requires a response of faith, demonstrated through obedience.
Outline:
1. God called Matthew to a new life
2. His call was not based on merit, only grace
3. What happened before the call doesn't matter
4. Through our baptism, we have all been called to follow Jesus
5. How have we answered that call?
Paul Tournier addresses an essential component of this thing we call faith in his book: The Adventure Of Living. It is called surrender. It's what Abraham did and Matthew did when they accepted God's call. Faith is not possible without surrender. In the chapter titled ''Surrender,'' Tournier tells of his best friend who came to faith in Christ. His friend described his surrender as an ah hah experience. ''Now I understand,'' he exclaimed. ''What I must do is put my signature at the bottom of a blank page on which I will accept everything God deigns to inscribe on it. I have no idea what God is going to write on this blank contract but I have complete confidence in what God will place there.'' To take this risk is to embark on a life of adventure. So often, the stereotypes that we have of religious types is that of rigid, unimaginative dullness. Can you imagine the life of Abraham being a drag? Do you think Matthew left the fast lane for a life of relentless boredom? Ridiculous! Religion can produce mind--numbing rigidity and sameness but that can never be said of faith which is authentic. Tournier makes a sage observation when he makes the analogy that our attitude toward life reflects our attitude toward God and that saying yes to life is synonymous with saying yes to God.
Three years ago, my wife and I set out on a journey of faith. For various reasons we felt that the Lord was leading us to leave where we were and what we were doing and set out on a new adventure of faith. I resigned my call of almost ten years and we moved to Omaha. I pursued some inklings to write both a worship and a sermonic resource. Just when it appeared that endeavor was seeming less and less viable financially, the Lord secured the contract to write this book. When the part time pastor position I had was drawing to an end and my three year ''on leave from call'' status was drawing to a conclusion, the Lord opened up for me a wonderful opportunity to serve him in a fresh way just a few miles from where I live. That congregation was looking and praying for just the kind of leadership I had to offer. By faith, life becomes a wonderful journey into new realms and God is our trusted tour director.
220
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9 (C)
God calls Abraham to leave his homeland and go to the country that God had promised him. God pledged Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham obeys God by setting out with his aged, barren wife and his nephew, Lot.
Lesson 1: Hosea 6:3--6 (RC); Hosea 5:15-6:6 (E, L)
Hosea prophesied in the early part of the eighth century B.C., a contemporary of Isaiah. Underneath the pronouncements of judgment is an impassioned entreaty for his people to know and love him. God threatens to turn away from his sinful people until they repent. The loyalty of the people is superficial, like the morning cloud or dew (v. 4). God concludes that he would rather have his people know him and love him than engage in meaningless ritual actions (v. 6).
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25 (C); Romans 4:18--25 (RC, L); Romans 4:13--18 (E)
Paul holds up Abraham as an example of saving faith. Abraham was accepted by God not because he kept the Law but as a result of his obedience to the Lord. He trusted in God's promise and it was regarded by God as righteousness. His acceptance by God could not have come through keeping the Law, since he had not yet been circumcised, but through faith. Those who likewise have faith in the God of Abraham, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, will also have their faith regarded as righteousness by God.
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26 (C); Matthew 9:9--13 (RC, E, L)
Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector for the despised Roman occupiers, to follow him. Matthew accepts his challenge to discipleship and proceeds to invite his old cronies to his house to dine with Jesus. This action scandalizes the Pharisees who are shocked that Jesus was freely associating with notorious sinners. Jesus responds to their criticism with an observation, a criticism and a pronouncement. The observation: ''Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick.'' The criticism: ''Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'' This ties in directly to the First Lesson (Hosea 6:6). The pronouncement: ''For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners'' (vv. 12--13).
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 33:1--12 (C) - ''Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord'' (v. 12a).
Psalm 50:1, 8, 12--15 (RC); Psalm 50 (E); Psalm 50:1--15 (L) - ''Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving ...'' (v. 15a).
216
Prayer Of The Day
Merciful and gracious God, with broken heart and tears we confess to you our moral and spiritual weakness, reflected in a shallow faith and superficial repentance. By your Holy Spirit, free us from spiritual pride and fortify our faith, so that our entire lives might prove to be a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9
Blessed for blessing. God instructed Abraham to go to a land that he would show him so that he might bless him and also bless all the people of the earth through him. Like Abraham, God blesses those who journey forth at Christ's beckoning. We are blessed in order to transmit God's blessing to all the world.
Faith of our father. Abraham is the father not only of the Jews, but of the Moslems and Christians too. He is our father in faith. Unfortunately, not all who belong to Abraham's family share the faith of our father.
Lesson 1: Hosea 5:15-6:6
God, the spurned lover. Hosea paints a passionate picture of God. He is not so much the judge or the sovereign, demanding obedience to the letter of the law. No, he is like the lover who has been betrayed by his beloved. Hosea's painful ordeal with his own wife is a metaphor of God's relationship with his people. Hosea presents us with an emotionally wounded deity who is almost beside himself. ''What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judea?'' (v. 4).
