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Sermon by Carrie Yearick Connecting
the Dots Hebrews 11:29-12:3 |
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I am going on vacation tomorrow! I am flying to Columbus, GA to see my sister Jane, who just had a little baby girl — Baby Jensen. Now Jensen’s big brother, Jasper, has already informed me that we will be going to the pool near his house. I am sure he has lots of water tricks to show me and he will probably scare me half to death with his dare devil flips off the diving board. He is only seven years old, but he has no fear! He also knows that his favorite Aunt Carrie just might fling him up in the air so he makes a big splash as he plops back down in the water. Now, it won’t be so bad the first couple of days when I am just with Jasper. But by the weekend, my whole family — all seven siblings and their families will converge in Atlanta for a big family get together. Now, I will not only have Jasper to contend with, but also McKenna, Jackson, and Kallie! Favorite Aunt Carrie only has so many good muscles left in her aging body! I usually have two or three of them on me at once as we twirl, splash and have fun!
Now, have you ever tried to move through the water with three kids hanging all over you? I call this "drag coefficient". In fact, in my family anything that is weighing us down is teasingly known as the "drag coefficient". Got a kid hanging on your leg? the "drag coefficient"! Giving someone a piggyback ride — "the drag coefficient"; pulling the back of someone’s shirt while they are trying to move forward — "the drag coefficient"; too many bills this month "the drag coefficient"; you get the idea!
I think the author of Hebrews knows exactly what this "drag coefficient" thing is. He writes, "so we must get rid of everything that slows us down especially the sin that just won’t let go." Getting rid of the spiritual "drag coefficient" is necessary in order that our faith can become an example to others.
So, what is weighing you down? What is it that slows you down? Is it unhealthy guilt or excessive worry? Is it too many hours away from your family? Is it something in your past that you just can’t shake? Is it too many Sunday’s absent from your faith community? Is it not enough prayer or daily connection with God that keeps your life empty and yearning? What kind of "drag coefficient" slows you down? The whole chapter eleven in Hebrews gives us litany after litany of names of people of faith: Moses, Rahab, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, and so on. Yet each of these faithful people had the "drag coefficient" in their lives — Moses might have been eaten alive with guilt of knowing he killed someone — I think this is major "drag coefficient"; Rahab had the little problem of being a prostitute; Noah got drunk and walked out of his tent naked, and Sarah laughed at God. Somehow, each of them got rid of their "drag coefficient" enough so that it didn’t slow them down in doing what God wanted them to do. Forgiveness is possible; behavioral change can happen; renewal of spirit and soul can be felt and minds change.
When the "drag coefficient" is cast off you see things like:
- Getting a whole nation to believe that freedom is possible and to walk with you into the desert and then parting the Red Sea so your nation won’t be killed.
- Things like, having a baby in your ripe old age and having him become a founding father of faith.
- Things like taking the first steps out of your boat and actually walking on water toward Christ who is standing in the middle of the sea;
- Things like giving back the taxes you stole from common people after Jesus came to eat with you.
Things happen when we rid ourselves of that which slows us down. Somehow, we are able to move from being stuck in our positions in life, or frozen from our guilt and worry, to moving into a more trusting relationship with God where faith is played out by our style of life, the things we say, and the attitudes we present. As Hebrews puts it, it is by faith that we run this race. By faith, Moses believes that God has a plan for God’s people — Did he know it was going to entail forty years of wandering in the wilderness? No, but even in the worst of times, there was a sense that a bigger purpose was being played out. The hand of God was there — Moses knew it even when he smashes those tablets! He understands his purpose in life as he gazes across the mountain and sees the Promised Land.
Do you understand your purpose in life? How has God revealed that purpose to you? How have you responded?
I love how theologians Helen Musick and Duffy Robbins describe faith and God’s design for the picture for our lives. They state:
Doing a connect-the-dots puzzle is a little like practicing faith. You begin by believing that an image really will be revealed–even though you have no idea what it is. In other words you can’t see the picture, but you believe it’s there. You trust that an artist designed a picture that will be revealed if you continue to trace the sequence, dot —to-dot. If you don’t connect the dots in sequence, or if you decide to stop drawing, you’ll never see the full picture the artist has designed.
So it is with your faith in God. You don’t always see exactly where God is leading you . . . sometimes you have only part of the picture. But faith is when . . .we continue to trust God’s heart even when we cannot trace his hand. (P.76)
Getting out of the dot-to-dot sequence is a little like the "drag coefficient".
Things do not always go as planned. We wander in the wilderness a lot! Sometimes we can’t see or feel where God is leading — especially if some catastrophe or tragedy touches our lives. But faith is when, even if we are out of the dot-to-dot sequence, we somehow know that, in time, we will hook back up to the next dot. Faith is knowing that our picture won’t be too messed up by the things that slow us down — And that God can even bring good into a bad situation. As Musick and Duffy state, "Faith is trust(ing) that God has adequately planned the picture God is leading you to draw." (p. 77)
So, how does your picture look? How are you connecting the dots? Mine has a few dots way in left field! But I know there is a grand design. Our job is to stay connected to God long enough (ok, until the end of our days!) so that we can begin to see the picture for our lives and then to live out that purpose in faith! Alleluia! Amen.