A FIRM FOUNDATION
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 14, 2017
1 Peter 2: 2-10
Well,
it has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town, the gateway to central
Minnesota. It was particularly quiet on
Friday evening. There was no traffic on
Main Street, no parties going on in any of the homes, and The Bijou, our $5
movie theater, was practically vacant.
It was the night of the Lake Wobegon High School prom and all the
Juniors and Seniors, their chaperones, teachers and school administrators were
at the Sons of Knute lodge in Bemidji for the big event.
Pastor
Liz of the Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church however didn’t think it was all that
quiet. Her phone at the parsonage kept
ringing off the hook all night long with anxious parents, usually a Mom,
complaining that they shouldn’t have held the prom so far away from home. “Surely the fire hall in Lake Wobegon would
have worked just as well. If they had
come up with a prom theme like “Hot Time in the City,” why then even the fire
trucks could have served as realistic decorations. But Bemidji!
How are we going to be able to spy on our daughters and sons and make
sure they don’t get into any trouble if they’re so far away?”
Pastor
Liz would offer words of reassuring comfort to calm them down, “They’re your
children. You taught them well. They’ll follow your example.” Then she wondered whether she should have
included that last line, knowing some of the parents she had spoken to. Then the minute she would hang up, the phone
would ring with another hysterical mom.
But
perhaps the loudest noise that evening may have come from the back porch of
David and Judy Engquist’s home. David,
you might remember, has been retired now for three years from Lake Wobegon
Lutheran Church where he served a lengthy pastorate. He had taken up a hobby in retirement, much
to his wife Judy’s chagrin, of collecting individually different beer
cans. The walls of his home office were
already covered with shelves of cans and he had just told Judy that he was
going to have to put up more shelves to display new cans on her dining room
walls.
That’s
when Judy blew her top. And I know for a
fact from my parents who live next door to the Engquists that when Judy began
yelling at her husband’s hair-brained idea, their dog started barking and woke
all of the other sleeping dogs who, with the kids all gone to Bemidgi, had
nothing better to do than to for a chorus of howling throughout the town. After Judy calmed down, she conceded that if
her husband wanted to continue collecting more cans, he would have to put up a
shed in the backyard to hold them all.
“A
shed!” thought Pastor Engquist, “what a great idea. I could build a shed.” Well, no, he couldn’t. David Engquist has always been a hard worker,
but he doesn’t know his way around a lumber yard and he’s never used a power
tool in his life. He’s only sawed wood,
drilled screws and hammered nails by hand. So he gave Karl Krepsbach a call to see if he
could give him some help on Saturday.
David
had bought a “Do-It-Yourself” kit from The Shed Man, kind of like IKEA, but no
good Norwegian would ever buy anything from a Swedish company, dontcha
know. Karl arrived at the Engquist home
at 9AM. And David was ready to tear into the box and get to work building a
shed.
“Whoa! Hold on, David,” said Karl, “You can’t build
the shed until we have a proper, level foundation to put it on. The sure foundation is the most important
part of the project. Or else, your shed
would be crooked, the door won’t close together, and within a few years, all
your work would be in vain.”
So, the
first four and a half hours of the morning were spent in building a level
foundation. They went to Mabey’s Lumber
and Gravel to get wood and screws. Karl
did all the figuring and ordering with the owner, Lars Mabey, himself. David’s only contribution was to ask if the
offered a guarantee policy. Lars just
stared at him and finally said, “At Mabey’s Lumber and Gravel we stand behind
our good name. Is it the best quality
wood? Will we replace anything that
might be defective? Mabey – that’s my
name.
Lars
looked at Karl quizzically and asked, “Is he helping you?” Karl admitted, “It’s actually his shed.” “Good luck with that,” quipped Lars.
Then
Karl and David got to work framing the foundation to the exact dimensions of
the shed, leveling its placement, digging out a little on one side and filling
in a little on the other side, finally getting t in place and then putting a
covering of plywood over the top. Then
foundation was finally done and it had taken all morning long.
For
lunch, Karla and David went to The Sidetrack Tap and ordered a burger and a
Wendy’s Beer – the beer with your name on it.
Karl said, “That may have taken a while, David, but in the end you’ll be
glad we put so much time and energy into such a fine foundation. And six hours later, a well-constructed shed
was sitting upon a firm and level foundation.
Now
Pastor Liz had heard about her predecessor’s work project and stopped by in the
evening for a look-see. Plus, she always
appreciated having the wizened, retired pastor as a mentor. So she would often visit for consultation and
advice. Today, I guess they call it
“spiritual direction.” But David
Engquist just thought of it a good, common sense.
“Nice
shed,” she said, Looks like you and Karl did a fine job on it.” David admitted, “I couldn’t have done it
without him. How do you like the
foundation?” “The what?” she asked. And then he realized that, with the shed in
place, no one could actually see the foundation. The most important part would go unseen.
Pastor
Liz changed subjects, “The church is declining.
I’m afraid Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church may have to close under my
pastorate. There are fewer children in
Sunday School. Most of the regular
members now attend once a month instead of every week. We never know who is going to show up for the
choir anthem. Church just doesn’t seem
to be a priority in the lives of people anymore.”
Pastor
Engquist didn’t know what to say, “I wish I knew how to help. But it’s not you, Liz. You’re a better pastor and a far better
preacher than I ever was. And it’s
happening in every church and in every denomination.” Then suddenly an inspiration hit him, “I
think the problem is that families no longer that the time and energy and
effort to provide a firm foundation of faith in Jesus Christ for themselves and
for their children. It’s like they spend
all their time on the walls of a shed – good grades in school, participating in
sports, engaging in the arts, being good citizens – but provide no foundation
of faith to hold it level and firm. And
then they’re surprised and angry when the whole thing seems to fall apart. It’s like the apostle wrote in 1 Peter:
Christ is the cornerstone, chosen and precious, and all the faithful will not
be put to shame.”
Pastor
Liz was quite impressed,” OK, then help me with this one also. I have a baptism at church tomorrow for a
couple I’ve never heard of before. They
don’t even live around here. They’re
coming up from the Twin Cities just to have their baby baptized at Lake Wobegon
Lutheran Church. I just don’t get it!”
“Oh, I
do,” said the old pastor, “I know them.
I baptized and confirmed the mother here at Lake Wobegon Lutheran many
years ago. And I went down to the Twin
Cities to marry the two of them. They’re
coming back to Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church because this is where her family
put in the time and commitment to provide for her a firm foundation of faith in
Jesus Christ. And I’m confident that
she’ll do the same for her child.”
Pastor
Liz returned to the parsonage thinking, “I don’t know how he does it, but he
always seems to say just the right thing.”
The light was flashing on her answering machine. She pressed the button to hear the voice of
one of the distressed mothers from Friday night, “I wanted to call to thank
you, Pastor Liz, for your comforting words when I was freaking out about my
daughter being so far away at the prom.
It seems I was upset over nothing.
She had a great time and everything went smoothly. I guess you were right about trusting in the
foundation of faith we provided for her.
Somehow you always seem to say the right thing. Thanks again, and God bless you.”
Well,
the next time I go back home to Lake Wobegon, I’ll have to check out Pastor
Engquist’s shed, and his beer can collection, and thank God for my family and
all the people of Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church who helped build for me a sure
foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.
