One year on the fourth of July our family visited historic Lower Fort Garry, north of Winnipeg. As I bought our tickets at the entrance gate a smiling Parks Canada employee said, “so you decided to spend your holiday with us, eh.” I winced just a little bit at the words, thinking that any red-blooded American would want to be on American soil for Independence Day. But there we were in Canada, and we had a wonderful time on a warm and sunny day. The children learned a great deal about the history of our part of the world. I like visiting outdoor historic sites much more than indoor museums. And I enjoy the occasional trip across the border.
Friday is Canada Day (Fête du Canada). Monday is American Independence Day. Both nations will be celebrating their national heritage and their gaining independence from Great Britain. Our independence was declared in an “in your face” declaration, which John Hancock signed in big bold letters so “King George can read it without his spectacles,” followed by a long war. Canada’s independence was gained through a peaceful act of parliament after long negotiations with Queen Victoria’s government. Together we share this continent, as well as many of the same ideals of freedom, equality, and justice.
Like most, but not all, of the nations of the world we seek divine favor. Psalm 33:12 says, “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” We may sing with gusto the song “God Bless America,” but north of the border they sing “God keep our land, glorious and free!” in their national anthem. And across the pond they sing, “God save the queen.” We all want God’s hand of blessing to rest upon us, and we should pray for this often.
But we should not only seek blessings from heaven but also divine wisdom and guidance. Much as we might like to think that our nation is exceptional among all the nations of the earth, God looks on all the nations of the world and judges them all by the same standards, looking for real freedom, true equality, and justice for all. No nation, not even Israel, is exempt from divine judgment, nor is any nation exempt from divine favor. 2nd Chronicles 7:14 can rightly be interpreted to apply to all nations when the Lord says, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
As the fireworks color the sky this weekend and the star spangled banner passes in parade, let us celebrate our national heritage with humility, seeking God’s face and trusting that he will hear from heaven as we pray. “God bless America! Land that I love! Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above. From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home.”
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
North Star News 06/23/2011
Earlier this month my family took a drive through the countryside. As we drove along we saw beautiful lush foliage, a huge eagle’s nest, goslings following their parents, delicate lady slippers, and hardy lilac bushes. With the wet and cool weather we have been having this year, everything looked so rich and full – and full of life. June is a beautiful month, when the woods and meadows seem to be bursting forth with the energy of new growth. We looked around and thought, “it is good.”
The newness and vibrancy of June are a little reflection of the newness and vibrancy of the first days of creation. Genesis 1 says that after each day of creation, God looked out over what made that day and saw that it was good. The chapter concludes with this statement after the sixth and final day of active creation, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” On a beautiful day in June, before the mosquitoes have come out in full force and after the trees have leafed out and the first flowers of spring have bloomed, we, too, can look at the fields and forests and see that it is very good.
In Genesis 2 it says that on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all he had done. In my mind, I see him sitting back and simply enjoying the beauty and vitality of all that he had made like a man sitting back and watching the sunset after a hard day’s work. In Genesis 2 it also says that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day. For the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the animals on the land it is just another day, but to God and to the human beings he created in his image, it is a day to sit back and reflect on all that God has done for us and give thanks and praise to God. Only the human species is expected to follow the divine example and take time apart for reflection and praise on a weekly basis.
But the wonderful creation God has made is ever singing his praises. Isaiah 44:23 says, “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depth of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!” And, indeed, the whole creation is always praising its creator. Every flower that blooms in the meadow is part of a bouquet for the Lord. Every bird that sings its morning song is praising the One who said “let there be light.” Even some of those parts of nature that we think less wonderful are singing their creator’s praise. Psalm 148:8 includes “fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command” in its invitation to praise the Lord.
During this beautiful month of June won’t you join in the song of all creation and praise the name of the Lord? The last verse of the last psalm invites us to do just that with the words, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!”
The newness and vibrancy of June are a little reflection of the newness and vibrancy of the first days of creation. Genesis 1 says that after each day of creation, God looked out over what made that day and saw that it was good. The chapter concludes with this statement after the sixth and final day of active creation, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” On a beautiful day in June, before the mosquitoes have come out in full force and after the trees have leafed out and the first flowers of spring have bloomed, we, too, can look at the fields and forests and see that it is very good.
