Scripture Reading: Psalm 34, Page 396

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. 21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

This past week City Church Pastor Wendell Smith and I attended our 35-year high school class reunion. It was my first reunion of either High School or College. I suppose there were 125 out of our class of 540 present. About 200 were listed as whereabouts unknown.

Before the reunion Wendell and I decided to go by the school. It was all locked up except for some construction work. We went inside and walked around in the dark. Finally a custodian found us and kindly kicked us out after Wendell mistakenly asked for permission to walk around. We went around the whole building but found all the doors locked. We walked out on the football field, now with artificial turf, and recounted our botched plans when we could have been hero’s but weren’t. I think between us we scored four varsity touchdowns. Then we stood again at the locked doors looking in. A man in work clothes came from inside the building and saw us standing there. Without a word ever spoken, he opened the door and turned and walked away. It seemed to us to have been an angel in disguise. We followed closely behind him until we arrived at the gym where we wanted to go. He disappeared in one direction and we in the other.

I wanted to see my name on some of the trophies but a fire in the early eighties had burned up all my temporal awards like so much wood, hay and stubble. It was as though history had begun 14 years after we had left. After trying every door inside we finally made it into the gym via the girls locker room. The locker room had lost its High School allure. Once inside the gym the familiar smell took us back thirty-five years. I remembered speeches made, successful elections, games played, and songs sung. I recalled my baccalaureate service in that gym where a Catholic priest had preached a pure salvation message on being born again.

I told Wendell that I didn’t want to go to jail for breaking and entering. I said walk fast and look like you know where you are going. We looked official, and it was working, until we met the same custodian who had kicked us out before. This time he said he had to lock up so we would have to leave. We had a pleasant conversation where we admitted we were preachers and the three of us lamented together that kids today were not what they used to be. As we parted he admitted that he was a screw-up in high school. He tells kids now that they should not be a screw-up like he was because now God was punishing him by making him a custodian in a high school. We figured the fear of God was the beginning of wisdom, so we left it at that and headed for the car.

As I walked into the reunion room at the hotel I was greeted by the list of those who were no longer with us. The only kid in the school who was faster than me was gone, as was the biggest kid. Probably the best skier was on the list. The Senior Class President had not been with us for over 30 years. I stared at the young faces by some of the names and reflected on the fact that youth is not a guarantee of life.

I wondered if someone had built Cedar Park Counseling Network in Beaverton instead of Bothell how many of those kids would still be alive. Untreated depression and other psychological disorders probably took several on that list. Larry McKee in particular had shaken me to the core. I remembered his powerful thighs that carried him around the end and across the goal. He covered center field with ease to save my pitching. Disease ended up greater than power. I didn’t know but I hoped he was in heaven.

Nobody that I talked to had more grandkids than me. I was still married to the same woman so all the kids and grandkids were just ours. It made me appreciate the power of the Gospel and all the teaching about successful family life and the blessing of children. The first girl I ever kissed (in the fifth grade) was there with her husband. They had struggled to have a family. They spoke of faith and the blessing of the children they were able to adopt.

I chatted a while with the long-haired kid whose bangs had touched his eyebrows resulting in him being sent home to get it cut. Now it was short and crisp and still blond. I wondered if he dyed it. I thought about Cedar Park Christian School where our dress code is about like it was for the long-haired kid and me.

A few weeks ago a man told me that he attended High School at the Sisters of Perpetual Pain and Misery. I want Cedar Park Christian High School to be a place with rules without being negative or harsh. I want the kids to toe the line but also remembering that this is only a moment in their lives. If they get disciplined, I hope it will be with the gentle reflection that one day, if they’re lucky, they will be as old as me.

My freshman English teacher, Mary Paulson, came up and said hello. She was probably 22 back then and I was in her first class. One day she asked the class, “What have we learned this semester?” I blurted out that it would take a semester to recount. Almost instantly thereafter I was standing in the hall waiting for a private session with the new teacher. We had fun remembering those days. I was in Junior High before I had a teacher who was not a Christian and a senior before I had a poorly educated teacher.

I do the last interview on teacher hires for our school. I don’t try to assess their academics or teaching credentials. Others do that. I really want to know only two things. Is this a person of genuine faith and what would it be like to be cooped up in a room for several hours every day with this person. If they are boring with no life, we don’t want them teaching in this school. The memory of a bad teacher lingers long but the blessing of a good one last a lifetime.

At the reunion, one girl said I helped her get a good grade because she secretly competed with me. (It reminded me of my first car. With all 32 horsepower I raced people off the line and they never knew I was racing!) Another girl said she got her worst High School grade in the Geometry class because I sat behind her and wouldn’t stop talking. I guess no matter how old you get the whining never ceases.

My confidence in God was greatly increased by the people I met. Some had lost years of their lives to drugs and alcohol. In many cases their faces looked like scorecards on which the lost years had been recorded. I went feeling a little old. I came home feeling quite young. Several spoke of coming to faith through the challenges they had with addictions. It had seemed like fun for a while, but reality came thundering down on them and they had the sense to turn to the Lord and begin a new life. I saw the grace of God in so many lives.

Others seemed like they had learned nothing in 35 years. It was still about drinking and partying. The pain was obviously rising, their ship sinking, but the band played on. Hopefully they will find a safe harbor before it is too late. One man’s guilt and pain was so great he couldn’t even look me in the eye.

Probably a quarter to a third of those present had come to faith in Christ. Most of the class leaders were now active leaders in their churches. Our football team could now field a backfield with three bible-believing preachers. Oscar Stenberg, football captain and most inspirational player, got saved and has started a Christian school. The fourth man in the backfield is an active layman.

The reunion was a great experience. Thirty-five years have passed. Now in a matter of moments, the life journey gets telescoped. The consequences of old choices are crystal clear. Was I going to be president in 2004 and, if so, would I remember my promise to let him hunt in the national parks? One friend wondered why everyone couldn’t have talked like this in High School. Old rejections were still poking his heart after all this time. Time must not heal everything.

There was a surprising openness to the witness of the Gospel. Most of us had lived long enough to be a little humbled and more open to what is eternal. It gave me hope.

I came away feeling like every moment is a holy moment. This right now is a holy moment. We will never be together like this again. An opportunity lost probably can’t be recovered. It cannot be like it was because time marches on. Even so, we cannot let it be like two trains passing in the night, so close, but never making contact.

I pray that God will help us see who we really are. May he telescope our past and future so that we can contemplate the decisions of this moment! We are all on a one-way journey. We all have a story to tell about the past and every one of them is interesting. Yet this moment is holy and can be a transforming moment.

Some of the winners in High School turned out to be losers and losers turned out to be winners. It reminds us that truly nothing about the past really determines the future because holy moments can change everything.