My Kittson County Lent 2015 handout

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Theme: “What difference do we make?”  Looking at ecumenical and global partnerships

Color: White (Praying for believers across the world as they respond to God’s overflowing grace in Christ Jesus) 

Scripture: Acts 1:8   “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Caring Conversation:  Discuss with one another how you have been a witness to the love of God in Christ Jesus in four areas: at home (Jerusalem), in your congregation or parish (Judea), with other denominations (Samaria), and across the globe (the ends of the earth).  Discuss ways we can be better witnesses in each of these four areas.

Reflection

On this day (March 25) when Lutherans in Kittson County are gathering for Lenten services four visitors from the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India are beginning a brief visit to our synod.  The AELC is the companion synod to our Northwestern Minnesota Synod.  Over the years there have been a couple of visits by members of our synod to them in the southeastern part of India and several visits by members of the AELC to us in the northwestern part of our state, including one in which the leader of the women’s group from that overcrowded country asked “where are all the people?” while riding in a car on a lonely road here in the far north.

Our settings are very different, and yet whenever we visit with one another we also witness to the love of God in Christ Jesus and the common mission we share.  The mission work in their part of the world is older than the mission work in our part of the world so we have as much to learn from them as they do from us.  And, as our state becomes more multi-cultural with each passing year, we can learn much from them about how to be faithful and effective witnesses to Christ among Moslems, Hindus, and others.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, you have created a big, wide, wonderful world filled with people of a multitude of races, languages, and religions.  Grant that we may be faithful to our calling to witness for Jesus at home and to the ends of the earth.  Show us how to respect the people and views of our ecumenical partners on this continent and our global partners in the gospel.  We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. 

The AELC delegation includes Prof. Anitha Pranuthi Pinapati, Mrs. Asha Kiran Kollabathula, Pastor Sunitha Mortha (ELCA Churchwide staff), Dr. Deva Raju Patta, and Pastor Nelson Francis Wesley Junipe.  Photo from the NWMN Synod facebook page.

written by Pastor Gary Halverson for the 2015 Kittson County Lenten services.

Each Lutheran pastor in the county produced one handout.

Newsletter March 2015

This is the third in a series of columns about family faith practices.  The first was about prayer at meals.  The second was about daily devotions.  This one is about worshipping together.

A mother asked a pastor how she could motivate her son to come to Sunday school.  He would soon be the age for confirmation classes, and she wanted him confirmed.  It is a hard thing to deal with a child who does not have any concern for the life of the spirit whether that child is 3, 13 or 30.  But the only thing the pastor could think to say to the woman was “model the kind of life you want your child to live.”  In this case, neither the mother nor the father of the child showed any enthusiasm for the worship of God or the study of God’s Word so the pastor did not say out loud what the pastor was thinking to say.  The pastor should have said, “if you want your son to go to church, start going to church with him with a glad and cheerful heart.”

Several studies have shown that children whose mothers are active in the life of the church are somewhat likely to follow in their mother’s footsteps.  Children whose fathers are active in the church are more likely to be active church members when they grow up.  And children whose mother and father worship together with them each Sunday are most likely to share the same faith in God and the same active church life as their parents.  The biggest influence on the life of a child is what the parents do.  This is more important than what the parents say or what the parents desire.

When I was younger there was a common saying: “the family that prays together stays together.”  At the time I first heard this saying I understood it to mean the family that prays together in church each Sunday is more likely to stay together.  I am sure this was influenced by the pictures that often accompanied this saying.   They were pictures of a picture-perfect family sitting in a pew with hands folded and heads bowed in prayer.  It is true that families that worship together have a slightly better statistical chance of avoiding a family breakup.

So the third family faith practice I would commend to you this year is the habit of worshipping together in a house of worship each week.  It will bring you all closer together as well as closer to the Lord.

There are no guarantees, of course.  As much as parents may wish to mold the lives of their children, or grandparents influence their grandchildren, or brothers and sisters have a positive impact on their siblings, each person is a unique individual, and each person must make his or her own commitment to the Lord.  Many a fine Christian parent has been like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) watching a child wander off to the far country.  Many a tear has been shed over the apparent complete lack of spiritual life in a relative.  But that does not negate the need to be the best positive influence possible in those situations or the power of living the life you would like someone else to live.

The third commandment (Exodus 20) is “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.”   One of their defining characteristics of the people of Israel was to be the observance of the Sabbath.  In the Catechism (Part 1, #3), Luther said about this commandment, “We are to fear and love God so that we do not neglect his Word and the preaching of it, but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it.”  Luther stayed away from a legalistic interpretation of the commandment and centered his understanding of it on the Word of God.  And he even went so far as to say that a Christian should “gladly” hear and learn it.  Perhaps he was thinking of Psalm 122 which begins “I was glad when they said to me, ‘let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Luther himself expressed great joy in preaching the Word of God and singing God’s praise in the congregation.  He would not have us think that it is merely a duty to attend weekly worship services, but it is a joy and a delight to be together with the family in the house of the Lord.

I might add personally, now that my children are grown and scattered, that it is a great joy for me when all of us are together in one pew singing the praises of our Lord and listening to the Word of God.  It warms my heart every time.  And I believe it brings us closer together.

So the third family faith practice I would commend to you is the practice of worshipping God together