In Genesis 2 it says that on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all he had done. In my mind, I see him sitting back and simply enjoying the beauty and vitality of all that he had made like a man sitting back and watching the sunset after a hard day’s work. In Genesis 2 it also says that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day. For the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the animals on the land it is just another day, but to God and to the human beings he created in his image, it is a day to sit back and reflect on all that God has done for us and give thanks and praise to God. Only the human species is expected to follow the divine example and take time apart for reflection and praise on a weekly basis.
But the wonderful creation God has made is ever singing his praises. Isaiah 44:23 says, “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depth of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!” And, indeed, the whole creation is always praising its creator. Every flower that blooms in the meadow is part of a bouquet for the Lord. Every bird that sings its morning song is praising the One who said “let there be light.” Even some of those parts of nature that we think less wonderful are singing their creator’s praise. Psalm 148:8 includes “fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command” in its invitation to praise the Lord.
During this beautiful month of June won’t you join in the song of all creation and praise the name of the Lord? The last verse of the last psalm invites us to do just that with the words, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!”
Thursday, June 16, 2011
North Star News 06/16/2011
When I was a youth my home congregation sang the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” at the beginning every service all summer long. Summer was the Trinity season, as it was called in those good old days, when every service every Sunday was pretty much the same. Since my family never missed a Sunday morning service, it was not long before I had memorized all four stanzas of the opening hymn. It begins “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed Trinity!” And it ends in verse four repeating that phrase “God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”
June 19 is Trinity Sunday this year, so in many of our churches we will be singing this old Trinitarian hymn. The word “trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity is found throughout the New Testament, especially in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In John 16:12 Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” And so, the doctrine of the Trinity was gradually developed to explain what Jesus said about himself (the Son), the Father, and the Holy Spirit. It is reflected in the structure of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and extensively developed in the Athanasian Creed. But its origin is in verses like Matthew 28:19 where we are instructed to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The imagery for the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” is largely from Isaiah 6 where the prophet had a vision of God in all his majesty and glory. This threefold sanctus rang out as cherubim and seraphim and presumably ordinary angels, called out to one another. The voice of the Lord thundered, and when the foundations of the threshold shook, Isaiah’s knees buckled. This was truly shock and awe on a scale such as the prophet had never experienced before. His response was “Woe is me! For I am lost….for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” What a far cry this is from the common image of God as a kindly, old, and - dare I say - feeble grandfather figure. Yet this is the image of God in the Bible, right through to the Book of Revelation. He inspires awe-filled worship and reverence.
There are beautiful new songs that can bring us into a spirit of reverence and awe. Among my favorites are “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love; our God is an awesome God” by Rich Mullins and “Majesty! worship his majesty! Unto Jesus be all glory, power and praise! Majesty, kingdom authority flow from his throne, unto his own, his anthem raise” by Jack Hayford.
In songs old and new, this Sunday will be a great day to worship the Lord God Almighty.
June 19 is Trinity Sunday this year, so in many of our churches we will be singing this old Trinitarian hymn. The word “trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity is found throughout the New Testament, especially in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In John 16:12 Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” And so, the doctrine of the Trinity was gradually developed to explain what Jesus said about himself (the Son), the Father, and the Holy Spirit. It is reflected in the structure of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and extensively developed in the Athanasian Creed. But its origin is in verses like Matthew 28:19 where we are instructed to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The imagery for the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” is largely from Isaiah 6 where the prophet had a vision of God in all his majesty and glory. This threefold sanctus rang out as cherubim and seraphim and presumably ordinary angels, called out to one another. The voice of the Lord thundered, and when the foundations of the threshold shook, Isaiah’s knees buckled. This was truly shock and awe on a scale such as the prophet had never experienced before. His response was “Woe is me! For I am lost….for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” What a far cry this is from the common image of God as a kindly, old, and - dare I say - feeble grandfather figure. Yet this is the image of God in the Bible, right through to the Book of Revelation. He inspires awe-filled worship and reverence.
There are beautiful new songs that can bring us into a spirit of reverence and awe. Among my favorites are “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love; our God is an awesome God” by Rich Mullins and “Majesty! worship his majesty! Unto Jesus be all glory, power and praise! Majesty, kingdom authority flow from his throne, unto his own, his anthem raise” by Jack Hayford.
