SERMON 483
EPIPHANY V – FEBRUARY 4, 5, 2006
ISAIAH 40:21-31, 1 CORINTHIANS 9:16-23, PSALM 147,
MARK 1:29-39
LETTING OUR FRIENDS KNOW WHO WE REALLY ARE!
Beloved in the Lord, grace
and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.
When Mrs. Bruce caught two of
the senior students, Tad and Lars, wrestling in the hallway between classes,
she knew exactly what was going on. Each boy was wearing the jersey of an
opposing hockey team. It was not uncommon for the students to identify
themselves with their favorite athletes. As a result arguments and rough play
could be heard throughout the high school during every game season.
Mrs. Bruce escorted the boys
to her office and handed them some paper. “I want you to write down the name of
the person who has made the highest impact in your life. And then explain how
that person made a difference.”
After several minutes Mrs.
Bruce asked for their papers so she could read what they wrote
Tad identified his uncle as
being the person who had the biggest impact on his life. To his friends Tad had
referred to this uncle as a “grease monkey”, never letting on how much he
secretly admired his relative. This uncle had helped Tad obtain a driver’s
license. Given him a restored old car, and taught Tad how to repair and
maintain it.
Lars wrote about his paternal
grandmother who came to
“This is quite interesting,”
said Mrs. Bruce. “It appears that the people who’ve made a difference in your
lives are the ones who have been generous of their time and knowledge, the
one’s who have given you solid skills and a sense of community and confidence.
What have the names on the back of your jerseys given you?”
“Nothing,” ventured Tad. “But
they don’t even know us.” “Exactly,” said Mrs. Bruce. “So why do you let people
who have no direct connection to drive your behavior and your identity? What do
you think your uncle or your grandmother would say if the knew why you two are
sitting in this office right now?” Both boys hung their heads. “Your futures
and values are already being shaped by these people who have your best
interests at heart. Do not veil their positive influence with your misguided
reverence for the sports celebrities. And, just for a change, see how it feels
to let your friends know who you really are, instead of keeping it to
yourself.”
We shall use those words of
Mrs. Bruce as our theme, LETTING YOUR FRIENDS KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE!
At the bible study at ELW the
other week we were all asked the question as to who had contributed the most to
who we are…,Who was the person or persons who had influenced us the most? If we
were to follow through on that question this morning we would have a variety of
answers and some very interesting stories to listen to. At our Men’s Group
breakfasts our guest speakers are asked to tell us the story of their journeys
of life and journeys of faith. We continue to be blessed by the remarkable
stories that we hear. Our speaker in November told us about the death of his
young brother by drowning and how responsible he felt for that death. It
affected his whole life. But it was a friend, many years later, who helped
relieve him of the burden of grief and guilt.
LETTING YOUR FRIENDS KNOW WHO
YOU REALLY ARE? So in answer to the question as to the most influential person
in your life and mine let us turn to the lessons for the day.
We literally hear Isaiah
shout out at us those most famous words, “Have you not known? Have you not
heard? Has it not been told you? Have you not understood from the foundations
of the earth? ....To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? .... The
Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”
So who then is the most
influential person in your life and mine? How can it be any one other than the
creator, the Lord of Hosts is his name. Most of us have been very much
influenced by our parents or grandparents or someone in our family. But who
created our family and put them in charge of us in the first place?
Some folks have been put in
families whose behaviors have harmed them and shaped them in unhealthy ways. Is
God then to be blamed for that? Many folks do wind up blaming God for their
problems and say just like Isaiah told us they would, “My way is hidden from
the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God.”
But as Isaiah tells us, no
matter what may happen on this earth there is one who does not grow faint or
weary. There is one who understands absolutely everything. There is one who
will always give strength to the faint and those who grow weary. There is one
who will always lift up the powerless. Indeed we are told that those who wait
on the Lord will receive such strength that they will mount up with wings like
eagles.
The one who created us in the
first place, and the one who continues to do all these things for us, cannot
help but be the most influential person in our lives, whether we recognize it
or not. It is this very one who knows us better than we know ourselves, loves
us even when we think we are unlovable, and actually takes pleasure in us when
we fear him and wait for him.
