Sermons & Meditations

John 15:12-17
Presented February 18th, 2007
Older Adult Sunday

Meditation by Roy Olwin

What do I know now that I wish I had known earlier in life? I think I’d rather turn the question around. What did I learn early on in life, that has carried me through the years? As one who graduated from high school in the midst of the depression years, what lessons did I learn from those days when material possessions were far scarcer than they are today?

The first thing I learned is to go with the flow, to take things as they come your way in life, one day at a time. Don’t waste your time and energy worrying. Learn to be satisfied with what you have in life.

My family moved from the Decatur, Indiana area—south of Fort Wayne—to Elgin in the late 1920s, as my father took a job at the Brethren Publishing House. During those early years in Elgin he also helped out with janitor work here at the church, and I remember helping him fire up the boiler on Saturdays, so the building would be warm for Sunday mornings. Following my graduation from Elgin High School in 1932, I spent the summer in southern Indiana, helping some of my relatives on their farms. One early job netted $25/month, plus room and board. I learned the value of hard work, of making do with what we had—using and re-using the resources at hand. And I learned the value of taking things in stride as they come.

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Presented April 2nd, 2006, by Jim Lehman

Jeremiah has been called the “weeping prophet.” He was angry. He was full of woe. He was in agony and grief. He loved his people. But he spoke God’s judgment against them. He was one of those characters, you know! A royal pain in the—neck. And “royal” is an apt term. He was privy to the royal household. He spoke directly to the kings—several of them.

The popular prophets of the day told the kings and the people what they wanted to hear—that the future was bright, that they were on the right track. Jeremiah told them they were in deep trouble. (Does that sound familiar!)

Jeremiah had grown up hearing about the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And for 40 years—his entire career as a prophet—he watched the slow collapse of the Southern Kingdom—Judah. He was there at its horrific end. He saw his people dragged off into exile.

In one of the worst moments—when Jerusalem was under siege; when the desperate people were turning to cannibalism to survive—Jeremiah bought a field. This angry, whining prophet performed an act of hope.

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Presented March 19th, 2006, by Chris Douglas

Scott had been looking forward to the opening of the movie, “Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” for months. The movie, based on The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, opened this past December. It happened to be at a time we were on vacation in Florida. But because Scott had waited so long for this movie to come out, on a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon in Florida, we went to a movie theatre. On the big screen, the movie was captivating and I truly felt myself transported into Narnia. In fact, I shivered from the cold as I watched the movie. It all seemed so real, like I was really there. When the movie was over and we stepped outside into the warm sunshine, I had some moments of disorientation. Narnia had seemed so real. Which was really life: my time with the Ice Queen in Narnia, or this sunshine and warmth of central Florida?

What is real life? Our theme during this Lenten season comes from the scripture in I Timothy 6:19, “…take hold of the life that really is life.”

The six weeks of Lent, as we journey toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is a good time for us to pause and ask ourselves, “What is the life that really is life?” I’d like for us to reflect on that question this morning in light of two scriptures in our lectionary for today. In Exodus 20 we have the Ten Commandments God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai. Moses and the Hebrew people brought out of slavery in Egypt came to believe that if they followed the Commandments that they would have real life.

In John 2, with Jesus cleansing the Temple, we are reminded the Jewish people believed that “real life” was found in making the ritual sacrifices of a dove, a pigeon, or even a lamb. They believed that by paying money for a burnt offering at the Temple that God would be pleased and bless them, and they would experience real life.

Today in North American, middle class society, we are taught that real life is in buying stuff—big screen TV’s, new cars, fashionable clothes, beautiful houses. Our culture would tell us that the American Dream is “life that is really life.”

What about for you? What is the life “that really is life?” What was the writer of I Timothy talking about when he encouraged Timothy to “take hold of the life that really is life?”

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Mark 8:31-38
Presented March 12th, 2006, by Kathy Reid

Did you see Schindler’s List, the Stephen Spielberg movie, more than ten years ago? I would imagine that if those of us who saw it, probably couldn’t watch it twice. I couldn’t. I said that I could not go. But kids have a way of pushing their parents. My son, Jacob, had to see the movie—for extra credit. And he really needed the extra credit. He said that he could not go alone. So I went with him.

I’m sure that even those of you who haven’t seen it, know that it is the story of a man, not a very admirable man, in many ways. Schindler, who partied with the Nazis and won favor with them, used his munitions factories to literally buy the lives of Jewish people.

This story is literally about buying back lives.

Now critics say that the major problem with the movie is that there is little or no motivation for Schindler’s change of heart. What makes someone who from all outward appearances is not an activist, nor a crusader, put himself in such danger. Why would he risk everything for others?

As a Christian, I would say that Schindler finds his true self, a self that is giving, a caring self, that takes risks for the sake of others.

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