Reformation Sunday

What if God is a painter? What would that look like? He would paint creation. What if God wanted to repaint? He would paint a new creation. We are a new creation in Jesus Christ/

Today we are celebrating the 45th anniversary of Peace Lutheran Church. Although this congregation was organized in 1962 our corner stone date is 1963. Peace Lutheran began as mission congregation in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). They project was a church building with a large piece of land, for the purpose of building a school. Our congregation was started with big ambitions; ambitions don’t get much higher than having a church and a school together. The LCMS was the first mainline protestant congregation to be targeted by the fundamentalist movement, In reaction to this the Concordia Seminary professors broke away and left the LCMS. They walked out over theological issues and began The Seminary in Exile later called Seminex. This created a loud discord within all the LCMS where the laity had to decide where they stood on these issues. This congregation was part of the 25-30 per cent of the LCMS that chose to follow the Seminex professors and became the Associated Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The main dispute was over the authority of the Bible. The Augsburg Confession begins with God. The Fundamentalists say that the Bible is the first authority. Jesus is the cornerstone and Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Bible is important because it bares Jesus Christ to us. The AELC realized the futility of having yet another Lutheran denomination and they sought out unity with the LCA and the ALC, which were two distinctly different facets of Lutheranism. Finally, in 1988 all three Synods merged to form the ELCA which we are now.

After the beloved pastor Earl Merz left Peace Lutheran an explosion happened; a fight broke out. There was a large group the was hoping to return to the LCMS and when that didn’t happen they left in anything but a peaceful manner. The\y left and formed Christ our Savior LCMS. Later another group became angry over various issues and left and formed Good Shepherd ELCA who are having a ground breaking ceremony today. Finally the big dream died when the land was sold to Holland Christian Schools.

In the book, Unbinding the Gospel a former fundamentalist pastor who is now part of a mainline protestant congregation says that mainline Christians do not understand the power they have in the Gospel and they don’t share it. They have a case of Gospel Constipation. We like most mainline Christians are hesitant to talk about our faith.

We have communion every Sunday to see, taste and feel that Christ is truly here and truly leading us and truly present with us.

Walking in the Woods

Friday morning I took a short walk in Riley Woods. I walked across the footbridge in the morning sun and then walked to the far end of the pond there. The summer is a time for the beach the autumn is for the woods. It was quiet, peaceful and surprisingly stimulating.

I didn't think of much just walked and gazed around me with a lot of appreciation for the natural beauty that was all around me.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about John the Baptizer. Only in Luke's Gospel do we learn about his parentage and his family relation to Jesus. Funny how in Luke's Gospel, John does not baptize Jesus. The earlier Gospels of Mark and Matthew make it clear that John did indeed baptize Jesus which would make Jesus a disciple of John's or at best a co-worker with him.

In today's Gospel lesson we hear Jesus asking the temple priests "Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" Even at the end of his ministry Jesus mentions John the Baptizer. I can only think that John's ministry was much more important than what the Christian Church indicates it to be. John could not have been just a simple fore runner to Jesus. His ministry was alive, active and deeply influential.

It is later in the First Century as the Jesus movement became Christianity that John takes the proverbial backseat to Jesus. I get the impression that during Jesus' ministry John was in the forefront.

The emphasis of John's ministry could very well be a part of the conflict between the Jerusalem followers of Jesus and the Gentile Christians. There were more points of disagreement than that, but how John was viewed in Acts is an indicator that Saul/Paul put the greater emphasis on Jesus while James in Jerusalem seemed to hold on to the ascetic views proclaimed by John.

There is something about sunlight reflecting on the water that seems so magical. This summer I was able to swim and splash in Lake Michigan with Evan and Nathan when the sunlight was reflecting as a large stream of light on the Lake. I took the time to float on my back and let the sunlight hit me as the water.

I had Nathan and Evan stand in the sunlight and they looked like little angles peaceful, full of happiness. We would have splash fights and the water would shine in the sun sparkle like a thousand diamonds.

The last day at the beach I took a few seconds to lie back and float in the Lake and just enjoy the peacefulness of feeling the refreshing water all around me and the warm sun beating down on me.

Water sustains life, it refreshes, gives enjoyment, creates wonders, it invigorates, fascinates, relaxes and amazes. It is the most spiritual element I have encountered.

Enlightenment leads to self-control

egkrateia (eng-krat'-i-ah) is the word in Galatians 5:22 that is translated as "self-control."

In what we call chapter four Paul talks about being children of Sarah not Hagar; so that those of us in the new convenient are free children not slaves. Chapter 5 opens with this statement: For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Of course, Paul is speaking of spiritual freedom and spiritual slavery. I have come to understand why the early Christians were willing to die for their faith. Feeling powerless under the rule of the Roman Empire, the Gospel message empowered them with the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Emperor of the Universe. Believing in Jesus, gave their lives a fresh and vibrant meaning. No longer were they feeling like pawns in the world. There was a lot that they could not change but they could chose not to bow their knees to the Emperor and they can chose not to act like everyone else.

When faced with the choice to either confess Jesus or continue to empower Rome with their allegiance they chose to confess Jesus and therefore chose death. Believing that Jesus is the Life they would have not feared death and would not have wanted to release their new found freedom.

The part of Paul's message that really hits me hard today is that today all of us have a level of freedom that our First Century brothers and sisters in Christ could not have even imagined. Today self-control does not mean just not bowing our knees to the Emperor. It means that we do not control or manipulate other people to do what we want. It means that we do not let other people control us. We do not submit to anyone but exercise our freedom in Christ and freedom as US citizens to follow Jesus as we are spiritually called to do.

Also it means that we control ourselves. We do not give into compulsive behaviors of any variety. This applies to all aspects of living. One of the fruit of the enlightenment, the Wisdom of The Holy Spirit is to get in control and remain in control of ourselves. We shouldn't let anyone dominate us and we should not submit our wills to any power in this world. It means that we should dominate over anyone else. We should be the voice of empowerment and freedom.

sunlight and water

Sunlight is wonderful. It gives definition and color to the visible world.

When sunlight reflects on moving water it creates a reflection of sparkles and slices of light moving and dancing on the water.

Water is magnificent. It sustains life and cannot be created nor destroyed. It is cures thirst, refreshes, stimulates, invigorates and is very dangerous.

Swimming in a large body of cool water on a hot summer day while the sunlight is reflecting on it is truly mystical and spiritual.


.

Dear God,I surrender my financial affairs and concerns about money to your Divine care and love.I ask that you remove my worries, anxieties, and fears about money, and replace them with faith.I know and trust that my debts will be paid and money will flow into my life.I have only to look to nature to see proof of the abundance you provide.I release all negative thoughts about money, and know that prosperity is my true state.I commit to being grateful for all that I now have in my life.I learn to manage my finances wisely, seeking help where needed.And finally, I ask you to help me understand my purpose in life and to act on that purpose with courage and strength. I know that prosperity will come, in part, by doing work I love. Please help me use my skills and knowledge to be of service in the world.Thank you, God.Amen

Another prayer

Show Me the Course
Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name we shall find comfort and peace.
- Basil of Caesarea (c. 329-379)