Last Saturday CHAPPY and the Superior Range Shooters Club hosted a shooting sports event on Black River Road. It proved to be a wonderful opportunity for fellowship as the morning rain moved off leaving us with bright blue skies. A very special thanks to Paul Hagemann, John Tincher, Paul Forslund, Kieth Johnson, and Gary Kusz for teaching us how to be safe and maximizing the fun. There were lots of smiles on the faces of kids and adults alike.

Next CHAPPY will host cribbage and card games in Salem's fellowship hall on Sunday, May 17 beginning at 5:00pm. Thanks to Sandy Beals for organizing this event.

Easter 2 B 2009

Each year at summer camp I noticed a strange sociological phenomenon. There was always a kid who, for whatever the reason, bore the brunt of our jokes and pranks. I was in a different cabin each year, but each year the phenomenon was the same. Among a group of about a dozen boys one of them is always at the bottom of the totem pole.

Thankfully, I never had to be that boy, but I confess I did my part helping to torment that poor child whose open hand we carefully filled with tooth paste as he slept during the night and tickled his nose with a feather so that when he awoke his face was covered in Colgate. There was the poor boy who we startled awake in the middle of the night by shining the brightest flashlight we had in his face and screaming “Train!” Or worse yet, the unfortunate young man whose hand we managed to dip in warm water as he slept.

Without fail there was a kid on whom we focused all our insecurity and fear. Because we ourselves didn’t want to be the oddball, we appointed one. It was usually the kid who came to camp without a friend, and whose social skills were a little lacking. It wouldn’t take long for this child to be on the defensive and to be skittish and suspicious of any kind gesture. He would not accept candy, gum, complements, or information from his cabin mates, because they were almost always tainted. Before going to bed he would be sure to check is sleeping bag for spiders, frogs, or snakes that had mysteriously found there way into his bunk.

I wonder if Thomas wasn’t this kid. I wonder if Thomas wasn’t the well meaning, earnest, and slightly gullible young man who bore the brunt of the disciples’ practical jokes and pranks. I wonder if that doesn’t explain his defensiveness, skepticism, and suspiciousness. I wonder if he didn’t think that the other disciples were trying to play a cruel practical joke on him. They reported to him that they had seen the Risen Lord. They witnessed the wounds in his hands and side. But Thomas replied, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

I sometimes wonder if this cruel world hasn’t made us suspicious of the Good News of Jesus Christ. I wonder if we haven’t become suspicious because we have learned if something seems too good to be true it probably is. It is for good reason that we have become so cautious. Internet schemes try to use our fear to get us to give our account information to parties posing as our own banks. Television ads promise debt relief, protection from creditors and the IRS, and agencies that can prevent foreclosure or identity theft, but many of these agencies are scam artists. And then there are the televangelists who promise miraculous hundred fold gains in prosperity and health for what they call a seed-faith offering.

There are so many scammers out there trying to pull the wool over our eyes. There are so many forces trying to deceive and misdirect us. How do we know who to believe? How do we know who to believe in? Thomas’ response to the resurrection news is understandable. The world hardens our hearts. The world puts us on the defensive. Then it becomes normal to be cynical, skeptical, cautious, suspicious, and doubtful. Thomas doesn’t want to be taken in as a fool, and neither do we. But we know who to believe in because he comes to us bearing his wounds. We know who to believe, because he comes to us bestowing his peace and showing us the great extent of His love.

He shows us the wounds and the pain that he bore for us. He does not come to stir up our anxiety and fear. He does not come to bargain with us saying, “if you do this or give up that I will help and save you.” He comes to us showing us the price he has paid for us: the priceless gift of his life that we could never in a million years repay. He comes demonstrating that he sets no conditions on this gift but rather, be bestows the gift of faith freely.

Jesus says to Thomas after offering up his wounds for Thomas to probe (thankfully, an an offer that Thomas declines) “Do not doubt, but believe.” This utterance, “do not doubt, but believe” is a performative utterance. It is like Jesus saying, “arise and walk, your faith has made you well.” These are words that not only say something, they do something. “Do not doubt, but believe!” And at last Thomas believes the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus’ resurrection!” In a way Jesus cures Thomas of his doubt. Jesus does this by taking away his fear, and by reaching beyond his pain.

In the same way Jesus comes to us reaching out beyond our tough exteriors of suspicion and skepticism. Jesus comes to us out of pure and holy love to take away our fear and remove our pain. He does this by showing us that he was able to bear that pain and overcome that fear once and for all. And he did so by becoming like that kid that we all used to pick on. He did this by becoming like Thomas and bearing the brunt of our jokes and the pain of our anxious cruelty. He became isolated on the cross and in the grave like the kid at camp who walks alone and without a friend. But in the end the prank was on us.

