Seven Iron Surprise

First Lesson: Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Responsive Reading: Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Second Lesson: Romans 10: 5-15
​Gospel Lesson: Matthew 14: 22-33

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​Before the Sermon, first a joke[1].  A Lutheran Pastor named Pastor Jones once upon a time looked out the window on a Sunday Morning, he saw the most glorious Summer day he had ever seen.  The weather was projected to be 70 degrees without any wind.  There didn’t look to be a cloud in the sky.  The thing you need to know about Pastor Jones is that he was an avid golfer.  He would play every chance he got.  He also had an associate pastor in Pastor Smith that could easily cover the service.  So Pastor Jones calls Pastor Smith declares himself not to be feeling well enough to go to church.  Pastor Smith agrees to cover, but Pastor Jones then drives his car forty miles away not to be recognized on the golf course.  Pastor Smith lines up on the tee for the first hole golfing by himself.  Saint Peter looks down from heaven annoyed with Pastor Jones and says to the Lord “You’re not going to let him get away with this are you?”. The Lord sighed “I guess not.”  So Pastor Jones swings his club, he hits the shot of his life, on a 400-yard par four, it approaches the green, then the hole, the ball finally goes in for a “hole-in-one,” as Pastor Jones jumps for joy.  Saint Peter gets even more annoyed at this point saying to the Lord “Why did you let him do that?”.  To which the Lord smiled and replied, “Who exactly is he going to tell?” 
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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

When I was in middle school, I had a job where I would caddy on the golf course for my Uncle Jim.  Jim used to be a cop in Newark, New Jersey.  Newark is one of the toughest places in the country.  By the time I started caddying for him, Jim had spent the last few years of his life trying to get better at golf.  Jim invested quite a bit of money in seeking to get the best equipment that money could buy.  Jim had taken lessons from professionals.  He had also spent several days a week on the golf course.  The problem with Jim’s golf game like for many people is his results could never match his expectations.  Jim would hit a bad shot and the outburst would start!  Jim would throw clubs down the fairway or into the nearest body of water.  Jim used every bit of colorful language that you can imagine. 

Jim’s outbursts would quickly become the thing of legend at Chisago Lakes Golf Course.  One time, Jim was playing with my parents and his wife.  Some high school boys were playing behind growing annoyed at what they perceived to be my mom and her sister’s foursomes slow place of play.  In an attempt to speed the group up, the high school boys hit golf balls right at my mom and aunt.  They didn’t know of Jim’s presence.  Jim upon seeing the golf balls land near their feet, hopped in his golf cart, started swinging a club over his head, and you’re imagination probably doesn’t need to run too wild at the language that Jim was using.  The previously tough high school boys began to cower in the presence of an angry large Italian man.  They came up to me who wasn’t there a few days later to apologize, yet again.  Now that you have an image of my Uncle Jim on the golf course, I want to tell you another golf story. 

One of my seminary professors Walter Sundberg grew up in New Jersey[2].  One of Sundberg’s greatest influences was his Pastor a man named Carl Shea.  Sundberg was good friends with Pastor Shea’s son.  Pastor Shea like my Uncle Jim loved to play golf.  Pastor Shea like Jim was also a large, towering presence that no one was going to mess with.  Pastor Shea like Jim would act in ways that those around him wouldn’t quite know how to interpret.  When Pastor Shea was on the golf course, he would often overhear the other golfers using foul language, even worse using the Lord’s name in vein.  Pastor Shea like my Uncle Jim would confront the offenders.  Pastor Shea would walk up to the other golfers and say “Jesus Christ, he is a good friend of mine.  Do you know him too?”

Pastor Shea’s teenage sons were always embarrassed to be near their Father because of this[3].  Pastor Shea kept practicing the same habit round after round.  Finally, his sons had a change in spirit becoming entertained by this just watching the reaction when Pastor Shea confronted the other golfers.  Like my Uncle Jim, Pastor Shea’s actions quickly spread to every member of that golf course.  No one forgot being in Pastor Carl Shea’s presence.  “Was anyone converted instantaneously by this act? Maybe/maybe not.  Seeds were planted that perhaps did eventually bear fruit years down the line”[4]. 
Now many of us here the story of Carl Shea and imagine never having the courage ever to do such a bold thing on the golf course.  You might fear confrontation with a man driving a golf cart,  waving a golf club over his head, and letting loose all sorts of colorful language in your direction.  

Now both these golfing stories bring us to our lesson today from Romans 10[5].  The Apostle Paul’s ministry continually dealt with hostile audiences.  Paul undertook three major missionary journeys, each years long.  What did Paul’s journeys bring: stonings, beatings, imprisonments, and eventually death.  All sorts of people told Paul to get lost.  So Paul went and preached to some more people. 

Paul’s preaching was simple.  “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved[6].” 

Because of Paul’s preaching courage: the Gospel was brought to people in Syria, Turkey, Greece, Jerusalem, and eventually Rome, the majority of books in our New Testament were written, and Paul helped break down the walls that had previously separated Jews from Gentiles.

All these things happen because Paul like Pastor Carl Shea believed it was of utmost importance to “confess” that which they’ve held to be true.  Both men were unapologetic and without shame when it came to speaking to their deepest of convictions.  “Christ is Lord!”

