Getting Lost in the Crowd

“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” 

Ephesians 1:13-14

We had a problem when I coached my son’s little league team.  Each kid had a red baseball cap with a big C on the front.  Whenever the boys came into the dugout they would take off their caps and throw them in a pile. Then when they had to go back out onto the field it was inevitable that someone wouldn’t be able to find their cap.  Sometimes two kids would fight over the same cap.  They couldn’t tell which hat belonged to whom.  What we finally did was write their names under the bill of their cap.  The same thing happens when young boys go to summer camp.  When little boys undress they don’t pack their dirty clothes away.  They throw them into a pile on the floor.  In a room full of 8 to 15 boys, by the end of the week you end up with one big pile.  Your child inevitably comes home with the wrong stuff, or missing stuff.  Moms though know how to fix this. Before sending their boys to camp, is they write or sew their boy’s name into everything.  That wat his stuff won’t get lost in the pile.

That can happen to people too.  People can easily get lost in the crowd.  This is such a big world.  There are so many people. The world has become increasingly impersonal.  People sit in their houses.  They don’t know their neighbors.  They feel more comfortable chatting on a computer than visiting face to face.  One lady, mentoring a kid in school, told me that the only way her student will talk to her is while playing on the computer. It’s easy to feel as if all you are just a social security number or an e-mail address, not a real person.  That’s one of the reasons why my parents wanted me to attend Concordia for college instead of going to a big state school.  They didn’t want me to get lost in the crowd. That can happen in a church too, even our church.  You can have been coming here for a while and still have people wonder - Are you a member or a visitor?  You can still have people not know your name.  You can be missing and sometimes people won’t notice.  You can be hurting yet no one sees the signs. 

Getting lost in the crowd confirms our worst fear about ourselves – “Why should anyone care about me?”  Our worst fear that that there is no good reason why you or I should be all that important to anyone.  My first year at Concordia  I arrived at school to find my picture on a poster under the words proclaiming, “Happy St. Braun’s Day.”  Part of me smiled. I knew that this was an expression of love from the students.  Yet part of me also thought.  “Yeah, right!.  If they only knew!  I’m no saint.  Just ask my mom, my wife, my kids.  That’s our fear.  We know the truth. We know what sinners we truly are.  Why would anyone care about us.

God’s answer is quite simple.  He has placed His seal of ownership on you.  He has given you His Holy Spirit.  He has called you by name.  He has written His name on you.  Listen to this word from Ephesians 1.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.  That’s what happened the day you came to faith.  That’s what happened when You were baptized.  God placed His seal of ownership on you, giving you His Holy Spirit. At that moment He said to you, “I have called you by name. You are mine!” Do you understand what this means?  One day a teacher asked her Sunday School class what you needed in order to become a saint.  One of the student’s wasn’t sure but he thought you had to be dead.  That’s not true.  As one for whom Jesus died and rose again, as one having believed in Jesus, as one baptized into Christ, you are a saint right now!

Giving you His Holy Spirit, God has given you a down payment on all His promises to you.  He put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.    When Linda I made an offer on our house we had to put down earnest money to show we were serious.  At closing we had to make down payment.  The down payment we made at closing was our promise to the loan company that we were committed to making our monthly payments.  That is what God has given you in baptism.  By the gift His Spirit He has given you a guarantee that you are one of His saints.  He has guaranteed to you that You are more than a number to Him.  You are His own child.  He will never lose you in the crowd.

What’s more God has not left you alone in this crowded world.  By the gift of His Spirit He has made you a member of His family.  He has made you part of this community of saints.  I love the theme song from the old TV show Cheers.  It talks about our desire, no our need to be where everyone knows your name… where everyone is glad you came.  That’s is what God intends the church to be…  One of the things I love about the small groups in our congregation, is how they look after one another, take care of each other, keep track of one another. That’s what God wants your church to be -  a place where you are known… a safe place where you can seek help when you are hurting… a place where you are noticed both when you are here and when you are missing… a community of saints where God works through each one of us to make sure no one gets lost in the crowd. Amen.