First Eidsvold pastor

Newsletter January 2012

2012-01-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

The greatest team in the history of football, the Green Bay Packers, is having the greatest season in its fabled history. As of the writing of this article they are still undefeated under the cool, competent leadership of quarterback Aaron Rodgers who is sure to be the league’s MVP (Most Valuable Player) this season. But the biggest story in football this year is the story of a young upstart quarterback for the Denver Broncos named Tim Tebow. (www.timbebow.com) Whether playing in the Mile High City or on the road, he has led a series of improbable and exciting-to-the end comeback victories. The media are in a frenzy.

Tim Tebow’s fame rests as much on his strong and very public evangelical faith as it does on his improbable success as a quarterback. Last summer I read his book, “Through My Eyes,” and then donated it to the high school library. I had it on good authority that when high school boys are assigned to read books they head for the sports section. This book would be a good one for them to read, even if it is apparent on every page that it was written by a 22 year old, but a 22 year old of strong character and strong, if youthful, faith.

The book chronicles the well known facts of his life: born of missionary parents in the Philippines to a mother who was told to abort the pregnancy for solid medical reasons (you may remember the pro-life TV ad they did during the last Super Bowl), home schooled in Florida, Heisman Trophy winner during phenomenal seasons at the University of Florida, and consistently being told that quarterback was not the position for him. Google his name and one of the most common hits involves the word “virgin” because at the end of a press conference in college a reporter, who was well aware of his evangelical faith, asked him if he was “saving himself for marriage” to which he simply said “yes” and the press erupted in incredulity and amazement.

This young man’s name has become a verb in the sports world because of his habit of dropping to one knee, putting his elbow on that knee and his fist on his forehead when he prays on the sideline. That’s what it means “to tebow.” (www.tebowing.com) This action has been imitated by thousands of young people, some in sincerity and a few in mockery. To his great credit Tebow says in the book that he does not believe God has an interest in the outcome of football games. Sports are entertainment and recreation, where winning and losing are not subject to divine intervention. God surely has more important things to deal with, like the plight of orphans in the Philippines. Anyone who reads his book discovers Tebow’s success is not God’s doing but the result of relentless hard work ever since he started playing football. Tebow writes that he is puzzled that some other players do not spend more time working out, studying the game, and lifting weights. His work ethic is amazing and a good example for other young men.

However, Tebow does pray publicly, even at games, and does speak openly and often about his faith in Jesus Christ, which delights many and irritates a few. One former Broncos quarterback said he wishes Tebow would just “shut up” about religion. But others have rushed to his defense. On ESPN one night former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkington noted that many sports celebrities use their fame “to sell shoes,” so what is wrong with a Christian who uses his fame to witness to his faith in Jesus Christ? And he doesn’t get paid to do this.

Each one of us has a place in life where we are able to influence others for the good or for the dark side of life. Only a few have such a platform that their words and actions are the subject of TV coverage and internet searches, but everyone has someone who is listening and watching. Everyone has some opportunity to bear witness to the light, just as John the Baptist did when Jesus appeared. Without being obnoxious or heavy handed, everyone can witness.

The first bishop of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod, Harold Lohr, used to end his visits with clergy by saying with a wry smile, “Don’t forget to put in a good word for Jesus.” That’s good advice. Wherever you are and whenever you can, using whatever your station in life is, bear witness to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ this Epiphany.

The Name of Jesus

2012-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

THE NAME OF JESUS sermon January 1, 2012 Year B

Today is the first Sunday of Christmas, and so the bulletin cover we use has printed the scripture texts that are used for this Sunday, which are all about the presentation of Jesus in the Temple when he was forty days old. But this is not the 40th day since we celebrated the birth of Jesus. It is the 8th day of the twelve days of Christmas and the 8th day since our Christmas day festivities. To every devout Jewish family and to those well versed in the culture of the Bible, the 8th day of a boy’s life was very special.
Why is that? Well here is a hint. In Philippians 3:3 St. Paul is arguing against having confidence in worldly attainments, ethnic purity, or outward religiosity. There he writes, “… if any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews…..” and on he goes. You noted it, right? Circumcised on the 8th day – in strict obedience to the law set down in Genesis 17:12 as a sign of the old covenant that God made with Abraham and his descendents. A boy who was 8 days old was to have this done – and was to be given his formal legal name at the same time. This is what happened to Paul in strict obedience to the command. And this is what happened to Jesus. In the New Testament there is but one simple verse describing this event. It is Luke 2:21 “At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
The very next verse in the Bible is the verse that begins today’s reading about the things that happened 32 days later when Jesus was 40 days old. Once again notice the strict adherence to the laws of the old covenant made with Abraham and his descendents so many years before: “When the time came for her [that is Mary’s] purification according to the law of Moses [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’” You can’t help but notice that in the early life of Jesus, everything was done properly according to the rules and rituals that pertained to the Jewish people in that day.
But when you read Luke 2:21 you also can’t help but notice a subtle shift of emphasis from the acting out of the ritual to the new thing that God is doing in Jesus Christ. Listen again to Luke 2:21: “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” The event that took place at the end of eight days is just the setting for what this passage of the Bible really wants us to hear: that his name is Jesus.
Yes, once again, we find that Mary and Joseph were the kind of people who did everything according to the Book – or in this case according to the word of the angel who appeared to both of them, about this child Jesus. When the time came for the official, formal, and final naming of her son, they did as they were told. They named him “Jesus.”
In Luke 1:31 the angel Gabriel says to the very young Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High……” And so Mary agreed to name him Jesus. In Matthew 1:20 Joseph hears an angel say, “…do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.” And so Joseph agreed to name him “Jesus.” They didn’t talk about any other name. They didn’t go through a book of popular names.
“Jesus” is the way we pronounce the name in the English language. In the original Hebrew it was the same as the name we pronounce as “Joshua” and was a fairly common name in the days of the New Testament because people were looking for a savior. In the Hebrew pronunciation it was “Yehoshuah” which means “the Lord* saves” or “the Lord* will save.” And so Joseph is told by the angel that “he will save his people from their sins.” *the Lord = the sacred ׳חוח
So while a subtext of this passage is the way that the family of Jesus did everything for him properly and in a timely manner, the main point is centered on this name. Jesus. Through Jesus salvation will come to his people – and to all people, even you and me. His name says it all.
The name of Jesus was not given to him simply as a convenient handle by which we can talk about “the Man from Galilee,” although that is one way it is used. The name of Jesus was never intended to be a swear word, as often as it is used that way in violation of the second commandment. This child was given this name to tell everyone what was his purpose in life.
I would like you to consider a few verses in the Bible about the name of Jesus.
First, listen to Acts 4:10 St. Peter is giving his testimony about the power that healed a crippled man. He says, “Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.” In this passage, there is both the universal and the exclusive claim made by the followers of Jesus: universal in that all people everywhere are invited to faith in Jesus Christ and exclusive in that this is the only one way of salvation. It was an audacious statement then; it is a politically incorrect statement in today’s world. But it is the claim of the name.
Then there is Philippians 2:9. Leading up to that verse is a statement of the humility and suffering of Jesus which ended on the cross. Philippians 2:9 says, “therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” “Jesus” is that name which is above every name. It has not happened yet, but the day is coming when every knee shall bow before that name and every tongue confess that name.
Until that time, those of us who believe Jesus is Lord are to honor that name and use that name. In Colossians 3:17 we are told, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” It is in the name of Jesus that we gather here today on the first day of the new year. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray, confident that God the father hears our prayers for Jesus’ sake.
“Jesus” is the name announced by the angels beforehand, given by Mary and Joseph to her son on the 8th day, used by us today to pray and to bless, and one day exalted by all. AMEN.

North Star News 12/29/2011

2011-12-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

As we come to the end of the calendar year, it is time for some retrospectives. Newspapers and magazines are producing accounts of the major events of the last year along with lists of top news stories, personalities, and trends as well as events of 2011. Others write humorous articles about the great collapses of 2011: Herman Caine, the Minnesota Vikings, that Kardashian marriage. Recalling predictions made at the end of 2010, it is easy to poke fun at the prognosticators. The future is impossible to predict.

When the year Jesus was born came to an end, his mother Mary thought about all the remarkable things that had taken place over the past twelve months. Luke 2:19 says that Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She remembered back in March when the angel Gabriel startled her with his unannounced visit and his astonishing statement that she would conceive and bear a son whose name would be Jesus. She remembered the warm embrace of her kinswoman Elizabeth whose child leaped for joy within her when Mary approached bearing the Christ child within her own body. Those three happy months in the hill country of Judah went by all too quickly. Then it was time to face reality. She remembered the unexpected kindness of Joseph who did not call off their engagement when she told him she was “with child,” but he said that an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream to tell him of the messianic fulfillment this child would bring. There was the long arduous trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem in her ninth month which they made safely despite the dangers. And finally, in the City of David, filled with strangers, the kindly old innkeeper found them a warm and cozy stable for the night when the birth took place.

When the year began, Mary thought it would be an ordinary year with an ordinary wedding for an ordinary girl. But when she looked back, there were twists and turns she never imagined would take place. At every point where there was danger or fear, the Lord provided for her and Joseph and the precious child growing within her. Perhaps in moments of quiet reflection she recalled Psalm 23 which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want….though I walk through the valley….I will fear no evil for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

For many of us 2011 has brought some real surprises and maybe even brought us to a place we don’t want to be. But in the year 2011, just like in the year 1, the Lord has been there to guide, direct, comfort, and inspire. The well known poem “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson speaks to the truth that in the most difficult and dangerous moments of life, the Lord is the one quietly holding up his people. The closing line of the poem, when the Lord explains why there is only one set of footprints in the sand at certain times, says that “is when I carried you.”

He who carried us through all the ups and downs of 2011 will surely carry us through whatever 2012 may bring. As the angel Gabriel said to Mary, and again to the shepherds on the hillside, “Fear not!”

North Star News 12/22/2011

2011-12-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Before the English popularized the practice of singing Christmas carols, before Martin Luther wrote “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” even before St. Francis created the first crèche, the Church celebrated the story of the incarnation of the savior in chant. One of those ancient chants was written in Latin by Aurelius Prudentius around the year 405 and begins “Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be” and continues on to tell the story and sing the praises of Jesus Christ in a hauntingly beautiful melody. Although it is not the sort of music easy to sing while Christmas caroling, this chant is still heard in concert halls and churches and on the radio at this time of year.

The birth of any child is a story of love. There is the love of a man and a woman that began the process that led to the birth. There is the story of the intense bond between a mother and her child, a love quite unlike any other. But the birth of Jesus is a unique love story. It is the story of a God who loves people like you and me despite our many flaws and imperfections and, at times, our open rebellion against the God who created us. The Gospel according to St. John does not contain the story of the birth of Jesus but it does contain the verse that most perfectly summarizes what the stories about Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke mean: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Christmas is the time to revel in the love of God, a love that is wholly undeserved which makes it all the more precious.

People in love love to give gifts. Many people this year have searched for just the right gift to put under the tree to show just how much they love the recipient of the gift. A young man shows his love for his bride-to-be with the gift of an engagement ring, which, in turn, is a sign of an even greater gift, the pledge of lifelong love and faithfulness which is made on their wedding day. The gift of Jesus, born in Bethlehem, is both the sign and the reality of God’s love. In 1st John 4:9 it says, “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.” The song of the angels, the chatter of the shepherds, and the reverence of the wise men are all in response to what God did to show his great love, as are the carols sung in Christian churches late on the night of December 24 or early on the morning of December 25 each year.

There is another Christmas hymn not sung so often and no longer in very many hymnals that was written by Christina Rossetti in the 19th century. It is simple and elegant and gets to the point of Christmas:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.

North Star News 12/15/2011

2011-12-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

“Merry Christmas” is the greeting of the season. Through much of the year people say “have a good day” or “enjoy your weekend” but this month it’s “Merry Christmas” or some variation of it. Everybody wants to have a happy holiday. More than just wishing for it, most people are actively working for it by buying presents, sing songs, and planning meals. As the song sung by Andy Williams says,
“It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all.”

But this most wonderful time of the year will come to an end. Those who drive around on December 26th will see Christmas trees stripped bear and set outside. If not that day, then soon after, decorations will come down and be put away to sit in a dark attic or basement until next year. And what of that holiday cheer? Will it also disappear from view along with all the Christmas decorations?

If the joy of the season is based on well lubricated parties, once-a-year family gatherings, and the mound of presents under the tree, then yes, the joy of the season will disappear with the decorations. But if the joy of the season comes from God’s gift of a savior in the person of the babe of Bethlehem, then no, joy will not come to an end in the long slog through the cold days of January. Jesus was born to bring joy to every season of the year through his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation which are granted to all who believe in him.

In John 15:11 Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” In John 16:22 he said, “….I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” And in John 17:13 he prayed for his disciples, “But I am coming to you [Father], and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Jesus came into the world to bring joy to all people, just as the angel said when he announced to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be to all people.” Jesus comes into human hearts through faith to bring a joy that does not fluctuate with the seasons or with the contingencies of life because through it all, the one called “Emmanuel” really is “God with us.” For that reason, St. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice. Let everyone know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand!”

May these busy days of December be filled with the joy of the season, but even more important, may all the days of every season be filled with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as savior and lord.

North Star News 12/08/2011

2011-12-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

“What do you want for Christmas?” is the question being asked in many homes at this time of year. Beyond the gifts that fit under the Christmas tree, one of the great gifts of Christmas is peace.

Among the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah is this one from Isaiah 9:2 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…..”

This prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the child who was born in Bethlehem to be the savior of the world. His mission in the world was to bring peace with God to people who have been alienated from God by their sins. Since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) that includes all the people of the world, every last one of the 7 billion people who currently inhabit this planet, including you and me. Through faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice on the cross, sinners are forgiven and find true peace. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 2:14 says, “He [Jesus] is our peace….” And Jesus himself said in John 14:27, “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.” The gift of peace is given by God and received through faith in Jesus Christ, who is aptly called the Prince of Peace.

But the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 has not been fulfilled yet in terms of conventional world peace. When Jesus was born the world was experiencing the Pax Romana engineered by Caesar Augustus and his successors which meant that there were only minor wars and insurrections going on in the Mediterranean world for about a hundred years. But this was just a pause in the vast sweep of history where wars and rumors of wars have been constant. 2011 is no different from other years. War planes and drones fly as men hatch plans for violence in many corners of the world. Those who have put their faith in the Prince of Peace are called to work for “peace, goodwill toward men” in every season of the year. Romans 14:19 says, “Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” And Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive for peace with all men….” This means trying to encourage reconciliation between people coming to your home for Christmas dinner, on the one hand, and trying to influence the government toward a peaceful resolution of world conflicts, on the other.

As we move through this month of buying gifts and giving presents, may you receive the greatest gift of all, “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and may you give the gift of working for peace as you remember the beatitude, “Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Newsletter December 2011

2011-12-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

On All Saints’ Sunday, November 6, I was sitting in a pew at a church in Minneapolis singing “For all the saints who from their labors rest” when I was overwhelmed with powerful memories of my father, who died in 1998. For the first 18 years of my life he and the rest of my family worshiped together Sunday after Sunday. But now he is a part of the family of God that is in heaven. Nobody called him a saint while he lived – or a great sinner either, for that matter – but he was on my mind that All Saints’ Sunday.

As I looked down the pew there were my wife, my daughter, and my sister beside me, while the boys in the family were elsewhere, one at Eidsvold in Halma and the other on business in Kansas City. And I felt again that powerful sense of family that I first experienced as the eldest of five children who filled an entire pew on Sunday morning. It is one of the great joys of my life to worship together with my family. Even though I know that as one of the ordained, my proper place is in the pulpit on Sunday morning, I still feel get a special feeling when I am in the pew with my family. Maybe because it is a rare event it is all the more special for me.

A frail elderly woman came to sit on the outside end of the pew in front of us. Right behind her came an usher with a cushion for the pew bench and another cushion for the pew back. She sat when the rest of us stood to sing, and the pastor came down to her pew to give her communion. I have no idea who this woman is, but I was touched by the extra care and consideration that was extended to her by the regulars in the congregation. They clearly know her well. Then I started to think that she, too, is a part of the family, the family of God, that is. She is precious in his sight, frail as she is.

A mother, daughter, and two grandchildren came to sit two pews ahead of us. The granddaughter was about 6 or 7 and settled in. You could tell she worshipped here often. But the grandson, who was maybe 2 years old, kept his mother and grandmother busy through most of the service. It started with the organ prelude when he stood in the pew, looked back at the balcony where the organ is, pointed, and said in his loudest voice “Papa! Papa!” I thought his father was in the choir, but my wife, who remembers people so much better than I, said “no, his grandfather is the organist.” The little boy repeated this several times and was as full of action as a two year old boy should be, until he fell asleep toward the end the service. I watched this rambunctious child and his family struggle to keep up with him, and I thought that he, too, is a part of the family, the family of God, that is, and belongs right here with all his uninhibited behavior as much I do. He is precious in God’s sight, young as he is.

In Mark 3:31 it says that Jesus was teaching in a crowded house when his mother and his brothers (or cousins, depending on your translation) were outside asking for him. Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And then he looked around at the people listening to him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.” In this passage Jesus is not denigrating his relationship with his relatives nor is he abrogating the fourth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother…..” But he is pointing to the reality of a great family of God that is more important than any ties of blood, clan, race, or nationality.

This last Thanksgiving we heard in the media a great deal about how Thanksgiving is a time for family. We will hear it all again at Christmas. Gather in the clan! But Christmas, which centers on the Holy Family, is about looking beyond relatives and friends to all the children of God (John 1:12)

Earlier this fall there was a letter to the advice columnist in the newspaper from a woman complaining that her nieces were bringing their boyfriends to Thanksgiving dinner. They’re not family yet, she complained. Thanksgiving week the columnists printed several responses she received to that letter, and one of the best was this. A woman wrote that everyone is welcome at her Thanksgiving table. And then she said that one year she sent her husband out for more milk on Thanksgiving morning and he came back with a carton of milk and four young soldiers he met at the convenience store who were buying hot dogs because they were far from their relatives for the holiday. The woman said it was the best Thanksgiving dinner they ever had, even though she had to stretch the food a bit.

Isn’t that in the spirit of Christ and his family?

