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Knowing God's Will for You, Part 1: "Preliminaries to Listening"
By Clancy Nixon
April 3, 2005
Church of the Holy Spirit
Ashburn, Virginia
When I was in Seminary here in Alexandria ten years ago, I already knew that
God had called me to be a church planter. Every Seminarian has to choose a field site
where they worship and serve, so I looked up every church planter around. They all told
me that George Beaven would be the best mentor for me. Right out of seminary, George
planted a daughter church from All Saint's, Dale City. Many of you know All Saint's
rector, John Guernsey, who is also the Dean of the Mid-Atlantic Convocation of the
Anglican Communion Network. Their daughter church is called Christ our Lord, and it
met in a movie Theater, which at the time I thought was just about the coolest thing
possible. My sons loved the popcorn during the coffee hour! George became a mentor
and older brother in Christ for me. While there, Ginger and I met Yvonne North and now
I'd like you to meet her. Please come forward, Yvonne.
There is an unreached people group in Northwest Kenya called the Turkana.
Most of the Turkana people have never heard the saving gospel of our Lord Jesus. The
Lord has called me to go among them and tell them of His saving love. God did not one
day just sidle up to me and say, "Hey girl, get up, let's go!" Instead, God carefully
trained me through many years and events, and when he called, I recognized how I fit
into his plan.
When I was a child, God gave me the desire to teach and the gift of mercy. God
trained me at the Dumfries Boy's and Girls Club, where I have worked for many years;
He trained me through local homeless shelters, and the rape crisis center. He
strengthened my faith in His provision through Angel Tree and feeding ministries.
As my "training" wound down, I had 1 more class to attend and the Lord,
(through a series of miracles introduced me to a sending agency called Global Teams.
They embraced me, and invited me to step out of the classroom with them and into a 3
month short term mission to Afghanistan in 2003. For 3 months I was able to teach
English to the most intelligent and curious people in the country at a university. We
spoke often about who Christians really are and what they believe. Through me God
planted seeds. I pray that they will grow. I loved the resilient spirit of the Afghan people
and the nice warm climate (an average day the temp was about 112)! However, I found
in those 3 months that I really missed working with children. I also missed driving a car,
and being able to laugh out loud. Afghan Women are expected to be demure and quiet.
Not a natural state for an American like me!
So when I returned home to the United States, my sending agency, Global Teams
and I went to work to find a calling that is particularly suited to the training God had
provided, as well as my temperament, spiritual gifts and vision. Through prayer, and the
help of my discernment team, I discovered that my passion for children far out- weighed
any other criteria for a mission assignment.
In August 2004, I was introduced to Elizabeth Argumba, a Missionary and
resident of Kenya near the Turkana territory. She needed an English teacher for
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children, and someone who possesses basic first aid knowledge to travel and minister to
the Turkana people. As it happens, I am a teacher, and an Emergency Medical
Technician. We have continued to communicate these past few months, and I know in my
heart that this is the place that the Lord has been preparing for me, and preparing me
for. That's how I got here. I'm now raising my financial and prayer support. My target
date to leave for Kenya is July 1st. If you are interested in joining me in this mission or
you want to learn more, I will be happy to answer questions after the service.
There is a Kenyan liturgy for Pentecost that strikes at the center of my heart. Just
after communion the pastor will say: Are there any who have not yet received the bread
of life?
And the people answer:
One billion Muslims have never been invited to the Lord's Table
One billion urban poor have never been invited to the Lord's Table,
900 million Chinese have never been invited to the Lord's Table.
800 million Hindus have never been invited to the Lord's Table.
360 million Buddhists have not been invited to the Lord's Table.
85 million Animists have not been invited to the Lord's Table.
20 million Sikhs have never been invited to the Lord's Table.
Millions of Jews have never been invited to the Lord's Table.
1,750 un-reached people groups have no church to invite them to the Lord's Table.
I invite you to help me to invite the Turkana people to the Lord's Table. God
bless you.
Let's pray for Yvonne: [prayer]
My friends, this is a woman who has been listening to God. She heard God speak
through her spiritual gifts of mercy and teaching, and her heart passion for evangelism
and for children. And she heard God through an invitation from Elizabeth Argumba.
You can hear God that way, too, by serving, and by signing up for the Network Class this
month on Sunday mornings. There are many ways to listen to God. Learning to listen to
God starts with listening to God's voice as He has already spoken with authority through
the Holy Scriptures. The Lord said, Go to the ends of the earth to make disciples of every
ethnic group; and Yvonne is going.
The Word Written is the Greek word Logos; and the word of God given through
the still small voice is called the Rhema word of God. The first preliminary to listening
to God is understanding this about God: God will not contradict what he has already said
in his Written Word. If you think you are getting a rhema word from God for you, and
that word contradicts the plain meaning of the Logos, the Bible, then that word is not
from God. The Bible always trumps our subjective judgment. The Catechism in the Book
of Common Prayer teaches this: "How do we recognize the truths taught by the Holy
Spirit?" Answer: "...when they are in accord with the Scriptures."
This is such a foundational principle. It seems simple, but we can't miss this one.
The failure to follow it has led to the travesty we now see in the Episcopal Church and in
other churches that have been hijacked by revisionists. They would have you believe that
the Spirit is telling us new things about sexuality today. They are not listening to God;
they are listening to the New York Times editorial page. It's actually a good idea to read
both, and other things, besides. But Christians are to use the Bible to interpret
fashionable opinions. We don't use fashionable opinions to interpret the Bible.
