What a wonderful homecoming party.    A concert, a picnic, a groundbreaking….you really know how to treat a pastor.  I am confidant that none of the other Lilly Endowment sabbatical grant recipients received such a homecoming.   I want to thank you for the gift of time away and thank the staff for their able leadership. Many of you have shared your appreciation for the fine work that each did in my absence. I am very grateful for the dedication and commitment to excellence. I also want to express my appreciation to the many of you who have planned this weekend.  This is truly an incredible event, well conceived and well executed, close to perfect -- you cannot control the cool temperature.

 

Here we are on Promise Road. We’ve been on a lot of roads this summer seeing Claire’s soccer games, traveling with Andrew and his baseball team and talking to local pastors about multi-site campuses. We’ve been to Nashville, Baton Rouge, Memphis, Atlanta, Port Charlotte, Fort Worth, and Auburn not to mention half a dozen towns in Indiana. We traveled over eight thousand miles and, while I can’t tell you the names of all the roads, I am pretty sure none was named “Promise.”

 

The reason I’m not completely sure is that several times we were lost. Well, not completely lost but traveling by the seat of my pants. For instance, in Baton Rouge, before Andrew’s first baseball game at LSU, I visited with pastors at Healing Place Church, a congregation worshiping at six different sites. Our conversation ran longer than expected.  I got back to the hotel just as Andrew’s team was leaving for LSU. They were pulling out of the parking lot as I was pulling in, which meant that I didn’t get directions and we didn’t have anyone to follow.  We knew that the baseball field was across the street from the football stadium and the stadium was due west of the hotel.  So we set out. All we had was a landmark. Somehow, some way, we ended up at the baseball field. But I don’t really know how I got there.  In fact, we drove to LSU three times and every time, we took a different road and every time, we ended up in the right place. But if someone asked me how to get to the LSU baseball diamond, I’d have to point and say, it’s that way. I don’t know how we got there.

 

Have you ever had that experience where you ended up in the right place but you don’t really know how you got there? With Mapquest and Google maps, Onstar and GPS navigational devices, getting from one place to another isn’t hard any more. But even with these modern tools for directing travel, I’m willing to bet that most of you have experienced what we experienced.  It’s easy to get turned around or miss a street sign or find out that the road you need to turn on has a detour arrow pointing you in a different direction. What happens then? A turn here, a turn there and before you know it, you are on the right road and you end up in the right place. But you aren’t sure how you got there.

 

The reverse can happen. You can get hopelessly lost particularly if you are navigationally challenged. I know a few people who have such a poor sense of direction that they can get lost in their closet. You may be one of those people.  When there is a sudden detour, you panic because you might end up in the wrong place.

 

It’s amazing how a common experience can become a metaphor for life. This one translates easily and I hear it frequently. “I don’t know how I ended up in this position.  I did my work and kept my mouth shut. I was the last person I expected to be promoted. But here I am, thirty years later, promoted over and over again and now I’m running this company.  Don’t ask me to teach an MBA class.  I can’t tell you how I got here but now I’m here, the right place and the right time. Many of you can offer that illustration. You can look back on lives blessed in amazing ways.  You didn’t know it but the road you’ve been on was named “Promise.”

 

Unfortunately, sometimes the metaphor gets translated negatively. When relationships are broken or finances poor or an addiction is finally admitted I hear, “I’ve made such a mess of things. I can’t believe it? How did I get to this point?” When you feel this way, no road seems promising.

 

These experiences are not unique to us. The Bible is full of men and women who found themselves at a place they never imagined. At 99 years of age, Abraham believed that he was on the road to the cemetery. He couldn’t imagine that God would change the name of that road to covenant, which is another name for promise. On promise road Abraham becomes a father and the patriarch of the Hebrew people.  Moses didn’t realize that the desert road which he took to escape indictment as a murderer was, in the reverse direction, named promise.  On promise road Moses became the great liberator of the Hebrew people and the recipient of the law.  Rahab thought she was living on the corner of sin street and prostitute lane.  She ended up on promise road as the heroine of Jericho and one of Jesus’ ancestors.

 

The Bible is full of people who’ve had this experience and biblical narrative speaks to this truth. God is actively shaping our lives in hopes that we end up on promise road, for on promise road you will witness. None of the Biblical characters affirm this more than the disciples.   We see it clearly in the lesson I just read to you. For three years, the disciples followed Jesus.  He led them, inspired them, challenged them, taught them, confused them, sent them out as missionaries, partied with them and, most of all, loved them. The disciples must have awakened every morning thinking, “I get to spend today with Jesus. This day is filled with promise. Then came Good Friday and Jesus’ death on a cross.  They were devastated. They were living in this Jesus bubble and it popped when He died on the cross.  They thought it was all over only to experience Easter. Jesus was resurrected and they were living the dream again. All of his promises were true.

 

In our lesson, they are forty days from Easter. They have experienced forty more days of teaching and preaching, meals and miracles. Forty days with Jesus everyday, promising the gift of the Holy Spirit and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. On the fortieth day, Jesus leads them to the top of Mount Olivet. This is an important place for them. The Garden of Gethsemane is at base of this mountain and since the time of Zechariah, Jews believed that on Mount of Olives, God will redeem the dead at the end time.

 

For whatever reason, once they reach the top, the only thing that the disciples can think to say is, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?”  (Acts 1:6b). They didn’t say the kingdom of God. They said, “Israel.” I can just see Jesus holding his head. For three years, He’s been trying to teach the disciples about the nature of the Kingdom of God.  Acts makes the point again the last forty days, that’s all he’s talked about. It’s not a political kingdom. It can’t come by power or force. Three years and forty days and they still don’t get it.  These disciples need a dumb slap to the back of the head. They are clueless. “Now comes the fun stuff. Right, Jesus. You’re “gonna” kick their togas right out of Jerusalem.”  I bet Jesus thought, “I hope the Holy Spirit can do a better job with these guys than I have the last three years.” [1]

“No” Jesus says, “It’s not for you to know the time.”  But I’ll tell you what comes in next. You are going to be my witnesses “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)  That’s my promise and with that, Jesus ascends into heaven.

