Healthy Spirituality Part 2: Trust
Text: Genesis 12:1-4
As most of you know, I spent much of my formative years in the Scouting movement. I was even a part of Beavers just as it was transitioning from being an experimental program to an official national part of Scouts. I continued on up through Cubs, Scouts, and then Ventures. Had it been available, I may have continued on through Rovers as well. I know that some of you have also had the benefit of this experience.
What most of you probably don’t know is that the reason I am doing what I am doing now… being a Presbyterian Minister… has a lot to do with my involvement with Scouts from an early age. Actually, probably far more than anybody here realizes. It may be one of the reasons why I’ve been encouraging and supporting our congregation’s sponsorship of the 4th Clarkson Group.
Let me give you a bit of history on this. In 1978, my Dad did a year-long teacher exchange, taking the whole family, my brother, myself, my Mom to live in Niagara Falls for one year. The idea was that he would swap places with a high-school teacher in Niagara Falls, right down to even living in each other’s houses for a year… well… it was more like ten months for the academic year. So not unlike Abraham and Sarah, we rooted up our respective families and went to a place that we had never been before.
In the short time we were there, my parents quickly had my brother and I enrolled in the local Scouting programs. Beavers for my brother, and Cubs for myself… maybe to keep us out of trouble, or them sane, more likely a bit of both. This wouldn’t be otherwise remarkable, except for one small detail. The groups that my brother and I joined of were held at and sponsored by Stamford Presbyterian Church in Niagara Falls.
This was the first time that my family had ever darkened the door of a Presbyterian Church, yet because of this sponsorship and this link into the community, my family also began attending worship services. All in all, a positive experience! So much so, that when we returned to Calgary ten months later, we began looking for a new church home, and settled into Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church…
In other words, if it wasn’t for a Presbyterian Church sponsoring and supporting Scouting, I would not be standing here today.
A few years back, I got the chance to return to Stamford Presbyterian Church, and to tell them about this story. It’s not that often that I get a chance to stand in front of a congregation and say “this is all your fault.” –in the best possible way. Not surprisingly, nobody knew who I was… but it ended up being a word of encouragement that we never truly know where God is going to lead us. We never know what kind of an impact we are going to have on the lives of those around us. We want to see the results ourselves, we want to be able to measure the impact that we have… but more often than not, we can’t. All we can do is trust that God can.
Last week I began a series in the Season of Lent called “Healthy Spirituality” –the idea being about taking some intentional time about considering our relationship with God. Last week, it was all about taking responsibility for our own actions, and to resist the temptation to blame someone else.
This week, it’s all about trust…
(Insert Mark Gellman's story of Abram in narrative… Due to uncertainty over copyright issues, I am unable to reproduce this at the present time. I am grateful to Chris Billings, Todd Jocko, and Andrew Billings who helped turn this story into a dramatic-style reading.
Trust is an important part of a healthy spirituality… I am not talking about it in the sense of being the opposite of doubt, but a sense that no matter where this path of life leads us, that God is there. No conditions… no bargains… just a promise…
Amen.
As most of you know, I spent much of my formative years in the Scouting movement. I was even a part of Beavers just as it was transitioning from being an experimental program to an official national part of Scouts. I continued on up through Cubs, Scouts, and then Ventures. Had it been available, I may have continued on through Rovers as well. I know that some of you have also had the benefit of this experience.
What most of you probably don’t know is that the reason I am doing what I am doing now… being a Presbyterian Minister… has a lot to do with my involvement with Scouts from an early age. Actually, probably far more than anybody here realizes. It may be one of the reasons why I’ve been encouraging and supporting our congregation’s sponsorship of the 4th Clarkson Group.
Let me give you a bit of history on this. In 1978, my Dad did a year-long teacher exchange, taking the whole family, my brother, myself, my Mom to live in Niagara Falls for one year. The idea was that he would swap places with a high-school teacher in Niagara Falls, right down to even living in each other’s houses for a year… well… it was more like ten months for the academic year. So not unlike Abraham and Sarah, we rooted up our respective families and went to a place that we had never been before.
In the short time we were there, my parents quickly had my brother and I enrolled in the local Scouting programs. Beavers for my brother, and Cubs for myself… maybe to keep us out of trouble, or them sane, more likely a bit of both. This wouldn’t be otherwise remarkable, except for one small detail. The groups that my brother and I joined of were held at and sponsored by Stamford Presbyterian Church in Niagara Falls.
This was the first time that my family had ever darkened the door of a Presbyterian Church, yet because of this sponsorship and this link into the community, my family also began attending worship services. All in all, a positive experience! So much so, that when we returned to Calgary ten months later, we began looking for a new church home, and settled into Varsity Acres Presbyterian Church…
In other words, if it wasn’t for a Presbyterian Church sponsoring and supporting Scouting, I would not be standing here today.
A few years back, I got the chance to return to Stamford Presbyterian Church, and to tell them about this story. It’s not that often that I get a chance to stand in front of a congregation and say “this is all your fault.” –in the best possible way. Not surprisingly, nobody knew who I was… but it ended up being a word of encouragement that we never truly know where God is going to lead us. We never know what kind of an impact we are going to have on the lives of those around us. We want to see the results ourselves, we want to be able to measure the impact that we have… but more often than not, we can’t. All we can do is trust that God can.
Last week I began a series in the Season of Lent called “Healthy Spirituality” –the idea being about taking some intentional time about considering our relationship with God. Last week, it was all about taking responsibility for our own actions, and to resist the temptation to blame someone else.
This week, it’s all about trust…
(Insert Mark Gellman's story of Abram in narrative… Due to uncertainty over copyright issues, I am unable to reproduce this at the present time. I am grateful to Chris Billings, Todd Jocko, and Andrew Billings who helped turn this story into a dramatic-style reading.
The story premise has God approaching three other individuals before approaching Abram. Each one of them either doesn't believe God or demands something of God before they are willing to follow... with comedic effect. Abram does so on trust.
Trust is an important part of a healthy spirituality… I am not talking about it in the sense of being the opposite of doubt, but a sense that no matter where this path of life leads us, that God is there. No conditions… no bargains… just a promise…
Amen.
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