40, is a long long time

40, it’s a good number, it is a Biblical number.  In the Biblical tradition, 40 means a long, long time.  Thus it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days.  It’s not an exact time — but a long, long time.  2026 will mark the 40th Anniversary that Nancy and I have been married and we will celebrate with a cruise to Antarctica with our friends Doug and Kathy Johns.  But today also marks another 40.  And it has been a long, long time!

On November 11th, 1985 Stewart Wesley Conger, 23 years old at the time, crossed the summit and into the promised land after a long and gallant battle with esophageal cancer.  I remember the day as if it were yesterday.  

I was in my final semester at Duke Divinity School and serving as a student pastor at the Richfield and New Mt Tabor UMCs in rural western North Carolina.  November 11th was a Monday.  How do I remember that?  On the 9th, I was hosting a youth lock in at the parsonage. And it was that late afternoon that I received a collect phone call from my father. (Anybody remember when it cost an arm and a leg to call long distance — let alone a long distance collect call). Who gets a collect call from their father?

Needless to say, it wasn’t a good call.  I was told that if I wanted to see Stewart alive, I needed to head home.  I had youth at my house, and a sermon to preach in the morning at my two churches.  I called Nancy, we were dating at the time, and did my best to get through the evening.  At church the next morning, I told the good folks of Richfield and New Mt Tabor that I was leaving and didn't know if I would be back.

Nancy’s mom Sue had driven her out to Richfield that morning for church. As soon as the second service was over, we climbed into my car and headed North.  I had been up all night, and was emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted.  Richfield to Downers Grove was a good 13+ hour drive.  We made it to around Frankfort Kentucky and I was spent, I couldn’t go any further.  We stopped to call home (no cell phones) and my dad said: stop and sleep because he is not going to make it much longer.  We found a cheap hotel (didn’t have any money either) and crashed.  At 3 am I was awakened and told Nancy we had to go, NOW!  We got back in the car and drove the remaining 6ish hours arriving to find the family gathered around Stewart’s bed, he died shortly after we arrived.

40 years, so much has changed, at times it seems like forever ago, other times it feels like yesterday because the grief is so palatable.  How different life would be if Stewart had lived, and yet, in many ways, my life changed because of Stewart.  His death gave me a new perspective on life.  I am certain that my life would have been very different without that transformation that he gave me.  I have said this before, but as I get older I am more convinced of this — I never would have lasted in ministry as long without his death.  His death changed the way I saw life, and the ways that I could share that life with others.  

40 years, now my dad has joined Stewart in that cosmic joining with God.  I have lived almost 2 of his lifetimes since he died — how can that be?

I am so thankful that I get to spend today with my mom.  We often talk about Stewart, we both miss his laugh and smile.  I wonder how his children would have fit into this wonderful Conger collective family.  I think Stewart’s death helped us all to see the value in keeping the family close; and we love to gather together for meals, travel and simply life.  Not just our girls and my mom, but Scott, Joette and their children and grandchildren.  Life is truly good.

After Stewart died, I gathered my dad’s sermons together to help us all grieve.  We needed some marker to help us through this time.  He took what I wrote and expanded upon it and put together a beautiful book called Don’t Worry Dad, Everything is Okay.  I sat down and reread it again.  The book is actually available from Amazon (for a ridiculous price), but I have copies if anyone wants one just let me know.  They do no good just sitting in a box in my house.

I still see Stewart’s smile (and his smirk) and I miss his laughter and his joy at life.  I was never as free and easy with life as he was, but he taught me to loosen up and enjoy life a little.  It is a lesson that is serving me well in retirement.  He would have loved our class B RV, he would have borrowed it often I am sure.  Thank you Stewart for still being with me, for teaching me about life, for showing me what love is and for being there to welcome dad.  40 years is a long time, and I will miss you until the day I join you.

Oh The Places You Will Go

Oh The Places You Will Go

Glenview UMC 7/6/25

Psalm 30

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

----------------------

Pastor Eun-Hye Choi, I want to thank you for this opportunity to be here this morning.  And especially the opportunity to reflect on a challenging — and polarizing week.

For those of you who don’t know me, I grew up in this church — my father, the Rev. Fred Conger, served as lead pastor here from 1973 - 1981.

My father died in 2021, but my mom Carol is here with us today. As is Scott’s wife Joette.

My wife Nancy is also here, as well as our oldest daughter, Jessica, her husband Sam and our beloved grandchildren Hattie and Jude.

We have two other daughters Lindsey and her husband Alex live in Portland, OR

And Haley, and her husband Jonathan, live in Peoria IL along with our newest grand-daughter Iris who was born 7 weeks ago at 2 ½ lbs, but is gearing up to come home from the hospital in the next few weeks.

When I decided to accept my call to ministry, it was this church, in the fall of 1980 or spring of 1981 that recommended me for ministry.  My biggest memory of that night is that it was a cold snowy evening.

When I began the process of seeking ordination in the Northern Illinois conference, it became clear to me that staying in this conference would be a huge challenge.

I decided to pursue my Masters of Divinity at Duke University.  Why?

First, it wasn't Garrett

Nothing against Garrett, my father went there, but he was also teaching in the seminary at the time and a number of faculty called GUMC home.

Second, I wanted to experience a different part of the country, and the south always appealed to me

That was the best decision I ever made.

When it came time to choose a conference, Nancy and I settled on North Indiana, it was close to home, but it wasn’t the south..

Over my ministry I served five churches, one that I started, and one, Munster that I pastored for 17 years.  We ended our ministry at the oldest church in Indianapolis, we celebrated its 200th Anniversary while I was there.  Nancy and I chose to retire in 2022 and have been living in Bloomingdale, IL ever since.

I want to take a stroll back some 50 years ago

50 years ago that was a long time ago, yet it was also a blink of the eye

Our parents were our age (actually they were quite a bit younger than we are today) — that is a weird thought!

And when I go back 50 years, I think about the music that shaped our lives

There were two types of music

The music we listened to at MYF

Bread

America

Eagles

Seals & Croft

The Bee Gees

Good clean stuff

And then there was the music we listened to in our bedrooms and basements

Pink Floyd

Led Zeppelin

Rolling Stones

Queen

Bruce Springsteen

And of course, we were still listening to the Beatles

But that wasn't the only musical influence on us.  There was also, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Charlie Brown and the musicals that were put on here at the church that many of us had a hand in one way or another

My singing debut took place in the fellowship hall for South Pacific (and ended there!)

That music defined us in many ways — and in many ways I believe it continues to bind us together

50 years ago, I sat in those pews, listening to my father, or Tom Harmon or Steve Howland preach.

Many of us were here every Sunday morning

I know that if I hadn’t shown up at church yet, Jim White, Jeff Aten, or Steve Harr would stroll into the parsonage next door — walk up the stairs to my bedroom and get me out of bed

Now the truth is — very few of us go to this church anymore — and many of us don’t go to any church anymore.

I have always pondered why that is — and I certainly have my guesses.

50 years ago we did come

And if we weren't here for Sunday morning worship — you can bet that we were at Youth Group Sunday night in the basement of the old chapel.

The YOUTH CENTER as we called it.

Heck, we all had keys to the building

And if not, we knew how to get in

Having pastored churches for 40 years, I am amazed at the free reign that we had at this church.

And I say that as a testimony to this church

They trusted us

EVEN WHEN WE DIDN’T LIVE UP TO THAT TRUST

That is a truth that I hope is never forgotten

It was our home — a safe haven!

Sure, we were all being pulled in a million directions

Sports

Band

Theater

Debate

YET, we all made, as did our families,--- we made the youth group a priority in our lives.

The retreats

Mission trips

Lock-ins

And of course the (unofficial) New Year’s Eve parties

I remember quite a few at the Buchholz home

And then there was a Christmas time reunion for a number of years, until we all started drifting away to the places we had to go.

47 years ago, I graduated from Glenbrook South, and as I left for college — my theme song was the breakout hit from Bruce Springsteen — because yes, I was Born to Run.

And I took off

I rarely came home, because I had places to go

This was way before Dr Seuss’, now classic book: Oh, The Places You Will Go was published (1990)

But his words rang true:

Congratulations today is your day 

You're off to great places 

you're off and away

you have brains in your head 

you have feet in your shoes 

you can steer yourself any direction you choose 

You're on your own and you know what you know

and you are the guy who will decide where to go

I never imagined the places that I would go, as I imagine many of you didn’t either

I have traveled all over the world

Israel in many ways has become a second home, having traveled well over 20 times to that beautiful, yet tragic place — and I am pining to go back soon

We work in retirement with a travel ministry that helps make the holy places accessible to people in an educational way.  While working in Tiberias welcoming new pilgrims to their hotel, I ran into Vicky Burklach Schauer — I don't think I had seen her in 40 years.  Crazy

After we retired, we bought a 21 foot class B RV — A campervan — and are crisscrossing the country exploring the beauty (and ugliness) of our land.

