August 29th, 2010
Church Building 10th Anniversary
14th Sunday After Pentecost
Hebrews 13: 8
Dear Friends in Christ,
10 years. How long is 10 years? Let me give you a little perspective. It is 3,650 days. I have come to this church building well over 3,000 days in those ten years. A trip from my house to the church is 16 miles round trip. Let’s be conservative and say I made that trip just once a day. That means I have driven 48,000 miles back and forth from home to church in the last decade. Wow! What has it been for you? Once a week, twice a week, three times a week? More? You see, this place is important in our lives.
Now when you think of that drive from your house to church, think of all the changes you have seen. New subdivisions. New roads. New businesses. New signage. New stop lights. A lot more drivers and certainly a lot of traffic.
Now think of the changes in your car. Some have added passengers as children were born. Some have subtracted passengers through transport to life eternal and children leaving home for college or the start of their own life.
Now think of the changes in your life. We all are older. A little more gray hair. A little less hair. A little more hair. Some have gotten or changed glasses. Some have gotten rid of glasses. Some have gained weight. Some have lost weight. That child in the car seat 10 years ago is getting close to driving age and some have stopped driving.
A lot can happen in 10 years. Changes are all around us. Some good. Some bad. Some inevitable. What has not changed is the reason we gather here on Sunday mornings and at other times during the year. This building is just a place. What we do here makes it special. We are privileged as God’s people to say again today . . .
“WE WORSHIP THE SAME CHRIST”
Our wonderful Lord has done it again. He gave me a perfect text to work with in one of our assigned Scripture readings for this Sunday. Verse 8 from Hebrews 13: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Yes, today is about the changes we have experienced in 10 years but more importantly it is about a changeless Christ. According to His eternal divinity he is unchangeable. His covenant of grace also does not change.
Can you think of something else in your life that has not changed in the last 10 years? 10 years ago today I woke up a sinner, and this morning I woke up a sinner. I have tried to make some changes for the good, but have not always been successful. I am still plagued by some of the shortcomings that have been a part of who I am. I still stand under the cross knowing that daily I need the grace and mercy that only Christ can provide. This will be my life until that day I make the great crossover to life eternal.
Can you say the same thing about your life? Do you see the sin in your life in the same way? Isn’t the devil still prowling around like a lion looking to find a way toward your soul? 10 years has not changed that. We have these words from Malachi: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Mal. 3:6) The Lord continues to condemn our sin, but His mercy also endures forever. Because of our sin the Lord could have allowed us to be consumed, but He instead sent a Savior who overcame the work of Satan. “Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill; They shall not overpow’r us. This world’s prince may still, Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none. He’s judged the deed is done; One little word can fell him.” Those words of the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” by Martin Luther, are still as true today as the day he wrote them.
In Bill Keane’s comic strip The Family Circus, the young girl is explaining “time” to her little brother. She says, “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the ‘present.’” The real beauty of life is that every day is a gift, because Jesus is present every day. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He’s always watching over us.
In our church and congregation we have cried together in the tough and sad times – funerals, family problems, personal struggles. We have also rejoiced in this place through baptisms, confirmations, marriages. At the dedication back in August of 2000, I was privileged to consecrate this pulpit, that altar, those sacramental vessels, this baptismal font. At those places are faith has grown. We hear God’s Word as it is preached. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matt. 24:35) We receive the body and blood of Christ. “Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take Eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:26-28) We have witnessed close to 50 baptisms, which remind us of our baptism. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16a) All of this is Christ’s “present” to us as we live in His presence.
Ernest Southcott once wrote, “The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God’s people – strengthened by preaching and sacrament – go out of the church door into the world to be the church. We don’t go to church; we are the church.”
We don’t just celebrate a church structure this day. We go to our neighborhoods and schools and places of businesses. We share the changeless Christ among family, friends, acquaintances. For even as we change, Christ and His Word will never change. Isn’t it great we have that solid foundation as we face the future? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Amen.
TOP