In songs old and new, this Sunday will be a great day to worship the Lord God Almighty.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
North Star News 06-09-2011
A few years ago my wife and I attended the opening worship service at the Lutheran World Federation assembly in Winnipeg. There were people there from all over the world, many in the festive garb of their country or culture, at St. Boniface Cathedral. This being Canada, the service was largely in French and English, but other languages were used, too. When it was time for the Lord’s Prayer the announcement was made, “please pray the Lord’s Prayer in the language you first learned it.” What followed was a cacophony of sound as everyone prayed out loud in the language of their hearts: English, French, German, Norwegian, Swahili, Spanish, Mandarin, and many, many more.
This is what Pentecost must have sounded like. June 12 is Pentecost Sunday in the church. It is the day when we remember what happened in Jerusalem fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead. Acts 1:5 says that there were “devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem” at that time. Many of them no longer spoke Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, and many of them spoke no Greek, the language of the Old Testament translation called the Septuagint. But they each spoke a language of the heart, the language they first used for prayer at their mother’s knee and the language to which they will revert on their dying day. On Pentecost day they heard the good news of Jesus Christ in this language. They heard it in their native tongue.
The reason for this was not just to make sure they clearly understood what was said, although that was important, too. The reason for this was to speak to the hearts of those who heard. The work of the Spirit is to take words that are heard by the ear when they are spoken or seen by the eye when read and have them touch the heart. The Spirit did this in spectacular fashion that first Pentecost day. After the apostles were done speaking, Acts 1:37 says “now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said…. ‘brothers, what should we do?’” The answer, of course, was to repent and be baptized.
The Lord is speaking to you today through the words of the Bible and the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit is still taking those words and touching the hearts of those who hear or read. When the Spirit does this work, faith is born, hope renewed, and peace restored. In Romans 10:10 it says, “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” When you hear the gospel, pray that more than your ear drums are touched by the vibrating air waves. Pray that the Spirit will cause the words to touch your heart so that you truly hear the voice of God speaking to you.
This is what Pentecost must have sounded like. June 12 is Pentecost Sunday in the church. It is the day when we remember what happened in Jerusalem fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead. Acts 1:5 says that there were “devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem” at that time. Many of them no longer spoke Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, and many of them spoke no Greek, the language of the Old Testament translation called the Septuagint. But they each spoke a language of the heart, the language they first used for prayer at their mother’s knee and the language to which they will revert on their dying day. On Pentecost day they heard the good news of Jesus Christ in this language. They heard it in their native tongue.
The reason for this was not just to make sure they clearly understood what was said, although that was important, too. The reason for this was to speak to the hearts of those who heard. The work of the Spirit is to take words that are heard by the ear when they are spoken or seen by the eye when read and have them touch the heart. The Spirit did this in spectacular fashion that first Pentecost day. After the apostles were done speaking, Acts 1:37 says “now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said…. ‘brothers, what should we do?’” The answer, of course, was to repent and be baptized.
The Lord is speaking to you today through the words of the Bible and the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit is still taking those words and touching the hearts of those who hear or read. When the Spirit does this work, faith is born, hope renewed, and peace restored. In Romans 10:10 it says, “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” When you hear the gospel, pray that more than your ear drums are touched by the vibrating air waves. Pray that the Spirit will cause the words to touch your heart so that you truly hear the voice of God speaking to you.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Ascension Day Sermon
THE TIME BETWEEN Acts 1:6-14 Easter 7A June 5, 2011
Last Thursday was Ascension Day, exactly 40 days after our celebration of Easter and 10 days before our celebration of Pentecost, which will be next Sunday by the way. Ascension Day marks the events we just read about in our first reading from Acts 1. As verse 9 says, “as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And they never saw him in the flesh again. As we say in the creed, “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
But before he left, he promised his disciples that the third member of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, would soon come to them. In John 14:16 he had promised them, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth….” And so on Ascension Day he was taken out of their sight. On Pentecost Sunday the Spirit of truth came upon them in all his fullness. But for the moment they were in the time between. The time between when Jesus bodily left them and the time when the Holy Spirit came to them. And what were they to do during this time? First of all they were to wait. Acts 1:4 says that “he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.”