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Yesterday in Woodbridge, the Anglican Communion Network hosted over 1500 people at
a Conference at Hylton Chapel. Since our church is part of the Network, we helped host
it. The Primate of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Greg Venables of Argentina, spoke
there. My friends, I bring good news for you from Woodbridge. Bishop Greg is a very
godly man whose commitment to missionary, Biblical Anglicanism is exceeded only by
his commitment to the Lord Jesus. Every morning at breakfast, he prays with his wife for
opportunities to tell people about Jesus. Every afternoon, they share how it has gone!
Bishop Greg assured us that we are not alone here in the United States, that he would
always support us. We would be privileged to have him as our Archbishop. The truth is
that most of the Primates are just as godly as he, it's mostly the North American bishops
who have gone worldly! All our American leaders, including our rector, Martyn Minns,
spoke candidly about the need to prepare for separation from the Episcopal Church. No
more coded messages, just plain speaking calls to leave ECUSA and to suffer for the true
gospel. No more bashing of other Anglican groups who left before, like AMiA; instead,
the Network is planning a conference with them in Pittsburgh in November! Good things
are happening in our movement, but the opposition is energized and moving to make it
worse for us. Six orthodox rectors in Connecticut now face deposition and inhibition by
the bishop there. Their "crime?" Only to request alternative oversight as called for in the
Windsor Report. Our denomination is being shaken; the Episcopal Church is only the
cutting edge of a cultural battle for the truth that is being waged across all denominational
lines. Make no mistake, we are in a war, and there is no demilitarized zone. For such a
time as this, we have been called to stand for truth.
The good news is that Jesus Christ has already won the victory. He has the
victory over sin and death. Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The resurrected Christ is building his church, and it must be shaken, so it can be rebuilt
on the firm foundation of his Logos Word.
In our gospel story for today, Thomas, called doubting Thomas by tradition,
demonstrates for us that knowing God's will begins with faith in the resurrected Christ.
John 20, verse 24 tells us that Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus first
appeared to them. He would not believe their testimony until he had seen the Lord with
his own eyes. Notice Thomas first mistake: he had neglected the company of the faithful.
He missed the meeting; he hadn't been to church! So his faith level was low even before
he missed the Lord's first appearance. If you want to hear from God, if you want to see
the Lord, hang out among God's people! Go to church. The more you hang out among
real believers, the more of God will rub off on you! You catch their anointing; you see
their faith, which builds your faith. Thomas could not have known God's will for his life
until he worshiped the living Christ. That's where it begins. Thomas went on to preach
the gospel in India, and the fruit of his mission work among what was an unreached
people group still persists to this day. Elisha wanted Elijah's anointing, so he hung out
with Elijah to the point of annoying him, like the movie, "The Incredibles," when the
young Syndrome hung out with Mr. Incredible and studied him. If you want to learn
church planting, hang out around church planters. If you want to listen to God better,
more clearly, hang out with people who have a track record doing just that. Come to the
prayer meeting at 9:15 in the Teachers' Lounge. Befriend someone on the healing prayer
team, and ask them how they do it.
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The most important application of the "Principle of Hanging Out" is to hang out
with God. In order to hear God, you must put yourself in a position to do so. The best
position there is, is to be in the presence of God. It is to practice the presence of God, to
abide in Christ. "Draw near to him, and He will draw near to you." Yes, God is
omnipresent, and you can always call on him. Even so, there is a sense in which God
will not come to you unless you first go to him; you must enter God's presence. After all,
He is the King. God is not a cosmic bellhop or a celestial vending machine, available to
dispense refreshment whenever it's convenient for you. Jesus does not have to take your
call. "What do you mean, he's not in?!" Such arrogance, when we treat God as simply
another resource for our own self-fulfillment. God is holy. We serve him, not the other
way around. You go to him. Thomas almost missed the will of God for his life. You can
miss the will of God, too, if you don't hang out with God or God's people.
Every day, go to God and worship him. Read the Holy Scriptures. When Greg
Venables was converted as a young man, his discipler told him that he needed to read 4
chapters from the Bible every day. Now, he's about 60, and he has read it through over
40 times. No wonder Bishop Greg gets it that our mission is to tell people about Jesus.
He knows the story too well to be under relativistic delusions about alternatives to saving
faith in Christ. The Apostle Peter said that there is no other name by which people can be
saved except Jesus. What's your plan for reading Scripture? Do you have one? If not,
try Bishop Greg's plan 4 chapters a day - call God in the morning. Besides reading the
Bible, the other thing to do to get to the place where you can hear God is to pray every
day; pray daily. I'm going to develop this prayer life in great detail later in this sermon
series. For now, try this simple prayer. Pray John 15, and personalize it, putting your
own name in there when you pray the scriptures. In John 15 verse 4, Jesus says, "Abide
in me, that I might abide in you." Say, "I, Clancy, your name, abide in you, Lord, that
you might abide in me." Start there, and you will see the Lord; you will hear him; you
will grow very large spiritual ears to hear God.
To recap: there are 2 preliminaries for hearing God: first, remember that our
subjective judgment always is subject to the Bible; and second, that in order to best hear
God, we need to hang out with God and God's people.
(Pray)
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