Even the wicked and those who
deny him will some day recognize him as the most influential person in their
lives when he casts them to the ground and brings their evil designs to
nothing!
In our lesson from Paul we
hear Paul say, “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel.” The living God had
certainly been the most influential person in Paul’s life, for God had set him
apart for service even before he was born. God made sure that he was raised in a
good Jewish home, received his education from the very best of teachers, was
handed Roman citizenship from his father, all of this so that he could become
the Apostle to the Gentile world. God really shaped Paul’s life. God shook Paul
to the very foundations of his soul when Jesus appeared to him in a vision and
spoke to him and set him on his way to serve Christ and Christ only.
“Woe to me if I do not
proclaim the Gospel,” Paul had said. God so influenced his life that Paul was
willing to be all things to all people for the sake of Christ. Paul had
absolutely no difficulty in letting both his friends and his enemies know just
who he was.
And finally in the Gospel we
find another man whose life had been touched by God in ways beyond all measure.
Jesus was with God from the beginning, as the Word. When Jesus was to come
among us as a man, God found the right mother, the right step father, and literally
became Jesus Father, Jesus being conceived by the power of the Spirit.
From the very beginning of
his life, Jesus walked in the very path God had set for him. When it came time
for his ministry the very Spirit of God came again and empowered Jesus in his
baptism. We see Jesus, in our lesson, healing Peter’s mother, casting out those
possessed by demons, curing the sick of their various diseases, and silencing
the demons. No one could have been more influenced by God than our Savior, the
Lord Jesus.
When Jesus was asked who he
was he did not hesitate to tell people who he was and the most influential
person in his life. He came from the
Father. He spoke the words of the Father. He did the will of the Father. He
offered up his prayers to the Father. He came to proclaim the message of the
Father.
LETTING YOUR FRIENDS KNOW WHO
YOU REALLY ARE! As we spoke in the beginning we can definitely point to those
individuals who have shaped our lives and given freely of their time to do so.
But do we always give God the credit that we ought for what he has done to
shape us? Are we prepared to name God as the most influential person in our
lives and tell people who we really are by his grace?
Lars and Tad, the two boys in
our story at the beginning, wanted to hide who they really were and gain a name
for themselves as they wrestled with one another identifying themselves with
famous athletes. It is the temptation of every one of us to attempt to gain a
name for ourselves, identifying ourselves with something that others might
resonate to. We may be afraid that who we really are with all of our weakness
may not impress anyone. The desire to make a name for ourselves is always with
us.
Jesus faced that temptation.
He was told that everybody was looking for him because of the wonderful deeds
that he had done. But he had not come to bask in the glory of a miracle worker.
He had come to proclaim a message from God and be the servant who suffered the
shame of all of us. God would ever be the most influential person in his life
and he, he would be the servant of all, the sin bearer of the world. He was
never afraid to tell those who asked whom he really was.
So what is the lesson for us
all in this? First we must act like God is the most influential person in our
life. We do this by seeking his face, by waiting for his leading, by trusting
in his grace, by humbling ourselves before his presence, by daily repentance, by
casting out the demons and weakness that beset us, by living in thanksgiving
and praise of God. It is never easy to pay attention to that wonderful presence
and bask in its glory, and not our own.
Second, we must resist the
temptation to seek to gain a name for ourselves, a reputation that others will
emulate. There is no big deal in any glittering name. We have also been set
aside to be the servants of the most High God, bearing the weaknesses and hurts
and shame and poverty of others.
Third, we must be ready to
tell people who we really are, the chief of sinners, saved by grace alone,
bound always to live in and to speak about the Gospel of forgiveness.
Who are we? We are the ones
who, when we are most deeply wounded, the most seriously oppressed, and
stressed beyond our limits, who trust in God to mount us up with wings like
eagles, to have us continue to run and not be weary, and to walk on and never
faint. We have the most influential person in the universe walking beside us. Let
us live in that recognition. AMEN!