WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:02.000 In the name of Jesus. 2 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:02.900 Amen. 3 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.000 So just over a year ago, my wife and I had our first son and we got to 4 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.200 experience all of the joys and various aspects of new parenthood. 5 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.600 And one of those aspects that I got quite a bit of experience with was 6 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:18.700 sleep, deprivation. 7 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:20.400 I mean, it's great 8 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:22.500 and some of you are probably feeling that right now with all the 9 00:00:22.500 --> 00:00:23.600 papers in sermons due. 10 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:28.400 But when this happened, when my son was born, it was great. But let me 11 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:30.200 tell you, I was tired and it was 12 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:31.300 night after night 13 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:34.800 it felt like we woke up every hour and I was exhausted, 14 00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:35.600 I was delirious. 15 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.100 I would say things to people on Sunday mornings. 16 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:39.400 They were just incomprehensible. 17 00:00:39.400 --> 00:00:43.000 They weren't real sentences. And there's one night that my wife and I 18 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.600 still joke about because my body was so used to waking up every so 19 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:50.000 often that all of a sudden I just kind of sprung awake in the middle 20 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:50.500 of the night. 21 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:51.800 My son was asleep, 22 00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:56.700 my wife was asleep. And I woke up and I was in this weird half dreaming 23 00:00:56.700 --> 00:00:59.000 half awake state, so I got out of bed. 24 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:00.000 I turned back to my 25 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:00.600 bed 26 00:01:01.400 --> 00:01:04.900 and in my head, I thought that I needed to swaddle my son. 27 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:06.000 He was not there. 28 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.400 But I took our giant comfort and comfort her and began, swaddling it. 29 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.400 So, here I am just bent over the bed, just poof, poof, everything 30 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:15.400 I learned in parenting class. 31 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:19.300 And I'm tucking it in, I get it nice and tight, and I bend over and I 32 00:01:19.300 --> 00:01:23.500 pick it up and I'm holding this giant wad of blankets and I begin 33 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:26.400 rocking it thinking, I'm putting my son back to sleep. 34 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.500 Well, obviously, with all this movement with me getting out of bed and 35 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:32.600 taking the blanket, my wife starts to wake up. 36 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:34.500 And so she I mean, she's tired. 37 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:36.100 She's squinting at me. 38 00:01:36.100 --> 00:01:40.000 She's trying to figure out what's going on and seeing her kind of 39 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:41.800 brought me to some more consciousness. 40 00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:44.500 So, then I start to realize, you know, this blanket. 41 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.500 This is, this is pretty light. 42 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:48.400 I wonder if my son's kind of shifted around in there. 43 00:01:48.800 --> 00:01:51.400 So I decide to put it back down and to kind of pick them up again. 44 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.200 So, I put the blankets on the bed. 45 00:01:53.300 --> 00:01:56.600 I unfold them and I start feeling around the bed for my son. 46 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:01.300 And I begin murmuring words that no new mother ever wants to be woken 47 00:02:01.300 --> 00:02:01.800 up, too. 48 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:04.200 Where is he? 49 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:05.900 Where is he? 50 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:08.300 He's got to be around here somewhere. 51 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:09.000 Where is he? 52 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:11.100 My wife is terrified. 53 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:12.400 So she's frantic. 54 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:13.100 She's asking me 55 00:02:13.100 --> 00:02:13.400 PJ 56 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:14.100 what did you do? 57 00:02:14.100 --> 00:02:14.900 Where is our son? 58 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:15.900 What happened to him? 59 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:17.700 I do the next logical 60 00:02:17.700 --> 00:02:18.200 move 61 00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:21.200 I get on my hands and knees and start looking under the bed. 62 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:22.900 I figure 63 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:24.400 he must have rolled underneath there. 64 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.000 So, I'm now on my hands and knees 65 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:26.900 I'm looking around. 66 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.500 She thankfully, has the clarity to go over to his bassinet. 67 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.600 She reaches in touches him. 68 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:34.200 Realizes, he's okay. 69 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:35.400 We're all fine. 70 00:02:35.600 --> 00:02:36.800 And we all go back to bed. 71 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:40.100 And as like, one of my wife's favorite stories to tell, she'll tell 72 00:02:40.100 --> 00:02:44.600 anyone who will listen because of how ridiculous I looked as I'm 73 00:02:44.600 --> 00:02:49.000 holding this giant wad of blankets rocking an imaginary child, right? 