All kinds of Faith, Sermon given May 29th, 2016

Photo by Christian Begeman / Praire Sanctuaries

The Sermon for this past Sunday was over the verses found in the Gospel of Luke 7:1-10.

1 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore, I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Often we hear sermons from these verses highlighting the 'faith' of the Centurion, but there's more faith involved here than just his.  In the sermon, I consider the faith of the Jewish Leaders who come to Jesus on the Centurion's behalf.  I also discuss Jesus' own faith... Jesus' faith you say... yes Jesus'.  Here Jesus models for us (as he always does) what our own relationship and agency to the Father should be like.  If you've got 15 minutes or so take a listen to the sermon.

Remember...
To be a blessing to someone today!

In God's constant care & love,
Roy

Sermon 5/31/15 and a Fire in Sioux Falls, SD

Chapel Door, Woodlawn Christian Church
Lake City, Iowa
Wm Roy Karlen photo

This past Sunday afternoon, the apartment building that my son Creath lives in caught fire and was severely damaged.  The damage was significant enough that the entire building was condemned by the City and all of the residents had to be relocated.  So, yesterday afternoon I drove to Sioux Falls, SD in order to help my son Creath and his roommate Jeff move their belongings from their apartment to a different apartment across the way in the same apartment complex.  

Creath and Jeff were very lucky as the fire reached the apartment next to theirs but was stopped there.  They also didn't have too much water in their apartment which was amazing to me.  This had been my biggest fear with all of the musical instruments Creath owns I was scared to death they would be ruined.  Though his violin could be replaced it is one he's had since High School and is a symphony quality instrument.  It was very expensive and we purchased it because we hoped he'd have and play it for the rest of his life.  It's loss would have been horribly sad, fortunately it is fine and was in the case out of harms way.

Photo taken from in front of Creath's apartment doorway.  That door is the fire door.
It performed its function pretty well, though the fire did penetrate into the apartment directly next to it.

Creath's apartment building.

I got into Sioux Falls about 3:30 pm, leaving Lake City shortly after noon.  We worked like crazy and then went and had a burger at "Tap41" a gourmet hamburger place not far from where they live.  Their burgers were good, but they don't have the endless options like "JL Beers" has to offer.  I left after eating and it was close to 1:30 am before I got back to the Parsonage.  It made for a pretty short night, but Creath and Jeff appreciated the help and you've got to do what you've got to do to help your young'ins.

The sermon this last Sunday was dedicated to my late friend Mark Winquist who passed away four years ago.  Sunday was the fourth anniversary of my reading the email that told me he had passed and that his funeral was the next morning.

Time seems to fly and it's hard to believe that four years have ticked away from me.  The older we get, the faster time does seem to transpire, it's something we've all heard all of our lives and sadly, it's true.

I need to get back to work on the service for this coming Sunday so I'll just leave you all with my favorite refrain.  "Be a Blessing to Someone Today!"

In God's abundant and endless grace,
Roy

Sermon given by Pastor Roy Karlen, on May 31, 2015 at Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa.

Good morning once again, I'd like today to do something that I have been known to do every once in a great while, and that's to dedicate a sermon to an individual from my past.  Today, I'd like to dedicate this sermon to my late friend, roommate, training partner, powerlifting coach and a good Christian man, Mark Winquist.

But before I get into all of that, let's go before God in Prayer and reflection.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, Abba, we ask for you to be with us here today, to once more let us be in your Holy presence.  Father, please work within our hearts and our minds to let us draw closer to you. Creator God, open our ears and soften our souls that we might hear your word and come to know you more fully.  Ancient Lord, lead us on the path towards a deeper and fuller relationship with You.  For these blessings, we pray in your Holy and Grace filled name.  
AMEN

It seems so often in life that it's not the usual folks that you'd think of that God decides to use for His purposes here in this world.  Do you remember the story of when King David was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel.

1 Samuel 16:1-13 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I name to you.”4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eli′ab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abin′adab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “TheLord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

Now, David shouldn't have been the son chosen from among Jesse's children.  In the Hebrew culture it was always the oldest son who was to be the most favored.  David is the youngest, the least of the lot, the last one that God should have turned to among Jesse's offspring.

