St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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Get Ready, Get Focused, DISCERN!

Romans 8:18-24, 28

June 11, 2006         (Click the date to see the bulletin)

1. You’ve watched the Olympic races, haven’t you? They are pretty specular. After years of training, the runners finally reach that moment when the announcer says, "On your mark." The racers all take their places at the starting line. Then announcer says, "Get set." The racers position themselves in a way that will give them the very best advantage. Then the announcer says, "GO!" and they’re off. And in however long it takes them to arrive at the pre-determined destination, it’s over. One of them wins. Everybody else loses. Oh, there may be awards for second and third places, but it’s not the same as winning. The race may take 30 seconds, or six minutes, or one-hour-thirty-two-minutes-and-fifteen-seconds. And the press is there to cover it all, asking the winner how it feels to win; asking the loser how it feels to loose. And after the last race is run, everybody goes back home, and begins planning for the next Olympic races!

2. We Presbyterians are getting ready for our own race. It’s not really a RACE race, but some see it that way. It is our General Assembly, an Olympic event of sorts. It will take place in Birmingham, Alabama, and it convenes this coming Thursday at 1:00 p.m. There will be the "opening ceremony" with commissioners from all 173 presbyteries parading in carrying their own colorful banner. There will be "the Olympic village" where everybody lives – we call them hotels. It all happens the "arena" – the Convention Center. And there will be the "qualifying trials" we call committee meetings. Every item of business must go through committee before it can come before the whole assembly.

3. The committee meetings are intense. There’ll be open hearings, where anybody can come speak about an issue in an attempt to influence the "judges," who are the commissioners elected decently and in order by each presbytery. These commissioners play close attention, and then vote to determine the form each issue will take when it goes before the assembly. And when it’s all over, there are winners and there are losers, and the press covers it all, and sometimes the press reports it correctly, and sometimes it doesn’t. But Paul says "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

4. At every Assembly there are hot issues to watch, just like there are hot runners to watch at every Olympics. This year the big issue at the Assembly is The Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity. This Task Force was made up of 20 Presbyterians of very diverse opinions. It was appointed five years ago to help bring . . . well . . . peace, unity and purity to our denomination that is becoming more and more war-like, disunified, and, some believe, impure. The Task Force members met regularly for prayer, Bible study, and reflection upon the history and beliefs of our Reformed tradition, and they got to know each other.

5. They witnessed a miracle. They saw the gifts of the Spirit at work among them, and emerged as a community of faith. But the Report has not been received well by some very vocal groups in our Church. The most troubling recommendation concerns who will determine those fit for ordination. Will it be the congregations and presbyteries, or will it be the General Assembly. The Task Force believes it should be the congregations and presbyteries, because those two groups know the heart the people it is considering for office. However, there are some congregations threatening to leave our denomination if this Report is adopted with this "Recommendation #5." But Paul says "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

6. There are many similarities between the Olympics and our General Assembly. But there is one crucial difference. That difference is discernment. Discernment is the power to see what is not evident to the average onlooker. It is the power to distinguish, and then select, what is true, or appropriate, or excellent. Discernment doesn’t come easy. The Peace, Unity and Purity Task Force worked diligently and deliberately to discern what God was calling them to write. And they, in turn, are asking that our whole denomination follow their example.

7. We at St. Andrew’s can certainly follow their recommendation! Our Nominating Committee already is! For a year they have been using a discernment process – praying, readying and reflecting on Scripture and the Book of Order, learning to trust one another. What this report is asking us to do, what our Nominating Committee is already doing, we can emulate as we move ahead into the next 50 years of our life together.

8. By now most of you have received the letter that was mailed Friday. I’m sure you were surprised! All of us were! None of us ever considered even the possibility that the Little Light House would approach us about buying our building! What does that mean? I don’t know! You don’t know! None of us really knows what God is doing in this situation. It will take a period of discernment. And that’s what we’ll do. Over the summer, we will carve out times to study, and pray, and be in conversation together. After all, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

9. When Olympic racers get ready to run, they have their goal in mind, and they focus on that goal. When the announcer says "Get ready" they take their places. When the announcer says "Get set" they assume the best position. When the announcer says "GO!" they’re off! It’s not quite that easy for Presbyterians, but the sequence is the same. We have in mind the goal of doing God’s will, but it’s not as easy to see as the end of 60 yards. But we CAN see it, because discernment is the power to see what is not evident to the average runner. So we set our minds of the goal of doing God’s will, then we get focused on that goal by reading scripture, praying, reflecting, and talking together.

10. As we approach this General Assembly and the decisions it must make, as we approach the decisions we must make, we are not alone. There will be no ‘winners’ or ‘losers,’ because "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." You see, the Trinity is at work in our lives all the time, Father, Son, Holy Sprit; Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.

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