October 25, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
An Unknown Judge

“Always we hear the cry from teenagers, ‘what can we do, where can we go?’ “My answer is this: Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you’ve finished, read a book. Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. “The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again. In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone not a wishbone. You are important and you are needed.” (“Words for Teenagers”, Northland College principal John Tapene quoting a judge who regularly deals with youth.)

“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Luke 13:31-35

I have coached my daughter’s soccer team for the last six years. One of the themes that I have repeatedly tried to teach them is the concept of moving without the ball. I tell them that they should never be just standing still on a soccer field. I try to teach them to move into empty space, so that the person with the ball can pass it to them. And I try to teach the girls that when someone passes the ball to them, they cannot stand there and wait for the ball to come to them – they must move toward the ball.

Jesus seemed to always be on the move. He often kept moving to keep ahead of those who wanted to arrest him – or to escape the hometown people who wanted to toss him over a cliff. Other times he moved on quickly because the people wanted to rally around him and make him their king. But most importantly Jesus kept moving because he had a lot to teach and a lot of people to heal – and to sit at home and wait for people to come to him would not have worked. Jesus knew that if he was to make his ministry the most effective that it could be, he must keep moving. This is also a lesson he was teaching his disciples – once he had ascended into heaven, they would be expected to go out to the people – to serve the people – to heal and to teach and to love them.
We have raised a generation of people who often believe that resources and assistance must come to their place, to their community, and to their personal space because they somehow deserve it. Someone, the church, the political structures, the national government, or other social services owe them services because they have been denied. I often want to say what the above judge tells young people who come in front of his court – “put away the wishbone, grow a backbone, and find a way to become part of the solution, not part of the whining.”

We can’t wait for people to come to the church, because many people expect that things will always come to them. As such, we need to be on the sidewalks of our communities taking the good news of Jesus Christ to them. And that does not have to mean we need to go door to door to tell people about Jesus – although that is a system that has proven to be effective. One of the best ways to take Jesus into the community is for the church to be offering ministries to the community – to always be a presence in the community – to remind people that the church is still relevant, and that Jesus is still on the move.

Pastor Dave