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I was at the Thanksgiving Day game again
this year, and once again I looked for him. I look for him
every year. I am in this jam-packed stadium filled with fans
who love their football as much as their turkey, and I am
frantically searching the crowd until I find this guy. I
wonder if you look for him, too. You know, “that guy.” That
guy who sits behind the goalpost holding the John 3:16 sign
high above his head. It just wouldn’t be the big game
without him. It’s like he is a messenger, a visible sign of
God’s presence, bobbing up and down in the vast ocean of
human chaos.
But this isn’t the only place I have
looked for him. When the shootings took place at Virginia
Tech earlier this year, I scanned the crowd looking for him.
In the midst of this tragedy, this unexplainable tragedy, I
looked all over for any sign for hope, any glimmer of peace
in the midst of the inexplicable. It would have been nice to
see that guy and his sign. And every time I flip on the news
and see coverage of the war in Iraq, I search frantically
for this guy waving his little sign. I looked for him at the
AIDS orphanages we visited in Ghana, and every time I walk
into a hospital room, I pray he is there. I sometimes just
wish this guy would follow me around, raising up his sign
every time I look his way, just so I might never forget
that God is here in the midst of
the chaos that is our lives and our world.
I looked for this guy at the game because
he seems to be saying, “Hey, God is here.” On what has
become one the biggest media and marketing days of the year,
this guy’s little sign seems to say, “Hey, if you’re looking
for something bigger…bigger than this…well you don’t have to
look too far. God is here.” And isn’t this what more and
more of us are asking: “Where is God in all of this? Where
is God in the midst of all the frenzy and confusion in our
lives?”
If we were to be quiet for just a moment,
we’d hear that question being asked all around us.
Those who find themselves on the downside
of downsizing are asking, “Where is God in all of this?”
And it is the children who go to school
but still never learn to read who are asking, “Where is
God in all of this?”
And it is the homeless and the hungry,
the poor and the prostitutes, the teenage mother and the
teenage runaway who ask, “Where is God in all of this?”
And it is the addicts and the depressed,
the lonely and the forgotten, all asking,“Where is God in
all of this?”
They too scan this crowded world looking
for someone, anyone, holding a sign that says, “Hey, over
here! Here is the place where you can find peace. Here is
the place where you can find love. Here is the place where
you can find acceptance. Don’t be afraid; God is right
here.”
Here is the deal, friends, and most of us
already know it. We, the church, are supposed to be the
answer to that question. When the world asks, “Where is
God?”, they should be able to look at the church, and the
people within it, and say, “There is God.” And they should
be able to say that, not because we are God or we are
perfect or have it all figured out, but because when they
see us, they should see people who love others, help others
and welcome others in ways they would expect to be loved,
helped and welcomed by God. When they see us, they should
see God in us. We are to be like that guy at the game. Our
lives are to be the sign that says, “God is here!”
In our scripture today we encounter the
original spiritual sign carrier. His name was Isaiah and he
lived some 750 years before Christ. He was a priest, so it
is not like he hadn’t been to church before. But something
happened one day that would change the direction of his
entire life. Somewhere in the midst of all the singing,
praying and preaching, God bent down and whispered in
Isaiah’s ear, “Whom shall I send?” And without skipping a
beat, Isaiah reached down and picked up a piece of tag board
and a Sharpie and scribbled out in bold letters for all the
world to see, “Here I am!”
Isaiah devoted the rest of his life to
carrying his “Here I am!” sign. He went where God called him
to go and did what God called him to do. In the midst of
difficult economic times, Isaiah was there, reminding people
that God would provide like a “well-watered garden.” When
the nations threatened to go to war, it was Isaiah who held
up an alternative vision where lambs and lions no longer had
to live on opposite ends of the zoo. And when God’s chosen
people were forcibly removed from their promised land and
taken into exile in Babylon, Isaiah was there to remind them
that even when it seemed like they were drowning or that
their world was burning down around them, they did not need
to be afraid, for God was right there with them. Isaiah
dedicated his entire life to showing an asking world where
God was alive and at work. And you could always find him,
because his life was like a neon sign that constantly
blinked, “Here I am!”
