We live in Carmel, Indiana where we moved from the northwest Chicago suburbs on Labor Day, 1982. Well, to be exact, I moved here then and Janet, along with the kids, moved here on Halloween weekend later that fall. Carmel was a town of under 20,000, a suburb north of Indianapolis. We moved here for the education system and the fact that there was an easy commute to work and a fantastic tennis club. But that’s a different story.
Since then, Carmel has grown as a result of the vision of a friend of mine, Mayor Jim Brainard. Jim is finally retiring after almost 30 years as the mayor and is being replaced by another friend of ours, Sue Finkam. It has been a joy to watch Carmel attract talent and grow to approximately 100,000 residents. Furthermore, we are the roundabout capital of the nation (we have more than 150 and counting) and have been voted the best small city in America numerous times. It’s been a great experience to live here.
We are quite progressive as a city. We have the Palladium for concerts and the arts, a vibrant downtown area, wonderful corporate headquarters, terrific medical facilities and many sister city relationships around the world. Seven years ago, the city decided to start a Christmas market, the Carmel Christkindlmarkt, and it is patterned after the European holiday markets, especially from Germany.
It has been exciting to see it grow year after year and this year, for the fourth time in a row, it was voted the best Christmas Market in the U.S. Janet and I made our annual visit there this afternoon and enjoyed the relatively warm weather as we visited the booths filled with vendors, watched the skaters on the ice, the food stands and just watched the people having a great time.
Each year I am transported back to when I was 17 and spent a summer in the Bavarian Alps, living in a small town named Pfronten, Germany. I worked during the week and travelled on the weekends, taking in as much as I could. It was the trip of a lifetime… seeing castles and the Passion Play in Oberammergau, the Alps and the cross country train rides.
Back then, I could never have expected that towns like Pfronten would someday appear each December in my backyard – with their beer steins, cuckoo clocks and food specialities. I remember living with Frau and Herr Haf, my hosts who rented me a room on the 3rd floor of their home overlooking the mountains. I travelled but didn’t understand the global community the way I do now. And every year, I remember with fondness my travels around southern Germany.
My horizons have been expanded. The woodcarvers I used to be fascinated by now travel to Carmel to sell their wares and demonstrate their skills. The special foods I recall as a teenager during the summer of 1970 are now served each December 10 minutes from our home. It really is quite remarkable.
Janet and I have even started a tradition of purchasing lace works of art to add to our Christmas decorations each year. We bought three more today. But the real value of the Market is the idea of crossing the divide between our nations and understanding different cultures. Just like we have done with all the sister city relationships Carmel now enjoys.
Our verse tonight comes from Luke’s book of “The Acts of the Apostles”, the first New Testament book following the four Gospels. Acts tells us about the beginning of the New Testament church and how the early church grew in numbers and influence. In the 17th chapter, Dr. Luke tells us about the population of the earth and how we are to live together.
Luke tells us, in Acts 17:26-28, “and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, athough He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’”
There is a lesson in there for all of us. We are not alone and are made to dwell together. My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to reach out and legally embrace other cultures. My prayer is that with the world in such disarray, we can help bridge the divide and add reason to a seemingly impossible global situation. After all, who would have thought that my travels more than half a century ago would come full circle to a little town named Carmel, in the middle of the cornfields of Indiana. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…