An author writes: “One day I was walking with a couple of
friends in front of a bar, when all the sudden a bar fight, like an old
Western, spilled on to the street right in from of us. Three men were beating up one lone
opponent. Being Christians, and feeling
the need to stand up to stop the violence, I took a risk to yell at the men to
stop fighting. Preparing for my first
fistfight in years, the thugs suddenly looked up at us, and with fear in their
eyes they started to slink away. This
caught me by surprise, and I almost ran after them to ask them why they were
running away. Then I looked behind
me. There standing behind us was a huge
man. He was the bouncer at the
barroom. The man stood about six seven
and weighed probably 250 pounds. If
Hercules had married Xena the warrior princess, this would have been their
child. We later called this man: Mongo,
though of course not to his face. He
just stood there with his muscles bulging.
He looked as though he hoped that the fighting men would take him on. In that moment, I wanted to yell to the
fleeing fighters: “You better not let us catch you hanging around here
again.” I was now ready to confront with
resolve and firmness. I was released
from anxiety and fear. I was ready to serve
someone who needed help. Why? Because I had “Mongo” standing behind
me. I was convinced that I was not
alone. The middle of a barroom fight was
perfectly safe for me.
If I
were convinced that Mongo were with me 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I
could take a different approach to life; I could face many fears. The reality is that as Christians we already
do, he is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. He is the one who has promised to be with
us. Yet all too often our lives do not
reflect it. All too often we shrink back
when we should confront; we worry when we can pray; we cling when we could
generously share. “Therefore, since we
are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every
weight and the sin the clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the
race that is set before us…” Perhaps, it
is so easy to get caught up in our own particular paths of challenges as we
live today that we forget that we are not on this path alone. For not only is God present with, and
sometimes carrying us through things, but also we have a family of faith that
surrounds us. This family of faith is
our own devoted family members, those who have witnessed the Gospel to us
through the years, whether they are physically here or not, and this particular
community of faith, Christ the Redeemer Lutheran. Sometimes it is about sharing each other’s
burdens, celebrating each other’s joys, beyond the high importance of coming
together for worship.
From Pastor Randy's Sermon on 8/18
