Christmas Meditation 2013 for the North Star News

Part of the charm of the story of Bethlehem is the humility of the holy family: alone, poor, and buffeted by the powerful of this world.  In spite of it all, they experienced the joy and hope of new life in the birth of Jesus on a cold December night.  The eyes of the world were on the rich and powerful people of that day as they usually are.  The attention of God was on a humble stable behind an out-of-the-way inn in the little town of Bethlehem.

            It is no accident that two of the most popular symbols used today to celebrate this story come from those who understood the mind of God in focusing on the humble to accomplish his purposes.  St. Francis is credited with beginning the custom of displaying a crèche, or nativity scene, at Christmas back in 1226.  Francis was set to inherit great wealth when he gave it all up to call the church to focus once more on the needs of the poor when far too many people were concerned about enriching themselves.  Martin Luther is credited in popular legend with introducing the Christmas tree to the world in the 1530s.  He, too, was a reformer whose agenda was to lift up the dignity and ministry of the common man when the gulf between the upper classes and the common people was very great.  In today’s world Pope Francis has made it a centerpiece of his pontificate to call the church to focus on the needs of the poor and vulnerable and to call the world to economic justice.  As he leads the world in the celebration of the birthday of Jesus for the first time this month his words need to be heard and heeded.

            When the babe of Bethlehem grew up he said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal.  But rather store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not consume and thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be.”  (Matthew 6:19-21) And when a rich young ruler came to him with the question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” he ended their discussion by telling him to “sell all you have and distribute it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  (Luke 18:22)

            In a world where top level athletes and artists are paid obscene amounts of money to entertain people and where top executives earn more in one day than most of their employees do in a year, it is time to remember where God is focusing his work.  He is still found in backwater towns like Bethlehem, among poor, even homeless, people like Mary and Joseph, bringing the message of peace and goodwill and calling people to remember that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”  (Acts 20:35)  And he most certainly is calling his people to turn from the commercialization of Christmas to its humble beginnings.  After all, in the end Jesus will say, “as you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25:40)  So when you admire a Christmas tree, or gaze at a crèche, or hear the news reports from Rome on December 25, remember where this holiday began and see what you can do to live in the spirit of the humble Christ of Christmas.  And maybe even follow the example of St.  Francis and Pope Francis in seeking some way to focus on the needs of the poor.

Newsletter December 2013

This is the last of my reflections on the 25^th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2013, and this month I turn from the past to the future.  Prognosticating is a foolish thing some would say, for we are continually surprised at what develops, so I will simply offer a few thoughts as we face the second quarter century of our denomination.

The current trends for this church, and indeed for all churches, do not bode will.  The ELCA is one of the “mainline churches” that have seen a decline both in number of members and in financial resources.  For quite a few years the reason was thought to be summed up in Robert M Kelly’s book “Why Conservative Churches Are Growing” which said that most mainline churches were simply too liberal.  But when the Southern Baptist Convention reports a decline in the number of baptisms, we know that things have changed.  As the editor of The Lutheran noted on page 4 of the October issue, all denominations are reporting declines, even the most conservative.  What this means is that all of us are trying to do ministry with fewer partners and fewer dollars.  Will this trend continue for the next 25 years?

But far more significant is the decline of the influence of Christian theology and ethics as the United States becomes both more secular and more diverse in ethnicity and religion.  In recent years the greatest growth religiously in America has been in those who are called “nones” because they list no religious affiliation whatsoever in public polls.  Most of us do not have to consult a national poll to see this.  Just think about our own families.  This means that when Christian leaders speak to an issue they represent a smaller percentage of the population.  In a democracy that means less influence.  Where will we be a quarter century from now?  Will America be totally secularized?

In such a situation, faithful Christians remember that their hope does not lie in public support, wealth, or political power, but in the promises of God.  After Peter confessed his faith in Jesus Christ the Lord said to him “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)   This is the promise that the church of Jesus Christ will continue until he comes again in judgment.  It is not a promise that any given denomination or any given congregation will continue forever.  Various parts of the Christian church will wax and wane over time as does everything else, but there will always be assemblies of believers who gather around the Word of God and where the gospel is preached and the sacraments administered, which is the Lutheran Augsburg Confession’s definition of the church in Article VII.  Article VII goes on to say “Our churches also teach that one holy church is to continue forever.”  Or as Luther wrote in his great Reformation hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” as he perhaps reflected on Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever”:

God’s Word forever shall abide,

No thanks to foes who fear it;

For God himself fights by our side

With weapons of the Spirit.

Were they to take our house,

Goods, honor, child, or spouse,

Though life be wrenched away,

They cannot win the day,

The kingdom’s ours forever!         (ELW #504)

As for the ELCA, its place on the religious landscape of America may be smaller and its voice somewhat weaker, but it will continue to be heard.  The purpose of the ELCA is to bring the Lutheran perspective to the issues of the day as people live in the rich heritage the Reformers have left us.  We are not just another Protestant denomination like any other.  In the next 25 years we would do well to focus more on our Lutheran heritage, the Lutheran Confessions, and Lutheran worship and practice.

When I was called to serve as the pastor of this parish I was asked not only to bring stability to a somewhat wobbly situation, but to re-affirm the ties of these two congregations to our Lutheran heritage and especially to the NW.MN Synod and the ELCA.  As we come to the end of this 25^th anniversary year of the ELCA and look forward to the 100^th anniversary of First Lutheran Church in 2016 and the 500^th anniversary of the start of the Reformation in 2017 I am more committed than ever to this task.

As we move forward into the future let us remember what Jesus said to his disciples who were a tiny band of believers in a sea of pagans, “have no fear, little flock, for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

Newsletter November 2013

As we move toward the end of the 25^th anniversary year of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America we remember our partnership with Lutheran helping agencies that are much older than our current denominational structure.  Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota has been a partner with Lutheran churches in this state since the mid-1800s when a group of Swedish Lutherans began an orphanage down in the Red Wing area.  While the denominational configuration of Lutherans in the state has gone through many changes in the last century and a half, Lutheran Social Service has continued to do work our behalf with some of the state’s more vulnerable citizens, young and old.

The era of orphanages has passed, of course, and been replaced with foster care and adoption.  LSS has had to move with the times as the views of society on how to be of assistance to those in need have changed.  In the previous century LSS was in the forefront of the adoption process in this state.  As the number of children available for adoption within the state dwindled, LSS then helped people with international adoptions.   In the Twin Cities LSS works with homeless teens through a variety of programs, often dealing with mental illness, emotional turmoil, sexual exploitation, and drug addiction.  It is hard work on the darker side of modern American life, and sometimes those who help, such as LSS, get embroiled in some nasty situations and conflicts.

In the aftermath of World War II Lutheran Social Service partnered with Lutheran World Relief to help resettle homeless refugees from Europe.  In the days of the Vietnam War refugees from southeast Asia were brought to the safety of America, including to Karlstad and Halma.   Some of you remember being a part of that project of our parish.  In more recent times LSS has brought Somali refugees from the heat and violence of east Africa to our frigid state, making Minnesota home to the largest Somali population in America.  In each of these eras the resettlement programs were not universally popular as they touched on controversial issues such as the suspected involvement of Minnesota Somalis in African violence through the terrorist group “al Shabab.”