It must have been hard for them to wait to see what God was going to do next, as it is for all of us who are in one of those times between. It is tempting to want to “jump the gun” but Jesus knew they were not quite ready to begin witnessing about him. The time was not quite right for them. So they were simply to wait.
But they didn’t sit around a table playing cards as they waited. Acts 1:14 says, “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” This is an important thing to note. They were engaged in prayer before they were engaged in preaching. They were spending time with the Lord before they spent time evangelizing the city. They were certainly an example of patience and prayer, waiting for the time to be right before beginning the project Jesus had for them. That project, by the way, is spelled out in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That’s a tall order – a very big job, and some of them might have thought, “we’d better get cracking” but Jesus told them to wait and they knew enough to pray. God had this all planned out. When Pentecost came and the city was filled with pilgrims from all over the world, the time would be right, and they would go out and preach in the power of the Spirit.
Is there something for us to learn here? Is there a time to wait and pray before we begin a big task or make a big decision? Do we recognize the value of that “time between” when a promise is made and an activity begins? We might ask ourselves if we are in a “time between” like the disciples were those ten days between the Ascension Day and Pentecost Day.
Well, there is one sense in which we are all in a “time between.” We are all living in the time between the first coming of Jesus as the “Man from Galilee” and his second coming as judge and lord of all. In Acts 1:11, it says that two men in white robes spoke. We can infer that they were angels, or messengers, from God himself. In any case, here is what they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” So we are all living in the “time between” when he was taken up into heaven and the time when he will come back from heaven.
And when will that glorious second coming be? It is not for us to know. You don’t know. I don’t know. No one on the earth knows. There are many passages in the Bible that speak about this, saying he will come like a thief in the night – that is unexpectedly – that as in the days of Noah people will be going about their daily business right up to the moment he appears. But for today let me just quote from today’s reading from Acts 1:7 where Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
This past month we all saw what happens when people try to find out what the Lord has chosen to keep hidden from us. A California radio preacher named Harold Camping announced that he had decoded the Bible and discovered that the end of the world would come on May 21 – at 6:00 p.m. no less. But of course, it did not happen. He thought he had discovered what the Bible plainly teaches no man is to know. The Bible is not a code book with hidden messages that no one in the 20 centuries before us had been able to find. Jesus said, “it is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
There were two sad results of what this radio preacher said. One is that a number of people quit their jobs or sold their homes, thinking that there was no point to planning for anything after May 21. One news report about one of these people reads like this:
On Sunday, a dejected Ramsey [follower of Camping] said he faces a "mixed bag."
He has to find a new job. So does his mother. His 19-year-old brother, who had quit high school the year prior ("It's pointless to graduate," the brother had said), is thinking of re-enrolling or finding employment.
What a sad situation this is.
But this prediction also led many pundits and comedians to lampoon Christians who believed in the end of the world in May 2011 and thus, by implication, to diminish the reputation of all Christians. We do believe that Christ will come again. Read Matthew 25 or Philippians 2 – or even today’s Acts 1 reading. We do believe that there will be a judgement day. But events like what happened in May cast a shadow over it all – at least in the eyes of the secular world. We do live in the time between Christ’s first appearing and his second.
The emphasis we should have on this time is going about doing good where we can and giving witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. When those two men in white robes appeared to Jesus’ disciples after he ascended into heaven their first words were, “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The clear implication is that now it is time to get to work. For those disciples, plus St. Mary and the other women, it was to begin with this ten day period of prayer, and then on Pentecost Sunday to go out into the streets and preach the gospel in many languages, and finally move out to the places where those languages are spoken with the good news of God’s love in Christ Jesus.
Christ has ascended into heaven, but we have his work to do here on earth. The physical body of Christ may have gone up into heaven, but the Body of Christ - that is the church – is here and has his work to do today. Despite what those disciples lost, they have so much still, and so much yet to do.
I would like to conlude today by reading something I came across on the “Living Lutheran” website about people who are living in the time between, but have a sense of purpose and of perseverance. One of the building that was destroyed in the tornado that hit Joplin, Missour on May 22 was one of our ELCA congregations, Peace Lutheran Church. This is what their pastor has written:
The Monday morning after the storm, as a number of us were walking through the rubble of the church building, we wondered: “Where are we going to hold worship on next Sunday (May 29)?”
