“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also . . . . But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:19-21, 33).

A number of years ago, a story appeared concerning a man in Los Angeles named Larry Waters. Larry was not the kind of guy to just sit around. His boyhood dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. When he was finally discharged, he had to satisfy himself with watching jets fly over his backyard.

One day, Larry, brightened up. He decided to fly. He went to the local Army-Navy surplus store and purchased 45 weather balloons and several tanks of helium. The weather balloons, when fully inflated, measured more than four feet across. Back home, Larry securely strapped the balloons to his sturdy lawn chair. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons with the helium. He climbed on for a test while it was still only a few feet above the ground.

Satisfied that it would work, Larry packed several sandwiches and a six-pack of his favorite brew. He loaded his pellet gun, figuring he could pop a few balloons when it was time to descend. He then went back to the floating lawn chair where he tied himself in along with his pellet gun and provisions. Larry’s plan was to lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his backyard after severing the anchor and in a few hours come back down.

Things didn’t quite work out for Larry. When he cut the cord anchoring the lawn chair to his jeep, he didn’t float lazily up to 30 feet or so. Instead, he streaked into the LA sky as if shot from a cannon. He didn’t level off at 30 feet, nor did he level off at 100 feet. After climbing and climbing, Larry leveled off at 11,000 feet. At that height, he couldn’t risk shooting any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So, he stayed there, drifting cold and frightened for more than 14 hours when he found himself in the primary approach corridor of the Los Angeles airport.

A Pan Am pilot first spotted Larry. He radioed the tower and described passing a guy in a lawn chair with a gun. Radar confirmed the existence of an object floating 11,000 feet above the airport. LAX emergency procedures swung into full alert and a helicopter was dispatched to investigate.

LAX is right on the ocean. Night was falling and the offshore breeze began to flow. It carried Larry out to sea. Right on Larry’s heels was the helicopter. Several miles out, the helicopter caught up with Larry. Once the crew determined that Larry was not dangerous, they attempted to close in for a rescue but the draft from the helicopter blades would push Larry away whenever they neared. Finally, the helicopter ascended to a position several hundred feet above Larry and lowered a rescue line. Larry snagged the line, with which he was hauled back to shore. It was a difficult maneuver, but flawlessly executed by the helicopter crew.

As soon as Larry was back on earth, he was arrested by waiting members of the LA Police Department for violating LAX airspace. As he was led away in handcuffs, a reporter dispatched to cover the daring rescue, asked him why he had done it. Larry stopped, turned and replied nonchalantly, “A man can’t just sit around.”

While Larry might not have been gifted with a whole lot of common sense, there is a lesson to learn from him. “A man just can’t sit around!” The problem is how we interpret that statement. To often, not sitting around, has everything to do with society and our daily lives and not with our spiritual life in the church. Too often, and this comes to us by nature, we are more concerned about storing up treasures for ourselves on earth where moth and rust destroy instead of storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven where they are eternal.

September is upon us. We have a new office building in the process of being built which brings with it a commitment from every member of Trinity. In October we will be collecting nominations for church officer elections. We are always in need of ushers and greeters. We need responsible parents bringing their children to Sunday School, youth group meetings and activities, and confirmation classes. The adult choir is looking for new members, especially female voices. Volunteer helpers will be needed in many capacities, from pot-luck dinners to decorating the Christmas tree—and taking it down again. Every church, Trinity included, has too many members who just want to sit around, who lack the common sense to realize a church can’t run on its own—that God wants its members to take ownership and work together.

What is the motivation for this “not sitting around”? It is Jesus not sitting around in heaven doing nothing while mankind was dying in its sin. When we were still enemies of God, He took upon Himself our salvation. He became man while still God. He did what we could not do. This didn’t entail a ridiculous stunt of being hauled 11,000 feet up into the air in a lawn chair. It was the awesome descent of the God/Man into the depths of hell to pay for all of mankind’s sin on the cross. It wasn’t about us snagging at a rescue line hoping to be saved. It was about God grabbing us out of the muck and mire and hauling us to the shores of heaven in the flawless execution of His Son on Calvary.

We have been given a free gift of grace. We have the opportunity to share that gift through a unique church in downtown Milwaukee. It doesn’t happen by sitting around. It happens only through the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament to motivate people to get up and work. That means, first of all, a regular commitment to hearing God’s Word and receiving His Sacrament in corporate worship for our forgiveness and the strengthening of faith. It may not seem like the best use of time to the world. It may mean battling with our own sinful self to get up and keep our priorities right, but by God’s grace, we will build treasures in heaven for Christ’s sake, to the glory of God, and for our own sake as well.