RISE UP AND SHINE
THE CALL OF CHCC
DR. JIM DIXON
OCTOBER 6, 1991
EXODUS 4:27-31
Imagine for a moment that you are Jewish and it is approximately 3,500 years ago. You live in a land called Goshen, a northeast section of Egypt in the Nile Delta. The Egyptians are your masters, but you don’t much care because the land that you live in, the land of Goshen, is perhaps the finest land in all of Egypt. You have rituals and customs that you have grown comfortable with, and you’re surrounded by your family and by your loved ones. Your ancestors have lived in this land of Goshen for the better portion of 300 years.
You are somewhat content, but then one day there appears an 80-year-old man. His name is Moses. He comes with his brother who is 83 years old, and his name is Aaron. They have a vision, a vision they want you to buy into, a vision they want you to believe, a vision they want you to commit to. It’s a vision of another land far away, a land they call a promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s a vision that requires you to take a journey to leave your home in Goshen and to travel for perhaps months, for perhaps years across desert and wilderness. It is a vision that challenges you to take a stand against the armies of Pharaoh.
In all seriousness, what’s the likelihood that you would embrace that vision, leave your home, march across the desert and the wilderness, and go to that land where you have never been before? In all honesty, would you really believe the vision? Would you really commit to that vision? Would you really buy that vision? I think most of us would not. And yet, 2 million Jews did. They believed it, and they committed to it. Why? Why did they believe it? Why did they commit to it?
The answer is given in Exodus chapter 4. They believed because of the miracles. They believed because of the signs and wonders. Moses and Aaron stood before the people, and by the power of God, they performed miracles, signs, and wonders. The people were convinced, they got on board, and they said, “We believe.” They committed.
Now, there is a vision set before Cherry Hills Community Church. It’s a vision we want you to believe. It’s a vision we want you to commit to. It would be really great if Bob and I could stand up here and perform just a few miracles, a few signs and wonders that you might be convinced. But it’s not given to us to be miracle workers. We are not anointed with such gifts. Yet, we believe that somehow God is going to convince most of you. We believe that God is going to move most of you. We believe that most of you will believe and most of you will commit.
We recognize that there are a number of people in our congregation that do not believe and are not willing to commit to this vision. I’ve had some people come up to me, I think well-intentioned, and they’ve said, “Jim, we don’t think you’re making a very good career move.” I’ve got to say, I’ve never really viewed my ministry as a career, and my career doesn’t matter anyway. I view my ministry as a call, and I only want to be faithful to that call.
Now, I’m a little thick in the skull, and sometimes, I don’t hear God’s voice. But I’ve only had a few times in my life where I knew and really believed that God was saying something very important to me. One of those times was when I asked Barbara to be my wife. I knew that was God’s will and God’s call. I knew it. One of those times was when Barb and I felt led to leave California and come to Colorado. That was hard for us because we’d lived our whole life in California. We’d never really been to Colorado, but we knew it was God’s call.
Another time was when we left Aurora and came down to Cherry Hills ten years ago. We felt called—very much called—to be part of a new church called Cherry Hills Community Church. Then, with this vision that is now before us, the relocation of our church, we have felt called. And feeling called, I’m constrained. I feel like I have no choice but to proclaim that call to you. I have not felt called alone. The staff has felt called with me. The elder board has felt called with me. We have brought to you in faithfulness to God what we believe God has said to us. Obviously, for this vision to be fulfilled, it’s going to take a miracle. I mean, some things are just hard.
I’m reminded of a little story concerning Secretary of State Baker. Seems as though this last week, Secretary of State Baker was taking a walk in the sand by the Red Sea. As he walked, he saw there by the water that a bottle had washed up. The bottle had sand on it. He took the bottle and he scraped some of the sand off the bottle. When he did that, a genie came out of the bottle. (Obviously, this story is not even allegedly true.) As he saw the genie come out of that bottle, the genie explained that he was 6,000 years old. He said, “You know, I’m kind of rusty. I’ve not been out of the bottle in 6,000 years. Yet, I’m supposed to grant you a wish. So, make a wish and I’ll see what I can do. But I want to remind you that I’m kind of rusty now, and there’s some things I just can’t do because they’re too hard. But make a wish.”
