I grew up in a good size family. I have two older sisters, a younger brother and a younger sister. My oldest sister and my youngest sister are both adopted, and on top of that my parents had a number of foster children in our home while I was growing up. So we naturally had a Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon.
It was not unusual for our family to take other kids along on family vacations. I particularly remember one vacation while we were living in Sandusky, Ohio. At the time there were four of us Monck children, we were joined by the three Baskee girls, and two of the Cheek children. Nine kids, two adults, one station wagon, and a vacation from Sandusky, Ohio to Disneyland. As in Los Angeles, CA.
If you questioned my parents mental stability after hearing they named me Chip Monck, you can probably only confirm your hunch now that you hear what they defined as a “vacation”.
This station wagon was one of those that you could lay down the middle and the rear facing seat, and end up with this smooth metal bed behind the front seat. This was long before seat belts were en vogue. So my parents simply loaded all of us into the back, and we slid our way through each and ever turn, all nine of us, all the way across the country.
Now, what I really hated about this station wagon was the rear facing seat. Any of you ever sat in one of these. It is like some kind of a jump seat that faces the tail gate. Every time you stop in traffic, the cars coming up behind you convince you that you are about to die, and once they do stop. . .you can pretty much read the oil change sticker in their windshield. I hated that seat. It was a 15 second trip to car sickness. I never could see what was coming ahead. I was always focused on what was behind, and it always seemed like the stuff that was behind us was going to be my undoing.
In many ways, people live life and churches live life in the rear seat of a station wagon. Always looking out the back window. Reflecting on what has already been passed; wondering if the past is going to catch up with them, no real awareness of what is coming up ahead.
Think about what would have happened if my dad chose to drive the car from that seat. Granted, when he backed the car up, he did this deal with his arm, and looking over his shoulder. As he drove down the road he would check his rear view mirrors, and glance around. But his focus was ahead, through the windshield.
It is similar to the common theme and discussion that happens repeatedly in churches and organizations, especially at the time of leadership changes, when we begin talking about vision. We begin that tension between being focused out the rear window, or checking our rear view mirrors, or looking ahead through the windshield. That tension of finding the proper balance between forward vision, and recognizing our historical heritage and foundation.
And often it is when we begin these discussions that communication begins to break down. Across generational lines, across traditional versus contemporary lines, across future of the church versus history of the church lines. Literally battle lines begin to be drawn, and communication becomes completely boggled between the two.
An example. Two rednecks, Billy Joe and his friend Bubba are out in the woods hunting when Billy Joe suddenly grabs his chest, keels over and falls to the ground.
Billy Joe doesn’t seem to be breathing, his tongue is hanging out and his eyes are rolled back in his head.
Bubba frantically whips out his cell phone, and calls 911. He yells to the operator, “Help! I think my friend here is dead! What do I do?”
The operator, in a calm. . .soothing voice says, “Ok, ok, calm down and take it easy. I can help. First of all, let’s make sure he’s dead.”
There is a silence, and then a gunshot is heard. . .
Bubba comes back on and says, “Ok, now what?”
A communication breakdown. An interpretation breakdown. There are times as a leader when you are trying to communicate a thought or truth, and somehow. . .despite everything on your end making perfectly good sense, it just doesn’t seem to bring about the desired result on the other end. Bubba heard what you said, but your vision of saving the life has rapidly disappeared.
I think this is a common struggle in modern churches. Pastors, and maybe even lay leaders have this grand vision for the church. They have clear focus and understanding of what the vision looks like, how it will play out, what the end product will be. But the people in the pews are sitting there asking, “What in the world is this man talking about?”
I can relate. I have been there. One of the greatest blessings of my seven years outside of fulltime ministry was God’s ability to allow me to see things from the other side of the pulpit. As Nationwide Insurance moved us from state to state, we visited churches, attempted to find a new church home, and I would often find myself sitting in the midst of people that I knew had no idea where that guy up there was coming from. Now, I’m that guy up there.