We decided to meet in the parking lot to let the world know what the people of Joplin already know: We are still a congregation.
God is, and will always be, with us.
The service was chaotic, and it was spiritual. A number of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations — local and national — came. I was wired up to six different stations. I don’t even know who they all were, although I knew ABC, NBC and CNN were now part of my body.
The rains had finally left, so the weather was beautiful except for the 35-mile-an-hour winds.
But most importantly, God was there. You could just feel it among the 100 people who attended worship that Sunday morning.
The service itself, along with music (we had a flutist and a keyboard loaned to us, which was hooked up to battery), the prayers, the sermon and Holy Communion gave people a chance to celebrate and weep over lost homes, lost jobs, lost friends and families.
God was there.
Peace Lutheran Church of Joplin, Missouri is in a time between – between when they worshipped in the building that was destoryed by the tornado and the time when they will worship in whatever building they erect in the future. Through this experience they learned what the disciples learned when Jesus ascended into heaven. No matter what they lost, God is still here. And I want to tell you, that no matter what you may have lost in your life, God is still here. AMEN.
Last Thursday was Ascension Day, exactly 40 days after our celebration of Easter and 10 days before our celebration of Pentecost, which will be next Sunday by the way. Ascension Day marks the events we just read about in our first reading from Acts 1. As verse 9 says, “as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And they never saw him in the flesh again. As we say in the creed, “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
But before he left, he promised his disciples that the third member of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, would soon come to them. In John 14:16 he had promised them, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth….” And so on Ascension Day he was taken out of their sight. On Pentecost Sunday the Spirit of truth came upon them in all his fullness. But for the moment they were in the time between. The time between when Jesus bodily left them and the time when the Holy Spirit came to them. And what were they to do during this time? First of all they were to wait. Acts 1:4 says that “he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.”
It must have been hard for them to wait to see what God was going to do next, as it is for all of us who are in one of those times between. It is tempting to want to “jump the gun” but Jesus knew they were not quite ready to begin witnessing about him. The time was not quite right for them. So they were simply to wait.
But they didn’t sit around a table playing cards as they waited. Acts 1:14 says, “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” This is an important thing to note. They were engaged in prayer before they were engaged in preaching. They were spending time with the Lord before they spent time evangelizing the city. They were certainly an example of patience and prayer, waiting for the time to be right before beginning the project Jesus had for them. That project, by the way, is spelled out in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That’s a tall order – a very big job, and some of them might have thought, “we’d better get cracking” but Jesus told them to wait and they knew enough to pray. God had this all planned out. When Pentecost came and the city was filled with pilgrims from all over the world, the time would be right, and they would go out and preach in the power of the Spirit.
Is there something for us to learn here? Is there a time to wait and pray before we begin a big task or make a big decision? Do we recognize the value of that “time between” when a promise is made and an activity begins? We might ask ourselves if we are in a “time between” like the disciples were those ten days between the Ascension Day and Pentecost Day.
Well, there is one sense in which we are all in a “time between.” We are all living in the time between the first coming of Jesus as the “Man from Galilee” and his second coming as judge and lord of all. In Acts 1:11, it says that two men in white robes spoke. We can infer that they were angels, or messengers, from God himself. In any case, here is what they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” So we are all living in the “time between” when he was taken up into heaven and the time when he will come back from heaven.
And when will that glorious second coming be? It is not for us to know. You don’t know. I don’t know. No one on the earth knows. There are many passages in the Bible that speak about this, saying he will come like a thief in the night – that is unexpectedly – that as in the days of Noah people will be going about their daily business right up to the moment he appears. But for today let me just quote from today’s reading from Acts 1:7 where Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
This past month we all saw what happens when people try to find out what the Lord has chosen to keep hidden from us. A California radio preacher named Harold Camping announced that he had decoded the Bible and discovered that the end of the world would come on May 21 – at 6:00 p.m. no less. But of course, it did not happen. He thought he had discovered what the Bible plainly teaches no man is to know. The Bible is not a code book with hidden messages that no one in the 20 centuries before us had been able to find. Jesus said, “it is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
There were two sad results of what this radio preacher said. One is that a number of people quit their jobs or sold their homes, thinking that there was no point to planning for anything after May 21. One news report about one of these people reads like this:
On Sunday, a dejected Ramsey [follower of Camping] said he faces a "mixed bag."
