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"Free!" by Keith Wagner
"A Voice You Can Be Sure Of" by Keith Wagner
Free!
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 146
My greatest moment of freedom came in September, 1974. I walked down the gang plank of the US Naval Ship, Saratoga, in Jacksonville, Florida. I had just finished four years of service during the Vietnam War. For the first time in over four years I was a civilian again. No more working for the government. No more playing the Mickey Mouse games of the military. No more orders to dangerous places and living in vulnerable waters. I was free.
Unless you’ve been in a situation where your life was totally controlled by others you can’t possibly know what it is like to be free. I don’t regret serving my country or being in the military. But, from that experience I can fully appreciate what it means to be free.
The psalmist said, “The Lord sets prisoners free and gives sight to the blind.” But I believe it is our human nature to give other people control over our lives. We look to those who dominate us with their enabling, their guilt trips and their manipulating ways. One of my favorite television shows is “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Unfortunately, Raymond’s mother, Marie, is very controlling and manipulating. She refuses to allow her sons to be adults. She is always meddling in their marriages and getting her way. Her sons are not free to live their lives.
In the final episode, Raymond and his wife needed a new stove. But, Marie insisted that there was nothing wrong with the old one. She would make comments like, “Besides, a new stove wouldn’t make a difference in the way you cook.” Marie also laid a guilt trip on them for spending the money. Raymond’s father could fix it for a few dollars, but the stove was simply out of date and needed to be replaced. It was difficult for Raymond and his wife to face Marie and tell her their plans. They finally do but the episode ended before a new stove was purchased. It was one of those endings where you had to complete the story on your own.
Raymond and his wife were stuck in a box of domination. They were not free to live their lives without interference from Marie. They were afraid to hurt Marie’s feelings or confront her dominance.
At some point we all need to “see” by confronting our fears. We can be assured that God will be with us and wants us to find our way. God wants us to live without fear and God wants us to be free from those situations and people in our lives who oppress us.
Unfortunately there are some who choose not to be free. Alexander Whortley, was a man who literally lived in a box. It was a mini-trailer, three feet wide, four feet long and five feet high. He lived there until the age of eighty. His box was made of wood, it had a metal roof and it housed him with all his meager belongings. Whortley chose to spend his life in that cramped space although he could have afforded more comfortable quarters.
No one I know lives in a box, however many of us “box” ourselves in and continue to live our lives as always because we don’t attempt to change. We let others control our thoughts, feelings and attitudes. We are boxed in by fear, negativity and self-doubt. We resist the grace of God which enables us to surrender and change.
* * *
A Voice You Can Be Sure Of
by Keith Wagner
Luke 7:11-17
No scientific data can support the metaphysical possibility that Jesus brought the dead young man, back to life. Neither does the gospel story explain how it happened. We know only this: the young man was dead and when Jesus said “Young man, I say to you get up, he sat up and began to speak.”
The young man was dead with no possible chance of new life. However, the voice of God changed all that. Jesus’ voice stirred new life in the young man’s body. In other words, Jesus voice set him free.
I believe this story is a reminder that the voice of God is calling us away from whatever imprisons us, even death. But, we don’t always hear that call. We don’t hear because God’s call is not logical or it comes from an unfamiliar source.
Consider a time in your life when you were stuck, trapped or confined. Life appeared dark and you felt lonely and helpless. What you needed in that situation was a reassuring voice.
When I was a sophomore in college I got hurt during wrestling practice. The campus nurse thought I might have a ruptured appendix. I was rushed to a hospital in Columbus. There I was diagnosed with a hematoma in the stomach. I returned to campus but I was still in pain and I was also afraid since this was the first time in my life that I had a serious injury. I called my father and he came immediately from Dayton and took me home. The next morning I went to our family doctor. He was the only doctor I ever knew. He had been treating our family for over 20 years. He assured me that I did have a hematoma and in a few weeks I would be back to normal. Our family doctor calmed my anxiety and his voice gave me the reassurance that I needed.
