During this week we will again celebrate the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is especially relevant that we celebrate this modern-day prophet during the season of Epiphany. In his book, “Stride Toward Freedon,” Dr. King describes a key Epiphany of his life.
In Matthew 2 we are given the story of three seekers on a spiritual journey. Outside our doors we are confronted with societal spiritual hunger as intense as it has ever been. They “bend the knee” here and there. In the mission field outside our door the American ethos is not secular, but personal. People are seeking answers to the anxiety of our time. Successful churches understand the holes in people’s lives and fill them. The American magi are pragmatic, personal. There is no natural fit between the complexities of Lutheran theology and popular American thought. How do we translate these complexities and chisel out space for justification by grace, high Christology, law\gospel tension? We are a church somewhere between an immigrant clan and the American experience.
This Christmas season blog neither reflects upon our Lord’s Nativity nor ponders the mysteries of the Incarnation. However, I hope it will cause a smile, and perhaps, bring to mind a long-forgotten memory of a Christmas past.
On Christmas Eve in the Year of our Lord 2023 we are not at peace. War and death rage on in Gaza, Ukraine, with ongoing conflict in Burma, Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Hate crimes and acts of bigotry mar our public life. Our imminent election season divides us and scares us. Our welcome of our migrant new neighbors is touched by resentment and fear. We In our country, in our world, in our lives, we are not at peace on this Christmas Eve of 2023.
Like so many of you I have been distressed and heartbroken by the continued suffering in wars and conflict across the globe. I am always thinking about Ukraine, especially since some of our members look to relatives suffering there. And in this holy Advent season our hearts go toward the Holy Land and the ongoing conflict and suffering there: from a horrific terror attack, to remaining hostages, to civilian deaths in Gaza. Previously I had shared some reflections from a journal I kept in a visit to the Holy Land. Today, with Advent hope and waiting on the coming of the Prince of Peace I share verses from Jewish and Muslim scriptures and a final entry in that journal.
FROM THE PASTOR Have the Conversation The punchline of the story about my paternal grandmother I told a few weeks ago was “If I die, how will I get in touch with you?” The point is – why wait? There’s no better time than the present for a conversation. Especially a conversation with those you…
I want to share some readings, both ancient and new, which can help to arouse our imagination of our awareness of what Advent’s time brings: a mature expectation and sensitivity toward the lord’s coming. Advent summons us to the beginning. The lavishness of God’s compassion and mercy frame yet another year of the church for us. In my blog each week I will share some reflections to help us shape our expectation of the coming of Jesus. I hope and pray that these readings will speak to your hunger for deeper relationship to God through the advent of Jesus Christ into our world and our hearts.
I am remembering a note I received from one of my children many years ago. It was boisterously colorful, scribbled with a rainbow of many crayons in a random way. In the middle of a page full of wiggly color. Written in big red thick crayon was this: Dear Daddy, I love you soooooooo much!!!!!” It was a masterpiece, a stunning work of art because it reflected true thanksgiving. There was no particular occasion. I hadn’t done anything recently that I could think of think of to earn such a lavish offering from one of my children. It was simply an act of love for me, a human being who shared a life and a home with another human being and remembered him.
During Summer, 2022, Carol Becker offered to be my coach and mentor as I transitioned our front lawn from grass (and weeds) to a shade garden. This year under her supervision we planted a variety of yews, hostas, ferns, wild geraniums, bergenia, and viburnum, including a blackhaw viburnum tree she chose to replace the serviceberry tree in our parkway which had died last year. It was fun to work with Carol, to experience her enthusiasm, and to see the energy she seemed to draw from this project. Carol was very much alive, despite the challenge of living with metastatic disease.
In a Jewish home you will notice a kind of bump on the door post. It is a small container affixed to the lintel of the door and is called a Mezuzah. Inside, written in Hebrew on a tiny piece of paper are some words from Deuteronomy which is called the Shema. As a person leaves the house and enters the house they touch the Mezuzah. These are the words: “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord. You Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your might and all your soul, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the chief law of God in Hebrew Scriptures. Every time a devout believer touches the Shema it is a reminder of the place of God in the person’s life. On leaving the house, upon return, love the Lord. Love your neighbor. Stay in touch with your faith.