Hello,
If you come to visit me in my office at First Lutheran of Greensburg,
you may find yourself wanting to call HGTV and see if one of their designers
could come and decorate this space in a manner that at least bears a
resemblance to stylish. Flair for style
has never been one of my strengths.
As a matter of fact, when I was first married and my wife and I set out
to decorate and position the furniture in the living room of the small house in
which we were living, she took a look at my handiwork and said, “Do you really
want it to look like that?”
Anyway, as I was rummaging through the boxes of stuff that had come from
my previous office (which I might add, no one made any negative critique….at
least not to my face) I came upon the box that was filled with the pictures
that I had hung on the walls in Crooks, S.D. Even though I have my diplomas from my educational pursuits,
I don’t display them, instead I have hung on my wall a crafty little stone
thing bearing the faces of baseball players from my high school years, I have
hung a print of the chapel at Valparaiso University, and I have hung a collage
of the buildings from Luther Northwestern Seminary. So, I hung them on my wall again. I also hung the prayer of St. Francis, a painting of a loon
under which is printed “Be still and know that I am God”, an Illinois clock, a
backwards clock, and a cross. That
sounds like that should be enough, but even when all these things were hung, it
still looked to me that it needed something more.
On the bottom of the box, I found something that had not been hung in my
previous office, for lack of room, I guess. It was four
8x10 pictures that my dad had taken of me during a game that I was
pitching when I was in 8th grade. The first is a picture of me standing in the stretch taking
the signs from the catcher. (For
those of you who are not familiar with baseball terms…..well….drop me a note
and I’ll explain it.) The second
is a picture of me reaching back in my delivery, my back leg bent, the ball
nearly touching the ground behind me, my front leg kicked high in the air, my
left arm waving my glove in front of me, and my lips pursed. The third is my body lurching forward,
my elbow bent back at what looks like an unnatural angle, the ball hidden
behind my arm, and my face grimacing.
The fourth is the picture of me releasing the ball; my two fingers
launching the fastball, my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, my front foot
planted into the ground carrying all of my weight and momentum, and my face
beholding a new grimace. I
wondered, “Should I hang these pictures in my office?” Are they too old? Are they unprofessional? What would HGTV say?
I decided to go ahead and hang them, regardless of HGTV’s opinion. So, I hung them in succession around
the cross on the wall to my right.
I did that for two reasons.
First, I thought it good that people might get to know me a bit when
they walked into my office.
Secondly, and more importantly, it seemed to me that these pictures
depict what I see what the Christian life is like. First….one looks into the eyes of God for
direction…prayer. Second…one
reaches back for strength to do what is called to be done. Third…with the power of the Spirit
behind, one lurches forward into the world. And finally, with courage and hope….one lets go and lets
one’s faith fly into the world.
Like a baseball pitcher, the Christian life is one that is meant to be
cast into the world…with all the strength that God has given you, with the
power of the Spirit behind you, with the momentum of God’s grace within you,
and with the hope of God’s promise when you let it go. Also, like a baseball pitcher, you
don’t know for sure what will happen after you let the ball, your faith,
fly. Will it do what you
planned….streak by the batter in baseball, sail past the barriers and touch
people’s hearts with Christ’s love in faith. Or will it be an errant throw? Or will it be crushed out of the park
in a home run for the opponent?
If it is a strike….thanks be to God. If it is a ball…take aim and throw again. And if it is a crushing hit….well… the
next time that batter is up, you’ll have to try something different.
It takes practice to be a good pitcher. It takes practice to be a Christian whose faith has the
strength, the courage, and the finesse to make a difference in the world. A baseball player’s practice takes
place on the field….a Christian’s practice takes place on Sunday morning in
church. Sure there are other
places that a baseball player or Christian can practice, but no place is as
efficient as with the rest of the team….with the rest of the body of Christ.
So, if you’re in the area…stop in and you can see pictures of me when I
could still throw a fastball….but no matter where you are, find your way to a
Christian practice field on Sunday morning so that on Monday morning you can let
your faith fly into the world and then see what happens!!!!
Have a great day,
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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