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, and similar agencies in other states are often helping in difficult and messy situations.  We should be grateful for their work in places many of us might fear to tread and with people we don’t understand well.  The work of LSS is one way that Lutherans seek to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and welcome the stranger as Jesus so powerfully told us to do in the Great Judgment story.  “When you do it to one of the least of these my brethren, you do it to me,” he said. (Matthew 25:40)

Here in our local community Lutheran Social Service is most visible in administering the senior citizens nutrition site and the two group homes, all in Karlstad.  On Monday, October 28, the nutrition site celebrated 40 years of LSS providing nutritious meals and social interaction for senior citizens in Northwestern Minnesota with an evening meal and program.  The group home situation has changed over the years as they have moved from one large facility in the old hotel at the corner of Main and Lincoln streets to the new building the city built on the same site, to the current emphasis on living in small homes that look and feel like any other family home in the community.  Thus a new home is going up right now on Third Street in Karlstad.

Locally, too, LSS sometimes gets into controversy as it deals with ever changing government mandates (remember most of the money for these programs comes from the federal  and state governments) and the evolving philosophies about how best to help people in need.  It never has been easy, but Jesus described those who do this work as “blest of my Father.” (Matthew 25:34)  So in this month of thanksgiving in this 25^th year of the ELCA let us give thanks for the work that Lutheran Social Service does in our name.

Newsletter October 2013

As the improvement project for the exterior of First Lutheran Church comes to completion with new shingles, new siding, many new windows, and a new front door, it would be good to review the purpose of the church building.

“Properly speaking, the church is the assembly of saints and true believers”…..“in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments administered rightly” according to Articles VII and VIII of the Augsburg Confession.   This assembling of the saints can take place anywhere, and in the early years of the church it took place in any place that was available and accommodating.  People remembered the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria about the right place to worship.  Jesus said, “the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem….when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.” (John 4:23)  The first Christians knew that the spirit of the people (and the Holy Spirit!) were more important than the location for worship.

But it was not very long before Christians began to erect buildings dedicated to the purpose of sheltering the saints and true believers who gathered around the gospel and the sacraments.  And it was not much longer before these became sacred places.  People also remembered that when Jesus drove out the moneychangers from the temple in Jerusalem (the holiest place of worship of his day) saying, “Take these things out of here!  Stop making my Father’s house a market place!” his disciples applied an Old Testament verse to him “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:17)  Jesus cared passionately about the temple as a place which fulfilled Solomon’s desire that it be a house of prayer for all people. (1^st Kings 8)

Here in Karlstad and Halma those who came before us built houses for prayer and worship which would be open to all people but whose form of worship and teaching would be solidly in the Lutheran tradition.  Those early arrivals to our community sacrificed much to build these churches, and it behooves us in our generation to take good care of them, not as a memorial to our ancestors but as a place of prayer and worship for us and our descendants.   But let us always remember that the church, properly speaking, is “the assembly of saints and true believers” wherever they may assemble to worship “in spirit and in truth.”

Nevertheless, as the years rolled on, these humble houses of worship become very dear to those who regularly heard the gospel and received the sacraments in them.  It is part of human nature to hold some places as sacred because of what takes place there.  Those whose hearts have been warmed by the gospel or whose consciences have been prodded by the law come to be quite fond of the places where these things happen.

Beyond regular worship are the occasional special events that are held in these places.  It is true that every culture has some ceremonial way of welcoming new life into the community, but Christians bring their children to the font in the church for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and later for the Rite of Affirmation of Baptism (confirmation).  It is true that people choose special places to recite vows of life-long fidelity to one another, but Christians come to the church for a blessing on their marriage by the minister, to be upheld by the prayers of the people, and to hear God’s word on the subject.  It is true that there are funeral ceremonies in every land, but Christians come to the church to commend the deceased to the mercy and love of God, to be surrounded by the prayers of the faithful, and to hear the promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.  These events, and so many more, make the church building a sacred place.

Just as 150 years ago next month President Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address that “we cannot hallow this ground” (the Gettysburg Battlefield Cemetery) but the men who fought there did so with their blood, so we today cannot declare a church building to be a sacred place, but it becomes sacred when the Word is preached and the Sacraments are administered there.

People have shed tears of joy in the church, as well as tears of sorrow and tears of repentance.  Vows have been spoken.  Sermons have been preached and sacraments administered.  Hearts have been warmed by that preaching, by the songs of the choir, and by the prayers of the people, to say nothing of “the mutual conversation and consolation of the saints” (in Martin Luther’s memorable phrase).

Thus many of us have said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” (Psalm 122:1)

Newsletter September 2013

The theme of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s 2013 churchwide assembly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August was the same as the theme for the 25^th anniversary of the ELCA this year: “Always Being Made Knew. 25 Years Together in Christ.”  This is based on 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; behold everything has become new!”

25 years ago the “Commission for a New Lutheran Church” came up with a new structure and a new name for the merger of the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.  Lots of things familiar to us today were new to us back then, new synods, new partnerships, new names and titles.  Now in this 25^th anniversary year the church is stilling doing new things.  For the first time in the history of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod the synod assembly re-elected a bishop last June.  All who came before were one-termers.   Now in August the churchwide assembly has elected a new presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton from the Northeastern Ohio Synod, who is the first woman, the first non-Scandinavian, and the first person from outside the Upper Midwest to hold the office.  This is a new thing.

But this new call to serve the next six years as our presiding bishop is the call to a ministry that goes all the way back to the apostles.  Yes, she will be the public face of the ELCA on the national stage.  Yes, she will represent us to other Christian denominations, which should be interesting for those denominations that still do not ordain women.  And yes, she will be the chief administrative officer of the church, although the presiding bishop in the ELCA has little of the power that bishops in some other denominations have.  The ELCA is still essentially a union of congregations where the congregation is the basic unit of the church along with the synod and churchwide.   At every level the call to serve is the call to preach the gospel as the apostles did in the first century, as the reformers did in the 16^th century, and as her immediate predecessor has done in the 21^st century.

Following after the ELCA’s anniversary theme verse (5:17) in 2^nd Corinthians is this verse: “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us, we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (v.20) and “God…has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (v.18).

This ministry of reconciliation has been given to the whole church which makes all of us baptized believers in Christ ambassadors for Christ.  The Sunday School teacher working with a handful of students is an ambassador for Christ to her students.  The youth on a mission trip doing some work in the name of Christ is an ambassador for Christ to that community.  The father leading a prayer at the dinner table is an ambassador for Christ to his family.  Although the pastors and the bishops have unique roles to play in the life of the church, the ministry of reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ has been given to all of us.  You are an ambassador for Christ as a baptized believer.

This ministry of reconciliation is much older than the ELCA, whose history is a mere blip on the time line of the whole church.  It goes right back to the commission of Jesus who sent out his apostles “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:2) and they “went through the villages bringing the gospel and curing diseases everywhere.” (Luke 9:6)

The ministry of reconciliation is much broader than the ELCA or its bishops and pastors.  All of us are called to “put in a good word for Jesus” as one wise old bishop used to counsel his pastors.  In Luke 8 there is the vivid story of Jesus’ encounter with the wild man of the Gerasenes.  After Jesus healed him the man wanted to join the apostles in literally following Jesus from place to place.  But Jesus said, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”  So he went home “proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:39)  He was an ambassador for Christ as much as Peter, Paul, James, and John were.