74 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.800 She loves to talk about how I have all of this blanket and all of this 75 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:55.000 wrapping, but I'm actually missing the center. 76 00:02:55.500 --> 00:02:56.000 I'm missing 77 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:56.100 what 78 00:02:56.100 --> 00:02:57.500 all of that wrapping was for. 79 00:02:59.100 --> 00:02:59.800 And as my wife, and I, 80 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:00.800 talk about this story 81 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:05.400 one of the things that often comes up is, how easy it is for us to get 82 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:08.800 lost in all of the wrappings and to lose sight of what's at the 83 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:09.300 center. 84 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.400 And I think that that's very easy here at the Seminary, right? 85 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.800 If you ask anyone, why does the Seminary exist were very clear, right? 86 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.600 We raised up pastors and deaconesses to go out and to proclaim the 87 00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:21.100 gospel. 88 00:03:21.100 --> 00:03:21.900 That's the center. 89 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:25.900 And yet, when that's what we're proclaiming, that's our goal at. 90 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:28.100 There's a lot of wrapping that comes with it. 91 00:03:28.100 --> 00:03:32.700 So students, I mean, we have Folio Tech, we have classes, assignments, 92 00:03:32.700 --> 00:03:37.000 readings, papers, sermons, fieldwork. Professors you have lesson 93 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.700 planning, grading, you have faculty meetings, committee meetings. Staff 94 00:03:41.700 --> 00:03:43.900 members, you send emails, phone calls. 95 00:03:43.900 --> 00:03:46.700 You have all of these different Teams collaboration and 96 00:03:46.700 --> 00:03:50.300 you're making requests for donations and social media posts. Families 97 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:52.400 we have all these social events and now we have Wednesday night 98 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:52.900 services. 99 00:03:53.700 --> 00:03:58.100 There's all of this wrapping going on and it can become so easy that 100 00:03:58.100 --> 00:04:01.200 when we're dealing with that wrapping, we lose sight of what's at the 101 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:02.100 center of it all. 102 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:05.000 And I'll give you an example of what this looks like. 103 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:08.300 First year three years ago, took Hom one, right? 104 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:11.200 Some of your taking that right now. And for those who don't know in 105 00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:14.000 that class your first kind of major assignment is a devotional to your 106 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:14.900 classmates. 107 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.800 Kind of like a mini sermon you get up there you read a text and you 108 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.500 talk about it to your classmates. 109 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:25.900 Well, I remember taking this class and I have been blessed and cursed 110 00:04:25.900 --> 00:04:28.000 with a last name that starts with two A's. 111 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.300 So when a professor decides to do an assignment, alphabetically, I'm 112 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:32.500 always first yippee, 113 00:04:32.500 --> 00:04:32.800 that's fun. 114 00:04:33.700 --> 00:04:35.600 Anyways, I'm going first for this devotional. 115 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:39.300 I'd pick my text, Jeremiah 17. 116 00:04:39.700 --> 00:04:43.700 And my point of this whole devotional was that we should not trust in 117 00:04:43.700 --> 00:04:46.100 ourselves, but we should trust in the Lord. 118 00:04:46.700 --> 00:04:48.000 That's what I want to talk about. 119 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:51.700 Don't trust in yourself, trust in the Lord and I worked hard on this 120 00:04:51.700 --> 00:04:52.100 thing. 121 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:56.000 I mean I had drawn out this beautiful imagery from the text and I had 122 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.300 these carefully placed alliterations and I all these hand gestures 123 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:02.700 that were meant to kind of anchor it 124 00:05:02.700 --> 00:05:02.800 and 125 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:06.800 It together. And I began practicing over and over and over again. 126 00:05:07.900 --> 00:05:09.500 And the night before I gave this devotional. 127 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:13.900 I kept running through it over and over and yet it just couldn't come 128 00:05:13.900 --> 00:05:14.900 out quite right. 129 00:05:15.700 --> 00:05:17.700 You see, I would start talking and 130 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:21.200 I would forget where I was going and kind of fumble and mumble my way 131 00:05:21.200 --> 00:05:23.500 through. My hand gestures 132 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:24.300 they all felt 133 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:26.400 so robotic and unnatural. 134 00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:30.500 And as the night got later and later and this devotional got closer 135 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:33.600 and closer the sense of dread came upon me. 136 00:05:34.700 --> 00:05:38.400 Because I began to believe that I was going to perform a major 137 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:41.100 disaster in front of my classmates and my professor. 138 00:05:42.200 --> 00:05:44.000 And I remember, giving myself a little pep talk. 139 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.800 I was sitting there in our room, just going combine PJ 140 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:48.900 you can do this. 141 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:50.000 Pull yourself together. 142 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000 You have to figure this out. 143 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.300 This has to be great and all of a sudden it hit me. 144 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.800 The irony, and the tragedy that here I was trying to muster and 145 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:03.000 myself into giving the best devotional ever. 146 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.000 That would encourage other people. 