Slipping the Clutch and Shifting into God-Drive

Text: Luke and Psalm 121
Feb. 22, 2004
Aldersgate UMC

Well here we are. Ready to make our first move into this new journey. Many of us have been waiting for this morning for several weeks. As we begin to read together Purpose Driven Life, I want to invite you to think metaphorically about the difference between driving a NASCAR track and riding a Harley Davidson. I’m wondering how many NASCAR fans we have there this morning? And who would like to own a Harley Davidson motorcycle?

Sometimes I feel like a NASCAR driver; driving a car that symbolizes my life round and round in circles trying to avoid any of the major crashes that disrupt the repetition of turns. Now I really do not want to offend any NASCAR fans but when life begins to feel like a bunch of repetitive turns around a racetrack, I begin to wonder, "what’s the purpose?" Did you know that the Daytona 500 was last weekend and there were at least two major accidents. In fact, I think Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won, in part because he somehow maneuvered around the accidents. With all due respect to the sport of racing, when life begins to feel like a NASCAR track, then its time to shift gears, move off this circular track and find a cross-country circuit.

This is when I slip the clutch and shift into God drive. I realize with the same abrupt shift as a gear change that, as the Psalmist writes, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. The Revised Standard Version reads, "From whence does my help come?" Whence is one of those words that didn’t get used very much in the last half of the twentieth century, yet it means far more than where. Whence signifies source, foundation, and starting place, not really just a location place as suggested by where.

When life feels like a bunch of repetitive circles around a race track with very little purpose, then its time to remember from whence my help comes. My help comes from God who created this world and all humanity in his image. I turn to God who made that miraculous moment when I truly communicated with another; who made all the God incidences of my life; who made me in the image of relationship capable of loving and willing to receive love; who made me such that I cannot exist alone – I am dependant upon the other. My source, my being, my very existence is in God, my Creator.

God made us and has given us a purpose, one that is far greater than our own personal fulfillment or happiness or even peace of mind. We are made by God and are put here for God’s purposes. My help comes from this God, not some human made god called "money" or "power." What can they get me but more things? When I fill up with things I become a cup full of no-things. When I let go of some of that money and power, I lift up on the clutch that keeps me connected to these things, so that I might step on the clutch that binds me to God.

Over these last few weeks, I’ve been learning about clutches through conversations with several people. In particular, I’ve been trying to figure out what the clutch in my car has to do with the action of clutching hold of the things of life. We clutch hold of relationships that we want to stay the same. We clutch onto the things in our homes that give us familiarity and help us remember special moments. All of this clutching is okay until one realizes that they are holding on so hard that God has no way in to one’s life.

One of the persons whom I have been talking to about clutches is my husband, my resident mechanic. A long time ago, when I was first married, I tried to learn how to down hill ski so that I could share this sport with my husband. The problem was that the first obstacle was the rope tow that would take me up to the top of the bunny slope. I could never figure out how to take hold of that moving rope without falling down. Now I know that one has to take hold with a slow, steady movement in order to successfully maneuver the rope tow. In a sense, one has to let the tow slip through their hand briefly before grabbing hold securely.

A clutch is what helps one to get in contact with a moving object without being pulled over. Imagine that there are two giant rope tows in life. One leads to God and the other pulls us in the opposite direction. Our hands clutch fast to a rope tow that pulls us through life, yet we’re not sure if that rope that we hold on to is leading us to our God who made heaven and earth or if we are holding fast to another rope that is pulling us in the opposite direction? Are we looking for meaning and purpose with some other god, who is not our Creator? These next forty days are all about letting go of the world’s rope tow and taking hold of the one that God is pulling. We’re hoping to slip the clutch so that we can grab hold of God.

According to Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life, life is defined by significance. He identifies three levels of living; survival, success, and significance. He believes that we live at the significance level when we know the meaning of life, when we know how much we matter to God and when we know and live out God’s purposes for our lives.

Jesus Christ lived his life at the significance level. In today’s gospel lesson we read about Jesus’ own journey to consider his purpose. Jesus knew that God had given him a purpose. He felt it throughout his life and that suspicion was fulfilled at his baptism. So, after his baptism, Jesus followed the ancient practice of retreating for 40 days to learn more about God’s purposes for his life.

That’s what we are doing as well; embarking on a 40 day retreat to learn more about God’s purposes for our lives. We’re taking this concentrated time to get to know God better, so we can know better God’s purposes for our lives.

During his 40-day retreat, Jesus was tempted in three ways. Each of those ways tells us something about our own lives. They help us to arrive at the significance level for our lives.

First, the scripture tells us that Jesus was famished after not eating for several days. Satan suggests that he turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger. Jesus would not allow himself to be defined by his stomach. He knew that life was supposed to be more than simple survival.

