Pastor Karla Wildberger – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church    Decorah, Iowa

Psalm 123, Galatians 1:11-24, Acts 9:1-22

Grace and peace to you travelers from God our Creator and our Lord and traveling companion, Jesus Christ, Amen.

May I see a show of hands – Who here is a cradle Lutheran? (Baptized, all life?) Who was baptized in another denomination? Any here baptized as an older youth or adult? We just heard of Saul’s conversion. Of course, his was quite the dramatic one. It always reminds of the story of Martin Luther diving into the ditch during a thunderstorm!!! Of course, his conversion was not one of changing faiths, but of one changing vocations, but still very dramatic.

I was baptized as a six-month-old, but then was rarely ever taken to church after that, until high school. My best friends were Mormon. I was a bit of a lost soul (both parents were alcoholics and divorced) and their seemingly “perfect” families drew me into their church. So, I started going to church with them (even stopped drinking caffeinated drinks) and started to learn of faith. Then I met a boy who was worried about me, my faith and my soul. So he asked me to go to a weekend retreat put on by the Catholic church, led by college age youth. The theme for that weekend was Psalm 51:10-12 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” That week- end was my “aha” moment, my “come-to-Jesus moment”. It was during that time I first learned of God’s grace. I first learned that Jesus died FOR Me!!! Here I was, just overwhelmed that my sins could be forgiven, that I could be loved that much!!! I never knew such peace, such calm, such love. Not only that, but that I was NOT alone – the Holy Spirit was with me!!! Wow!! Mind blown!! Life changed!!! (And I soon joined a Lutheran church.)

My “conversion” was not dramatic like Saul to Paul. I did not lose my eyesight for three days, but what I SAW was a different way to think, believe and ultimately live my life. The Holy Spirit works in wild and mysterious ways. And we never know when and where She will intercede “with sighs too deep for words”; with nudges; with smacks across the head. And for the Galatians in our “Travel Tip” reading, Paul is nudging the Galatians here – Paul shares his faith story to encourage them. He reminds them that the gospel was proclaimed, taught and received through Jesus Christ. This was how his conversion happened – through Jesus. One commentator wrote that if Paul would have Tweeted about his faith, he would have said this: “God called me through His grace.” When I worked in admissions at the seminary and we would visit places like Luther College, we would encourage folks to sum up their faith statement in a “Tweet version”. Mine was: “A boy led me to Jesus, boy dumped me, Jesus kept me.” (Side note: That boy also went on to be a Lutheran pastor).

But truthfully, that is what God’s grace does, changes everything. I read this quote in the weirdest of places, my Tour de France guide: “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us”. (Anne Lamott) Grace … it does not leave us where it found us. That is most certainly true for the Apostle Paul, for Martin Luther, for me, and for you.

The other part of this amazing faith story is how the Holy Spirit calls people to walk with us. The Lord said to Ananias to go to Saul. And I absolutely love his very human reaction, “Um, God, um, this guy has done a lot of evil to your people … really? You want me to go to him?” And the answer was a profound, “Yes!”

This just takes my breath away. We, as humans, judge people, find them not worthy, and God turns all that around and says, “Go be with them.” As I said last week, we are NOT on this journey with Jesus on our own. The Holy Spirit is ALWAYS with us and ALWAYS placing people in our lives at the right time, so that we don’t have to go through this thing called life on our own. Take a moment to think of all the people who have walked with you. “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us” 

I worked with nuns when I did my CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education).  I was always on call with Sister Immaculata (Sr. Mac) and she was always calm, centered, at peace. I asked her how she did it and she lifted up both of her hands and then placed them on her right shoulder and said, “It is because I take Jesus with me wherever I go.” She was NEVER alone.

You may have noticed: The world wants to divide us, separate us, make us feel alone; and I am going to come out and call that what it is – evil, the devil’s work. When we feel alone, those dark thoughts can over- take us and then cause us to do nasty, horrible things (example: all the shootings that are happening). We need to pray without ceasing for those who feel alone, who become trapped in the dark thoughts, so that they might know God’s grace, love and mercy. However, God’s grace is the exact opposite of the world. God’s grace can move us from a place of darkness to a place of transformation, take us in a totally different direction, take us “from Saul to Paul”.

Let us give thanks to God for the Holy Spirit interceding, for grace, for the people in our lives that have walked with us on our journey with Jesus, and for the people God has given us to walk alongside. And let us pray without ceasing for those who are hurting and do not yet know about Jesus. Jesus and God’s grace do not leave us where He finds us.

We are not alone on this journey.  God is with us.    Amen.

Linda L. Lambert, 80, of Decorah, IA, died Tuesday, July 5, 2022, at Wellington Place in Decorah. Funeral services will be held Monday, July 11th, at 11:00 AM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Decorah, with Pastor Karla Wildberger and Pastor Ken Kimbell officiating. Burial will be at Old West Paint Creek Cemetery, in rural Waukon. Friends may call from 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM Sunday at Martin – Grau Funeral Home in Waukon and one hour before the services on Monday at the church. Read the full obituary here: https://www.martinfunerals.com/obituary/linda-lambert

Blessed be the memory of Linda Lambert. 