Loyalty due and dew--like loyalty. In verse 4, God bemoans the lack of loyalty on the part of his people. He describes it using the simile of morning dew (v. 4) - ephemeral, fleeting, easily absorbed. God yearns for the loyalty and faithfulness he regards as due him. All he receives is dew--like loyalty.
The kind of sacrifice God desires. In verse 6, God says that he desires steadfast love and not sacrifice. Actually, he yearns for the sacrifice of our love and loyalty as opposed to a superficial sacrifice of a cultic nature. It's not that religious sacrifice was bad but that it was devoid of heart and soul.
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25
Faith, the long and short of it. Paul informs us that Abraham was not only a man of faith but of hope, as well. Actually, faith and hope are two aspects of the same reality. Faith is trust directed toward God in the near term, in the present moment. Hope is faith projected into the future. It is faith in the long term. Abraham exercised faith in the near term by going at God's command. He showed forth faith in the long term (hope) by believing that God would make of him a great nation someday, even though he would never live to see it. Now you have the short and the long of it, faith, that is.
God is able. Paul states in verse 21 that Abraham didn't waver in his faith convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. This skeptical generation has partially disabled God. The gospels record that often times, before Jesus would heal somebody, he would ask whether or not they believed he was able to heal them. Their faith seems to have had an enabling capacity for Jesus. Is our faith enabling God to do wonderful things in our life?
The power of praise. Verse 20 states that Abraham ''grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.'' In some mysterious way, praise allows us to plug into the power of God. Perhaps, this power derives because in worship God's Spirit enters into our spirit.
217
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26
Why does Jesus eat with sinners? The Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples why he dined with tax collectors and sinners. This was not a real question, of course; it was a criticism. They could not conceive of any reason why a righteous Jew would ever eat with blatant sinners. Nevertheless, the question remains a good one and a fruitful topic for a sermon. Possible answers: He eats with sinners to demonstrate God's love for them. Because God wants to save them. Because sinners are the only ones open to God. Maybe Christ eats with sinners because that's the only kind of human being available. The Eucharist provides a very special occasion for thanking God that he does indeed eat with and reach out to sinners.
How to know when you're ill. Jesus came to be the physician to the sick. That is, he came to bring healing to those who realize their illness. If a person becomes ill but doesn't know he is sick or denies his illness, that person cannot be helped or healed. How does one know when he is spiritually ill? Anxiety becomes crippling. Relationships break down, starting with one's relationship with the Lord. Life becomes joyless. These are but a few symptoms. The first step to wholeness occurs when the afflicted person acknowledges his diseased condition. The second step is to put your life under the care of a physician you can trust. Jesus said: ''Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick'' (v. 12).
PREACHING APPROACHES WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 12:1--9
Sermon Title: How To Secure A Blessing.
Sermon Angle: There is no shortage of self--appointed preachers who are ready, willing and able (they claim) to unleash a torrent of God's blessings. All one has to do is demonstrate faith by sending in a little cash. The Abraham narrative shows us that blessings flow from our relationship with the Lord; they result from faith and obedience.
Outline:
1. God desires to bless us like he did Abraham
2. How did Abraham obtain God's blessing?
- he believed God
- he obeyed God
- he persevered in hope
3. Because Abraham was faithful, he was a font of blessing for others
Lesson 1: Hosea 5:15-6:6
Sermon Title: Levels Of Loyalty
Sermon Angle: God's love and loyalty is as dependable and life--giving as the spring rains, according to Hosea (v. 3). The loyalty of God's people for their Lord is quite another thing; ephemeral as the morning dew on a summer's day (v. 4). The loyalty and faithfulness of God and that of his people are on two entirely different levels. We can always count on God's faithfulness, but can God count on our loyalty to him? God desires that we know and love him as we grow into an ever deepening level of loyalty.
Outline:
1. God's love for us has always been there for us but our love for God has often been lacking (v. 3)
2. Loyalty is not highly valued in our individualistic culture, leading to brokenness and unhappiness
3. Relationships are more essential than outward actions (v. 6a)
- God yearns for us to know and love him
- He also requires faithfulness in our earthly relationships
4. Know the joy of moving to deeper levels of loyalty with God
218
Lesson 2: Romans 4:13--25
Sermon Title: The Flesh Is Weak But The Spirit Is Able
Sermon Angle: Paul says that Abraham trusted in God's promise of becoming the father of a great nation even though his body was ''good as dead'' (v. 19). His spirit was able and willing, even though his flesh was weak. In Paul's thinking, the flesh not only represents our body but our propensity to sin. We err by putting too much confidence in our flesh (physical strength) but our God is able and, by faith, we are enabled to do great things through the power of the Spirit.
