“Jesus loved people who had had a hard wallop. He loved people who
were bruised and battered. He loved people who still longed to be closer to
God.”
O God be
in my mouth as I speak for you and fill this place with your great grace, that
we may leave this place less of what we use to be and more of what we ought to
be, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
I am
grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged
me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a
blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I
acted ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with
faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Practical
theology does not usually come from the pens of academic theologians. In most
cases, they only succeed in writing stuff that no one really understands.
Practical
theology that speaks to our hearts as well as our minds often comes from
unexpected places.
Garrison
Keillor of Prairie Home Companion
knows about this type of theology.
In his
book, Lake Wobegon Days, Keillor writes about Hans, a
In order
to finish his chores on time, he stayed in the barn until late in the evening.
As he
worked to complete his chores he did not realize that a terrible blizzard had
roared in, engulfing the barn and the family in a complete, white out.
Of course
the boy should have had enough sense to stay put in the barn until the storm
passed. But as he looked out of the barn door, Hans, thought he could just make
out a ghostly mass of house and black roof in front of him, so he decided to take
a chance.
Without
thinking, he foolishly plunged ahead into the blizzard and was soon blinded by
the white light of the storm. Suddenly
the outline of the house disappeared from his vision and he lost his way.
He began
to panic and take steps in every direction but all he could see was the
swirling snow. Lost and without a clear sense of direction, Hans had a sudden
realization that he was going to die out in the blizzard.
But just
as all seemed lost, he thought he saw a fire orange glow that beckoned to him.
He
regained his bearings and ran headlong into the blizzard—smack into the side of
the barn, where he spent the night, lying next to the cow, Tina, and holding
his broken nose.
Living
into a ripe old age, Hans never forgot this near brush with death.
Like a
Christian undergoing baptism, Keillor writes that he responded to life
gratefully. “How kind is God the Father, we were all lost in sin, but now we
are changed and free forever after.”
Keillor
closes out the chapter by saying, “Having once lost his life, Hans entered the
new one with a sweet disposition. He planted trees, raised cattle, married, had
seven children, seldom spoke a harsh word, and his nose was never set.
He pitched
ten tons of hay the day he was married; in their wedding picture he sits
smiling, his eyes bright besides his ruined beak, a man who took a hard wallop
and now everything was easy for him.”
How many
of you sitting here this morning have ever had that kind of hard wallop? How
many of you now know the joy that comes when we are changed and free from a
life of sin?
He
scrupulously observed all the Jewish Law. He dotted his “I’s” and crossed his
“T’s”. No one would ever have said
Yet he
found that this kind of devotion did not bring him a sense of peace.
In the
book of Acts, we see a young Paul known as Saul consenting to the stoning death
of St. Stephen and entering house after house in
Yet on the
Road to
As an old
man
Like Hans
in our story, Paul got his life back from God and he realized that it was too
good of a gift not to share with other people.
Before he
met Jesus, Paul was probably like the Pharisees and scribes we hear about in
St. Luke’s gospel, who grumbled about the company that Jesus kept. “This fellow
welcomes sinners and eats with them”.
They did
not understand how a person who claimed to be righteous, could permit
themselves to be in contact with people that were contaminated by sin.
They
missed the point of what Jesus’ ministry was all about. Jesus loved people who
had had a hard wallop. He loved people who were bruised and battered. He loved
people who still longed to be closer to God.
He tells
his listeners, “There will be more joy in heaven, over one sinner who repents
than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Jesus
realizes like most of us, that a life lived as his follower is not all about
being perfect. Instead it comes from that moment in life, when we realize that
we are not perfect. None of us are ever going to measure up to the kind of
legalism that some people in churches want to demand.
However,
the acknowledgment of our failings or the fact that we all have some kind of
broken nose is not an occasion for despair.
As long as
we are willing to repent, God is ready to welcome us back into fellowship.
As Jesus
points out, this is always a joyous occasion in heaven. “There is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
And if we
want our churches to be vital places, alive with God’s spirit, we should be all
celebrating this redemption as well.
Most of us
have probably had the misfortune of worshipping in a church that didn’t seem to
know that Jesus had risen or for matter was even born.
An
Easter-less church fails to appreciate the power of Jesus’ message of
forgiveness.
It fails
to understand the sense of awe that comes from knowing that unlike Scribes or
Pharisees, we don’t have to earn God’s love or Jesus’ respect.
It is that
broken nose of Christ on the cross that is always ready to welcome us back home
again.
As we
continue to get to know each other in the coming months, it is my prayer that
our life as a church will continue to be about celebrating this gift of
salvation.
That we
will see our lives together as a joyful expression of God’s great redemptive
power and love.
In the
seventeenth century, the poet George Herbert wrote about what this kind of life
should be: Seven whole days not on in seven, I will praise thee, in my heart
though not in heaven, I can raise thee, Small it is in this poor sort to enroll
thee, Even Eternity’s too short to extol thee.
Herbert
beautifully captures the way our life should be as a church. It is a rich life
that we share with those who have discovered their broken noses and even those
hardheaded righteous folk who have not, yet.
Let us
pray: Almighty and eternal God so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds,
so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours,
utterly dedicated to you, and then use us, we pray as you will, and always to
your glory, and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen.