March 29, 2009
By Pastor Laura Gentry
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The French daredevil, Jean Francois Gravelet, known by his stage name as the Great Charles Blondin, born 1824, is remembered as one of the greatest tightrope walkers of all time. To bring his story to life, let’s use our imaginations this morning and pretend we are the crowd watching one of the Great Blondin’s many death defying performances.
I’ll need my assistants to come forward. They will flash one of three signs at you and you’ll need to make that sound. So let’s practice. First, there is the cheer sign. Whenever you see this, I want you to cheer excitedly. Let’s try it! (CHEER). Secondly, there is a sigh sign. Whenever you see this, I want you to sigh like are so relieved. Let’s try it! (SIGH). Now he’ll be going across the Niagara Falls, which makes a pretty loud gushing sound. So whenever you see the gush sign, you’ll need to attempt to make this sound and if you can’t, then just say “gush” loudly. Let’s try it! (GUSH). Okay, I think you are totally ready for this.
Now picture it. We are now transported to a hundred years ago—to the time before extreme sports were invented. No one was jumping off bridges with rubber band around their waist. Reality shows with people eating worms were not on the air. Demolition derbies were yet a reality. And since there was Vince McMahon hadn’t built the world wrestling entertainment up to what it is today, people were not accustomed to seeing guys get hit over the head with folding chairs. Nope. The main excitement in entertainment of this era is the Great Blondin—he is adored by people all over the world. And here we are watching him make his grand entrance!
So when he enters, the crowd cheers! (CHEER) Blondin swishes in and says, “If it is a rope and it is high up, I will walk on it!”
A young lady runs up to him and begs him for his autograph. A gentleman, Blondin signs her paper with a flourish. The girl grabs the paper, holds it tightly, swooningly. The crowds continue to bombard him with adoration. (CHEER)
You see, we are here at Niagra Falls. We are sitting next to the American Falls at Prospect Park in the United States. The water is gushing over the falls—150,000 gallon of water flower over these falls every second! And the water drops 176 feet to the churning waters below, creating immense mist! Can you hear the rushing water? (GUSH)
Oh, what a dangerous place this is! But look, 160 feet above the top of these falls, there is a tightrope strung across it—from here in the US, all the way over the the Canadian side: 1100 feet. How could anyone attempt such a feet? If he falls, he will surely die. Can the Great Blondin really survive such a walk? “This is the longest walk I have ever attempted,” Blondin says to the reporters.
But look, there he goes. The Great Blondin is walking across. Yes, look at that. The crowd is silent as he carefully makes his way over! All you can hear is the gushing of the deadly falls beneath. (GUSH) And now, he takes his last step onto the Canadian side! (SIGH) The crowd goes wild! Blondin has done it! He’s really done it. (CHEER)
And that’s not all. What is he doing? He’s climbing into a potato sack. and look! He’s coming back this way. He can’t even see out of that sack and his legs might get tangled. The crowd is quiet again. Nothing but the water’s gush. (GUSH) Carefully, the Great Blondin, looking like a wiggling sack, gets all the way back to this side! (SIGH) Incredible! The crowds go crazy. (CHEER)
Blondin continues to amaze the crowds. He crosses again and again. (GUSH) One time, he even cooks a meal on the rope with a portable cooker and lowers it to the people on the Maid of the Mist boat below! (CHEER)
“Do you believe in the Great Blondin?” a reporter asks a member of the audience.
“Oh yes, I believe in him.” he replies. “He’s amazing! He can do anything.”
Oh but wait! The Great Blondin is going to try yet another trick. This time, he’s walking across the gorge pushing a wheelbarrow with a two hundred pound weight inside. (GUSH) This is too much to bear! The women begin to faint from the sight of such danger, men avert their eyes. The Great Blondin must be out of his mind!
As he’s crossing, the reporter turns to an onlooker and asks: “Do you think the Great Blondin can get across with the wheelbarrow and all that weight?”
“Of course! No doubt! He's the greatest tightrope walker in the world!” replies a young lady.
