As I write this, there is a stranger in the library. Ok, maybe “stranger” is a little too strong. There is an alumnus in the library, a guy named Bryan. Bryan was here at University Lutheran back in the 1990’s under Pastor Tom Dohrman. Bryan is himself a pastor at a church in Virginia now, and he’s taking a sabbatical. On his sabbatical, Bryan wanted to connect back up with his spiritual roots — and this place was a place where he felt that reconnection is happening. So he is sitting in the library, reflecting on his own ministry and God’s plans for him.
Bryan is a great example of what University Lutheran can mean for students. In the hymn “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” there is a lyric that goes, “here I raise my ebenezer”, that normally makes people pause and ask “what on earth is an ebenezer?” In 1 Samuel 7, Samuel takes a stone and places it as a remembrance of how God helps the Israelites defeat the Philistines. An “ebenezer” is literally a “stone of help”. It is a memorial to God’s work in our lives.
Over in the next room, Bryan is visiting this “ebenezer” erected at 925 W. Jefferson St. that he has not seen in quite some time. You may get to visit it every Sunday. But the effect is the same – this place is a memorial to where God helps His people by gathering us together around Word and Sacrament to experience his forgiveness and grace. This place is not the only such memorial. There may be other churches or places that are meaningful to you as well – but whatever place comes to mind when you think if an “ebenezer,” the place may be different but the God is the same.
Take some time today and reflect on those “ebenezers” in your life, the memorial places that remind you of how God has helped you. Do that not just to remember those times in the past, but also to remember that the same God who helped you in those times past is the God who is present in your life today.