He bore our cruelty, our sufferings, our insecurities and our sin because he was the only one strong enough, secure enough, and sinless enough to do so. He bore our very death and rose again to give us faith, trust, and courage in a God whose love is for us is immeasurable, whose concern for us is ceaseless, and whose care is given freely, without conditions.

And the real practical joke is on the devil. The biggest prank is on the source of evil because by dying and rising, Jesus broke the bonds of death—the only power that the devil can lay claim to. By dying and rising Jesus overcame the sin of the world that leads to death. By dying and rising Jesus shows us that the devil cannot lay claim to Him, and because we are covered in Jesus righteousness, the devil cannot lay claim to me or you. The joke is on the devil who is like a bully on the playground who was stripped of his power and no longer intimidates anyone.

Easter Sunday 2009 B

Gospel of Mark.

To the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Take your pew now don’t be late

I’ll give you a reason to celebrate

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

It so dark the start of Holy Week

Palm Sunday to Good Friday is so bleak

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Here’s the Easter story according to Mark

It’s also a little dark

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

After Friday for worry and dread

You couldn’t get disciples out of bed

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Three women got up early that Sunday morn

Expressions on their faces sad and 'lorn

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

They went where Jesus’ body was laid

Last respects needed to be paid

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Just about the break of day

They found the stone it was rolled away

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

With anxiousness they went into the tomb

And found no body in the room

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

There was a young man all dressed in white

He gave the ladies an awful fright

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

“Don’t be scared” the young man cried

He’s not here, the crucified

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Tell the all the rest He’s gone ahead

To Galilee, He is not dead

Don’t worry, He’s risen!

So out they went they ran and fled

Terror and amazement in their head

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

For this good news they weren’t prepared

Didn’t speak of it at first; they were scared

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Now-a-day’s we’re still afraid

Disregard new life He’s made

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

He’s won the victory, won the prize

So with him we will die and rise

Don’t worry He’s Risen!

Good Friday noon to Easter Morn

Gives us cause to be reborn

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

After forty days we celebrate

I’m sure that it was worth the wait

Don’t worry, He’s Risen!

Jesus Christ Is Risen

Alleluia, He's Risen

Amen.

Some Resurrection Humor:

Post Resurrection appearance

After His resurrection our Lord appeared to a certain fisherman on the banks of the Sea of Galilee

"I am Jesus", He said, "My death and resurrection has saved all who believe in me, and I am returned to show the Father's love and power.

"No, you're not Jesus, so bug off, you're scaring all the fish," answered the fisherman.

“You are full of doubt. What would you have me do to show who I am?"

"Walk on the water," he tells Jesus.

So Jesus starts walking across the sear. Next thing, he sinks and disappears under the water. After he swims back to shore, the old man says to him, "There you are, see, you're not Jesus, you can't walk on water"

Jesus responds, "Well, I used to be able to until I got these darned holes in my feet!"

Secret Service

After church on Sunday I was standing at the door as I always do to shake hands. I spotted a C and E Christian coming toward me and I took him firmly by the hand and said "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"

The man responded, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor."

I questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?"

He whispered back, "I'm in the secret service!"

Communion Visit

I was on my way to visit a homebound member of our parish to bring her communion and was running late as usual so I was going a bit over the speed limit. Wouldn’t you know I get pulled over for speeding. After giving the officer my license and proof of insurance he notices my communion kit sitting on the seat beside me and asks what’s inside of it. I told him, “some bread and water.” He asked for the kit and I handed it over. He opened the little bottle in the kit smelled it and with suspicion in his voice informed me, “this isn’t water, this is wine.” I clapped my hands together and said, “Halleluiah, He did it again.”

Maundy Thursday 2009

Maundy Thursday gets its name from a derivation of the Latin scripture reference: Mandatum novum. Maundy is the Middle English word for Mandate or commandment. Jesus gives to his disciples a new commandment, or new mandate, a mondatum novum. The new commandment that Jesus gives his disciples before his death and burial is the focus of this day. The instruction that Jesus gives his disciples is that they love each other as he has loved them. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The focus of this day is Christian love: Christian love that is tested by conflict, tragedy, denial, sin, death, and evil. This Christian love requires forgiveness, reconciliation, and compassion. This love is not puppy love. It is not a crush or a warm fuzzy feeling. This is the kind of love that bears the crushing weight of the cross and the heat of the fiery furnace. This new mandate is a rally cry to self-sacrifice and self denial. This is a call to humble service that gets down on its hands and knees.

Like a wonderful teacher and instructor, our savior, Jesus demonstrates for his disciples what this humble service and love looks like. He gets down on his hands and knees and washes each of his disciples’ feet. He models for his disciples what this looks like. It looks like the powerful respected master humbling himself and pouring out his love and life for the sake of those who follow him. This is the very posture that the church in its power and respect should emulate. This is how our churches should act, not as demanding allegiance or sovereignty, but as a humble servant of the people. This is what the discipleship of the church should look like: getting down on hands and knees to wash putrid feet.