Isaiah’s “Here I am!” witness would
impact people for generations to follow. In fact, Isaiah’s
life and ministry would have a profound impact on the life
of our Lord and Savior. In Luke’s gospel, we have a record
of Jesus’ first sermon. This would be the message where
Jesus unveils who he is and what he is all about. And who
did he decide to quote in this first sermon? You guessed
it. He quotes from the original “Here I am” guy. He quotes
Isaiah. In his inaugural sermon, Jesus borrows these words
from the ancient prophet:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for
the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the
blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.
Where there were hungry and homeless
folk, Jesus would be there preaching good news. And where
there were prisoners, Jesus would be there working to get
them their freedom. And where there were folks who were sick
and suffering, Jesus would be there with a healing hand. And
when people were weighed down with the weight of the world,
Jesus would be there to lighten the load. In his first
sermon, Jesus announced that whenever people are desperately
asking where God is in the midst of pain and suffering, he
would be there waving the same sign Isaiah waved: “Here I
am!”
Our lives are always in tension with two
questions: a world that asks, “Where is God?” and a God who
asks, “Whom shall I send?” And here is the deal. We cannot
answer one without answering the other. To show the world
where God is, we need to be in the broken and bruised places
of the world where God is calling us to go. And if we seek
to respond to the question God is still asking, “Whom shall
I send?”, then we will find ourselves going out to the
hurting and broken places of the world. We cannot answer one
question without answering the other. Start by responding to
the world around us or start by responding to the nudge of
God within us. It doesn’t matter, because either way we will
end up somewhere in connection with those who are
desperately seeking a healing hand and a comforting word.
You see, I think we sometimes make the
mistake of thinking that responding to the poor is somehow a
side issue when it comes to our faith lives. It is a nice
thing to do and all, but it isn’t central to who we are as
followers of Jesus. Personal morality, salvation, heaven and
hell and evangelism are surely closer to the center of what
Jesus had in mind, aren’t they? But read the Bible sometime
from cover to cover and you might be surprised by what you
discover. There are several thousand verses in the Bible on
the poor and God’s response to injustice. It is the second
most prominent theme in the Old Testament—the first is
idolatry—and the two are often related. One out of every
sixteen verses in the New Testament is about the poor, and
when it comes to Jesus especially, one out of ten verses in
the gospel accounts are about our response to suffering and
the marginalized.
In fact, while lay theologian and pastor
Jim Wallis was in seminary, he decided to take an old Bible
and a new pair of scissors and go cover to cover, literally
cutting out every single verse about the poor. The prophets
were decimated. Gone was Amos’ admonition to “let justice
roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever
flowing stream” and gone was Micah’s call to “do justice,
love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” Gone were much of
the Psalms which proclaim God as the defender and deliverer
of the oppressed and erased. He cut out Jesus’ first sermon,
most of the beatitudes, and many of the parables. All the
accounts in Acts of the radical sharing of the early church
had to go, along with big chunks of Paul, John and James.
Snip, snip, snip. When he was finished, he had a Bible full
of holes and a Bible that simply could no longer hold
together. It literally fell apart in his hands. So too is a
Christianity without an active concern for the poor; it is
one full of holes and one that simply cannot hold together.
Friends, we are called to be biblical
people who are passionate about God’s heart for the poor. We
are called to be people whose lives become signs that loudly
and proudly say to a hurting and broken world, “Here I am!”
And when a questioning world looks our way, we are called to
be people who will be able to say, “God is still here!”
That is why today I am proud to announce
a brand new initiative here at First Church, right in time
for the holidays. In response to this powerful passage in
Isaiah, we are launching the “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”
campaign. This will be a concerted effort to help every
single person related to First Church find one avenue of
service in the world. We have a world full of need and a
congregation filled with capable and compassionate people,
and it is time to connect the two. I am proud to announce
that we are bringing Sally Meese to our team to spearhead
this effort. Here is what the “Here I am, Lord!” campaign
is all about. If you want to get involved somewhere doing
something for God, then all you have to do is give Sally a
call and say, “Here I am!” and she will help you find the
very opportunity that matches your time and talents.
And this effort begins today. We have
hundreds of service opportunities available, and all you
have to do is walk into Fellowship Hall and say, “Here I
am!” Here are just some of the opportunities available to us
today. Listen for the whisper of God that is calling you:
·
We need Salvation Army bell
ringers and Focus Hope food deliverers.
