This coming Sunday will be our last session on the connection of our faith and our civil society. the conversations have been wide-ranging and fascinating. Last Sunday we were sharing examples of elected leaders whose lives and leadership were informed by their faith.
We are in the midst of a series of Old Testament lessons from the book of Ezekiel. Here are some notes on the prophet Ezekiel.:
Last Sunday we started a four week series on Civic Life and Faith, sponsored by the Global links Team. I hope that many of you will be part of this series. We are seeking different points of view on difficult issues. We want to listen to what is on your mind as we consider issues which are tearing apart the fabric of our civic life. The church should be a place for serious, faith filled conversation, listening to various points of view, finding grace in disagreement and living more deeply into the faith we share.
This coming Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. we begin our intergeneration opportunity for growth in our faith and fellowship. We gather at 6:00 for pizza. Then the children go with Gayle Larson to the library to read together some books which will enrich their spiritual lives.
The adults will join me for a study of my book, the Mission Table, which, God willing, will increase our scriptural, theological, and practical understanding of the mission we share at St Luke’s. We plan to have hard copies of the book on Wednesday for all participants.
Monday, September 11, is the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, and the crash in Pennsylvania. As the towers fell in NY I sent out a dispatch to the wider church which became a regular series of updates, stories encouragement and hope for many around the world. The blog for today is a link to a Religious News Service article on those updates. They give a flavor for the life and mission of the church at Ground Zero. My life and ministry changed on that day, as did the world as we knew it. The week of September 11 is always a time of pensive reflection for me.
Despite my retirement from professional chaplaincy, I remain on the email list for ELCA chaplains and persons serving in specialized ministry. In the most recent issue of the chaplains’ newsletter, the director for specialized ministry reflected on his week away at a friend’s lakeside home in upstate New York. Remembering the recently assigned Gospel texts in which Jesus is portrayed by Matthew as taking time away, the director encouraged his readers to consider the importance of self-care, days off, and scheduled vacations for being renewed and prepared to offer competent and effective pastoral care.
To make his point, he reminded us that the Creator took a day off and incorporated a weekly sabbath in the plan for creation, adding the striking observation, “It’s one of the 10 Commandments, for Pete’s sake.”
In the wake of the trial and sentencing of the person who killed many in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and in the shadow of too many antisemitic acts of hate every day we need to remember these words from Paul: the Jews are given “the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises, the patriarchs and prophets” (Romans 9:4-5). And in our lesson for this coming Sunday Paul flatly states that the Jews are God’s people, the recipients of these inestimable gifts and working of God which “are irrevocable.”
I have been viewing the materials for the ELCA study on civic engagement with much excitement and anticipation. With the help of the Global Links Team we will be engaging in this study during the Adult Forum this Fall and sharing our insights with the ELCA as it completes a Social Statement on this topic and brings it to the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Watch for details and materials on this in the near future.
We continue our study of Genesis in the Adult Forum. However, last Sunday and this Sunday we are on a bit of a detour focusing on creation stories and planning to return to Genesis itself and its account of the “troubles” in the early human community thereafter.
This past Sunday we began a study of the book of Genesis in the Adult Forum. (Come, join us at 8:45!)
As we read the first of the creation stories (Genesis 1:1 – 2:3) we saw reference to the creation of the “great sea monsters” – Leviathan – on the fifth day. Leviathan is the beast which the Psalmist reports (Psalm 104:26) the Creator formed simply to enjoy as it sported in the seas.
The origin of the Leviathan stories in the ancient near east is anchored in the people’s experience of the crocodilians that inhabited their world. This past week I had opportunity to get up close and personal with a lot of crocodilians and through that experience, came to better understand a Creator who delights in them.