Reflections on the coming of Lent
On the eve of Advent, the first day of the Christian year, we light one candle, a blessed light shining in the darkness, a remembrance of brighter times and longer days. One small flame, lit in defiance of the encircling gloom, a lantern as it were, to light our way as we journey to Bethlehem. Then, on Christmas Eve we greet with myriad candles the one whose light shines in the darkness, the light that darkness cannot overcome, to greet the light that shines in the darkness, the light no darkness can overcome.
 
With the celebration of Epiphany, the light is shared with the world, and we begin to understand more fully in the ministry of Jesus, what it means when read the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…” Throughout the season we see how, in Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven breaks into the world. People are healed, strangers are welcomed, outsiders are included, sinners discover that God loves them, and the hopeless are given hope.  Then, with the coming of the Sunday of the Transfiguration, Jesus shares a vision of what will happen when everything is fulfilled by the Risen Lord. The transfiguration serves as a reminder that even as we face difficulties and our faith is challenged, Jesus not only comes down the mountain with us, but promises that beyond the day of Resurrection, the Kingdom of God will finally and fully be made new.
 
After the marvelous vision of the Transfiguration of our Lord, with Ash Wednesday we enter the season of Lent. Our mortality is written on our foreheads, with the dust of last year’s palm branches; a sobering reminder of what lies ahead on the calendar and for our lives.
 
Yet, there is grace to be found in the Lenten season. First, its very name is rooted in “the lengthening of days.” We do not lose the light during this season. In fact, it grows steadily stronger, each day brings us closer to spring and resurrection. Then too, one of the foci of Lent is Baptism, and with it a reminder that every day we die to sin and rise to new life in Christ. There isn’t much of anything more graceful than knowing that every negative thing about the past can be put to rest. Our sins, our mistakes, our misguided thoughts and deeds have no hold upon our future. By baptism into Christ, each day is new; each day begins without a single blemish and the future is wide open for us.
 
Of course, Lent reminds us that there is a cost to such grace; that the free gift of grace we have received cost Jesus everything. When Jesus went to the cross, he was stripped of everything. One friend betrayed him, another denied him. His nation stripped him of citizenship and handed him over to the Romans to be killed, and by them he was tortured, humiliated, and crucified.  Grace is not cheap. In Lent we learn yet again, that the cost was born by God’s son, and this is the heart of grace. For such grace cannot be earned or purchased. It is gift, God’s gift in Jesus of Nazareth. In worship during Lent, even as each Sunday remains a celebration of Easter, we will explore the themes that led to Golgotha, but even as we do, grace holds us and doesn’t let go. The wonder of God’s love, so eagerly sung at Christmas, becomes real in the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the Cross and grave, and from the grave to the Garden where Mary meets the Risen One.
 
This is the Lenten journey. I invite you to make it. It is not always easy. It is a challenge to look at our lives with honesty and admit the need for grace; admit that we are not as self-sufficient as we pretend to be. It is not however a journey that we make a lone. For as assuredly as Jesus came down the mountain after the Transfiguration, He is still with us, and the promise of continues.
 
Already, I’m looking forward to that moment when, on Easter morning, the Sun slips over the horizon, and we shout, “The Lord is Risen.” That is the moment the hope in lighting a single Advent candle is realized. Jesus bursts from the Tomb and death darkness is banished by the light of the Risen Christ. For it is in his rising that our own rising is bound, and every promise is realized. Come, O Blessed day. Sun of Righteousness arise. We will sing glad Alleluias again, so let the journey commence!
 
Yours in Christ,
 
Pastor Peter

  Although scripture does not provide a description of what he looked like, Christians have long claimed that Jesus Christ is the face of God. From him, that is, by knowing about him and his ministry, we gain a glimpse of the character and personality of God.                
  For centuries artists have been fascinated by this notion. Painters of the late Renaissance, for instance, uniformly depicted the face of the infant Jesus aglow with brilliant light, a light which illumined the face of his mother as well.
More than that, the brightness which is the Christ Child brightened the faces of all who gazed upon him, angels, shepherds and magi alike. In these paintings, facial expressions of awe, wonder and joy reflect the radiant brilliance which is Christmas.   
  My prayer for you and for all who “see” the face of God in story and song this Christmas is that your face too will glow with the brightness of the Christ Child.

