How to Seek God’s Will for My Group
Zephyr United Methodist Church
Early First United Methodist Church
June 26, 2005
Rev. Eddie Smart
James 4:13-14 (NRSV)
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." 14Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James 4:13-14 (NIV)
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Proverbs 28:26 (NRSV)
Those who trust in their own wits are fools;
but those who walk in wisdom come through safely.
John 10:1-5 (NRSV)
"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers."
I recently heard a story about a person visiting in the middle-east who passed by a sheep pin. The person noticed that there were no identifying marks on the sheep. In the pin were the sheep that belonged to many shepherds who were busy in the town. The visitor wondered how on earth the shepherds would ever separate all those sheep.
The answer to that question came as the shepherds began to come to the pin. Each of the shepherds spoke to the sheep. Then it happened. The sheep separated themselves, each following the voice of their shepherd.
Richard Fairchild in a sermon entitled “The Shepherd’s Voice,” offers this insight:
Sheep in the mid-east were not raised up to be slaughtered at a year old, rather they were raised primarily for their wool - and remained in the flock all their lives.
They had a relationship with their shepherd that spanned a number of years, a relationship in which they had time to become familiar with the shepherd and with the places that the shepherd would lead them - those still waters and green pastures that the 23rd Psalm speaks of where our souls can be revived as well as the places of danger that one often needs to travel through to arrive at a good place, those places where the shepherd's crook and rod protect us from natural hazards and from the hazards spoken of in the gospel reading - the thieves and robbers who steal, kill, or destroy.
Jesus - in speaking of himself says:
"The sheep know the voice of their shepherd - and they follow him,
but they will never follow a stranger - in fact they will run away
from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
The problem that we have today, and indeed it has always been a problem:
- is in coming to recognize and know the voice of Christ our
Shepherd in the midst of all the voices that speak around us...and in
the midst of the all different voices that speak within us - within our
own hearts and minds.
Last week we talked about hearing the voice of Jesus as individuals. Today we look as hearing that voice as a Christian community–our small group, our church, the churches within our town. As a group how do we discern the voice of God–God’s desire for the group.
Bill Easum and Tom Bandy do consulting with churches. In their website they quote the book Beyond the Ordinary: Spirituality for Church Leaders, written by Ben Johnson and Andrew Dreitcer. The book points out that for a group to discern God’s voice, it is necessary for the members of the group to all share the characteristics necessary for discernment. We talked about some of those characteristics last week. This week let’s consider Johnson and Dreitcer’s view.
The individuals within the group must exhibit
a desire to discern
self-knowledge
humility
courage
a commitment to put God first
the willingness to follow God’s guidance
While those are sufficient for each of the individuals in seeking God’s will, for the group to arrive at an understanding of God’s desire they must have the “conviction that God’s wisdom comes most fully through a group and depends on members’ willingness to trust the wisdom of the group.”
To discern God’s voice as a group, the group must honor the wisdom that comes through the group. There comes a unity in following.
This can be accomplished only if the individuals in the group do not
come into the process with their own agendas. If just one person in the group
has a personal agenda–a preconceived notion of how it should be, they will
lobby for and argue for their personal agenda.
I served a church in which an individual on the nominating committee came to those meetings with a list in their head of exactly who should serve in what position. There was no group discernment. That individual dominated the process robing God of the use of the other members of the committee.
Bishop David Lawson in his book, Discernment Steps: Toward a Vision
of God’s Will, calls this posture maintaining “a holy indifference to the
outcome.” Laying aside all biases and prejudices.
Danny Morris and Charles Olsen in their book, Discerning God’s Will
Together: A Spiritual Practice for the Church, use the term Shedding. They
suggest it is important for individuals to lay aside ego, preconceived notions,
false assumptions, biases, and predetermined conclusions.
“Group discernment looks not for a majority vote but for clarity about what God desires us to be and do.”
If individuals enter into a group discernment process with self-centered
attitudes, the group will not be able to hear God’s voice. There can be only
one agenda: “to listen for God through the collective wisdom of the
group.”
Different authors take slightly different approaches while holding some things in common. This openness, holy indifference, shedding is an example. Another thing is common should not be too surprising. Spending time in prayer is essential. Individuals listening to God’s directions coming together to share what they have heard. Listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they seek consensus.
One of the symptoms of knowing and following God’s desire for us is a sense of peace. As individuals come to this knowledge there is a sense of peace. As groups come to a consensus about God’s voice, there is a sense of peace. Can you imagine the peace that exists within a congregation when its leaders are able to come together in seeking and finding God’s desire for them as a group? Can you imagine a church were everyone has heard the same word from God and have chosen to follow that word?
It all begins with spending enough time with the shepherd so that we know his voice. It all begins with immersing ourselves in scripture and prayer. It all begins with taking seriously seeking first God’s kingdom.
Paul talked in terms of praying without ceasing. Jesus talked about perseverance in prayer. A 17th century monk named Brother Lawrence wrote of “practicing the presence of God.” That is living our lives with a continual awareness of God’s presence, mercy and grace.