This weekend the council and a number of the elders/shepherds/elbows/leaders from the various churches are slipping away for our annual equipping retreat. In preparing for this year?s getaway, I?ve felt led to the theme, “For Such a Time as This”. The words are borrowed from the Old Testament book of Esther, where the Queen by the same name is informed by her cousin, Mordecai, that she has been given her royal position because God had an important purpose for her at that juncture of history. Namely, he was intending for her life to be used to bring salvation to the entire nation of Israel. For such a time as this, Esther was raised up, so that the redeeming plans of God could be channeled through her life.

As fantastic and privileged as that high calling sounds, I truly believe that the same words could be said of all of us today; hence the theme for the weekend. I do not believe for one second that our being alive at this point is an accident of chance. Nor do I believe that chance has led to our positioning here in the amazing city of Vancouver. And finally, I do not believe that our calling together in these churches, or our deliberate change in lifestyle to live church in this way has been the purposeless result of our own imagination.

Then what is going on? Why are we alive now? Why are we here? And why do we feel compelled do these little churches in this massive city? The answer is the same today as it was for Esther those thousands of years ago; because for such a time as this, God has raised us up to bring his hope and redemption to this city we call home. We are not without purpose. We are not wandering outcomes of our own design, we are people strategically positioned by the hand of a God, to join him in his stated goal of bring redemption and newness to a world gone amok.

There could not be a higher calling or purpose in life than this.

What is amazing about this is that we are beginning to see the inklings of this redemption emerge on the horizon of our churches. Last night at prayer I was jolted with the awareness that never before, in my entire life, have I ever experienced church life where so many people were literally standing on the threshold of new life in Christ. Everywhere I look, the signs of redemption are emerging from the soil. And its not just new followers that give evidence to this unfolding redemption, its also healing and care and restoration. Just as I see evidence of new faces embracing new life, so too I also see single mothers, disabled women, mentally challenged all being cared for and restored by the hands of God?s servants.

For such a time as this we have been raised up and called out, and the signs of this incredible calling are beginning to rise from the soil. To be sure, they are all just signs, little glimpses of the things we?ve longed for, yet even the early signs I find intoxicating.Perhaps though you are scratching your head a little; failing to make out the shoots in the same way I am, convinced, in fact, that the signs I speak of are not there. If this is you, might I suggest two possible reasons why this might be true? The first, while needing to be acknowledged, is a little harsh, and the second, knowing all of you, is probably the more likely of the two.

First the harsh reason. Perhaps you are failing to see the signs of new life, because you?ve done nothing with the soil to cause new life to emerge. While redemption work is overwhelmingly accomplished by the hand of the Father, there are a few things he has asked us to engage with. Namely, he?s asked us to be people of prayer and fasting and he?s asked us to be people who dwell in our world engaging in acts and words of love. If we fail these two things the chances of redemption life emerging are next to zero. If we do not pray and if we do not dwell purposefully in our world, then it should come as no surprise that the soil remains fallow. As I said, that sounds quite harsh, but I think you?ll agree its honest - and sometimes, even for us Canadians, honest things need to be said.

Still, while the above reason could be the answer to your questioning (and that is for you to say, not me), I have the hunch that for most of us the more likely answer is this: we?re not seeing the signs because the timing is not right. One thing we can be certain of in scriptures is that God is a God of timing. He and he alone knows when the time for harvest has arrived, and this timing we are rarely given the privilege of knowing. One day we can be out, working the soil with prayer and loving action, fretting over the fact that the ground continues to bear little sign of new life. Then, the next day, working in the same field we end up amazed by what sits before us. Whereas yesterday the ground was nothing but black soil, today, right in front of us, it teems with row upon row of little green shoots. And as we sit, stunned by the sight of it all, we ask ourselves, “What did we do different yesterday, from all the days before.” And the answer, of course, is nothing. Today, is a simply the product of all those yesterdays combined, and the hand of a sovereign Father who?s timing is impeccable. **

All that to say, I want us to know again, that none of this is an accident or a waste of time. You, and together, we, have been placed here, in this incredible city, for such a time as this. And in this time, our purpose is the same as Esther's of old; we are here to bring redemption and salvation, in all its forms, physically and spiritually, to a city that is desperately in need. And as we join in this calling, we do so committed to prayer and fasting while earnest in both loving acts and words. Then, faithful in these things, at just the right time, the black soil of our city, tended by our good works, will be punctured by the green shoots of new life. And to be certain, these new shoots are even now emerging.

Don?t doubt it friends. Be persistent in this calling. One day you?ll wake up, and you?ll find yourself rubbing your eyes with disbelief, overcome with joy at the sight, while saying to those around you, “But... I could have sworn that yesterday this field was only black...”

For such a time as this... pray and live in the world... this glorious city needs us.