The voice of God is a voice that reassures. The voice of God doesn’t frighten us or cause us additional anxiety. Ironically this story takes place in Nain, which means pleasant or delightful. God’s voice is a calming presence, a “still, small, voice” that comforts and gives us hope. Such was the voice of Jesus that comforted the mother of the young man.
The voice of God is easy to recognize but difficult to hear. It is a voice that calls us from the past and calls us to the present. It calls us from our old habits and invites us to try new ones. It calls us from apathy and indifference to caring. It calls us from despair to hope. It calls us from darkness to light. It calls us from loneliness to community. It calls us from captivity to freedom.
In the book, Small Miracles, by Hallerstam and Leventhal, there is a story about a writer named, Deborah Wilde. One day she was walking the streets in a small village in England. She was thousands of miles from her home in New York. Deborah was visiting her in-laws, who lived in the hamlet. The visit was not going well. Her marriage was unraveling and she found herself in conflict with her husband’s family. She and her husband were having an argument. She decided to take a break from the volatile situation and ended up walking aimlessly in the rain. She thought to herself, “What am I doing in this place. Why am I here?”
Meanwhile, a man by the name of Richard Wilson was also walking the streets in the same village. He too was from New York. He had come to meet his biological parents, who had given him up for adoption at birth. He had been searching for them for years and finally traced them to England. He was excited and enthusiastic about meeting them but the reception didn’t go well. His biological parents had been cold and hostile. He decided to leave with his heart aching since his own parents rejected him. He longed for a friendly face.
It just so happened that Deborah and Richard passed by each other in the rain. They made eye contact and then they both froze. Then Deborah ran toward Richard and embraced him. “Richard,” she shrieked happily. “Deborah,” he replied in relief. The two were cousins and close friends. God provided them with a “presence” of someone they did not expect. God provided a familiar voice when they needed it most.
The potential to experience something new occurs whenever we hear the reassuring voice of God. God is also with us in our moments of grief and sorrow as He was with the widow. Resurrection became a reality for her just as it can become a reality for us.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 5, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Free!" by Keith Wagner
"A Voice You Can Be Sure Of" by Keith Wagner
Free!
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 146
My greatest moment of freedom came in September, 1974. I walked down the gang plank of the US Naval Ship, Saratoga, in Jacksonville, Florida. I had just finished four years of service during the Vietnam War. For the first time in over four years I was a civilian again. No more working for the government. No more playing the Mickey Mouse games of the military. No more orders to dangerous places and living in vulnerable waters. I was free.
Unless you’ve been in a situation where your life was totally controlled by others you can’t possibly know what it is like to be free. I don’t regret serving my country or being in the military. But, from that experience I can fully appreciate what it means to be free.
The psalmist said, “The Lord sets prisoners free and gives sight to the blind.” But I believe it is our human nature to give other people control over our lives. We look to those who dominate us with their enabling, their guilt trips and their manipulating ways. One of my favorite television shows is “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Unfortunately, Raymond’s mother, Marie, is very controlling and manipulating. She refuses to allow her sons to be adults. She is always meddling in their marriages and getting her way. Her sons are not free to live their lives.
In the final episode, Raymond and his wife needed a new stove. But, Marie insisted that there was nothing wrong with the old one. She would make comments like, “Besides, a new stove wouldn’t make a difference in the way you cook.” Marie also laid a guilt trip on them for spending the money. Raymond’s father could fix it for a few dollars, but the stove was simply out of date and needed to be replaced. It was difficult for Raymond and his wife to face Marie and tell her their plans. They finally do but the episode ended before a new stove was purchased. It was one of those endings where you had to complete the story on your own.
Raymond and his wife were stuck in a box of domination. They were not free to live their lives without interference from Marie. They were afraid to hurt Marie’s feelings or confront her dominance.
At some point we all need to “see” by confronting our fears. We can be assured that God will be with us and wants us to find our way. God wants us to live without fear and God wants us to be free from those situations and people in our lives who oppress us.