Christian love is not about proving a position correct in an argument; it is about reaching out in service to a community that every day grows more and more desperate. Christian love is not about how to best hold onto our assets, funds, and property, but how best to give it away for the glory of God. Christian love is not about winning the competition for whose building stays open. Christian love says here I am, Lord. Let it be done to me according to your will. Christian love gets down on its hands and knees for the sake of others. Christian love gives away its life in love for the neighbor.

This new commandment is a tall order and it is impossible for us to do. This new commandment is completely unattainable. This kind of love requires us to be forgiving, to be open to reconciliation, to be compassionate, and those are not traits that the world holds dear. Those are traits that the world despises. If you are forgiving you are a chump. If you display an openness to reconciliation you are willing to have people walk all over you. If you are compassionate, then you are a pansy. To make it in this world you’ve got to be tough, shrewd, and hard-nosed not vulnerable only to being taken advantage of.

This new commandment would be impossible for the church were it not for Jesus example and because Jesus makes the first move. The book of John differs from the synoptic gospels in several important ways. Today one of those ways comes through. In Matthew Mark and Luke, Jesus dines with his disciples at the Passover meal. That is where he has his Last Supper and institutes the Sacrament of the Altar or the Lord’s Supper. In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ hour to begin his departure comes not on the Passover, but before the Passover. In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not eat the Passover meal with his disciple. In John the Last Supper falls before the Passover. This is an intentional move on the part of John to show that Jesus does not eat the Passover, because Jesus is the Passover. Jesus bleeds and dies as the Passover lamb. Jesus’ blood is like the blood of the lamb that is poured out so that God’s judgment will not befall His people. In John Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Were this not so we would have no ground for loving each other as Jesus loves us.

We can love each other because Jesus loved us. We can stick it to the world and say I will forgive, I will be reconciled, and I will be merciful, because Jesus has forgiven me, he has reconciled me to God, and he has been merciful to me. We can love each other and give God’s gifts of love, mercy, forgiveness, because he loved, forgave, and displayed his mercy so profoundly and so abundantly. The church can give, and by the church I don’t mean Salem, St. John’s, St. Paul or Zion, I mean you, and when I say give, I mean love. Because the church is the recipient of such a great gift of love, the church can pour itself out for the sake of the world. Because Jesus became vulnerable to death poured his life out for the sake of the world, the church is in a position to become vulnerable and pour its life out for the sake of the world. The church can give this much because the church has been given so much more than it will ever be able to give. But it makes us uncomfortable to be the recipient of such precious gifts.

Who has ever been made to feel uncomfortable by receiving a precious gift that they did not earn or deserve? I know I have. Without going into detail, I have been the recipient of some very wonderful and amazing gifts. I was humbled when after the accident, that happened almost three years ago, this community held a benefit in my honor to help defray legal and medical expenses. My family was humbled almost a year and a half ago when this community gave so many wonderful gifts to prepare for the coming of our son. There are other amazing and humbling and extravagant things I have received in my life: the gift of education opportunities, outrageous hospitality, presents, and delicious meals.

I am sometimes very self-conscious about all that I have been given. I am and extremely fortunate individual and sometimes that makes me feel awkward. Imagine when Jesus got down on his hands and knees to wash the disciples’ feet how they must have felt. Jesus was honoring them by doing this. He was humbling himself to serve them. He was demonstrating what a gift of love looks like, and it made them feel awkward, self-conscious, and humbled all at the same time. At first Peter does not want to allow his Lord to wash his stinky dusty dirty feet. He does not want to have his feet washed. In the same way sometimes the church does not want to have its feet washed. It wants to be self-sufficient and independent, but that is the last thing it can be.

The church, and by church I mean assembly—I mean you and me both, I mean all of us pew sitters together—the church, that means us, we are in the posture of being a recipient of such honor and grace and love that it sometimes makes us feel awkward. We sometimes resist having our feet washed in the blood of the lamb. We sometimes want to refuse the extravagant gift of love that is the precious blood of our Savior. We are made self-conscious of the unmerited and precious gift we have been given. But the fact is this: the church itself, this gathering on this Maundy Thursday exists, only as a result of the cleansing act of Jesus Christ. The fact is that the very existence of this church is dependant upon Him who gave his life for us, so that we could give something back in the same way that it was given to us: freely, abundantly, and extravagantly.

There is no denying it, we as the church have to be receptive and accept the generosity of our God. We have to hold out our hands to receive his body and blood or else we will have nothing to give. We have to accept his extravagance so that we can give extravagantly. We have to receive his grace if we are to be a part of the mission of God: that is give ourselves away for the sake of love. If we are to live into the Novum Mandatum, the new commandment to love one another as Christ has loved us, we must be willing to receive his generosity as he comes to us in his Holy Meal. If we are to live into the new commandment of love we must accept that we are first and foremost the recipients of his great love.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Lent 5 B 2009

Tim Gallagher of the Sioux City Journal wrote the Wednesday before last:

The custom of planting potatoes on Good Friday should bear fruit -- or vegetables this year, weather permitting.