  Approximately 30,000 youth and adult leaders attended the ELCA National Youth Gathering this summer in Detroit.  More than a dozen members of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church participated. The program featured an assortment of excellent speakers, musicians and media productions. But the most inspiring aspect of the Gathering was the participants themselves. Organized into servant teams, the youth, dressed in brightly colored t-shirts, were sent by the hundreds into the streets and neighborhoods of the city as ambassadors of goodwill.
          1,847 mural boards were painted
          600 neighborhoods were affected
          319 vacant homes were boarded up
          3,200 vacant lots were cleared of debris
          1,425 backpacks were distributed
          36 urban gardens were installed
          99 picnic tables were built
          26 dumpsters were filled

  Other projects were conducted as well.
          650 individuals donated at least 8 inches 
             of hair – 433 feet in total
          A blood drive resulted in the collection of 
             78.8 gallons of blood (607 pints) 
          1 million diapers were collected for needy families
          $402,000 was collected for the ELCA World 
             Hunger’s Walk for Water

  The kindness and generosity extended by the young people of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American surprised and delighted the residents of Detroit. “We did not go to Detroit to save the city,” said one participant, “but to experience it . . . and what an experience it was!”

        May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God 
        and to the steadfastness of Christ.
                                                                                       Thessalonians 3:5

  The word steadfast perhaps best describes the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in the calendar year 2014. We remained an active, vibrant, steadfast congregation.
  Hundreds of individuals of all ages attended our worship services and participated in our ministries, programs, and special projects. 
  Financial support of our ministry remained strong and our capital stewardship appeal was successful. Significant additional funds were raised to support faith based ministries outside of our congregation. 
  Patiently and persistently we made progress towards our goal of expanding, renovating and renewing our parish hall.
  Dozens of weddings, funerals, baptisms and bible study sessions were planned and conducted.
  Our Sunday school curriculum was revised and a Saturday class added. 
  Our teenage members enjoyed an growing, spiritually centered, socially conscientious ministry. 
  Team Trinity conducted another successful mission trip. 
  Our Food Pantry and Hot Meal programs continued to provide a valuable and much appreciated community service.
   Our music, worship leadership and fellowship groups provided opportunities for service and enriching friendship.
  We can be proud of these accomplishments and the ministry we have conducted in 2014. We are, to be sure, a busy congregation with much to offer those who seek to be involved with a faith community. Busyness, in itself, however, is not our goal. Our goal is that through our ministries, programs and special projects the Lord will direct our hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

 

If you haven’t read the stories of Peter and Paul in the New Testament, you’ve missed some great adventures. Of all the apostles, in fact, of all the evangelists, missionaries and preachers that have ever lived, there are none greater than Peter and Paul. It has been said that Peter, among the first of Jesus’ disciples, and Paul, who wrote more than half of the New Testament, are more responsible for the existence of the Christian Church than anyone except Jesus! Inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit, had not they taken the message of Christianity to the Gentile or non-Jewish world, it is possible that the Christian Church as we know it today would not exist. I do not have the space in this blog to consider the entire span of their ministries. If you want to read more about Peter and Paul, however, the Book of Acts in the New Testament is the place to start.

Because both apostles were martyred on the same date, though in different years, the Christian Church has traditionally commemorated the anniversaries of their deaths on the same day, as we did at Trinity Church on Sunday, June 29.  As I said then, given the importance of Peter and Paul to the life and ministry of the Christian Church, it seems only appropriate, however briefly, to pay them tribute and to learn from the example of their lives.  Among that which can be said of them is this, they were devoted to Jesus, bold in witness, humble in spirit and faithful to the end.

Devoted to Jesus
When we first meet Peter in the New Testament, his name is Simon. Like other disciples of Jesus, he was a fisherman by trade, but we also know that he was a disciple of John the Baptist. He had a brother named Andrew and a wife who often joined him on his missionary journeys. It was Andrew who introduced him to Jesus, who immediately, according to the Gospel of John, renamed him “Cephas or Peter”, which means “rock” in Hebrew and Greek. The name was to shape his character and destiny. It was the example of his faith, his great devotion to Jesus, which became “ the rock” upon which the church was built.