He has to find a new job. So does his mother. His 19-year-old brother, who had quit high school the year prior ("It's pointless to graduate," the brother had said), is thinking of re-enrolling or finding employment.
What a sad situation this is.
But this prediction also led many pundits and comedians to lampoon Christians who believed in the end of the world in May 2011 and thus, by implication, to diminish the reputation of all Christians. We do believe that Christ will come again. Read Matthew 25 or Philippians 2 – or even today’s Acts 1 reading. We do believe that there will be a judgement day. But events like what happened in May cast a shadow over it all – at least in the eyes of the secular world. We do live in the time between Christ’s first appearing and his second.
The emphasis we should have on this time is going about doing good where we can and giving witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. When those two men in white robes appeared to Jesus’ disciples after he ascended into heaven their first words were, “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The clear implication is that now it is time to get to work. For those disciples, plus St. Mary and the other women, it was to begin with this ten day period of prayer, and then on Pentecost Sunday to go out into the streets and preach the gospel in many languages, and finally move out to the places where those languages are spoken with the good news of God’s love in Christ Jesus.
Christ has ascended into heaven, but we have his work to do here on earth. The physical body of Christ may have gone up into heaven, but the Body of Christ - that is the church – is here and has his work to do today. Despite what those disciples lost, they have so much still, and so much yet to do.
I would like to conlude today by reading something I came across on the “Living Lutheran” website about people who are living in the time between, but have a sense of purpose and of perseverance. One of the building that was destroyed in the tornado that hit Joplin, Missour on May 22 was one of our ELCA congregations, Peace Lutheran Church. This is what their pastor has written:
The Monday morning after the storm, as a number of us were walking through the rubble of the church building, we wondered: “Where are we going to hold worship on next Sunday (May 29)?”
We decided to meet in the parking lot to let the world know what the people of Joplin already know: We are still a congregation.
God is, and will always be, with us.
The service was chaotic, and it was spiritual. A number of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations — local and national — came. I was wired up to six different stations. I don’t even know who they all were, although I knew ABC, NBC and CNN were now part of my body.
The rains had finally left, so the weather was beautiful except for the 35-mile-an-hour winds.
But most importantly, God was there. You could just feel it among the 100 people who attended worship that Sunday morning.
The service itself, along with music (we had a flutist and a keyboard loaned to us, which was hooked up to battery), the prayers, the sermon and Holy Communion gave people a chance to celebrate and weep over lost homes, lost jobs, lost friends and families.
God was there.
Peace Lutheran Church of Joplin, Missouri is in a time between – between when they worshipped in the building that was destoryed by the tornado and the time when they will worship in whatever building they erect in the future. Through this experience they learned what the disciples learned when Jesus ascended into heaven. No matter what they lost, God is still here. And I want to tell you, that no matter what you may have lost in your life, God is still here. AMEN.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
North Star News 06/02/2011
My daughter and I visited the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in early May. After 90 minutes of looking at ancient hieroglyphics and 3,000 year old artifacts from the tombs of the Pharaohs we came to the final exhibit, an exact replica of the mummy of the boy king, Tutankhamun. (The Egyptians won’t let the real thing out of the country for any reason.) One of the things we learned as we progressed through the exhibit is that as soon as a Pharaoh took power, work began on a burial site. The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with preserving the bodies of their leaders and providing elaborate burial places for them.
Thursday, June 2, is Ascension Day in the church, exactly forty days after Easter and ten days before Pentecost. Ascension Day is all about the body of Jesus. While he lived, Jesus lived a simple life. When he died, Jesus’ body was quickly placed in a borrowed tomb, simply because it was close by and the Sabbath was fast approaching. When the Sabbath was over, the women who came to the tomb discovered that this tomb was borrowed only for a little while. Jesus was raised from the dead, and for forty days he appeared to his disciples in various places: in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, and by the Sea of Galilee. Then he ascended bodily into heaven.
This is what Luke 24:50 says, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.” There is no place today where people can visit the body of Jesus. People go to Egypt to see the mummified body of King Tut or to Moscow to see the embalmed remains of Lenin, but Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” as the Apostles’ Creed says.
Before all this happened, Jesus said in John 14:3 “And when I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What that verse promises is that all of Jesus’ disciples are headed eventually to heaven to spend eternity with him. The body of the deceased may be embalmed and viewed after death and then laid in a grave with a tombstone that will sit unchanged for centuries, but that body is one day headed for heaven. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting” says the Apostles’ Creed. This will not be the tired old body that is laid in the grave, but a new and glorious body full of vitality. As it says in Philippians 3:21, “But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” What a transformation that will be!
In England there is a country cemetery where one tombstone reads, “As you are, I once was; as I am, you will be.” But the wonderful promise of Jesus is that those who believe in him will not end up “a-mouldering in the grave” (“John Brown’s body”) forever, but will one day ascend to be with Jesus forever in glory. As bodies age, sag, and creak, what a wonderful promise to remember.
Thursday, June 2, is Ascension Day in the church, exactly forty days after Easter and ten days before Pentecost. Ascension Day is all about the body of Jesus. While he lived, Jesus lived a simple life. When he died, Jesus’ body was quickly placed in a borrowed tomb, simply because it was close by and the Sabbath was fast approaching. When the Sabbath was over, the women who came to the tomb discovered that this tomb was borrowed only for a little while. Jesus was raised from the dead, and for forty days he appeared to his disciples in various places: in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, and by the Sea of Galilee. Then he ascended bodily into heaven.
This is what Luke 24:50 says, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.” There is no place today where people can visit the body of Jesus. People go to Egypt to see the mummified body of King Tut or to Moscow to see the embalmed remains of Lenin, but Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” as the Apostles’ Creed says.
Before all this happened, Jesus said in John 14:3 “And when I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What that verse promises is that all of Jesus’ disciples are headed eventually to heaven to spend eternity with him. The body of the deceased may be embalmed and viewed after death and then laid in a grave with a tombstone that will sit unchanged for centuries, but that body is one day headed for heaven. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting” says the Apostles’ Creed. This will not be the tired old body that is laid in the grave, but a new and glorious body full of vitality. As it says in Philippians 3:21, “But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” What a transformation that will be!
In England there is a country cemetery where one tombstone reads, “As you are, I once was; as I am, you will be.” But the wonderful promise of Jesus is that those who believe in him will not end up “a-mouldering in the grave” (“John Brown’s body”) forever, but will one day ascend to be with Jesus forever in glory. As bodies age, sag, and creak, what a wonderful promise to remember.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Newsletter June 2011
My wife, Ruth, and I were pleased to attend the Northwestern Minnesota Synod’s annual assembly again this year. It is always a wonderful experience to worship in a congregation of 500 or 600, most of whom are giving full voice to their songs of praise and close attention to the preaching of the Word. It is uplifting to hear what God is doing in other parts of the synod and comforting to know that we are not alone in some of the challenges we face. We also learn something new about the work of our church at every assembly we attend. As is true at conventions of any kind, there are reports that are tedious and sessions that seem overly long, but nevertheless, I would commend the experience to you and hope that next year more members of our parish will be willing to attend.
In his report to the synod, Bishop Larry Wohlrabe said “it’s been quite a year!” It was clear from the outset that those attending the assembly wanted to put this year’s contention behind them and affirm the leaders that have taken the brunt of the tensions in the church. A pre-assembly event was a “town hall meeting” with Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and ELCA staff member (and former New York bishop) Stephen Bouman. The latter was delayed by plane connection problems so Hanson did this 2 hour session alone - brilliantly. Before he spoke he received a standing ovation from the overflow crowd of people at Trinity Lutheran Church.. Two hours later they did it again. I do not believe this means the people agree with everything he or his staff says and does, but people simply wanted to affirm their elected leaders during difficult times.
A resolution from one congregation requesting the ELCA to reconsider the sexuality issue was over-whelmingly defeated. I believe most people have heard enough about this subject for a while. Every-thing that can be said about it has been said in the last few years. Enough already. A resolution challenging the representative democracy by which decisions are made in the ELCA, much like in the USA, was also overwhelmingly defeated. Congregations will not be ratifying churchwide assembly or synod assembly actions. And a resolution asking for an end to producing social statements was also defeated, but this was in part because a moratorium on social statements has already be proposed by a task force of the ELCA church council. But, of course, because we are democratically governed, if the synods or the churchwide assembly ask for social statements there is no choice but to produce them.