First Sunday in Advent 2011

2011-11-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

KEEP AWAKE Mark 13:24-37 Advent 1B November 27, 2011
Today is the beginning of the season of Advent, the time before Christmas when the Church thinks about the coming of Christ into the world. His coming into the world is divided into three parts.
First is the coming of Jesus as the child born in Bethlehem to be our savior, which we will celebrate on December 25th. In the Nicene Creed we say “For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became truly human.” This is a past event.
The second is the return of Christ at the end of time when he will be judge and ruler over all. We say in the Nicene Creed, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” This is a future event.
The third emphasis in Advent is the coming of Christ to us in the present time in the Word and in the Sacraments, as we worship and pray and call on his name. The emphasis is on the here and now, our present reality. It is this third aspect of the coming of Christ that I wish to speak about during each of the Sundays of Advent this year - 2011. And today I would have you think about this under the heading of today’s over all theme: “keep awake.”
In our gospel from Mark 13 for today, Jesus is clearly talking about his second coming at the end of time when he tells his disciples in verse 33 “Beware, keep alert…..” and in verse 37 “…what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” Taking these words and placing them in the context of his coming to us in the present time, they are telling us to be alert to the ways that he is present for us in the here and now, so we do not miss what he is doing among us and fail to participate in it. For Jesus Christ is not just a historical figure from 2,000 years ago, nor is his coming only a future event for which we are waiting. He is among us now. He is working in the lives of his people today.
In Matthew 28:20 Jesus concluded his first coming among us as the Man from Galilee with the words, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” And in Matthew 18:20 Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” And in John 14:18 Jesus said, “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you.” That last quotation from John is a bit complicated, I will grant you, but the point that is being made is that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not forsake you and me for all the years between when he first came to this earth as a child and when he will come again as a judge. “I will come to you….” Jesus said.
In today’s gospel we are advised to be awake and alert to his coming. One of the things we are to do is not be distracted by other things in this world so that we miss seeing where God is at work. It is easy to be distracted.
In November’s WELCA Bible study we read the Parable of the Seed and the Sower. In that parable the seed, which is the word of God, falls in many places as the sower sows: on a hard path, on rocky ground, in good soil, and among thorns. In Mark 4:19 Jesus says that the seed that is sown among the thorns is like when the word of God is proclaimed but (and here I quote) “the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” This, to me, seems to be the great danger of this frantic and frenetic time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We might paraphrase by saying the “demands of the season, the delight in presents, and the desire for other things obstruct the ability to see God at work around us.”
In my confirmation class we had a little skit that I dealt with twice this month, once with the regular class and once in a make-up class with those who missed the regular class. Our subject was the 9th commandment “you shall not covet your neighbor’s house.” The skit was about a boy and a girl who were sitting in the stands beyond center field at a baseball game. The boy was all excited because his favorite player, a terrific home run hitter, was going to come up to bat soon. He had high hopes that a home run ball would be hit right to him so that he could catch it in the stands. As they settle in for the first inning – the home run hitter is going to bat 4th or 5th – they sit with a box of popcorn and cup of soda pop. But then someone else comes in with a bigger box of popcorn, and the boy begins to covet that bigger box of popcorn. Soon he goes out to get the bigger one, enough for two or three people. But then in comes a family with a huge family-size bucket of popcorn, and the boy begins to covet again. He takes his eyes off the game that is now in progress and has eyes only for the bucket of popcorn. He is one of those kids who has to have the biggest and the best. So pretty soon he is up again and off to get the biggest bucket of popcorn and largest cup of soda pop the concession stand sells. And then he sits down with this huge bucket in his lap and this huge cup in his hand, just when his favorite player swings the bat with all his might. Yes, it is a first inning home run, hit right at the place where these people are sitting, but now he can hardly move without spilling things all over everyone. So he misses see the swing because he is trying to balance all his food, and it is his friend who reaches out to catch the ball hit into the stands. He missed the whole thing because he was distracted by all the stuff he had to have and went home without a souvenir baseball.
Jesus would not have us miss his coming to act in our world today because we are too distracted by things around us or too sleepy from doing too many of the things that aren’t really that important in the long run. He would like us to pay attention, be alert, and see that he is working in the world around us today. Keep awake!
Here is a free verse poem by a woman who was awake to God’s presence.
1. I saw God at work today
In my daughter as she cared for her two babies.
I sawn His gentle Hand reach down, filling her with peace and grace.
I saw God working today, when my daughter spoke to me words of wisdom.
I saw God working today on my behalf, when the tides began to rise in my heart
I heard Him say, "Peace, be still"
Not a poem, just grateful.

Here is a testimony from a man who was awakened to God’s presence in his life when he was anxious and worried. He said:
The other day, I met a man for lunch that I had only met briefly a couple of months ago. We had serious business to talk about as our respective organizations were in the middle of a dispute. Although we greeted each other cordially, I must admit that my stomach was in knots anticipating that each of us would spend more energy protecting our respective positions and not enough time listening. We ordered food and it was delivered to our table quickly. I picked up my fork and looked up at him. “Do you mind if we say grace first”? he asked. I looked around the crowded restaurant. “No, of course not”, I replied. Aloud, he thanked the Lord for the food, for friends, family and colleagues. He asked the Lord to bless our food and our conversation. Suddenly my apprehension departed. We ate, chatted and managed to find a resolution in short order. I left the meeting thanking God for sending me such a wise lunch companion who reminded me of what I needed most.
Today, I would ask if you are alert to the work of Jesus in the world today? Take a moment and think about where you have seen the hand of God at work this week.
In the verse of scripture that touched your heart.
In the words of a friend that lifted your spirit.
In the forgiveness extended to one who sinned against you.
In the cup of water given in Jesus’ name.
In the prayer that was answered.
AMEN.

Newsletter November 2011

2011-11-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any public office or public trust under the United States.”
- Constitution of the United States article VI

“I’d rather be ruled by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian.”
- attributed to Martin Luther

On October 7 a Baptist pastor from a Texas mega-church endorsed Gov. Rick Perry of Texas in his bid for the Republican nomination for president over his Mormon rival, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts on the basis of Perry’s evangelical faith. His remarks caused quite a bit of ink to be spilled in the press when he used the inflammatory word “cult” to describe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which commonly goes by the name “Mormon.”

The issue of whether or not the Mormon Church is another Christian denomination is one that has been debated for years. The Mormons usually assert that they are not just another Christian denomination, but the true Christian Church on earth. Close to all evangelical Protestants as well as Catholics and Orthodox would not agree that they are a Christian denomination at all, but a significant deviation from Christianity. This is an issue for Christians and Mormons to debate among themselves.

The bigger issue as America holds local elections this November and a national election next November is whether a candidate’s religion should be a factor in deciding for whom to vote. This was an issue in 1960 when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for president, as it was in 1928 when New York Governor Al Smith ran against Herbert Hoover. It was even an issue early in Abraham Lincoln’s career when he was accused of being an atheist because he did not belong to any church. Those charges are often forgotten today because of the many Biblical references in Lincoln’s speeches and his deep sense of Biblical morality. From the beginning America’s constitution has been clear on the issue of religion. No citizen of this country shall be barred from office on account of religion. The founders of this country had a deep fear of religiously based politics.

The sometimes questioned but often cited quote from Martin Luther makes the Lutheran position clear. Whether Martin Luther really said it or not, this quote embodies his thinking on the issue of politics and religion. The Turks were advancing toward Vienna during Luther’s lifetime. Their Moslem faith was a real challenge to Christian Europe. And yet Luther said that he would take a smart Moslem over a dim Christian for his ruler any day. The test of leadership is wisdom, courage, and compassion, not religion per se. Lutherans have not always lived by this ideal as they should, but it is pretty much the Lutheran position.

Minnesota has a proud tradition of voting for the candidate and not for the church. For decades one of the two U.S. Senators from Minnesota has been Jewish (Boschwitz, Wellstone, Coleman, Franken) and yet religion has not factored into their successive elections. Two are Republicans; two are Democrats. Two are religious; two are secular. Although Minnesota is one of the least diverse states in the nation, the first – and so far only - Moslem member of congress was elected in Minnesota’s 5th district (Minneapolis). The state has had more Lutherans and Catholics in office, of course, but this state has not put a religious test to the candidates who run for office.

When a voter enters the voting booth, the questions that should be uppermost in his or her mind should be whether the candidate holds the positions and advocates the policies the voter wants, whether the candidate can be trusted to carry them out with integrity, and whether the candidate will deal wisely with those unforeseen events and crises that will surely arise. Some of the positions a candidate takes may flow out of religious conviction, and that is to be expected. True faith is a foundational aspect of life and affects all aspects of a person’s life including politics. But in the end, it is public policy and not personal piety that should matter the most. Religion, like race, ethnicity, and gender, should not be a determining factor in an election.

Pastors are not called to endorse candidates. They are called to preach the gospel and teach basic moral values, as well as encourage everyone to vote according to their own consciences.

Newsletter October 2011

2011-10-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
Psalm 119 is an acrostic in the Hebrew language with each of the 22 stanzas beginning with a different letter of the alphabet and each of the eight lines in each stanza beginning with the same letter in the Hebrew. It is a very clever devise for those who can read it in the original language and probably a handy tool for memorizing the psalm. Our hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, points to this acrostic when it puts both the Hebrew letter and the English spelling of the letter at the head of each stanza from “alef” to “tav”. But like most of you, I do not read Hebrew other than a few common words like שלם so I cannot appreciate the pattern of the psalm as the people of the Old Testament did.
What I can appreciate in the psalm is the exuberant love for God’s word that fills every stanza. Unlike the perception that the Bible is a dry and dusty old book, Psalm 119 says “lead me in the path of your commandments for I delight in it” (verse 35) and “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long.” (verse 96) and “your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart” (verse 112). The author of Psalm 119 had a deep emotional and joyous relationship with the written Word of God. Read it or listen to it or recite it from memory and his heart was filled with joy and delight.
When I was much younger Psalm 119:9 was a verse often in my mind: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.” I did not want to be angry or carry a grudge or easily take offense, and it was so helpful to remember the words of scripture in this psalm and the high standards Our Lord set in the Sermon on the Mount and even more helpful to see Our Lord’s compassion and mercy toward the sinner. In particular, Jesus’ words to the paralytic lower by ropes through the roof of the house in Matthew 9:2 “Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven” were powerfully reassuring in moments of guilt.
Now that I have reached an age where I see how old temptations never cease and new ones pop up from time to time, passages from the epistles are more on my mind, like Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” and that wonderful passage in Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” At this stage of life perseverance and continuity are on my mind, as the world continues to change and the old battles with sin and suffering continue unabated. The “age of Aquarius” that dawned when my generation came of age in the 1960s has not been as bright as we once thought it would.
The day will come when I hope to be able to say with St. Paul in 2nd Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” I just hope I have a few more laps to run.
There are passages in the Bible for almost any situation, passages which come alive when we have a lively knowledge of them. The writer of Psalm 119 came to find delight and joy in God’s Word because he meditated on it often. He read the Word, he listened to the preachers, he thought about what he read and how as it related to his life. The use of the whole Hebrew alphabet in Psalm 119 points to how the Word of God relates to the whole of human life, whether it is understood as from A to Z or alpha to omega or alef to tav. The scriptures are just as important to the old man reading a passage for the umpteenth time as it is to that new young reader with her brand new Bible reading a story for the very first time.
In September our parish gave Bibles to the third graders so these new young readers could read for themselves the stories that their parents and teachers have been telling them. Our fifth graders are preparing for holy communion by reading what the Word of God says about this life-giving sacrament. Our 8th and 9th graders continue to meet with me to explore further the Word of God. And the women of our church are working through the Gospel of Mark in a new WELCA Bible study. Most important of all, the Word of God, read and proclaimed, sits squarely at the center of every Sunday worship service. My younger pastoral colleagues sometimes say to me, “Gary, you’ve preached for 35 years so this passage has come before you as a sermon text at least ten times. What do you say?” And I find there is always something new and fresh, because God’s Word is “living and active” as Hebrews 4:12 says. It continues to be a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Newsletter September 2011

2011-09-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

The tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks falls on the second Sunday of this month. Most of us can remember exactly where we were and exactly what we did on that terrible day. “9-11” has become one of those dates that summons up powerful memories, much like December 7th (Pearl Harbor attack) and November 22nd (John F. Kennedy assassination). The tenth anniversary of 9-11 gives us an occasion to pause and reflect, -- and remember that my incoming confirmation students this year were only 3 and 4 years old in 2001. They regard the stories about September 11, 2001 the way I do the stories my dad told me about where he was and what he did on December 7, 1941. Time is moving on and so must we, but few of us will ever forget that cloudless September day.

After the initial shock and sorrow that enveloped the nation in September 2001, there came anger and a desire for revenge. “The men who did this will hear from us soon enough!” President Bush said as he stood at Ground Zero with his arm around a fire fighter. It was probably the right thing to say at the moment, given the mood of the country. But now, ten years later, it would be good for us to reflect on the nature of evil and the responses we make to it.

The attacks of 9-11 were not just attacks on the United States of America, they were attacks on civilization by men who wanted to change the world by the use of violence and terror. It was barbarism as the men involved, including those who supported or cheered the hijackers, thought that they could change the world by the use of sheer terror.

Since then the world has witnessed a series of events predicated on the same principle, such as the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2005 London subway bombings. In attempts at ever more horrific attacks there was the attack on the Beslan elementary school in Russia by Chechen rebels and, most recently, an attack on teens at a youth camp on Utøya Island, Norway by a right wing extremist. The perpetrators have different causes, but they all share the belief that terror, violence, and bombs will win the day for them, or at least begin the process of transformation they seek..

Terrorists will accomplish something of their goals only if the people of the world respond in kind to them with violence, war, bloodshed and retribution, and the world descends into the darkness where evil lurks. They will be thwarted only if most people decide that they will not be consumed by the hatred and fascination with violence that fueled these terrible events.

In the second reading for worship on August 28, it says “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink…..Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21) The Christian response to evil acts is to do good deeds. The Christian response to hate is to love. The Christian response to calls for revenge is to say, “now, wait a minute.”

At the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington D.C. one of the quotes inscribed on the wall of quotes is from a sermon he delivered in 1963: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, in his day, gave powerful voice to the ethic of Jesus which says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

This September, ten years after the terrible events of 2001, it would be good to reflect on how we can be agents for peace and reconciliation in this world. It would be good to use this anniversary to reach out to someone who is on “the other side.” Find something good to say about someone in the other political party. Praise an admirable practice in another religion. Shake hands with someone who has been cold or hostile. Take a Moslem to lunch. And pray for peace. Here is a good prayer:

“Most gracious God, you have made us in your image and given us over to one another’s care. Hear the prayers of you people, that
unity may overcome division
hope vanquish despair and
joy conquer sorrow;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
(ELW occasional services page 366)

Newsletter August 2011

2011-08-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

As Eidsvold celebrates its 125th anniversary on July 31 this year and First Lutheran Church begins to think about its centennial in 2016 – just five years from now – our thoughts go back to those early settlers of this region who felt so strongly about the evangelical Lutheran faith that they sacrificed time, energy, and money to begin these congregations. At the time they had their hands full just setting up their homes, farms and businesses. Travel was difficult, communication was slow, and daily chores were really a chore. But these men and women were deeply committed to their faith and to the idea that this faith would be lived out in congregational life. So in the midst of everything else they had to do, they worked hard to establish these two congregations in Kittson County.

Once the congregations were established and the church buildings erected, the challenges were not over. Both congregations suffered the loss of their buildings and had to start over again. In 1900 a prairie fire swept across the land consuming Eidsvold Lutheran Church and a newly built parsonage at Beaton (south of Halma). In the afternoon before the Christmas program in 1945 a fire consumed First Lutheran Church and all its contents. In both cases, the members of the congregations rallied to the challenge of rebuilding. That generation, the one that came after the founders of the congregations, was equally committed to the life of the church. Their finest qualities shone forth through the fires of adversity.

Today we worship, study, and fellowship together in the church buildings that rose from the ashes of these fires. Many modifications and a few additions have been made to the buildings, but right now, in 2011, we are enjoying the fruits of the labors of these men and women, as well as those who have maintained and improved our churches over the years. We have been given much by them.

The fires that consumed our buildings reminded us that a congregation is not a building; it is people who believe in God, trust in Jesus Christ, are guided by the Holy Spirit, and want to work together for the good of all. These congregations existed in the years when they had no roof over their heads as much as they do today when we have beautiful sanctuaries in which to worship.
The Augsburg Confession in article VII says, “The church is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel.” I have quoted this article often over the last two decades, and I still believe it needs to be heard. While the article is speaking about the whole church, what it says applies to each congregation as well. The most beautiful church in the world is not a thing of beauty to the Lord if it is not a place where people gather to pray. The oldest houses of worship in the land are not fulfilling their purpose if they are not places where Word of God was proclaimed this week.

I have toured many beautiful churches (my wife and children have learned to endure this) including the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., Nidaros cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim, California, and most recently the $70 million Shrine of Our Lady in La Crosse, Wisconsin, but the places which evoke the most emotion from me are the places where I have blended my humble voice with others in song or listened to a truly powerful sermon or received the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament. In other words, they are places where I have felt the presence of the Lord in addition to seeing a place of beauty and history. Among them are First Lutheran Church of Karlstad and Eidsvold Lutheran Church of Halma.

1st Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

As we celebrate Eidsvold’s anniversary and anticipate First’s anniversary, let us renew our commitment to be the people of God today, sharing his love with one another and with a world full of conflict and sorrow. Let us resolve to be the kind of people the founders were when they came together as a congregation and built the church.