What I love about Dr Seuss’ simple story is that while it is a story full of hope — it is also a story full of truth.

He reminds us:

You'll be best of the best wherever you go 

you will top all the rest except when you don't 

because sometimes you won't 

i'm sorry to say but sadly it's true 

that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you 

you can get all hung up in a prickly perch 

and your gang will fly on 

you'll be left in a lurch

Every one of us gathered here knows that bang-up and hang-ups do indeed happen.

Life has happened to us — the good, the bad, and the ugly

Most of us have lost at least one parent.

Too many of us have lost siblings or spouses, or most tragically children.

Jobs didn’t go the way we wanted

Relationships fractured

But for me, something happened

And I hope the same is true for you

As the Psalmist said in our reading this morning:

You changed my mourning into dancing.

    You took off my funeral clothes

        and dressed me up in joy

    so that my whole being

    might sing praises to you and never stop.

Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

You turned my mourning into dancing.

Part of what happened is reconnecting with all of you.

Last year, as we gathered for our reunion, one of the words that was used over and over again was that our time in the youth group was a “magical one”.  

My parents always referred to their eight years in Glenview as their Camelot.  

And as I look back — i can understand

It was indeed a mystical, magical time, and we need to recognize how blessed we are because of it!

Not for the past, but for the possibilities in the future.

I could, and some of you maybe wish I would, stop right here.

We could all sing Kum By Yah and go home happy

But if I did, I would neglect the Gospel — and would affirm why so many of my peers, and our children no longer go to church.

Friday we celebrated the 249th birthday of our country.  

Two things took place this past week that have deeply disquieted my soul.

First was the opening of Alligator Alcatraz in Florida

According to many experts

This facility’s purpose fits the classic mode of a concentration camp: mass civilian detention without real trials targeting vulnerable groups for political gain based on ethnicity, race, religion or political affiliation rather than for crimes committed.

I don’t know if that concerns you, but as a Christian, we should be concerned anytime that the least and the vulnerable are at further risk.

Father James Martin wrote last week:

Laughing in front of cages designed to hold migrants and refugees, many of whom came to this country fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and hoping to raise their children in a more compassionate country. And many of whom followed all the legal procedures to enter the country. And remember, 93% have no record of any violent crimes. This facility, then, is comparable to the internment camps for Japanese Americans during the Second World War. But let's call it what it is: a concentration camp. Jesus wept.

The bible is pretty clear on how we are to treat the immigrant amongst us — and mass incarceration or deportant are not the biblical mandate.

And to open this on the weekend when we proclaim: 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Christian or not, it seems like we should be concerned.

But secondly, and even more concerning was the passing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. 

And let me be perfectly clear.  This bill will benefit me — immensely — and it will benefit, probably everyone gathered here today.

But I have to ask myself — at what cost?

Jesus reminded us of this question when he asked: “Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?’ Mark 8:36 CEB

This bill provides huge tax cuts, especially for the higher earners

• Increases the defense budget by an additional $150 billion

• Increases the funding for ICE from $10 billion to more than $100 billion by 2029, making it the single most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government

The funding of these huge tax cuts, massive increases to ICE  — come at what cost?

The Congressional Budget office estimates that the bill will increase the deficit by $3.3 TRILLION 

At the same time it would decrease $1.2 trillion in federal spending, primarily from Medicaid

How does this truly benefit me?  

Or my children or grand-children?

Is more money in my bank account worth it?

Jesus NEVER said to us:

Feed the hungry only if they have papers

Clothe the naked only if they are from your country.

Help the poor only if it is convenient

Love your neighbor only if they look like you

Jesus tells us to LOVE — with no asterisk attached

The church needs to stand up for Jesus!

Stand up for the oppressed and marginalized

Stand up for each other

I am rather pessimistic about the future of this country that I love — but the one thing that I have learned 

if we stand together 

If we stand for love 

If we stand for justice 

I am convinced —  we can change the world.