Called By Name in the Nick of Time
Hebrews 1-2
Matt runs into the emergency exit at the large urban hospital. He is a tourist in this town – here for the holiday. Fun, margaritas and relaxation were the plan for this week. He and Chaz had been planning the trip for months and were so looking forward to getting away from everything ordinary and letting their hair down. The last hour seemed, simultaneously, to be moving in slow motion and fast forward. Have you ever had that happen? Had it really only been an hour? He tries to play through the list in his mind – Chaz fell, the ambulance, the staring crowd of onlookers, the instructions on how to get to the hospital. What happened? How did everything get so crazy so quickly? Now Matt finds himself in an antiseptic green of fluorescent lights and waiting room chairs. Where does he go? Who does he talk to? How will he find out anything? Every face that appears is a stranger. He has never felt this alone – this scared – in his life. He finds himself immobilized by fear, uncertainty – lost in this unfamiliar and unknown place. Then he hears something, “Matt!” He’s so lost in his grief that he wasn’t sure it was an actual voice. He looks around and sees no familiar face – no smile of greeting. “Matt!” There it is again. His heart takes a little leap. He looks over the crowded room on tiptoes straining to see from whom the call came. Then he sees them. A couple, across the waiting room, run to each other in a teary embrace. Matt slumps back into the hard vinyl chair and waits.
When things are scary, when things are anxious, when things are out of control, everything changes when someone knows your name.
Our text from the book of Hebrews is one of those complex theological letters that sometimes make our minds go numb because we wonder what in the world is this talking about and why should I care? It was written to a group of Jewish Christians who were facing persecution and needed reassurance that their faith was grounded on something that they could trust. Rooted in their tradition and the faith found in Psalms and other Jewish scriptures, our text lays the foundation of why Jesus’ decision to offer his life is such a pivotal event for the rest of us. The solidarity that Hebrews describes is that Jesus names us and shares our human condition. He brought the presence of God into the very horrors of human life so that we would know that we never face anything life presents nameless. This text is as current as today’s waiting rooms – as this sanctuary space. It’s a scary thing to walk into this room for the first time and not know a single person. That’s why we push the name tags so hard. It helps all of us learn names.
This solidarity that Hebrews promises us, however, doesn’t happen by accident. It happens in community. It happens through work and planning, structures and programs, caring ministries and passionate mission. It happens because someone cared enough to make a difference – not just for oneself – but for that one who would find him or herself in a place where nobody knows their name.
Eight years ago this week I moved to Minnesota to begin a new chapter in my life that included nice round vowels. I’m still learning that technique. One doesn’t lose 52 years of “y’all” easily. This past week I attended a reception for the launch of a joint marriage effort that Project 515 and Out Front are leading. I didn’t know a lot of people in the room but it was really nice when occasionally a face would appear in the crowd and say, “Pastor Paul!” or a city council member would make an effort to come say hello specifically to me or someone would pass by and at least say, “You look familiar. Aren’t you at MCC?”
Last week we asked you to place leaves on the tree to symbolize the ministries of your life – the ways that you use your life to make your world a better place, whether through All God’s Children, other organizations or on your own. We wanted to symbolize in visual form the difference between a tree barren of leaves and one full of colorful life. I have to tell you that I see All God’s Children leaves everywhere I go – in hospital waiting rooms, in community organizing meetings, in government decisions, in Moose Lake, at Pride Institute, in office buildings and schools and homes across this community. Coming up and putting a leaf on the tree was a symbolic act of faith but it represents so much more.
Today I am asking you to make another act of faith. The “Making a Difference” card is in the pew rack. There are several reasons why we ask everyone to fill one of these out each year. Firstly, it is a step of faith to commit to something for a year. There’s something about writing something down that makes it more real. There’s also a pamphlet called “Making a Difference” in the pew that tells you more about what this is all about. Secondly, the Board uses this information to plan what we can expect to accomplish in 2010. The Board has been working diligently to craft a budget and ministry plan that will accomplish all the dreams we hope to fulfill next year. This is one piece of information that is helpful for that planning process. And lastly, we do this each year as an act of grace. All of us are here today because someone before us gave – gave of their time, their money, their expertise, their energy – so that we would have a place like this building from which to work, so that we would have ministry materials to speak to the issues of our day, so that we would have leaders and training and information and resources when people come to us in need. As Ray Boltz sang last week, each of us is a life that has been changed because someone before us gave to God.
That’s a lot for a little green card to do, but this one is up for the challenge. In a moment Rev. Robyn and I will invite you to get up out of your pew and bring your card to the altar. If you have already turned in your card we invite you to also come forward and touch the basket with blessing. Once everyone comes we will offer our resources, our best intentions, our hopes and dreams for a better world to God for blessing. This part of the service is not for your offerings. We’ll do that next. Don’t worry. We’ll get your money today too. Green cards and blessing are all we want you to bring forward right now.
If you have had the exhilarating experience of knowing that God’s presence has called you by name and if you want to help us create a world where nobody has to go through difficult experiences without someone knowing their name, then join us in making 2010 a year that we have all the resources we need to make that kind of difference.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com “The Christ Who Names Us” October 2009.