Sermon for July 17, 2011

2011-07-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

WHEN A SEED IS PLANTED Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Lectionary 16A – Proper 11A July 17, 2011
Today’s gospel reading is the second of a series of three readings from Matthew 13 that use the example of seeds to speak about the Kingdom of God. Last Sunday it was the parable of the sower whose seed fell on shallow ground, on rocky ground, weedy ground, and on good ground. Next Sunday we will hear Jesus compare the kingdom to a mustard seed. And today it is the parable of the weeds in the wheat – or the parable of the wheat and the tares, if you prefer the language of the King James Version of the Bible. I am well aware that last week you heard from a master gardener and farmer speak on the Parable of the Sower, so I speak about today’s parable with a bit of humility since I am neither a master gardener or a farmer.
In listening to the second reading from Romans 8 and then the parable in the gospel reading from Matthew 13, I hear words encouraging us to live with patience and hope. Both readings have something to say about patience, and both readings have something to say about hope. Let’s start with patience.
In the parable of the weeds among the wheat, the hired men on the farm are eager to get out into the field as soon as they see an abundance of weeds in the field. They are ready to rush out there and trample a lot of wheat to get rid of the weeds. But the farmer counsels patience. There is a time to separate the weeds from the wheat, but it is not right now. The day of harvest will come – and in that day of harvesting by hand, the weeds and the wheat can be separated. For the time being, they will have to live with a wheat field with an embarrassing number of weeds.
This reminds me of a sign that hung in a beautiful public garden. It had a quote from Thomas Fuller on it that read: “Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there.” [internet] That is something I want you to remember today, whether you are looking at a beautiful garden, or a bunch of weeds or thinking about your community or your church. “Many things grow in the garden that were never planted there.” Our garden has a few potato plants and several flowers that reseeded themselves from last year. They will probably do better than the ones we planted deliberately, if we are patient with them. It also has more than a few wees, not planted and not welcome, but growing - well, growing like weeds.
Now Jesus’ parable is clearly aimed at his disciples, who are the servants of the master. The master is Jesus. And the weeds are the wild ones in the kingdom, the ones who are not as good as they should be, who are not as devout as you would expect, who do not fit in very well. Jesus is counseling patience with them.
Let me share with you the old story about the congregation that took "weeding out sinners" so seriously that they purged their own congregation, down from one hundred families to 75, and then to 50, and then to 25, and finally to only the pastor and his wife. "Only John and I are left," said the pastor's wife. "And you know what? I'm not even so sure about him." Jesus' parable reminds us that we are in no position to judge one another. God does not make us the gardeners of anybody else's soul. That's God's job. Ours is but to serve God with joy, scattering with love the Word of God in those around us. [internet]
It is hard to do sometimes, when the weeds are making the field look bad – and when some of our fellow believers embarrass us. But such is the good counsel that Jesus gives today. Patience, people, have a little patience with your fellow believers.
And then there is hope. Patience and hope go in hand in hand, because we can be much more patient when we have hope. As it says in Romans 8:25, “For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
There are two kinds of hope. One is a hope that has no basis in fact or promise but is akin to wishful thinking. There is another sign that has been hung in a garden that quotes Thomas Cooper – are you ready for this? – “A garden is never so good as it will be next year.” Well you and I know that there is no telling what next year will be like. Next year’s better garden is a image in the gardener’s head. He may learn from some of his mistakes and have grand plans for next year, but who can count on the weather? No one knows what next year will bring. I know that feeling well “a garden is never so good as it will be next year.”
There is another kind of hope that is built on a promise that we can trust. It may be something that we cannot see, as Romans 7 says, but it is something that is based on a promise that can be trusted. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Assurance and conviction are a lot different from wishful thinking.
In today’s Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, the disciples of Jesus are given the assurance that there will be a day of reckoning when everything will be put right. In terms of the parable, the harvest season will come and the wheat will be separated from the weeds. While we have to live in a world of good and evil, of kind people and rude people, of those who work for the betterment of their fellow man and those who think only of themselves, Jesus says there will come a day of judgment. “And he will come to judge the living and the dead,” as we say each week in the Apostles’ Creed.
We can all be a little more patient with the mixed up way this word operates when we have a sure conviction that evil will not triumph over good in the end. We surely work for the good and sometimes become discouraged when it seems like the wrong trends seem to be on the rise, but we have the assurance of Jesus that there will come a day when everything will be judged rightly. I love the phrase in the last verse of our gospel reading, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” What a glorious image that is. Indeed, “let anyone with ears listen!”
When you get a little discouraged about the state of affairs around you, listen to this parable so that you can have patience and hope. Not the patience that sits in a corner or the hope that does nothing, but the faith that moves you to live as one who is confident that right will win over wrong, that joy will replace sorrow, that hope will vanquish despair.
I would like to conclude with a story about a little girl who had a very noxious weed in her neighborhood. He was a bully, and his name was Todd. His parents were divorced and he was left to fend for himself. He was rude and for an 8 year old he could swear pretty good. When he came over to Heidi's house the quiet surroundings turned quickly into chaos with fighting, crying and disobeying rules. But Heidi didn't cut Todd out from her circle of friends. Instead, if Todd swore, she told him it was wrong. God doesn't like that. If he started a fight, she told him he'd have to go home. And on Sunday morning, she would collect 2 children's bulletins and takes one to Todd. She's even invited him to Bible School.
Heidi did not weed out the bully. And today Todd tries hard to be good. He's more joyous now, more alert and he plays wells. He has more fun playing that fighting. He and Heidi have even talked about Jesus and Bible stories. Todd needed someone who was willing to care for him, not in a judgmental way, but in a loving caring way. Todd is less of a weed now among the children on his street, though he is still growing like a week – physically. He has begun to blossom into the youth God wants him to be. All because one little girl had patience and hope.
Oh, that we all had a little more patience and hope. Amen.

Newsletter July 2011

2011-07-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

At a memorial service recently a pastor spoke about a woman’s reading of the Bible and then went on to say that she not only read the Bible faithfully, but that she was careful about which translation of the Bible she read. As I heard those words I thought to myself that I had never heard this particular compliment paid to a Christian man or woman before. And then I wondered what concern was behind the pastor’s remarks.
There are many translations of the Bible available for use today. Some of them are good, some not-so-good, and a few very poor. But for about 350 years there was one translation of the Bible that was used in the English speaking world, and it was the King James Version of the Bible, sometimes called the “authorized version.”. This year, 2011, is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the KJV. King James I of England called for a new translation of the Bible at a conference in 1604. A committee of 47 scholars worked at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster until the publication of the Bible in 1611. All were members of the Church of England and all but one were clergy. Over time the translation they produced became the standard Bible for all English speaking Protestants around the world.
According to an article in Wikepedia, the King James Version of the Bible has been called "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language", "the most important book in English religion and culture", and "the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world." It has contributed 257 idioms to English, more than any other single source, including Shakespeare; examples include “feet of clay” and “reap the whirlwind.” Although its use has diminished in the last 50 years, it is still the most popular version of the Bible sold in the English language.
The KJV was produced because of problems with the other translations of the Bible into English in the early days of the Reformation. When English replaced Latin in the liturgy and the Bible, several translations were attempted. Some reflected the theological bias of those doing the translating. One of several ways the KJV translators tried to overcome bias was to use language that was formal and somewhat old fashioned, even on the day it was first published. They succeeded in their primary task of producing a Bible that people of many religious leanings all admired. This was a result of both accuracy and artistry.
Today the language of the KJV is very much out-of-date. But no modern translation compares with the majestic language of Luke 2, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” or the opening line of 1st Corinthians 13 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or tinkling cymbal.”
And yet, 400 years after these lines were published, there is a need for new translations for people who do not find Shakespearean English understandable, as beautiful and elegant as it can be. Thus the many translations in use today.
In choosing a Bible to read, the first thing one needs to know is the difference between a paraphrase and a translation. A paraphrase is a free attempt to state what the translator thinks the passage means. A translation is much more literal and may at times be much more difficult, but it is much more accurate. For the serious Christian, a translation is always to be preferred over a paraphrase. For the Bible to speak to modern man, the translator needs to stand as far in the background as possible and let the Bible speak.
The direct descendents of the KJV Bible are the Revised Standard Version of 1952 (RSV) and the New Revised Standard Version of 1989 (NRSV). Both of them have a few problem areas – as do all translations including the KJV – but both of them quite accurately translate the original texts.
As I think about the 400th anniversary of the KJV Bible, I think I would like to be known as one who was careful about which translation of the Bible I used and accurate when I quoted a passage of scripture. I would be pleased if someone said about me what that pastor said about that woman at that memorial service.
But whether you read the KJV or the latest newest translation, whether it is on Kindle or on parchment, I encourage you to read the Bible today.

North Star New 06/30/2011

2011-06-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

One year on the fourth of July our family visited historic Lower Fort Garry, north of Winnipeg. As I bought our tickets at the entrance gate a smiling Parks Canada employee said, “so you decided to spend your holiday with us, eh.” I winced just a little bit at the words, thinking that any red-blooded American would want to be on American soil for Independence Day. But there we were in Canada, and we had a wonderful time on a warm and sunny day. The children learned a great deal about the history of our part of the world. I like visiting outdoor historic sites much more than indoor museums. And I enjoy the occasional trip across the border.

Friday is Canada Day (Fête du Canada). Monday is American Independence Day. Both nations will be celebrating their national heritage and their gaining independence from Great Britain. Our independence was declared in an “in your face” declaration, which John Hancock signed in big bold letters so “King George can read it without his spectacles,” followed by a long war. Canada’s independence was gained through a peaceful act of parliament after long negotiations with Queen Victoria’s government. Together we share this continent, as well as many of the same ideals of freedom, equality, and justice.

Like most, but not all, of the nations of the world we seek divine favor. Psalm 33:12 says, “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” We may sing with gusto the song “God Bless America,” but north of the border they sing “God keep our land, glorious and free!” in their national anthem. And across the pond they sing, “God save the queen.” We all want God’s hand of blessing to rest upon us, and we should pray for this often.

But we should not only seek blessings from heaven but also divine wisdom and guidance. Much as we might like to think that our nation is exceptional among all the nations of the earth, God looks on all the nations of the world and judges them all by the same standards, looking for real freedom, true equality, and justice for all. No nation, not even Israel, is exempt from divine judgment, nor is any nation exempt from divine favor. 2nd Chronicles 7:14 can rightly be interpreted to apply to all nations when the Lord says, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

As the fireworks color the sky this weekend and the star spangled banner passes in parade, let us celebrate our national heritage with humility, seeking God’s face and trusting that he will hear from heaven as we pray. “God bless America! Land that I love! Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above. From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home.”

North Star News 06/23/2011

2011-06-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month my family took a drive through the countryside. As we drove along we saw beautiful lush foliage, a huge eagle’s nest, goslings following their parents, delicate lady slippers, and hardy lilac bushes. With the wet and cool weather we have been having this year, everything looked so rich and full – and full of life. June is a beautiful month, when the woods and meadows seem to be bursting forth with the energy of new growth. We looked around and thought, “it is good.”

The newness and vibrancy of June are a little reflection of the newness and vibrancy of the first days of creation. Genesis 1 says that after each day of creation, God looked out over what made that day and saw that it was good. The chapter concludes with this statement after the sixth and final day of active creation, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” On a beautiful day in June, before the mosquitoes have come out in full force and after the trees have leafed out and the first flowers of spring have bloomed, we, too, can look at the fields and forests and see that it is very good.

In Genesis 2 it says that on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all he had done. In my mind, I see him sitting back and simply enjoying the beauty and vitality of all that he had made like a man sitting back and watching the sunset after a hard day’s work. In Genesis 2 it also says that God blessed and hallowed the seventh day. For the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the animals on the land it is just another day, but to God and to the human beings he created in his image, it is a day to sit back and reflect on all that God has done for us and give thanks and praise to God. Only the human species is expected to follow the divine example and take time apart for reflection and praise on a weekly basis.

But the wonderful creation God has made is ever singing his praises. Isaiah 44:23 says, “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout, O depth of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!” And, indeed, the whole creation is always praising its creator. Every flower that blooms in the meadow is part of a bouquet for the Lord. Every bird that sings its morning song is praising the One who said “let there be light.” Even some of those parts of nature that we think less wonderful are singing their creator’s praise. Psalm 148:8 includes “fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command” in its invitation to praise the Lord.

During this beautiful month of June won’t you join in the song of all creation and praise the name of the Lord? The last verse of the last psalm invites us to do just that with the words, “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!”

North Star News 06/16/2011

2011-06-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

When I was a youth my home congregation sang the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” at the beginning every service all summer long. Summer was the Trinity season, as it was called in those good old days, when every service every Sunday was pretty much the same. Since my family never missed a Sunday morning service, it was not long before I had memorized all four stanzas of the opening hymn. It begins “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed Trinity!” And it ends in verse four repeating that phrase “God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”

June 19 is Trinity Sunday this year, so in many of our churches we will be singing this old Trinitarian hymn. The word “trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity is found throughout the New Testament, especially in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In John 16:12 Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” And so, the doctrine of the Trinity was gradually developed to explain what Jesus said about himself (the Son), the Father, and the Holy Spirit. It is reflected in the structure of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and extensively developed in the Athanasian Creed. But its origin is in verses like Matthew 28:19 where we are instructed to baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The imagery for the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” is largely from Isaiah 6 where the prophet had a vision of God in all his majesty and glory. This threefold sanctus rang out as cherubim and seraphim and presumably ordinary angels, called out to one another. The voice of the Lord thundered, and when the foundations of the threshold shook, Isaiah’s knees buckled. This was truly shock and awe on a scale such as the prophet had never experienced before. His response was “Woe is me! For I am lost….for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” What a far cry this is from the common image of God as a kindly, old, and - dare I say - feeble grandfather figure. Yet this is the image of God in the Bible, right through to the Book of Revelation. He inspires awe-filled worship and reverence.

There are beautiful new songs that can bring us into a spirit of reverence and awe. Among my favorites are “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love; our God is an awesome God” by Rich Mullins and “Majesty! worship his majesty! Unto Jesus be all glory, power and praise! Majesty, kingdom authority flow from his throne, unto his own, his anthem raise” by Jack Hayford.

In songs old and new, this Sunday will be a great day to worship the Lord God Almighty.

North Star News 06-09-2011

2011-06-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my wife and I attended the opening worship service at the Lutheran World Federation assembly in Winnipeg. There were people there from all over the world, many in the festive garb of their country or culture, at St. Boniface Cathedral. This being Canada, the service was largely in French and English, but other languages were used, too. When it was time for the Lord’s Prayer the announcement was made, “please pray the Lord’s Prayer in the language you first learned it.” What followed was a cacophony of sound as everyone prayed out loud in the language of their hearts: English, French, German, Norwegian, Swahili, Spanish, Mandarin, and many, many more.

This is what Pentecost must have sounded like. June 12 is Pentecost Sunday in the church. It is the day when we remember what happened in Jerusalem fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead. Acts 1:5 says that there were “devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem” at that time. Many of them no longer spoke Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, and many of them spoke no Greek, the language of the Old Testament translation called the Septuagint. But they each spoke a language of the heart, the language they first used for prayer at their mother’s knee and the language to which they will revert on their dying day. On Pentecost day they heard the good news of Jesus Christ in this language. They heard it in their native tongue.

The reason for this was not just to make sure they clearly understood what was said, although that was important, too. The reason for this was to speak to the hearts of those who heard. The work of the Spirit is to take words that are heard by the ear when they are spoken or seen by the eye when read and have them touch the heart. The Spirit did this in spectacular fashion that first Pentecost day. After the apostles were done speaking, Acts 1:37 says “now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said…. ‘brothers, what should we do?’” The answer, of course, was to repent and be baptized.

The Lord is speaking to you today through the words of the Bible and the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit is still taking those words and touching the hearts of those who hear or read. When the Spirit does this work, faith is born, hope renewed, and peace restored. In Romans 10:10 it says, “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” When you hear the gospel, pray that more than your ear drums are touched by the vibrating air waves. Pray that the Spirit will cause the words to touch your heart so that you truly hear the voice of God speaking to you.

Ascension Day Sermon

2011-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

THE TIME BETWEEN Acts 1:6-14 Easter 7A June 5, 2011
Last Thursday was Ascension Day, exactly 40 days after our celebration of Easter and 10 days before our celebration of Pentecost, which will be next Sunday by the way. Ascension Day marks the events we just read about in our first reading from Acts 1. As verse 9 says, “as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And they never saw him in the flesh again. As we say in the creed, “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
But before he left, he promised his disciples that the third member of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, would soon come to them. In John 14:16 he had promised them, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth….” And so on Ascension Day he was taken out of their sight. On Pentecost Sunday the Spirit of truth came upon them in all his fullness. But for the moment they were in the time between. The time between when Jesus bodily left them and the time when the Holy Spirit came to them. And what were they to do during this time? First of all they were to wait. Acts 1:4 says that “he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.”
It must have been hard for them to wait to see what God was going to do next, as it is for all of us who are in one of those times between. It is tempting to want to “jump the gun” but Jesus knew they were not quite ready to begin witnessing about him. The time was not quite right for them. So they were simply to wait.
But they didn’t sit around a table playing cards as they waited. Acts 1:14 says, “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” This is an important thing to note. They were engaged in prayer before they were engaged in preaching. They were spending time with the Lord before they spent time evangelizing the city. They were certainly an example of patience and prayer, waiting for the time to be right before beginning the project Jesus had for them. That project, by the way, is spelled out in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That’s a tall order – a very big job, and some of them might have thought, “we’d better get cracking” but Jesus told them to wait and they knew enough to pray. God had this all planned out. When Pentecost came and the city was filled with pilgrims from all over the world, the time would be right, and they would go out and preach in the power of the Spirit.
Is there something for us to learn here? Is there a time to wait and pray before we begin a big task or make a big decision? Do we recognize the value of that “time between” when a promise is made and an activity begins? We might ask ourselves if we are in a “time between” like the disciples were those ten days between the Ascension Day and Pentecost Day.
Well, there is one sense in which we are all in a “time between.” We are all living in the time between the first coming of Jesus as the “Man from Galilee” and his second coming as judge and lord of all. In Acts 1:11, it says that two men in white robes spoke. We can infer that they were angels, or messengers, from God himself. In any case, here is what they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” So we are all living in the “time between” when he was taken up into heaven and the time when he will come back from heaven.
And when will that glorious second coming be? It is not for us to know. You don’t know. I don’t know. No one on the earth knows. There are many passages in the Bible that speak about this, saying he will come like a thief in the night – that is unexpectedly – that as in the days of Noah people will be going about their daily business right up to the moment he appears. But for today let me just quote from today’s reading from Acts 1:7 where Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
This past month we all saw what happens when people try to find out what the Lord has chosen to keep hidden from us. A California radio preacher named Harold Camping announced that he had decoded the Bible and discovered that the end of the world would come on May 21 – at 6:00 p.m. no less. But of course, it did not happen. He thought he had discovered what the Bible plainly teaches no man is to know. The Bible is not a code book with hidden messages that no one in the 20 centuries before us had been able to find. Jesus said, “it is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”
There were two sad results of what this radio preacher said. One is that a number of people quit their jobs or sold their homes, thinking that there was no point to planning for anything after May 21. One news report about one of these people reads like this:
On Sunday, a dejected Ramsey [follower of Camping] said he faces a "mixed bag."
He has to find a new job. So does his mother. His 19-year-old brother, who had quit high school the year prior ("It's pointless to graduate," the brother had said), is thinking of re-enrolling or finding employment.
What a sad situation this is.
But this prediction also led many pundits and comedians to lampoon Christians who believed in the end of the world in May 2011 and thus, by implication, to diminish the reputation of all Christians. We do believe that Christ will come again. Read Matthew 25 or Philippians 2 – or even today’s Acts 1 reading. We do believe that there will be a judgement day. But events like what happened in May cast a shadow over it all – at least in the eyes of the secular world. We do live in the time between Christ’s first appearing and his second.
The emphasis we should have on this time is going about doing good where we can and giving witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. When those two men in white robes appeared to Jesus’ disciples after he ascended into heaven their first words were, “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The clear implication is that now it is time to get to work. For those disciples, plus St. Mary and the other women, it was to begin with this ten day period of prayer, and then on Pentecost Sunday to go out into the streets and preach the gospel in many languages, and finally move out to the places where those languages are spoken with the good news of God’s love in Christ Jesus.
Christ has ascended into heaven, but we have his work to do here on earth. The physical body of Christ may have gone up into heaven, but the Body of Christ - that is the church – is here and has his work to do today. Despite what those disciples lost, they have so much still, and so much yet to do.
I would like to conlude today by reading something I came across on the “Living Lutheran” website about people who are living in the time between, but have a sense of purpose and of perseverance. One of the building that was destroyed in the tornado that hit Joplin, Missour on May 22 was one of our ELCA congregations, Peace Lutheran Church. This is what their pastor has written:
The Monday morning after the storm, as a number of us were walking through the rubble of the church building, we wondered: “Where are we going to hold worship on next Sunday (May 29)?”
We decided to meet in the parking lot to let the world know what the people of Joplin already know: We are still a congregation.
God is, and will always be, with us.
The service was chaotic, and it was spiritual. A number of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations — local and national — came. I was wired up to six different stations. I don’t even know who they all were, although I knew ABC, NBC and CNN were now part of my body.
The rains had finally left, so the weather was beautiful except for the 35-mile-an-hour winds.
But most importantly, God was there. You could just feel it among the 100 people who attended worship that Sunday morning.
The service itself, along with music (we had a flutist and a keyboard loaned to us, which was hooked up to battery), the prayers, the sermon and Holy Communion gave people a chance to celebrate and weep over lost homes, lost jobs, lost friends and families.
God was there.
Peace Lutheran Church of Joplin, Missouri is in a time between – between when they worshipped in the building that was destoryed by the tornado and the time when they will worship in whatever building they erect in the future. Through this experience they learned what the disciples learned when Jesus ascended into heaven. No matter what they lost, God is still here. And I want to tell you, that no matter what you may have lost in your life, God is still here. AMEN.

