North Star News 1/30/2014 "Rest in Peace"

It used to be that many tombstones had the initials “R.I.P.” on them, and those initials continue to be a well known symbol for death.  In English “R.I.P.” stands for “rest in peace” but farther back in history it stood for “requiescat in pace” which is a phrase that occurs twice in the old Latin funeral mass.  In a requiem mass it is a prayer which translated says “may he (or she) rest in peace.”  To this day it continues to be a comforting phrase whether it is used in Latin or English and whether it is meant as a prayer on behalf of the deceased or is spoken to the deceased.  I myself used it recently in a condolence card sent to the family of a distant relative who died suddenly after a troubled and anxious life.  I could think of no better thought than this for someone who had known precious little peace in life.

The phrase does not occur in the Bible, but the ancient Hebrew people had a similar phrase based on Isaiah 57 which is a reflection on some of the injustices of life and includes this in verse 1: “The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands.  For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace.”  The prophet lived in turbulent times, to say the least, and the idea that those who fought so hard for justice, often with little success, would eventually enter into the peace of heaven was one that gave him courage for the struggle and gave his people hope.

In the New Testament St. Paul used the concept of sleep to speak of death for those who have died in Christ.  In his long reflection on death and resurrection in 1^st Corinthians 15 he uses this metaphor (v. 51) as well as using it in 1^st Thessalonians 4:13 and other places.  (Unfortunately it is mistranslated as “died” in many modern English language Bibles.)  When St. Paul uses this phrase he is speaking of the peaceful sleep of those who have done their best during the day and are fully confident of rising refreshed in the morning.  It is out of a thoughtful reading of these verses (undoubtedly in the King James Version) that Thomas Ken wrote in verse three of his 17^th century evening hymn All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night “teach me to live, that I may dread the grave as little as my bed.  Teach me to die, that so I may rise glorious at the awesome day.”

But no one has to wait for the final hours of life to anticipate rest and peace.  Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  (Matthew 11:27)   In this vein, Martin Luther wrote in his Small Catechism some advice for bedtime prayers.  First of all, he said, make the sign of the cross with the invocation.  Then pray the Lord’s Prayer and another prayer committing body and soul to the Lord.  And then he says, “quickly lie down and sleep in peace.”  The only way that last suggestion is possible is to put everything into the Lord’ keeping and to lie down to rest knowing that rising in the morning there will be a new day, whether on earth or in heaven. 

May you rest in peace this night and every night.

North Star News 1/23/2014 "Peace Within"

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  John 14:27

When Jesus spoke these words his disciples were experiencing a great deal of inner turmoil.  He had been telling them that “his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father” (John 13:1), and while they did not understand just how this was to take place, they did sense this was going to be a turbulent time.  Anxiety filled their hearts which Jesus addressed with these words about inner peace.  Undoubtedly they were worried about their own security, for those who threatened Jesus might threaten them too, (Matthew 10:25) and worried about their own future, for they had left everything to follow him. (Matthew 19:27)  So they were experiencing a real angst as Jesus explained that he was about to accomplish just what he had come into the world to do, and he would accomplish it with great pain and suffering culminating in the cross.

It was at just this point that Jesus offered them a “peace the world cannot give” which is a peace that comes from Christ himself dwelling in their hearts and filling their lives even as the world around them seemed to be spinning out of control.  They were invited to turn their fears and anxieties over to the Lord and give of themselves to serve others, just as he was doing in coming “not to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:28)

In his recent apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” Pope Francis wrote “Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.” (I.2)  On that night in the Upper Room when Jesus spoke to his disciples, they longer to recover that quiet joy they had felt when he first called them and first taught them by the Sea of Galilee.  So for the second time in this one chapter he said to them “let not your hearts be troubled.” (14:1 and 14:27)

For those who have a troubled heart in this first month of 2014 Jesus issues the same invitation to let his peace fill their hearts.  For those worried about health, about healthcare, about finances, about jobs, about relatives, about the course this country is on and so many other things Jesus calls them to “believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1) and surrender all their worries to his great love.  Inner peace comes in the midst of outer turmoil when the advice of Philippians 4:5-7 is followed: “have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

North Star News 1/16/2014 "Peace among Men"

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”  Matthew 5:9

This coming Monday our country will pause for a national holiday honoring Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  King was a Baptist minister from Atlanta who became a leader of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and who advocated non-violent resistance to the system of laws that oppressed black people in America.  While there were many 20^th century influences that led him to embrace non-violent resistance, the foundation for all of them was the teaching of Jesus Christ.

The world has always been a violent place from the day that Cain rose up and slew his brother Abel to the latest spasm of violence in the Middle East.  Men and women have always found it easier to lash out at those whom they see as enemies rather than meet violence or the threat of violence with peace and calm - and a determination not to retaliate.  It takes far more courage, strength, and dignity to do this than to hit back.  Martin Luther King, Jr. learned this from Jesus.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you…..if anyone strikes you on the right check, turn to him the other also……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 sons of your Father who is in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:38-45)  When Pontius Pilate sent soldiers to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter drew out a sword and struck wildly at them, cutting of the right ear of a servant.  Jesus strongly rebuked Peter saying, “Put your sword back into its place!  For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)  Jesus actively practiced what he preached.

But it has been hard for others to practice what Jesus preached.  Men like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela are few and far between, and are often noted for the exception they are to the average leader of a great mass movement.  If the world is ever to know peace, it is a lesson that must be learned.  On January 1^st Pope Francis taught the way of Jesus in his address for the World Day of Peace.  He said, “I appeal forcefully to all those who sow violence and death by force of arms: in the person you today see simply as an enemy to be beaten, discover rather your brother or sister, and hold back your hand!  Give up the way of arms and go out to meet the other in dialogue, pardon, and reconciliation, in order to rebuild justice, trust, and hope around you!”