Our first Sunday here I shared about a dream I had the week prior to arriving, and shared how I felt God had utilized that dream to communicate a message to me. Following the service, I was asked a very honest and reasonable question. . .”Did you really have that dream?” I confirmed that I did, but as I thought about that question, it drove home the reality of how easy it is to stand up here and shoot out vision vomit, if you will.
In fact, there are probably people within this church that if they have to hear one more time about vision, purpose statements, mission, they just might vomit. I’ve been there.
You see, I have not been one of those people blessed with divine visions and supernatural dreams, and radical direct communications from God. Reality is, I’ve always been fairly skeptical about such moments and revelations. Probably similar to the father that wrote the following. . .
“My son called. Through years of drug abuse, Scott had stolen from our family, manipulated us, and failed us. It had been a relief not to hear from him for two years.
“Scott told me he’d been through a rehabilitation program a year and a half ago that provided something no other had offered.”I met Jesus Christ. I’ve been forgiven for my past. I want to ask you and Mom to forgive me, too." He said he was now helping other addicts get straightened out.
“I was torn between hope and cynicism. The well-groomed, bright-eyed young man who arrived at the airport looked like a stranger. In the days that followed, Scott told how, in the midst of drug withdrawal, he’d seen a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross and cried out to him for help. His withdrawal symptoms ended instantly. That experience had led him to a church. "I asked Jesus to be my Lord," he quietly explained, "and my life hasn’t been the same since."
“The change in Scott was too dramatic for my wife and me to ignore. Today, Jesus has given us the same new life he gave our prodigal son.”
Some people seem to experience radical, vivid visions. While most of us just try to figure out why God isn’t speaking to us in such a way.
So rather than share a vision for our church with you today, I would rather share the story of a man who seemed to be gifted at receiving, understanding, and communicating very distinct and clear visions from God. Someone for whom God sent visions seemed to almost be a daily occurrence. And maybe, just maybe by looking at one example of his life, we can develop in our lives and in our church some practices which will position us to connect supernaturally with God.
In Daniel chapter 10 we are given some pretty unique insight and detail into a specific time in Daniel’s life when a vision became clear. And the idea today is not to focus on the specific vision that Daniel is relating here, but to look at some habits and characteristics that were a part of Daniel’s life which put him in a position to see, hear and understand very direct communication from God.
Daniel 10:1 (read). That verse actually summarizes the remainder of the book of Daniel which will detail this vision that Daniel has received and its meaning.
Verse 2 (read through v. 9). Let’s stop there and un-package what we have so far. (re-read verses 2 & 3). Throughout the book of Daniel you will find that one of the practices of Daniel’s life which placed him in a position to obtain, understand, focus in on, and be used in the midst of Godly visions was that he practiced. . .
THE DISCIPLINE OF DENIAL
For weeks Daniel had been mourning. In all likelihood he was mourning the continual reports he was receiving regarding the condition of Jerusalem during this time of Babylonian captivity. And in the midst of this mourning, he denied himself physical pleasures for the sake of connecting with God.
Sometimes I am not sure my parental vision is getting through to my children. I will walk in the house, and follow a clear trail of Allie activity up and down the stairs. From room to room there are clear indications and debris from her presence. And I will begin calling out to her, but get nothing in return. As I venture downstairs, I continue to call her, but I don’t seem to be getting through. As I enter the family room, I find her in front of the TV, GameCube on, Ms. PacMan racing across the scream, and. . .here I go sounding like my father. . .the volume at a decibel level that leaves me simply amazed that our windows haven’t shattered.
There is no way my vision for her behavior is going to get through that noise. And the same may be true in relationship to our receiving a vision from God. How much noise are we forcing Him to get through? Activities. . .running from one place to the next. Noise. . .hanging up the phone to answer the cell phone. Finances. . .refinancing the house so we can buy the new vehicle.