North Star News 06/02/2011

2011-06-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I visited the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in early May. After 90 minutes of looking at ancient hieroglyphics and 3,000 year old artifacts from the tombs of the Pharaohs we came to the final exhibit, an exact replica of the mummy of the boy king, Tutankhamun. (The Egyptians won’t let the real thing out of the country for any reason.) One of the things we learned as we progressed through the exhibit is that as soon as a Pharaoh took power, work began on a burial site. The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with preserving the bodies of their leaders and providing elaborate burial places for them.

Thursday, June 2, is Ascension Day in the church, exactly forty days after Easter and ten days before Pentecost. Ascension Day is all about the body of Jesus. While he lived, Jesus lived a simple life. When he died, Jesus’ body was quickly placed in a borrowed tomb, simply because it was close by and the Sabbath was fast approaching. When the Sabbath was over, the women who came to the tomb discovered that this tomb was borrowed only for a little while. Jesus was raised from the dead, and for forty days he appeared to his disciples in various places: in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, and by the Sea of Galilee. Then he ascended bodily into heaven.

This is what Luke 24:50 says, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.” There is no place today where people can visit the body of Jesus. People go to Egypt to see the mummified body of King Tut or to Moscow to see the embalmed remains of Lenin, but Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” as the Apostles’ Creed says.

Before all this happened, Jesus said in John 14:3 “And when I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What that verse promises is that all of Jesus’ disciples are headed eventually to heaven to spend eternity with him. The body of the deceased may be embalmed and viewed after death and then laid in a grave with a tombstone that will sit unchanged for centuries, but that body is one day headed for heaven. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting” says the Apostles’ Creed. This will not be the tired old body that is laid in the grave, but a new and glorious body full of vitality. As it says in Philippians 3:21, “But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” What a transformation that will be!

In England there is a country cemetery where one tombstone reads, “As you are, I once was; as I am, you will be.” But the wonderful promise of Jesus is that those who believe in him will not end up “a-mouldering in the grave” (“John Brown’s body”) forever, but will one day ascend to be with Jesus forever in glory. As bodies age, sag, and creak, what a wonderful promise to remember.

Newsletter June 2011

2011-06-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

My wife, Ruth, and I were pleased to attend the Northwestern Minnesota Synod’s annual assembly again this year. It is always a wonderful experience to worship in a congregation of 500 or 600, most of whom are giving full voice to their songs of praise and close attention to the preaching of the Word. It is uplifting to hear what God is doing in other parts of the synod and comforting to know that we are not alone in some of the challenges we face. We also learn something new about the work of our church at every assembly we attend. As is true at conventions of any kind, there are reports that are tedious and sessions that seem overly long, but nevertheless, I would commend the experience to you and hope that next year more members of our parish will be willing to attend.

In his report to the synod, Bishop Larry Wohlrabe said “it’s been quite a year!” It was clear from the outset that those attending the assembly wanted to put this year’s contention behind them and affirm the leaders that have taken the brunt of the tensions in the church. A pre-assembly event was a “town hall meeting” with Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and ELCA staff member (and former New York bishop) Stephen Bouman. The latter was delayed by plane connection problems so Hanson did this 2 hour session alone - brilliantly. Before he spoke he received a standing ovation from the overflow crowd of people at Trinity Lutheran Church.. Two hours later they did it again. I do not believe this means the people agree with everything he or his staff says and does, but people simply wanted to affirm their elected leaders during difficult times.

A resolution from one congregation requesting the ELCA to reconsider the sexuality issue was over-whelmingly defeated. I believe most people have heard enough about this subject for a while. Every-thing that can be said about it has been said in the last few years. Enough already. A resolution challenging the representative democracy by which decisions are made in the ELCA, much like in the USA, was also overwhelmingly defeated. Congregations will not be ratifying churchwide assembly or synod assembly actions. And a resolution asking for an end to producing social statements was also defeated, but this was in part because a moratorium on social statements has already be proposed by a task force of the ELCA church council. But, of course, because we are democratically governed, if the synods or the churchwide assembly ask for social statements there is no choice but to produce them.

One of the joys of synod assemblies is connecting and re-connecting with people from across the synod. We had chats with three former pastors from Hallock (Losch, Tobin, and Copeland) and greatly missed our annual lunch with the former pastors from Lake Bronson (Strug’s) since they have retired to Illinois. We sat at business sessions with Lake Bronson and Ross people and at worship with Middle River and Thief River people. At the town hall meeting we sat at a table with a large delegation from Lancaster. We had a long conversation with former Karlstad residents Paul & Dorothy Suomala. And we were delighted when the pastor and wife from Wannaska asked us to watch their children (age 2 and an infant) for a while during breakfast. We realized we haven’t lost all our parenting skills. Former synod vice president Patti Swanson of Kennedy says the synod assembly is like a family reunion, and that it was.

But there is more to it than just connecting with people we know and like. The synod assembly reminds us that the church is more than our parish or our congregation or our county. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people from many different places with many different complexions and many different opinions about the hot topics of the day. The church is, as St. Paul put it in 1st Corinthians 12:27, one body with many members. All the members do not have the same function but all the members are called to work together in harmony with one another.

On the last day of the assembly the synod bishop and others on the stage wore the daily garb of people from India, like members of our companion synod, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of southern India. It was strange dress for the Red River Valley but it was meant to remind us of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world, some of whom will be coming for a visit in September. What did Jesus say in John 10:16? “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”

Confirmation Sermon

2011-05-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

THOMAS’ CONFIRMATION John 20:19-31 Easter 2A May 1, 2011
There are two main parts to a confirmation service. The first one is a confession of faith. The second is a prayer for the Holy Spirit. These two things are the heart of the confirmation and what we are gathered here today to do. A lot of other little things come along with it: wearing the white robes, this year creating and wearing the red stoles, the certificates, the dinners with special guests, the two years of study of the Bible, and of course, most memorable of all, memorizing the five chief parts of Luther’s small catechism. Confirmation is a tradition and a rite of passage. But at its heart are these two simple things: a statement of faith and a prayer for the Holy Spirit.
This year our confirmation coincides with the Sunday after Easter when we read the account of what happened so long ago in Jerusalem on the Sunday after Easter - centering on that most phlegmatic of disciples: Thomas. There are some parallels between what happened to Thomas then and what is happening to these young confirmands now.
First of all, Thomas was a disciple, which comes from the Latin word for student. Thomas was a disciple of Jesus learning from the master what was right and wrong, what was good and bad, and what the Bible says. Most of his disciples were there when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and explained what the word of God really taught in contrast to some of the human traditions of the day. All the disciples listened as Jesus explained to James and John the kind of servant life they were to lead after they had asked for places of honor and privilege in the kingdom. They were all there at the Last Supper when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, teaching by example more than by words that night.
For three years Thomas listened to Jesus. He walked with him; he watched him; he studied him. Our young confirmands have spent two years coming to a class each Wednesday, reading the Bible, thinking about what the Word of God says, and growing in faith. Of course, we must remember they have been learning about Jesus from the day they were baptized. Their parents and grandparents have been teaching them by word and, even more importantly, by deed what faithful Christian living is. Sunday School teachers and Bible school experiences have helped them grow. But in preparation for confirmation, there are two years of Wednesday classes where their pastor hopes they have learned more of what the Bible says.
But for Thomas those three years were leading up to the day when Jesus would come to Thomas and say, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” This was Thomas’ personal statement of faith. It was his personal testimony in just five words, but they were the most important five words he ever spoke. “My Lord, and my God.”
I’ll bet some of the confirmands today are wishing their personal statement of faith could have been only five words long. At the annual confirmation banquet they were asked to put in their own words what they believed, who helped form their faith, and how they saw their future as a confirmed Christian. I told them five words wouldn’t cut it. We wanted more, and we got some beautiful testimonies to God’s work in their lives. But Thomas spoke just five words on the Sunday after Easter, and they were enough that day.
The words of Thomas make me think of the promise of Romans 10:9 which says, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved….For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Here is the promise behind what is happening today. These confirmands are asked to confess with their lips what they believe in their hearts. Today they do it by reciting the ancient and venerable words of the Apostles’ Creed along with other believers in Christ. At their confirmation dinner they were asked for a faith statement that put it into their own words. Both of these are important: giving your own personal testimony and joining the church of all times and all places in the words of the creed.
During his time on this earth, Jesus repeatedly challenged people to make a faith statement. In John 9 Jesus gave sight to a man who had been born blind. And then in John 9:35 Jesus asked him: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man who once was physically blind still did not see clearly who Jesus is, so he asked “And who is he, sir?” Jesus said, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” To which the man replied, “Lord, I believe!” And then John adds, “he worshipped him.”
In John 11 Jesus came to Bethany to console Mary and Martha over the death of their brother, Lazarus. In John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me though they die yet shall they live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” And then Martha said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples about the opinions people had about himself. The disciples reported that some thought he was really John the Baptist – that’s really confusing. Others thought he was a great prophet like Elijah or Jeremiah. Then Jesus asked for their own faith statement by asking: “but who do you say that I am?” On that occasion Peter came forward and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
So you see how important it is that people make a faith statement. As Romans 10 says, it is the way to justification and salvation. But it is also the way to witness to those who have not yet come to believe. At the end of our gospel reading for today, John says that the whole reason he has written this 21 chapter faith statement about Jesus is to encourage others to believe and to say that they believe, whether it be in the five words of Thomas or the 21 chapters of John. Here is what John said, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
Now, let us take a moment to talk about what believing in Jesus means. Thomas said, “my Lord and my God,” and with that word “Lord” he was indicating that Jesus was an active, lively part of his life. One of the important points I want to make today is that believing in Jesus is not just an intellectual assent to a doctrine that Jesus is divine. Neither is a faith statement just words that are written to be spoken once and then filed away somewhere never to be seen again. Believing in Jesus is walking with Jesus, continually listening to Jesus, coming to the table of Jesus, and living for Jesus. It is a lively, ongoing relationship.
Sadly, there are many people who do not understand this. They think if they just say the right words once or twice, that’s all there is to it. That is not what Jesus is looking for.
Let me use a sports analogy. Suppose there is a person who says that they are a Minnesota Twins baseball fan, despite their poor performance this spring. “I love the Twins,” the person says, “I am all for the Twins.” But then it comes out that this person never watches a game or listens on the radio. They don’t even know how bad the Twins record is this spring. And when someone asks what they think of Joe Mauer, they say, “now let’s see, is he the catcher or the first base man? Is he the one from Canada or from St. Paul.” Pretty soon someone is going to ask, “are you really a Twins fan if you don’t follow any games, you don’t know anyone on the roster, and you don’t ever talk about them?” To be the fan of any team, the Twins, the Yankees, or the Northern Freeze is to follow the team and get involved. It’s not necessarily to know all the ins and outs of everything and be able to spout statistics, but it is to be following the team through the season.
That is a humble example from sports. But it points to what I mean to say. Making a statement of faith involves more than a few words that travel through the air and disappear. It is saying something about what is real in life and what is important day after day after day.
When Thomas said, “My Lord and my God” it meant that his faith was restored and that he was going to continue to live for Jesus. He was going to keep on learning from Jesus as a disciple and speaking up for Jesus as an apostle. He was going to get to know the team that surrounded Jesus even better and not be AWOL when Jesus showed up, as he was on Easter Sunday eveing. His faith statement was not the end, but a new beginning of an even more lively and active relationship with Jesus and with the rest of his followers.
So when we get to the confirmation ritual, I will be asking these confirmands if they intend to continue in the covenant God made with them in baptism. And all of us who are not getting confirmed today, are invited to renew that covenant in our own hearts.
As Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” And as Jesus said to every disciple he called, “Follow me.” AMEN.

Newsletter May 2011

2011-05-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Our churches teach that those who have fallen after Baptism can receive forgiveness of sins whenever they are converted and that the church ought to impart absolution to those who return to repentance.”
Augsburg Confession article 12

On the Sunday after Easter every year we read in church about the Lord’s appearance to the apostles on the evening of Easter day. The account in John 20 says that Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” This is a great responsibility given to the apostles – the power to loose and to bind sins. The next question is how does a man, even an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, decide whether to loose or to bind those sins in any particular case?

The short answer is that the apostle does not make that decision. It is the task of the apostle to know the mind of Christ as best he can and to announce the forgiveness that Christ grants to those who repent and believe in him. The distinction that the Lutheran church makes is that the pastor who speaks a word of forgiveness today is not deciding who is worthy of forgiveness or whose repentance is sincere, but is simply announcing what Christ has commanded the pastor to announce.

Every Sunday in church we hear “As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins….” (ELW page 118) The important word here is the word “declare.” The pastor is speaking on behalf of Christ who is the one who accomplishes salvation and grants forgiveness. Even in private confession when the pastor’s words are “___name____ in obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins…..” (ELW page 244) the emphasis is on how the pastor is speaking for the one - the only one - who truly brings forgiveness.

And yet, when the pastor declares that sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, this is to be taken as gospel truth. In Luther’s Small Catechism it says, “we receive absolution or forgiveness from the confessor as from God himself, by no means doubting but firmly believing that our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven.” The great scandal of Jesus’ ministry was his forgiveness of sins. In Mark 2:7 the astonished reaction of some people to Jesus is recorded in the question “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” True enough. Jesus is divine, the Son of God. But God has appointed certain ordinary mortals to declare his divine forgiveness.

The first week of Easter along with my Karlstad Assembly of God colleague, I have been reading Eric Metaxas’ new biography “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” in which he recounts Bonhoeffer’s valiant efforts to roust the church to oppose the Nazi movement. Part of that effort was writing a paper in the spring of 1937 in which he said, “Christ has given his church power to forgive and to retain sins on earth with divine authority (Matt. 16:19, 18:18, John 20:23). Eternal salvation and eternal damnation are decided by its word. Anyone who turns from his sinful way at the word of proclamation and repents, receives forgiveness. Anyone who perseveres in his sin receives judgment. The church cannot loose the penitent from sin without arresting and binding the impenitent in sin.” (page 292). In the context of the church struggle of his day and his well known criticism of what he called “cheap grace” this was a call to condemn sin as well as to preach forgiveness. The Nazis mercilessly persecuted Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and homosexuals, and this must not be forgiven until there is repentance.

But when there is sorrow over sin and a sincere desire to amend a life, forgiveness must be spoken just as Jesus spoke during his earthly ministry. To the adulterous woman in John 8, Jesus said, “neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” To the paralyzed man in Mark 2, Jesus said, “take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.” And Jesus’ charge to the church in Luke 24:47 is that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in [Christ’s] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

This is as much the mission of the church today as it was on that first Easter, during the Reformation, or in the 1930s. As the saying goes, the church is in the forgiveness business.

