Christ Lutheran Church: Welcome

Eye on the Ball: Part 2 - December 14, 2008

Eye on the Ball: Part 2

John 1:6-12

December 14, 2008

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Last week we learned a little about what it means to repent. Remember when Denny was standing up here, facing away from me while I held this large ball? I simply told him that I would count to three and then toss the ball to him. At that point, I told him, he could do anything he chose to. So, I counted to three and Denny naturally turned around in order to catch the ball. That turning around is what is meant by repenting. The word “repent” simply means to turn around and face God. He calls to us when He sends us grace and forgiveness. If we hear Him calling, the most natural thing in the world is to turn, to repent, and face Him.

But does that mean that you actually will RECEIVE His grace? I maintain that there are all kinds of Christians who hear God calling and then turn around from their daily distractions to face God. That is why every single one of us is here today. But I also suspect that there are many who have repented, who consider themselves Christians, who are even sitting in these very pews who may not be actually receiving God’s forgiveness, who are not receiving the grace that He is sending to us. How in the world could that be? You’re a Christian, you have come to church, you have repented and you STILL don’t receive what God is sending you?

Let me show you one way this happens. Denny, I’d like you to come up here one more time. This time I have this huge gift-wrapped present. It was under the tree and it’s for me! I think I know what it may be. It is very, very lightweight and it could be extremely fragile. Okay, Denny, this time I want you to very carefully hold my present here. Now walk a few steps down the aisle here and face away from me. Once more, I’ve got this ball and I’ll toss it to you on three. Again, you decide what you want to do when I toss it to you. One, two, three!

Did you all notice what happened there? Denny kept holding onto the present and therefore did not receive the ball. THAT is why so many people come to church and yet may not receive what God is sending them. It’s because they are still holding onto all kinds of other things – all kinds of baggage that keep them from opening their hands and their hearts to receive what God is sending them. We come to church and pray the Lord’s Prayer, asking God to forgive us the way we forgive others who have offended us. But some of us pray with our hands clenched, still clutching our grudges.

We come to church and proclaim how God provides for our every need ... while our thoughts are a million miles away, worrying about our mortgages, our retirement plans, the grocery list.

We come to church celebrating how Jesus died to pay for our sins while we are thinking about how to defend ourselves, how to justify ourselves, how to not forgive ourselves for the things we messed up. We come to church celebrating how Jesus has given us the hope of eternal joy to shatter the bonds of death ... while all the while we are grieving the loss of loved ones as though there were no hope of eternal life.

So, sometimes we fail to receive God’s gifts because we are hanging on to all sorts of other things. By the way, that present there was totally empty, totally hollow .... just like so much else that we think is so important.

But there is another reason why people may not receive Jesus. Read with me one more time verses ten and eleven of our Gospel Lesson. It reads, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.” Do you see why His own did not receive Him? It was simply because they did not recognize Him.

That is one reason why it is so important to read and reread the Bible – so that you WILL recognize Jesus, and not some false substitute. My godson has a company that is hired for all kinds of major show productions like Elton John, the Dallas Cowboys, etc. The other day he was hired to help produce a major evangelist show. That pastor arrived in his private Leer jet and then was chauffeured off in his Rolls Royce. Hours later, the preacher’s wife arrived in HER private Leer jet and was chauffeured off in her private Bentley. And thousands upon thousands came to hear this man preach in the name of the humble Christ child.

Last night my friend flew off to assist with the production of another evangelist show – this one a very famous speaker, a Christian pastor who preaches how you can get richer and happier and more successful if you follow Jesus – the same Jesus who called people to deny themselves, to pick up their crosses and follow Him.

Then in St. Paul you can visit the “Splendors of the Vatican” travelling exhibit where you can see the unbelievable ostentatious wealth that the Church has lavished on itself over the last several hundred years, and which the Vatican proudly displays all around the world. Now I am a friend of the Catholic Church which I believe does a lot of things right. But when someone asked me if this wouldn’t be a great thing to take a non-believe to, I was frozen in fear. This is the LAST thing that I would want anyone to think is the nature of Jesus Christ. He was a man of the poor and humble and hurting people.

And this is not just about what other churches and preachers do. How about US? What do we teach our kids is the point of Christmas? Some of our kids may be able to tell you the correct answer as to whom Christmas is about. They may know all about how the Wise Men brought gifts to the Christ Child. But let’s be honest here. The person most of them talk about and dream about and look for is not Jesus but Santa Claus. And when it comes to presents, what we have taught our kids to think about is the presents THEY will get.

No wonder Jesus’s own people have a hard time recognizing Him. From little children to famous wealthy evangelists, we like to make Jesus into the image of what we want for ourselves. THAT is why we have such a hard time recognizing Him ... and why so many of us may have trouble actually receiving Him.

The Gospel Lesson continues, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”

So look carefully at the manger scene. Be clear about what Jesus looks like and sounds like and acts like. And then receive Him as He really is. Amen – may it be so!