Four Questions of LIfe 3: The Where of Life

 

“The Where of Life”

A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman

 

This morning’s sermon is the 3^rd in a series that I have entitled the “Four Questions of Life.”  Previously, I wrestled with the questions, “why?” and “what”.  These questions are at the foundation of most of our inquiry into the world around us.  They are basic questions that we ask in scientific research, historical studies, and both social and psychological inquiry.  They are also existential and theological questions.  They are the questions that we ask regarding our relationship with God, with God’s creation and with other human beings. 

 

This morning, I want to speak to the question “Where?”.  This is a question that is geographical in nature, meaning: it is about place.  

 

Around our house, we ask the “Where?” question a lot.  

• “Karen, where did I put my keys?” 
• “Where is my wallet?”
• “Where is the TV remote?” 

You get the idea.  This morning, we will be looking at this question in terms of human geography and, most importantly, place.  “Where do I belong?”  

 

Ephesians 4: 1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it is said,

“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;

he gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

 

 

One of the nagging questions that occurs at many stages in life is “where do I fit in?”  We are social creatures.  We are created to interact with each other.  We are made for society and life in community, and yet one of the questions that vex us is:

• “Where do I fit in within this society?” 
• “Where do I belong in this world?”  
• “Where is home?” 
• “Where am I safe?”
• “Where?”

 

I ponder these questions, even now in my 70’s.   I think about the paths that I have taken and how they have led to this place, and to this moment.

 

I remember when I was 14 years old.  Like many adolescents, it was a difficult time for me.  I felt “out of it.”  A stranger in a strange land…. That is often the experience of adolescence.  This feeling of alienation even carried over to church.  I came from a devout family.  We were in church every Sunday.  My father was a professor at a seminary, teaching would-be clergy the craft of preaching.  I had just finished confirmation class and was taking my place in the church.  I sang in the choir.  I attended youth fellowship regularly.  I was always at worship.  I went to Sunday School faithfully.  Yet I felt alienated.  I felt that I was not a part of things.  I wondered if I belonged there, and if not there…. Where? 

 

Sometimes we can be in the midst of an organization or community and still feel as though we do not belong. It is like a party or social event, where you know nobody, and no one speaks to you.  This was my experience.  Perhaps you have experienced this also, wondering "Is this where I should be?”

 

That all changed one Saturday in early spring in 1965.  The church youth group decided to do a service project.  We were going to clean the cemetery that circled the church.  This was an inner-city church in New Brunswick, NJ.  They church was old, founded in 1717.  The cemetery surrounded the sanctuary and contained the remains of many important figures in colonial America including the first president of Rutgers University and many other notables.  There were markers indicating men who fought in the revolutionary war, and subsequent conflicts.  Sadly, the cemetery was also a convenient dumping ground for cans, needles and drug paraphernalia, and other trash as people walked by.  It was also a bit overgrown in areas. 

 

The church youth group was going to clean it up, with the help of some of the adults.  It was just before lunch time.  I was raking a particular area, and if the truth be known, I was enjoying myself.  One of the adults who was helping, Mr. Pierce, came over and spoke to me.  He said: “You work really hard.  We appreciate your help.”   I am not sure he knew name… but I will never forget those eight words. 

 

Why do I remember such an event?  Why is it burned into my consciousness as important?  Because that was the moment when I suddenly felt that I belonged somewhere.  I was where I was supposed to be.  The “where of life;” the question that often perplexes was given a preliminary answer.  Where did I belong?  In the community of Christians.  I was a part of the group. I belonged.

I

The human soul longs to belong someplace. The human spirit desires to be a part of a community, to be appreciated, to be loved, to be nurtured, to be accepted. Where is that place?  This is the “where” question.  It is not merely a question of adolescence, but one that occurs at different times during life. 

 

It occurs on graduation day, as women and men leave school to take their place in the world.  They may have a particular type of training.  They may have a good idea of what they want to do or be, and yet, they are about to confront this question “where” in a most intense fashion. 

 

It occurs when we go through some type of great change: when a relationship ends; or the death of a spouse; retirement; the loss of a job.   We are currently experiencing this struggle intensely in our rapidly changing world.  People are losing their place.

• Toll collectors have been replaced by EZ Pass. 
• Store cashiers are replaced by Self-checkouts. 
• This past week I needed to call an online retail company to deal with a matter and ended up talking to a computerized voice for nearly 5 minutes. 