Palm Sunday Sermon 2011

2011-04-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

JESUS ENTERS IN Matthew 21:1-11 Palm Sunday April 17, 2011
On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumphant and glory. On Good Friday Jesus exited the city in shame and humiliation. As Jesus entered the city on Palm Sunday Jesus heard shouts of “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.” As Jesus passed out of the city gates on Good Friday they were weeping for him and crying out in anguish. When he came into the city a donkey was carrying him. As he left the city he was carrying a heavy wooden cross. Upon entering the city they hailed him as the Son of David. When leaving the city the soldiers carried a plaque that said “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” that would be nailed to the cross along with him.
You might say that Jesus moved from triumphant to tragedy, from the highest adulation to the lowest condemnation. And all the while, he simply wanted quietly to enter the hearts of people to free them from their sins, their fears, their sorrows, and their suffering.
In the prologue to the Gospel of John (1:11-13) it says, “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
This was the human tragedy of the life of Jesus. When he was born King Herod tried to trick the wise men and kill Jesus. When he spoke in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, they were so angry they took him to the brow of the hill and threatened to throw him over. When he told the rich young ruler to give all he had to the poor and follow him, the rich young ruler turned away. As Isaiah 53 says, “he was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief….”
But Isaiah goes on to say that this was all part of God’s great plan of salvation, that his Son should be rejected and become an offering for the sin of the whole world. The suffering and rejection that Jesus experienced was not for nothing. It had a purpose and a meaning that those who rejected him could hardly fathom. In Isaiah 53:5 the prophet says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”
Just as Jesus entered into Jerusalem so long ago, he wants to enter into our hearts and lives today as our lord and our savior. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Behold, I am standing at the door and knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you, and eat with you, and you with me.” Remember that in John 1 it says, “but to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God….”
This Holy Week, as we remember how Jesus entered Jerusalem and ultimately was rejected, let us open the door to him who is knocking and let him enter into our hearts and lives as the savior who paid the price for our sin on the cross and as the lord who rules our lives. Let us be something more than cultural Christians who go through the ceremonies, but be disciples of Jesus who day by day let him enter into our lives.
A few weeks ago my confirmation class finished watching a movie about the life of Jesus. At the end of the movie there is an evangelistic segment which invites people to welcome Jesus into their lives. Viewers are invited to pray this prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
One of my bright young students immediately asked “Pastor! did you pray that prayer?” And I said, “I certainly did. And I do it every time I show this film to a class.” Because every day, I want Jesus to enter in. Every day I need forgiveness. Every day I need help to be the kind of person I ought to be. Every day I need the assurance of God’s love. And don’t you, too?
Let us pray. Come into my heart, come into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. AMEN.

Newsletter April 2011

2011-04-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

“Our churches teach that the body and blood of Christ are truly present and are distributed to those who eat in the Supper of the Lord. They disapprove of those who teach otherwise.”
Augsburg Confession Article 10

In 1530 when the Augsburg Confession was adopted as a basic statement of the Lutheran under-standing of things, the article on the Lord’s Supper was short and to the point because there was little disagreement between the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans over the true presence of Christ in the sacrament. It is printed in its entirety above. Later on, as the Reformation progressed, some differences with the Church of Rome emerged involving terms and concepts such as “consubstantiation,” “transub-stantiation,” and “sacramental union” for instance, but they were minor compared to the sharp differences the Lutherans had with the radical wing of the Reformation. When this wing of the Reformation asserted that holy communion was nothing more than remembering what Jesus said and did in obedience to the command of Christ, and they put the whole burden of the efficacy of the sacrament on the heart and mind of the believer instead of on the Word of God, the Lutherans vigorously defended article 10. Luther even once wrote a treatise with the unwieldy title “That These Words of Christ,’“This is My Body,’ etc., Still Stand Firm Against the Fanatics.”
As we come to Holy Week this year, we will be remembering all that Our Lord did for us when he went to the cross. On Maundy Thursday we will be remembering his washing the feet of the disciples, his “new commandment” to love one another, his Last Supper, and the disciples’ first communion. Remembering is a part of Holy Week just as remembering is a part of every communion service. But when the bread is eaten and the wine is drunk, there is more than remembering. Lutherans believe that Christ is truly present “in, with, and under” the bread and wine. This is the doctrine of the Real Presence. His presence does not depend on whether the communicant remembers correctly or sincerely. It depends on the Word of Christ hiumself who said that this bread and this wine is his body and blood sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. Communicants receive Christ whether they know it or not.
All of this ultimately is based on the climax of Holy Week which is Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday the whole church not only remembers that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day, but that he lives today. Easter is not only the commemoration of a distant historical fact, but the celebration of a present reality: “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” as we sing each year.
The witness of the New Testament is that the risen Jesus Christ continued to accompany the disciples through life. On the Emmaus Road, Jesus appeared to two disciples and comforted them as they walked along. (Luke 24:13-35). In the city of Jerusalem, Jesus came and stood among them as they debated among themselves (Luke 24:36-43). By the Sea of Galilee Jesus came appeared on the shore while they fished (John 21:1-14). And the last words he spoke before his ascension into heaven were “And lo, I with you always, even to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
While it is true that in several instances people such as the Emmaus Road disciples, Mary outside the tomb, and those gathered in Matthew 28 did not immediately recognize that Jesus was present among them, this does not alter the fact that he was bodily present with them. The Emmaus Road disciples had their “hearts burn within them” as he opened to them the scriptures, even though they did not recognize him until he broke bread with them. And the weeping Mary did not know it was Jesus speaking to her outside the tomb until he spoke her name, yet her tears were dried by the comfort he brought. In both instances he was there despite their failure to recognize him.
The heart of the message of Easter is that he is still here. He still comes accompanies his people on the road of life. He still speaks a comforting word to those who weep by a grave. He still is known in the breaking of the bread. He is a present reality, not a distant memory.
This Holy Week, as we remember his entry into Jerusaelm (Palm Sunday), his Last Supper (Maundy Thursday), his death on the cross (Good Friday), and his resurrection (Easter Sunday) in a worship service each of these days, may we read, listen, sing, pray, and commune with Him who is right there with us every step of the way.

Newsletter March 2011

2011-03-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Our churches teach that those rites should be observed which can be observed without sin and which contribute to peace and good order in the church. Such are certain holy days, festivals, and the like.”
Augsburg Confession Article 15

March 9 is Ash Wednesday which begins the forty days of Lent. This year Ash Wednesday is one day short of the latest it can possibly be. The last time it was later than this was 1943; the next time will be 2038. Chances are that I will never see an Ash Wednesday that falls on a date later than this one.

Both Ash Wednesday and the entire forty days of Lent are among those “certain holy days, festivals, and the like” which the Augsburg Confession says should be observed by Christians. There were those in the 16th century who said that the Lutheran reformers were abolishing all the traditions and rites of the church when, in fact, they were attempting to reform them and not abolish them. What Luther and the other reformers wanted to make abundantly clear is that the observance of such rites and holy days have been instituted by human beings to encourage people to greater devotion and dedication to Jesus Christ. They adamantly argued that the observance of such rites and holy days does not bring grace or God’s favor upon a person. Faith alone apprehends grace. But it never hurt anyone to have a Christmas celebration which focuses on the gift of Christ, or a meatless Friday which reminds a person of the sacrifice of Christ, or a somber Ash Wednesday which calls human sins to mind.

While the church as a whole follows a calendar that calls for somber reflection and joyous celebrating on this or that day each year, the Lutheran reformers also taught that the observance of such things was to be a choice made freely by the individual Christian. As Acts 10 makes clear in the encounter between Peter and Cornelius, there are absolutely no prohibited foods in the Christian church. So enjoy that pork chop or sushi or whatever you like. And in Romans 14:3 it says “Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed all.” While Paul was talking about food offered to idols in pagan temples here, the same principle applies to fasting or feasting on certain days and to the observance of holy days such as Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday, or the whole of Lent. Enjoy that Christmas turkey or Easter ham or Mardi Gras pancakes, but don’t worry if someone else won’t join you.

And so we come to Lent. Lent, for me personally and not only as a pastor, has always been very meaningful. Over the years I have tried a variety of Lenten disciplines, most often without telling anyone because of the statement of Jesus in Matthew 6:1, in the gospel for Ash Wednesday, to “beware of practicing your piety before men to be seen by them.” But then again, it has been harder to hold to these practices the full forty days when no one but the Lord himself knows how it went.

What makes Lent most meaningful for me is the focus on the sacrifice Christ made for us and not what I have given up for Lent. It has become the fashion in the last few years to use Lent to preach on subjects like the Ten Commandments, or the Lord’s Prayer, or the “I Am” sayings of Jesus and save the Passion of the Christ for Holy Week (Palm Sunday – Easter Sunday). Part of the rationale is that Luther himself often did a sermon series on these subjects in Lent. When Luther wrote the Small Catechism he had years of Lenten preaching on these subjects behind him. But I cannot stop thinking that Lent is a time to meditate on the passion of Our Lord throughout all the forty days. That is, to see “at [what] great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death.” (Luther’s Small Catechism - explanation of the 2nd article of the creed).

In any case, I encourage each one of you to mark these forty days in one way or another. Our churches will be decked out in purple paraments, and each will have a crown of thorns on the cross from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday to remind everyone that while salvation is a free gift of God given to us, it was not free. It was purchased by the blood of Christ on the cross.

North Star News 02/24/2011

2011-02-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

In a few days February will come to an end. Although those who are eagerly waiting for the end of winter and the first signs of spring may feel that February drags on, it is the shortest month of the year, 28 days long most years with one added day every four years. In real time it flies by faster than any other month of the year.
The perception of time is sometimes different from the reality of time. A child waiting for Christmas to come thinks the days pass by very slowly, but a youngster facing a big final exam for which he is not prepared thinks the days go by much too fast. It is a common observation that the years go by faster the older a person gets. Tempus Fugit. The Bible teaches in many places that a human lifespan goes by quickly. Psalm 90:10 says “The years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; yet….they are soon gone, and we fly away.” James 4:14 says “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Psalm 90 continues with the prayer “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
A heart of wisdom is one that does not fret about the shortness of human life but values each day as it comes. A good verse with which to begin the day is Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Carpe Diem. The day may be one that seems like any other ordinary day, perhaps a dull grey day in November, for instance. But it is still a day the Lord has made for his people to fill with good things. Lawrence Welk used to close his television program with the cheerful admonition to “keep a song in your heart.” His program had a long run on TV, but even that had to come to an end eventually – except for repeats on public TV which will probably go on forever in his native North Dakota. More seriously, Ephesians 5:16 says to “make the most of the time…..addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart….”
If God is on his throne, if Jesus has made atonement for the sins of the world, and if the Spirit of God is moving among his people, then this is a good day. In fact, God is on his throne. Jesus did die for the sins of the world and rise again on the third day. The Spirit continues to proceed from the Father and the Son. No matter what challenges, hurts, or losses this day may bring there is still something for which to give thanks this day. Deo Gratias.
And when that last day of life comes, believers in Christ have the promise of an eternity of joy ahead of them. As it says in 2nd Corinthians 4:17 “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” And so, no matter how long life on this earth may last, it is just a short prelude to eternal life in heaven where joy will never end. So enjoy today with the confidence that the best is yet to be.

North Star News 02/17/2011

2011-02-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

Monday is Presidents Day on the national calendar. It was established on the third Monday of February as a way to combine the observance of Washington’s birthday (Feb. 22) and Lincoln’s birthday (Feb. 12) and give people a three day weekend, but in many quarters it has evolved into a time to honor all the past presidents, not just the Father of Our Country and the Great Emancipator.

In reviewing the list of the 44 men who have held the office of president of the United States it is quite clear that things are not always what they seemed to be on the surface. While in office Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan were thought by many to be rather removed from the details of the office, preferring time on the golf course and at the ranch respectively. But later examination of the records of the White House showed that both men were fully engaged and powerfully directing the affairs of their administrations. One of President Kennedy’s favorite words was “vigor,” and he projected a public image of an athletic vigorous young president, but after his death it was revealed that he had several health problems that were being treated secretly and would have become quite apparent if he had lived longer. Some failed one term presidents (Taft, Hoover, Carter) have redeemed themselves with successful public service after living in the White House.

When the prophet Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to anoint a new king for Israel, he found a man named Jesse who had eight sons, all of whom were strong likeable young men. As Samuel was trying to discern which of them the Lord wanted him to anoint as king the Lord said to him, “the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1st Samuel 16:7) And so Samuel was directed to the youngest son whom Jesse had not even thought to bring before Samuel. His name was David, and he was “ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome” (1st Samuel 16:12). Samuel would not have chosen him, but behind the beauty of this youngster was a heart for God and leadership skills that surpassed his elder brothers.

Judging and ranking kings and presidents is a game for historians and pundits. Judging and ranking our neighbors is something that people should try to avoid, not least because the whole story is rarely known. Only the Lord knows the whole story of what is going on in every individual’s life, and only the Lord is capable of judging correctly. He sees right to the heart. Many a man has been critical or even angry with someone only to find out later there was a perfectly reasonably explanation for what he or she did. Things were not what they seemed to be on the surface. Withholding criticism would have been the wiser course, at least until the full story was known.

In John 7:24 Jesus said, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” The Lord knows all the details of every situation and will judge with right judgment. Be grateful that he is full of mercy, compassion, and love. And try to act with mercy, compassion, and love as only bits and pieces of every situation are revealed to us today.

North Star News 02/10/2011

2011-02-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday (February 12) is the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was a man of contrasts. He did not go to school as child on the frontier but gave the most eloquent speech ever given on American soil, the Gettysburg Address. He was born in a log cabin but today a larger than life statue sits in the Lincoln Memorial like a Greek god. He opposed the Mexican-American War and then presided over the most brutal war in American history. He was elected by only a plurality of the voters but became the most popular president in history. And he was a deeply Biblical man who did not belong to any church.

Lincoln once told his secretary “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day.” President Obama quoted this statement at the National Prayer Breakfast last week in Washington, D.C. Like many another president, he knew of what Lincoln was speaking. We may not bear the heavy burden of the president, but we, too, find times when we are driven to prayer because we need a wisdom greater than our own.

In his Second Inaugural Address in 1964 Lincoln spoke of a God of justice righting the scales of injustice. As he prayed for an end to the Civil War he said “Yet, if God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’”

And yet as a man who understood the grand sweep of the whole Bible, he knew that the mercy and grace of God are always greater than the call for vengeance and punishment. It is the blood drawn by the lash upon the back of Another that grants to us the mercy and love of God despite all our sins and failings. God has said, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13) And so in that spirit, in his final days, Lincoln called for reconciliation in the nation and a gentle reconstruction of the south. In that Second Inaugural Address he also said, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

There is no greater call for us than to live today with malice toward none and charity toward all, to bind up the wounds, and do what is right as God gives the wisdom to see the right. Or, as Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

North Star News 02/03/2011

2011-02-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

On the church’s calendar February 2 is the day of the Presentation of Our Lord. On this day the gospel is read from Luke 2:22-40 which tells of Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus to the Lord exactly forty days after he was born, according to the instructions in Leviticus 12:2-8. February 2 is forty days after December 25. This passage shows us that Mary and Joseph observed all the rules, rites, and rituals of the Jewish religion of their time, and the choice of two young pigeons for the offering shows us they were poor. Jesus grew up in a humble but devout and loving family.

While this young family was at the Temple in Jerusalem that day they met an old man named Simeon who had been led by the Spirit to believe that he would live to see the Lord’s messiah come to earth. On the one day this ordinary young family came to the Temple he sought them out from among the crowds of people, took the infant Jesus in his arms, and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all people: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel.” It was a remarkable and startling event. You might think that Mary and Joseph were starting to get used to things like this ever since Jesus was born and the shepherds appeared at their door with a remarkable story of what had been revealed to them about Jesus. Nevertheless, it says they marveled at what they heard from this sweet old man.

Simeon was just the first of millions who would find peace because they found Jesus. Even as an infant, long before the cross came into view, the presence of Jesus brought peace to an old and weary heart. Some 30+ years later Jesus described his mission in the world by saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27). Again, some 30+ years after that St. Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And now, almost 2,000 years later, those who want peace in their hearts find it when they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who brings them forgiveness of sins through his death on the cross. “He is our peace” as Ephesians 2:14 says.

One of the most beautiful and moving things I have heard lately was a daughter speaking about her final days with her father: “I believe with all my heart that he had found his peace.” We can find our peace today when we come to Jesus in faith. We can pray. We can read the scriptures. We can commune. We can calm our hearts and ask the Lord to fill our souls with his peace. Like Simeon, we can then depart from this troubled world in peace. Or, if it be the Lord’s will, we can live many years with an inner peace that nothing can destroy.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)

Newsletter February 2011

2011-02-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

“Our churches also teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits and that it is necessary to do the good works commanded by God. We must do so because it is God’s will and not because we rely on such works to merit justification before God, for forgiveness of sins and justification are apprehended by faith.”
Augsburg Confession Article 6

I have been teaching the parables of Jesus in confirmation recently. The purpose of the parables is to teach the values of the kingdom of God both in what God does and what we are to try to do. It is a delicate balancing act to teach that salvation is a gift received by faith and that God still is looking for us to do the right thing. First and foremost the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith must be preached. But secondly, the desire to do good works must be cultivated. Taken all together, the parables teach both, even if one or another seems to approach a “works righteousness” view of gaining God’s favor.

The main thrust of the parables is generosity. They are beautiful examples of God’s generous dealings with us while, at the same time, teaching us to be generous in the way we deal with one another.

The parables of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) and of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) encourage us to be generous with our time, talent, and treasure. In the Good Samaritan parable Jesus praises a man who went far out of his way to help another man who was beaten and robbed on the road to Jericho. The Samaritan did not just help a little; he went above and beyond what anyone would have expected. In the Lazarus parable the rich man apparently ignored the obvious needs of poor Lazarus who was right outside his own gate. The rich man paid a stiff price for his miserliness.

The world believes that “the man who dies with the most toys wins,” to quote a modern, if slightly sarcastic, aphorism. This is nothing new, however. From the fall of Adam right up to the Wall Street collapse, greed has been one of the seven deadly sins with which we all must contend. Jesus taught something generosity. He said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35).
When our confirmation class was studying the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the example of Andrew Carnegie was used. Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men of the 19th century who gave away most of his wealth before he died. In 1889 he wrote an essay titled “Wealth” in which he said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” The measure of any human life is not what has been accumulated but what has been given away. Jesus died not owning a single thing, having even his clothes taken by the soldiers and his body placed in a borrowed tomb. He does not expect us to live in abject poverty, but to be generous with what we have. St. Francis and Mother Theresa are inspiring but exceptional cases of extreme generosity. Most of us are called to ordinary generosity.

The parables of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35) teach us to be generous in forgiving. The prodigal son received the generous forgiveness of his father when he repented of his wayward ways and came home. The older son was implored to be generous in forgiving his younger brother and joining the celebration of his homecoming. The clear intent of the parable is to implore us to be generous in forgiving those who have wandered off and come back.

The folly of the unforgiving servant is shown in the outlandish contrast between the amount he was forgiven by his master and the amount he refused to forgive his fellow servant. St. Paul wrote, “forgive each other just as the Lord has forgiven you,” (Colossians 3:13) and we regularly pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus died with these words on his lips: “Father, forgiven them for they know not what they do.” And so we, who have been forgiven so very much, are called to the good work of forgiving those who have hurt us in any way.

Will generosity get us to heaven? Well, yes and no. The generosity of God in giving Jesus to be our Savior will get us there if we put our faith in Jesus Christ. The generosity we practice is simply a feeble response to the great generosity God has shown to us. But still, “such good works are commanded by God.”