Outline:
1. Abraham was old and physically weak
2. He was enabled by faith in God's promises to be the father of nations and our father in faith
3. The Spirit of God within us is our vital force, not our physical strength
4. Let God empower you for life's journey
Sermon Title: Generativity For The Geriatric Set
Sermon Angle: In our youth--dominated culture, those of advanced age are marginalized because it is believed that they don't have the capacity or strength to accomplish anything worthwhile. How mistaken they are. God has done great things with older people. Moses was quite advanced in years when he was called of God to deliver the Hebrews from their bondage in Egypt. Abraham was old when the Lord ordered him to leave his familiar surroundings for a new land, a new task and a fresh identity. Sarah was past child--bearing years when she became pregnant. Our God is the Creator of all generativity and he can launch new and creative endeavors through people of any age.
Outline:
1. God used Abraham and Sarah in their sunset years to start a new nation
2. God is the source of generativity, not youth (give examples of older people who lead productive and creative lives)
3. To what new thing is God calling you?
A Great evangelist of the nineteenth century, Dwight L. Moody, describes three different kinds of faith. First, there is struggling faith, which is compared to a person struggling to survive in deep waters. Second, there is clinging faith, which is likened to a person clinging to the edge of a boat while his body is still in the water. Finally, there is resting faith, which finds a person securely inside the boat and is free to reach out to other poor souls who are thrashing in the sea of life.
Gospel: Matthew 9:9--13, 18--26
Sermon Title: Mercy Me
Sermon Angle: After Jesus called Matthew, numbers of other tax collectors came to dine with Jesus. This scandalized the orthodox Pharisees, who were more concerned about maintaining their spiritual purity than in reclaiming sinners into the company of the committed. They indignantly queried the disciples as to why their master ate with sinners. Jesus chides the Pharisees' narrow, egotistical outlook and then quotes from Hosea 5:6: ''I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'' Jesus teaches that the Lord is a God of mercy and he looks for mercy and compassion in those who are his own. As used in the sermon title, mercy is a verb, though it is not normally so used. Those who are weak and those who are sinners are crying out, ''Mercy me,'' much in the same manner that the lepers cried, ''Lord, have mercy on us.''
219
Outline:
1. There are two kinds of religion
- a narrow, judgmental religion that separates the believers from others
- an open religion that issues from gratitude and leads to compassion
2. Jesus denounces the former and demonstrates the latter type of religion
3. Many cry out ''mercy me'' and the church must invite such ones to Christ's table of grace
Sermon Title: The Call
Sermon Angle: Both Abraham and Matthew got a surprise call from God. The call had nothing to do with moral rectitude. Neither was especially deserving of a call because of past performance. It was an act of God's grace. What is noteworthy is that both of them responded faithfully to the call and followed God's leading. Every Christian has been issued a gracious call from Christ to a new life. To enter that new life requires a response of faith, demonstrated through obedience.
Outline:
1. God called Matthew to a new life
2. His call was not based on merit, only grace
3. What happened before the call doesn't matter
4. Through our baptism, we have all been called to follow Jesus
5. How have we answered that call?
Paul Tournier addresses an essential component of this thing we call faith in his book: The Adventure Of Living. It is called surrender. It's what Abraham did and Matthew did when they accepted God's call. Faith is not possible without surrender. In the chapter titled ''Surrender,'' Tournier tells of his best friend who came to faith in Christ. His friend described his surrender as an ah hah experience. ''Now I understand,'' he exclaimed. ''What I must do is put my signature at the bottom of a blank page on which I will accept everything God deigns to inscribe on it. I have no idea what God is going to write on this blank contract but I have complete confidence in what God will place there.'' To take this risk is to embark on a life of adventure. So often, the stereotypes that we have of religious types is that of rigid, unimaginative dullness. Can you imagine the life of Abraham being a drag? Do you think Matthew left the fast lane for a life of relentless boredom? Ridiculous! Religion can produce mind--numbing rigidity and sameness but that can never be said of faith which is authentic. Tournier makes a sage observation when he makes the analogy that our attitude toward life reflects our attitude toward God and that saying yes to life is synonymous with saying yes to God.
Three years ago, my wife and I set out on a journey of faith. For various reasons we felt that the Lord was leading us to leave where we were and what we were doing and set out on a new adventure of faith. I resigned my call of almost ten years and we moved to Omaha. I pursued some inklings to write both a worship and a sermonic resource. Just when it appeared that endeavor was seeming less and less viable financially, the Lord secured the contract to write this book. When the part time pastor position I had was drawing to an end and my three year ''on leave from call'' status was drawing to a conclusion, the Lord opened up for me a wonderful opportunity to serve him in a fresh way just a few miles from where I live. That congregation was looking and praying for just the kind of leadership I had to offer. By faith, life becomes a wonderful journey into new realms and God is our trusted tour director.
220