So, Secretary of State Baker didn’t hesitate. He got out a big map. He pointed to the Middle East. He pointed to Israel. He pointed to the Arab block nations that surround Israel. He took a pin, and he drew a circle around the Middle East. He said, “I want peace. I want peace between Jew and Arab.” The genie shook his head and said, “Well, now see, that’s what I was saying to you. I mean, some things are just really hard and I’m kind of rusty. I didn’t want you to ask for anything too big. I think that’s kind of big. Could you make another wish?”
Secretary of State Baker said, “Well, I’m a Broncos fan and the Broncos are four and one. I know their schedule hasn’t been too hard. They’ve got a tough game with Houston. I really want them to win the AFC West. I want them to go on and win the AFC Championship. Then I want them to go to the Super Bowl, and I want them to win the Super Bowl.” The genie thought for a second, and then he said, “Let me take another look at that map.”
Some things are really hard. Some things just seem impossible. Peace in the Middle East, peace between Jew and Arab . . . in this age of the world, that doesn’t seem very possible. The Broncos winning the Super Bowl . . . in this age of the world, that doesn’t seem very possible. I think some have said and some feel that this vision set before us . . . this relocation, this dream of a new facility, this raising of $9 million . . . it just doesn’t seem possible. Do you really believe that? I mean, do you believe it’s not possible?
The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary and said, “With God, nothing shall be impossible.” You see, I believe God is working. Amazing things are happening in our church in these days and in these past few weeks and months . . . amazing things. I think with the great mass of attenders at our church, that great number of people who come to the church . . . that number is shrinking. I think our church is experiencing some atrophy, and, particularly, right here at the 11AM service.
I think that’s partly because of the mission of the church. I think that’s partly because, perhaps, our style of ministry has not appealed to everyone attending. Perhaps that’s particularly true here at the 11AM, where there’s a desire for a little more traditional music.
You know, I must say this just by aside: I loved singing that hymn today. We had Lance on the piano and Keith on the organ. Then we had Dick and Marcia leading the hymn. It seemed to work. I mean, we’ve struggled because it’s been hard. We look out there, and most of you are not singing when we sing hymns. You ask for hymns, but most of you do not sing when we have hymns. I love hymns. So, we’ve really struggled with this—how to kind of launch a hymn. It seemed to work today. Dick sat down and smiled. He said, “Wow, after six years, we finally figured it out.” We want to do it and we want to do it right. It’s not always easy.
Perhaps some people have left the church because of our capital stewardship campaign and the vision that is set before us. Some people have left temporarily, some people perhaps permanently. I’ve had people say to me, “You know, Jim, we’re just tired of talking about the vision and the relocation. We’re tired of the capital stewardship campaign. When you’re done with it, we’ll be back.” I’ve had other people say, “We’ll never be back.”
So, certainly, we are experiencing some atrophy for whatever reason in our congregation. But I must also say this: something exciting is happening. We have a growing core of committed people. What we are seeing in these days, in these past few weeks and months . . . we’re seeing a growing core of people committed to this church, committed to the ministry of Christ in this church—people who believe that Christ is working and His Spirit is guiding. We have a growing core. We’re excited about this.
We believe there’s some kind of pruning that is taking place, and it’s pruning for future blessing. We marvel. I’ve got to honestly say that we’re seeing the Spirit of God begin to work and touch hearts with respect to the vision that is before us, the relocation, and the capital stewardship campaign. We don’t have the power to change a single heart, but God has the power. And as we begin to see God move and His Spirit touch hearts in these past weeks, we are amazed and moved. We’re really moved how God has touched some of you. We’re really moved by the sacrifices you are making for this campaign. The response so far is unbelievable. And it’s wonderful.