As for Paul, he was an apostle who, unlike the others, had not met Jesus personally. Jesus appeared to him, he testified, in a vision. Named Saul at the time, a persecutor of Christianity, he was commissioned by Christ, under the new name of Paul, “to be an instrument whom God had chosen to bring the name of Christ before the Gentiles. "I myself,” said the Lord, “will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15-16).

Unlike Peter, who became a personal friend of Jesus, who was a spokesperson for the Twelve, who was among the inner circle of the disciples, who was with Jesus when he raised Jairus’ daughter from death, who witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus, and who went with Jesus to the Mount of Olives on the last day of his life, Paul was a convert to the faith. He was an example of those, to quote the Gospel of John, “who believed even though he had not seen.”

Yet both were sincerely devoted to Jesus. At the end of John’s Gospel, even after denying Jesus three times, three times Peter declares his love for Jesus, “Lord, you know that I love you.” He may have expected Jesus to reject him for his betrayal, but instead Jesus commissioned him, “Peter,” he commanded, “feed my sheep.” And as for Paul, near the end of his life, sitting in prison, uncertain of his fate, he declares, “for me, Christ is life!” Christ was everything to him. Both Peter and Paul were devoted to Jesus. It was Jesus who changed their lives.

Bold in Witness
Whoever would have thought that a fisherman, a common workingman, would become one of the greatest Christian evangelists? Peter himself must have been astonished. Just a few days after the Ascension, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he rose to address the people of Jerusalem with a message so powerful that 3,000 people were converted. After a second sermon, the religious authorities who had been so eager to hasten Jesus’ death, became so worried about Peter’s claim that Jesus had been raised form the dead, that they threw him in prison to shut him up.

“There is salvation in no one else,” Peter, preached “for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:13). The text continues, “Now when they (the religious authorities) saw the boldness of Peter and realized that he was an uneducated and ordinary man, they were amazed and recognized him as a companion of Jesus.”

And who would have thought that Paul, a persecutor of Christianity, a man hated, despised and feared by the Christian community, would become the very agent God would use to carry the Christian message into the Gentile world?

It was not an easy life. Of his experiences Paul writes: “Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, I was in danger form rivers, bandits, my own people and from Gentiles; I was in danger in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, and in danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through may a sleepless night, I was hungry and thirsty, often without food; I was cold and naked. And besides others things, I am under daily pressure” he concluded, “because of my anxiety for all the churches.”  (2 Cor. 11:24 ff).

Peter, no doubt, could have complied a similar list. Both men suffered much for the sake of their faith; both were bold in witness. Nothing, save death itself, could stop their testimony.  

Humble in Spirit
Despite their remarkable accomplishments both men were well aware of their deficits as persons and as followers of Jesus. In many ways they felt inadequate and unqualified for the task. Scripture tells us, for example, that Peter was impulsive, a characteristic that often got him into trouble. Although he was gifted with spiritual insight, he was slow to comprehend the truth of Jesus’ teachings. Though courageous in witness and the first to confess Jesus as the Christ, he was guilty of a most cowardly denial. While eager to see and worship the Lord after the Resurrection, he was hesitant, and with good reason, to hear what the Lord had to say. 

Paul also had issues. His famous “thorn in the flesh”, whatever it was, was a constant irritant and personal burden. His history as a persecutor of Christians hindered his relationship with the church and its leadership at Jerusalem. His forceful personality and penchant for speaking his mind resulted in countless arguments and misunderstandings. He was a persuasive, but not, apparently, a handsome or winsome preacher. An ancient source described him as short in stature and partly bald. He had crocked legs, poor eyesight and a nose somewhat hocked.

Both men were humbled, astounded and deeply moved that Jesus had chosen them, despite their weaknesses and troublesome pasts, to be his ambassadors in the world.

Faithful to the End
Peter, according to tradition, died as a martyr in Rome probably during the reign of Emperor Nero. Like Jesus, he was crucified – but not exactly like Jesus. It is said that he asked his executioners to hang him on the cross upside down, explaining that he was not worthy to be crucified in the same position as his Savior.

Paul also died in Rome. Rome had long been a desired destination for both evangelists who were eager to give witness to Christ the King in the very the center of the imperial city. There Paul was beheaded, most likely in the Coliseum, perhaps in the presence of the Emperor himself -- a final testimony to the true and only King, Jesus, Christ the Lord. Like Peter, he was faithful to the end.

