Genesis 12:1-9

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

NUCC

June 5, 2005

Pentecost 3

            Last Sunday I hopped a train in Hanover, Germany and began a journey into the past --- my grandfather’s past, to the place where he was born in the 19^th century.  I was returning to a little town in the state of Hessen called Ersrode.  Ersrode lies “in the middle of nowhere,” even as it now lies right in the middle of the reunited Germany.  The only way I could reach it was via a taxi that cost almost as much as the train ride to Bebra, the closest city of any size.  After about a half hour we reached to home of my father’s cousin Lydia, who lives alone in a house her father built.

            Ersrode is a beautiful village, nestled in the hills of an area they call Kur Hessen.  In these times well-to-do people have built weekend homes there.  But for the average person there isn’t much work.  It must have been the same back in the early 20^th century, when my grandfather, one of twelve children, left Ersrode ----- first to work in a hotel in nearby Rotenburg, then to the coal mines in the Ruhr, and eventually to America, where started out on a farm in Iowa, then went to school at Mission House near Sheboygan, and eventually became Ermie Stucki’s  pastor in Stratford.  He made his journey in faith.

            This morning Doris read the account in Genesis of how Abraham and Sarah made a similar journey of faith.  They are for each of us examples of faithful living, just as my grandfather is a model of faithful living for me.

            Faithful living.  Each of our scripture lessons this morning tells us about faithful living.  Abraham and Sarah making their journey of faith, trusting that God would guide them to a new land.  Jesus  making his journey of faith ---- along the way challenging a fellow named Matthew to join the journey and encountering a man and woman who trusted in him enough to believe he could bring healing.

Examples of faithful living ----- I find them throughout our scriptures today.  As we join Abraham, Sarah, Jesus, and Matthew we discover some of the joys and challenges of living faithfully.

1.                  We make a journey.

a.       Little Jalan Zane Showers is beginning a journey.

b.      Each of us discovers that faith is a journey.  Three weeks ago four young people took an important step on that journey.  Two weeks ago the youth of our church shared their faith with us, and now we pray that they will continue to grow in that faith.  Like these youth each of us acknowledges the reality that “God is still speaking” and moving in this world and in our lives.

2.                  We take chances.

a.       Abraham and Sarah faced the unknown.

b.      Our Pilgrim anscestors faced all sorts of challenges as they journeyed.

c.       So do we.

3.                  We follow others.

a.       In our lessons Matthew followed Jesus.  Jesus followed the synagogue leader.

b.      We follow in the footsteps of faithful people who have gone before us.  In our Confirmation program we assign a mentor to each Confirmand, the purpose being that this mature Christian will model “faithful living” for the less mature Christian.

4.                  We face oppostition and may even get laughed at.

a.       Some must have thought Abraham foolish.  Jesus was opposed by the Pharisees.  People laughed at him when he claimed he had healed a little girl.

b.      We may also face such opposition if we choose to live lives of faith.  I think of Pope John Paul II, who was ignored by both everyday members of his church and the president of the most powerful country in the world when he called for a consistent life ethic.  We may also face such scorn if we attempt “faithful living.”

5.                  We hang out with unsavory people.

a.       Jesus was criticized for sitting at table with “tax collectors and sinners.”

b.      We are challenged to look beyond our nice little fellowship.  It can get too comfortable conversing with only people who think like we do and live like we do.  I am challenged to really engage that out-of-work person who comes to my door asking for a hand-out.  You are challenged to look beyond your yard and even your nation.

6.                  We sit at a table of mercy, not sacrifice.

a.       Finally we come to the table, as Jesus came to the table.

b.      We sit at an open table of mercy ---- not one closely guarded to keep out the heretics and the unworthy.  We come as broken people, a sin-sick people, and lonely people in search of community.  Here at this table we find the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation.

c.       We remember the sacrifice ----- but at the instruction of Jesus we remember even more the mercy.  God’s gracious love. 

d.      Diane Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul wrote:

“As disciples we know that when we start with God’s mercy, we touch others with that mercy.  Mercy, rather than uncleanness, becomes infectious.”

In this spirit we worship today as God’s people who are attempting to engage in “faithful living.”

Amen.