That's because Good Friday occurs April 10. By that time, we hope, the soil temperature should be past 50 degrees.

Using Good Friday as the marker, however, doesn't always yield a bountiful crop. For example, Good Friday a year ago was March 21. If you were to plant potatoes Saturday (March 21, 2009), one expert believes it might be an exercise in futility. Or, you could set your own family up for a potato famine.

The practice of planting potatoes on Good Friday may have its origin in Ireland in the 1600s or 1700s, various sources indicate. One legend is that Irish Catholics believed their potato seeds "baptized" if planted on Good Friday. The practice followed as Irish immigrants made their way to the United States following the potato famine.

And while Good Friday might be fine for areas in the southern U.S., it isn't always warm enough in places like Sioux City. It wasn't a year ago this week. Good Friday dates can range from March 20 to April 23.

"Common sense tells me when the soil temperature is cold and the soil is wet, the potatoes will spoil," said Mimi Shanahan, a horticulturist and master gardener with ISU Extension in Woodbury County. "You plant potatoes as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring."

A rule of thumb for this green thumb involves taking a handful of soil. If the soil sticks together, it's too wet and probably too cool for potatoes to grow. If the soil crumbles easily, it's time to dig and deposit the spuds.

Jesus says, “Verily I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

These are stark and bleak words, for a rather stark and bleak time of the year. Looking around the ground is still frozen in places. The banks of snirt and slush line the roads. The ground is not yet hospitable to seeds. It is not the right time for planting any thing especially in these northern climbs.

I grew up in an environment different from here where the custom was to plant potatoes on Good Friday and where the corn was always knee high by the forth of July. I always thought it was universal that people plant their potatoes on Good Friday, but I guess that up here it probably rarely makes sense because the ground is too cold and wet. But when Good Friday Comes later like it does this year, you better believe that the gardeners in Southern Minnesota will be waiting for Good Friday to plant their taters.

Jesus has been holding back until now. Jesus has not revealed the full and grand scope of what is about to occur, and even when he does it is still impossible to believe. How can this be that the Son of the living God would be lifted up first on a cross, then from the grave and then into heaven? This would certainly not be my plan for the salvation of the world if I was standing in Jesus’ shoes. That the Son of God would freely give his life for the sake of the world is, frankly, unbelievable.

In my early years I grew up surrounded by corn and beans. When seed time came we would see the farmers out with their implements preparing the soil for the seeds they were about to plant. I remember trucks loaded with seed meeting the seed drills out in the middle of the field and watching them pour the fifty pound sacks into the hoppers. It was always a risk when these farmers put that precious seed into their planters and scrapped the surface of the earth back and forth. They were putting this expensive seed into the soil where it would be exposed to the water, wind, and pests. The possibilities of runoff, rot, and rust were real.

Jesus knows the time has come to make his journey toward Jerusalem. In John there is no sweating blood or tears of anguish—there is acceptance, deliberateness, and courage. This is no Jesus meek and mild, but this Jesus is fully aware of the pain he will bear. He knows the price he must pay to take our sins away. Like the farmers who risk their livelihoods to plant seed every year to give us our daily bread, Jesus risks his very life and his very body so that like a seed it must be lifted up, poured out, and buried in the ground.

Just like the farmer has faith, we too believe in the promise of God’s providence. God not only provides for us our daily bread, he has given to us a Savior. And we his children have been buried with him by baptism into his very death, so that on the last day we will be raised with him and live with him eternally. We have been baptized not only into his death, but we have been baptized into his resurrection. And as sure as the grass will start greening and the winter wheat will pierce the surface of the soil we shall be raised up with him. Because the Holy Spirit has marked and sealed us with the cross we shall not die.

Jesus risks everything for us. He gives his life so that we can live in him. And though, as a community we see more burials than baptisms, we should not be discouraged. For the saints that we plant in the ground will rise again because of their baptism into Christ. And when we do celebrate the baptism of a child, or the affirmation of baptism by new members and confirmands, we ought to really celebrate because the baptism they receive and affirm is the very promise of the resurrection and eternal life.

When the waters of baptism were poured over us, we went down into death. We were buried with Christ. When we were baptized into Christ we died the big death. We died to sin; we died to all evil; and we died to death itself. As a result, we will be lifted up with Jesus, not onto a cross, but out of the grave, and into heaven. Jesus has drawn you to himself in baptism into his death and resurrection so that you may not die, but have eternal life. Amen.

Jonathan Rundman is Coming this Saturday!
Check out this video that he posted on You Tube.

If you made cookies or bars get there a little early to listen to the sound check and to visit with friends and neighbors. The concert starts at 7:30, but doors open at 6:30.

