Several years ago I was looking to buy a second car for Linda and myself. We really didn’t have much money, but I went with great enthusiasm. As I was talking to the car salesman, I told him I was looking to spend about $50 for a car. (Imagine doing that today!) Anyway, he told me he did have one. It was a 1962 Corvair. According to the salesman, there was nothing wrong with it except that it needed a new exhaust system... and they could install one for another $50. And so I bought it. I don’t have to tell you how thrilled Linda was.
I was so excited when I got the car home. I had to take Linda for a ride. She wasn’t quite as enthused as I was. But then, she was nearly 9 months pregnant. And so we got into the car and I took it out on the highway to impress her with my bargain car. We drove about a mile outside of town... and it stopped running. I managed to pull it onto the shoulder. But it would not start again. Although it was a nice March Nebraska evening, it was very, very cold in that car.
Later on I found out that someone had installed a 6 volt fuel pump in the car. It had a 12 volt electrical system. As the fuel pump motor would heat up, it would shut itself down. Without the fuel pumping... Car could not move.
In some ways, a car’s fuel pump can be compared to the human heart. While the heart is one of the most important organs in the entire human body, it is really nothing more than a pump. The heart pumps the blood, which carries all the vital materials which help our bodies function. The blood removes the waste products that we do not need. If the heart ever stops pumping blood, the body begins to shut down. Within minutes our bodies will die.
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” [KJKV] If it is correct to say that the pumping of the human heart will keep the body alive... then it might be equally correct to say that it is our vision that will keep the people – the church – alive.
• A vision of what it is that God is calling us to do and be.
• A vision of what it means to live as the people of God, claimed through the waters of Holy Baptism, called, enlightened and sanctified for the work of Jesus Churst.
• A vision of we, as a congregation, are supposed to be about.
Perhaps the heart of our mission is our vision.
Without a vision, we have no future.
How many of us are wearing a watch that uses a battery?
I read a story recently that claimed that several decades back an inventor had a daring vision for a better kind of watch. After working on his idea for some time and building a prototype, he decided to go to Switzerland, the world capital of watch making, to seek backing for the manufacture of his new design. When the renowned Swiss watchmakers examined his invention, they said, "This is not a watch. It doesn't have hands to tell time. It just has little numbers. You have to have a big hand and a little hand to make a watch." Then, when they opened the back, they were even more negative. "This thing doesn't even have gears or springs or jewels. It is just a lot of electronic parts. This thing is not a watch!" And they would have nothing to do with it. So the inventor took his revolutionary idea to Japan where he found industrialists who weren't so sure what made up a watch and who agreed to manufacture his idea – the electronic quartz watch.
It was a bold vision that Jesus proclaimed to his followers:
• Serve others ... wash their feet – feed them – cloth them – give them the shirt off your back.
• Serve God with all of your heart and soul, and mind, and strength.
• Love others as much as you love yourself
• Baptize and Teach
Many churches (and other organizations) have mission statements and vision statements... and they are important. But what’s more important is what is written on our hearts.... what is the vision that lives within us? What is the bold vision that God might be calling us to do.... to be?
Any thoughts?
