Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Who do you look like? I am sure every one of us has had someone tell us that we look like someone else, that we remind them of someone else.

Ralph Simon was the representative agent for Aid Association for Lutherans while I was at Historic Trinity Church in St. Louis. After meeting him for the very first time, Ralph started calling me “Little Sam.” “Big Sam” was The Reverend Dr. Samuel Goltermann, Senior Pastor at Historic Trinity. He was truly “Big Sam.” He was a true giant of a man in literally every way. He was a recognized man of high standing and high achievement in our church body. He was an absolutely brilliant Biblical scholar. He could rattle off phrases in Greek, in Latin, in Hebrew and in German without even stopping to think about it. After more than 40 years in the ministry he could preach a sermon like you wouldn’t believe without even one note in front of him. He was a servant-shepherd pastor to his people. He literally reached deeply into his own pocket day after day to help the homeless who would come to the door of our office, those who would see him in the neighborhood and call him “Father.” On top of all that, he literally stood about 6 feet tall and maxed the scale at well over 300 pounds. He was “Big Sam.”

I got named “Little Sam.” I have never asked Ralph exactly why I got named “Little Sam,” but let me assure you that as the years have ticked on – and its been about 18 years now since I was first called “Little Sam” – especially during these last few years since Sam’s death – I have considered it a truly great and humbling honor not only that I had the privilege of working alongside Sam – and that’s actually what he preferred to be called – but also that someone would call me “Little Sam.” In fact, there is truly only one greater honor I can imagine and that would be to be called a “Little Christ.”

Forty years ago this coming Thursday, a baby boy was born at South Shore Hospital in Chicago. His parents named him Christopher George. His middle name was given to honor his two grandfathers, both of whom had “George” in their own names. “Christopher” was prophetically bestowed upon him because it means “Bearer of Christ.”

Forty years after my birth, I hope you can say that about me. Whether I am standing before you in this pulpit or at that altar, wearing these colorful vestments, or whether you catch me on a day like last Friday, wearing shorts and a t-shirt and sweating under the hot sun pruning some roses around our campus, or whether I stand at your bedside and read comforting Scripture passages, I hope you can say, “He is Christopher. He is a Bearer of Christ.”

But it’s not enough for me to be a “Bearer of Christ.” It wasn’t enough for even Christ Himself to be Christ alone. Oh, sure, only Jesus Christ would be the only One to pick up the sins of the world and carry them to the Cross of Calvary, but it wasn’t enough for there to be only one Christ. Our Gospel today tells us that Jesus picked out twelve “Christs” and sent them into the world [Matthew 10:5]. Though they were named Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James and Thaddeus, Simon and Judas, Jesus could have named them each “Little Christ.” Jesus gave them all kinds of instructions, but one above all stands out in our Gospel today – “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher and the servant like his master” [Matthew 10:25].

Are you “like” Christ? Do people in your life call you a “little Christ”? If so, why? If not, why not? Those are important questions to ask.

Serving Jesus Christ, especially in today’s culture and climate, is not easy, but serving Jesus Christ has never been easy. Those first 12 disciples literally risked life and limb to be called “Little Christs.” Today we may not risk life and limb, but we do risk popularity and opinion. We do risk being a salmon swimming upstream when all the trout are swimming downstream. To be “like Christ” today means saying things and doing things that some people may not like. To be “like Christ” today also means being tender and loving and gracious and compassionate. It is not easy being “like Christ,” being a “little Christ.” It never has been. It never will be. But it’s not about being easy. If you think it’s about being easy or hard, you’ve missed the point.

At Bridger Wilderness Area in Wyoming, people can spend the day hiking on trails and enjoying God’s creation. At Bridger Wilderness Area, people can also complete comment cards and given them to staff members as they leave. Here are some actual comments collected during 1996:

Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands.
Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.
Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the areas of these pests.
Please pave the trails so they can be snow-plowed during the winter.
Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.
The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals.
A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed?
Reflectors need to be placed on trees every 50 feet so people can hike at night with flashlights. Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.
A McDonald’s would be nice at the trail head.
The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.
Too many rocks in the mountains.

The people who wrote those comments entirely missed the point of being at Bridger Wilderness Area.

I am afraid far too many Christians miss the point of being followers of Jesus Christ. It’s not about it being easy. It’s not about it being hard. It’s about being “like Christ.” It’s about the student being like the teacher. It’s about the servant being like the master. It’s about being Christ’s own hands and feet to people in the world around us. It’s about Christ being seen in us and through us.

So this week I encourage to stop thinking and talking about being a Christian being easy or hard. Instead, simply be “like Christ.” Allow Him, through the power of His Holy Spirit, to take up residence in your body. Allow Him to allow you to bear Him to one person this week, maybe to one broken person who needs Christ’s tenderness, maybe to one misguided person who needs to hear Christ’s concern. One person bearing Christ to one person, being sent by the Master-Teacher to be His Servant-Student-Imitator.

If you’re willing to pick up that challenge, to allow Jesus Christ to send you out into His world, I invite you to fold your hands and bow your head and silently pray this prayer: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on me. I am a broken pot, broken by sin and problems, but I desire this week to be Your beautiful creation. Forgive me the times I have not been ‘like You.’ Fill me with Your Spirit, giving me the strength to go where You would have me go and bear You to the one person in my life who needs You. I can’t do it alone. I don’t have to do it alone. Savior, send me into Your world and go with me. Amen.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena