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It's been nearly five years since the death of Michelle Witmer.

What is Our Destiny? - Adopted for Great Things - Ephesians 1: 3-10 - November 9, 2008 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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It's been nearly five years since the death of Michelle Witmer. You may remember that she and her two sisters enlisted in the Wisconsin National Guard, and were shipped to Iraq. Early in 2004, Michelle became the first National Guardswoman to be killed in combat. Her death made America aware of these three sisters who stepped forward together for combat duty. After Michelle's death, her sister Charity explained it this way: "We all wanted to be part of something bigger. We wanted to make our mark, and joining the Army gave us a window into that. Maybe it was only a difference in just a few peoples' lives, but we were able to do that."

This week on Veteran's Day we honor brave and dedicated people like the Witmer sisters, who gave their life to "something bigger." Many people here this morning made that choice as well, serving in the Armed Forces with sacrifice and devotion, and we'd like to recognize them now. 1'd like to invite those who have served, or are serving, in the Armed Forces of our nation to stand and receive our appreciation. Thank you.

"We all wanted to be part of something bigger," said Charity Witmer. And for her and her sisters, that meant joining the Guard. Others look for other ways to transcend themselves. I couldn't help but feel admiration for the people who stood in Phoenix or in Chicago this week, and listened to their candidate for President of the United States respond to the election -- one group listening to a very gracious and eloquent concession speech, and another listening to a powerful victory speech. Those rooms filled with people who have given hours and hours of blood, sweat, and tears to something bigger, than themselves. And every one of us who voted are part of that as well.

Especially hopeful is the number of young people at those rallies. Much of what you read these days is not so flattering for the young. We hear about a generation of young people on the rise who have been pampered and indulged with the idea that this culture is here to serve their needs, instead of the reality that they must take responsibility for the culture - ready to contribute and even to sacrifice. Our soon-to-be President has already begun to challenge us all to think in terms of sacrifice and service.

I believe that is tying into a very deep and significant need in our society. What we discover is that if we build our world around our own individual selves, that turns out to be a mighty small world. If the extent of our universe is our own happiness, our own entertainment, our own significance - then the universe is a tiny place. A universe that tiny can't possibly fill the vast searching hunger that is part of a human spirit. No wonder so many people feel so spiritually destitute; and have such a longing for a bigger purpose.

A couple years back, The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren, was on top of the bestseller lists for a long time. Obviously, there was some great marketing, especially through churches. But also, Warren hit a raw nerve with the assurance that we are here for a reason. That's a message we long to hear: We are not just a collection of molecules, or an accident of evolution. Each one of us has a purpose, a destiny.

And all around us, we see ways that people are longing for uniqueness - some way to stand out in the crowd - whether it's naming a child with a totally original name, having a star named after you, going out and getting a striking tattoo, getting fifteen minutes of fame on American Idol, or putting something attention-getting on your Facebook. Sports fans are familiar with this longing. It happened at a Mets game I attended this year. There's thirty thousand people cheering, and suddenly, some fan jumps out onto the field. Everybody knows that that is not going to be a good experience for that person. Everybody also knows that probably great quantities of eight-dollar-a-glass beer is involved. But I think it's also that same hunger I've been talking about. It's like it suddenly becomes unbearable just to be part of that crowd, and someone thinks, This is going to be humiliating; I'm going to go to jail; I'm going to lose a lot of money; my mother's going to disown me. But I've got to run out on the field and get noticed!

People are longing for some way to be significant. The ironic paradox that so many people don't grasp is that that kind of individual significance that they long for can only be found when the focus turns away from themselves to something bigger. And we here today stand in a tradition that has found that ultimately, the way to truly discover your purpose on this earth is to seek out the God who designed it, and to align your destiny with the great project that God is pursuing in this world. .

And so what I would like to do in the next few sermons is visit one of the people who stated with great confidence where we can look to understand our destiny on earth - and that person is the writer of the Letter to the Ephesians. And as we saw in today's lesson ­from Ephesians 1, he or she wastes no time getting right to the issue of destiny.

For example, Ephesians 1: 3 says that: God has "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." Think about that phrase "blessed in the heavenly places." What could it mean? Think about the vastness of the universe with endless stars and galaxies. We humans haven't even begun to realize the extent of it.

Yet God has blessed us - you and me - 'in the heavenly places.' Could it be that even with the vastness of infinite space to command His attention, God is most mindful of you and me right here on this tiny planet Earth? We look at ourselves next to the universe and think, "I'm nothing here." God looks at the us next to the universe and says to us, "You' re everything. All this is for you. Through my Son, I have blessed you in the heavenly places," The majesty and awesomeness of the universe is only a reminder of the glory of your place in God's heart - in God's plan.

Then Ephesians 1 says that "(God) chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world .. ," So now we can consider the vastness of time -- the evolution of life taking millions of years; the geological formation of the earth taking thousands of millions of years. Who knows what took place before that. But before any of it, God chose you. You might say, "No, I'm just a blip in time - a few decades in the whole scheme of things." Don't believe it: You were chosen before the foundation of the world. God saw you coming light years away, says the writer of Ephesians. You were destined.

Well, destined how? The writer of Ephesians uses this phrase: "(God) destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ. .. " Last week Jack referred in his sermon to adoption as having that extra feature of being chosen. My parents had no choice - they had to keep me. But those of you who are adopted were chosen by your parents. What a beautiful thing. But we're all adopted by God. That's just who God is - it's our destiny to be a child of God because of God's infinite loving heart. That's why at a time of struggle and exile and fear, Second Isaiah wrote to the children of Israel these words in Isaiah 43, verses 1-4: "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you ... he who formed you ... Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you ... when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned ... For I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, your Savior ... because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you."

If you've ever felt like a tiny blip in time, or an insignificant particle in this vast universe; if you've ever felt like your moment to shine would never come; if you've ever concluded that your life will come and go and disappear without meaning beneath the sands of time within a couple generations - then the writer to the Ephesians invites you to rethink. You have a destiny written in heavenly places. You were chosen for great things before the very foundation of the world. You are adopted as a child of God through Christ, and even winning American Idol can't compare to that.

Many years ago I saw her walk into the little country church I was serving at the time. I don't know that anyone ever got her full story, but it was clear that she had been beaten down - physically, emotionally, spiritually. She couldn't look anybody in the eye; she spoke in barely audible tones. The arms of Jesus embraced her through the church. over many months on into years, she was befriended and encouraged, and told and shown in dozens of ways, over and over again, that she was not a nobody. She was adopted by God, His beloved child, and destined for great things. By the first time she helped prepare Communion, she had begun to speak with confidence. By the first time she prepared and delivered a meal for someone who was sick, she was holding her head higher. By the first time she prayed in front of a Bible study, she was already a leader.

That's a transformation I have witnessed in the Church dozens and dozens of times. This is why we are here. It is who we are. Yes, it's more traditional to say that our message is about eternal salvation. But eternal salvation is not just something off in the future someplace. Eternal salvation is the beautiful transformation that begins the moment it dawns on someone that she or he is a child of God, created in a beautiful image, restored through the love of Jesus, and destined for great things.

You can talk about great forces of nature, or about nuclear reactions. You can talk about generators that send electricity hundreds of miles away, or rocket fuel that can blast a craft into outer space. But there is no power greater than a person who has discovered that he or she is a child of God-given destiny, and who has begun to live with confidence and strength. That's who you are; don't let anything or anybody tell you different.