Newsletter January 2011

2011-01-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

“It is taught among us that the sacraments were instituted not only to be signs by which people might be identified outwardly as Christians, but that they are signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us for the purpose of awakening and strengthening our faith.”
Augsburg Confession article 8

The older I get the more I hunger for the sacraments God has given to us. Holy communion and holy baptism both use physical items to bring a spiritual gift and were instituted by Jesus Christ himself. Indeed, they were commanded by Christ. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” he said in Matthew 28:19. “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said at the Last Supper in Luke 22:19. If there were no other reason to be baptized and to go to communion than the command of Jesus in the Bible, that should be sufficient for anyone who loves Jesus. It is his clearly stated will that all those who would be his disciples should be baptized and that they all would regularly receive his Body and Blood at the table of the Lord.

But the sacraments are far more than commands to be followed. As article 8 of the Augsburg Confession says, they are “signs by which people might outwardly be identified as Christians.” On this point, the reformers were in agreement with the established church of the day, which is why this statement about the purpose of the sacraments is part of a conditional clause leading up to another aspect of the sacraments over which there was some difference of opinion. But the truth of what the first part of the article says should not be neglected. As an outward sign of Christianity, participation in the sacraments always has been and always will be the preeminent sign. This is affirmed again in article 7 of the Augsburg Confession which states that the church, properly speaking, is simply the assembly of believers where the word is preached and the sacraments are administered. Members of the church, properly speaking, are those who hear the word and receive the sacraments.

Thus in ordinary congregations such as ours, the constitution says that membership begins by being baptized or attesting that a person has been baptized somewhere else some time in the past. To retain voting rights within the congregation a member must have communed within the last year. These are the outward signs of Christians which reveal something of what a person believes, but they in no way reveal the secrets of the heart or the sincerity of faith. We must remember that, too.

But there is more. Article 8 goes on to make the most important point, which is that the sacraments are given to us “for the purpose of awakening and strengthening faith.” And that is what I hunger for the older I get: the strengthening of my faith. I have to confess that I once thought that by the time I was plowing into my seventh decade on this earth, faith would be easy. When I was young I thought the great old preachers of the church, with their thick brogues and deep resonant voices from decades of preaching without the aid of microphones, surely never doubted and surely never were seriously tempted anymore. How naïve! Each and every age has its own temptations, trials, and fears. At any step along the way we may feel like crying out “increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5) The chief purpose of the sacraments is to increase our faith.

In the video “At the Lord’s Table,” which I use when preparing fifth graders for holy communion, there is a scene where an elderly man stands in the sacristy of his church and gives his testimony. “I know that I am a sinner all the time,” he says. And then after a long pause he says, “but when I come to communion, I know that I am forgiven.” Most likely the real depth of what this elder of the faith is saying sails right over the heads of the ten year olds who watch him, but every time I see his face and hear his words I am deeply touched because when the communion server on Sunday says to me “the body of Christ given for you” and “the blood of Christ shed for you” I, too, know that I am forgiven.

In the Beatitudes Jesus said, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6) Satisfaction for the sins of the whole world was made by the blood of Christ on the cross. My faith is strengthened when I encounter that blood in the holy sacrament.

Christmas Sermon #3

2010-12-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

MISSING JESUS Matthew 2:13-23 Christmas 1A December 26, 2010
On Christmas Eve I spoke about finding Jesus because it was the shepherds who went to Bethlehem and found Jesus and all the joy that he brings. In today’s we gospel we read the ending of the story of the wise men who were also successful in finding Jesus. Reading this story reminded me of a story written about a fourth wise man who did not find Jesus – or so he thought. It was written by Henry Van Dyke in 1896 and is called “The Other Wise Man.” I would like to share an outline of the story with you this morning.

There was a fourth wise man named Artaban. He traveled to join the other three so they might together bring their gifts to the Babe. But he never reached the appointed place, because he came upon a man half-dead by the roadside. Being knowledgeable in medicine, he was able to save the man's life. But he missed the others and now he had no way across the dessert to where the Baby lay. So, he looked at the gifts he would bring the child, a brilliant sapphire, a deep-red ruby and a pearl. With a heavy heart he found a buyer for the sapphire and bought his own supplies to cross the desert.
He arrived in Bethlehem only to find that the Babe and his parents had fled to Egypt. All around him, parents were grieving as the soldiers came and killed their first born child. Artaban had a chance to bribe a solider who was about to kill a young child. He parted with his ruby, but he would always remember the sweet face of the infant he had snatched from Herod's wrath.
Thirty-three years later, he heard the news that the little Prince, the Christ child, would be sentenced to death on a cross. He hurried with his pearl to ransom the Prince of Peace. But even this last gesture of love for this Christ child was denied him; for he came across a little girl who was being sold into slavery. He exchanged his pearl for the life and freedom of the little girl.
Then a great earthquake came to where he was standing. Artaban was knocked to the ground. A soft voice came to him telling him that when he gave his jewels for his fellow man he gave them in reality to Christ. When he sold his sapphire, because he helped the beaten man, he sold it for Christ, when he used his ruby to bribe a guard to save a life, he used it for Christ, when he exchanged his pearl for a girl's freedom, he used it for Christ.
What did Jesus say in Matthew 25 in the great judgment hall? “when you have done it for one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” Artaban may have thought he missed giving his gift to Jesus, but he really didn’t. Just like us today, he found Jesus in the face of those who needed his help. AMEN.

Christmas Sermon #2

2010-12-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

FINDING JESUS Luke 2:1-20 December 24, 2010
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
And that is just what they did - “with haste” the scripture says. Having been told that their savior had been born, they immediately responded by looking for him. I imagine that when they got to Bethlehem they found that it was a city full of people and excitement and even chaos. There was a census going on which was not like the 2010 census in the United States which was largely done by mail from the privacy of our own homes. For this census everyone had to go to the home city of the head of the household, and for Joseph’s family that was Bethlehem. When the shepherds approached Bethlehem it must have looked like, well a lot like a city celebrating Christmas: lots of people, lots of moving around, lots of buying and selling, lots of noise. Why, they were even putting people up in the stables because there was no more room in the inns. For these poor country boys, it must have been overwhelming. Where do you start looking for one little newborn?
Scripture says they “found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger,” but you can bet that they did not find them right away. There were many stables in Bethlehem, and there were many innkeepers bustling about trying to keep up with the crush of all the people. They must have gone from building to building inquiring about a young couple with a newborn laying in a manger. Perhaps Mary was not the only young woman to give birth that night. Perhaps this couple was not the only one to be housed in a stable that night.
So the shepherds look and look. All they have to go on is the cryptic word of the angels: “this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” No GPS like people have in their cars today. No people finder like people use on the internet today. No helpful hints beside the phrase “not the Joseph of Nazareth you are looking for” like pops up on Facebook today. They looked around. They inquired. And they found him. They found their Savior.
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
Tonight it is Christmas 2,010 years later, give or take a few years. At this time of year there is a great deal of hubbub with parties and gatherings, gift giving and shopping. It can all be exhausting, sometimes confusing, and for many of us, overwhelming. What is the core meaning of Christmas? Is it the feasting and the drinking? Is it the family gathered from near and far? Is it the season when retailers finally turn a profit because of “black Friday” and “cyber Monday”? Is not the core meaning of Christmas finding that tiny baby in that humble stable, nestled in the straw? Is it not finding a savior who is Christ the Lord? We should all be like the shepherds in going to see what the Lord has made known to us.
In Isaiah 55:6 it says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.” That’s what the shepherds did. After all, we know that he did not remain near to those shepherds all that long. After the three wise men visited Jesus, the whole family - Joseph, Mary, and Jesus – fled to Egypt. And then, when it was safe to do so, they went to live in Nazareth which is where Joseph had work and where, most likely, Mary was born. But while he was near, the shepherds went to find Jesus.
That is what we are to do. But Jesus is not as hard for us to find as he might have been for those shepherds. When we go to our Bible and read- or when we go to church and listen – or when we go to the Sacrament to eat and drink – Jesus is there. When we “fall on our knees” and pray, Jesus is listening. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, “…..seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” This is God’s promise to you – when you seek him you will find him; just as the angels led the shepherds to believe that they would find the baby Jesus. He is not hidden like a needle in a haystack. He waiting to be found.
A rather humorous story appeared in the paper one Christmas. “After someone stole a valuable ceramic figurine of Baby Jesus from a nativity scene in Wellington, Florida, officials took action to keep thieves from succeeding again. An Associated Press report described how they placed a GPS tracking device inside the replacement figurine. When Baby Jesus disappeared again the next Christmas, sheriff's deputies were led by the signal to the thief's apartment.” That’s how the police found Jesus.
As Christians, we believe that Christ has always existed, but he came into the world in a new and wonderful way with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. As Christians we believe that Christ is every where – omnipresent, as they say – but he is distinctively present in the Word and in the Sacrament, bringing us the salvation that only the savior can bring through the forgiveness of our sins. And so, when we find Jesus, we find what the shepherds had been promised they would find: a savior who is Christ the Lord.
2nd Chronicles 7:14 has a wonderful promise: God says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Forgiveness and healing – that is what all those who seek the Lord will find.
It is my prayer that this night you are glorifying and praising God for all you have heard and seen, just as the shepherds did as they, because you have found Jesus Christ to be your savior and your Lord and are living day by day for him. The invitation stands in Matthew 11 “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 of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” AMEN.

Christmas Sermon #1

2010-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

BELIEVE Matthew 1:18-25 Advent 4A December 19, 2010
Joseph could hardly believe it……when he heard the news that Mary was expecting a child. He could hardly believe his ears. Here he was, a man who had finally reached the point in life where he was established in his job, he had a home, and he was ready to marry a wife. Mary, he thought, was a beautiful and sensible young woman. Their families had arranged this marriage, but Joseph was happy with the arrangements. Everything seemed to be going his way. And now this. He had believed that she was the right one for him. He had believed that this was going to be one of the happiest years of his life. He had believed that their future together was bright. And in a moment all his dreams were shattered.
There is nothing written in scripture about Joseph’s inner struggles as he reacted to the situation, but they must have been turbulent. Joseph is described as a righteous man. His subsequent actions reveal him to be a compassionate man. How was he going to do the right thing in this situation with compassion and kindness. He was not one of those self-righteous men who immediately tries to follow the law no matter what the consequences and no matter who gets hurt in the process. He was not one of those proud men who would have reacted out of his wounded pride and maybe even lashed out in anger. He was righteous and compassionate, so he tried to do the right thing in a kind and gentle way. And the right thing, in that 1st century society, was to break off the engagement, painful as that might be, and public as that might be, given the way that society worked. His family would have expected him to do it. Other men of the town would have expected him to do it. The Bible commentator Keeler wrote about this passage, “[in this situation] Mediterranean society viewed with contempt the weakness of a man who let his love for his wife outweigh his appropriate honor in repudiating her." The judge in Nazareth would have immediately nullified the betrothal contract between their two families. It would be an open and shut case.
But just imagine what must have been going through Joseph’s mind. The sleepless nights. The dreams. The confusion. Many people in such situations wonder if God is still on their side. When the world seems to fall apart around you – for whatever reason – it can be hard to believe that God is still watching over you the way the Bible says he is.
Where is God when people we love and trust disappoint us so much? Where is God when someone we had planned a future with suddenly passes away? Where is God when we have tried our very best to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, as Ephesians 6 says to do, and they wonder off? Where is God, Joseph might have wondered, when I am faced with this situation?
The answer came to Joseph in the middle of the night. At that darkest moment, when Joseph was working up the courage to make public what he had resolved to do, an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to embrace Mary as his wife, to welcome the child that was growing within her, and to face the future with courage and conviction. Where is God in this situation? God is with us. The angel might just as well as said to Joseph “This is not what you planned, and this might not be what you wanted, but God is with you working out his plan and what he wants. Just believe.”
What I am imagining is not that Joseph’s belief in God the creator of the universe was shaken. He did not become an atheist. He believed there was an all powerful God out there. What was shaken was his belief that this God was involved in his humble little life in far off Nazareth. What the angel in Joseph’s dream came to tell him was that God was involved in his personal life and that God did care for him.
In this respect, Joseph was like pretty much like everyone else. Big questions about the creation of the universe or about things that happened two thousand years ago are not nearly so important to most of us as the question of whether God knows each of us as individuals and is there to help us in our personal struggles. When Joseph had questions like that, he was reassured that God had not abandoned him nor forgotten him, but was doing something very special in his life.
“Do not be afraid” the angel had said to Joseph. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Do not be afraid of what other people might think and say. Do not be afraid of how you will react to the child that is to be born. Do not be afraid of tomorrow. Just believe that God is with us and always will be.
Herman Gockel, one of the early Lutheran Hour preachers, tells the story of a Christmas Eve in 1906, when Lars Erickson and his family faced a cheerless holiday. Lars was in poor health and out of work. He had reached the point where he didn't care if Christmas ever came or not. Depressed and irritable, he made poor company for his wife, Anna, and his five-year-old daughter, Greta. As they sat around their coal stove on that cold December evening, little Greta was humming carols and busily at work with her scissors, cardboard, and paste, constructing a crude little manger set.
"How do you like it Daddy?" she asked. "Fine," he said in a disinterested tone. "Daddy!" she said with disappointment, and with a wisdom of which she herself was not aware, "You didn't look at my manger set. If you want to see the Christ child, you'll have to get down on your knees."
Don’t let the problems of this world, as real as they are, rob you of the joy of this Christmas. Don’t let your personal situation cause you to doubt that God is with us, because he is with us even when things don’t seem to be going our way.
This Christmas Eve many a church will ring with the stirring notes of the solo “O Holy Night” which says in the chorus “Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices….” Those angel voices are telling us that God is with us as Jesus comes into our hearts and into our lives. Do not be afraid. Only believe.

Newsletter December 2010

2010-12-01T00:09:00.000-08:00

“Our churches also teach that one holy church is to continue forever.” Augsburg Confession article 7

When the Reformers of the 16th century were attempting to bring about positive change in the church of their day they were often accused of trying to destroy the very organization they were doing their best to improve. Some people simply could not see how the church could survive some of the changes they were proposing even though these changes were, in actuality, a return to a more evangelical grace-filled life such as Jesus and the disciples lived and the scriptures teach. In times of stress it is much easier to cling to old traditions than to embrace the challenges of a new day.

One thing that the scriptures teach and that the Reformers affirmed is that God has guaranteed the future of the church until the end of time. Upon Peter’s confession of faith in Matthew 16:16, Jesus said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is upon this promise, and others like it, that the Reformers could affirm that “one holy church is to continue forever.”

The church of which these Reformers speak is not to be confused with the many institutions that are a part of the church: congregations, committees, synods, denominations. As they said in the next sentence of Article 7 “The church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.” What Jesus has promised is that people will assemble for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments until he comes again in glory. There will never come a time the church does not exist.

In the 21st century this promise needs to be heard again when the church’s future seems to be in doubt. In congregations where the number of worshippers is dwindling and the finances may be shaky, it is easy to fall into a “doom and gloom” mentality that focuses on the problems, real as they are, instead of the gospel promises, true as they are. In 2010 the heirs of the Reformation, including local Lutherans and Presbyterians, have faced serious financial shortfalls that led to heart-wrenching cut backs. In October of this year the Crystal Cathedral in California filed for bankruptcy after decades as one of the leading suburban mega-churches and the host of a popular television ministry. The Southern Baptist Convention reported a decline in the number of baptisms for the first time. Evangelicals, Pentecostals, traditional Protestants, and Catholics have all experienced some confidence-shaking problems recently.

In the face of the changes in the world today, Christians can live and must in the promise of scripture concerning the church and then be open to the ways the “one holy church” will continue as this century wears on. In the midst of change, re-organization, and some dismaying events, the church is called to listen to the voice of Jesus and proclaim the message of God’s love for all with its invitation to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Back in the 19th century Nicholai Grundtvig was a Danish Lutheran pastor who wrote a hymn that expresses his scripture-inspired confidence and hope. (ELW #652)

Built on a rock the church shall stand,
even when steeples are falling;
crumbled have spires in every land,
bells still are chiming and calling –
calling the young and old to rest,
calling the souls of those distressed,
longing for life everlasting.

As America becomes a more religiously diverse nation and as more Americans seem to have little time for organized religion, remember that there are still “souls distressed” that are longing to hear the good news that only Jesus can bring. In a war-torn and violent world, there are still people longing for “that peace the world cannot give.” In a world of work-work-work to prove yourself worthy, there are many who are longing to hear “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

The work of the church in preaching the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and offering the comfort and assurance of the sacraments is not done, nor will it be until Jesus comes again.

Newsletter November 2010

2010-11-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

“It is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments without a regular call.”
Augsburg Confession article 14

ELCA missionary pastor David Simonson died in Africa at age 80 on August 16. Simonson was a legendary figure both in Africa and America for his work with the Maasi people of Tanzania and for developing “Operation Bootstrap” to help those people adjust to the modern world. In Jim Klobuchar’s biography of Simonson, “The Cross Under the Acacia Tree,” it says that early in his life Simonson struggled with the call to ministry because he was a vigorous and brash bear of a man. He said, “I couldn’t see spending my life having coffee with old ladies in church basements.” Eventually he found his place in the ministry of the church when he went to Africa where his work with the Maasi really took off after he single handedly killed a lion, which was an important rite of passage for any Maasi man who wanted to be a leader.

Lutherans believe that the heart and soul of the ministry is the Word and the sacraments. There are many places of ministry and many different kinds of ministers, but there is still one office of ministry which has been instituted by God to create and sustain faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments. Discerning whether one is called to that ministry can sometimes be difficult, especially if the focus shifts from the Word and sacraments to other things. There are three steps to discerning the call of God to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments.

The first is the inner call. All those who are ordained into the ministry are asked if they feel that God has spoken to their hearts and called them to this ministry. The inner call does not necessarily come first, but it must be there. After prayer and meditation, a man or woman should feel that God wants him or her in the public ministry of the church.

The second is the call of a congregation. In the Lutheran church on this continent it has generally be regarded as necessary that a congregation of believers calls a person to come and preach to them and administer the sacraments among them before there can be an ordination. The call of the congregation is vital to the office of ministry.

And third, there must certification by the whole church (denomination) that this person has the talents, gifts, and temperament to be an ordained minister of the gospel. Decades ago when I was ordained, this was done by the seminary faculty that had come to know the candidate through three years of study and worship. Today this is done by a “candidacy committee” from the home synod of the candidate who gets to know the candidate for ordination through a series of meetings throughout his or her seminary career. Only upon their recommendation can a candidate be ordained and placed on the clergy roster of the church.