One’s purpose is not defined by one’s survival. In healing after my niece’s death, her mother, my sister, has led our family in not allowing life to be defined by death. When asked how many children she has, my sister’s response is two, a son and a daughter. At various events like my daughter’s wedding last July, or just last week when my sister got her braces removed, we often speak of Carole, her daughter, and how she would have responded to the event. Carole is not defined by her death, but by her life as she continues to change my life and many others. We are much more than mere survival.

The second temptation for Jesus was the one that for me feels most tempting. Jesus wanted to change the cruel and abusive ways of the emperor and other people with power. He wanted people to care for the poor and act with generosity and justice in their lives. He wanted people to respect God as their ruler and live according to God’s ways. Satan offered to put Jesus in charge of all worldly authority; imagine what he could have done as emperor or president. This temptation of political power would have been the logical way to go, especially because of Jesus’ sense of justice. Perhaps he could have avoided the cross?

It must have been tempting; the idea of being able to command people to love one another, but the expense was too great. He had to worship Satan, the one who gave him the authority. If one were to worship the very power that put one in charge how long before that power would corrupt? Uncontrolled power breads corruption.

Our lives are not defined by success alone. One always has to ask "Success at what cost?" Will we sacrifice valuable time with our families? Are we willing to bend the truth for money or prestige or so we can move up the corporate ladder? Such noble causes as feeding the world or ensuring health care for all people are not worth cheating or lying or using our power over people to enforce our own way. It is tempting to use our power over others to enact the kinds of change that we would like to see in the world, but it is also very costly.

Finally, Jesus is tempted to deny his humanity and give in to his delusion that he is God. But he is God, you might be thinking; yes, and Jesus never behaved as if he were a god. He did not take control of his life. Jesus accepts his full humanity, including the reality of his eventual death, and in accepting his death he ultimately becomes our salvation. "Only by accepting the finality of death does Jesus overcome it and create the reality of resurrection." (Homiletics, 3/8/92, p. 4, downloaded on 2/12/04 from www.homileticsonline.com)

We are still tempted today to believe that we are gods and in control of our lives. Many are reluctant to let go of their desires to keep our lives in control. We have a difficult time trusting God to take the lead. Usually, it is when our lives are totally out of control that we finally let God take control. A near death experience, sudden death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a violent incident are some of the ways in which we discover that we are not in control of our lives. When confronted with this kind of experience, one can try to maintain the illusion of control or let go and take hold of God.

For those active in AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, recognizing that they are not in control of their lives is the first step toward a healthier life style. Willing to accept the leadership of a higher power is the next step. Many more people than just those who are recovering alcoholics need to acknowledge that their higher power, God their Creator is actually in control of their lives. Often, I’ve wanted to work the twelve steps of AA in all of the groups of the church. We too, at times, may need to slip the clutch and shift into God drive. We need to let God take charge of our lives.

We matter very much to God. God created us and put us here for a purpose. There is much more to life than a series of laps around a NASCAR track. Life is about discovering and fulfilling God’s purpose for you and for me.

Several years ago, I visited the Harley Davidson factory in York, Pennsylvania. In the mid 1950’s, the Harley Davidson Company was going through a difficult time. They were having many problems with quality control of their motorcycles and had a negative reputation with those who rode motorcycles at that time.

Given the reputation of this company today for building top quality bikes, there must have been something that turned the company around and made a difference. Some say that is was when the company changed the manufacturing line. Instead of the traditional assembly line where each person does the same task twenty or thirty times a day each and every day, the plant now has a team of six to eight people who build the entire motorcycle from scratch.

When visiting this plant, I remember sharing whit a friend that I would want to be a part of that particular assembly line. I liked the idea of being able to build something together with a team of people and see the results of my labor. It would feel like my work had a purpose much more than if I were on a traditional assembly line.

I want my life to be more like a Harley, rather than a NASCAR. I want to know that I am going somewhere that I have a purpose. When we live our lives at the significance level we grow in understanding our purpose. The more we know about God, our Creator, the more we can understand our purpose. God wants our live to about more than survival or success. God has a purpose for us and is leading us to significance.

The remarkable beauty of our next forty days together is that many of us are reading the same book, Purpose Driven Life; we are praying together; gathering for weekly worship; and participating in discussion groups together. Together, we enter this journey, seeking to grow in understanding of God’s purposes for our lives. Together, we step out in a new direction, daring to travel cross-country leaving behind the familiar curves of a racetrack and following the lead of God’s Spirit.

Let us pray: be with us God as we head out on this journey. Lead us to new understanding of our purpose in you. Restore to us the trust necessary to recognize that you are ultimately in control of our lives. Help us to slip the clutch and move into God-Drive. We pray in our Savior’s name. Amen.