So whether someone is the presiding bishop with a corner office in a tall building in Chicago or leading a Bible study in a small church basement in Minnesota, the ministry of reconciliation has been entrusted to them.  We are all called to do what we can so people everywhere can experience the new creation that comes when anyone is in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith.

Newsletter August 2013

The theme of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s 2013 churchwide assembly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August was the same as the theme for the 25^th anniversary of the ELCA this year: “Always Being Made Knew. 25 Years Together in Christ.”  This is based on 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; behold everything has become new!”

25 years ago the “Commission for a New Lutheran Church” came up with a new structure and a new name for the merger of the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.  Lots of things familiar to us today were new to us back then, new synods, new partnerships, new names and titles.  Now in this 25^th anniversary year the church is stilling doing new things.  For the first time in the history of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod the synod assembly re-elected a bishop last June.  All who came before were one-termers.   Now in August the churchwide assembly has elected a new presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton from the Northeastern Ohio Synod, who is the first woman, the first non-Scandinavian, and the first person from outside the Upper Midwest to hold the office.  This is a new thing.

But this new call to serve the next six years as our presiding bishop is the call to a ministry that goes all the way back to the apostles.  Yes, she will be the public face of the ELCA on the national stage.  Yes, she will represent us to other Christian denominations, which should be interesting for those denominations that still do not ordain women.  And yes, she will be the chief administrative officer of the church, although the presiding bishop in the ELCA has little of the power that bishops in some other denominations have.  The ELCA is still essentially a union of congregations where the congregation is the basic unit of the church along with the synod and churchwide.   At every level the call to serve is the call to preach the gospel as the apostles did in the first century, as the reformers did in the 16^th century, and as her immediate predecessor has done in the 21^st century.

Following after the ELCA’s anniversary theme verse (5:17) in 2^nd Corinthians is this verse: “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us, we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (v.20) and “God…has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (v.18).

This ministry of reconciliation has been given to the whole church which makes all of us baptized believers in Christ ambassadors for Christ.  The Sunday School teacher working with a handful of students is an ambassador for Christ to her students.  The youth on a mission trip doing some work in the name of Christ is an ambassador for Christ to that community.  The father leading a prayer at the dinner table is an ambassador for Christ to his family.  Although the pastors and the bishops have unique roles to play in the life of the church, the ministry of reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ has been given to all of us.  You are an ambassador for Christ as a baptized believer.

This ministry of reconciliation is much older than the ELCA, whose history is a mere blip on the time line of the whole church.  It goes right back to the commission of Jesus who sent out his apostles “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:2) and they “went through the villages bringing the gospel and curing diseases everywhere.” (Luke 9:6)

The ministry of reconciliation is much broader than the ELCA or its bishops and pastors.  All of us are called to “put in a good word for Jesus” as one wise old bishop used to counsel his pastors.  In Luke 8 there is the vivid story of Jesus’ encounter with the wild man of the Gerasenes.  After Jesus healed him the man wanted to join the apostles in literally following Jesus from place to place.  But Jesus said, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”  So he went home “proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:39)  He was an ambassador for Christ as much as Peter, Paul, James, and John were.

So whether someone is the presiding bishop with a corner office in a tall building in Chicago or leading a Bible study in a small church basement in Minnesota, the ministry of reconciliation has been entrusted to them.  We are all called to do what we can so people everywhere can experience the new creation that comes when anyone is in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith.

Newsletter August 2013

The 2013 churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is in August in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  Every other year the ELCA gathers about a thousand people from across the church to act as its highest legislative body.  There are always representatives of this far north-western corner of Minnesota, but this year we have someone even closer to home as one of the voting members of the assembly.  That’s Everett Englund of Karlstad, a lifelong member of Bethel Lutheran Church and a frequent lay preacher in our parish.  I myself have been elected to attend in the past: the 2005 and 1995 ELCA assemblies as well as the 1983 national convention of the American Lutheran Church, one of our predecessor church bodies.

“Elected” is an important word to use.  All the voting members of the assembly were elected at the local level to study, pray, debate, and finally vote on the matters before the assembly.  The ELCA is a church that decides issues and policies by votes of the people who are members or their elected representatives.  Although we have bishops, they certainly do not wield the power of bishops in some other denominations.  Although we have a national headquarters and a national staff, they are required to carry out the dictates of the people of the church as voted in assemblies.  The national church is an extension of the congregations; the congregations are not local offices of the national church.  The ELCA is not a hierarchical church.  The polity of the church is essentially congregational.  It is not by happenstance that the ELCA is defined as being composed of the baptized members of the congregations, not the bishops, not the clergy, and not even congregations as such.  Well do I remember intense debates over this back in the early 1980s.

This was a subject of debate in the early 1980s because the ELCA was formed back then, making this the 25^th anniversary year of our denomination.  The theme of this year’s churchwide assembly will be “Always Being Made Knew: 25 Years Together in Christ.”  There will be celebrations of the unity Lutherans have experienced in the last 25 years and reflections on what has threatened that unity.  Well do we know that the votes of the 2009 assembly in Minneapolis and of the 1999 assembly in Denver were not universally welcomed across the church.

That’s one of the realities of being a larger church with democratic decision making processes.  There are times when the views of some of the members do not agree with one another.  There may be honest differences of opinion about what the future course of the church may be as well as sharp differences about what the Word of God says about an issue.  Sometimes it is hard to hold people with divergent views together.  There are times when I struggle to hold my tongue and extend the hand of fellowship to someone with whom I disagree strongly, but I feel compelled to try to do it for the sake of Christ.

The key to the unity of the church is to look to Christ who is the head of the church.  The ELCA, the synod, and each of our congregations say in their constitutions that Christ is the head of the church.  Ephesians 1:22 says “….[God the Father] has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all,” and Colossians 1:17 says “….in him all things hold together.”

During his ministry on this earth, Jesus Christ prayed for his disciples with these words, “…that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me….” (John17:23) and taught that they ought to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:2)  But even as they literally walked behind Jesus some of them got into arguments (Mark 9:33) and disagreed sharply with one another.  The very first church convention recorded in the Bible (Acts 15) was called to settle differences between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians over what laws still pertain and which are no longer necessary.  Settle it they did, with prayer and the invocation of the Holy Spirit.

As the voting members of the 2013 churchwide assembly gather by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, pray that they will be led by the Holy Spirit to do what is best for Christ’s church and its mission in the world.  Pray for those from our conference especially: Mr. Everett Englund and Pastor Steve Bovendam.  Pray for Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson that he will be a symbol and source of unity for the church as true bishops are to be.  Above all, pray that each of us may contribute to the unity, mission, and witness of Christ who loves all of us.   And pray for peace in neighboring congregations of other denominations who are experiencing sharp divisions right now.

North Star News 07-25-2013

This month the church where I preach in Karlstad is getting a make-over: new shingles, new siding, some new windows, and a new main door with the hope that it will continue to be a beautiful house of worship a hundred years from now.  The current building that houses our congregation was built in the same year I was born.  Over the years both of us have had to have some repairs to keep us functioning, but I am confident that this house of worship will still be standing with a steeple raising the cross over Karlstad long after I have been laid to rest.  Despite being blessed with good health my whole adult life, I know that the time is coming when it will not be so.  It happens to all of us sooner or later.

In 2^nd Corinthians 5:1 St. Paul wrote, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  Paul was a tent maker by trade, so he knew what he was talking about.  Many times he had repaired a tent and made it usable again, but he knew there came a time when the old canvas could not be mended anymore, and it was necessary to toss it away.  In this passage he speaks of a human being as housed in a body.  This body can be a beautiful thing which should be shown the utmost care and respect.  In 1^st Corinthians 6:19 he wrote, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?”  But as vigorous and vibrant as any body might be, it inevitably deteriorates over the years until the time comes when it cannot be repaired any more.  The promise of the Gospel is that through faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning death on the cross, human beings can be assured of a new home in heaven which is eternal and incorruptible.

There is a beautiful story about the sixth president of the United States which is based on this passage of scripture.  When John Quincy Adams was 81 years of age he was met on the street by a friend who said, “Good morning.  How is John Quincy Adams today?”  This aged former president, whose hair was silver white, replied.  “Thank you.  John Quincy Adams is well, quite well, thank you.  But the house in which he lives is becoming a bit dilapidated.  I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out pretty soon; but he himself is quite well indeed.”

St. Paul wrote in 2^nd Corinthians 4:16, “So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  So if your house is getting a bit dilapidated, cheer up.  There is a beautiful new home waiting for you, just as Jesus promised in John 14:1-7.  Consider singing the chorus of a great old song by Stuart Hamblin:

“But, I ain't gonna need this house no longer
Ain't gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Or to mend no window pane
Ain't gonna need this house no longer
I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints.”

North Star News 07-18-2013

One of America’s self-help gurus was quoted in the media in June as saying, “Don't waste your time hanging around people that stop your growth,” which would be good advice if the only goal in life was building up yourself.  But the famous opening line of one of the most influential Christian books of recent times is right when it says, “it’s not about you.”

Jesus lived his life for others and, in the end, sacrificed his life for all humanity.  In Mark 10:45 Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, to give his life a ransom for many.”  Then he practiced what he preached by spending his time not seeking to find those who could improve his life but seeking those whose lives he could improve.  In John 4 there is his encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria.  She had nothing to offer him except a cup of cold water, and she even hesitated when he asked for it.   She was foreign to him and of questionable morality.  His disciples thought that by hanging around her he could only damage himself and his reputation.  But Jesus engaged her in conversation and eventually offered her living water that leads to eternal life (John 4:10-14)  This was a totally lopsided exchange.  John does not even say explicitly that Jesus ever got his cup of cold water.  But she was blessed beyond measure because of her conversation with the Man from Galilee that led to her conversion and to her testimony to others. (John 4:39)

Philippians 2:5 says, “have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant….”  No one reading these words has “equality with God” or is “in the form of God,” but everyone reading this can have “this mind among yourselves.”  To be a disciple of Jesus Chirst is to live for others.  Jesus said in Mark 8:34-35, “if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the gospel, will save it.”  And then in Acts 20:35 he is quoted as saying, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”  The way of Jesus that leads to life, joy, and peace is the way of service to others.  So waste a little time today doing something for someone who has nothing to give you to help you grow.

In his first year in office Pope Francis has put a renewed emphasis on Christ’s call to be of humble service to others.  His namesake, St. Francis, sparked a reform movement 900 years ago that called people back from the desire to be served to the mandate to serve, because spiritual growth comes through service to others.  He wrote a famous prayer that says,

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen”

North Star News 07-11-2013

Early this month was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) which many historians consider the turning point of the Civil War. Victory for the Union forces came at a high cost, however, with about 23,000 casualties on each side including a total of 7,863 killed outright. Gettysburg has become famous and, in some quarters, romanticized for actions such as Pickett’s Charge and the heroism of Minnesota’s Regiment and of course, President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the cemetery for all those dead soldiers. But the terrible carnage that was the essence of the battle should never be forgotten.

One of the ironies of the battle is that part of it was fought on Seminary Ridge which is named for the Lutheran seminary there. Today Gettysburg Seminary (ELCA) still sits on that ridge where tourists and students can still see bullet holes in one of the buildings. It is an irony that there such a deadly battle was fought on a campus that was, and still is, dedicated to producing preachers for the Prince of Peace. The seminary was to be a place where young men could study quietly for a life of bringing “the peace of God that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) to an often violent and cruel world. For a few days in July 1863 it was anything but tranquil.

The will of God for all people is summed up in the song sung by the angels at the birth of Jesus: “peace on earth, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14 KJV). Early in his ministry Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) And throughout his ministry Jesus called his disciples to a life of peacemaking in their relations with one another as believers and in their interaction with others who do not believe. It is his desire that people work out their differences without resorting to violence, threats, intimidation, or war. In Matthew 5:43 he said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

The early Christians took these words very seriously and were known as a people of peace in a culture that made them stand out for it. In Romans 12:18 St. Paul wrote, “if it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” And the author of Hebrews wrote in 12:14 “pursue peace with everyone….” This is a worthy goal for today: to work for a world of peace where bombs do not explode along the route of a marathon and where drones do not reign terror from the skies. It takes great courage to advocate for peace in a world of vengeance and violence.

The great vision that has animated the people of God for centuries is that of the prophet in Isaiah 2:4
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

As the nation observes the sesquicentennial of the tragic events of the Civil War may the prayer of the people be that of the 1955 song by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller:
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be
With God as our father, brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

North Star News 07-01-2013

This week will be filled with a great deal of patriotic fervor as the nation celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 on July 4th. The parades, speeches, and fireworks are all intended to create pride in America and loyalty to the nation. On July 4th many a heart will swell with emotion when the national anthem is played. But on other days it seems that Americans swing widely between the poles of proclaiming that this is the greatest nation on earth and despairing of the actions of the government when gridlock grips the capitol or revelations of massive intelligence gathering hit the news.


Scripture teaches that the nation is to be respected but not worshipped because the nation is part of God’s rule over the earth but not part of God’s plan of salvation. Salvation is the gift of God through Jesus Christ for all who would believe in him without any respect to nationality, race, or ethnicity. There are two key passages in scripture that speak to the Christian’s relationship to any nation from America to Zimbabwe.

In Romans 13:1 it says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Even though Declaration of Independence says “governments are instituted by men and derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and the introduction to the constitution of the United States clearly states the “we the people….do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America” it is through the will of “we the people” that God accomplishes his will to establish order and safety in the land. And it is for this reason that Romans 13:7 goes on to say “Pay all of them their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due” even if those in office are members of the other political party, be they Democrats in Minnesota or Republicans in North Dakota.

And in 1st Timothy 2:1 it says, “First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” This is a clear call to pray for those who hold office in the land and whose decisions will have a powerful effect on our lives. Pray for President Obama, Governor Dayton, the members of the U.S. congress and the state legislature. Pray for the Supreme Court and all the courts in the land right down to traffic court. Pray that they will be wise in their decision making, fair in their administration of the laws, and compassionate in their dealings with ordinary citizens.

This month the Canadians will gather around the Maple Leaf flag on the 1st, the French will have “La Fête Nationale” on the 14th, and we will fire off fireworks on the 4th of July. Every nation has its day and its place in the sun. Let us celebrate our national holiday with pride and prayer, and with the sure knowledge that our God is Lord of all. Back in 1934 Lloyd Stone wrote a hymn to be sung to the “Finlandia” tune that still rings true today.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

Newsletter July 2013: Synod Assembly Report

The annual assembly of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was held June 7-8-9, 2013 at Concordia College of Moorhead MN under the theme “Always Being Made New” which is based on 2nd Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; behold, everything has become new!” This is the theme for the 25th anniversary year of the ELCA and of the synod celebrated throughout 2013.

At the assembly Bishop Larry Wohlrabe said that he felt the synod was experiencing “a new normal” in its life. He was quoted in the Grand Forks Herald (6/10/2013) as saying, “I believe that the Northwestern Minnesota Synod turned a corner and is heading into a hope-filled future, serving God’s mission in the world.” After years of divisive debates on human sexuality, angry disaffiliations, declining revenues, and a series of one term bishops, things have turned around.

The first order of business was the election of a bishop. Wohlrabe is in the final months of his six year term. For the first time in the 25 year history of the synod a bishop was re-elected to a second term. Wohlrabe won on the first ballot with 88% of the vote, followed by a standing ovation from the assembly and congratulations all around.

It was reported that synod revenues have been rising for the last two years. There has been an insurance settlement for the embezzlement by the former bookkeeper and new procedures and safeguards have been put into place. The Malaria Campaign in the synod is well ahead of schedule in raising fund to combat this devastating disease in warmer climes than Minnesota experiences.

The tone of the assembly was cordial and respectful throughout as the voting members passed four resolutions by overwhelming margins. Votes were not counted one by one because it appeared that the vote by the raising of hands was 80% or 90% in each case. The full texts of the resolutions are posted on the synod website. Briefly they were

1. Allowing St. Paul congregation of Lowry to transfer from NW MN synod to SW MN synod.

2. To allow the synod to begin a consultation with the ELCA to adjust the percentages of revenue divided between the ELCA and synod. (more to the synod annually)

3. To support the Uniting American Families act currently before the U.S. Congress

4. To support legislation prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The first two were presented by the synod council and officers. The latter two came “from the people” through the conference assemblies held earlier this spring across the synod.

The worship at the assembly was inspiring with lively music and meaningful communion liturgies on Friday evening and Sunday morning as well as “Prayers around the Cross” on Saturday morning. One of the great delights of each assembly is the vigorous hymn singing by 500+ Lutherans. Especially moving was the Friday sermon on the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17) by former Bishop April Ulring Larson, whose son was killed in the 2010 Haiti earthquake while on a mission trip.

Another delight of each assembly is connecting with old friends and former neighbors. We had two meals with Jackie Hellerud, formerly of Karlstad, and a good conversation with Pastor Ken & Cindy Losch, formerly of Hallock. Dorothy Suomala, former Karlstad school superintendent,, her husband Paul, and her daughter, Pastor Mary, were all there and greeted us warmly. Mary had died her hair red after challenging her congregation’s youth to raise money for the Malaria Campaign and they just about doubled the goal – but I missed her beautiful blonde locks. At the Saturday night banquet two former bishops (Lohr and Hermenson) sent written greetings while two others (Rimmereid and Wangberg) spoke in person and introduced many of the staff members who served with them in years gone by.

Voting members sat together by conferences for the business sessions so there were good visits with, for instance, Todd Ehrnstrom of Lake Bronson, Ken & Barb Peterson of Lancaster, Patti Swanson of Kennedy, Ken & Judy Horntvedt of Baudette as well as their pastors – and many others, of course. Kittson County churches were highlighted twice for their work together in bringing a pastoral intern to rural Minnesota. As one pastor said afterwards, “I was really proud to be from Kittson County.” So were Steve & Beth Murray, Ruth and I as we represented First and Eidsvold this year.

The next synod assembly will be May 17-18, 2014 again at Concordia in Moorhead.

Newsletter June 2013

2013 is the 25th anniversary year of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and so it is also the anniversary year of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO). Over the years the LYO has been one of the bright spots in the life of the ELCA.

The whole concept of “youth” is a relatively new one in human history. For millennia children went straight from childhood to adulthood and from playing in the yard with grandparents to full time work beside adults. Even childhood could be a time of hard work for the family, which was OK in an agrarian society but became an exploitative situation during the Industrial Revolution. Charles Dickens in the mid 19th century was among those who shined a light on the dark corners of life for young people in those days, especially for orphans and the poor. Gradually the church responded, first with the Sunday School movement and then with youth organizations. Youth organizations, such as the YMCA and Luther League, were to encourage faith in Jesus Christ and moral living among those who were not children anymore but not quite adults either. Many have written about how the age of “youth” as a time of physical maturity but not adult responsibility has become longer through the 20th century. Now in the 21st century one of the buzz words is “extended adolescence” as some people wait even longer to take on adult responsibilities.

In any case, youth organizations among us Lutherans have focused on the high school years. And the ELCA has had one of the finest youth organizations among all the churches. For a very long time our congregational youth did not attend the huge youth gatherings the ELCA held every three years or so. There are pros and cons to spending so much money to take a group across the nation and to spending so much time raising that money. But in 2012 several of our youth attended the ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans and found it to be a deeply meaningful event which grew their faith. One thing that I noticed during the fund raising campaign for this trip was the number of older adults who talked about the memories they had of attending a national gathering in their youth, which may have been 30 or 40 years ago. They still counted it as one of the great events of their lives. When a small town teen or rural youth attends an event with thousands of other youth who profess a faith in Jesus Christ as Lord they realize the size, scope, and diversity of the ministry of the church in the world. The youth who came back from the ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans talked about their new appreciation of the needs of the poor in one of America’s poorest cities still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and of the hot and humid day spent on a service project.

A similar result happens with synod youth events. For many years the Northwestern Minnesota Synod had what many considered the best youth gatherings among the 65 synods of the ELCA. This was largely due to the work of David Hunstad while he was on synod staff. My own three children all had the opportunity to participate in these grand events in Winnipeg, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Fargo, and other places. One adult chaperone told me of being overwhelmed at a Peder Eide concert at one of these synod youth events when the loud, even raucus, music gave way to complete silence as Peder called on them to kneel in silent prayer – and they all did. It was a profoundly holy moment.

This year our youth are embarking on a new adventure with a mission trip to Idaho with other youth from Kittson County. The purpose is to see yet another part of the country and experience the church in a different setting as they engage in work for those in need and witness to their own youthful faith. We look forward to their report on what they did and what it meant to them.