“Of course!” declares another. “He’s walked that tightrope every single way. There is nothing he can’t do! I trust him entirely.”
And then, Blondin steps onto the safe land of the United States. (SIGHS) Wow! The crowd is louder than it’s ever been before. (CHEER) What an outstanding feet! This is entertainment at its best.
Now the Great Blondin turns and looks at us and says, “Would anyone like to go across with me? Climb right upon my back.”
From the back of the crowd you can hear comments such as “What an honor! What a privilege! Wouldn’t that be neat?”
“Let me repeat,” Says Blondin dramatically, “I am looking for a volunteer to be the first person in history to go across Niagra Falls in a tightrope walker’s back. Say, you look like a brave fellow, how about you?”
“I wouldn't want to risk it. My family might think I was irresponsible.” says the man as he turns and runs away.
Blondin looks at another fellow who says: “Well, sir, I'm honored by your request but I, uh, I, uh, . . . I . . . Oh yes, I have to go get something out of my car.” He jumps into his car and peels away.
“I do not understand,” Blondin continues. “ How about you, miss?”
“Oh, Great Blondin, you're my hero!” she sighs.
“Then you'll come with me?”
“But, but . . . I'm scared of heights . . . I couldn't .” And she faints into his arms.
Finally, with no one agreeing to put their lives on the line, his own manager, Harry Colcord, agrees to be the one to go across the falls on Blondin’s back. Slowly they make their way over the falls, each step wobbly and difficult. The water rushes madly below (GUSH) as the crowd watches intently until at last, they reach the other side safely. (SIGH) Incredible! The crowd jumps to their feet and cheers as loudly as they can. (CHEER) Indeed, we’ve never seen anything so amazing in all our lives!
But what if the Great Blondin had asked YOU to go across the gorge on his back? It’s one thing to say you believe in his talents as a tightrope walker and quite another to actually put your life in his hands. It takes courage to do what Harry did, to literally put yourself in someone else’s hands.
You know, it’s just like believing in God. It is pretty easy to say, “Oh yes, I am a believer” and yet another to believe in God so much that you put your life in his hands—to trust your Lord entirely. Martin Luther once said, “The only saving faith is that which casts itself on God for life or death.” Do we trust God that much?
In our scripture lesson from Jeremiah today, the prophet speaks to the people of God who have been devastated by the siege of their country and their subsequent exile. “The days are surely coming,” he tells them as he speaks the word of the Lord. “The days are surely coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Despite their sin and unworthiness, God is announcing a new beginning for the people. God is renewing the covenant, the promise of love and commitment. God is going to do a new thing for these broken and and lost people—”I will be their God and they shall be my people,” the prophet declares. But how?
Well, the former law, which God had given Moses was written on tablets of stone. And the people rebelled against it, refusing to follow this law. Now, God proposes to write the law within them. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
This is language of the heart. It implies a marvelous intimacy between Creator and the creation. It is not about some big rule-making God thundering down judgment from the sky. This is about God seeking to enter the very hearts and minds of his people, to transform them lovingly from within. The sin written in their hearts will be replaced by God’s liberating law.
“No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”
Having experienced grace, God’s people will live in it. They won’t have to tell each other to know the Lord because they WILL. They will know God in their heart of hearts. They will trust God with their very lives.
Jesus adds further punch to this message by saying in the gospel of John: “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” God wants us to absolutely surrender ourselves to God’s care.
The story of the Great Blondin reminds us that living out our belief in someone is difficult, it takes more than just lip service, it takes great courage. Living out our faith can be equally hard. God asks everything. But it is worth it, for faith offers eternal life.
This morning, we are going to be conducting an order for healing in worship. All of you will be invited to come forward to receive a word of blessing and prayer, if you wish. There will be an anointing with oil and the physical gesture of the laying on of hands. These are signs to tell us again that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ.
God promises us wholeness and peace and as a joyful response to this covenant, we cling to God in faith. As we continue our Lenten journey, may we know God, may we trust God to heal us and care for all our needs, and may we trust God with our whole hearts. Amen.
The French daredevil, Jean Francois Gravelet, known by his stage name as the Great Charles Blondin, born 1824, is remembered as one of the greatest tightrope walkers of all time. To bring his story to life, let’s use our imaginations this morning and pretend we are the crowd watching one of the Great Blondin’s many death defying performances.
I’ll need my assistants to come forward. They will flash one of three signs at you and you’ll need to make that sound. So let’s practice. First, there is the cheer sign. Whenever you see this, I want you to cheer excitedly. Let’s try it! (CHEER). Secondly, there is a sigh sign. Whenever you see this, I want you to sigh like are so relieved. Let’s try it! (SIGH). Now he’ll be going across the Niagara Falls, which makes a pretty loud gushing sound. So whenever you see the gush sign, you’ll need to attempt to make this sound and if you can’t, then just say “gush” loudly. Let’s try it! (GUSH). Okay, I think you are totally ready for this.Now picture it. We are now transported to a hundred years ago—to the time before extreme sports were invented. No one was jumping off bridges with rubber band around their waist. Reality shows with people eating worms were not on the air. Demolition derbies were yet a reality. And since there was Vince McMahon hadn’t built the world wrestling entertainment up to what it is today, people were not accustomed to seeing guys get hit over the head with folding chairs. Nope. The main excitement in entertainment of this era is the Great Blondin—he is adored by people all over the world. And here we are watching him make his grand entrance!
So when he enters, the crowd cheers! (CHEER) Blondin swishes in and says, “If it is a rope and it is high up, I will walk on it!”
A young lady runs up to him and begs him for his autograph. A gentleman, Blondin signs her paper with a flourish. The girl grabs the paper, holds it tightly, swooningly. The crowds continue to bombard him with adoration. (CHEER)
You see, we are here at Niagra Falls. We are sitting next to the American Falls at Prospect Park in the United States. The water is gushing over the falls—150,000 gallon of water flower over these falls every second! And the water drops 176 feet to the churning waters below, creating immense mist! Can you hear the rushing water? (GUSH)
Oh, what a dangerous place this is! But look, 160 feet above the top of these falls, there is a tightrope strung across it—from here in the US, all the way over the the Canadian side: 1100 feet. How could anyone attempt such a feet? If he falls, he will surely die. Can the Great Blondin really survive such a walk? “This is the longest walk I have ever attempted,” Blondin says to the reporters.
But look, there he goes. The Great Blondin is walking across. Yes, look at that. The crowd is silent as he carefully makes his way over! All you can hear is the gushing of the deadly falls beneath. (GUSH) And now, he takes his last step onto the Canadian side! (SIGH) The crowd goes wild! Blondin has done it! He’s really done it. (CHEER)
And that’s not all. What is he doing? He’s climbing into a potato sack. and look! He’s coming back this way. He can’t even see out of that sack and his legs might get tangled. The crowd is quiet again. Nothing but the water’s gush. (GUSH) Carefully, the Great Blondin, looking like a wiggling sack, gets all the way back to this side! (SIGH) Incredible! The crowds go crazy. (CHEER)
Blondin continues to amaze the crowds. He crosses again and again. (GUSH) One time, he even cooks a meal on the rope with a portable cooker and lowers it to the people on the Maid of the Mist boat below! (CHEER)
“Do you believe in the Great Blondin?” a reporter asks a member of the audience.
“Oh yes, I believe in him.” he replies. “He’s amazing! He can do anything.”
Oh but wait! The Great Blondin is going to try yet another trick. This time, he’s walking across the gorge pushing a wheelbarrow with a two hundred pound weight inside. (GUSH) This is too much to bear! The women begin to faint from the sight of such danger, men avert their eyes. The Great Blondin must be out of his mind!
As he’s crossing, the reporter turns to an onlooker and asks: “Do you think the Great Blondin can get across with the wheelbarrow and all that weight?”
“Of course! No doubt! He's the greatest tightrope walker in the world!” replies a young lady.
“Of course!” declares another. “He’s walked that tightrope every single way. There is nothing he can’t do! I trust him entirely.”
And then, Blondin steps onto the safe land of the United States. (SIGHS) Wow! The crowd is louder than it’s ever been before. (CHEER) What an outstanding feet! This is entertainment at its best.
Now the Great Blondin turns and looks at us and says, “Would anyone like to go across with me? Climb right upon my back.”
From the back of the crowd you can hear comments such as “What an honor! What a privilege! Wouldn’t that be neat?”
“Let me repeat,” Says Blondin dramatically, “I am looking for a volunteer to be the first person in history to go across Niagra Falls in a tightrope walker’s back. Say, you look like a brave fellow, how about you?”
“I wouldn't want to risk it. My family might think I was irresponsible.” says the man as he turns and runs away.
Blondin looks at another fellow who says: “Well, sir, I'm honored by your request but I, uh, I, uh, . . . I . . . Oh yes, I have to go get something out of my car.” He jumps into his car and peels away.
“I do not understand,” Blondin continues. “ How about you, miss?”
“Oh, Great Blondin, you're my hero!” she sighs.
“Then you'll come with me?”
“But, but . . . I'm scared of heights . . . I couldn't .” And she faints into his arms.
Finally, with no one agreeing to put their lives on the line, his own manager, Harry Colcord, agrees to be the one to go across the falls on Blondin’s back. Slowly they make their way over the falls, each step wobbly and difficult. The water rushes madly below (GUSH) as the crowd watches intently until at last, they reach the other side safely. (SIGH) Incredible! The crowd jumps to their feet and cheers as loudly as they can. (CHEER) Indeed, we’ve never seen anything so amazing in all our lives!
But what if the Great Blondin had asked YOU to go across the gorge on his back? It’s one thing to say you believe in his talents as a tightrope walker and quite another to actually put your life in his hands. It takes courage to do what Harry did, to literally put yourself in someone else’s hands.
You know, it’s just like believing in God. It is pretty easy to say, “Oh yes, I am a believer” and yet another to believe in God so much that you put your life in his hands—to trust your Lord entirely. Martin Luther once said, “The only saving faith is that which casts itself on God for life or death.” Do we trust God that much?
In our scripture lesson from Jeremiah today, the prophet speaks to the people of God who have been devastated by the siege of their country and their subsequent exile. “The days are surely coming,” he tells them as he speaks the word of the Lord. “The days are surely coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Despite their sin and unworthiness, God is announcing a new beginning for the people. God is renewing the covenant, the promise of love and commitment. God is going to do a new thing for these broken and and lost people—”I will be their God and they shall be my people,” the prophet declares. But how?
Well, the former law, which God had given Moses was written on tablets of stone. And the people rebelled against it, refusing to follow this law. Now, God proposes to write the law within them. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
This is language of the heart. It implies a marvelous intimacy between Creator and the creation. It is not about some big rule-making God thundering down judgment from the sky. This is about God seeking to enter the very hearts and minds of his people, to transform them lovingly from within. The sin written in their hearts will be replaced by God’s liberating law.
“No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”
Having experienced grace, God’s people will live in it. They won’t have to tell each other to know the Lord because they WILL. They will know God in their heart of hearts. They will trust God with their very lives.
Jesus adds further punch to this message by saying in the gospel of John: “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” God wants us to absolutely surrender ourselves to God’s care.
The story of the Great Blondin reminds us that living out our belief in someone is difficult, it takes more than just lip service, it takes great courage. Living out our faith can be equally hard. God asks everything. But it is worth it, for faith offers eternal life.
This morning, we are going to be conducting an order for healing in worship. All of you will be invited to come forward to receive a word of blessing and prayer, if you wish. There will be an anointing with oil and the physical gesture of the laying on of hands. These are signs to tell us again that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ.
God promises us wholeness and peace and as a joyful response to this covenant, we cling to God in faith. As we continue our Lenten journey, may we know God, may we trust God to heal us and care for all our needs, and may we trust God with our whole hearts. Amen.
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