·
We need people to deliver
poinsettias to the homebound and grieving, and people who
can drive shut-ins to church or the doctor.
·
We need people to adopt low-income
families for the Christmas season.
·
We need people to take part in our
Cass Community Blitz, working in the kitchen or making
sandwiches or turning recycled tires into doormats or to
just become friends with the developmentally disabled.
·
We need people to join the Street
Team to go to Detroit during the coldest days of winter with
blankets, coats, gloves, socks, warm coffee and love and
give them all away to people who need them.
·
We need 140 people to staff the
food collection at a local Kroger to help Gleaners Food Bank
overcome a dangerously low stock of food.
·
We still need 40 more tutors in
Pontiac to ensure that every kid in the program has a
fighting chance at learning to read.
And today might be the day when you hear
God nudging you to finally go on a mission trip. In addition
to our ongoing trips to Costa Rica, Estonia, Ghana and Red
Bird, Kentucky, this year we are sponsoring two trips to the
Gulf Coast for hurricane relief, one especially for college
students and the other open to the entire congregation.
Also, for the first time we are offering a mission trip
especially for young families to exotic and sunny Lapeer. We
want to get even our youngest members passionate about
missions. Today in Fellowship Hall there is information
about each of these trips. And if nothing else, please sign
up for the “Here I am, Lord!” email updates that will keep
you informed about upcoming mission and service
opportunities.
In addition to these immediate offerings,
the “Here I Am, Lord!” campaign is offering three other
important services:
·
The first is Spiritual Gifts
Assessments. Did you know that buried within each of us
is a set of unique, God-given gifts? These gifts will help
God use us in powerful ways for mission and service to the
world. Sign up today to discover your spiritual gifts.
·
The second is the Develop Your
Personal Ministry Program. This program is designed to
help someone figure out how to use their skills, talents and
gifts to build a ministry that God can use to serve the
world. For example, my friend Bill is a retired GM engineer
who has taken all of his knowledge about cars and turned it
into a ministry of repairing older cars for single,
low-income mothers who could not otherwise afford safe
transportation. So whether you are skilled in repair work,
finances, computers, sports, dancing, fishing, hairdressing
or cooking—whatever your talents, skills or hobbies—we will
help you turn it into a ministry that will serve the needs
of the world.
·
And finally, we are starting what
we are calling our Take Your Office to Work in the World
Day. This program is for all of those who have the
opportunity to engage their employees or coworkers in
volunteer opportunities. For example, Jim Eggleston took one
of his employees down to Cass, and the employee got so
inspired that he has his entire team developing a more
efficient system for making mud mats out of recycled tires.
Rex Smith took his office to Detroit to read to kids for a
day, which eventually led them to adopt an entire elementary
school. Dan Ralston got his office to co-sponsor a Habitat
for Humanity house. Let us help you get your friends,
employees and coworkers connected to the work our church is
doing in the world. Who knows where it might lead?
So let us leave here today prepared to
say to the hungry and the homeless, “Here I am!”
To the orphans in Africa and hurricane
victims in New Orleans, let us proclaim, “Here I am!”
And to the kids in Pontiac and the
developmentally disabled in Detroit, let us say, “Here I
am!”
Let us go forth to unburden the
grief-stricken and remember the forgotten, to include the
outsider and give hope and comfort to the depressed, to heal
the sick, to forgive and free the addict, and to connect the
lonely with a voice that proudly proclaims, “Here I am!”
Notes:
I am grateful for Mark Feldmeir’s sermon,
“Life After God,” found in the book Testimony to the
Exiles: Sermons for GenXers and Other Postmoderns. He
uses the illustration of the man holding the sign at the
Super Bowl, which I borrowed and used at the beginning of
the sermon. I have never met Pastor Mark, but through his
writings I have found a companion in ministry. Like myself,
Mark is a “thirty something” United Methodist pastor who is
desperately trying to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with
our generation—a generation that has too often left the
church but is desperately seeking community, connections and
a real experience with the God of Jesus Christ.
Jim Wallis is the editor of Sojourners
magazine as well as some incredible books, The Soul of
Politics, Who Speaks for God, Faith Works and God’s
Politics, all of which I have read and would recommend.
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