So much noise for God to get through in order for us to hear from Him. Remember the story of Elijah. Turn left to I Kings 19. I Kings 19:11. Elijah wanted to hear from God, he wanted a vision, but look where he found it. (read 11 through 13).
Maybe when we are having a hard time focusing in on a vision from God, we need to practice the discipline of denial. Quiet our lives down a bit. Pray, fast, be still, allow God to speak.
Then we see a very simple thing take place. Something we could so easily overlook. It is so obvious, so practical, that we might just fly right by it. (read v. 4 and 5a).
Daniel lifted his eyes. In fact, Daniel. . .
LIVED WITH LIFTED EYES
Have you ever watched people walk around the streets of our society anymore? So many heads are down. So many are avoiding eye contact, missing so much that is going on around them. We aren’t in a Biblical posture for receiving a vision from God.
Psalm 24:7 – “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.”
Turn over to Luke 21:25. If you haven’t picked this up in my first few weeks, I will let you in on a traditional vein that runs through me. Carry your Bible to church. I promise you will not be disappointed. We will use it. Bring a Bible, and a pen. If you need a Bible, come see me, and we will get one in your hands.
Luke 21:25. Jesus is teaching on His return, and look what He says (read through 28). This is an event that can’t be missed. It will be happening all around, and obvious. . .but Jesus says to assume a posture, prepare yourself at that moment, lift up your heads.
Some of the disconnect between the pulpit and the pew can be that on one end is someone who is not living with lifted eyes. No forward vision. Sometimes this is the pastor. The congregation is shouting, “Don’t you see what we see, lift up your head!”.
To focus in together on a common vision from God, we have to live with lifted eyes.
It is so simple, but it is one of my favorite things about the modern worship movement. Oh, we went through all the pains of why we don’t use the hymnals. Endured all the misery of flipping overhead transparencies. Suffered the cost and challenge of installing screens. But when it was all said and done, we took worship from here (model hymn reading) to here (model eyes up worship). Worshiping, living with lifted eyes.
Are you struggling to focus in on the vision you keep hearing that brings lost souls from all over central Kentucky into Stonewall Wesleyan Church of all places to enter into an eternal relationship with Christ? Then just do what Christ says is John 4:35, ‘Do not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest?’ Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.’”
If I had half a brain I would un-package that a little more, and we would go home. . .but let’s see what else is going on here.
Verse 7 (read).
Daniel was not alone at the time that this glorious being presented himself to Daniel. Verse 7 suggests that there were a number of other men with him, but they didn’t see the vision. Why? What was the difference?
Daniel lived his life. . .
CLOTHED IN COURAGE
Throughout the book of Daniel you will find a man with every reason to be afraid, every reason to cower, and every reason to run and hide. However we see time, and time again that he acts with an inexplicable courage.
A great terror, fear fell upon the other men, so they ran and hid, and missed out on the clear communication of the vision. The NIV says that “terror overwhelmed them.” The Message says, they were “overcome with fear and ran off and hid, fearing the worst.”
I think that keeps some people from being able to focus in on a vision. They fear the worst. What if we fail? What if no one comes? What if I get rejected? What if. . .what if. . .what if. . .
Man, I can not begin to communicate to you the amount of hours of my life I have wasted on “what ifs” that not only never came true. . .they never came close to coming true. I was such a worry wart as a teenager that I was 15 years old when I was diagnosed with my first ulcer. 15 years old! Now that is not clothed in courage.
Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear.”
And understand, we are talking about a debilitating fear hear. As we launch out into verse 10, you will see that Daniel had some nerves at work. But he was not frozen by fear. He didn’t allow fear to get in the way of focusing in on the vision God had for him.
Verse 10 (read 12).
When were Daniel’s words heard?
From the first day that he set his heart to understand and to humble himself before God.
Daniel shows us that to focus in on a vision, we need to have a. . .
