Ever since Abraham and Jacob left their homes for another country, people have been on the move.  Lots of people are moving here to Castle Rock these days, buying homes despite high prices and interest rates.  We worship today among a thousand new homes, most of which were built in the past five years.  Across the Interstate, houses are not going up fast enough, so that some are sold by lottery.  Regardless of the price or location, people are buying houses as fast as they're built.

          And these are ordinary people moving to our area, seeking work, a better way of life or a new beginning.  These ordinary people are the mission field for our church.  God will use them to build our church strong and healthy.  God's church work isn't done by the "stars," celluloid preachers or Hollywood performers, or even pastors of big churches.  God uses ordinary people to do His work.

          And ordinary Christians aren't perfect.  We often hurt, struggle, and limp along in life.  There's a great story of a new pastor who decided to visit a Sunday School class to see how they were learning.  While there he asked one of the students, "Who knocked down the walls of Jericho?"  "It sure wasn't me," one boy said.  Turning to the teacher, the alarmed pastor said, "Is this what your students learn?"  The teacher said, "Now Reverend, Timmy's a good boy, and if he said he didn't do it, I believe him."  Upset, the pastor took the matter to the Elders who met briefly and then told the pastor, "We see no point in making an issue of this incident.  The Board will pay for any damages to the wall and charge it off to vandalism."  That's a story about ordinary Christians.  They don't always know the right answers, but they try their best to fix problems that arise.

          Ordinary Christians make mistakes.  They know they're sinners and that's why they come to church.  They know the church isn't a production studio where lines are rehearsed, but a hospital for sin-sick people.  If we took seriously our mission of being a church, Epiphany could be a called "Sinners Anonymous," a fellowship of people who need God and each other.

          Remember how Jacob, father of the Israelites, left home for a new beginning?  He ran away from his brother.  Later when he was returning, he wrestled with a stranger that turned out to be God.  God touched his hip, and Jacob limped for the rest of his life.  When you struggle with God, sometimes He leaves us with a reminder of His presence in our life.

          Life isn't always a joy; problems and struggles befall us.  We make mistakes and hurt each other.  We step on each other's feet without realizing it, and they limp.  Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot and we limp around from self-inflicted wounds.  Because of our human frailty, our imperfections from sin, we often must learn to live with a limp.

          Sometimes we limp because God sends us something hard in life.  St. Paul had a problem he called his "thorn in the flesh," a medical problem that kept him from getting too proud of his accomplishments.  God regularly uses adversity and weakness to bring us closer to Him in faith.  He knows we need to stay close, and often makes us weak so we'll reach out to Him.  When you're feeling so strong, who needs God?  So often we pray, "Lord bless us and give us good times so we'll be happy."  Better we should pray, "Lord, don't give us too many good times, because then we'll forget how much we need You!"

          Our limps can turn into real pains, real suffering.  All suffering viewed apart from God is senseless misery.  But suffering seen as part of God's plan can be an opportunity to grow in our faith.  Limpers become strong when they trust God.  Some limpers are only whiners.  "Woe is me!" they complain and limp along, grumbling but never truly trusting God for their strength.

          Jesus once saw a man by the Pool of Bethesda who'd been lying there for years.  "Do you want to be healed?" He asked the man.  That's a good question.  Do we want to be healed or just keep living with our limp?  We can become so accustomed to our problem that we don't want to change.

          People can limp and so can churches.  Some churches limp because the Lord gives them a cross to bear, but most church limps are self-inflicted.  Today we've moved to a new location that isn't as good as the last one, but still good.  We're in the middle of a thousand homes, and half of them don't know the Lord.  Will we complain about folding chairs or thank God for the chance to witness to these people?  Will we grumble about what we don't have, or praise God for what we do?

          God will bless us in the coming days.  Moving to a new worship location takes faith.  It will prove if our faith is strong or weak.  Let's use this opportunity, this God-given limp, to rely on Him and become strong in our faith!  Let's see what God will do for us as we continue on in our journey, for our journey is far from being over.