Lent 4 B 2009

Psalm 107

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.^*

How did you find your way to the foot of the Cross? In modern American Christianity we sometimes give the impression that there is only one way to the cross. The basic story goes like this: I was a horrible sinner, I realized the error of my ways, I sought Jesus, He found me and saved me. This is a real and authentic story, and many people have come to the foot of the cross in this way, but as you know this is not the only story.

Some people come to the cross because of their loneliness and isolation as though they are wandering in a desert alone and lost. Some come to the cross because they sit in dark cells of captivity literally and some figuratively. Some come to the cross because of sickness and a need for healing. Some come to the cross because the raging torrents on the sea of life have become too much to bear. Each story is authentic, each story is real.

Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
⁵hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
⁶Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
⁷he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
⁸Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
⁹For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.

I went partridge hunting out on Jarvey Rd. in the township this fall. It was an overcast day and a little too windy for hunting, but I enjoyed the opportunity to get out into the wilderness. I found a nice stand of young poplars got out of the truck and went on foot for a while. I went into the woods on what I thought was an easterly direction away from the road, but there was no telling because it was cloudy and just weeks before I gave my compass away to a couple as a wedding sermon illustration to look to God for direction.

I got turned around and was completely lost. I started to panic realizing that there was no cell phone service and no way of telling what direction I was heading. All the moss seemed to grow evenly on the base of the trees. I had completely lost my bearings and started to panic.

There are many ways to lose your bearings in life. If you have ever moved away from family or friends you know this feeling. If you have ever lost the person closest to you, you know what it is like to wander aimlessly and the panic and fear that can arise in your heart as you realize that the person who died, or left, or went away isn’t the one who is lost, but it is you, the one who was left behind who is missing and alone.

What a relief and comfort it is to find that we are not alone. It is like stumbling back upon a little logging road after wandering lost in the woods for a couple of hours, but much more of a relief than that. What a relief and comfort it is to stumble upon the foot of the cross to find that God will not abandon you, even in your time of quiet desperation.

Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in misery and in irons,
¹¹for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹²Their hearts were bowed down with hard labour;
they fell down, with no one to help.
¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
¹⁴he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
¹⁵Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
¹⁶For he shatters the doors of bronze,
and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Off the cost of South Africa there is a little Island at the tip of the continent called Robin Island. It once served the country as a leper colony, but during apartheid was converted into a prison for political prisoners. This is where Nelson Mandella was held captive for decades. I toured the island now serves as a museum with members of a class from Luther Seminary. The fact of the reality was brought home by the fact that the tour guides of the museum are former inmates.

Before 1994 the walls, bars, and chains of the prison were actual instruments of violent captivity, but now the island signifies the broken walls, bars, and chains of a whole system of injustice that kept people in bondage to a racist society. The razor wire and metal bars weren’t only experienced by the prisoners, but by a whole society. All people, black and white, in South Africa, were in a prison called Apartheid that divided and held a whole society captive. The whole country was a kind prison and even the guards were locked in.

How many lives in our community are held captive in prisons of physical, emotional, sexual and substance abuse? Just about every family I know is touched in some way by this kind of captivity. Remember, it is not just the abuser who is held captive, it is the abused. Whole families are held captive to cycles of violence, misuse, and abuse and it seems the cycle cannot be broken because the pattern has been established and the shame of it keeps people locked away from getting the help they need.

What a relief to find that God’s light shines through that darkness and gloom! What freedom God grants when He breaks the evil bonds that hold you captive to patterns of abuse. What love He shows when he shatters the doors of bronze and breaks the bars of iron that have kept you locked away in that dark place. What a comfort it is to break free of the life that has kept you in darkness and find yourself liberated at the foot of the cross.

Some were sick^* through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
¹⁸they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
²⁰he sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from destruction.
²¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
²²And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

Pastor Fran and I find ourselves at the hospital a couple of times a week to visit the sick. We also find ourselves sitting at the bedsides of residents at nursing homes. And we too encounter sickness, as do you, among our own families and friends. We have prayed countless times for healing and we have seen miraculous things. We have seen cancer go into remission, we have seen people on the brink of death go home from the hospital, we have seen life saving treatments administered and take effect and bring people back from the edge of the grave.

We have also seen where the doctors and nurses work to the best of their knowledge and abilities, and not be able to save someone. We have seen it when a family or individual mercifully and faithfully decide to decline resuscitation or intubation and to remove all the wires and tubes and in sure and certain hope of the resurrection courageously face inevitable death. In both cases there are healing and deliverance. In both cases God delivers a person from suffering and restores their life. What a comfort in the face of sickness and death to find yourself at the foot of the cross—the gate to eternal life.

Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
²⁴they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
²⁵For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity;
²⁷they reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
²⁹he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
³²Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Sometimes life looks like Lake Superior when the gales of November come early, then it feels like we are being tossed about and we loose courage. When the pink slip finds it’s way across our desk. When we are fired from our jobs, or know that the company won’t be able to hold out much longer and the temporary layoff becomes permanent. But it is not just employment that suffers when the economy goes bad. The schools suffer, the state and county government suffers the municipalities suffer when their tax base is gone. The church suffers and servants of the church must make difficult decisions.

But the economy is not the only stormy sea. Those who suffer from depression also know the ups and downs of the tumultuous sea of life. Things seem to be going along just fine and then the bottom falls out and leaves you staggering for a foothold. People with social anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorders, and other emotional and behavioral disorders find themselves walking around on what seems like the deck of a ship being tossed about in stormy seas while others around them seem to be experiencing calm sailing.

But what a comfort it is when you finally make landfall and find yourself at the foot of the cross. When he stills the storm and calms the raging sea, when the dark clouds are behind you, it is possible to see a sign of promise and hope. By grace you have been saved through faith, not because of what you do. It is the will of God. Something brought you to the foot of that cross so that you could be lifted up by him, be seated with in heavenly places. You might have had to come through lonely desert wasteland, prisons of darkness and gloom, sickness and death, and stormy seas to get there, but we each have a different path to the foot of the cross.

When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
⁴⁰he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
⁴¹but he raises up the needy out of distress,
and makes their families like flocks.
⁴²The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
⁴³Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

On Saturday evening, following the Second Saturday Contemporary Service at Zion, CHAPPY and members of the Parish Youth met to put some events on the calendar. Many of the items are still in the panning stages. If you can contribute to any of these events please let me know.

March 28: Jonathan Rundman Live in Concert. Doors open at 6:30 concert begins at 7:30. We need greeters, cookies, bars, people to put on coffee, collect a free will offering, and be generally hospitable.

April (day to be announced): Garbage Pickup/Community Cleanup with an Earth Day theme. April 19th-25th is National Volunteer Week and contains Earth Day on the 22nd and Arbor Day on the 24th.

May 2: Target shooting at Range Sportsman Club on Black River Road. This will be a fun afternoon of learning gun safety, and trying out shooting sports.

June: Two events may go on in June. The first is the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. We have decided to help in a subsidiary role. We will sell luminaries and volunteer, but will probably not have a team of our own. The other event is a bonfire and hike on Jim and Jane Waitanek's property that adjoins the Wolverine Trail System.

July: We are still planning this one, but it will probably be something that involves canoes, kayaks, inner-tubes, water, and a picnic.

August: The Parish Picnic is in August and will be the CHAPPY event for that month. There are lots of planning and preparations to be done before the picnic this year.

Thanks to the 60 or so people who turned out to the Second Saturday Contemporary Service. Let your friends, neighbors, and relatives know about it. You are the best promoters we've got!

In Christ,
Pastor Christian

If you are Lutheran you should watch this video from the band "Lost and Found."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=102kvQ1dWoY

Tonight, following the Contemporary Service at Zion at 5:00, CHAPPY will be meeting to talk about upcoming events--Among them the Jonathan Rundman Concert on the 28th. We will be doing some brainstorming and hopefully come up with events for the next 6 months or so. This is an open invitation for anyone who likes to do fun and meaningful church activities. So come on down!

Lent 3 B 2009

Slavery isn’t Just a thing of the past. A story emerged this week from Florida: In December, members of a family went to federal prison for enslaving 12 migrant workers. The bosses took their captive crews to work on farms owned by some of the state's major tomato producers. Federal prosecutors have successfully tried and convicted people responsible for 11 slavery rings among the state of Florida’s tomato growers since 1998. This is real slavery with actual chains, forced labor, beatings, deprivation, and captivity. This is real slavery in our lifetime.

Other stories are emerging about human trafficking rings throughout the United States. Here’s a story a story that hits a little closer to home from the Student Newspaper of Northern Michigan University:

Theresa Flores, a survivor of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, spoke at Northern Michigan University on March 11 in the Whitman Commons. Flores, a licensed social worker and author, was 15 years old and living in an upper-middle class suburb of Detroit when she unwillingly became involved in a large, criminal trafficking ring.

One of the organizers of Flores’s speaking engagement gives his motivation for inviting her to come and speak. He says, “Most important is the idea of how unknown human trafficking is all over the world. The awareness is so narrow right now, recently the media has begun touching on it more, with movies like 'Slumdog Millionaire,' and 'Trade,'… we're all aware of it in the Third World slums, but Theresa was in a suburb."

During the speech, Flores shared her story with the crowd. She said that it all began when her family moved to Birmingham, Mich., and after accepting a ride home from a boy she went to school with, he invited her to his home where he drugged and raped her.

"I was a virgin, and I was Catholic … My parents had had many discussions with me and wanted me to stay a virgin until I was married … it was something I really wanted too … it was tragic to have that ripped away from me," Flores said.

She later found that while the boy raped her, male family members had taken pictures. If she didn't do what they said, they would show the pictures to her friends and family.

