Years ago, that great movie “Pearl
Harbor” came out. It was about a couple
of brash young fighter pilots and a nurse with whom both of them fell in
love. There was a fascinating scene as
one of them, played by Ben Affleck, volunteers to serve in England, prior to
America’s entrance into the war. The
“Brits” are in the middle of the battle and are being beaten. Airplanes are returning with battle damage,
and they are losing friends and fellow pilots daily.
Ben Affleck walks into that scene
boldly. He hasn’t even unpacked his
bags as he approaches the weary squadron commander. He tells him he wants to get up there right
now and join the fight. With fatigue in
his voice the British Commander says, “Are all you Americans so anxious to
die?” After reflecting briefly, the
young American pilot says, “Not anxious to die sir….just anxious to matter.”
None of us today are in such a high
stakes drama. Our battles are generally
tamer in nature. All the same, I find
that this young airman’s words strike a chord with most of us. In the end, most of us want to matter. We want to raise a family that is healthy and
that stands for something in this world.
We want to leave our communities and this world a better place than what
we found.
This general tendency is amplified
in the Christian faith. Our life is
supposed to make a difference in this world.
Jesus said that we were the salt and light, the city on the hill. As such, we are supposed to be a kingdom
representative that makes the here and now more like the way it will be in
eternity. As such, we are anxious to
matter.
In the vein, please remember that this
weekend in worship matters. God has laid
out incredible opportunities before us right now and in the coming year as
Woodlake Church. In worship, we are
going to be placing our commitment cards on the altar. Those may be simple pieces of paper but they
represent our collective desire to make an eternal difference. Those cards, like that young pilot, are our
words to God saying we are “anxious to matter”.
I hope you will join me in praying
for this weekend. For several weeks we
have been claiming that these two commitments will change your life. I am confident that they will also play a
premier role in helping our church to serve the kingdom in ways that matter
eternally. Thank you in advance for your
participation in this important day!
In Christ,
Pastor Pete
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