Vision Series - A Beacon to Our Community

January 18, 2004

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.

I wonder what you all are going to be doing this afternoon. I suppose you have several choices. A couple of choices I thought of that you could probably be active in or inactive in this afternoon, depending on how you look at it, are the NFL playoffs this afternoon; so I suppose you could go home, get everything ready, grab yourself a great big bag of chips, sit back in your recliner, and spend the rest of the afternoon and into the evening watching football. Now if you do that with your great big bag of chips, there is something that you just might notice happen to you. In fact, it's the same thing that would happen, say that you don't like football, you just don't care for that at all, so you decide, on this cold day, you're going to head off to the movies. So you're going to head to a matinee or maybe an early afternoon show. Well, of course, you cannot watch a movie without what? A great big bag of popcorn, right? And, of course, if you get the large, you get a free refill. So you sit down in the movie theater, you're all relaxed, and you're sitting down munching on your popcorn. Now whether you're in the movie theater chowing down on popcorn or whether you're in your recliner in the family room eating a bag of chips, there's something you're going to notice that happens to you. You probably already guessed it. You are going to get mighty thirsty, mighty thirsty. You're going to want water, pop, Koolaid, something because you can't eat all those chips, you can't eat popcorn and not become thirsty. We all know why. Because they're loaded with salt. The salt they put on the popcorn, the salt they put on the chips, the stuff that makes it good, that makes you want more, at the same time makes you extremely thirsty. Jesus said you are to be the salt of the earth.

All right, you get done with the football games, you get done with the movie, now it's time finally to go to bed at night. And if you're like me, you have a normal routine. That normal routine is that I walk through the house shutting off all the lights that everyone else forgot to because I don't want to support MidAmerican quite that much. So, as you get all the lights off, though, don't you usually leave one or two on? You know, maybe it's the little night lights that are plugged into the receptacles or maybe you leave the light on over the stove. And you do that because you know that, sooner or later, you're probably going to have to get up in the middle of the night. And if you get up in the middle of the night and it's pitch darkness around you, you know that at least there's going to be some form of light. And that light is going to help you avoid things, like the toy that is laying out you forgot to pick up or the chair that's out of alignment. It's also going to guide you. It's going to guide you down the hallway. Maybe it's going to guide you into the rest room That light becomes all important to you in the middle of darkness. Jesus said you are the light of the world.

Jesus says we who call ourselves believers in Him are the salt and light of the world, that we as the community of believers, we as Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, are to be the salt and the light of our community. Our Vision Statement says that we want to be a beacon in our community. If we are going to be a beacon to our community, Jesus' words for that are we are to be the salt and the light of our community.

Jesus says we are to be the salt of our community. Well, you think about salt. Salt always brings you back for more, doesn't it? “You can't eat just one,” Lays potato chips used to say. You don't sit down with one potato chip. You sit down with one bag of potato chips. That's because the salt on the chips makes you come back for more. You eat a couple and you try to sit there and you try to resist but, no, that salt just brings you back for another handful of chips. When something is salty, it makes you want to have more of whatever it is. Jesus said we are to be the salt of the earth. That is, when people come into contact with us, that contact is such a positive experience, they come back for more. That, as the community around us comes into our facilities or experiences our ministry or meets our members, it's such a positive experience for them, they say, “You know, I really enjoyed it while I was there.” I don't know what it was about the place. When they come into our facilities and they say that they experience an excitement in the air, an enthusiasm among the people, when they see among us a joy that maybe they don't quite have in their life, when they walk away from that saying that was a good experience, that was positive, that's like salt because they want to come back. They want to experience that again. When you experience something which is positive, which is really uplifting, which is really something that makes you feel a part of something, you would do that again and you want to come back. Gloria Dei is to be the salt of our community. That is, when people come into even our building when we sponsor a community event or when they come to one of the ministries that we offer or they meet you, that would be such a positive experience they would want to have that experience again and again because that's what salt does. Salt beacons you back for more.

