An Awfully Big = Adventure

R.=20 Brooks Godfrey

Pullen=20 Memorial Baptist Church

December=20 31, 2006 - First Sunday after Christmas

Text:=20 Hebrews 11:8-10

An=20 Awfully Big Adventure

=93Abraham=20 set out, not knowing where he was going.=94 If you=92ve ever wondered = where men got=20 the reputation for refusing to ask directions, blame Abraham. In his = defense,=20 Abraham had no destination at the outset of the adventure. God said, = =93Go . . .=20 to the land that I will show you.=94

Few=20 have had opportunity to embark on an adventure of the magnitude = experienced by=20 Abraham and Sarah. They were relatively ordinary characters chosen by = God for=20 extraordinary things. It is one thing to be told by God to do something. = It is=20 quite another to actually believe one has been told and then to act upon = that=20 belief. They believed that God had called them to an awfully big = adventure which=20 would lead to children, grandchildren, and subsequently a great=20 nation.

We=20 don=92t hear the voice of God in our culture as the bible indicates = people heard=20 it in that time. We feel that=20 God is leading us to do something. We sense that God has a = plan for our=20 life. We hope that = we are=20 making decisions according to God=92s will. It would be much easier to = function=20 according to God=92s plan if God would just send us an email or give us = a call.=20 Then again, the email would be filtered as junk and Caller ID wouldn=92t = show us=20 the number so we wouldn=92t take the call.

What=20 is it like to have the level of faith Abraham and Sarah had that they = would=20 leave everything and go into an unknown place because they knew God had = a plan=20 for them? I=92m sure Abraham and Sarah had some concerns about their = adventure but=20 they knew God had called them to do it. We seldom have such certainty=20 ourselves.

Fortunately,=20 we don=92t have to physically hear the voice of God in order to do great = things.=20 God doesn=92t have to physically appear to us before we can embark on = our own=20 adventure.

Consider=20 JM Barrie. He was an ordinary six year old boy when his older brother = David^{^[1]}=20 died in a skating accident. His mother was so grief stricken, she stayed = in bed=20 for a year and a day. Barrie=92s sister finally convinced him to remind = their=20 mother that she had another son. The mother explained that the younger = boy could=20 never replace the older boy because eventually JM would grow up whereas = David,=20 having died, would never grow up.

This=20 tragic event served as a bit of the inspiration behind Peter Pan, The = Boy Who=20 Would Never Grow Up,^{^[2]}=20 which Barrie wrote 100 years ago. I doubt very much that he set out to = change=20 the world with this book and play. I believe he just wanted to put on = paper=20 childhood fantasies of flying, battling pirates and never growing up. = Besides,=20 as a playwright and novelist, writing was his job. Merely writing the = story=20 might have been sufficient for him. But just in case, he left the = copyright to=20 Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. Thus, the story = continues=20 to change the world at least in some small way as it changes the lives = of the=20 children who spend time at that hospital.

I=20 doubt JM Barrie considered himself called by God to write this story. I = don=92t=20 know that he felt lead by God to leave the copyrights to the = children=92s=20 hospital. But he did both of these things and the world is a better = place for=20 it.

Abraham=20 and Sarah were ordinary people who did great things. JM Barrie was an = ordinary=20 man who also did great things. But what of us? Are we ordinary people = content to=20 do ordinary things? What would it take for any of us to do great things? = Can we=20 set out to do great things as did Abraham and Sarah? Or can we take = steps to do=20 something great with something relatively ordinary as did JM=20 Barrie?

It has=20 been my observation that the congregation of Pullen Memorial Baptist = Church has=20 done great things and has resolved as a group to continue to do them. = This=20 church has already played a role in lending its voice to calls for = justice in=20 the areas of capital punishment, poverty and equal rights for gay, = lesbian, and=20 transgendered persons. This church has chosen to embark on an awfully = big=20 adventure. Much like Abraham and Sarah, this church has resolved to = change the=20 world in its own way.