Our current local youth group advisors are doing an excellent job of working with our youth so that they can experience the best of youth events at home and far from home. There always has to be some entertainment component to events with youth as well as service and learning. (Maybe with adults, too, come to think of it.) But the opportunities are there for those who will avail themselves of them. It is not always easy working with youth so we can thank the Lord for those who are doing their best right now to lead our youth to deeper faith in Jesus Christ, fuller commitment to the church of Jesus Christ, and service to the needy in the Name of Jesus. As one of “yesterday’s youth” I thank God for today’s fine youth and those who work with them.

Marriage in Minnesota

On May 14 a historic change was made in the laws governing marriage in Minnesota when the governor signed a bill called the “Freedom to Marry” act before thousands of cheering citizens in front of the state capitol building. The bill received solid but not overwhelming support in the legislature, passing the house of representatives 75-59 and passing the state senate 37-30. It had the enthusiastic support of the governor who made it a priority of his administration. The mayor of St. Paul organized an all night party in the city to celebrate the occasion. The mayor of Minneapolis promised to be present when the first licenses are issued at 12:01 a.m. on August 1 when the law goes into effect. Clearly a major change has taken place in Minnesota, and it is pretty clear that a majority of citizens support this change.
.
But this does not mean a major change for First Lutheran Church or Eidsvold Lutheran Church. Neither the congregation nor its pastor is obligated to perform a marriage just because a couple has a valid marriage license. Religious institutions and the clergy have always had the freedom to decline to participate in any wedding ceremony for any reason whatsoever. Churches and other religious institutions have always been able to set different standards for marriages from what state law says. The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, declines to allow the re-marriage of divorced people because they consider such marriages sinful. Some churches will not allow inter-faith marriages, such as Jewish-Christian or Moslem-Christian. This has not changed. What has changed are the rules about who can get a valid marriage license in the state of Minnesota and who will be recognized as married by the state, county, and municipal government.

Marriage is a universal and yet often misunderstood institution. One helpful way to think about marriage is to reflect on three aspects of marriage. First of all, marriage is a covenant that a couple makes with each other to be in a marital relationship. Among Christians this covenant is lived out in a relationship that is exclusive, life-long, faithful, and loving. At the heart of the marriage ceremony in the Lutheran church are the promises a couple make to each other. They are accountable to each other from that moment on.

Secondly, marriage is a legal contract governed by the laws of the state. That is why a couple has to get a marriage license from the government before they can be married. The state checks to see that they are legally eligible to be married (old enough, mentally competent, not married to someone else, etc.) and then confers on them certain rights and responsibilities when they speak their vows before a legally recognized official. The marriage affects their legal status in a court room where a person cannot be compelled to testify against a spouse, in tax law where joint tax returns are allowed and inheritance rights are protected, and in medical situations where a person can make decisions when a spouse is no longer competent to do so.

Thirdly, there is a spiritual component to marriage to which the wedding ceremony attests when a member of the clergy prays a prayer of blessing on the couple on behalf of the whole church. This spiritual aspect to marriage comes from a belief that God created men and women for each other (Genesis 1:27) and hallowed their union (Matthew 19:6). In Ephesians 5:32 St. Paul calls marriage a great mystery which is an image of the union of Christ and his church. Christians who believe this feel that the Lord God is a partner in this marriage to whom they are accountable and from whom they receive support, insight, and love.

The fullness of marriage is found when all three aspects are present: a loving personal bond between the two, legal recognition by the government and community, and a blessing from God through the ministry of the church. When all three are present a married couple enjoys the support of each other, the community, and the Lord through all the ups and downs of life.

In the world today, many people have only one or two of these aspects of marriage in their life together. Some are legally married but not personally committed to each other. It is more common every year for people to live together without a legal marriage or a spiritual blessing in a state called cohabitation. Some people think that the personal and legal is enough and do not seek a blessing in the church or a life in the congregation.

Rather than fight the battles over marriage that were waged in Minnesota last fall and this spring, it would be good for Christians to encourage couples to seek the full joy of married life by living generous, loving, and faithful lives. In the light of the changes in Minnesota law let us take a positive and respectful approach to dealing with one another and the laws under which we live.

For Bishop Larry Wohlrabe's thoughts on this subject visit his blog at http://www.larrywohlrabe.blogspot.com/2013/05/same-sex-marriage-implications-for.html

Newsletter May 2013

The year 2013 is not only the 25th anniversary year for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but also for the church’s women’s auxiliary, the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or the “WELCA” as we commonly call it. At the WELCA synod convention and again at the triennial national convention of the WELCA there will be celebrations of a quarter century of study, support, and service.

But the history of the women’s auxiliary goes back much farther. At Eidsvold the congregation was formed in 1886 and the women’s group came along only a few years later, once families had settled on the land. In Karlstad there was a women’s group conducting Bible studies in Norwegian before there was a congregation incorporated by the men under the laws of Minnesota in 1916. In those days not only were men and women not mixed in the same group, but Swedes and Norwegians did not mix well either. That’s why there are two Lutheran congregations in the city of Karlstad. Before 1987 the women’s group was called the ALCW for the “American Lutheran Church Women” because we were part of the ALC. Before 1960 it was usually called the “Ladies’ Aid Society.” And back when Norwegian was the every day language of the people it was the “kvinde forenning.” But whatever the language or the national organization, women of the congregation have long organized themselves for three principle reasons: 1) to study the Word, 2) to support the congregation, and 3) to do acts of charity.

The current purpose statement of the WELCA sums it up this way: “As a community of women created in the image of God, called to discipleship in Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to grow in faith, affirm our gifts, support one another in our callings, engage in ministry and action, and promote healing and wholeness in the church, the society, and the world.” This mission statement is printed on the first page of each year’s handbook and recited at Eidsvold at the beginning of each WELCA meeting.

There is no doubt that women’s groups have fallen on hard times. At the churchwide and synodical as well as the congregational level, there is much fretting about the absence of younger women. The churchwide and synodical organizations offer scholarships to try to get younger women to attend conventions. Congregational groups often discuss how to get younger women more active, usually without progress. If an older male pastor, such as myself, asks a younger female pastor if she is going to a women’s meeting or convention the frowns are immediate. Pronounce the acronym as “welca” and images of Lawrence Welk waltzing with Norma Zimmer pop into many a head. (a-one, a-two, a….) – if the person is old enough to remember those two or watches reruns on PBS on Sunday nights in North Dakota.

And yet these organizations endure to do these three core things: study, support, and serve. Perhaps they should not be limited to women. Maybe gender based groups do hearken back to a day when women did not vote in congregational meetings or serve on the church council, and only men stood in the pulpit. The purpose statement of the WELCA would work just as well for the whole church as for the women’s group. Just strike the word “women” and replace it with “believers in Christ” and it would do just fine. But down through the ages some things have been “women’s work” like it or not.

On the fourth Sunday of Easter (April 21) the first reading was from Acts 9 about the remarkable Dorcas (or Tabitha, both of which mean “gazelle”) who had a beautiful ministry of making tunics and other clothing for people. Although the text does not say so, many of us think she gave clothing to the poor as she remembered Jesus’ words to the righteous in Matthew 25:36 “I was naked and you clothed me.” From her story many churches once had a “Dorcas Circle” composed of women who sewed for the poor. That work continues on in the current WELCA with the “mission action” committees which make quilts and assemble school kits and health kits for distribution to the poor through Lutheran World Relief. It would be a great loss if efforts to modernize the church diminished this beautiful work.

