Pastor Detweiler’s sermon for Commitment Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008:

“Making a commitment of faith is our response to God’s invitation to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:1-13

Today I want to talk about Gunther who emigrated from Germany to the United States after WW II. He was in his early 20s and escaping the hunger and deprivation he had known throughout his teens during the war and its aftermath. He was trained as a tool and die maker, was successful in this country and eventually opened his own business. By that time he was married and had two sons. There hadn’t been any time for church or religion.

Gunther’s oldest son joined the Army out of high school and was stationed in Germany. While there he became addicted to heroin. Gunther was not prepared for this and was frightened by it enough that he thought he had better do for his youngest son what he had not done for the oldest – send him to confirmation classes at the closest Lutheran church. He wanted the younger one to be better prepared for life than the oldest.

The parable in today’s gospel distinguishes between the wise and foolish based on foresight. The wise knew the bridegroom might not arrive on time and that they might have to wait half the night. The foolish did not think about it. They were unprepared for delay and for the unexpected.

When we talk about being prepared, especially in an economic time like this one, most of us think about money. Being prepared is saving to buy a house, or for the children’s education, or for emergencies, and for retirement. This preparation, of course, has its place – there is that saying about never meeting a widow who thought her husband had too much life insurance – but it can become a substitute for God. We can actually trust in our ability to be prepared.

Trusting in our ability to prepare or in our money is not what Jesus has in mind with this parable. The parable is to free us from trusting what we have and can do and to get us to trust God and respond to him. This is not easy because it does not come naturally.

Consider again, Gunther. Although he was frightened for his children and sent Gordon, his younger son, to confirmation, he did not change his own routine. Gunther was a gregarious man who enjoyed having small parties with his immigrant friends in his modest home. During one of those he had a heart attack and died. He was 48. Gordon, his 13 year-old son, was given the job of calling the pastor, since he was the only family member who knew the pastor.

At the funeral I read and preached on this parable, the only time in 35 years I have done that. Back at the house for lunch afterward one of Gunther’s friends asked, “Would God really do that?” I don’t remember what I answered, maybe “God is gracious, but how can we be part of something for which we are not looking?”

His friend’s question about God missed the point of the parable. This parable is about our response to God’s invitation into his kingdom, not an allegory that equates God with the bridegroom. Will we respond; will we prepare or will we ignore it?

Or, put differently, now that we know we are invited into the kingdom of God – that we do not earn or deserve it – what will we do to prepare? Will we trust God as we know him in Jesus Christ, or will we trust our ability to prepare?

One of the things that is said about FELC by parents of young adults is that children who grow up here and participate in Sunday school, confirmation, and youth activities are well prepared for life as adult Christians. They have been challenged to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. As faith in Christ is passed on from generation to generation, the younger ones are prepared to be followers of Jesus.

Over the last several weeks we have heard from representatives of several different generations of FELC members about their participation in this congregation, and about their reasons for giving. This congregation – this community of faith – is a means through which we prepare to be his disciples, and prepare for the coming of the Lord. We gather, grow and give not only individually, but together as his people from generation to generation.

Our financial gifts are an important aspect of our preparation as disciples and our passing on faith in Christ from generation to generation. Those gifts indicate what is important to us, what is most valuable.

Yesterday we had a funeral here. Donna was the daughter of founders of FELC, someone with children and grandchildren who are members. That span across 4 generations of members of one congregation is very unusual in our highly mobile culture. Passing on faith in Jesus Christ to younger generations was very important to her and she gave generously to support it, to prepare younger people to be disciples of Christ. It was that faith that enabled her to be hopeful in the face of death and to communicate her hope to anyone who was around her. She had been prepared to be a believer, a disciple of Jesus, through First English, and she always wanted to do her part to pass on that faith from generation to generation.

Making our financial commitments to FELC for the coming year today is an important way we prepare for the Lord and ensure that faith in Jesus Christ is passed on from generation to generation. It is a sign of our trust in God’s generosity to us, a response to his invitation into his coming kingdom. It is a way we say “thank you” for the hope we have in Christ, the promise of living with him now and forever.