One of the joys of synod assemblies is connecting and re-connecting with people from across the synod. We had chats with three former pastors from Hallock (Losch, Tobin, and Copeland) and greatly missed our annual lunch with the former pastors from Lake Bronson (Strug’s) since they have retired to Illinois. We sat at business sessions with Lake Bronson and Ross people and at worship with Middle River and Thief River people. At the town hall meeting we sat at a table with a large delegation from Lancaster. We had a long conversation with former Karlstad residents Paul & Dorothy Suomala. And we were delighted when the pastor and wife from Wannaska asked us to watch their children (age 2 and an infant) for a while during breakfast. We realized we haven’t lost all our parenting skills. Former synod vice president Patti Swanson of Kennedy says the synod assembly is like a family reunion, and that it was.
But there is more to it than just connecting with people we know and like. The synod assembly reminds us that the church is more than our parish or our congregation or our county. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people from many different places with many different complexions and many different opinions about the hot topics of the day. The church is, as St. Paul put it in 1st Corinthians 12:27, one body with many members. All the members do not have the same function but all the members are called to work together in harmony with one another.
On the last day of the assembly the synod bishop and others on the stage wore the daily garb of people from India, like members of our companion synod, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of southern India. It was strange dress for the Red River Valley but it was meant to remind us of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world, some of whom will be coming for a visit in September. What did Jesus say in John 10:16? “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”
In his report to the synod, Bishop Larry Wohlrabe said “it’s been quite a year!” It was clear from the outset that those attending the assembly wanted to put this year’s contention behind them and affirm the leaders that have taken the brunt of the tensions in the church. A pre-assembly event was a “town hall meeting” with Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and ELCA staff member (and former New York bishop) Stephen Bouman. The latter was delayed by plane connection problems so Hanson did this 2 hour session alone - brilliantly. Before he spoke he received a standing ovation from the overflow crowd of people at Trinity Lutheran Church.. Two hours later they did it again. I do not believe this means the people agree with everything he or his staff says and does, but people simply wanted to affirm their elected leaders during difficult times.
A resolution from one congregation requesting the ELCA to reconsider the sexuality issue was over-whelmingly defeated. I believe most people have heard enough about this subject for a while. Every-thing that can be said about it has been said in the last few years. Enough already. A resolution challenging the representative democracy by which decisions are made in the ELCA, much like in the USA, was also overwhelmingly defeated. Congregations will not be ratifying churchwide assembly or synod assembly actions. And a resolution asking for an end to producing social statements was also defeated, but this was in part because a moratorium on social statements has already be proposed by a task force of the ELCA church council. But, of course, because we are democratically governed, if the synods or the churchwide assembly ask for social statements there is no choice but to produce them.
One of the joys of synod assemblies is connecting and re-connecting with people from across the synod. We had chats with three former pastors from Hallock (Losch, Tobin, and Copeland) and greatly missed our annual lunch with the former pastors from Lake Bronson (Strug’s) since they have retired to Illinois. We sat at business sessions with Lake Bronson and Ross people and at worship with Middle River and Thief River people. At the town hall meeting we sat at a table with a large delegation from Lancaster. We had a long conversation with former Karlstad residents Paul & Dorothy Suomala. And we were delighted when the pastor and wife from Wannaska asked us to watch their children (age 2 and an infant) for a while during breakfast. We realized we haven’t lost all our parenting skills. Former synod vice president Patti Swanson of Kennedy says the synod assembly is like a family reunion, and that it was.
But there is more to it than just connecting with people we know and like. The synod assembly reminds us that the church is more than our parish or our congregation or our county. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people from many different places with many different complexions and many different opinions about the hot topics of the day. The church is, as St. Paul put it in 1st Corinthians 12:27, one body with many members. All the members do not have the same function but all the members are called to work together in harmony with one another.
On the last day of the assembly the synod bishop and others on the stage wore the daily garb of people from India, like members of our companion synod, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of southern India. It was strange dress for the Red River Valley but it was meant to remind us of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world, some of whom will be coming for a visit in September. What did Jesus say in John 10:16? “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”
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