This Week's Sermons

Sermons for the Month
Godspeed
DATE: May 17, 1998
SERVICE: Sunday: Easter VI
TEXT: Acts 16:9-15

"To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

If you are like many during the months of April and May, we have been preparing for summer vacation trip. They tell me how you prepare for a trip reveals a lot about your personal character and your life circumstances. Cautious travelers contact AAA and get stacks of detailed "trip-tiks" to guide them. Online travel services now give such travelers details as specific as how far the distance is between two gas stations, enabling them to choose a restaurant for their lunch stop before they've even stepped out of the house. Circumspect travelers also make sure they have picked up their dry cleaning, cleaned out the fridge, checked the car's oil before starting out.
Spontaneous, "travel-as-adventure" types like to hop in the car and head out of town before they even begin thinking about what route they might take. They buy toothpaste and new socks along the way. They stop at those blue-signed turnoffs that meander out of sight promising a "scenic route." Seat-of-the-pants travelers don't worry about what may be around the next corner because they like corners, they enjoy not knowing what lies ahead.
Of course, if you are traveling with small children the journeying motif becomes less an adventure and more of a survival test. Instead of AAA, parents head for "Toys R Us"-- to pick up stacks of coloring books, portable games, batteries for video games and cassette players. Seven-Eleven is also a must for important travel food like beef jerky, nacho chips, fruit roll-ups, juice boxes, string cheese and cookies. Running out of Oreos is a disaster second only to running out of gas if you are a parental traveler.
When we think of the travels of the apostle Paul, we usually envision a "seat-of-the-pants" traveler, someone spiritually on fire, stomping about establishing churches, making daring escapes from the authorities, or boldly witnessing even from the confines of jail. But today's text begins by depicting an almost stalled-out Paul -- one who knows he must get moving, but isn't at all sure which way to go. We find Paul looking for a typtic from God.
His first idea to head into Asia is nixed by the Holy Spirit. Then, his decision to journey toward Bithynia is disallowed by the Spirit of Jesus. On the surface, Paul and his companions appear to be on the verge of traveling in circles. But even when Paul appears directionless to others, he knew he was in constant touch with his primary navigator. Paul's spirit remained open to God's messages and God's guidance, an openness that perceived the divine presence as strongly in a "no" as it did in a "yes." Then, finally, he receives the vision that directs their mission into Macedonia.
A couple of things to note from the text. First, Paul didn't plop down in Phrygia and pout when he didn't get his own way to go to Asia. Nor did he bemoan bypassing Bithynia when that way was also closed. Instead, Paul's spirit remains in a prayerlike state that enables him to receive God's "trip-tik." Paul's soul was acutely attuned to the frequencies of the Spirit.
Some Christians travel light, some travel heavy; some take off frequently, others stick close to home. Whatever kind of soul traveler you are, never, never, never undertake any journey, any task, any dream in life without prayer. It is prayer that enables God to be present with us, to direct our path, to help us navigate the rough roads, and rest easy on the smooth ways. To take off on any path without first listening for God's directions is to travel into dangerous territory indeed. For me, it is always when I listen to God's word in my ear rather than humanity's that I find myself on surer ground, steadier courses, even calmer seas. It is when I listen to other's selfish, even devilish, biases that I get sidetracked onto dead end pathways.
The English philosopher/political economist John Stuart Mill was prepared for his profession by his stern Scottish father, James -- himself a recognized philosopher/economist/historian. James Mill observed his son's early brilliance and determined that the boy should be educated exhaustively in literature and the arts, science, history and philosophy. However, he declared that religious learning was unnecessary, distracting, indeed, a waste of time. So he kept any religious instruction away from his son. Although John Stuart flourished in his academic studies, he later looked back on his youth and realized that a profound sense of lostness and longing had pervaded his heart. Although his mind was crammed with information, John Stuart Mill declared his soul was "starved." Without the directional guidance of a God personally known through prayer and faith, Mill likened himself to "a well equipped ship, but with no sail."
In the same way, Lydia, in today's text, a dealer in rich, expensive purple cloth, was without a sail. Her life was well-ordered. She was successful and independent. Her "boat" was well-equipped. But even her exquisite purple cloth couldn't fashion a sail capable of moving her heart and soul out of the spiritual doldrums that kept her from moving with divinely directed purpose and perspective. Only when she heard Paul's preaching did Lydia finally see that there was a different way, a God-informed way, to direct her life. Her own "starved" soul listened "eagerly" to Paul. She responded with faith, having herself and her whole household baptized.
A decade ago a popular song hit the charts, making its crooner yet another "one-hit wonder." Christopher Cross's "Sailing" combined a floating lyrical melody with equally drifting lyrics that declared "Sailing, takes me away to where I want to be." How many weekend sailors would gladly chuck their "day job" to spend all their time aboard ship, just cruising wherever the winds would take them? Sailing has always epitomized an escapist's dream, the ultimate getaway, a "go-with-the-flow" attitude. Yet anyone who has ever really sailed knows that it involves a lot of hard work, expert knowledge of the winds and seas, constant maintenance of the equipment and the sails themselves, not to mention the good luck of being in the right place at the right time in order to catch the most favorable winds, if you want to go where you want to go. As any sailor will tell you, you make the best time when you go with the wind, letting its power drive you to your destination.
Is it the effortless appearance of sailing that commands our fascination and constitutes sailing's appeal? When a proper sail is hoisted, ships seem to magically move across the water, propelled by a great invisible, unquenchable power. That is the kind of sailing John Stuart Mill yearned for with his starved and shriveled soul. As any sailor will tell you, fighting the wind will only get you tired. You must watch the wind, the way that it is blowing, align yourself with its power if you want to enjoy life.
In today's text, the writer notes what good time Paul and his companions made when they finally set their sails in the dream-inspired, God directed destination of Macedonia. Making such good time on a journey was known as enjoying "Godspeed." I fear that most of the time, we frail, human beings whether as individuals, a community, a church, or as a nation believe our way, not God's is the way to go.
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea and, with no thought of themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club's decorations, and there was even a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the southern seacoast of England today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
My friends, prayerfully stay in touch with the winds of God's Spirit, so that your sails may confidently filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit. Let your prayer life become such that you no longer "say a prayer" or "stay in prayer" but actually become a prayer for others, sick, lost or drowning. If you feel you are even now on the wrong course, I invite you in the name of Jesus to change course, even rechart the direction of your life. If the Spirit fills your sails, I guarantee you will enjoy a blessed Godspeed.

AMEN