Every New Year season is like a journey—another span of travelling the road which the calendar and its Creator puts before us. I believe this is especially true for us at University United Methodist Church as we begin 2010. Already, the calendar invites us forward with opportunities and events the likes of which we have rarely seen in our history—the “Season with the Savior,” the “Global Impact Celebration,” hosting both the Large Church Initiative and the Living Congregations Institute for the United Methodist Church, and the initial work on an extension campus for University somewhere in the north-northwestern reaches of San Antonio. This year truly holds the promise of being “the trip of a lifetime.”
So as we embark on 2010, let me share with you what finally counts for me. Out of my love for University and my urgency for Christ, I have three questions that tell the tale for me. If there was only one thing I could do for the rest of my time as a pastor, I would constantly prod University to answer these three questions, they are that important.
First question: “What is my need for Jesus and what do I do about it?”
You remember the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It’s after Easter, and two disciples are on their way to Emmaus. And Jesus meets them on the road. They experience Jesus by their side. Now, what would it mean if people left worship here every Sunday and said, “University United Methodist Church is where I experience Jesus by my side”?
You see, I believe every Christian deserves a Jesus meeting. It’s God’s promise that each and every one of us can have a personal encounter with all that God is and with all God has in store for us. One of the hallmarks of Methodist Christianity has always been that someone who casts their future with Jesus can actually experience His presence and actually know that they have encountered the living God.
Now, how are you enabling that? How does University United Methodist Church help people discover their relationship with Jesus? People have a need for Jesus Christ—they have a need to discover that relationship. And the church’s first obligation is to take people who are not disciples and move them to become new disciples. That’s what happens when people have a Jesus meeting.
And here’s the second question: What is the news about Jesus and what do I do about it?”
On the road to Emmaus, meeting Jesus was the beginning, but that wasn’t enough. They have Jesus, but they don’t understand what that means. And so what does Jesus do? Jesus teaches them. He explains the Bible to them. And you can see them come to know Jesus as they come to know about Him. That’s why every Christian deserves the Jesus message. What do we do to help people learn the truths of grace? How do we specifically help people know about Jesus so that they can better know Jesus? How does University United Methodist Church help people develop their relationship with Jesus?
I believe that every person who walks through our doors ought to expect that they will master some fundamental knowledge while here. They should expect to learn the Bible, which is the book of Jesus. They should expect to learn prayer, which the language of Jesus. And they should certainly expect to learn Christian community—the Church—which is the people of Jesus. The church’s second obligation is to take people who are new disciples and move them to become true disciples, and this happens only as people are immersed in the message of Jesus.
And here’s the final question: “What is my call from Jesus and what do I do about it?”
We go back to Emmaus one last time. Jesus first meets them, and then He teaches them. And then Jesus sends them. When they realize Who has been with them and what He has taught them, they run back to tell the others. They are literally the first Christian missionaries—they go to someone else and say, “We have seen the Lord.”
Now, how are we shaping our life together so that every man, woman, youth and child discovers how they can say, “We have seen the Lord?”
Every Christian deserves a Jesus mission. I’m a firm believer that God has an indispensable role for every person to play. I believe that God has a special assignment for every person He puts on earth. You are a part of God’s work in the world, and something precious and beautiful will go undone without you.
So how does University United Methodist Church help people deploy their relationship with Jesus? The church’s final obligation is to take people who are true disciples and turn them into trained disciplers.
I could spend the rest of my ministry just asking those three questions. I could spend the rest of my own life asking myself those questions. Is it too much to expect everything I do to meet the Jesus test? Is it really too demanding of our agendas to ask, “How does this show my need for Jesus or my news about Jesus or my call from Jesus and what to do about it?”
So for 2010, I’m stepping out on the road to Emmaus. I’m going down a new road with a new direction with Jesus. I would like to think you would join me. It’s not necessarily an easy road—I’m going to have to give up some things I value and I’m going to have to risk some things I’ve not done before. And if you come along for the ride, you’ll have to do the same as well. It’s not necessarily an easy road…
But it is a clear road, and it’s a good road. It’s the trip of a lifetime. And it’s the one road that takes you to the one place worth going.