If you look through your own live, I'm sure you've witness this phenomenon as well.  God has this wonderful and puzzling ability to call upon the least likely, the one we've all dismissed as a lost cause.  There is a saying that I dearly love that states “God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called”.  We shouldn't be concerned about if we are  worthy, are we too old or too young, I don't have the education or the training, I'm too bashful or too this, or too that.  If we feel in our hearts that God has a purpose, a place, a mission for us, we need to act on that calling and step forth in faith.

The sermon today is as I said dedicated to my late friend Mark Winquist.

Mark was a year behind me in college, he was an electrical engineering major who carried a very good grade point average and yet dropped out of school one semester before his graduation.  Mark went to work for the railroad driving stakes in railroad ties.  He later worked for many, many years at a bicycle shop assembling and selling bicycles.  To be completely honest, he was a very difficult man to understand in many ways.

I met Mark at the beginning of my sophomore year, he was from Milbank, SD the same town as another friend, training partner, and roommate of mine, John Forman.  John and I had started training together during our Freshman year at South Dakota State University, 'GO Jacks', and when Mark showed up for school he immediately started training with us.  John and Mark had grown up together back in Milbank and it was only natural that Mark would fall in with John and I.  All three of us were members of the Powerlifting Team at SDSU.

Mark was a trumpet player and performed with the Marching Band at State.  He continued to play his trumpet for the rest of his life, in fact he prerecorded several songs specifically to be played at his own funeral.

Mark was without a doubt pound for pound the strongest man I've ever known personally.  Back in college he was ranked as one of the strongest powerlifters in the world in his weight class.  At one time, he was number one in the back squat for the entire world in the 132 lb weight class.  Mark competed and won National titles as well as competing and placing 2nd Internationally.  He was an incredibly strong man.

I liked Mark a great deal, but as I said already he was a difficult soul to understand and eccentric to a fault.  Knowing him like I did, he was almost the last soul I'd have ever thought would have ever dedicated so much of his life to others and to God.  Mark in those days was thoroughly self-absorbed and focused solely on Mark.

Mark and I had fallen out of communication for approximately 20 years. He had been very fond of and a friend of my first wife, and when our relationship ended so many years ago, my friendship with Mark was also strained it seemed.  I don't believe he ever forgave me for my failures at that point of my life.

I did reach out to Mark a couple of times through the years, and I left a few messages on his answering machine.  But, either because of an inability to forgive, or just his normal odd ball fashion, he never got around to calling me back.  I did manage to catch him on the phone about a year and half before his death, which was also about a month before he discovered he had cancer. Another one of our old weighlifting friends was being installed into the South Dakota Powerlifting Hall of Fame and I was trying to work out to meet with Mark and some other lifting friends at the powerlifting meet in Sioux Falls where this was to occur.  Mark though was just too busy to attend.  As it turned out there was a blizzard that day and I didn't make it to the meet either.

On May 31st of 2011 I walked into work on a Tuesday after the Memorial Day weekend.  As I generally do in the morning I went to the computer to check my e-mail.  There I saw an e-mail from my friend John Forman.  It simply said 'Mark' in the title of the e-mail.  For some reason I knew immediately in my soul that Mark had died.  There is no reason that I should have thought this, as the last time I had talked to Mark he was healthy and doing fine, nor had I heard anything at all about him being diagnosed with cancer.  For some strange reason I just knew in my heart that he was gone.

I opened the e-mail and discovered that my fears were very real.  John simply said in his e-mail that Mark had died on Saturday May 28th and that his funeral was the next morning at 10 am in Brookings, SD.  I fired back an e-mail to John that simply said “I'll see you in the morning”.

I spent the rest of that day rushing around to make arrangements so I could be out of the Gallery the next day.  So that Wednesday morning, I woke up early and hit the road for Brookings.  I pulled up to the United Methodist Church in Brookings, SD about 15 minutes before the service was to start.

Now my expectations when I walked into that church, was to see a few folks, mostly from Mark's hometown of Milbank, SD, and a fair number of big burly and muscular men and likely a few muscular women as well.  I expected that this would be like a homecoming for old weightlifters, who were in my experience the main people Mark had time for.