Not wanting to experience shame, she was bound to the life of a sex slave and trafficked to other men to gain the pictures back.

This continued for two years until she was 17 years old when her family moved again, and she was free.

She said in her speech, "One of the biggest misconceptions about human trafficking is that prostitution is not (an example of human trafficking, but) … we see prostitutes on the street and we don't think of them as victims because we think they choose to do it,"[1]

I am not sure if there is any kind of slavery more horrendous than this, to be bound by shame and guilt: to be held in captivity as the victim of sexual, emotional, and physical violence, and to be the victim of something that seems too atrocious to be true.

Flores concluded her remarks with this statement, "You have to get angry … we think we are exempt from this, that it doesn't happen here. Slavery did not die … I know, [she says] because I was [a slave]."

Slavery did not die. Those are just two examples that show slavery is very much alive right here in our country, right here in our state, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been instances of it in our own community. Slavery is not some extinct phenomenon of the past. Slavery is not some sinful artifact to be gazed upon in a museum. It is real with actual chains, forced labor, forced sex, beatings, manipulation, deprivation, captivity, and bondage.

The abolitionists of the 18^th and 19^th centuries did not start the fight against slavery, and they did not end it either. It continues for as long as someone is willing to see someone as less than human they will be willing to enslave them. It continues as long as we as a larger society choose to turn a blind eye to the reality of it in our own lives. It continues as long as we don’t get angry about it.

You might ask, what does this have to do with our church? Does this kind of speech belong in the pulpit? Let me answer with another question? What do you think the Ten Commandments were all about? After fleeing from Pharaoh and his armies and their enslavement in Egypt, the Israelites come to Sinai, where God teaches them how to live as a newly freed people, as the liberated people of God.

God spoke these words, the only words that were directly spoken to the Israelites with out a prophet or other kind of mediator like Moses. “God said, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other God’s before me.” The very purpose of the Ten Commandments is to order a free, just, and equitable society. The very purpose of the Ten Commandments is to be a gift to a people who have been held in bondage, so that they will no longer hold each other in bondage, but will have a society that honors God, rests on the Sabbath, takes care of its elders, prohibits violence, the misuse of sex, theft, lies, and jealousy. The Ten Commandments are the framework of a free and peaceful society that will not tolerate slavery of any kind.

The Law of Moses was given from God as a gift to the Israelites so their days would be long in the land that the Lord was giving them. It was given so that the people would not exploit their neighbors for the sake of personal gain. The law protects you from me and me from you. The law at its best is for the sake of our neighbor, so that we do not sell them into slavery or turn away when the reality of slavery and sexual exploitation is too much to bear.

When the Passover was near and Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem. There he found people selling cattle, sheep, doves, and changing money. Jesus got mad, made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple; he dumped all their coins on the floor, and yelled—this is not Jesus meek and mild—He yelled, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my father’s house a market place! Stop trying to sell salvation!” You see, when you sell salvation for the price of a sacrificed calf, sheep, or dove, you are selling people into a system of bondage whereby people become indentured to the church or temple. When you sell salvation you are manipulating and exploiting people’s worst fears.

But Jesus was not only upsetting one day’s trade of exploitative temple merchants and money changers. Jesus upset a whole system—a whole temple cult that kept people in bondage to their fears. Jesus set them all free and taught them how to live, just as he sets us all free and teaches us how to live. The temple was destroyed and still lies in ruins. Jesus’ body was destroyed, but he raised it up in three days. Jesus did this so that we could be free from sin, death, and every evil.

And I am convinced that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, still gets angry when He sees slavery, captivity, bondage, and violence. His love for us is what makes him angry. Jesus gets angry when he sees us falling captive to slavery of the body, mind, and spirit. He gets angry when we economically exploit others for sex or labor. And we learn of such exploitation in our country, our state, or our community, we should be angry too.

---

[1] http://media.www.thenorthwindonline.com/media/storage/paper1202/news/2009/03/1/News/Human.Trafficking.Survivor.Speaks.On.Raising.Awareness-3670188-page2.shtml

Tune into WUPM tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 9:00am for the Tate's Coffee Clutch show where I'll be promoting Jonathan Rundman's upcoming concert at Zion Lutheran Church on March 28. I've never been on the radio before except for Salem's radio broadcast. I'm a bit intimidated, so please pray that I don't say anything silly.

Yours in Christ,
Chrisitian

Lent 2 B 2009

In his sermon on Ash Wednesday Pastor Fran mentioned a new church that was built and in the process the leaders of this church determined that there would be no crosses in the church. They made an intentional decision not to put any crosses or any representations of the cross in their new church building because the cross is such a negative symbol. They didn’t want their church to be a downer. They wanted to present Jesus as victorious and conquering. Would images of Jesus would be without wounds in his hands feet and side. Would there be no bloody representations of Jesus on the cross? It makes me wonder would there also be no mention of the crown of thorns he wore, or the lashes he bore?

