Church Sermon - February 1, 2004

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:8
Gospel Lesson; Luke 4:23-32
Sermon Text, Jeremiah 1:4-10

Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, human beings have been worried about what other people think about them. What was Adam and Eve’s first worry, as soon as they fell into sin? They were embarrassed, because they were naked. They were worried about what each other thought. So, they covered themselves up.

To this very day, we all worry about what other people think about us. We may be worried about the shape of our nose. We may be worried about how tall or short we are. We may be worried about our physical build. We may be worried about our prowess on the basketball court. We may be worried about our intellectual abilities. We may be worried about our ability to socialize with others, or our sense of humor.

Ever since the fall into sin, we often get our self worth, from what we think other people think about us. Jeremiah was in that same boat. God had given Jeremiah a task. He told him that He wanted him to go and preach to the people. But Jeremiah was worried about what other people would think about him. He said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." He was worried that he was not eloquent enough. He was worried what people would think of him. Would they really listen to him? He was also worried that he was too young. Maybe someone older could do a better job than he could. He was worried about what people thought of him.

I remember my first day of college. You know, going to college that first day can be a pretty frightening thing, because you are walking into a group of people that you have never met before. And you are going to spend a couple years with them. You want to be accepted and fit in. And so, on your first day of college, you are concerned about what people are going to think. "Do I have on the right kind of clothes? Do I look ok? Am I going to say the right things? Am I going to be witty enough? What are they going to think about the grades I get? What are they going to think about me?"

I am sure that most of the students, who were walking around campus on that first day, were worried about what other people were thinking about them. And I was no different than them. As I was walking across the campus on that day, I noticed coming toward me a boy who was shaped differently than most people are shaped. His shoulders were very narrow. And, as he walked, he was swinging back and forth. Then I noticed that his arms were really short. They were only about six inches long. On the end of those short, little arms were little hands. His hair was all fluffy and disheveled, obviously because he could not comb it. His glasses were sliding down his nose, probably because it was hard for him to push them up.

As I approached him I thought, "Wow. Here I am worried about what other people think about me."

I thought I should introduce myself and be friendly to him, so I said, "Hi. My name is Mark and I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

He reached out his little hand to me and said, "Hi. My name is Tom."

And then, we shook hands.

Well, I got to know Tom over that year, and the next year Tom and I were roommates! And, during that year, there were three times, when I heard Tom preach a sermon. It was about 30 seconds long, and was probably one of the most powerful sermons I have ever heard in my life!

It was during that year, that some of the students would come to our room, evenings. We would goof around, shoot the breeze, and talk. (Now, as you know, we are not always as sensitive as we should be, to other people.) Tom would be in the room, working on his homework and three different times I heard somebody ask this of Tom. They would turn to Tom and say, "Tom. How did you get that way? Did your mom take drugs, or something?"

Every time Tom was asked that, each of those three times, he would turn around in his chair, with a smile on his face, and cheerfully say, "No. My mom didn’t take drugs. My mom told me that God made me this way, because God loves me."

You see, Tom believed what scripture says. The psalm that we read this morning, Psalm 139 says,

"You created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb."

God says to Jeremiah, in our scripture reading today,

"Before I formed you in the womb,

I knew you."

Again, Psalm 139 says,

"I praise you because

I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Tom knew that God had told Moses to go and lead the people out of Egypt. But, there was something wrong with Moses. We think that he stuttered. And so, Moses said, "I cannot do that. I am a man of heavy speech."

What did God say to Moses? "Who made people the way they are? Who made people blind and deaf?"

It was a rhetorical question. Of course, the answer is that God did. God made us, the way He made us, for a reason. And Tom knew that. Tom knew that God is a God of love. Tom knew that God loves us so dearly that He sent His own Son to purchase us, with His own blood. Therefore, Tom knew that God is not a cruel God. God is not a cruel God, but rather God is a loving, caring God. Tom firmly believed that God is like an artist. God is a loving artist, who, before you and I were ever even conceived, already saw us, loved us, and knew us! And when we were being formed in the womb, He shaped us just the way He wanted to, with His perfect artists hands. He made Tom’s arms just the length He wanted them to be. He made Tom’s hands right where they were. And, Tom knew that.

