Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

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

The story is told that when President Ronald Reagan was a young boy his favorite aunt too him to have a pair of shoes made for him. This was, of course, long before you simply went to a local mall and bought a pair of shoes off the shelf. No, shoes back there were handmade specifically for each client. At the shoe maker’s store, young Ronnie’s feet were measured and he was asked a few questions about what kind of shoes he’d like, but he couldn’t decide if he wanted rounded-toe shoes or squared-toe shoes. He asked if he could let the shoe maker know in a couple of days, but a couple of days later he still couldn’t decide. This went of for a few days until one day the shoe maker told him his shoes were done. They were beautiful shoes, but one was rounded-toe and one was squared-toe. Right then and there the future president learned an important lesson. The lesson learned was that it is important to make your own decisions and to make them promptly because if you don’t, someone else will make those decisions for you and they may not be to your liking.

The topic of decisions runs through each of our Scripture readings today.

In our first reading [1 Samuel 3:1-20], young Samuel had some decisions to make. Samuel first had to decide to listen to the voice calling his name in the middle of the night. It might have been easier to just ignore it and act as if he had been in a deep sleep. Then Samuel had to make the decision to follow Eli’s seemingly crazy advice and believe it to be the Lord’s voice calling him. It might have been easier for him to just believe Eli was playing a prank on him. Then Samuel had to make the decision to share with Eli the truthful, but difficult, message that the Lord had given him. It might have been easier to fabricate a much more pleasant message for his beloved, elderly mentor. Young Samuel certainly had some decisions to make.

Our second reading [1 Corinthians 6:12-20], most likely a reading that makes us all a little uncomfortable because of some of the words that are used, is all about decisions, decisions that a follower of Jesus Christ has to make on a daily basis, decisions about lifestyle and the witness – positive or negative – those lifestyle decisions make to others. Paul ends our second reading with the words, “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” There’s certainly a couple decisions to make right there – the decision to accept the fact that we have been redeemed and the decision to respond to that expensive redemption in an honorable way.

And, of course, our Gospel [John 1:43-51] is clearly about decisions. Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He picked Philip out of the crowd. Philip not only decided to follow Jesus but he started his “fishers of men” ministry right away by running off and recruiting his brother Nathanael. Nathanael had to decide if it was wise to follow a rabbi from Nazareth, a rabbi who also might be their long-expected Messiah.

The topic of decisions certainly runs deeply through each of our Scripture readings today. These are the assigned readings for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, a date on the church calendar that seems to always fall on this weekend selected by our country to honor the birth of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a man who made decisions, decisions some people thought he was crazy to make, decisions that some people encouraged him to let other people make, decisions that made some people uncomfortable, decisions that angered some people, decisions that ultimately led to his untimely death. But Dr. King knew those were his decisions to make, decisions given him by God Himself, decisions that otherwise would have been made by others for him and for many other people and that those decisions, if made for him by others, would ultimately not be to his liking, those decisions, if made for him by others, may have been very counter to what both the Word of God and the United States Constitution say.

Today and every day decisions are required in our lives. That’s no secret. That’s no surprise. Every day we have to decide to get out of bed. Every day we have to decide what to wear and what to eat. Every day we have to decide what we’re going to do. And every day, though we don’t often stop to think about it, we have to decide what we’re going to believe – not in the realm of politics or commercial advertising, but in the realm of our faith.

Nathanael summed it up well: “Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Even with Jesus standing right in front of their very eyes, believing in Jesus and leaving everything to follow Jesus was not an easy decision to make. Nathanael and his fellow disciples had to be touched and moved by the Holy Spirit to make that decision to believe that Jesus was Who He said He was and that following Him was the best decision for them to make.

It’s that same Holy Spirit that enabled young Samuel to make the decisions he made. It’s that same Holy Spirit that enabled Dr. King to make the decisions he made. It’s that same Holy Spirit Who is so necessary in our daily lives – yes, even sometimes to make those unsurprising daily decisions, but especially when it comes to those decisions about Jesus Christ. Left to ourselves, let’s face it, we often make bad decisions, but we are not left to ourselves. No, the Holy Spirit has been given to us and has promised to be with us always [Matthew 28:20].

That Holy Spirit comes to us again today as we hear the Word of God read and proclaimed. That is what is so important about being hearers of the Word. The Word of God is living and active [Hebrews 4:12] and the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word of God, leading us, guiding us, directing us in our daily walk with Jesus. The Holy Spirit also comes to us again today as we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in His Supper. When, by faith, that wheat wafer hits our tongue and when that little plastic cup of wine or grape juice hits our lips the Holy Spirit energizes it to be the Body and Blood of Jesus to forgive our sins, to strengthen us in faith and to empower our belief in Jesus Who is the Way and the Truth and the Life [John 14:6], our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

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