It is no wonder they wanted to forego all this messy talk of Jesus passion and death. It makes us uncomfortable to talk about the suffering of the cross as it makes us uncomfortable to talk about suffering in our world. How do we hear and listen to our neighbors, friends and relatives when they tell us about a cancer diagnosis, a serious injury, an instance of abuse, or a confession of brokenness or hurt? How do we listen when someone comes to us, not with the expectation that we will fix the problem, but only that we will be there to offer comfort, support, and reassurance?

At our best we are open to the pain and suffering. At our best we listen and hear, acknowledging the pain of another. At our best we make known our compassion and care for the suffering one simply by being there for them and by becoming good listeners who listen more than speak, who gaze directly into the eyes of the one who is hurting and open our hearts to their hurts. But this makes us uncomfortable because it means making ourselves vulnerable to taking on some of that pain.

At our worst we avoid the person who suffers entirely. At worst, we change the subject when we start to get to the painful conversation. At worst we send off signals that we are not willing to hear and not willing to feel the pain of another. At worst we deny the cross that the hurting person is bearing by moving too quickly to the promise and hope of the resurrection without spending time with them at the cross.

I have done this and I am sure you have to. I have moved too quickly to finding a silver lining. I have moved to quickly to finding a solution for the problem. I have made the mistake of trying to make meaning out of someone else’s suffering when the meaning to be found belongs to them alone. I have changed the subject for fear of going to deep. I have done all these things, and it does not mean I am a bad pastor, neighbor, friend, or family member. It means that I am human. It means I am a sinner. It means that you and I are finite people, unable to bear the entire world’s suffering, but this is not an excuse to cut ourselves off from it.

In today’s Gospel Jesus corrects Peter for Peter rebukes his master and teacher for openly acknowledging the suffering that Jesus must undergo. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed….” Peter reprimands Jesus for saying this. Peter is not corrected for being rude or obtuse or speaking out of turn, although he his guilty of all three, what Jesus’ corrects is Peter’s denial of the cross. The fact is that Peter is setting his mind on human things and not divine things. According to human plans being handed over to death on the cross is a defeat. According to human plans the cross is a real downer and if we want to be seeker friendly we should remove it from our churches because it means death, suffering, and loss and defeat. It means we have been trounced by the powers of this world.

(As and aside ask me about white Flags at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church)

No, the cross does not mean defeat; it is the very means by which Jesus accomplishes the victory. When Peter rebukes Jesus for talking about what he must undergo he is denying the reality of the necessity of the cross. For if the victory could be accomplished any other way don’t you think God would have seen to it? If salvation could be gained through any other means, don’t you think God would have spared His only Son? And if there were any other way of becoming a follower of Christ don’t you think Christ would have made it easier for us? But Jesus never says the way is going to be easy. He says the very opposite: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Faithfulness is what is required of us to become followers of Jesus. Faithfulness as modeled by Peter who first denies the cross, and then denies Christ three times, but who in the end proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who himself dies on a cross. And in the second lesson for today Paul holds up Abraham as a model of faithfulness. This is the same Abraham who when God promises him offspring takes a concubine because he and his wife are not certain what to make of God’s promise even though God’s promise is explicit: “I will bless [Sarah],” God Says, “ and moreover I will give [Abraham] a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.". This is the same Abraham who tries to pawn his wife off on the Pharaoh when he is traveling through Egypt. Abraham says that Sarah is his sister and not his wife for fear that the Pharaoh will kill him and take her for a wife. Abraham just lets Sarah be taken as the Pharaoh’s wife. But this same Abraham is the one who in the end would not spare his and Sarah’s only Son.

Like Peter and Abraham, our faithfulness will never be perfect, and it will never be flawless, but that should not excuse us from trying to be faithful. Just as our compassion and sympathy for our neighbor will never be flawless or perfect, that does not give us an excuse to ignore them in their time of need. Despite our gravest sins, errors, flaws and imperfections God will still use us. Despite our discomfort with the cross and our uneasiness in talking about someone’s pain God still uses us to show forth his care, comfort, and concern. Despite our reluctance to go to the foot of the cross where Christ was crucified, God still uses us to proclaim the mystery of our faith. Even when our faith waivers: God uses us.

God can do this because even though our concern, care, sympathy, and compassion will never be perfectly expressed, Gods concern, care, sympathy, and compassion through Jesus Christ are perfected. Even though our faithfulness waivers and at times fails—God’s faithfulness in Jesus Christ will never fail but is perfect in every way. Though we are sinners, he is sinless. Though we fall away in retreat, he goes the total distance. Though we will sometimes fail, he will not. And though we suffer and die, he will raise us up. That is the promise of the cross and that is why, though we have sorrow for his suffering, we have hope in his wounds.

You can’t have restoration without the wounds; and you can’t have resurrection without the cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.