In this year of 2013, let us celebrate the history of the women’s group in each congregation that have done so much over the years to deepen the faith of its members, support the congregation, and give to the poor. The Lord only knows how much good has been done by the women of our congregations, often behind the scenes. But as Matthew 25 points out, the Lord will remember and commend them for it on judgment day.

 



Confirmation Sermon

ON BEING A CHRISTIAN Confirmation Sunday Easter 5C April 28, 2013


The title for today’s sermon was inspired by the title for the devotional on the back of the bulletin this Sunday “On Being a Christian.” How appropriate for a confirmation service. The outline for today’s sermon was inspired by the personal confirmation verses chosen by the six confirmands this morning. Each verse speaks to one aspect of being a Christian today.

We begin with the love of God. Joel chose as his personal confirmation verse John 3:16 which Martin Luther once said is the gospel in a nutshell – a concise and complete statement of the gospel in one verse. And it all begins with the love of God for us. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” As this verse says by its grammatical structure, the basis of everything we are doing today is God’s love for us, a love that he had for us long before we ever thought of him or ever sought after him. As 1st John 4:10 says so well, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.”

This is a love that is wholly undeserved, and in many ways, unexpected. Once we have experienced the love of God in the giving of his son, we understand that we have no claim on God at all, but that he has claimed us as his own. As we look around, and examine our own lives with honest eyes, we know that we sinners do not deserve the love that a holy God has lavished upon us. As Martin Luther said in the catechism in the section of the Lord’s Prayer on “forgive us our trespasses” “for we sin every day and deserve nothing but punishment.” And so we do not claim to deserve anything, but receive everything by faith in Jesus Christ. Tori chose Ephesians 2:8 which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest anyone should boast.” Today as we go through the Rite of Confirmation we are not asking if these young people are good enough to be confirmed, although they are good young men and women. What I will be asking is if they believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. Today the families of our confirmands are rightly proud of their children, and the young adults they are becoming. But as 2nd Corinthians 10:17 says, “let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” because it is the Lord who gives salvation, forgives sins, and sends the Holy Spirit to form us into what we should be.

When we have been baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, put our faith and trust in him, and been confirmed, then we can face the future with confidence and hope. We know that the Lord, the creator of the universe, loves us and has our best interests at heart. This is said so well by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, well known for his somber prophecies, who nevertheless quoted the Lord himself as saying, “For surely I know the plans I have for you…. plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” That was Bennett’s chosen verse. That last phrase is especially meaningful, “to give you a future with hope.” The God who sent his Son to be our Savior and who has invited us to believe in him for our salvation, is certainly not going to leave us to our own devices entirely. He has plans for us, plans in which we prosper and flourish, in which we grow into the best possible person we can be. We all know it is not going to be one triumph after another. There will be stumbles and falling and a few wrong turns along the way. We may even have to stop, back up, and start over, but God has plans for us – for our welfare – so that we can face the future with hope.

We can also face the future with courage. It is certainly true that a lot of people live in fear these days. People fear the dangers that surround us, such as the terrorists who attacked the Boston marathon, or industrial accidents such as shook West, Texas, not to mention the fear of serious illness – or even more personally - the fear of failing. But with the Lord beside us, we need not fear. Taylor chose as her verse Psalm 27:1 which says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” The answer, of course, is nothing. As it says in Psalm 46 says, “The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear….” I heard once of a man who taped this quote on his bathroom mirror so he would see it at the beginning of each and every day: “Lord, help me remember that nothing will happen today that you and I cannot handle together.”

Along those same lines is that verse from the Sermon on the Mount that Sierra chose as her personal confirmation verse. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” For those of us who are worriers, this verse is a great antidote. It comes after Jesus has encouraged his disciples to look up to the birds of the air. He says that they do not plant or harvest or store in barns, and yet, he says, your heavenly Father feeds them. He begins his discussion by saying, “do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or about your body, what you shall wear” and he ends the discussion by saying, “but seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” When we know that our future is secure, and that we are destined to spend eternity in that new heaven and new earth that our second reading today from Revelation 21 mentions, then we can face each new day with confidence. We can fully embrace the challenges, the joys, and even the disappointments of each and every day. Now please don’t think that this is promoting waiting until the night before the big test in school to cram for it. Far from it. Thinking and planning ahead is very important. But worrying is not good for us. I have found that most of the things I worry the about never happen. So make the most of today. As Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

And finally, we go back to the word with which we began: love. In today’s gospel reading Jesus said, “a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you….” If we were to sum up what being a Christian is all about it is this: to be loved by God and to love one another. First and foremost always is the love God has for us in Christ Jesus. Our response is to love one another. Jesus says, “by this will people know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We will not bully or demean those who are different. We will not pass by on the other side when we someone in need along the road. We will not seek revenge on those who have harmed us. And so Shalynn chose that capstone verse of 1st Corinthians 13: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” Today we have talked about faith. We have talked about hope. But we began and end with love. We walk by faith. We live in hope. And we both are loved and love another. That’s being a Christian. AMEN.

I invite you now to sing a song based on the whole of 1st Corinthians 13, #644.

Sermon "The Lamb(s) of God"

The third Sunday of Easter:  Revelation 5:11-14 and John 21:15-19

The heavenly scene described in Revelation 4 is focused on one sitting on a throne – surrounded by the heavenly hosts, spirits, and animals. The scene is fantastic. Verse 4 says, “Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.” Verses 6-7 say, “And round the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth a flying eagle.” And verse 11 says they were singing “Worthy are you, Our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you did create all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” It is a fantastic scene of power and glory and endless worship.

Chapter 5 introduces something else. Verse 1 says “And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” Many scholars have interpreted this scroll to contain the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation. Breaking the seal would initiate its culmination. And then there is this in verse 4, “and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.” All of a sudden this scene of glory and honor and power is overcast by a sense of helplessness. What will happen next?

In verse 6 it says that a lamb appeared. And suddenly they were singing a new song in that heavenly realm. It is addressed to the Lamb and goes like this, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and tongue its seals, for you were slain and by your blood did ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and has made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth.”

After that is where our second reading begins. Myriad of myriads, thousands of thousands are saying “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And now you know who that mysterious lamb is. It is Christ the lamb who was slain. Each Easter season we sing, “worthy is Christ the lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, blessing, and glory are his.” Seven things, just as in the song in the Book of Revelation.

The image of the lamb was rich in meaning for the people of Israel. For generations they had offered sacrifices of a lamb for their sins. At the time of the exodus, they were instructed to take a lamb without spot or blemish and put its blood on the door posts and lintel of their home so that the angel of death would “pass over” them when the tenth and final plague hit Egypt. The blood of the lamb offered them protection and life. When the people of Israel entered the promised land and King David had conquered Jerusalem a temple was built on Mount Zion by King Solomon, and there they would sacrifice a lamb without spot or blemish as an offering to God. Deuteronomy 15 & 16 tell of how this lamb must be pure and perfect. Deuteronomy 15:21 says of the lamb, “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” And so they had observed the Passover for generations, right up to the time of the New Testament.

Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is that pure and holy one, whose blood was not on the upright doorposts and cross beam lintel of a home on the night of the Passover, but was on the upright beam on Mount Calvary and on the horizontal beam that made it a cross. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God whom we worship these fifty days of Easter for the sacrifice he made for the sins of the world, and not just for the sins of the world, but for the sins that you and I have committed this very week. Along with the hosts of heaven we join in the song of Revelation 5:13 “….To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” And then there is a resounding “Amen!”

One thing we should remember as we read of some of these fantastic visions of the Lamb in the glory of heaven: this lamb is worthy because he was slain. This Christ is honored for the sacrifice he made for others. This Jesus is exalted because he went to the cross. There is no Easter without Good Friday. And there is no place for us in heaven if not for the hellish scene on Golgotha where the spotless Lamb of God was slain.

Some days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee early in the morning. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing. They were tired and frustrated. Jesus was on the shore tending charcoal fire and preparing a Galilean breakfast of fish and bread. After breakfast, Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Peter, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter replied, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus then said, “feed my lambs.” Three times Jesus asked this question, and three times Peter answered that he loved the Lord, and Jesus said, “feed my lambs” or “tend my sheep” or “feed my sheep.”

Here we have another use of the word “lamb.” In this case it refers to those who have come to the Good Shepherd for salvation. By that I mean, they have come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, been baptized in the name of the Triune God, and desire to follow in what he said and did and taught. In other words, in the context here of John 21, the phrase “lamb of God” might refer to us, who are people with plenty of spots and blemishes, some of us lame and others of us blind to what is the right thing to do, but nevertheless forgiven, redeemed, and saved by the blood of Jesus.

Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 95 “For [the Lord] is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who identify with the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd in Luke 15 where Jesus asked, “what man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of the, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he find it?” And again, in John 10:14 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

So Peter is told to feed those lambs and tend those sheep for whom Jesus laid down his life. And what that means he is to care for them tenderly, watch over them faithfully, and be of service to them humbly. So Jesus said back in the year 33 A.D. in words we should heed today.

Last month in the year of our Lord 2013 the whole world watched the election of a man who the Church of Rome says is the 266th successor to St. Peter. Let us set aside the debates about the truth of that claim for a moment. Let’s set all that aside, for I think something very important was said on the day of his inauguration that we should heed today.

But first let us set the scene. It was a bright sunny day in Rome, as beautiful as you will ever see. The setting is fantastic: St. Peter’s Basilica, some of the greatest art work in the world, the glory of the Renaissance world. And reports were of 150,000 people filling the plaza in front of the basilica. Talk about your myriads of myriads and the thousands of thousands.

I have to confess that I got up early that morning and watched this event live on TV. And I listened carefully to the sermon as one who preaches sermons himself. The sermon that morning hit just the right note of humble service that is at the core of Christ’s charge to all his people including the bishop of Rome. Again, think what you may of the claims about the relationship of Pope Francis to St. Peter, of the papacy to Lutherans such as us, and listen to the point being made here.

"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" [quoted from official text issued by the Vatican]

If there is one phrase that stands out it is this: “authentic power is service.” The Lamb who sits upon the throne has authentic power because of his service. Those who are given the charge “feed my lambs” find spiritual power in service to mankind. That is certainly what Jesus meant when he says to those who love him, “feed my lambs.” AMEN.

Now let us sing a hymn by Twila Paris "Lamb of God" (ELW#336) that in the first verse says, "Your only Son no sin to hide, but you have sent him from your side to walk upon this guilty sod and to be called the Lamb of God." and in the final verse says, "I was so lost I should have died but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod and to be called a lamb of God." 

Newsletter April 2013

The 25th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is also the 25th anniversary of Conference One (LaRoKi) of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod. Conference One is composed of all the congregations of the ELCA that are in Kittson, Roseau, and Lake of the Woods counties except for a couple that are part of a parish where the largest congregation is in another conference. Those two are Sjeberg Lutheran Church in the southwestern corner of Kittson County and Gustav Adolph Lutheran Church in south central Roseau County.


When the ELCA was formed in 1987 there was a great deal of discussion about conferences. The Northwestern Minnesota Synod decided to have ten conferences that generally follow county lines. The three counties that comprise our conference are lightly populated which resulted in our conference being one of the smallest in congregation members and clergy. There was concern about this in the beginning, but our conference has turned out to be one of the more cohesive and better organized conferences in the synod. Perhaps our remote location and light population have led us to pull together more.

Our “claim to fame” is that our conference includes the northernmost land in the lower 48 states of the United States. That’s the northwest angle of Minnesota, a little bit of land that is not Canadian because the land had not been explored or surveyed by the Americans or the British at the end of the Revolutionary War when the boundary between the U.S. and Canada was negotiated. They simply made a mistake which gives the map of Minnesota a little smokestack on the top. The 2010 census lists only 119 permanent residents of Angle Township of Roseau County. Of course there are many more in the summer when people come to camp and fish or visit Oak Island. Unfortunately there are no Lutheran congregations in the angle, but we can still argue that we have the northernmost ELCA congregation in the lower 48 at Pine Creek in Roseau County. That tiny congregation is nestled right against the border. But then again, there may be others like it out in North Dakota and Montana. I’m not spending any time researching that bit of trivia.

We are called Conference One because the synod decided to number conferences from north to south in the same way Minnesota numbers legislative districts from northwest to southeast. I enjoy telling people “we’re number one” when referring to our conference or our state senate district. For the Minnesota House district it is even better: “1A.” Sounds like a winner, eh?

Back in 1987 each conference was given the option of choosing another name for itself which resulted in a hodgepodge of names, many of which do not distinctively identify the conference. This replaced the sensible old system in the American Lutheran Church which named conferences for the largest city in the conference. Thus we used to have the Thief River Falls Conference and the Crookston Conference. We knew just where they were. It is not so with the Pine to Prairie Conference or the Agassiz Conference today. If memory serves me, our name was proposed by our own Jim Sollund of Karlstad following the local tradition of combining county names. Do you remember “Mar-Kit” and KaMaR”? “LaRoKi” is composed of the first two letters of each county going from east to west.

After the congregation, the conference is the level of church organization closest to us. It includes our nearest neighbors, people who not only share our faith but share our community or county. Sometimes people think of the Church (with a capital “C”) or the ELCA (all capital letters!) as a big organization far from us with little understanding of us. But the Church is the people just down the road who are also part of the Body of Christ, and the ELCA is those people down the road who also subscribe to the Augsburg Confession..

Twenty five years ago I had many questions about the direction the brand new ELCA was going to take. I have to admit that I did not always trust those liberal big city Lutherans or those East Coast Lutherans with a 300 year old tradition. But I came to appreciate the 1987 merger when I focused on our union with a congregation in the next township over or on the other side of the county seat. They were the ones with whom we were merging, and they are the ones I appreciate to this day. When I was tempted to complain about the merger I thought about them.

When I was considering the call to First and Eidsvold in the spring of 1990, Art Rimmereid, who was assistant to the bishop back then, said to me, “one thing you will like up there is the conference.” It was true then. It is true today.