As we move farther into 2014 let us all resolve to be peacemakers by resisting the impulse to retaliate and working for peace in our homes, on our streets, and throughout the world.  It’s the better way.  It’s the blessed way.  It’s the Jesus way.

North Star News 1/9/2014 "Peace with God"

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Romans 5:1

One of the most common greetings of Jesus in the New Testament is “peace be with you.”  While it is true that the greeting of “peace” (“shalom” in the Hebrew language) was very common in that day as it is today in the Middle East, the greeting of Jesus had a great deal more depth than just a friendly hello.

            The first four chapters of Romans were written to testify to the gospel of Jesus Christ by, first of all, laying out the depth of our sin and subsequent alienation from a holy and righteous God.  As Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.”  It is not just the notorious and villainous people of this world to whom this applies, but to all of us.  Romans 2:11 says “God shows no partiality” among those who sin, be they Jew or Greek (Romans 2:9), male or female, public sinner or private philanderer.  Romans 3:22-23 says “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  That means you and me, the man on death row and the judge who handed down the sentence, and even Pope Francis who was asked on September 19 who he was, to which he replied “I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

            The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he has looked upon all of us with compassion.  And as is always the case with the Lord, his compassion led to action to bring his grace and mercy to the suffering.  Romans 3:24-25 says, “they [including you and me] are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood….”  On the cross Jesus shed his own blood and sacrificed his own life so that we might have peace with God.  He did not die for his own sins, since he himself was without sin, but he died for sinners like you and me.  Romans 5:6-9 says “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…..But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

            We receive the grace and mercy of God through simple faith in Jesus Christ.  Romans 3:25 concludes with “to be received by faith.”  The culmination of the first four chapters of Romans is this call to faith in Jesus Christ as savior and lord.  It is to recognize that salvation from the consequences of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23), comes by believing that Christ died for our sins.   The natural outcome of this faith in the savior is to let him be the Lord of your life.  How could anyone respond any differently to such an extravagant gift?

            When Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord, then comes peace with God because the formerly troubled soul has an eternal destiny that is secure and a living presence to guide, comfort, and direct day by day.  As Jesus himself said in John 14:27 this is a peace the world cannot give.  And in John 16:33 he noted that there would still be tribulation in this world.  But as he said so many times to his disciples in the midst of their troubles, anxiety, and pain: peace be with you.

            And now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord (Philippians 4:7) this month of January, this year of 2014, and unto eternity because you have accepted him as your lord and savior.

Newsletter January 2014

As we begin the year 2014 the history student in me cannot help but look back a century to the year 1914 which was a pivotal year in world history and changed the course of Western civilization.

At the beginning of 1914 the Pax Britannica was just about a hundred years old.  Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was entering the 20^th year of what looked like a very long reign.  Kaiser Wilhelm II presided over a resurgent German Empire.  The sun never set on the British Empire.  Woodrow Wilson was in the second year of being only the second Democrat elected president since the American Civil War.  The world economy, technology, and optimism about human progress were growing, despite the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. 

And then shots were fired in Sarajevo, the guns of August boomed, the major powers all fell into a vicious war, and nothing was ever the same again.  Before the dust had settled on this whole chain of events (let us say in 1920), the Tsar and all his family were dead (including Anastasia), the Kaiser was in exile in the Netherlands and never returned to Germany not even for burial, and President Wilson was felled by a stroke as he over-worked himself in a futile attempt to get the U.S. to join the League of Nations so that the “war to end all wars” would remain just that.  And worst of all, the nightmare that was the communist experiment in Russia (of all places!) began, the Nazis were organizing in Germany which would lead to a war that made the first one pale by comparison, and poorly planned national borders were drawn in the old Ottoman Empire that trouble us to this very day.  But at the beginning of 1914 no one saw the magnitude of what was coming.

The year 2014 does not look like it will be nearly so pivotal as 1914.  But one never knows.  The future is always unknown, and many of the major events of human history have caught the human race quite unaware and unprepared.  Those who emerge to change the course of human events often come out of nowhere.  Time magazine chooses a “person of the year” annually in late December.  The person of the year for 2013 is Pope Francis whom most people outside of Argentina never heard of at the beginning of 2013.  Runner-up was Edward Snowden who toiled in obscurity at the beginning of the year.  And yet they were deemed the ones who made the biggest impact, for good or for ill, on the world this last year.

The Bible is full of reminders of the mystery of future events, from Isaiah 55:8 “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord” to James 4:13 “Come now, you who say ‘today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow” to Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?”

We may not know the future but, there are some parts of the mind of the Lord that have been revealed to us in the holy scriptures.  Here are a few thoughts to take into the new year.

1)  Matthew 28:20 “And lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.”   These are the words of Jesus as he ascended into heaven and the disciples wondered what in the world was next.  Jesus told them that they would not face the future alone.  And neither do we.

2) Matthew 6:34 “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”  These words were spoken by Jesus after asking his listeners to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and God’s continual care for them.  God still cares for us day by day.

3) Isaiah 29:11 “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and nor for harm, to give you a future with hope.”  These words were spoken to the children of Israel feeling hopeless and powerless in exile to reassure them as they waited to return home.  The Lord knows his plans for us even if we cannot divine them right now.

4) Romans 8:28 “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.”  This would be a cheap promise if it were not for the verses that precede it about the reality of “the sufferings of this present age” (v.18) and “our weakness” (v.26).   God will be working for good again in 2014.

So let us greet the new year with confidence in the God who is always with us, who calms our nerves, who has great plans for us, and who is working for good all the time.