But salt also makes you thirsty. They kind of work against each other. You see, the more potato chips you eat, the thirstier you get; and the more potato chips you eat, the more you want to eat and then the thirstier you get after that. You just don't sit down with a bag of chips unless you have a great big glass of water or Koolaid or something to drink with it because you know that you're going to get very thirsty eating all of that salt. People who come into contact with our congregation, if it is a positive experience, something they want to come back to, are going to get thirsty. If we are to be the salt of our community, then it should be such that, when they are among us, they are thirsty for what we have. They may not understand what we have. But when they see something different in your life, when they notice that we have something unique about us, that we have an inner strength about us, that when times are kind of tough, we have something to fall back on and they witness that through our lives and through our ministry, when they see that we can face life with a confidence that maybe they don't have, that we have something extra on our side, they're thirsty for that. They may not understand that what they're thirsting for is God's Word and God's presence among them, because that's what gives us our joy, that's what gives us the enthusiasm and the excitement we have as individuals and as a congregation. Now they may not understand that, but that's what they're going to thirst after. If we're to be the salt in this community, then the activities we're involved in should be so exciting and so uplifting and when people come and experience that, it should develop in them a desire to have what you have, that whatever element is special in your life, they want that in their life. Salt makes people thirsty. If we're going to be the salt of our community, we want to make people thirsty, thirsty for what God has to offer.

But we don't stop there, because God says also we are to be the light of the world, the light that shows them how they can have that thirst quenched. Ever try walking around in the dark? Of course you have, all of us have because all of us have an ego, right? So we turn off all the lights and we get up at 3:00 in the morning and we say to ourselves, “I don't need to turn on a light. I know this house from top to bottom. I've put every piece of furniture in place and moved it twice. I can make it from here to the bathroom.” Right. How well did it work out for you? Not real well for me. All of a sudden, you bump into the chair, you hit the edge of the bed, you run into the dresser, something happens because you just can't see. You're wandering around in the dark. You need some source of light so you can avoid some things and it will lead you on the right path. There is a world walking in darkness out there, and they're stumbling around. And some of them have all the confidence in the world that they don't need any direction, that they don't need any light, they can do it all by themselves; but, sooner or later, they're going to stub a toe. Sooner or later, they're going to run into the chair that's out of place. What I'm saying is, sooner or later, they're going to find out that they're just wandering around aimlessly through life and they don't have direction, and they keep running into things. And if there is no light source for them, if there isn't something to say you need to avoid that and something else that says this is the path you should walk down, they're going to keep falling down and they're going to keep getting hurt until they're beat up. Jesus says we are the light of the world, that we as a congregation are to be the light of the world, a light that shines out into our dark world, a light that points out those things which are to be avoided, so that this world, which is so confusing, that has so many different messages, that we who have a clear directive from God, we have a clear message given to us through His word, we have the responsibility then, as the body of Christ, to stand out as the light in our community and to say that no, this is wrong and this is right, that where God's Word is clear, we should be clear, to let the light shine in people's lives, to let them know that just because it's popular doesn't mean it's right, that these are the things that need to be avoided but then to be that light, that light that gives guidance and direction to people so when they become thirsty, when people want what we have, we can be the light, the light that leads them to Jesus because it was Jesus Himself who said, “Those who come to Me, they won't walk away thirsty.” In fact, He says, “They'll never thirst again.” We as the light of the world can show the way so they can have their thirst quenched forever because we'll show them the one true God. We'll get rid of all the misconceptions that are out there, the misconceptions of a dark world that says God is an angry God, that God only wants to give us a bunch of rules to follow, that religion is irrelevant, it has no place in my life, it just simply doesn't apply, but we come as the light shining, shining the path that shows God's Word applies to every moment of every day of our life, the light that shows the path, that shows a God who's not angry and judgmental but a God who is compassionate and loving, a God who wants to reach out to each and every one of them, a God who was so serious about it that He became one of us, even laid down His life for us. We want to be that light shining in this dark world pointing out the trouble spots but leading people to the word of truth, to the one thing that can quench their thirst, the one thing that can make all the difference, not only for this life but eternity.

If we are to be a beacon in our community, then we follow Jesus' directive and that is we are the salt and the light of this community. It is the vision we have set forth as a congregation. It is a vision that we're trying to accomplish and it is a vision, in some small part, that has been accomplished. I've asked Charles Jackson and his family to come forward and share with us how Gloria Dei, being a beacon in our community, has had an impact upon his family.