147 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.500 Not to trust in themselves, but to trust in the Lord. 148 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:11.800 That's what it looks like to lose the center. 149 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:15.100 And I think that's where Paul can help us here. 150 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:17.900 You see, as we were looking at our text earlier. 151 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:21.500 The first thing that hit me in this passage from Romans 10 is that 152 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:23.800 it's kind of the standard Christian message, right? 153 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:25.500 The word is near you. 154 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:27.200 Yes, we love the word. 155 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:28.500 The word of faith. 156 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:29.400 Yes, 157 00:06:29.400 --> 00:06:30.200 we love Faith. 158 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:34.200 And if you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess 159 00:06:34.200 --> 00:06:36.300 that he is Lord, you will be saved. 160 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:37.900 That's awesome. 161 00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:40.100 And I was wondering Paul 162 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:43.200 why, why are you still talking about this in chapter 10? 163 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:45.700 I mean, I don't get to preach in Chapel often. 164 00:06:45.700 --> 00:06:47.800 So I was wondering if you could get to some of that exciting stuff 165 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:49.000 that comes later in the letter. 166 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:52.400 Like, you covered salvation through faith alone, back in chapters 3, 167 00:06:52.400 --> 00:06:52.800 and 4. 168 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.100 And you talked about being dead to sin and alive to Christ and five 169 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:56.500 and six. 170 00:06:56.500 --> 00:06:59.800 And in chapter 8, you talked about that since Jesus died 171 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:00.500 no more than that 172 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:04.200 He raised that he is at God's right hand interceding for us. 173 00:07:04.200 --> 00:07:06.000 And nothing can separate us from God. 174 00:07:07.200 --> 00:07:10.800 So in chapter 10 is he's trying to sort through this whole issue with 175 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.200 Jews and Gentiles and he's moving on to Christian Living. 176 00:07:13.200 --> 00:07:13.900 I wondered Paul 177 00:07:13.900 --> 00:07:16.400 why are you coming back to this? 178 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:21.500 And as I read through it, I get the sense that Paul is helping center 179 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:22.300 his readers. 180 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:25.600 You see, he's going to get into a lot of wrapping here. 181 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.200 Lots of important teaching that are to be treasured and reflected 182 00:07:28.200 --> 00:07:28.700 upon. 183 00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:32.400 And yet, as he moves to this next portion of his letter, he's 184 00:07:32.400 --> 00:07:33.900 grounding it all in this truth. 185 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:38.500 This word of faith that has been placed in your heart, and in your 186 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:39.000 mouth. 187 00:07:40.200 --> 00:07:41.400 Don't lose sight of that. 188 00:07:42.200 --> 00:07:43.400 That's what it's all about. 189 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:46.400 All of these other teachings are good, but they're nothing 190 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:51.200 if it isn't for this one, simple word. And that's actually why Paul in 191 00:07:51.200 --> 00:07:54.200 our reading isn't starting off or ending with something new. 192 00:07:54.200 --> 00:07:55.300 He's quoting Moses 193 00:07:55.300 --> 00:07:58.900 and Joel. He's saying words that they're already familiar with. 194 00:07:58.900 --> 00:08:03.900 He's inviting them to remember to recall and to recenter. 195 00:08:05.700 --> 00:08:07.800 And I think Paul can still help us today 196 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:10.700 because like I said, as we go about our life, there's so many 197 00:08:10.700 --> 00:08:11.900 wrappings going on. 198 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:16.800 And yet, we have a chance to recenter and to not get lost in all of 199 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:17.000 that. 200 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.900 Because when we do, I think our value in our purpose, gets lost in the 201 00:08:20.900 --> 00:08:23.100 wrapping, we start to do things for their own sake. 202 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:27.300 And yet, Paul, reminds us that who we are, is what God has done for 203 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:27.700 us. 204 00:08:28.700 --> 00:08:31.900 That if you believe in your heart, that Jesus was raised from the 205 00:08:31.900 --> 00:08:35.200 dead, and you confess that he is, Lord that you will be saved. 206 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:39.400 So students, this next couple weeks, you're going to have a paper come 207 00:08:39.400 --> 00:08:42.100 back and it's going to have all sorts of feedback and a little letter 208 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:42.500 grade. 209 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:47.000 And you might be looking at and you're wondering where in the world 210 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.000 did I go wrong? 211 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:51.400 It said that moments, Paul tells you. 212 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:55.600 That when you call upon God, he gives you a rich is far greater than 213 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.400 any letter grade or any approval from a professor appear. 