Making a Difference 8/30/98
By this time in the service, my mind was wandering off to places far from the comfortable pews of St. Stephen. I considered the many wonderful gifts God had granted me. I know all were undeserved, but if I were truthful, part of me expected those gifts to be there. The gifts I am talking about are my health, the love of family and friends, my church and my faith. In fact some of the time, I took them for granted.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning of the story.
I was raised in the Lutheran faith. My family regularly attended church wherever my father was stationed. In the Air Force, life meant moving. Moving meant new friends, new customs and sometimes living overseas. No matter where we called home, the church meant a lot to me. Admittedly, when I was younger, I modeled my faith after my parents. I saw how they responded to life's pressures. How they trusted in God to help them survive the early days of military life. In high school, I became aware of a group of people around me that were amazing. The pastor was supposed to be "religious", you know, be nice, be concerned for others, help others whenever a need came up and the clincher; hear about his faith in God.
The group that had such a profound impact were some adult members of the congregations who lived their faith. They stuck out to me right away. Their natural way of living Christ-like lives startled me at first. I think it was the way they were interested in me. Some were Sunday School teachers, others were adult advisors to youth committees, but most were caring people who lived beyond their smiles by sharing how they felt about God. I don't want you to think my parents did not live their faith, they did. But to a teenager, my peers and other adults made an impression.
Since those teenage years when I realized that real people do have faith in God, my own faith has grown. As I have walked with God, sometimes kicking and screaming, I 've come to realize how much God loves all of us. And what God asks of us. God speaks through the aspostle Paul in 1 Timothy about why he put Paul in Timothy's life. Paul was to pass on his faith to Timothy a young believer. To instruct him in how to act, but if you read on you realize the genuine concern Paul has for Timothy.
Time to finish the story. As my thoughts were drifting
off that day in June. I found I was missing Andre. He had come into our
family's lives almost a year earlier. Andre was supposed to come to the
U. S. and enjoy a different culture, tour the countryside, meet new people.
Andre was supposed to be thankful and considerate. He was all those things,
and more.
Sometimes God whispers, at times He uses another person to speak to me; then there are the times He uses a 2x4 to get my attention. God used Andre to show me how much I had taken all I have here at St. Stephen for granted, all I have in my family, all I have in my friends.
When Andre came to us, he told us that men in Brazil don't go to church except on Christmas and Easter. Being active in church was the women's role. Priests were the people who talked about and acted out their faith. Church, for Andre, was an activity you did, not something to depend upon. As Andre worshipped with us, he saw you and I living out our faith. He became curious and wanted to learn more. He took part in Sunday School, bell choir, youth and church-wide activities. Soon church became a way of life, a circle of friends and a pathway to meet God face-to-face.
As time went on, Andre was saying table prayers, taking part in family bible studies and discussions about our faith. All of this stunned me. Seeing God at work in a person's life is an amazing experience. God was showing me what He can do in a life if we look for Him. God changed Andre's life. God also revealed His love for me in a new and profound way.
Andre left St. Stephen June with many momentos, a Cat's Meow of the church that he bought, a cross-a gift from us, and the certificate the church gave him. All of these are displayed in a place of honor at his home in Forteleza, Brazil. He also left with a faith born by the Holy Spirit, fed with His word and nourished by His people acting out their faith.
God was able to show me, just as He did when I was a teen how real His love is. Andre's experience isn't only that of a foreign exchange student. There are many teens in our church, several here today that need you and I to show them how much we love God. They are watching us. Watching to see whether this "faith thing" is real in our lives or another activity in our busy week. We have to trust God to provide the opportunities in which we can share of ourselves. We have to trust in God when He takes us to encounters we didn't expect. Just as He showed me Andre's changed life.
One of the expressions that we continue to repeat at home is pay attention! Andre would say pay attention to his card partner, when we played pictionary or when he had something important to say. I close thanking God for providing the opportunity to make a difference in Andre's life. Also I want to extend a reminder to pay attention to the teens around you here and across the dinner table.
Let's close in prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit who is here with us now. Father, we pray for strength to be sensitive to the opportunities you place in our lives each day to witness to others of our love for you.
We claim your promise that you will be with us as we step forward in faith and be Christ in someone else's life.
Amen