Unfortunately there are some who choose not to be free. Alexander Whortley, was a man who literally lived in a box. It was a mini-trailer, three feet wide, four feet long and five feet high. He lived there until the age of eighty. His box was made of wood, it had a metal roof and it housed him with all his meager belongings. Whortley chose to spend his life in that cramped space although he could have afforded more comfortable quarters.
No one I know lives in a box, however many of us “box” ourselves in and continue to live our lives as always because we don’t attempt to change. We let others control our thoughts, feelings and attitudes. We are boxed in by fear, negativity and self-doubt. We resist the grace of God which enables us to surrender and change.
* * *
A Voice You Can Be Sure Of
by Keith Wagner
Luke 7:11-17
No scientific data can support the metaphysical possibility that Jesus brought the dead young man, back to life. Neither does the gospel story explain how it happened. We know only this: the young man was dead and when Jesus said “Young man, I say to you get up, he sat up and began to speak.”
The young man was dead with no possible chance of new life. However, the voice of God changed all that. Jesus’ voice stirred new life in the young man’s body. In other words, Jesus voice set him free.
I believe this story is a reminder that the voice of God is calling us away from whatever imprisons us, even death. But, we don’t always hear that call. We don’t hear because God’s call is not logical or it comes from an unfamiliar source.
Consider a time in your life when you were stuck, trapped or confined. Life appeared dark and you felt lonely and helpless. What you needed in that situation was a reassuring voice.
When I was a sophomore in college I got hurt during wrestling practice. The campus nurse thought I might have a ruptured appendix. I was rushed to a hospital in Columbus. There I was diagnosed with a hematoma in the stomach. I returned to campus but I was still in pain and I was also afraid since this was the first time in my life that I had a serious injury. I called my father and he came immediately from Dayton and took me home. The next morning I went to our family doctor. He was the only doctor I ever knew. He had been treating our family for over 20 years. He assured me that I did have a hematoma and in a few weeks I would be back to normal. Our family doctor calmed my anxiety and his voice gave me the reassurance that I needed.
The voice of God is a voice that reassures. The voice of God doesn’t frighten us or cause us additional anxiety. Ironically this story takes place in Nain, which means pleasant or delightful. God’s voice is a calming presence, a “still, small, voice” that comforts and gives us hope. Such was the voice of Jesus that comforted the mother of the young man.
The voice of God is easy to recognize but difficult to hear. It is a voice that calls us from the past and calls us to the present. It calls us from our old habits and invites us to try new ones. It calls us from apathy and indifference to caring. It calls us from despair to hope. It calls us from darkness to light. It calls us from loneliness to community. It calls us from captivity to freedom.
In the book, Small Miracles, by Hallerstam and Leventhal, there is a story about a writer named, Deborah Wilde. One day she was walking the streets in a small village in England. She was thousands of miles from her home in New York. Deborah was visiting her in-laws, who lived in the hamlet. The visit was not going well. Her marriage was unraveling and she found herself in conflict with her husband’s family. She and her husband were having an argument. She decided to take a break from the volatile situation and ended up walking aimlessly in the rain. She thought to herself, “What am I doing in this place. Why am I here?”
Meanwhile, a man by the name of Richard Wilson was also walking the streets in the same village. He too was from New York. He had come to meet his biological parents, who had given him up for adoption at birth. He had been searching for them for years and finally traced them to England. He was excited and enthusiastic about meeting them but the reception didn’t go well. His biological parents had been cold and hostile. He decided to leave with his heart aching since his own parents rejected him. He longed for a friendly face.
It just so happened that Deborah and Richard passed by each other in the rain. They made eye contact and then they both froze. Then Deborah ran toward Richard and embraced him. “Richard,” she shrieked happily. “Deborah,” he replied in relief. The two were cousins and close friends. God provided them with a “presence” of someone they did not expect. God provided a familiar voice when they needed it most.
The potential to experience something new occurs whenever we hear the reassuring voice of God. God is also with us in our moments of grief and sorrow as He was with the widow. Resurrection became a reality for her just as it can become a reality for us.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 5, 2016, issue.
Copyright 2016 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
