There’s a story about a single guy who was kind of lonely and he decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the clerk he wanted a really small easy-to-care-for pet, that nevertheless was capable of providing excellent companionship. The pet store owner said, “I HAVE JUST THE TICKET.” He produced a talking centipede – one of those 100 legged bugs – which came in a little white box to live in. The guy took the pet home and everything was great for a few days. The centipede was a wonderful conversationalist. Sunday morning rolled around and the guy decided he would take his new friend to church with him. So he asked the centipede through the little air passage in the box, “Hey, would you like to go to church with me today?” No answer. He waited a bit and then asked again, “Would you like to go to church with me today. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Again, no answer. Now he was getting a bit perturbed. Everyone who lives under this roof goes to church on Sunday, he said to himself. Once more, this time with his face up against the entrance to the centipede’s house and with voice raised,  “HEY IN THERE! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TO CHURCH WITH ME THIS MORNING AND LEARN MORE ABOUT JESUS?” This time, a little voice came from the box, “I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME…I’M PUTTIN’ ON MY SHOES!”

“Would you like to go to church with me this morning?” That’s an invitation we don’t issue to just anyone is it. Would I like to go to church with you? Do we know each other well enough for you to be asking? It’s kind of like asking someone for a ride to the airport or to help you move. It’s sort of an intimate and personal request.

The organized Church used to successfully use guilt as the club to bring people to church and solicit their offerings. It was a cheap and easy and therefore somewhat abused motivational tool. Are those days of the Church piling on the guilt as a means of manipulation long gone? Probably not. But does it still work? Can any Church hope to grow or even increase worship attendance by wielding the club of guilt? Not a chance. Not anymore. In fact, if there’s anything I’ve figured out in my 35 years in the ministry it is this. There is only one reason a church grows, and that is because its members invite others to worship with them.

The Gallup polls have been coming up with the same results for years now, in answer to the simple question posed to members of churches, “What was it that led you to join your church?” 85 to 90% of respondents, across every denomination of Christianity in every part of the country respond, “Someone I know well invited me to give it a try.” Now don’t worry. I’m not going to try and guilt YOU either. If you don’t feel inclined to invite people who need a church home to give Our Savior a try, that’s on me, not you. A pastor of a large mega church in California put it this way. He told his congregation, “You invite them to church, and I promise I won’t embarrass you.”

When I was living up in Appleton, WI where about 85% of the 100,000 or so population is either Lutheran or Catholic and the other 15% used to be one of those two, where there are 17 different Lutheran Churches, I was shocked one day when one of my church members who lived down the street from me said, “Hey Pastor Mark, I saw you mowing your lawn last Sunday afternoon. You’re not supposed to be doing that on a Sunday are you? Now, I had also served a congregation in Danville, VA – the deep south – where there were 95 Baptist churches in a town of 50,000 people. I would have expected that comment there. In fact, I never mowed my lawn on Sunday while I lived in Danville. Like St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, once famously said: “When in Danville, do as the Danvillians do.”

But I explained my objectionable behavior this way. Jesus once claimed this authority: THE SON OF GOD IS LORD OF THE SABBATH.  What happened was, Jesus had been yelled at by the Pharisees, not for mowing his lawn on the Sabbath, but for picking grain – to eat! You see, Jesus wasn’t scared of His Father in heaven, and I’m not scared of God either. And neither should you be. Think of the people Jesus would seek out as He traveled from town to town. Blind Bartimaeus in the town of Jericho, for instance. You see, in Jesus’ time, the widely accepted Judaic teaching was that if you had a disease or an infirmity like leprosy or blindness, well it was obvious God had cursed you for some reason. Maybe something your grandfather did. And if you were a prostitute or a tax collector working for the hated Romans in order to put food on the table for you and your family, well God has no use for you whatsoever. You were cast out of the religious community and condemned – in the name of God! Jesus came to these kinds of people and told them, DON’T BE FRIGHTENED OF GOD. BE RECONCILED TO GOD, THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

The proverb I used as the text for the sermon is very simple. THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM.  But the fear the Scriptures speak of is not the palpitating sense of foreboding that comes from walking through a dangerous neighborhood late at night. This fear of the Lord is best defined as respect and awe, a recognition that God is all-powerful, which logically renders us all-powerLESS. THAT is the beginning of wisdom. We can’t control the future. We can’t even predict tomorrow. What a sense of relief! You know what that means? It’s not about you! It never was about you! The pressure is off! Hard for us to embrace this initially, control freaks that we all are. But it is the beginning of God given wisdom.

Even our victories are not ours. Do you think being victorious in a bout with cancer is an issue of faith? Sorry, but it’s not about you. To be sure, your profound faith can bless you with a powerfully optimistic outlook and that puts a charge into your immune system. It can be a physiological marvel coming from the spiritual.  But sometimes cancer has its way. It’s not your victory, nor is it ever your failure. It just is. It can never change or undo the power of God. He is always victorious and that’s the wisdom we impart to one another every Sunday.

You know, we all look pretty good outwardly when we come to church on Sunday. Bathed and dressed and hair combed. Riding to church in a comfortable car with the A/C blasting. Yet some of us walk in here and sit down feeling beaten up. The bruises don’t show but they are felt. In some cases, we have been severely pummeled by life. Maybe next month it will be your turn.

But there is healing in this place. Healing through one another. The touch, the handshake, the hug, the heartfelt words of encouragement; these are the healing agents of an all-powerful Lord. They don’t necessarily cure our physical maladies but when we stand in awe of God and confess with joy that it’s not about me, we are healed nonetheless. A lot of things in life continue to frighten us. The future; our health; the evening news; our grandkids’ ability to earn a living in a land of liberty and justice for all. But our gracious God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the God we meet here each week and the God who walks with us each day, tells us TURN TOWARDS ME – NOT IN FEAR, BUT IN HOPE. AMEN