God of Transitions

Last week we began a series with a reminder for each of us that “God is with Us.” Our focus was on emotions and how God desires to help each of us through every aspect of our lives. Today we turn to the transitions we have in our lives and how God is with us through them.

Our scripture comes from 2 Samuel 5:1-5 the words will be on the screen.

5 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

Please pray with me…

Transitions in life can be great or small. Every moment we are alive we are going through some form of transition. We are becoming changed within. Our body never quits changing all the way until our death. Even then we have a transition from our earthly body to our heavenly one.

These transitions are often so subtle that we don’t even realize we are changing until that new ache arrives and we ask ourselves the question where that comes from? What did I do to cause that to happen?

Other transitions are more life changing. They become noticeable right away. We may even have some anxiety before they take place. A new job, choosing to retire, getting married, beginning a new relationship. These changes are often not so subtle.

It doesn’t matter if the transition you are facing is great or small, God is on the journey with you. God desires to help you overcome the changes and the differences that take place that effect how you live your life.

Many churches in the United Methodist Church are currently going through a transition. A new pastor coming in. A new person to hear speak. A new way for a person to lead. (Pause) Change, something many of us are not a fan of.

It is important to remember that both individually and as a church God has prepared the way for the change and is currently at work helping each of us. He is guiding us individually and as a church through this transition.

Today’s text finds the Jewish people in transition. David has already officially been anointed king over Judah. One part of the Jewish nation has agreed to have him become their king. The larger group is making that decision in today’s text.

A king basically had two jobs. They were to provide protection and provision. They were to be able to keep the enemy away and make sure that there was enough food and drink to keep their constituents healthy.

It seems,based off of this scripture, that Saul was the military leader but was not as involved in providing provisions to Israel. Israel had not decided to unite the two kingdoms together in every way.

It may have been that Israel was willing to allow God to provide them provision, but they now are putting their trust in David. They have witnessed him leading Judah over the last seven years and have decided to trust him in all aspects of their lives.

They offer three reasons that they are willing to allow David to become their leader. He is Jewish, they practice the same religion and have the same ancestry. Two, he was their leader in battle already, he has already shown a willingness to protect the Jewish nation as a whole.

And third,he has been anointed by God to be the “shepherd” for the Jewish people. We have Israel willing to transition in order to allow a human king to rule over all aspects of their lives and we have David transitioning from being a shepherd to sheep into shepherding all of the Jewish people.

(Transition)

We find transitions taking place over and over again within scripture. From the creation of the world. Where scripture tells us “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.”

We have this formless place of darkness that seems to have atoms and molecules roaming around looking for a home. In seven days, seven weeks, seven years, seven decades, many millennia; whatever you believe, we have God transitioning our world into a place we are able to live.

He transitioned the earth into light, places, animals and people. He transformed this formless entity into our world. He made the unrecognizable into something to be seen. He made us into his image.

Transitions didn’t stop there. He speaks into the heart of a man named Abraham who becomes his first religious follower which leads to his chosen people. God promises and then fulfills that promise with the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus walks the earth and finds these men that he desires to have become his followers, his disciples, his students. These men come from various backgrounds including fishermen and tax collectors.

We havea man named John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry. Our first reading offers to us one of the early interactions between John’s followers and Jesus and his followers. We have John’s followers concerned because John is no longer the important religious figure.

Transitions can end up humbling us. Those followers of John were used to being considered important. They were disciples of the one who they believed, and many others believed was either the Messiah or preparing the way for the Messiah.

John shows us how we should react when we face times of transition that move us from a place of importance to the background. When questioned John says, “I must lessen so he can become greater.” His job was done. Jesus would lead the ministry started by John to an even greater place.

We might not always get to finish what we started. We maybe asked by God to move on before what we started reaches a culmination. We may have gone through the struggle of starting something but never receive accolades of what it has become. What should matter to us is that God knows what we have done. We served him as he desired.

Back to the disciples, can you imagine the anxiety that the disciples must have felt. They seemed to have good jobs. They seemed to be happy doing what they are doing but when Jesus calls them into ministry with him, they drop everything, and they become his disciples. They had to trust Jesus

We even have two fishermen who were brothers, James and John, working with their father and when Jesus tells them to go, they leave their father with a net in his hand and walk away. They probably had some anxiety on how dad was going to respond when he saw them again.

We have Matthew, a tax collector working for the Roman government, joining those that he had taxed. Can you imagine how he must have felt, wondering how he would be treated by those people who probably considered him a traitor and a thief.

