Oh The Places You Will Go
Glenview UMC 7/6/25
Psalm 30
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
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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.