214 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:04.000 He's given you salvation life eternal. Professors, 215 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.900 when you're grading that paper and you're reading through and you're 216 00:09:06.900 --> 00:09:09.600 wondering to yourself, where in the world did I go wrong? 217 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:16.400 Your value is not in how much of your contents sinks in this semester? 218 00:09:17.400 --> 00:09:19.900 Your value isn't that you have a God that when you call you will 219 00:09:19.900 --> 00:09:21.000 not be put to shame. 220 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:23.700 Staff members, families 221 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.600 your value is not in what other people think of what you do, or what 222 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:31.400 you've not choosing to do and how good you are at what you're doing. 223 00:09:32.300 --> 00:09:33.100 Your value comes in 224 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:36.000 the fact that Jesus Christ gave his Precious Blood and suffered 225 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.400 innocently, that you might be redeemed from sin and be brought into 226 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:40.300 his kingdom. 227 00:09:40.900 --> 00:09:42.900 So you can call upon him as Lord 228 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.700 and know, for a fact that you are saved because that word of Jesus 229 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:51.100 Christ has come near it, is in your heart, and in your mouth. 230 00:09:51.800 --> 00:09:54.700 That is our Center and that is our value. 231 00:09:56.100 --> 00:10:00.100 But it's also our purpose because like I said, we know why this place 232 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:00.800 exists, 233 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:05.200 alright. And in the reading right after our text today, Paul is 234 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.900 going to continue by quoting or by speaking words that we have written 235 00:10:08.900 --> 00:10:10.700 over in the chapel of the Holy Apostles. 236 00:10:11.400 --> 00:10:13.800 He's saying, how can they believe in him 237 00:10:13.800 --> 00:10:15.200 whom they have not heard? 238 00:10:15.900 --> 00:10:17.500 How can they hear unless it is preached? 239 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:18.300 And how can they preach 240 00:10:18.300 --> 00:10:21.100 unless they have been sent? This place exists 241 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:24.100 so people might be sent out to proclaim that same word that has come 242 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:25.800 near to us. That other people might 243 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.500 hear and believe in Jesus Christ. So we know that the work we do here 244 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:33.600 is not in vain, but it is for that purpose and for that end. So 245 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.800 students, when you have that reading and it feels like busy work, it 246 00:10:36.800 --> 00:10:39.300 feels like just another task to complete. 247 00:10:40.400 --> 00:10:44.200 That reading is a chance to reflect and grow, and learn as a future 248 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:46.900 minister of the word. Professors, 249 00:10:46.900 --> 00:10:49.900 when you take that time to write those comments in the margin or in 250 00:10:49.900 --> 00:10:53.800 the Microsoft Word, comment tool, and might feel like it's just 251 00:10:53.800 --> 00:10:54.500 part of the job. 252 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:58.000 And yet those are chances to mold and shape those proclaimers of the 253 00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:58.500 word. 254 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.300 And staff members, 255 00:11:00.300 --> 00:11:02.900 when you do all of that accounting, all those time, sheets all of 256 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:05.300 those seemingly miniscule tasks. 257 00:11:05.300 --> 00:11:08.600 Those are what keep this place functioning so we can continue to send 258 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:09.700 people fourth. 259 00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:12.000 We know that what we do here is not in vain. 260 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.500 It serves that word and it's proclamation. 261 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.300 There was a janitor at NASA once, who is asked what he does there. 262 00:11:21.300 --> 00:11:24.600 And he responded by saying I helped put a man on the moon. 263 00:11:25.800 --> 00:11:30.500 We know that our efforts here, serve that word. And as we go forth in 264 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:32.800 this school year in the season, there's going to be a constant 265 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:34.500 temptation to get lost in all the wrapping. 266 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:37.400 It's going to pull us in again and again, and when you get sent out 267 00:11:37.400 --> 00:11:40.600 from here and you get to your vicarage, internship or call, there's 268 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:42.900 lots of wrapping. There's programs. 269 00:11:42.900 --> 00:11:43.700 There's meetings. 270 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:44.800 There's councils. 271 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:49.400 That's why it's so important that we are reminded over and over again, 272 00:11:49.400 --> 00:11:51.300 that this word is the center. 273 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.100 That this is what it's about. 274 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:55.800 This is our value and this is our purpose. 275 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:59.900 It's one of the reasons we have daily Chapel to break from all of 276 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.000 wrappings of Seminary life to have a chance to remember to recall and 277 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.200 recenter on this word. 278 00:12:08.300 --> 00:12:10.900 It's one of the reasons we have classmates, colleagues, co-workers, 279 00:12:10.900 --> 00:12:14.400 family, and friends to remind us when we were down to direct us 280 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:15.600 when we feel purposeless. 281 00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:17.700 This word is central. 282 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:24.200 May that be your center today, this season, this school year and 283 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:24.700 evermore. 284 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:26.200 Amen.