          There is a purpose in having a limp.  Jacob, in the Old Testament lesson, had a limp for the rest of his life after wresting with God.  God uses weakness to show His strength and help us trust Him.  Twelve years ago a friend of mine, now a fellow member of Epiphany, had an auto accident which nearly severed his spinal cord.  The doctors told him, "You'll never be able to sit up or feel anything from your shoulders down.  And you'll never, ever walk again.  Don't hope for it, don't even try, because it won't happen."

          But Karl had two things the doctors didn't count on:  the power of prayer and the love of family.  His family loved and encouraged him, and thousands of friends prayed for him.  "You'll never sit up," the doctors said, but he did learn to sit up.  "You'll never use your arms," they said, but he learned how.  "You'll never walk," the doctors said, but he went from a wheel chair to a walker and now occasionally walks with metal crutches.  Pain and struggle and hard work have been there every step of the way, but strength has come too - God's strength.  Karl once told me God's power has never been so real - and so frustrating - since he and Tami have had to deal with this severe limp in both their lives.

          That's what St. Paul meant, "When I am weak, then I am strong, for God's power is made perfect in my weakness."  Are we talking about a miracle here?  Certainly, but a physical healing is not the greatest miracle.  The greatest miracle is that God loves us, in spite of who we are.

1.       God loves every one of us, even the limpers, the whiners, the fighters, all of us.  He loves us as we are, but He won't leave us that way for long.  He wants us to be more like His Son, Jesus.

2.       We don't deserve His love.  We fight and struggle and insist on having things our own way.  We daily sin much and deserve only punishment.  But God doesn't punish; He forgives.

3.       God decided to send His only Son to save us from ourselves, to heal us and give us hope.  Jesus lived a perfect life, and yet He chose to limp to Calvary's cross, to die for us there and forgive us for our pride, selfishness, and self-inflicted wounds.  Jesus died and rose again to forgive us because it was the only way we could come to God.

4.       You and I have His forgiveness.  It's ours completely when we trust Him.  Have you ever asked the Lord into your life?  Have you prayed for forgiveness and faith?  When you trust Him fully and completely, He will make you a different person, a more loving and trusting person.

          Have you really prayed like that, or have you thought church membership was enough?  Going to church doesn't make us a Christian any more than walking into a garage makes us a car.  And remember, God has no grandchildren, only children, directly connected to Him by faith.  You can't catch a ride to heaven on your parent's faith.  Each of us must come to Him individually in faith.

          What are you praying for these days?  For your limp to disappear or for greater strength to bear it?  For your job to get better or more wisdom to handle it?  For your kids to become more like you, or for strength to accept them as they are?  Are you praying for your spouse to change or are you praying to love and honor your spouse more?

          What are we praying for in church?  For land and buildings, or for people to come to Jesus?  Are we praying for the County to be good to us, or for us to be good to each other?  Are we praying for our problems to go away or for the strength to handle them?

          Epiphany has been raised to do something great for the Lord.  Some people are still not sure why we're here, so we must continually tell them what God has done for us.  Let's make our church a hospital for sinners, where people find love and healing from spiritual lameness.  Let's be a clinic where God's faith is prescribed, hope is freely shared, and love heals all wounds.

          We can live with our limps a long time, but God doesn't want us to.  We can nurse a grudge or we can pray to love others.  We can lay by the pool for another 40 years, or we can let Jesus heal us.  We can keep our money for ourselves, or we can offer it to God who gave it to us.  We can fight to get our own way, or we can let God have His way in all we do in life.

          Now is the day of God's Salvation.  Now is the time to receive Him as Lord.  You and I are ordinary Christians, and ordinary Christians have their limps.  But we're forgiven, and we have His work to do, His love to share.  "God's strength is made perfect in our weakness."  It's happened to you and it's happening here.  Let's love God above all and our neighbor as ourself!  Amen

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.