HEART OF HUMILITY
Imagine the power of a church, where the body of believers has joined together, and set their hearts to understand God’s plan for them in His eternal purpose, and have set their selves humble before God.
Humility is a Biblical theme of Godly success from cover to cover, just as pride is a theme of failure from cover to cover. If you want to focus in on a Godly vision, set your heart to understand and to be humble before God. Posture yourself with a desire to understand what God is going, and to be humbled by His working. Make understanding of God’s vision, and humility of heart a passion of yours as you peer through life’s windshield.
Let’s look at one more. Verse 13 (read through 14).
Two examples of a single, common posture. . .
PERSEVERING WITH PATIENCE
I don’t have time to un-package all the interesting theological lessons that can be derived from verse 13 in relation to spiritual warfare, but basically the reason Daniel had not received the interpretation of this vision was due to the fact that the angel sent to Daniel ran into demonic opposition which seems to have led to a fairly intense battle. So at least 21 days Daniel had to wait for this interpretation of the vision that he had.
21 days. Now, how do you think that fits into a society where 4 minutes for a burger and fries is annoying. . .priority mail wasn’t good enough, so we have next day. Now we have next day by 10 a.m., and even earlier. We can’t wait until we get home to share a thought so we have cell phones. We can’t wait for a letter to cross the country so we have email. We can’t wait for Sports Center so we have the little tickers on the screen to keep us updated. We can’t wait for the news from around the world so our channels have more graphics, data, and information on them then is almost tolerable. Talk about not knowing what to focus in on!
But even beyond that, when Daniel is given the meaning of the vision, he is also told that the actual occurrence of the vision is still many days to come. In fact, and there are all kinds of positions to take regarding the interpretation of these prophecies, but best case scenario this vision comes to fruition hundreds of years later and possibly the vision refers to the end of times which has yet to come.
So the question is, how quick does God have to move for you to stay focused on a vision? When God places a vision on your heart, when things come into focus, when you feel like you have an understanding of what God is going to do in you, through you, in this church, through this church, how quickly will He have to act to keep you committed to that vision? 2 weeks? Six months? 2 years?
Dr. Jerry Pence at the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism for the Wesleyan church says that research has shown it takes roughly four years to truly be accepted into a community. Four years? How does that fit into average pastoral terms of two to three years? If it will take four years to truly be accepted into this community, and therefore accepted for dynamic, exponential ministry. . .will you remain committed to the vision?
I will not do this often. . .but I’ll do it today. Seminarians, individuals within the sound of my voice who are studying for a life of ministry. . .don’t miss out on the power, and potential of your ministry because God is taking too long. Numbers aren’t going up fast enough. Change isn’t happening easily enough. The spiritual warfare is slowing things down. Commit yourself today to a life of ministry that perseveres with patience.
Well goodness, I’m just getting warmed up, but I’ll close with this.
In today’s world of extreme sports there is a popular method of skiing referred to as “Tree-skiing”. Tree-skiing may sound like a death wish, but some skiers love the risk of skiing brand new, fresh powder snow lying in a stand of aspen or spruce trees. The key, of course, is not hitting the trees! In Outside magazine, writer and skier Tim Etchells lays out the challenge:
“Even more so than in deep snow or moguls, what you focus your eyes on becomes critical in the woods. Look at the spaces between the trees—the exits where you hope to be traveling. Or as extreme-skiing world champion Kim Reichelm states rather matter-of-factly, "Don’t stare at what you don’t want to hit.”
I don’t want to give you a vision for your life or for Stonewall Wesleyan Church. I want to help equip you to receive and understand the vision that God has for your life and for Stonewall Wesleyan Church. So don’t stare at what you don’t want to hit. Don’t focus on where you don’t want to go. Don’t keep looking out the back window of the station wagon.
Look at the spaces between the obstacles, the places where you hope to be traveling. Then practice the discipline of denial in your life, lift up your eyes with anticipation, clothe yourself in courage, take on a heart of humility and persevere with great patience.