Pastor Karla Wildberger

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church    Decorah, Iowa

Psalm 126, Galatians 3:23-29, Acts 8:26-40   

Grace and peace to you travelers from God our Creator and our Lord and traveling companion, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Good morning!! Again, it is wonderful to be with you today … and for the following two weeks. I was so excited months ago when speaking with Pastor Amy and she told me about the summer series, “Traveling with the Spirit”.

It is always a good reminder on our journey with Jesus that we are never alone – the Holy Spirit is ALWAYS with us through the twists and turns of our faith journey.

My hubby and I LOVE to travel!! We know we are blessed and privileged to do so. Pastor Rolf shared with me that he has spoken about Rick Steves and shown the video of “Why We Travel”. My hubby and I have been on five Rick Steves Tours, through the company. We respect his company and thoroughly enjoy the tours’ focus on history and culture of each city or country we are visiting.

In preparing for my preaching time with you all today, I read an interview Rick Steves did for a podcast on “Why We Travel”. In the interview Rick said, “And I’m realizing that what makes a good traveler is being positive, being curious, being eager to get out of your comfort zone and try something new and to learn from other people.”

My hubby is retired from the USAF. After we were first married we were stationed in the North of England, and for our first anniversary he took me to Paris. Romantic? Right? (heavy sigh) I wish!!! I was so scared and nervous, and my mind was full of the awful stereotypes of Parisiens; I tried to take in how amazing Paris is! This young gal, originally from South Dakota, was standing at the feet of the Eiffel Tower, wow, and eating a pain au chocolat!!! Brilliant!!! But even with all the amazing sites and tasty treats, I was so scared!!! I was a little curious but I was NOT “eager to get out of my comfort zone” as Rick Steves suggests! (I am pretty sure it was also this trip that my hubby learned the hard way that he had to keep me well fed and watered 😊

That was my first visit to Paris. Years and years later (with more travel under my belt), my second visit to Paris was a totally different scenario. I got lost!!! I was by myself, thought I knew my way back to the ho- tel, all I had was this photo copy of a map. When I realized I was lost, I took a few deep breaths and told myself to remain calm. I was walking down a street, decided to turn left; it wasn’t long and I saw some young men standing by the street. As I got closer I realized they were French Army personnel, carrying long guns. I walked up to them and said, “Parlez vous Anglais?” (Do you speak English?) They replied, “oui.” I said, “I am lost, I need to get here (and I point to the map).” They replied, “We are not from Paris! Go ask those boys.” They pointed to some young men coming out of a courtyard. So I go up to them,  again asked, “Parlez vous Anglais?” They said, “oui.” Between the few young men looking at my map, talking with each other, they eventually got me going in the correct direction!!!  Whew!!!

I got back to the hotel, a little shook up, but none the worse for wear. But had that been my first visit to Paris, I seriously would have been a mess and I am sure my anxiousness would have made me sick. I stayed calm, asked for help from strangers and got home. (Turns out the fellas with the long guns were security for a Synagogue, which was where the other young fellas came out of.)

“And I’m realizing that what makes a good traveler is being positive, being curious, being eager to get out of your comfort zone and try something new and to learn from other people.” (Rick Steves) These traits for a good traveler also come in handy as we are on our faith journey. I have found that when we can move out of our comfort zones we can see and experience So. Much. More!!!  

We have the perfect example in front of us this morning with Philip and the Eunuch. Yes, the Spirit was guiding Philip, but we all know that as humans we are VERY good at ignoring the Spirit – turning a blind eye when the Spirit is trying to show us something, right? You know I am right 😉. But this time Philip listened as the Spirit guided him to the chariot. Everything could have come to a screeching halt at that moment because as humans are now, humans were then – judgmental of folks who look different than us.  Acts deliberately calls the gentleman on the chariot an Ethiopian Eunuch. Scholars do not know why he is a eunuch, and I don’t believe it matters. What we know is that this gentleman was learned, had a position of responsibility, and was a person of color. He was reading from the prophet Isaiah when Philip approached the chariot, and look what happened after that!!! Can you imagine being there, listening to them? It sounds like it was the most amazing theological conversation!!! The sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ and the gentleman was baptized. That’s evangelism at its finest and purest. As one of my long ago seminary professors wrote on this event: “This is a sheer miracle – a miracle full of the grace of God in the person of Philip and the waters of renewal. The impossibility of this event is made possible by the unbelievable reach of God’s grace.” (Richard Jensen, Working Preacher) He went on to write: “That’s the whole story of the Book of Acts. God’s grace is wildly inclusive. The church is moved out to the ends of the earth and reaches out still today.”

The gentleman hungered to know the truth. Philip was led by the Holy Spirit and by the actions of both men – being positive, curious, eager – barriers were broken. “God’s grace is wildly inclusive!” I believe that we need to be crying this out from our pulpits and street corners!!! Yes, we each have our own opinions about this, that and the other thing, but when it comes to our faith, our journey with Jesus, we must proclaim: God’s grace is wildly inclusive!!! And to be able to proclaim this amazing, awesome truth we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us to be a good traveler – full of being positive, being curious, being eager to get out of our comfort zone.

Because look what happens when we do – the good news is shared, the waters of baptism rain down, grace is shared, and ALL are included and welcome.

God’s grace is wildly inclusive!  

Amen