LOSING THE BANKS

Have you ever seen a river without banks?  Yes, we call them Swamps.  It is the banks of the river that create the path, the flow, and the speed of the river.  Now, some look upon the banks as limiting – “If only those banks weren’t there, we could …!” – but the bank serves a purpose!  Without banks, the river is boundary-less, stagnant, and without stale.  We need boundaries.  This is the image behind Proverbs 29:18 – “When there’s no vision, the people cast off restraint, but whoever obeys instruction is happy.”

One of the marks of modernity is casting off restraint.  We don’t willingly accept the parameters that previous generations accepted and passed down to us.  We want to set a new course, live lif3 to its fullest, in freedom, face to the wind, ears pinned back!   But … are we in danger of ending up in the swamp?

One of the boundaries God has used to shape my life is Methodism.  When I connected with the United Methodist Church in 1985 at the age of 19, I found a rich, Biblical and theological home.  The Doctrinal Standards set forth in the Articles of Religion and the Confession of Faith (Book of Discipline) shaped my faith and my future.  The Sermons and Notes of John Wesley challenged me.  The hymns of Charles Wesley, ever rich in theology, reinforced what I was coming to believe and know to be true.  In 1987, my pastor told me: “Tucker, if God has called you to the ministry, there’s only one place to study to be a Methodist preacher … Asbury.”  Asbury watered the seeds my local Methodist Church had planted and planted even more deep within my soul.  Thanks be to God!!

Brothers and Sisters, I know the realities of our modern culture.  Many don’t like those banks!  They think one set of banks is as good as another, that one stream is as good as another, that all streams lead to God.  BUT that’s not what you learned from me.  It matters!  What we believe determines how we live.  So, I’m challenging you to be different, to go against the stream of the modern secularization of the church.  Learn the Methodist Heritage.  Study our doctrines and disciplines.  Perhaps you will discover too just how helpful and life-changing those river banks really are.

                                                              Grace and Peace to You … Pastor Tucker