On my computer desk there sits an ebony carving of the head of an African, probably a Maasi. It was brought back to my home congregation by a young David Simonson, who was home on furlough, and it was used as a prize for the youth group member who could identify the most Bible verses. The winner of the contest was me. It sits on my desk today to remind me of the many different people who make up the church of Jesus Christ and the many different ministers God calls to his work. I have spent my entire ministry in small rural congregations, all of which had church basements, and I have yet to set foot on African soil. But I share the same ministry as Simonson and all the others who have been called and ordained to this work of preaching the gospel and administering the sacraments.

Sometimes there are issues over who should be ordained to the ministry and who should be called “pastor” among us. But in the Lutheran understanding, the three key questions are 1) does he or she feel called by God to the ministry? 2) has a congregation called him or her to preach, baptize, and commune among them? and 3) has the whole church (denomination) judged him or her to be qualified? When the three are put together there is a regular call.

Newsletter October 2010

2010-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

“For the true unity of the church it is enough to agree concerning the teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments.”
Augsburg Confession, article 7

Out on a ridge in western Wisconsin there used to be three Norwegian Lutheran churches in the span of just two miles, each filled with members from the same rural community and each belonging to a different national organization. Driving down the road from the north a traveler would first come across a church in the pietistic tradition that emphasized a personal conversion experience and an unstructured form of worship. Next was a church in the mainstream tradition that put more emphasis on a formal statement of faith and the use of the liturgy. And then from the 1870s to the early 1950s there was a church to the south that was formed out of an intense controversy over the nature of salvation (the so-called “election controversy”) that bitterly divided Norwegian Lutherans in the latter part of the 19th century. All three churches were lovely white frame country churches in a quiet rural setting whose serenity belied the intense arguments that led to the building of three churches so close together. This summer when Ruth and I visited the family graves at the middle church we were awed by the pastoral beauty of the place.

We also pondered the mystery of what ever happened to my great-great grandmother, Brita. Her husband, Ole W. Halverson, is buried in the middle church’s cemetery, as are their son, Lars, and two granddaughters with their spouses, but there is no mention on any stone of his wife. After his death did she move away to live with one of her other five children? Or could she be at the south church cemetery where records are scarce? We have not yet solved that genealogical mystery, but the thought that a church controversy could have split my family is chilling. I always thought we were mainstream middle-of-the road people who always belonged to the middle church. We are not people to get swept up in the heat of the moment.

As beautiful as it is to drive along that ridge, it is not the will of Christ that his followers should be caught up in controversy that divides them from one another so that they establish competing churches next to each other. In John 17:21 Jesus prayed that those who believe in him “may all be one.” Already during his earthly ministry he had seen jostling for power and prestige among his disciples. (Mark 10:35-45), and he didn’t like it. Back in John 13:35 he said, “by this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” That love certainly means working together side by side for the gospel.

St. Paul saw differences of opinion in his day threaten to cause divisions in the church in Corinth, so in 1st Corinthians 1:10 he wrote, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” Paul most certainly knew that there would be differences of opinion on a variety of issues before the church of his day, but that unity of purpose of which he spoke was “to preach Christ crucified” (1:22), and never allow differences of opinion about morality, ethics, or polity over-ride that essential unity in preaching Christ.

Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession also addresses this issue. During the Reformation there was plenty of controversy about sexual standards for the clergy. The Romans complained that the Lutherans allowed their clergy to marry, and the Lutherans complained that the Romans did not. Each side thought they had compelling arguments for their case complete with scriptural support. At various times each side made rather ugly statements about what went on the other side. The issue was never resolved, along with many, many others, and a division on this subject exists to this very day. But Article 7 is an inspired bit of wisdom if only we could live by it.

One of the tragedies of 19th century American Lutheranism was the way the new immigrant population splintered into so many competing and sometimes antagonistic denominations. One of the glories of the 20th century was the gradual repairing of these splits. Norwegian Lutherans embraced mergers in 1917, in 1960, and in 1987. It remains to be seen what will be said of the 21st century. But I am pretty confident of what Jesus wants.

Newsletter September 2010

2010-09-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

“Properly speaking, the church is the assembly of saints and true believers.”
Augsburg Confession, article 8

A few days before my family and I arrived at my mother’s home in Viroqua, Wisconsin last month a small white frame country church about five miles northwest of town burned to the ground. Like many others, we drove out to look at the sad scene. Only one steel I-beam remained standing. It apparently had spanned the front double doors. They hoped to retrieve the bell which had fallen into the basement which was filled with charred timbers. The smell of burnt wood filtered into our car even with the windows rolled up. Later the fire marshal attributed the fire to a lighting strike because the National Weather Service recorded four lightening strikes at the exact GPS coordinates for the church two days before. The fire smoldered for two days because no one entered the church on a daily basis, and then broke out into a hot fire that consumed the church before the fire was noticed and the fire department arrived.

And yet the next Sunday the church was still there. Not the building, of course, but the “assembly of saints and true believers.” My mother’s church, which is my old home church, loaned the congregation the P.A. system they use for evening outdoor worship in the summer so that the congregation could gather on the lawn next to the charred remains of the building on a warm Sunday morning to hear the Word and celebrate the Sacrament. I don’t know what has happened since. The congregation will have to think long and hard about whether to build a structure on that site to protect them from the elements as they gather for worship. They are a small and elderly group of Christians. Just like in Kittson County, there are many small rural congregations within a few miles of the church. But on that one Sunday, a few days after the fire, the church was still there.

As Lutheran Christians we subscribe to the Augsburg Confession’s definition of the church. In popular parlance the word “church” is often used to speak of a building which is considered to be a “sacred place.” If it is a “sacred place” what makes it so? It is that the church has gathered in that place to hear the Word of God and to receive the Sacraments. If believers are no longer gathering for the Word and Sacrament in that place, it loses the designation of a sacred place, even though the feel of sanctity may linger for a long time, just as the smell of the fire lingered at the burned church site long after the fire was extinguished.

Article 8 of the Augsburg Confession also has implications for membership in the church. The implication is that members are identified by what they do, namely assembling for the Word and the Sacrament on a weekly basis. When people ask about the membership of a congregation, they often are inquiring about how many people have “signed up” to be a part of the congregation and thus are written on the membership roles, much like some social club. At other times people may inquire as to how many “giving units” a congregation has, much like some secular organization where people purchase a membership. Still other times, people inquire as to how many members a congregation can muster for a work project, as if they were “earning their stripes” as members of the military do. But following Article 8, the congregation would “properly speaking” be defined as those who gathered last Sunday for Word and Sacrament. Add to that number those who wish they could gather but cannot because of a disability or illness.

After defining the church and its membership, Article 8 has as its main thrust that the church also has “hypocrites and evil persons mingled with believers.” On this earth the church is never perfect and never pure. Those who seek to be part of a congregation or denomination that has no faults or quarrels or failings are chasing after the wind. It is only after the Last Judgment that there will be an assembly of saints and true believers that is not mingled with others, and even then those people will be saints and true believers only because of the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

After teaching his disciples how to reconcile a dispute (Matthew 18:15-20) Jesus said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” So let’s be the church. Let’s assemble together around the Word and Sacrament

Newsletter August 2010

2010-08-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

When I was a child I did not like the latter days of summer very much because we had no air conditioning (no one did) and it was too hot to be outside during the day or to sleep well at night. I learned that these were called the dog days of summer. For a long time I had an image in my mind of an old languid bloodhound lounging on the porch trying to survive the heat. (anyone remember “Hee Haw” on TV ?) This is what I thought the dog days of summer meant, a perfectly useless, listless time. I was that kind of kid who preferred the school year over summer vacation and the class room over athletics.
Later I learned that the name for these hot summer days comes not from the behavior of dogs but the behavior of the stars. In late July and August the constellation “Canis Major” appears in the sky dominated by the dog star “Serius” as the ancient Romans called it. Those Romans originated the term “dies caniculares” for these days, and they thought these were days “when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies.” That seems a little extreme, but late summer does seem to be the season of drownings, motor cycle accidents, and carousing through the warm summer night.
An August issue of a national news magazine this year had as it’s cover story “The Case Against Summer Vacation” arguing that “we romantize it, but all that downtime is making our kids fall behind, especially those who can least afford it.” The cover story is mainly about how quickly we lose what we have learned when we are not using it or building on it. They call it “summer learning loss.”
The Bible teaches “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and although the list that follows this verse does not include “a time for vacation and a time for work” it would surely fit in with the other couplets for which this chapter is famous. A break from the regular routine of daily living is good for a person, often giving people new energy for the tasks to which they return.
The Bible also teaches us to “be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time for the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16) Even these dog days of summer are days to use to the glory of God and for the good of his people. It is not a time to devote entirely to ourselves and our own pleasures, but a time to be recharged for the work ahead and to take just a little different approach to work and worship.
For me, one of the joys of a weekend trip away is to worship God in another congregation with different people. It is refreshing to be in the pew instead of the pulpit on Sunday morning once in a while. Last month, after worshipping at an ELCA church in Livonia, Michigan, I had a person express amazement that I went to church when I was on vacation. But how could it be any other way? The Lord is good to me 52 weeks of the year. He doesn’t take a summer break and leave me to my own devices. He’s there all the time, even in the dog days of summer. So I want to enter his house to give thanks and praise, even in the summer.
As write this I am well aware of the many farmers in this part of the world for whom August is anything but a slow time. For small grain farmers it is a month of intense harvest work, quite different from the experience of those in the corn belt and those who live on a school year calendar.
But whatever your experience, the thought I have to share this month is “make the most of the time.” Work, worship, read, relax, learn, and grow in the faith. Carpe diem!

Newsletter July 2010

2010-07-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

The concluding verse of Katherine Lee Bates hymn “America the Beautiful” ends with this prayer:

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

The sentiments of this verse are in keeping with the tradition of founding fathers, who often invoked the blessing of God upon this country and the noble experiment of a free and democratic people with a republican form of government. The Declaration of Independence says that this country began with a “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.” As we come to the 234th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2010 it would be good for all of us to ask for the protection of God and the wisdom of God to be granted to our nation. In this age of terrorism and economic turmoil and ecological disaster, we need to be in prayer for our nation more than ever. We face so many challenges. We need wisdom from above.

This is in keeping with Christian teaching. In 1st Timothy 2:1 St. Paul writes: “First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all men, for kings and all who are high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” In 1776 we rejected the king and ablished the idea of a hereditary monarchy in favor of elected leaders who serve a fixed term of office. But the principle is the same. Pray for all those in high positions in federal, state, and local governement. Besides the picnics and barbecues and outings at the lake that are a staple of Independence Day celebrations, prayer would be quite fitting.

The second plea in the conclusion to Bates’s hymn is for brotherhood. When America has reached the size that it is, with 300 million people and more, it might be hard to think about brotherhood. But brotherhood is simply the understanding that we are all in this together, all of us who live on the southern half of this continent, and that we are all bound together by our common citizenship. Therefore we ought to repect one another even as we vigorously and openly debate the issues of the day. Sadly, this idea seems to be weakening among the politicians of our day. The response to the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is just one example of too many politicans lashing out at one another and casting blame on one another when they should be working together to find solutions to the problem. The politicization of almost every issue and the polarization of so many people does not serve the best interests of the nation.

Psalm 133 says, “How very good and pleasant it is when brethern live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes….for there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”

By “living together in unity” the psalm does not mean living in uniformity so everyone is of the same opinion on all major issues or that people vote overwhelmingly in favor of one candidate over another. It means to debate the issues freely and vigorously with respect for those who have differing views and especially with respect for those who hold those “high positions” in government to which St. Paul referred in his first letter to Timothy. There can be an essential unity while there is a diversity of opinion on the issues of the day. Over the last two centuries, this has been a foundation of our political discourse and our national life.

And so my prayer for the 4th of July 2010 is that God will shed his grace on the United States of America and crown its good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea

Newsletter June 2010

2010-06-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

At the end of April and the beginning of May it was a pleasure to awaken to the sound of birds singing in the morning. Even before the sun comes up they announce the dawn of a new day. What a delight!
Jesus pointed to the birds as signs of God’s love and care when people were worried about the future. In Matthew 6:26 he said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” In Matthew 10:29 he said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Even the hairs of your head are numbered. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
I will confess to watching too many news shows and “talking heads” on TV who seem to believe this nation is going downhill fast. And I read too many critics of the church who can only point to the things with which they disagree and the places where some church leader or another has failed. It gets downright depressing at times.
But then I step outside early in the morning and listen to the birds sing and see the green grass and the first flowers of spring and think about the comforting verses of scripture. In Luke 11:32 Jesus said, “have no fear, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Romans 8:31 says, “if God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?”
And yet there are some terrifying forces in this world and some truly scary things that happen. When the storm clouds gather, then I think of those passages where God promises protection and help. Isaiah 40:31, for instance, says, “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” What a powerful promise that is for the weary and worried.
It is easy to be negative and even easier to initiate a conversation about how bad things are in the nation or in the church. But God does not want us to live our whole lives under a cloud of worry and suspicion. Remember the word of the Lord. Look at the birds and hear their songs. The sun is going to shine, if not today, then tomorrow.

Trinity Sunday

2010-05-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

North Star News column
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Next Sunday is Trinity Sunday on the church’s calendar. This day, which always comes on the Sunday after Pentecost, is a day to ponder the divine mystery that there is one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Whole books have been written on how this can be; lengthy church councils and conferences have debated how best to describe this reality; and the unwieldy Athanasian Creed was written to proclaim it in public worship. St. Patrick famously used the shamrock with its three leaves to explain the Trinity to new Christians in Ireland. And yet, to mature Christians the Trinity remains a profound and beautiful mystery.
Saying that it is a mystery does not mean that it is a riddle or a puzzle. Neither is it a wall that human reason comes up against but an ocean in which the human soul swims. The one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all at once is so wonderful and magnificent that no human being can fully comprehend him. We will never fully understand the Trinity “till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise!” as the Methodist writer Charles Wesley put it so beautifully in the conclusion of his hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” Some people get a headache trying to explain the Trinity. God intends that meditation on the Trinity leads to being “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
The better one gets to know God the more there is a sense of his unfathomable divine nature. Isaiah the prophet was told “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) St. Paul, in Romans 11:33, was led to exclaim, “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord?”
The response of those who glimpse the depth and breadth of the nature of God is worship and praise. In Isaiah 6 the prophet has a vision of God’s divine presence where the angels sing God’s praise saying “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” In Revelation 7 the apostle also has a vision of God’s divine presence where the elders, angels, and all creatures worship God saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
And so the people of God on earth observe Trinity Sunday by worshipping the God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. There may be sermons and lectures that try to explain the divine mystery. There may be questions and quizzical expressions. But the most appropriate and satisfying thing to do on Trinity Sunday is to join the worshipping assembly in singing, “holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of thy glory; Hosanna in excelsis” and be “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”

Pentecost Sunday

2010-05-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

North Star News column
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Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the day on which the church remembers a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus and celebrates the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of his disciples today. The story of the first Pentecost is recorded in Acts 2, but the story of Pentecost 2010 is yet to be written. What will the Holy Spirit prompt you to do? Where will the Holy Spirit lead you this year?
One thing is certain. The Holy Spirit will lead you to deeper faith in Jesus Christ. This is the first and primary work of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 12:3 says “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Martin Luther’s Small Catechism explains the third article of the creed in these words, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept in the true faith.” If you believe in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit has been at work in your heart and is continuing to work in you, whether you are conscious of it or not. The Spirit may work silently or may use some strange instruments, events or people, but it is always the Spirit that creates and sustains faith.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit propels people to speak of the faith they have in their hearts. When the first disciples of Jesus saw him ascend into heaven they were told “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” {Acts 1:9) When the Holy Spirit came upon them mightily ten days later they went out into the streets to preach about Jesus to people from “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:4) in their own native languages. This was part of the miracle of that Pentecost. Today the Holy Spirit is still moving people to put in a good word for Jesus, usually in their own native language. Some write books and some preach sermons while others simply demonstrate their faith in a few apt words or actions. Pray that you are open to the Spirit’s prompting so that you put in a good word for Jesus when given the opportunity.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit helps us pray. In Romans 8:26 it says, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” There certainly are times when we don’t know what to pray for or how to put our thoughts into sensible words, especially when events overwhelm us by their magnitude or intensity. At just those times, it is comforting to know that the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, and sometimes is directing us to the right thoughts and the right words. What a comfort this is in the midst of illness, trauma, or death.
“Holy Spirit, truth divine, dawn upon this soul of mine; breath of God and inward light, wake my spirit, clear my sight.” (Samuel Longfellow)

Synod Assembly Report

2010-05-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

Pastor Gary and Ruth Halverson attended the 2010 Northwestern Minnesota Synod assembly May 14-15 at Concordia College of Moorhead MN. The theme of the assembly was “Life Overflowing” which was about stewardship based on a theology of abundance rather than a worry about scarcity. The synod is currently dealing with major budget shortfalls that led to terminating two full time positions in April. An emotional farewell tribute to the two employees, Erin Anderson and Michael Stein, was given at the Friday evening program. The downward trend in mission support through the synod has been going on for many years, but now has reached a critical stage.
On the brighter side, the music at the assembly was provided by “Dakota Road,” a praise band from South Dakota, which has produced many CDs and performed at many church events. They were lively and loud and very popular. Sample their music at www.dakotaroadmusic.com .
The keynote speaker was Mark Allen Powell who teaches at Trinity Lutheran Seminary of Columbus, Ohio and whose latest book is “”Giving to God: the Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life.” He was humorous and entertaining while challenging the synod members to live a generous life.
Sunitha Mortha spoke on behalf of the ELCA churchwide offices where she currently works and on behalf of our companion synod, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, in which she was raised. She was an eloquent and calm voice from another part of the Lutheran Church. Her sari was beautiful.
One of the best parts of any synod assembly is connecting with Lutherans from many places, some near and some far. The Halverson’s sat at a table with people from Lake Bronson and Warroad. At the next table were Pastor Don and Esther Peterson, who served this parish in the 1970s and who send greetings to all. Also at that table was Pastor Paul Peterson who was raised in the First Lutheran parsonage and who has just moved from Beach ND to Audubon MN and also sends greetings to old friends in Karlstad. Pastors Cordell and Mary Carol Strug, formerly serving in Lake Bronson and Karlstad, were honored at the Friday evening program on their retirement. They were unable to be present as they have moved to Illinois. Also attending the assembly were Eleanor Dahlin’s son and daughter-in-law, Blaine & Molly, who belong to Redeemer Lutheran Church in Thief River Falls.
People’s Church of Bemidji was received as an official congregation of the ELCA. This church works with the poorest people in the community and has been worshipping and serving for some time. A new mission developer for a new congregation at Frazee MN was commissioned. Frazee is the largest town in the synod without an ELCA congregation. That’s Lutheran saturation!
Elections were held for voting members of the 2011 churchwide assembly and for several committees including Pastor Halverson elected to the synod consultation committee. A new secretary of the synod, Terrance Carlisle, was elected.
A full report on elections and resolutions is at www.nwmnsynod.org/ASSEMBLY but here is a summary. Resolutions to (1) Encourage support of the new mission at Frazee, (2) to encourage support of People’s Church of Bemidji, (3) encourage direct support of Lutheran Campus Ministry at Moorhead and Bemidji, and (4) to encourage congregations to give 10% of income in mission support to the synod/ELCA were adopted unanimously. A resolution to request the ELCA consider requiring a referendum by congregations for all important decisions by the churchwide assembly was defeated on a divided vote. A resolution to request that voting members of the churchwide assembly be elected as either “lay or rostered” instead of “lay or ordained” (it’s complicated) was passed on a divided vote. A resolution on the use of the word “adoption” was defeated on a divided vote. A resolution asking the state of Minnesota to limit interest charged to a maximum of 36% for all loans, especially payday loans, was passed overwhelmingly. All six MN synods were challenged to pass this resolution to protect the economically most vulnerable among us.
A 2011 budget of $1,863,120 was approved. New 2011 salary compensation guidelines increased by 2.1% were approved.
There were 179 clergy and 360 lay voting members for a total of 539, plus about 90 visitors. There were more youth than in recent years, including two from Conference One who spoke to the assembly. Bishop Lawrence Wohlrabe presided over the assembly with a deft and sure hand while acknowledging the challenges the synod faces.