What I found when I walked inside was my friend John and another friend of ours Lane, who had also gone to High School with Mark.  Both of them were pall-bearers and I spoke briefly to them and went inside to find a seat.  There wasn't a single weightlifter to be found inside that sanctuary.  What there was though was a church packed to the rafters.  So much so that they seated me in the back pew of the pews reserved for the family.

I looked around that church in amazement, the Mark I knew wasn't a friendly and outgoing soul.  In fact you had to work pretty dang hard to be his friend.  The pews in this church formed a slight 'U' shape around the altar and pulpit, and there was a balcony that wrapped all the way around in a big 'U' shape as well.  When I looked up into the balcony I could see that it was almost entirely teenagers and young people.  And there was a ton of them up there!  The pews were entirely filled.

It was a great memorial service to a man that I had thought I knew pretty well, or at least I knew him well at one time.  As the various individuals came up to talk about Mark's life and as the Minister gave her message.  I was moved to the point of tears, honestly I can tell you I cried more at Mark's funeral than I have ever cried at a funeral.  There was so much genuine expression of love and admiration that flowed in that sanctuary that day that I was simply overwhelmed.

I learned that my old friend who had been in my experience been so very self-absorbed, was for this congregation invaluable.  He was by all appearances, almost an indispensable part of his church.  He was their youth leader, he ran the sound system, he was their music director, he was the Property Chair for their Church Council, and he went by the building every evening to make sure all was well.  Mark also filled the role as the Associate Minister for his church and  stepped into the pulpit if the Minister had to be gone. Beyond the local congregation he was the leader for the youth camps for the United Methodist in South Dakota.

That sanctuary was filled with young people.  Well over a hundred of them, young people whose lives had been impacted for the better by a man I never really knew it would seem.  That day I not only grieved the loss of an old friend but I grieved the loss of a friend I never got to know.

Mark and I had never talked about God or religion in any fashion.  As far as I knew in our days of running together, he wasn't religious at all.  I certainly wasn't and it wasn't a topic I'd have wanted to discuss anyways.  But ultimately, Mark's death had a very big impact on me for a number of reasons, and ultimately on my own personal vision of God.  The area that we're concerned with today, is that I came to see that God could and would use the least likely to further His Kingdom.  

Window in the Chapel of Woodlawn Christian Church
Lake City, Iowa
Wm Roy Karlen photo

God was able to use David the youngest of all his brothers, God used Moses a murderer and a man who was slow of speech, God used Peter and the rest of the Apostles who were all common men and not educated or sophisticated.  God was able to use Paul, a man who was dead set against the Jesus movement to become most likely the most successful of all the Apostles.  And God used the son of a carpenter from a back water place called Galilee to reveal his Love and Grace to this world.

Never, ever feel that you have nothing to offer to God.  He can and he does use whom ever he pleases to accomplish His ways in this world.  Even though I was already in the process of becoming a Lay Minister when Mark passed away, it reaffirmed to me that God can do wonderful things with the least and the least likely.

It helped convince me that God could use this old cowboy, and sinner to help His children and His creation.  Mark's impact in this world is far from over, for not only are there dozens of youth up in South Dakota who he impacted and God only knows how and where they'll end up serving... but Mark continues to have an impact on me and indirectly he's having an impact on all of you as a result.

We will never know how far our actions, our beliefs, our service, our lives will reach out to others.  Your life could be the inspiration for someone you've never even met.  Let's make sure we're all living lives that are worthy of that influence.  It's what we're called to be and to do.

God Bless you all, let us pray:

Dear God, take our hands, and work through them, take our lips, and speak through them, take our minds, and think through them, take our hearts, and set them on fire with Your love;

by the power of Christ who is always with us.  AMEN

Remembering an Old Friend today

Three years ago today a friend of mine from my college days passed away.  My old friend Mark Winquist lost his battle to cancer after a courageous fight.  I will always remember coming into work the day after Memorial Day and pulling up my e-mail account and seeing the title to an e-mail from my friend John Forman which simply read 'Mark'.  For whatever reason as soon as I saw that name I knew in my heart my friend from so long ago had died.  This was truly amazing for you see I didn't even know he was ill, unfortunately we had fallen out of contact with one another.  I had talked to him on the phone briefly about a year and a half before he died but prior to that it had been nearly twenty years since we'd visited.