 

At that moment, they looked at each other and said, “How did we get to this place?” It doesn’t quite say it that way in the Bible but that is what they are doing. They were literally standing around looking up in the sky for Jesus. A couple of angels show up and “They said,  “Men of Galilee why do you stand here looking into the sky?” (Acts 1:11a) Geez, I bet you I can think of a couple of reasons. They just saw Jesus fly up into the heaven—that’d give you pause, don’t you think? “Why are you staring up in the sky? Cause Jesus just went up there.” The Bible is really funny some times

 

There is another reason that you can miss.  Jesus tells them to witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Jerusalem, Okay. Judea, Okay. Samaria, not Okay.  Ends of the earth, not so okay. Not good. You remember that little story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. It had teeth in it because Samaritans were not regarded as part of Israel. They were half-breeds at best. They did not believe in the right kind of god. They did not embrace all of the scriptures.  First century Jews insulted Samaritans by calling them dogs. “Ends of the earth” was biblical code language for ‘gentiles”.  A long time ago, Isaiah had prophesied that “Israel would be the blessing of all nations and a light to the ends of the earth.” Jesus uses a little tag from Isaiah and those disciples would remember him saying “You are the light of the world.”

 

Imagine how they felt. They are in charge now.  All they have to do is witness to their family, friends, to the Samaritan dogs and be the light of he world to the rest of the earth. No wonder they stood there stunned.  They were having that an all too common experience of wondering how on earth they got to this point in their lives and what are they going to do about it.

 

In this way, they are a lot like you and me.  Here we are on Promise Road. I’ll admit that I never imagined that I would be preaching on Promise Road. When I began my career, I never dreamed of serving a multi-site congregation. In fact, they didn’t exist. When we moved to Indiana to start our church, it wasn’t in my thinking. I’ll tell you the truth. Even a couple of years ago, I wasn’t sure that we’d pull it off. Truth be told, I’m not completely sure how we got here.  But here we are, on Promise Road, witnessing to everyone who drives by.

 

I know you are having the same experience. Some of you are wondering what you are doing here.  Your church is on the corner of Mud Creek and 86^th Street; you don’t intend to worship in Fishers. You never imagined being at a church in two locations. Now you are in a tent on Promise Road wondering how you got here. Others of you came to this field willingly. You live in this community and driving to this site will be a lot quicker than driving to Mud Creek. So you are excited about the mission of Promise Road. But I’d asked you just a few years ago if you wanted to be missionaries, you’d say, “I can’t do that.”  Still others are guests today. You came out of curiosity or because you received a mailer or read about us in the newspaper. You aren’t sure why you are here or what you got you to this place.

 

The promise brought you to Promise Road.  Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and his promise was true.  Remember the biblical truth.  God is actively shaping our lives in hopes that we end up on promise road, for on promise road you will witness. The Holy Spirit brought you to this place, mysteriously gathered us as a community of people who aren’t completely sure how we ended up on Promise Road but here we are witnessing. Remember what Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” which I’m pretty sure included Geist and Fishers.  You are the light of the world….let your light shine before others so that they may see…

 

This is what you are doing. You are giving testimony to the power of God in your lives. You are making a statement that this is important. Even if this is one of the few times you worship on Promise Road, you are saying,  I am a witness, first in Geist, now in Fishers, throughout Indianapolis, to the ends of the earth. You are witnessing to the power of the Holy Spirit and the promise of life eternal in the kingdom of God.  It’s a promise that for you, your children and all whom God will send us.

 

Every person here, right now, is witnessing. You, you, you and me—witnessing.  We aren’t just breaking ground and having a party. We are street corner evangelists.  We might as well be standing on the corner with a big sign. Every car that passes this corner right now is wondering what is going on. Every car that passes in the next year, seeing construction at this site will be wondering what it is going to look like. In a year, when the building is open, they will see people coming and going and they’ll think, maybe we should give that church a try. 

 

Right this minute, you are a part of something big, something so large that it dates all of the way back to Jesus’ last words on Mount Olivet.

 

Some will give it a try; others will have to be invited by you. You will invite them because when you are living on promise road, you have to share it with others. It will be a lot easier than you think.

 

Do something for me. I’ve been preaching at you for fifteen minutes or so. Just take a tiny break from my sermon. Turn to someone sitting next to you and tell him or her the name of your favorite movie. Just the name of the first movie that comes to mind and don’t do a review. You can do that later after the service.

 

I suspect that wasn’t too hard to do and I know that most of you could probably tell the entire story line of that favorite movie. Well, I’m not going to tell you what my favorite movie is. I’m going to show you a scene from it.

 

[Movie Clip:  Field of Dreams][2]

 

This is our field of dreams, just like the one five miles down the road on Mud Creek and we know if you build it, they will come. People will come for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn in our driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at our door as innocent as children, longing for peace, for its money they have and peace they lack. They'll find their seats in worship and they will be dipped in mystical waters of baptism. Soon, the memories will be so thick with the ministry in this place we’ll have to brush them away from our faces. People will come. The one constant since Mount Olivet has been church, witnessing the promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of eternal life. Oh... people will come.  People will most definitely come if we simply witness. When you are on promise road, it is as easy as recommending a movie. Men and women of Geist and Fishers, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Go, be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, Geist and Fishers, and to the ends of the earth."

 

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