First Lutheran Church
June 20, 2021
“Lost in Paris”
Ecclesiastes 4:7-13
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. "For whom am I toiling," they ask, "and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice.
Sermon “Lost in Paris”
Pastor Greg Ronning
This morning I would like to share a story with you. It’s a true story. It’s a story about being lost. It’s a story about being a “solitary individual,” a “rugged individualist.” It’s a story about being foolish instead of wise. It’s a story about pride and humility. It’s a story about me, and most likely it’s also a story about you. It’s a funny story and a scary story. It’s a story that takes place in Paris many years ago, and it’s about a story that is about to take place here and now. “Let those who have ears, hear!”
In the summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to travel to Taizé, France for a campus ministry conference. Taizé is a well-known ecumenical retreat center well known for its worship life. We use some of the music from Taizé in our worship here at First Lutheran, “Eat This Bread,” “Jesus Remember Me,” “O Lord, Hear My Prayer,” and others.
The retreat center is located in rural France, a few hours by bullet train from Paris, in the beautiful French countryside. During my week-long stay I had the opportunity to wander about the area. Each day I would venture out, head out on the small country roads, and explore nearby villages. And each day I would find my way back to the small village of Taizé. No problems! It was wonderful.
The week came to an end, and I headed back to Paris, for my return flight home. Thankfully my flight did not leave until the next day, so I had some time to explore the sights of the city. That evening I left the hostel where I was staying in search of the Eiffel Tower. The woman running the hostel handed me a map with some directions. (Pre Smart Phone!)I followed them easily, taking all the main boulevards, and in just 30 minutes I found my way to the Eiffel Tower. I waited in line, climbed the tower, and watched as the sun set beautifully on Paris.
Eventually it was getting late, so I started back to the hostel. I got back on the main boulevard, ready to retrace my route back to the hostel. That’s when I had this great idea. You see, the main route was not the most direct route back. It appeared to me that if went back on a more direct route, weaving my way back and forth on the small streets, I would get the chance to see something different, and maybe even save some time and distance.
So, I headed off the main boulevard and down a side street. Off the beaten path I found myself in more of an “everyday” kind of Paris. I stopped and got a snack at a local market, andas I walked along,I enjoyed “people watching.” It was delightful. And soon I found out that people were watching me! At one point a few “ladies” yelled down to me from the second floor of their apartment, they yelled in French so I had no idea what they said, but I decided that I was looking good in Paris, and they must have thought so too!
But my confident attitude was about to change. Soon I noticed that I had been walking for a good while and had not yet found the street intersection where my hostel was located. I had been walking much longer than it took me to get to the Eiffel Tower. I looked at my watch and realized that I should have already been back at my hostel.
I began to wonder if I was - lost. So, as I came upon a larger street, I decided to just stay on it till it crossed a major boulevard, something that I could I find on my little tourist map, then I would know where I was, and where I needed to go. It was getting late, at this point it was almost 9:00 in the evening, but I still had two hours until they locked the Hostel, no problem.I walked for about twenty more minutes, and never crossed any street that I could find on my map, and it seemed like I was deeper into Paris than I wanted to be.“OK,” I finally conceded to myself, “I’m lost.”
A few minutes later I found myself in front of a church, surely this was a sign from God! And from this church there were four streets, four possible directions that I could go. I looked at each possible route, quickly ruling out one road “that went up a hill and into some trees,” I knew that was not the right way. After some analysis and reflection, I chose the road that, in my mind, seemed most likely to get me to some kind of landmarkthat I could find on my map. As I headed down the street, as it twisted and turned because there are no straight streets in Paris, I suddenly heard my “lady friends” once again call out to me from their windows. This time,they scared me, so I quickly passed by and turned down another street. And before I knew it, I looked up and I was back at the church. Somehow, I had traveled in a complete circle.
Undaunted, this time I chose a different street and headed down a different direction. It was getting later, and the shadows were more ominous, when I heard another call from an open window across the street, “Hey do you want some (weed.)” I put my head down, and started walking faster, as I prayed, “God, please get me out of here!” After a few more minutes of brisk walking, I looked up, and once again, lo and behold, I was back at that church. It no longer felt like a sign from God that I was going to be OK! Once again, I had walked in a complete circle. It was now closer to 11:00 PM and I was getting worried about getting back to the hostel before the doors locked at Midnight. I pictured myself walking in Paris all night long!
At this point, there were only two more streets left to explore, and the one that “headed up the hill and into the trees” was definitely not the right way, so I headed down the other street.And it was the same old story, I twisted and wound my way (figuratively and literally) down the street, and somehow, once again, I’m not kidding, I came across both the guy with the (weed), and the “ladies” calling down from the second floor. I was now officially scared, and when I ended up back at the church for the third time, I thought my situation was hopeless. Forget about getting back to the hostel by Midnight, I might never get out of Paris, and I only had 12 hours till my flight left!
At this point, the only thing I knew for sure is that “the street that went up the hill and into the trees” was the wrong direction. So, I headed back into the neighborhood of circles and this time I stumbled upon an ambulance station. And this time, finally, being too tired and too scared to wander on, I did something drastic, I stopped and asked for help!
In broken English the man on duty told me, “Go back down this street until you see a church,(!) and then take the street that goes up the hill, the street with lots of trees on it, (!) it will bend to the left, and that will intersect with the street you are looking for.” It was about 11:30 at that point, and with his help, with some good directions, I was back at the Hostel at 11:55 PM.
“Again, I saw vanity under the sun: the case of solitary individuals.”
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
“Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king, who will no longer take advice.”
Why did I wait so long to ask for help? Why do we all wait so long to ask for help? Why do we feel like we have to be self-sufficient rugged individualists? Why do we isolate ourselves?“Two are better than one.” “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”One of the greatest gifts of faith is the belonging to a community of faith. It is not good that we are alone, God does not create us to be alone, but to be in community, in family, in relationship.
As we come out of this pandemic, as we begin anew here at First Lutheran, let us not make the mistake of trying to do it alone. The work before us, is going to take all of us! And I for one, need your help.We need each other’s help.
In the next few weeks, you are going to hear about opportunities to be a part of a variety of ministry teams, some old teams, and some new teams. We need people to help with Messy Church, we need people to help with worship, we need people to help with special events, we need people to help us expand the Caring Hands Pantry, we need people to help with stewardship, we need people to help with our new evangelism efforts, we need people to help fix and maintain our lovely old building, we need people to host fellowship events, we need people to reach out to our homebound members, we need people to reach out to visitors and new members. It’s finally time to get back together and get to work!
As we come out of the pandemic we have before us a great opportunity – to begin again our ministry here in this place. As people re-emerge into society, they will be looking for community. We’re all tired of wandering alone. If we are going to be able to take advantage of this moment in time, this moment where people are coming out of isolation and looking for community, we are going to need to work together.
My favorite verse in today’s first reading is verse 12, “And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken”. Note the interesting math; it begins with one, moves to two, and then three. How do two people suddenly become a strong “threefold cord?” When we gather together, when we do ministry together, - we are joined by Christ. Christ is the third chord that makes us stronger.
Let us not get lost or distracted in our ministry, let us not venture off alone into endless circles only to end up back at church with nothing having changed. Instead let us join together, - you and me and Jesus.Let’s take the street that “goes up the hill,”“the one with the trees,” the one, that for whatever reason, we’ve never taken before.A new beginning awaits us, a new adventure. Please prayerfully consider how you might be able to help, what gift you can share, what adventure you want to be a part of, - we need “each and every one” of you. “Two is better than one.” And three or four or more on every ministry team will be even better! May the Spirit unite us in our mission. Amen.