And, the same is true with everybody here. No matter who you are, no matter how you are formed, no matter what your intellectual capabilities are, God is a God of love. And, we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

You have probably all heard the story about the little boy who sat down in his basement, and worked and worked to make a little boat. He painted it. He put a sail on it. He made it just the way he wanted it.

Finally, when he was done making it, he took it to the creek, and put it down into the water. He watched as his little boat was sailing all around, when suddenly a gust of wind came, and blew that little boat down the stream. The little boy tried to chase after it. But, the little boat went too fast, got away, and disappeared from his sight. He lost the little boat that he had made. Naturally, the little boy was devastated.

One day, some time later, the little boy was walking along and looked into a store window. There, in the picture window, was the little boat that he had made! Somebody had found it, and it was sitting there. And, it was for sale! But unfortunately, the price was more than the little boy could afford. So the little boy went out and got all kinds of odd jobs.

He worked, and worked, and worked, until he had enough money to buy that little boat. He walked into that store, put down his money, and the boat was placed back into his hands. He grabbed hold of that little boat and said, "I made you. Now I bought you. You are mine!"

Tom knew that about Jesus, too. Tom knew that not only had God made him the way he was, shaped his body the way it was, but also Tom knew that Jesus had done far more than that. Jesus had purchased him. Tom knew that we are all sinful. And, Tom knew that, just like us, he was also sinful. Tom knew that his little arms, his sinful little arms were so dear to God that He would pay whatever price it took for those little arms to be God’s for all eternity. Tom knew that his dear Savior stretched out His big strong arms and with His own body purchased Tom’s body and soul at a great price. Jesus paid for all of Tom’s sins on the cross.

Tom knew that his self worth did not come from what other people thought about him. It did not come from the shape of his body.

God loved him so dearly that He paid for him, with His own blood. Jesus purchased Heaven for him. God loved Tom so dearly, and Tom knew that.

That is where we get our self worth.

Those things cannot give us any true self worth.

Even though we are worthless, Gods has paid the ultimate price for us and we are His.

God said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…I set you apart."

And, that is what God has done for us. He has set us apart. Tom knew that. Tom knew that he had been purchased and set apart, to be Jesus’ child. Tom knew that his hands and arms had been purchased by God. Tom knew that he was set apart, to serve God.

God appointed Jeremiah to a task. That task was to go out and preach to the world. God appointed Tom to a task, too. He made him just the way He did, for a reason. He redeemed him, for a reason. He set him aside as His own child, for a reason.

You know what Tom ended up doing with his life? If there is anybody with a heart for people with disabilities, it was Tom. Tom ended up getting a job at Bethesda Lutheran Home, in Belplain, MN, working with the developmentally disabled. There he worked with adults, who would never be beyond the intellectual capacity of three year olds. And, there he told them about their Savior. He told them that Jesus loves them. He told them that Jesus paid for their sins. He told them that Heaven was theirs, because of what Jesus had done for them.

Did you know that the developmentally disabled are probably the most neglected evangelism group in the world? They are the people that many overlook. Often people don’t think about taking the Gospel message to that group of people. But, here God had set aside Tom, for a special task, for a special job. God loves all people and He saw to it, when He formed and shaped Tom, that Tom would be ready for the task of going to those people who needed to hear about Jesus, our Savior.

We have all sung that hymn,

No matter who you are, no matter how you are shaped or formed, physically, mentally, emotionally, God has done that out of love, for a reason. And, because of who you are and how you are shaped, mentally, emotionally and physically, you associate with the people you do…different people than I do…different people than the person next to you…different people than anybody here.

Maybe no one else will ever be there in their lives. For example, maybe you are not as good at soccer as the rest team, other than that one other person. God made you that way so that you would become that person’s friend and tell that person about the Gospel, because no one else would.

"Let none hear you idly saying

there is nothing I can do,

while the souls of men are dying and

the Master calls for you.

Take the task He gives you gladly.

Let His work, your pleasure be.

Answer quickly when He calleth.

Send me,

God, I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Amen.

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