Ascension Day

2010-05-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

North Star News column
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The day this issue of the North Star News is published is Ascension Day in the Christian Church. Ascension Day comes forty days after Easter Sunday, and thus is always on a Thursday. Acts 1:3 says “After his suffering [Jesus] presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” What happens next is very simple. Jesus bodily ascended into heaven, and the disciples saw him no more. This fact is confessed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed with the simple statement “he ascended into heaven” and described in fuller detail in Luke 24 and Acts 1.
Ascension Day is a bit like a victory celebration that comes some days after the victory is won. Many of you watched the inspiring Olympic games from Vancouver this winter. Athletes who had trained for years and years in obscure places around the globe came together to test their skills against other athletes. For some of them, especially the skiers, the contest took place on one day out on the mountainside, but the victory ceremony took place a day or even a few days later down in the city. At the victory celebration the gold medal was placed around the neck of the victor as he or she ascended to the top place on the Olympic stand to hear his or her national anthem played and receive the applause of the people.
Jesus lived thirty years of his life in the obscurity of Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and the rest of the family. Then for three years he carried on a public ministry, which began with a contest with the evil one during the wilderness temptation. As he died on the cross, it looked like the forces of evil that had been contending against him all through the three years had won. But three days later he was raised from the dead, the victor over sin, death, and everything that would oppose God’s good and gracious will. Death had been trying to get Jesus from the day King Herod sent his troops to kill all the little boys of Bethlehem, but on Easter Sunday Jesus finally and convincingly defeated it’s power. The contest was over, and Jesus had won.
Ascension Day is the day he celebrated that victory. “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” as we say in the Apostles’ Creed. When we observe Ascension Day, whether it is on the fortieth day of Easter or the next Sunday, we are joining in the applause for the gold medal winner, Jesus Christ. We are celebrating the victory he has won for us, his people.
In Philippians 2:9 it says, “therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” To that, let us all say “amen” today.

Newsletter May 2010

2010-05-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Bereft. That is how the disciples of Jesus were feeling forty days after Easter when he ascended into heaven. The one some of them had followed for three years, speaking and listening to him on a daily basis, was now gone from their sight. The one who had risen from the dead and appeared to them in the upper room, on the seashore, and on the road would do so no more. They were bereft of the most amazing person they had ever known.
Then they began to remember what he had said to them before those awesome days of triumph and tragedy that we call Holy Week. In John 14:3 he said, “….I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” And in John 14:18 he said, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” And in John 14:28 he said, “if you loved me you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.”
The mystery of Ascension Day is that although Jesus has ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, he is still with us through his spirit, in his Word, and in the holy sacraments. The conclusion of the Gospel according to Luke is the account of the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven, but the conclusion of the Gospel according to Matthew is the declaration, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” Both are true at the same time.
There are times when some of us feel bereft as if we were sailing alone on the sea of life. Perhaps co- workers and colleagues move on to other jobs and other places. Perhaps a husband or wife is lost as a marriage ends through death or divorce. Perhaps the years roll on and a person loses almost everyone from their generation. Not so long ago I was shown the picture of a large wedding party as the elderly owner of the picture said, “they are all gone except for this one and me.” On another occasion a much younger person spoke of feeling left behind as one friend after another moved away to advance themselves in their job or in their education.
Some of this is a natural part of the course of life. People come and go in our lives. If we live long enough we will certainly experience loss and the heartache that comes with it. If we stay in one place long enough, we will see others leave, and may at times feel quite lonely. Psalm 102:7 speaks of this feeling when it says, “I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.”
But Jesus taught that God has his eye on the sparrow so that not one of them falls to the ground without the Father knowing it. (Matthew 10:29-31) And Jesus promised that he would never abandon us. Hebrews 13:5 quotes Jesus as saying, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” In this topsy turvy world, it is a great comfort to know that Jesus is always there for us. The familiar poem by Mary Stevenson continues to comfort people with the assurance that at no hour are they bereft of the power and presence of Jesus..

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
One night a man had a dream he was walking along the beach with the LORD.Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.For each scene he noticed two sets offootprints in the sand: one belongingto him, and the other to the LORD.When the last scene of his life flashed before him,he looked back at the footprints in the sand.He noticed that many times along the path ofhis life there was only one set of footprints.He also noticed that it happened at the verylowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and hequestioned the LORD about it."LORD, you said that once I decided to followyou, you'd walk with me all the way.But I have noticed that during the mosttroublesome times in my life,there is only one set of footprints.I don't understand why whenI needed you most you would leave me."The LORD replied:"My son, my precious child,I love you and I would never leave you.During your times of trial and suffering,when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Pastor Gary Halverson

Newsletter April 2010

2010-04-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

It was a week of sorrow and sadness. The shocking news of sudden death rocked the whole community. People said he died much too soon. People were asking “how are we going to cope without him?”

Such were the sentiments in Jerusalem in that small community that gathered around Jesus on the Sabbath between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The twelve disciples were feeling quite lost, bereft. The women who provided for him as he traveled tried as best they could to provide something for him in death: dignity, memories that would live on in their hearts, the promise that his name would still be spoken even now that he was gone. Quietly they waited through the Sabbath rest until the sun should rise on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning the women went to the tomb to complete what the approaching Sabbath had prevented them from doing on Friday night. They brought spices, including some of the pure nard with which Mary had anointed Jesus at Bethany not so many days ago. “She kept it for the day of my burial,” he had said then. But when they got to the tomb they found the stone rolled away, the place where he lay empty, and angels announcing that he had risen from the dead. Just as suddenly as they were plunged into mourning by his death, they were filled with joy at his resurrection. He was not gone forever. He was more than a mere memory that they cherished. He was living. He was speaking. He was filling their future with hope.

And then they began to remember some of the things he had said which had gone right over their heads when he first said them. “In my father’s house there are many dwelling place. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also.” (John 14:2-4) And “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19) And “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.” (John 14:28)

This is the story of Easter. A community was devastated by the death of the one upon whom they depended for so much. It was a death that made no sense whatsoever to them. But then, as they saw him in the Upper Room, on the Road to Emmaus, and by the Sea of Galilee over a period of forty days, they knew they would have strength to go on and carry his message of peace, love, and forgiveness to the whole world. They had a purpose in life, a reason for living.

For our community, it was the week before Holy Week 2010 that produced such emotions as we dealt with death of men in their 50s, infant illness intensified, and treatments suspended for lack of usefulness. It felt like Good Friday and Holy Saturday arrived a week early with all their sorrow.

But as followers of Jesus we recount the awful events of Jesus’ arrest, trials, suffering, and death every year fully aware that a day of joy lies just ahead. We read of Peter’s denial knowing that Jesus will rehabilitate him. We are told of the tears of those who witnessed his walk to Golgotha and know that they will be wiped away soon. We see the cross emptied of his lifeless body knowing that soon the tomb will be empty of his risen body as he goes forth to speak to his disciples.

As followers of Jesus we deal with every illness and every death, knowing that a better day is coming. In First Thessalonians 4:13 these words were addressed to a grieving community: “But we do not want you to uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died……and so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Yes, it was a week of sorrow and sadness, filled with suffering and death. But it ended in triumph. So this Easter Sunday we will sing with conviction of the victory of Our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death: “Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia!”

Newsletter March 2010

2010-03-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

The January 12 earthquake in Haiti highlighted the enormity of the needs of the world. Here was a nation which has been the poorest country in the western hemisphere throughout the 20th century devastated by the strongest earthquake to hit this hemisphere in decades. Beyond the tragic death toll, there is the need for immediate assistance and for long term recovery. Where to begin? How to help? As we see the sad scenes from places like Port-au-Prince, many of us feel that our efforts are the proverbial “drop in the bucket.”

The month of March is filled with cries for help in dealing with the problems of the world. It is Minnesota FoodShare month, when there is a special emphasis throughout the state on restocking food shelves and replenishing food banks. In the middle of the month comes the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days in a effort to raise funds for cancer research. The Karlstad Lions Club is sponsoring a blood drive for United Blood Services of the Red River Valley. In our parish we are taking Lenten offerings to be divided between the Ruuska Village orphanage in Haiti where Lacey Hewitt works and Lutheran World Relief Gifts for development in the Third World. When our youth serve supper on Wednesdays they seek a small donation to fund their activities. The Eidsvold Women are assembling health kits again. The First Lutheran Church council is looking for funds for a new roof. The Girl Scouts are selling cookies. And that’s not to mention all the groups in the public school selling pizza, candy, magazine subscriptions, and all the rest. Minnesota Public Radio just completed a pledge drive. Can a Prairie Public TV pledge drive be far behind?

It can all be overwhelming. It seems like everyone everywhere has their hand out looking for some help. The needs are real, some of them very pressing. Truth be told, the five or ten dollars given here or there often seems so pitiful in the face of all the cries for help. Despite all that has been done over the years, Haiti is just as poor and overcrowded today as it was fifty years ago.

One of the traditional three disciplines of Lent is almsgiving, which is an old fashioned word for giving money to those who are in need. Lent is a time that emphasizes what we should be doing throughout the year, and what we probably are doing. In Matthew 5:42 Jesus said (in the Sermon on the Mount), “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” And so, when there is a need Christians have always responded. When the need in Haiti was so great, Lutheran World Relief and the ELCA Disaster Response were right there with help. The stock of quilts and health kits made by thousands of Lutheran women across the country were quickly reduced. Lutherans have a long history of being one of the best agents for assistance in time of need, going back to the recovery efforts right after World War II in Europe. This is one of the top ten reasons you can be proud to be a member of the ELCA. We take Jesus’ words quite seriously.

In our two congregations God has blessed us with a solid financial situation. This is due to the faithful giving of our members, for which I thank God, and for some modest reductions in our budget the last few years. But our synod is facing a major shortfall in funds for 2009 which the bishop says may necessitate the painful decision to terminate some positions. The churchwide expression of our church is also facing shrinking revenues and will continue to cut programs and personnel. It is not an easy time to be a bishop in this or any denomination. And yet the needs continue to grow.

In 2nd Thessalonians 3:13 St. Paul concludes his letter with this admonition: “Brethren, do not be weary in well doing.” It seems like an apt verse to keep in mind when there are so many needs pressing on us. And when those needs seem to be quite overwhelming, remember the famous words of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, “If you cannot feed a hundred people, feed just one.” Jesus, who praised the poor widow who gave just a mite, will praise you for what you do.

Newsletter February 2010

2010-02-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

A lingering illness in a normally healthy person can bring intimations of mortality, even if it is a minor illness. So can one of those birthdays that end in a “0”. Even those who seem to defy the aging process face these thoughts sooner or later. Football quarterback Brett Favre has never lost his boyish enthusiasm for the game, but on January 24 as he limped off the field with his grey stubble at the end of the game, he sure looked every bit the oldest quarterback in the NFL. At a certain age, most people begin to imagine the time when they will no longer be walking on this earth and evaluate the meaning of their life so far and what they might accomplish in the days they have left.

The theme for Ash Wednesday is from Genesis 3:19 where God speaks to Adam as he is sent out of the Garden of Eden: “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Each year as ashes are applied to the foreheads of the faithful, these words are spoken: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Sometimes when the minister speaks these words to an aging or ill person, they seem very power, almost too truthful. At other times when the minister touches the clear skin of a youth or child, they seem like a cruel reminder that this child will not always be so young, innocent, or cheerful. But it is the hard truth of human life.

Recently a fellow minister asked a group of us what our favorite Bible verse is. That is a hard question because there are so many verses that speak to so many different situations with power. Impulsively, I said “Isaiah 40:8” which reads “The grass withers, the flower fades but the Word of our God will stand forever.” Why was that? Was it because we have it on a poster in our parish office? Missionary Bernice Johnson gave us this poster with pressed flowers from Madagascar on it, and I framed it to preserve both the words and the dried flowers (in contradiction to the very meaning of the verse!) Or was it because I read many years ago in a novel, whose title I have forgotten, that a favorite verse of the Puritans in Massachusetts often quoted and printed was the simple phrase that leads up to Isaiah 40:8 in verse 6: “All flesh is grass.” My recollection is that a youth pondered this verse often as he looked at it printed on a cup in his austere Puritan home. It was a major theme of the novel.
Some people think it is overly morbid to think about the end, but, as Ecclesiastes 3 says, there is a time for everything. Ash Wednesday is a time to consider who we are, what we are, and how long we have on this earth. Ecclesiastes 3 also says in verse 11: “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind….” (RSV translation of a difficult verse to translate).

Thoughts of mortality lead to thoughts of eternity, just as the forty days of Lent begin with a somber reminder of human mortality and end with the glorious proclamation of the gift of eternal life for all who are in Christ. The journey through Lent takes us through the suffering and death of Jesus, which is the one and only reason that we can have any confidence that we will not fade from this earth into endless oblivion. “Because I live, you will live also,” Jesus said in John 14:19.
But just as Jesus had to face death in order to rise to eternal life, so we must ponder our own mortality before we can confidently believe we will live forever with him. And so we will soon plunge into Lent, a somber and sober season. But Lent is a prelude to Easter. Liturgically it developed as a preparation to celebrate the true center of the church year: the Festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord. Throughout the forty days of Lent and the fifty days of Easter let us proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died; Chris

Newsletter January 2010

2010-01-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

The new year of 2010 is now upon us. It is hard for those of us of a certain age to believe that we are already entering the first year of the second decade of the 21st century. Memories of the beginning of the 21st century are still quite vivid, especially our fear that computers across the globe would mal-function and the civilized world would grind to a halt. People stockpiled food and water, bought generators, and prepared for the worst, but when the first year of the new millennium came, everything went on as usual. There were fireworks over Sydney Harbor in Australia, the pope spoke from the balcony in Rome, and the ball dropped in Times Square just like every other year.
We are already ten years down the road from that day. Celebrations of the new year will take place all around the globe on January 1, but some people will be facing the new year with fear and trepidation. What is coming in 2010? What problems will arise? How will we be able to cope? These are questions that many people are asking. The answer, of course, is that we do not know. There is a probability that the problems we will have to deal with are unknown and unforeseen in these waning days of 2009.
That’s how it was at the beginning of the decade. The overriding challenge of the last decade for our nation was Islamic extremism and terrorism. The country was blindsided by the attacks of 9-11 which transformed the decade in ways no one was predicting on 9-10-2001.
So my prediction for 2010 is that something will happen of which we have no inkling today. It could be wonderful. It could be terrible. Nobody knows. That is the one sure thing about the future. Nobody knows for sure what the future holds.
There is a great song that says:

I don’t know about tomorrow; I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from its sunshine, for its skies may turn to grey. I don’t worry o’er the future, for I know what Jesus said. And today I’ll walk beside Him, for He knows what is ahead.Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand.I don’t know about tomorrow; it may bring me poverty. But the one who feeds the sparrow, is the one who stands by me. And the path that is my portion may be through the flame or flood; But His presence goes before me and I’m covered with His blood.

When Abraham and Sarah set out from Ur of the Chaldees for a new land, they didn’t know where they would be a year later, but they knew that God was sending them forth. When Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, little did he know that it would be 40 years before they reached the promised land, but they had the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night to remind them that God was leading them forward. When Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples did not know where they would be and what they would be doing a year hence, but they heard the last words of Jesus on earth, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.”
In this new year some of us will be surprised by grace and filled with joy. Others of us will be shocked by a diagnosis or startled by a new twist in the road. A few of us will not be on this side of the grass come the end of the year. But all of us have the promise of the Lord’s abiding presence. Of that we can be sure.
And if 2010 should be the year that they cut into our tombstone, then we can also be sure that an eternity of joy in the presence of Jesus is our future. Then time will be no more as the eons roll on in endless joy. 1st Thessalonians 4:17 has a wonderful promise that says, “… and so we will be with the Lord forever.”
So let us enter into 2010 not very confident about what we will be listing as the most important events of the year on the 31st of December, but completely confident that we will be able to look back on the year and give thanks to God for his presence and his power which was there for us every day.

Initial Post

2010-01-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

While I had thought for a long time about setting up a blog where sermons as well as newsletter articles and occasional thoughts about the issues of the day could be posted, it was a presentation by Manitoba Lutheran Bishop Elaine Sauer at our February 2010 local clergy confab that spurred me finally to set one up. So here it is. If I think a sermon is worth anyone reading after I preached it, I'll post it here. All newsletter columns will be here - I've deleted my "pastor's archive" page from the parish website. And perhaps random comments on church issues. This is a blog related to the parish I serve here in Northwestern Minnesota. I will try to keep comments about my other interests and my family to a minimum.