 

People used to do these jobs…. Where are they now?  Where is their place? Where?   

 

The advent of Artificial Intelligence, or AI is challenging the place of many individuals.  I recently read an article that told of a number of jobs that will soon be fully staffed, not by people, but by computers and AI, including translators, proofreaders, clerical jobs, and even legal researchers.   Two weeks ago, I showed an article from the Denver newspaper about a worship service in Germany that was completely the work of Artificial Intelligence: AI.  The thing that bothered me about this article were the comments by a number of people in attendance…. To the effect that the sermon was pretty good. 

 

This experience of social displacement raises the anxiety around the question, “Where?”  Where do I fit in? 

 

The question “Where?” is one that focuses not only on place, but community.  It is a question of social location.  When the world changes as rapidly as it is now, social location and community are uprooted.  The question “Where?” is intensified.  It is a question that belongs to Christian community.  Are we a place that provides an open response to the question “Where” for others who are searching? 

II

Paul, writing to the Ephesians, used the image of the body, but not an ordinary body, the body of Christ.  He often told the churches: “you are the body of Christ.”  These letters were addressed to particular congregations, but they could be First Presbyterian Church of Fort Collins.  He told his readers that they belong together.   Think about it.  The body is made of so many different parts.  Each of those parts has different functions, but all are necessary to the whole.  But we are not all the same. Thank God! 

 

We have different gifts:

• teaching,
• bookkeeping,
• speaking,
• praying,
• hospitality,
• administration.    

We see things differently.  We experience things differently, but that doesn’t mean that some don’t belong together.  All do.  We are part of a corporate entity, the Body of Christ.  This is our place.    There is even a place for critics to keep us honest!

 

Today, we will ordain and install deacons and elders.  They will affirm in the questions we ask that they are called to this place.  We, as a congregation, will affirm that they bring gifts (gifts of the spirit) that build up this body.  We will affirm as a congregation that they are called to minister… here among us and in this community.  In the words of Paul:

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. 

They will minister where they belong. 

III

I have the advantage of some years and have reflected on life in the church and in the world.  One of the things that I believe is so important and so vital is enabling our adolescents (but also others) to struggle and understand the “where” question.  Where do they belong?  Where can they use the gifts that they have been given by God?   Sometimes when they are moody, out of sorts, acting out… they might be struggling with the question, “where do I belong?”  where?

 

• I remember my confirmation experience. They told me that I was my becoming an adult and assuming my place in the church.  
• I learned church history. 
• I learned about the sacraments.
• I learned about worship. 
• I learned what we believed about God.  
• And I passed. 

I wished they helped me learn “where” I fit in.  I suspect that does not make for a “neat curriculum”.  And yet I believe that it is one with which the Christian community needs to struggle… and not just for young adults. (although it is an intense struggle for them.).  

 

I believe that as we discover our place within the community of faith… we begin to know where we belong in the world. When life changes, we will know the experience of that struggle and will be able to adapt to change. We will know that we belong.   How many people in this world have no idea “where” they belong? 

 

When I recall the events of my life, my mind soon goes to younger people who are growing up these days.  We are seeing less of them in the community of faith.  We have tried all types of things to attract them and keep them… We have changed the music.  We dress differently for worship, (Jacket and tie???).  We have changed styles of education.  We have changed time, trying to schedule around their schedules….   

 

But I wonder… have we tried to be a welcoming community… a place.  A place that responds to the question “Where?”  Are we a place where they feel invited, embraced… given a sense of importance and need?  Do we affirm their value to the community of faith, to God, to the Body of Christ?  Is this a place where they feel safe… safe to confess their deepest fears and anxious hopes?   

 

But these questions are not only pertinent to youth.. they are important for you and me, regardless of age and stage in life.  Do we hear the invitation of Christ, calling us home. Telling us that this is where we belong? 

 

I got the beginning of an answer that morning as I was raking the cemetery.  It did not map out my education, nor my vocation, nor the jobs I would take, nor my future family, but I discovered, through the words of Mr Pierce, that I was where I belonged.  I began to discover one of the powerful lessons of the meaning of life. In the words of the catechism,  “I belong to God.”  When I work and serve faithfully, I am where I am supposed to be.   My wish for you is that this will be your experience. You belong to God and I pray that you will find, “where” you belong.  Amen.