These men gave up their livelihoods and are now wondering where their next meal will come from and where they are going to sleep. They have turned everything over to Jesus. They have decided he is worth following.

(Transition)

Many of us here and who are a part of our You Tube worship experience have made the same transition. We have had the faith to accept the grace given to us by God to become the follower of the one who died for us so that our sins can be forgiven.

That transition should have led us to rely more on God and less on ourselves. It should lead us towards a willingness to serve and help those around us because of the example set by Jesus and those early disciples.

This transition into following Jesus should also lead you towards wanting to get to know Jesus better and to decide that we not only want to follow him, but we want to turn our lives over to him. We are willing to let him lead us and provide for us just like Israel does with David in today’s text.

The disciples give us an example of what this can look like. They followed, listened, questioned, responded. They first were willing to follow God. Trusting that Jesus would never leave them and lead them to where God desired for them to be.

This should be followed by us listening to God. This can often be difficult because in order to listen to God we have to find the best way for us to hear from God. The best way to discover how you hear from God is to try.

Attempt different ways, for some it may be being out in nature. Others may be through reading and reflecting on scripture. It has changed for me as I often hear from God when walking to dog which isn’t as nice as it was when I would wake up from a nap and have ideas God has given me.

You also may have just a feeling on what you are supposed to do that could be God speaking to you. No matter the way, the next step if needed is questioning. This step might not always be needed but listening and questioning work together. God wants to help us through our doubts.

We then have to be willing to respond to the assignment or calling that God has given us. We need to be willing to move where he tells us to move and stay when he tells us to stay. Taking time to listen and have a willingness to respond is what can make us grow as followers of Jesus.

One aspect of my journey is how I became a United Methodist minister. That was not part of my original plan. In case you don’t know a cabinet of people put together by the bishop decides if a pastor stays at his church or moves to a new appointment.

I was not going to be a United Methodist minister because I didn’t want them to get to decide where I serve God. That was until God spoke to me and told me that he is in that room. He will make sure I end up where he wants me to be.

That is how I am now here at The Church of the Good Shepherd. The bishop requested and I said yes. God wanted me here to serve you. We get to work together to show God our willingness to serve those around us.

What this also means is that I don’t tell the cabinet if I want to stay somewhere or leave. I believe God is in charge of the process. God will decide what is best for me and for the church I am at and the church I am going too.

(Transition)

We next have the followers of Jesus, those early disciples transitioning into figuring out how to follow God without the Messiah after Jesus ascends into heaven. What a transition that would have been. They might have had anxiety before, but that anxiety would really be ramped up now.

The disciples go from walking and talking to Jesus on a regular basis to now believing they are on their own. They will have to figure out how to spread the message. They will have to discover how to become more like Jesus.

(Transition)

Transitions can lead us into feelings of vulnerability. This vulnerability can end up leading us towards or away from God. We will often find that someone begins investigating the possibility of beginning a relationship with God through Jesus because of a transition going on in their lives.

If that is you today I want you to allow God to intervene in your life. Give himthe chance to show you the love that he has for you. It does not matter what you have done in the past God desires to forgive you today if you are willing to let him.

And if you are someone who believes but is having doubts find a way to keep the faith. God is with you through whatever struggles that you may be going through. He will never leave you and desires to stay connected to you.

They eventually discover that Jesus left them what he promised them. He left them a helper to lead and guide them. It is through their belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior that they received the Holy Spirit. God within them.

Following the will and desires of Jesus will not always be easy but we also have the Holy Spirit within each one of us that believe. Jesus tells the disciples “You will be able to do greater things than me.”

He knew that as one person he could only do so much but with the Holy Spirit leading the heart, mind, and soul of many believers the Gospel will be able to spread throughout the world. We are proof of this.

Transitions led to the word of God continuing to spread into our lives today through various worship gatherings around the world. We are here due to many transitions. Many subtle and sometimes not so subtle changes both physically and spiritually.

This tradition of transitions continues with us. We are the next group that are to step up. We are called to be the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus. We are to help God let others know about what he has done for each person that walks the earth.

How will that look in the future we can only guess but we have to be willing to be open to God at work and be willing to be ready to accept those he places in our midst. We need to be willing to serve those he has called us to serve.

We have to be willing to spread the word of God to those that he places before us. We are called to be the people that God has called us to be. We are called to be the church that God has designed us to become.

Let us be willing to listen and respond to the calling he has given to us both individually and as a church.

Please pray with me…