Mark had been incredibly active in the Methodist Church in Brookings, SD and had been among other things their Youth Leader.  It is a testament to his service for his congregation that they built a 'Prayer Garden' in his honor.

Web page mentioning the Prayer Garden


Mark's passing hit me very hard at the time, and I suppose it still does.  I hate the idea that I've reached the age when my friends are now dying from disease and decay.  But the thing that really hit hard and hurt so much was the realization that I had lost contact with Mark and so many other people that had once meant so very, very much to me.  I also realized that if it hadn't been for me remaining a little bit in contact with our mutual friend John I'd have likely not known for years if ever what had happened to Mark.  

Many of my memories of Mark have to do with lifting weights.  My good friend John Forman, Mark and I used to compete in Powerlifting Meets.  Rather I should say that in our respective weight classes I was getting pummeled, John was in the hunt, and Mark was dominating.  Without a doubt Mark was the strongest man pound for pound that I will ever know personally.  When it came to physical strength he was the perfect storm of genetic potential, muscle attachments, determination, training and intelligence.  I remember well screaming encouragement as Mark hoisted weights that no sane man would crawl under, not to mention a man of Mark's size.

Mark Winquist receiving a trophy from Skip Parks
Sad to say both of these great lifters have passed away.
WmRoy Karlen photo

John Forman receiving a trophy from Skip Parks
WmRoy Karlen photo

Roy Karlen (me) receiving a trophy from Skip Parks.
John Forman is in the background.
WmRoy Karlen photo

Mark's death spurred me to reach out and reconnect with some friends who I hadn't talked to for many years.  It also forced me to, or perhaps more accurately gave me the opportunity to apologize to some whom I had injured in the past.  Thankfully, most forgave me and at least partially several broken fences were mended, or at least acknowledged.

I did travel back to South Dakota to attend the funeral and I tell you it was a great service.  At the one year anniversary of Mark's death I dedicated a sermon in his honor.  The video of that sermon can be found at this blog post. 

Blog Post with Sermon dedicated to Mark's memory

The process of reaching out to my old friends and loved ones, and realizing their grace towards me, ultimately gave me a theological revelation.  These experiences revealed to me how much, much greater our God and His love is than I had ever imagined.  It is a never ending source of amazement that God can use even the worst situations in our lives for our and His ultimate good.  Now please do NOT think that I am saying God causes bad things to happen to anyone.  I find that line of theological thinking to be extremely dangerous and damning for God.  Rather than bog down this blog post I'll put that in the back of my mind for a post for another day.  Just realize that your God loves you deeply and only wants the very best for you.

Now don't think for a second that I'm saying Mark was an absolute saint.  To say that Mark was eccentric may well be ranked as one of the greatest understatements I have ever made.  And the fact that he and I had become estranged wasn't entirely my fault, as I did try to contact him a couple of times during the twenty years or so that we hadn't communicated and the last time we talked, it was I that tracked down his phone number and gave him a call.  I don't think Mark ever forgave me for divorcing Carolin, my first wife.  He was very fond of her, and I'm certain that he was a bit more than a little jealous when he found out that I had asked her to marry me.  But envious or not, he was one of our groomsmen (along with my friend John).

Today as I remember Mark, I'm reminded as well that I need to contact some of those friends once again and see how the last three years have progressed for their lives.  I'd love to get some of them together and meet someday but who knows if that will ever come to pass.  I guess I better resolve myself to try and put this together.  Don't let those you love go by without knowing that they are in fact important to you, let them know today.

May this post find you all reminded of the many great people you have been fortunate enough to share your lives with.  God's abundant and never ending blessings and love to you all.

In His Glory,
Roy

PS: I am also sad to report that Mark's mother passed away earlier this year.  His father is still alive and I pray for him to be comforted after the loss of his lifelong mate.  God's blessings to him.