“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” John 6:60
A week ago, Tuesday, I had the privilege of participating in the unveiling ceremony for the Lugar Statue honoring the later mayor and senator from Indiana and founding member of St. Luke’s, Richar Lugar. Condoleeza Rice was the keynote speaker, and it was a beautiful morning and event. I encourage you to go downtown sometime and see this wonderful monument. Gregg Doyel wrote a nice piece on the event which (if you have an Indy Star subscription) you can read here.
As I sat there that morning I reflected on my favorite experience with Mr. Lugar. He would worship at St. Luke’s whenever he was in town. One time I mentioned how much I would enjoy a chance to have lunch with him on a future visit. So, months later he reached out to schedule an appointment. It turned out to be a snowy day and we ate lunch in my office at his request. It remains a cherished gift to me. We spent a few hours talking about Indianapolis history, the state of our country, and St. Luke’s. He shared how as a student at Denison College he was stretched mentally and spiritually. When he would come home to visit, he would often schedule appointments with the pastor, another Richard at the time, Richard Hamilton. He said those conversations were like anchors that helped him appreciate what he was learning and also find challenges to his faith as opportunities to grow and understand better what he believed. In other words, he was given room to think in his faith. He said much of what he went on to do in life he could trace back to those conversations.
St. Luke’s has long valued education in faith. We believe that faith grows best when we are stretched and even tested. Our faith gets stronger this way, and people with strong faith change the world.
One day Jesus offered some teachings that troubled his followers. Notice it says his “disciples” said, “This is a difficult teaching.” These were not just The Twelve. Jesus’ disciples at that point included a lot more people. They were struggling with what Jesus said, and the story tells us that “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” (6:66) What we learn from this story is that anyone can start out as a disciple, but to remain one, you must wrestle with hard teachings.
This Sunday we will learn about the education portion of our new building plans and consider what it means to make room in our thinking. This is a significant aspect to faith development. Our world doesn’t need more convicted believers who stick to their ideas no matter what. We need more people of faith willing to think, be tested in their beliefs, and be open to the thinking and beliefs of others that can sharpen our own ideas.
This is who we’ve always been and it’s part of the way St. Luke’s makes a difference.
And there’s a statue downtown to prove it.