Pastor's Page

“WHERE HOPE IS BUILT”                   

St. Peter’s Luth. Church

2nd Sun. After the Epiphany
Jan. 20, 2008
I Cor. 1:1-9; Jn. 1:29-42

I received a letter the other day…
   And I wanted to share something right out of the middle of the letter:

“Thanks for letting me come to talk to you.  I seem to struggle so often in my life.
Here’s a question for you:
        If I pray to God to help me find someone to grow old with, why doesn’t he hear that prayer from me?
           I guess I will trust and wait.
              Good advice you gave me…”

 

I want to say to you today.
   Everybody has a mountain to climb.

Excitement gripped the world when two men became the first to climb Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest peak.  It was in May, 1953, and the explorers were Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper,
          And Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide from Nepal.

They reached the 29,000 foot peak together, and soon their names would be known around the world. 
         During their descent, Hillary slipped and started to fall.  But Norgay dug his ice ax in and braced the rope that held them together. If not for his quick action, Hillary would have fallen to his death.

At the bottom of the mountain, the news media were waiting and they soon learned of Hillary’s near-accident and of Norgay’s quick life-saving action.

“Tell us about it,” they asked the modest Sherpa guide.
   Norgay looked at them with great calm.  In a quiet voice he said,
      “Mountain climbers always help each other.”

It is hard to think of a better example of teamwork and professionalism than this story of how the Earth’s highest peak was conquered without loss of life or injury.

In a story that follows last week’s Baptism of Jesus, we now hear of John the Baptist pointing out to two of his followers the newly-baptized Jesus.
    “Behold the Lamb of God!”  You can almost see the man in camel-hair pointing out Jesus. “He is the one who takes away the sin of the world!”

The two men listening leave John, and they followed Jesus.
   When Jesus saw them following he turned and said to them:
       “What are you looking for?”

Well, folks, that’s my question for you today.
     “What are you looking for?”

Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, survived the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz during World War II.  After his release, he became the head physician of the Vienna Polyclinic Hospital.  He developed a new psychological approach – logotherapy- which helped patients find personal meaning in life during difficult circumstances.

Frankl had this to say about the search for meaning:
   “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that  it is he who is asked.  In a word, each (one) is questioned by life; and only (you) can answer to life by answering for (your) own life; to life (one) can only respond by being responsible.”

A recent survey by the Barna group says
   Americans are reframing not just faith in general,
       But Christianity in particular…
         This comes about because of media criticism,
            Unchristian behavior by church people,
              Bad experiences with churches,
Ineffective Christian leadership amid social crises, and so forth.

People are redefining what the words “Christian” and Christian life mean.

So, perhaps now is the best time to listen to Christ and his question to disciples:
   “What are you looking for?”

Their answer, “To see where you are staying.”
   His answer to them,
        “Come and see.”

This would seem to be less than illuminating.
   But, if we stay with the question, we find a key to understanding what faith is.

Faith is not so much a matter of thinking as doing---
      And not so much about doing—but as about being and witnessing.
Where does the Lord stay these days?
    Just come and see, and we might realize that Jesus comes
      To make us more holy and more fully human.

If we are truly Christians…worthy of the name,
     Then we live where he is…meaning that he is at the center of our lives.
   If Paul is right about anything, then he is right that we are in Christ and he is in us.

Supposing that to be true,
    Then, where do we stay….where do we stand?
       Or, can we say with our nameplate Martin Luther,
           “Here I stand, I can do no other!”

What we are talking about folks is a call.
    There is a call for each person in this room.
        We know about that because we are in the process of calling an Associate Pastor.
 There is a job description for that person, and we hope and pray that call will be filled soon.

I remember a few years ago when a church I was serving was calling a pastor.  I was only a student minister at that time, but they asked me to sit in as they were trying to figure that out.  I met with the church council and I remember a man saying, “We’re looking for someone who is “concentrated.”  That’s the word isn’t it, Craig?”

I said, “Concentrated?  Like concentrated orange juice?”
   He laughed and said, “No…but it’s a word that sounds like that, someone who is holy and set apart.”
          “Consecrated?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s it.  We’re looking for someone who is consecrated…that has an inner call.”

Well, when we look for a pastor, it is someone with an inner call from God who will be validated by a call from this congregation.  But, I also think that is true for lay people as well.
    Anyone who has taken on the name of Christian is a person who has been called by God to service…and that inner call will be validated by others to be their outer call as well.  God Himself Consecrates you to holy service.
         As Luther said, we are consecrated as merchants, as carpenters,
                  As housewives and as fathers and mothers.  God has a place and a purpose of service for each of His children.

And, what’s more, I think the word is also “Concentrated.”  You have gifts and talents in you that are concentrated…so much that these gifts are boiling to come out.

I received a story this week.  Some of you may have seen it, but I think it bears repeating.  A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor.

The conversation turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general.  Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups:
    Porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal – some plain, some expensive, some exquisite.
Quietly, he told the alums to pour themselves some coffee.

When each had his or her cup in hand, he cleared his throat and said:
   “You may have noticed all the nice cups were taken first, leaving behind the plain and the cheaper ones.  While it is only natural for you to want the best, that is part of the stress in your lives.”

“Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.  In fact, the cup only disguises or dresses up what we drink.  What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but by instinct you went for the best cups.”

“Then, you started looking at each other’s cups and comparing.  Consider this:
   Life is coffee.  Jobs, money, and position are merely the cups that hold it. 
They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live.”

“Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided…God brews the coffee, but He does not supply the cups.  Enjoy your coffee.”

Well, that’s a simple illustration, but I think how we spend or use our lives matters greatly.  I think we can Map out our Lives in simple ways that can make big differences.  

We can start with the end in mind.  We can Dream.
    Andrew had a dream after he met Jesus.
       He found his brother Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah.”
         Is your faith big enough that you would want to share it with someone else?
I want to encourage you to dream big enough that it will take your breath away.
   Write down your plans and pray about it.
       Those whom God calls, God equips. 
             Do you doubt it?   Come and See.  That’s the Good News.  Amen.