PENTECOST 5, C – June 27, 2010

SCRIPTURES – 1 Kings 19:9-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62; Ps. 85 

Have you ever felt, or perhaps even said, such things as: “I can’t believe that this has happened again!... Nothing ever changes. Why do I even bother?... Am I the only one around here who gets it?” God’s prophet Elijah certainly felt this way. He journeys to Mt. Sinai to appear before God, and when he arrives, God asks him, “What are you doing here?” “I have been very jealous for You,” he responds. “But the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” In other words: “I have told the people about what You do for us and what You expect of us in return, but it’s been a waste of time. Nobody listens, nobody responds, nobody cares. They don’t just ignore me; they’re even trying to kill me, just as they killed the other prophets You sent! They are going right on doing whatever they want!”

We can feel this way at work and at home. Sometimes we can also feel this way at church. “Why do I even bother doing things? Does anybody really care? Few come, few seem to know what’s going on, too few bother helping out, and there seems to be little benefit. Why even bother?”

I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine. He worked among a bunch of people who weren’t happy with where they were but had nowhere else to go, who grumbled and complained constantly, and who would never admit to doing wrong but were quick to blame others. They were mostly lazy and uncaring, had supervisors who didn’t care much about them, and were very poorly paid. What a work environment! On top of that, it wasn’t the safest environment. You see, my friend worked in a small, poorly funded hospital where the conditions were lousy and the patients were the dregs of society. He was a nurses’ aide, a fairly menial position which required him to clean up, bathe and change the patients. “Why do I even bother? What difference will it make?” was what many of his co-workers said, and he was certainly tempted to also think this. And yet, he served. He changed diapers, and washed and cleaned up after people whom few cared about. He did his job well. And, more importantly, as he served he talked with those he served about the Bible, and the Savior who had served and saved him.

Did it make any difference? Well, last week I had a long talk with one of the men my friend had helped to take care of in that hospital. Albert wheeled himself into the prison visiting room in his wheelchair and sat across from me for our visit, as he has done for the past year or two since my friend Aaron encouraged him to write to me and I began visiting him. Early in our conversation he asked me about his baptism. It bothers him that he has no memory of it, as he was baptized as a young child. How could baptism have been of benefit to him if he knew nothing about it? I opened my Bible to 1 Peter 3:18, handed it to Albert, and had him read these words out loud:

“Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. He was put to death in flesh but made alive in spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God of a good conscience.”

I then asked him:

Me: Albert, according to this, what did Christ do for you?

Albert: He died for me.

Me: Were you around when He did this? Did you ask Him to do this?

Albert: No.

Me: So, are your sins forgiven?

Albert: Yes, because Jesus died for me.

Me: What does it say about Baptism? Read again the words.

Albert: “Baptism now saves you.”

Me: Do you believe this?

Albert: Yes. That’s what it says.

Me: That’s all that matters. Believe what God says!

I went on to ask Albert a number of questions, and in response he confessed that, although he was much changed from what he once had been, he still failed to keep God’s Law and was a sinner; that Jesus died to forgive him; that when I forgave him his sins really were forgiven because Jesus said so; and that Holy Communion was truly Jesus’ body and blood. “You’re a Lutheran, Albert!” I told him. I then asked him if he would like to be a member of our congregation, and he said yes. I will now be seeking permission to bring him Holy Communion. This all began with Aaron, a fellow inmate who not only tended to Albert’s physical needs when he was in the prison hospital but shared with him the good news of Jesus.

Before the visit with Albert that morning, I had visited with Aaron. “What are you doing here, Aaron?” I asked him. “After all, in Christ you are free. Your sins are forgiven; you don’t have to pay for them. I suppose that if He wanted God could get you out of this prison. And yet, you are here. What are you doing here?” One of the answers to that question wheeled himself into that visiting room an hour later.

What are you doing here? What a blessing it is to be here in God’s house, receiving His forgiveness and being filled with His Spirit! Sadly, how many there are who don’t know the peace of His forgiveness, His presence, His life-long care, and the promise of His heaven. What are you doing here, on this earth and in your vocation? God has made you a father; a mother; a sister or brother; a teacher; a nurse; a janitor; a banker. Above all, He has made you a believer in Jesus, to live your life in the joy of faith for the blessing of others. Don’t give in to grumbling; to discontent; to the temptation to think that nothing will change, and that nothing you do will matter. So often, our grumbling is what prevents and hinders God’s work. Whatever God has given you to do, do it well, and with joy in Christ! Then, leave the results of your labors to Him.

The results are often small – at least, so it seems to us. How few there are whose lives are changed by Christ! Even though few, however, they belong to Christ. Elijah thought he was the only believer in God left, but God told him that there were 7,000 in Israel who believed. It may have been a small number compared to the population of the country, but they were God’s. He kept them; He filled them; His blessing and favor were upon them. They were inhabitants of heaven – great people! – living on earth.

So are you. So are Albert and Aaron, prison inmates at MacDougal-Walker Correctional Institution. Albert, a large Jamaican man in a wheelchair, and Aaron, who has some Hispanic heritage, are now great men in Christ, brothers in Him with us mostly white European ancestry Lutherans! All who belong to Christ are inhabitants of heaven, great people in Him. Rejoice in this, and look forward to the glorious day when this greatness in Christ is revealed and we see each other as we are in Him. “Christ has set [you] free; stand firm therefore. Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” To the praise and honor of Christ, who loves and serves us all!