“Hi. My name is Charles Jackson, and this is my wife, Anne Jackson, and our sons, Jacob and Alex. We've been members of Gloria Dei since January 2002 but have been attending services here since late 2000. Our family became introduced to Gloria Dei through an outreach program that the church has, Cub Scouts. We moved here to Des Moines , our jobs transferred us here from south Florida , about midyear in 2000. Living here in Urbandale , we enrolled Jacob and Alex in Olmstead Elementary School and, on Scout night, we entered them into the Cub Scout Pack 206. Having been a Cub Master in south Florida , I wanted to go ahead and have some leadership position within the pack there, so I became a Den Leader for Jacob's Webelos den. The sponsor organization of the Cub Scout pack did not have any place for us to meet at their location, so DeAnn McCue was kind enough to offer a Sunday School class for the den to be able to meet weekly, and she also became my Assistant Den Leader.

Several of the members of Gloria Dei also were part of the Cub Scout pack and were in Jacob's den and also attended the elementary school, so the boys had some common friends within the church. And, through Boy Scouts, my family came to know more leaders of the church, Brent Handel, who was a committee chairperson of the pack, and then also we got to know Pastor Parsch who was a minister here.

My wife was raised a Methodist, and I was raised a Baptist and both of us had attended very large churches. My wife's church had a membership of about 6,000 and my church had a membership of 5,000, so we'd grown up in a very large church. We also attended a church in south Florida that was a Baptist church, and it had a membership of about 6,000. This church in Florida had a tremendous Christian growth program and also had a great outreach program to the community; and, through this, we were able to develop our Christian faith and participate in the worship services. Also, I was in choir there and sang in some a cappella groups, and we did quite a few outreach programs through the church as well. We easily felt a part of the church and quickly plugged in and really grew in our faith there.

Upon moving here from south Florida , we needed to find a church home in Des Moines and we wanted to have that in order to have our boys be able to continue to grow in their faith in Christ. We started attending a Methodist church here in Des Moines , but I just didn't feel like it fit. I visited with Brent Handel and also with DeAnn and eventually Pastor Parsch and explained this to them, and they invited us to start attending some of the services here. Our boys quickly fell into the routine with Sunday School and enjoyed being with some of their fellow classmates and Cub Scouts. Anne and I especially enjoyed the 11:00 service, which Pastor Burcham was preaching at that point. Through some prayerful consideration, we decided that we were going to become members. It took about a year for us to go through the Lutheran training because our schedules conflicted, and we never could quite make some of the very important meetings. But I also had determined, before that, from a Promisekeepers experience I had, that it really didn't matter what the denomination of the church that you attended was in the past or even now, that we truly were one church under Jesus Christ; and it didn't matter where the classification in the Yellow Pages was but really more about what the church was about so we began visiting. Coming from a large church, I've heard objections that you really don't feel a part of the family of the church and I have to say that nothing is further from the truth as long as you plug into the programs, whether it be a bible study, whether it be, for Anne and me, we were both Sunday School teachers, so we began teaching Sunday School in the Fall of 2001, and then choir also allowed me to plug in and other worship services for the boys allowed us to really become a part of the family. And we feel like now we truly have a home here at Gloria Dei, a home where we have a bible-based Christian ministry, a place that has an exciting program for the boys to grow in their faith in Christ and also a tremendous music program that I appreciate very much and a place for us to be able to give to missions and to use our skills to give back to the community and give back to the church. So, definitely, Gloria Dei is a home. Thank you.”

I appreciate you coming forward. Would you thank them for telling us their story? I said I wasn't going to say this after 8:00 , but I will anyway. If I understood that correctly, it's Lutherans 4, Methodists 0. I am only kidding with that.

But through Gloria Dei being a beacon and being that salt and light, it brought the Jacksons to be part of our family and they're a very important part of our family just as much as every single one of you are an important member and part of our family. And our vision is that we will continue to be the salt and the light so that all who are thirsty can have that thirst quenched here. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church