Jimmy Carter taught Sunday School and was a deacon at his local Baptist church[7].  What influenced Carter is growing up, he one time heard a sermon ask “If you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you[8]?”  In the Early 1960’s, Jimmy Carter was a struggling peanut farmer in Plains, Georgia.  Carter in 1962 decides to run for state senate so that he could advocate for the racial integration of Georgia’s schools[9].  In 1966, Carter sought Georgia’s governorship but lost the election.  A short while after the election, another church invites Carter to speak on “Christian Witnessing.”  Carter decides to speak about the last fourteen years of his involvement in his home church’s evangelistic mission week.  Carter was proud that he had visited 140 people in those 14 years encouraging them to attend a revival meeting.  Carter initially thought this was pretty good until he thought about his recent campaign for Governor of Georgia.  As Carter pondered his travels around the state over a three-month period, he realized that he had talked to around 300,000 people about voting for him[10].  The comparison struck Carter as he pondered what was truly important in his life.  For Pastor Shea or the Apostle Paul, what ultimately wasn’t most important was what people thought of them, but rather what they confessed about Christ Jesus. 

Now as you hear these stories Today.  You probably don’t see yourselves as quite as bold as Pastor Shea or the Apostle Paul.  Even talking to ten people a year like Jimmy Carter would be way outside your comfort zone.  You might even be making the excuse that God couldn’t possibly use you as old as you are to advance the “good news.”  But what if to truly make a difference in the faith of those near you, doesn’t need to be quite so dramatic. 

Let me close with one last story; John Stonestreet was no extraordinary ninth-grader[11].  He was a self-described “knucklehead.”  Stonestreet was the worst kind of “knucklehead” a Christian school attending one.  Whereas Stonestreet was surrounded by Christians six days a week, he had never encountered anyone like the Apostle Paul that got the “good news” through to him. 

Last day before Christmas break, Stonestreet is sitting in Bible class[12].  The teacher announces the class is being sent out two by two to visit shut-ins with the community.  The purpose of the assignment was to bring Christmas cheer.  But the last thing, Stonestreet wanted to do was visit with old people, he had never previously met.

Stonestreet and his friend hatch a plan[13].  They would visit one person, say they couldn’t find the second house, and then have fun at the mall.  The woman they were going to see was Mrs. Buckner.  Mrs. Buckner was 89 years old living by herself at the end of a long driveway on her son’s land. 

Stonestreet upon seeing Mrs. Buckner didn’t know what to say, as they seemed to have nothing in common.  The room grew quite awkward when Mrs. Buckner suggest the boys join her in the singing of a Christmas carol.  The boys sang Silent Night with as much enthusiasm as non-singing high school boys tend to have.  They figured the end of the song was their excuse to leave, only to never see Mrs. Buckner again.[14] 

Mrs. Buckner before leaving, suggested a prayer.  Both the boys prayed brief prayers, then Mrs. Buckner began to pray.  Neither boy in all their years at church had ever heard a prayer like Mrs. Buckner’s prayer; she spoke as if she had no greater confidence in the world that her God was listening to her.  As the boys left, they both commented on what a cool old woman that Mrs. Buckner had been[15].

Two years later, John Stonestreet woke up;  for some unexplainable reason he couldn’t shake the words of Mrs. Buckner’s prayer[16].  He decided he had to see her once again.  He approaches her door, she answers.  Stonestreet begins to say “you probably don’t remember me, but two years ago I came here with my friend Brian.  My name is John[17].” 

Mrs. Buckner has a big smile go over her face, only to reply “John, I prayed for you this morning[18].”

Stonestreet and Mrs. Buckner’s friendship would form on this day and last the rest of Mrs. Buckner’s life[19].  Mrs. Buckner vowed to pray for John every day the rest of her life. Stonestreet admits that he has no idea where his life might have gone without Mrs. Buckner’s presence.  Today, John Stonestreet is a prominent Christian radio host and author. 

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching.”- Romans 10:14. 

Mrs. Buckner, Pastor Carl Shea, and the Apostle Paul were three unique personalities living in three unique worlds.  What they all had in common is they believed that it was the name of Jesus that had the power to bring forgiveness and salvation to the world that longs to hear it.  Amen.   
           


[1] The following comes from the ELCA Clergy Uncensored Facebook Page posted by Lawrence Recla on August 12, 2017. 
[2] Stier, Leon. “Confessing Christ (a).” Email Mediatations. 12.June.2016. Web. Aug.1.2017.  The following is based on a 2010 sermon given by Dr. Walter Sundberg. 
[3] Stier, Leon. “Confessing Christ (a).”
[4] Stier, Leon. “Confessing Christ (a).”
[5] Romans 10:5-15. 
[6] Romans 10:9
[7] Jimmy Carter.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 5. Aug.2017. Web. Aug.1.2017. 
[8] “Jimmy Carter.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.. 
[9] Jimmy Carter.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[10] Stories for Preaching. “So Much Effort?” Web. Aug.1.2017. 
[11] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.” Email Mediatations. 14.July.2016. Web. Aug.1.2017 taken from John Stonestreet’s writing at Breakpoint.org  on May 25th, 2016. 
[12] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[13] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[14] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[15] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[16] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[17] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[18] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”
[19] Steir, Leon. “An Old Lady’s Prayers.”