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Pastor Andrew Riggs Pastor Riggs was born in Dover, OH and raised in New Philadelphia. He majored in History at Capitol University in Bexley, just outside of Columbus, OH, and later attended Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA. He served as pastor from 1993 to 1997 at Zion Lutheran Stone Creek and Salem Evanscreek Lutheran, was in the US Navy from 1997 to 2001 and was in the US Army from 2001 to 2007. He was married on June 3, 1990. His hobbies include golf, music, firefighting, and he is the Chaplain of the Magnolia Fire Department. He enjoys reading Clive Cussler and some science fiction novels. He also likes listening to light jazz music, and his favorite color is red. He has travelled most of the Earth's Northen Hemisphere except for India eastward to the Phillipines. |
FROM
THE PASTOR SEPT
2011 Last
night, I attended a regular meeting of the fire department I belong to. We
discussed some applications of people who want to join the department. I
began thinking about my first time I became a member of a fire department,
was given fire gear, and received an alerter/ pager. I remember being so
excited and anxious for that first call to come so I could put my training
to use I could say that I was really a firefighter. Because of where I
lived at the time, just a across the street from the fire station, I
wanted to be the first one to the station and one of the first ones on the
truck. I was so anxious that I wanted to get to the scene even faster than
the truck could take me. Not that I wanted us to be unsafe and reckless in
getting to the scene, it was just inside myself I was wanting so much to
get to the scene to do whatever needed to be done. My adrenaline was super
charged when the alarm went off and I wanted to be part of the first crew
in very badly. Today,
I live several miles and minutes away from the fire department I belong
to. Because of my position serving two churches so far away from each
other, I am not always able to respond to as many emergencies as I would
like. I have come to realize that my role, though similar to when I was
certified by Ohio, is as a support to the others, especially as a
chaplain. When I lived in the other community near the fire station and
also the pastor of two churches, though just within the village, I was
considered one of the inside crew since I was one of four who were
available during the day. Today, when the alarm is sounded, I still want
to respond to the emergency but I am not as anxious as before. If I make
the first truck, that’s fine. If I don’t make it or have to just wait in
the station to help clean up when the others return, that’s also fine. If
the alarm goes off while several others are at the station, I don’t rush
to gear up to beat them to the truck. Instead, since they are younger and
have the excitement I once had, they can go on the truck --- I will
respond if I am needed later. It is
so exciting to await one’s first time to hear and respond to an emergency
alarm. But one has to remember that each of us on the fire department or
other emergency service has a particular role to fulfill. I realize my
role today is more support, especially outside support than years ago when
they wanted me to be a first responder. There are younger persons who are
physically more capable than I to be the first in for fires. As much as I
want to do more as in the years past, I have entered a new stage as a
firefighter and need to accept this fact. Within
the Church, a similar thing happens. Those who are confirmed as youth or
even baptized as adults, even those newly ordained to the ministry, have
that new excitement to go out into the world to change it in accordance to
what they learned in Christian education. They so much want to do all they
can to shape their community and the world into what they learned God
wants it to be. Unfortunately, those who have been Christians and/or
pastors for quite some time can be the roadblock to the new ones. We have
moved past that original excitement to a point of contentment and maybe
even of a state of “what’s the use.”
We start saying no to new ideas or to new ways of doing things
either because we say that in our current positions we don’t want to put
any effort into such things because we can’t or are tired. But the truth
is probably our excitement is gone so why bother. As we grow older, our
roles within the Church and Christianity do change. Our attitudes have
also changed, not necessarily for the better. I realize my role as a
chaplain in the fire department is to support those more capable than
myself to serve as first responders. Our roles in the Church as members
with more years of experience should be the supporters, guides, and
sponsors to those new to the faith and also new to the ministry. They see
things a little differently than we do. They will experience things a
little differently than we have because it is a different time. Our adrenaline and excitement may
not be as it once was, but we can still be excited about our faith. We can
still be excited about a God who loves us so much that He forgives us and
blesses us even when we don’t deserve it. We can be excited by a God who
loves us so much that He allowed His own Son to be tortured, insulted, and
killed by us on behalf of us. We can be excited about a God who continues
to this day to watch out for and be with us through all of life’s
challenges. Our roles may have changed but we should still have excitement
about our faith. I am still excited to be a part of the fire department,
to be a certified fire fighter, and to respond when I can to emergencies.
I pray that I never lose the excitement for either the fire department or
more importantly, my faith in God through Christ. I pray you also won’t
lose your excitement either. May God always fill us with His love to
recharge our excitement in Him. After all, He has not lost His excitement
for us.
In God’s Peace,
PR
A
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