As we=20 begin a new year, perhaps now is a fitting time to consider the process = we use=20 to make decisions in our own life adventure. In my short time here, = I=92ve learned=20 that this congregation already has a process! As for we as individuals = and=20 families, Dr. Spencer Johnson puts it most succinctly in his book, one = of my=20 favorites, Yes or No,^{^[3]}=20 a story with an important lesson.

Johnson=20 indicates that our own adventure can be a better, more satisfying one if = we will=20 approach our decisions by asking ourselves a practical question and a = private=20 question. Let=92s consider how this process may have unknowingly been = applied by=20 Abraham and Sarah.

The=20 practical question, Johnson explains, includes three parts. First, are = we=20 meeting the real need? The real need in Abraham and Sarah=92s time was = the=20 creation of a great nation for God=92s people. Second, are we informing = ourselves=20 of options? Surely Abraham and Sarah considered the most obvious option, = to=20 decline God=92s call. Frankly, who wouldn=92t consider it? But they = decided against=20 that option. Third, are we thinking it through? Not a lot to think = through,=20 frankly. To follow God=92s call and expect great things or to refuse = God=92s call=20 and be content with the ordinary. Their answer to each of these = questions was=20 clearly =93Yes!=94

The=20 private question also includes three parts. First, does our decision = show that=20 we are being honest with ourselves? Abraham and Sarah had to believe = God=92s=20 guidance and that God could deliver on the promises. Second, do we trust = our=20 intuition? Commentaries I referenced indicate that Abraham and Sarah = were not=20 significantly different from others in their family and town. Why = Abraham and=20 Sarah were chosen by God for this adventure is not specified. However, = they must=20 have been intuitive people in order to hear God=92s call, discern it as = genuine=20 and believe they could fulfill it. Third, do we deserve better? Abraham = and=20 Sarah had been faithful to God. They had apparently honored God in their = lives.=20 Yet they had not been blessed with children. Perhaps they did believe = they=20 deserved better and the prospect of lineage would have been just the = thing. The=20 answer to these three questions must have been = =93Yes!=94

And so=20 Abraham and Sarah set out on their awfully big adventure and were richly = rewarded for their faithfulness.

How=20 many of us could embark on such an adventure with such minimal = information? When=20 we plan a trip, we want to know Who? What? Why? When? Where? and=20 How?

On the=20 other hand, how many of us, when considering decisions, take the time to = ask=20 ourselves practical questions including whether we are meeting the real = need,=20 informing ourselves of options and thinking it through? How many of us, = when=20 considering decisions, take the time to ask private questions such as = are we=20 being honest with ourselves, do we trust our intuition, and do we really = believe=20 we deserve better?

=93Abraham=20 set out, not knowing where he was going.=94 This sounds a lot like my = first two=20 years of college! The problem with my first two years of college was = that,=20 unlike Abraham and Sarah, God had nothing to do with my going. = Furthermore,=20 unlike Pullen, I had no idea where I was going. It is my feeling that = without a=20 Source at the beginning to show me where I am going, I may very well go = nowhere.=20 Which is precisely what happened until I tapped the Source of my = inspiration. In=20 Spring of my second year, I finally allowed myself to be lead, as = Abraham and=20 Sarah were lead. To =93Go . . . to the land that I will show you.=94 I = identified a=20 real need, informed myself of options, and thought it through. I got = honest with=20 myself, began to trust my intuition, and believed that I deserved = better. As a=20 result, I made better decisions which lead me on my way, on my own = awfully big=20 adventure. Does this mean I will do something great in the course of my = life?=20 Time will tell. What it does mean is that the chance for great things is = far=20 greater because I intend it. At the very least, it is my aspiration to = change=20 for the better the life of at least one person and, in so doing, change = the=20 world in some small way.

One of=20 the greatest gifts humankind has been given is the ability to think, = reason and=20 make decisions. One of the greatest honors we can give God is to = exercise these=20 gifts thoroughly and frequently.

May=20 2007 see each of us, as individuals, families, and a congregation = embrace our=20 own big adventure. May we make even better decisions and get better = results. May=20 we embrace the Source which sends us out and sets our destination. = Because, to=20 live, will be an awfully big adventure!