I think that in this church, we have about 1,000 to 1,500 people who are sold out to the church. We have 1,000 to 1,500 people who are on board. They believe, and they’re ready to make commitments, and they’re ready to go. I think we have maybe 2,000 people who are just watching, and they really don’t know how they feel. They’re just watching, waiting. I think we’ve got a couple of hundred people who are angry. They’re really angry, and they’re very verbal. They know how to write. I think that’s normal.
The moment you take a stand and you say, “We’re feeling led of God . . .” When you take a stand, you don’t want to divide people; but people are just divided by the way they respond. From everything I understand, whenever a church feels the call to do something that’s hard, or whenever a church enters a building program or relocation, it’s fairly typical to have a core that’s really behind it. It’s typical to have a mass that’s watching and to have a group that’s really upset. I got to tell you, our core can make this thing happen by the power of God. I have no doubt that 1,000 to 1,500 people can make this thing happen. Yet, that would be kind of tragic because so many would just be watching.
When we moved from Orchard Road to where we are now, some of you were with us then. When we moved from Orchard Road to where we are now, there weren’t a whole lot of believers. There weren’t a whole lot of people on board. We had 1,000 people in the congregation at that time. Our congregational meeting to make the decision had less than 200 people. The core of givers was very small, and there were a lot of people watching. But by the power of God, it happened.
When we moved in here, everybody came. Not just the core of the committed, but the watchers . . . they came too. We all came. But I wondered, the people who really never got on board and just watched, how did they feel? I wondered that first Sunday, how did they feel? How did they feel coming to something that God had done and knowing they’d never given a penny? I don’t want that for you. I don’t want that for any of us. We should come when that victory happens, and we should all come knowing we were part of this. God used us, and He used all of us, not just a committed core.
I’m moved by the folks that are so committed. I didn’t dream there were so many people so in love with the ministry of this church and with what God has done in their lives. We’ve got a core of people I’d just love to serve and labor with for the rest of my life. I believe God wants to bring more people into the core, into the committed group. I believe that’s what God is trying to do in this time. I believe God is raising up a people at Cherry Hills Community Church that we might serve Him together.
I’m reminded of Gideon a little bit. Have you ever looked in the Old Testament and seen the story of how Gideon led the people of Israel and fought the Midianite nation? Gideon had 32,000 men ready to go into battle. It was a scary situation because the Midianite nation had far more men and far more weapons. Gideon had 32,000. He was ready to go. The Lord said, “Gideon, you’ve got too many. You’ve got too many.” He said, “I want you to find out all the people who are afraid. Find out who’s afraid. Just ask them if they’re afraid. And if they’re afraid, tell them they can go.” Twenty-two thousand people were afraid, and they went.
Suddenly Gideon had 10,000 instead of 32,000 ready to go into battle with the Midianite nation. Then God came to Gideon and said, “Gideon, you have too many. We’ve got to narrow down the troops.” He said, “I’ll tell you what I want you to do. I want you to watch the people as they go to the water to drink. All of those who in their thirst just fall down and drink mouth to the water, those who just put their head down . . . I want you to dismiss them from your army. Take only those who stay alert, those who, in the midst of their thirst, just kneel and lap up the water. Those are the only ones I want you to keep.” So, Gideon had 300. And with 300 men, he went to fight the Midianite nation. You know what happened. The power of God, a miracle of God, and the Midianites fell.
I know we have far more than 300 people in our committed core. I believe God’s Spirit is moving. But I believe, at this time, He wants us to invite everyone to join us and be part of what God is doing in our midst.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, said, “Attempt great things for God and believe great things. Receive great things from God.” Attempt great things for God. Receive great things from God. I believe that’s what’s happening in our midst as the Spirit of God leads us even now. Let’s close with a word of prayer.