Walking at God's Pace

Delivered as a Moment for Mission on October 29, 2017 at First Presbyterian Church, Urbana, Illinois.

Our stewardship campaign gains inspiration from Micah 6:8. Two weeks ago we heard about our Food and More program as one example of how we seek justice.  Last week, we shared the many ways our caring ministries love kindness.  Today, let’s go for a walk.

Have you ever gone on a walk or hike with someone who walks at a different pace or manner than you?  For over 35 years, this has been my challenge.  Most of you will guess correctly that Shari is usually faster.  Or how about a different path?  One of us likes to blaze her own trail, even when the signs clearly say to stay on the designated path.  Fortunately, every now and then, the one in the lead stops and waits for the other so that we can meet up or synch up.  This might be at a fork in the trail, an overlook, or at the top of a steep climb.  Why? Because in theory and maybe even for few feet, we are walking together.

When considering Micah’s phrase “walk humbly with our God”, I wonder, “at what pace does God walk?”  On which path?  Certainly not at my pace.  Which path does God take?  To walk humbly with God means the onus is one me to understand God’s pace and God’s path, not the reverse.  Like two hikers trying to stay together, I need a place where I can synch up with God, to get on pace, to get on track, and this place, this sanctuary, this discipline of weekly worship is exactly that.

There are times when I am busy and rushed, too hurried to have any sense of mindfulness, and I come here, to this sanctuary.  In worship, prayer, and song, this sanctuary is where I stop, listen to the command to “Be still”; I am reminded to walk not at my pace, but God’s pace.

After a week of self-reliance, self-centeredness, and even indifference, I come to this place to confess and hear words of assurance, to learn how to walk on God’s path, to focus on not my will, but thine.

There are times where our walks become slow and dulled, like we’re slogging through mud wondering how we will take the next step, and this place is where we come to hear the restful welcome for all who labor and heavy laden.  In our struggles, this is where we learn to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint, because we walk at God’s pace, on God’s path.

Through hearing, singing, praying, proclaiming, and listening we are able each week to meet God on this path and walk at God’s pace.  This is where we catch up with God; it is also where we stop to wait upon the Lord.  And we learn to do this with each other.  As David observed at Ed Gordon’s memorial service, Ed and others have shown us with grace how to “walk humbly with our God.”  This is a not a solo-challenge; it is a community-effort.

Our stewardship theme Generosity Rooted in the Heart is not about an obligation, or a tax deduction, or guilt.  It is about a response: our response when God pulls us forward, slows us down, or makes our way straight.  As we seek to do justice and love kindness, let us also remember that our gifts and pledges just like the rest of our worship experience help us learn to walk not at our own pace, but at God’s pace; not on our own path, but God’s path.  May we all walk humbly with our God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flour Water Salt Yeast

Image
Four simple ingredients can entice all four senses when properly handled.   Michael Pollan's 2016 Netflix mini-series Cooked got me interested in making traditional, rustic bread, specifically Episode 3: Air.  Ken Forkish' 2012 book with the same title as this blog entry taught me how.  The method is straight-forward and requires one other crucial ingredient:  time.  Forkish presents two-loaf recipes which I half to keep my carb intake and waistline under some semblance of control.  I'll walk you through the creation of this loaf of Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread. The process starts with flour, a 60/40 split of all-purpose and whole wheat.  Forkish is big on baking with a scale rather than cups due to the variations across brands of flour.  Digital scales that measure in grams are cheap.  Get one.  Another fun thing about this method is that the main utensil used is your hand for all mixing.  Wash them. The water comes n...
Read more

The Illusion of Indispensability

I was talking with a colleague last week who stated that I don't miss a thing.  I responded that in reality I do; I just make sure that I don't appear to miss anything.  The comment made me recall an article from early in my career whose title stuck with me: Creating the Illusion of Indispensability by John Roush.  The article appeared in a long lost (?) journal Business Horizons in their September-October 1984 edition. I was a 24 year-old Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey.  As a young, energetic Systems Engineer I would comb through a monthly circulated list of recently published articles, checking off the ones I wanted to read, looking for the secret of success.  This one caught my eye. Roush, then Executive Assistant to the President of the University of Richmond, stated the dichotomy of our professional life, "All of us want to believe that we are important, really important....Juxtaposed against o...
Read more

Hoping no one has to ask the question "Will they like me?"

Delivered Sunday, February 25, 2018, at First Presbyterian Church, Urbana, Illinois Twenty years ago, we were good consumers.  Having just moved to town, Shari and I with three small girls in tow spent almost a full year church shopping.  We visited many churches across multiple denominations critiquing each.  Did we like the sermon? What did we think of the pastor? Did we like the music? How was the church school? What did we think of the people?  Eventually, despite our well-honed consumerism, the “did we like?” questions turned into “how could we see ourselves serving?” questions.  In the end, we were called into this community. Throughout that entire process, one question never came to mind.  I never asked myself, “Will they like me?”  It literally never occurred to me.  You could say it was ego, or maybe it just comes with being part of the dominant socio-economic group.  It just never occurred to me.  It’s a church!  Of c...
Read more