Grace be to you and peace from God the Father
and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel lesson which I read this morning and the enjoyable explanation to the children which comes from it, unquestionably the most well known of all the parables that Jesus used in teaching about God. It would therefore seem reasonable that the next step would be to proceed from where we left off with the seeds. But, first, I need to apologize. For what? Well, in all my 33 years of preaching I have been very careful not to become too personal by using my own life and experiences. Oh, of course, I have don’t that occasionally, but today I hope I don’t go overboard. But, my fiends, I can’t help it – as I stand here, so much of my life is before my eyes and it seems to fit Jesus’ teaching for this day, I can hardly help myself.
A little aside first – something that’s
been overlooked a lot about this parable. PROFILING. A common term today. Probably
most often used in advertising. Nothing really wrong with it. Messages are written
for certain groups of people, by age group, ethnic groups, education groups.
Done so that the message is better understood, more applicable. The advertiser
will get more “bang for the buck.” Profiling in politics, in police
work. We need to be careful of the scriptural lesson. Did Jesus mean to say
that certain people are too hard nosed, too self centered, others too shallow,
others too indifferent and other people just perfect? No, I’m sure that’
not it. The fact is that each of us here at one moment, one hour, one day, one
month, one year in our life do experience the different responses to God’s
word to us. At different times, under different circumstances, we all are human
and we all react differently. With that in mind, and my apology extended, let
me tell you something of my life.
The greatest and most important moment in each
of our lives is our baptism. Mine didn’t take place until I was three years
old. My father and mother were divorced when I was 3. Neither was very religious
people then. But, someone or something did something. They must have decided
before they split up I needed to be baptized. They drove their old 1925 Chevrolet
to Dubuque, Iowa, and I was baptized in Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church. Don’t
ask me why.
I was raised by my father and I lived with his
family, a brother, two sisters and my grandfather and my loving grandmother
until after high school. One Sunday morning when I was about 8 or 9 I was awakened
and told to go down the street to the corner house and ring the bell and ask
the doctor who lived there to come down right away – my grandma was very
sick. You really could do those things then. I heard hi tell the family she
was in very serious condition. I remember as though it were yesterday. I slipped
away and I prayed to God. God? I don’t know where I got that idea. I promised
I would do anything if he’d only let her live. She died that night. That’s
pretty thorny soil to expect much out of. Another experience of those years
had to do with Church. No one in the family went to church, but all my playmates
did. This was the south side of Chicago and they were all Roman Catholics so
they went to church on Sunday. So one Sunday, believe it or not, I walked down
to a church about 4 bocks away – I went in (I’m about 10 I guess)
sat down, listened – when it was over – went out and never went back.
No one, not one person had said Hi! Hello, haven’t seen you around, or
whatever. It was pretty shallow for anything to happen.
Well, then in the last year of High School (the
war was going on and all the fellows would be going in right after graduation)
I started dating a girl, who once asked me – why don’t you come to
church with me next Sunday. I went, probably to make points with her. We went
to Church together every Sunday after that. Oh not in the flesh – in the
spirit. She in Chicago, and I in St. Louis, Columbus San Antonio, Houston, Idaho,
or Italy. Under those circumstances the soil worked better.
The years go by – we were married right after
the war. Business was good – so good that we moved to a special community
behind the white gates – Lincolnshire. Our older daughter is confirmed
at Zion in Deerfield and our younger one at the coach house where the new mission
church met. Then, being in construction I was asked (the first time in a church)
to head the building committee. For two years we worked to develop a theological
statement through architecture for the congregation in this community. This
is the result. A couple of weeks before we occupied this building, our older
daughter was married right here. Some seeds were being cast. I went to the seminary
in the morning, to my office downtown, and home here at night. The nourishment
needed for those seeds to grow was provided by countless people; wife, family,
business associates, teachers, a wonderful congregation, and a very perceptive
mission developer of the congregation. Who, by the way, I can’t pass this
up, one day in visiting me at home invited my father (who lived with us and
I mentioned hadn’t been very religious) to come to church AND to be the
usher for the small early service. That kind of thing works you know. Dad became
a member and his funeral service was right here. Yes, the miracle of the seeds.
Ten years ago our youngest daughter and her husband were installed right here
as pastors of our congregation.
The years go by, seven years ago Marion and I
celebrated 50 years of marriage right here as we re-affirmed our vows.
I was the Pastor at Gloria Dei in Northbrook for almost 20 – volunteered
and founded a congregation in Cameroon Africa, and served as interim pastor
in 8 congregations. So what does it all amount to?
140,000 – the body of Christ given for you
350 – baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
300 – I pronounce you husband and wife
400 – The sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.
But, my friends, that’s not even the bottom
line.
Each and every one of us have fruits from the seed planted in us at our baptism.
What I urge you to do is simply think about that first blessing, the continual
nourishment and the fruits which live in a real way every day of your life.
Paul had it right – those fruits which are
yours, now are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,
Humility, Self Control. They’re yours. Amazing isn’t it?
Amen.