God said “go.”

• And so Noah began to build a boat.

• And so Abraham and Sarah packed up their  family and all of their belongings and went.

• And so Moses went to see Pharaoh.

• And so the Israelites escaped slavery.

• And so Jonah (eventually) went to Ninevah.

• And so Ruth stayed with Naomi.

• And so Mary said “Let it be so…”

• And so the disciples dropped their nets.

• And so Saul had his eyes opened.

• And so the disciples went to make more disciples, and to baptize.

• And so Peter became the rock on which the church was built.

• And so Martin Luther became a Monk.

History is full of stories of times when the Word of God was: Go.  The issue isn’t the command.  The word “Go” is clear.  But like many things, we have complicated the command.  We add conditions.  We say

• We will go when we have a clear destination.

• We will go when we are prepared.

• We will go when we have been given permission.

• We will go when the risk is lower.

• We will go when we are ready.

• We will go when those we go to are ready.

And so sometimes, instead of going, we find ourselves in a place of waiting.  And let’s be honest:  waiting can become comfortable.  And we can become content as we wait to go.  And contentment can breed timidity.

Bishop Mark Hanson, in a public address last year said “It’s time to stop being a timid church.” 

To “Go” is to trust in the promises of a good and gracious God.  We have a savior who promises to go with us.  We have a message of hope that the world is desperate to hear.   The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of salvation and grace for all of God’s people.  The table is open, and Jesus the servant awaits the people of God to join at the banquet.

We acknowledge that the work is hard.  But that does not diminish the call.  The stakes are too high for us to be timid.  Poverty, homelessness and injustice are real.  To “Go” is to come face-to-face with these realities and to speak God’s grace into them. 

We do this as we accompany young people in their faith formation, and as they learn to address these issues themselves.

It is time to stop being timid.  It is time to step out of our comfort zone.  Clinging to the promises of Jesus, and bound together as community, with confidence we can step out of our comfort zone, can set our timidity aside, and can follow the call of Jesus.  While we don’t know where that call leads us, we have confidence in the author of our story.

So we go, while we follow.  We go while we acknowledge that we are being led.  The same God who led the Israelites through the wilderness leads us now. 

Together, we go.