Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

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

As probably most of you know, major construction started on the Church Administrative Center last August. The singular thing that prompted the entire project was the very slow but very noticeable and very dangerous deterioration of the front porch. That porch was built with the building in 1913. It was a single family residence designed by the Heineman Brothers, almost equally as famous contemporaries of Charles and Henry Greene. During that period of time, homes were masterpieces, each designed to be unique and each designed to last. That’s why the deterioration of the porch personally puzzled me – until we did some more research.

What we discovered in a couple of different ways was that the deterioration of the porch was happening not because of the original work done 96-years-ago but because of some changes to the plans of the master architects that took place as near as we can tell in the late 1940's. You see there used to be a set of stairs in the side of that porch equal with front door and leading to a circular driveway that wrapped around the house. But that was before the church bought that particular property with plans of building a school building there, the building which we now call Koch Hall. The circular driveway disappeared and it suddenly made no sense to have set of formal stairs leading from the front door to the side of a building so someone – identity thankfully unknown – broke apart the brick stairs and the beautiful hip wall, bricked up the open part of the porch retaining wall where the stairs once were, threw in a bunch of fill dirt, along with some broken brick, poured some concrete over it all and then installed decorative Spanish tile over the entire porch.

The problem was that those stairs had been designed by the Heineman Brothers to be part of the drainage system of the house. Water would flow off the roof onto the porch which had a gentle slant toward each of the three sets of stairs. We found the original concrete under the Spanish tile and noticed the original slope. That water flow design was obviously known to some degree to whomever altered the stairs because two weep holes had been installed in the section of alteration, supposedly designed to continue to allow water to exit from that area of the porch. That was clever, but obviously whoever did that work was not of the same creative caliber as the Heineman Brothers because the gentle slope was destroyed when the Spanish tile was installed and the weep holes were installed too high, maybe even as an afterthought after the first rainfall, meaning that little water was being directed toward the two remaining sets of stairs and that inches of water would have to collect before those weep holes would allow the water to exit, and then only enough water to stay below the weep holes. So the water had to go somewhere, so it sat there until it slowly absorbed into the brick and tile and mortar and, unseen by human eyes for many years, slowly washed away the dirt underneath that end of the porch.

I have every confidence that original porch would still be standing today if the plans of the master architects had not been altered. You see, we found the original concrete. We know the porch had been sloped properly. When we tore up that concrete we found that the original ground underneath that concrete had indeed been properly prepared. The entire problem was due the alteration, to someone else’s idea to change something that was already good. Did you hear that? The entire problem was due the alteration, to someone else’s idea to change something that was already good.

As pastor, I see a lot of that same kind of stuff going on in people’s lives. They come to me once their “porch” has already deteriorated. They often come angry at God, asking questions like “Why has God allowed this to happen?” and “Where is God when I need Him?” and “Why has God abandoned me?”When I start asking some questions, I can often see that God is not to blame. Often what is to blame are the supposedly “improved” alterations to God’s plans that we humans have concocted. Stress, tension, relationship problems, financial problems, even long-term and debilitating diseases – they all can be often traced to a departure from God’s original plans for human beings.

Stress, tension and relationship problems can often be traced to a departure from God’s original prescription for peace and harmony among all people, rooted and grounded in the words “Love one another as I have loved you” [John 13:34]. If those words were followed by all people as they were intended, the stress, tension and relationship problems would disappear. Think about that in your own life.

Financial problems can often be traced to a departure from God’s original prescription that He is the Lord, that there is no other, that He is to be first in our lives and that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and all these other things will be added unto us [Exodus 20:1-6; Matthew 6:19-34]. If those words were followed by all people as they were intended, financial problems would disappear. Think about that in your own life.

Long term and debilitating diseases can often be traced to a departure from God’s original prescription for the lifestyle and activity level and diet of human beings. (I am obviously preaching to myself here as well.) If that original prescription was followed by all people as it was intended, we would see less disease in our world while at the same time see longer, healthier, more productive lives. Think about that in your own life.

Fifteen-and-a half-years ago, before at least half of you were even members of or regular visitors to Historic First Lutheran Church, we moved the baptismal font from that corner where it had stood for 57 years to the center front of the center aisle. We moved it originally because we were going to baptize three adults on Sunday morning and honestly needed a little more room. The font was never moved back because, standing where it does today, it reminds us of what is central in our lives as the children of God, that only God is perfect, that we in innumerable ways have departed from His will and plan for our lives and that we need to be reminded frequently of the forgiveness of sins and the daily strength given us, guaranteed us by our own adoption into the family of God through the waters of Holy Baptism.

You remember when Jesus was baptized. The Heavens opened. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. That booming voice declared, “You are My Son, Whom I love. With you I am well pleased.”

We need that same reminder in our lives frequently. We need frequently to be reminded that, through our baptisms, we were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, that His victory has become ours [Romans 6:1-11]. We need frequently to be reminded that, through our baptisms, God’s promise continues to hold for us that “when you pass through the waters, [He] will be with you and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze, for [He is] the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” [Isaiah 43:1-7]. We need frequently reminded that, through our baptisms, we also are His dearly loved children and that with us, despite our sins which ultimately have been forgiven, He is well pleased.

YES! HE CAN! IN 2010! Of that there is no doubt. He can cure that stress and that tension. He can cure those relationship problems. He can cure those financial problems. He can heal those long-term and debilitating diseases. And, because HE CAN, we can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens us” [Philippians 4:13].

Today I invite you again, as you come forward to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, to dip your finger or hand into the water in the baptismal font, to remember God’s original plan for you and to draw strength from the fact that God can properly remodel you again today and every day.

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