Last April to meet the demands of a Medicare mandate, I was scheduled for my first “Wellness Check.” At seventy-one years, I guess it was overdue. BP great! Cholesterol good. Everything in range. Then, the question: “How long has it been since your last eye test?” Grade school. So, I was scheduled with Dr. Heather Harmon, an optometrist, who just happened to be one of my Camp Wa-Kon-da-Ho “kids.” Eye testing involves more than the wall chart I read from as a child. After all the drops and machines, the results came back. Dr. Harmon was amazed to discover what I already knew—my vision was fine—20/20.
But, what of a vision that is beyond eyesight? The scriptures say that where there is no vision, the people perish. That old proverb is as true for Hurstbourne Christian Church, as it was when it was written many years ago for the covenant community of Israel. Our visions shape us. Our visions control us. Our visions are determining factors in who and what we become. Our vision of how we want to look determines the clothing we buy, the barber to whom we go and the accessories that we wear. Our vision of what it means to be a parent or a mate or a friend largely determines the relationships that we will have with other people. Our vision of what is a family is a determining factor of what our families become. Our vision of what is marriage is a determining factor in what our marriages become. Likewise, visions shape the nations, movements, institutions and the church of Jesus Christ. Our visions or lack of "vision" determines our interests, our directions, our finances, and affects the totality of the human experience. No part is left untouched by the influence of a vision.
Unless a church has a shared vision, in due time, it will close its doors and cease to exist. We can no longer live in the past or live off memories. We must focus on God's power and purpose for the church. Lest our vision be limited, we need to always be reminded that the Cross extends horizontally and vertically. Therefore, our focus on Christ’s ministry must be extended as well.
The limitations of the Christian Church are not a lack of talent or brain-power. It is not money. It is not lack of ability, but availability. We are not putting ourselves at God's disposal. What hampers and keeps the church from being the church that Jesus Christ is calling it to be, is a lack of a bold and courageous vision—the kind of dream that Christ wants us to dream in this place. We not only need sight, but insight which only the Holy Spirit can impart to us to claim the "Vision" God wants us to claim.
One of the wonderful Lincoln stories concerns an incident that took place in his White House years during the Civil War. He didn't go to church regularly on Sunday because his presence was rather disruptive, but he often went to the Wednesday night service at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. The President usually sat in the pastor's study with the door open so that he could hear the service in relative seclusion. On one such night, he brought a White House aide with him. Walking back home, the aide asked the President how he liked the sermon. "I thought it was well-thought through, powerfully delivered and very eloquent," was Lincoln's reply. "Oh," continued the aide, "You thought it was a great sermon." "No," the President said. “It failed. It failed because Dr. Gurley did not ask us to do something great."
Well, God is asking Hurstbourne Christian Church to do something great! The year 2020 is a wonderful time to focus on God’s 20/20 Vision.
Agape, Mike