Hello,
Yesterday, I had some of our high school graduates from our church up to
my house for a “Senior Bash”.
Graduating class of 2015.
We goofed around (I was the winner at ping pong!) and had a chance to
talk about thigh school and their plans for the years ahead. I consider it a blessing that young
people share their lives with me, and I hope that in some way God works through
me to make a dent of his grace in their lives so that they will live lives shaped
by Christ’s unconditional love for them, and they will be people who change the
world with that same love.
Forty years ago, I was at the same point in life as those who yesterday
came to my house. Graduating class
of 1975 from Hinsdale Central High School was I. I remember the cocktail of excitement and fear that I drank
that day. Behind the
familiar. Ahead the unknown. My sights were set on attending the
University of Illinois pursuant (the only legal word that I know) to my plans
to become a corporate lawyer. It
was during my freshman year of college that I changed my vocational plans and
decided that I would be a pastor.
Why? It occurred to me that my motivations to be a corporate
lawyer were not mine, and although being a corporate lawyer can certainly be
formed by solid motivations, I found my motivations to be grounded
elsewhere. Amongst some of the
best friends that I have ever had, I discerned that my deepest hopes, strength,
and peace were all grounded in God’s unconditional and unyielding love for
me. (Later, in Seminary, I would
find that hope articulated in 1 John 3:1, “See what love the Father has given
us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.” – my
focus verse). So, I came to the
fork in the road, and as Yoggi Berra says, I took it, hoping that I could help others live with the
blessings of hope, strength and peace that had come to me through Jesus Christ.
Soon I will have been a pastor for 32 years. It is hard to believe that so many years have past. With so many years behind me, sometimes
I wonder, “Did I take the road’s right fork?” How does one answer that question? Sometimes I find myself falling into how the world answers
this question, and I am drawn to numbers and statistics. But in my heart, I find myself
answering this question by saying that if I have helped one person live their
lives with the undergirding of God’s grace….one person is enough to answer the
question “yes”. If one person has
been able to look in the mirror and say, “ Everyone might think that I am
worthless because of what I have done, but I know that I am not because of what
Jesus has done for me.” ….. If one person has so felt the forgiveness of Jesus
in their life that they won’t pick up the first stone to be thrown at someone
else…. If one person has been lost
and alone, and has been grasped in their darkness by a good shepherd who has
left everything to find them… If one person can live their life for others
because they know that death does not have the last word even if it is only for
a few more days….if only one person has experienced the hope, the strength, and
the peace that comes in Jesus Christ….then that is enough to tell me that I
have not been on the wrong path for the past 32 years.
We Lutherans believe that being a pastor is not a loftier vocation than
any other, for all of us who possess the grace of God in our lives have the
vocation of sharing that grace with all people. Butchers, bakers and candlestick makers…no matter what ….
each person’s primary vocation is to bless the world with the grace of God which
they have received. I once heard
of a man who dried cars at the end of a car wash who placed a paper rose on the
driver’s seat of every car he dried with an accompanying card that said, “Bless
you.”
If you are wondering if you have taken the right fork in the road of
your life, let me invite you to consider this question, “Has one person
experienced the peace, hope and strength that comes from Christ as they have
encountered you?” I bet at least
one person has!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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