Inspired by the examples of Peter and Paul, two great heroes of the Christian faith, we strive to be like them: devoted to Jesus, bold in witness, humble in spirit and faithful to the end.

The disciples of Jesus were slow to accept the resurrection. The notion that God could raise someone from the dead was as difficult for them to believe as it is for us.

The gospel writers are honest about this. In Mark’s gospel, for example, we are told that the women who witnessed the empty tomb were so confused and afraid, that they said nothing to anyone.

In Luke, when the women reported to the disciples what they had experienced and who they had encountered at the grave site, we are told that the disciples refused to believe them. Later when Jesus suddenly appeared in their presence, they cowered back thinking they were seeing a ghost. “Why are you frightened,” Jesus said, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts”.

In the Gospel of John, even after the disciples had had a personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus, they still had a difficult time believing, so much so that they decided to go back to their old way of life! “I’m going fishing,” Peter said, and the others agreed to go with him.

Matthew’s Gospel tells us quite plainly that some believed, but others doubted.

N.T. Wright, the New Testament scholar, contends that the notion that an individual could be raised from the dead was not a concept familiar to Judaism.  The disciples, he writes, would never have expected their fellow Jews to believe that Jesus rose from the dead.  They, themselves, couldn’t have imagined it . . . yet this is what they came to believe. It was a belief that transformed their lives. In fact, they gave their lives in witness to it.  

In the April 16, 2014 edition of The Christian Century Magazine, John Buchannan, the magazine’s editor, diverted his readers from contemplating the science of the resurrection to its mystery and meaning. “People come to church on Easter,” he writes, “because there is serious business on the agenda. They are not there to hear an explanation of how a dead body got up and walked out of the tomb. The four biblical accounts are lean: each tells the story slightly differently and none provides a detailed account of the resurrection itself. It is almost as if they are telling us, like someone who warns us not to look too directly at the bright sun, that we should not try to look too directly, that we should perceive this event in a different, deeper way – more heart than mind, more wonder than analysis.” “Some things,” he concludes, “are bigger than our ability to say them”.

  For years God has been expanding the ministry of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and always seems to be out in front of us -- encouraging us, challenging us, and commissioning us to do new things.
  We started as a Sunday school mission of a neighboring church and quickly grew into a worshiping community. Within a few years we were incorporated as a congregation, built a parsonage and called our first full-time pastor, trusting we could raise enough money to pay his salary.
  When we out grew our small, traditional, wood framed building on Jefferson Street, we built “the fish church”, a magnificent, award winning, stunningly contemporary sanctuary on Route 25a. A few years later, seeking to meet the needs of our growing Sunday school and other programs, a parish hall was built. The extra space provided a home for our newly established Nursery School, for a food pantry, a hot meal program and for countless meetings, bible studies, fellowship opportunities and community events. When even more space was needed, a beautiful office, meeting and fellowship facility was constructed, our sanctuary was remodeled to provide more seating and the parking lot was expanded.
  Through it all, our members have continually told others about our faith community, telling so many, in fact, that we have once again been summoned by God to do something new -- to restore, rebuild and renew!
  Restoring, Rebuilding, Renewing, the theme of our Capital Appeal, invites us to once again respond to God’s ever expanding vision for our congregation. It’s an exciting and challenging vision, a vision which will not only enhance our current ministry, but better prepare us for ministry in the future.
  When my colleague Pastor Bruce Kaifler and I envision the project, and it truly is a project of restoring, rebuilding and renewing, we do not primarily think of a larger, nicer, building, but rather of the ministry that will take place inside of it. We see children learning the Christian faith. We see adults meeting to plan events. We see people in prayer groups, support groups, and bible studies. We see an expanded food pantry and hot meal program. We see teenagers gathered in a safe and healthy environment. We see civic organizations coming together to make our community a better place. We see more and more people becoming connected to one another and to Christ.
  The expansion and renovation of our parish hall represents for us a movement of faith that has been characteristic of our congregation from the very beginning. For years we have been inviting people to be a part of our wonderful church. Now God invites us to embark on the next phase of the journey.  
  As with every worthy endeavor, we trust that God will guide and bless our work. We are encouraged and strengthened by a promise of scripture first spoken to a community considering a restoring, rebuilding, renewing project much greater than ours -- the reconstruction of Jerusalem!  “Do not fear,” wrote the prophet Zephaniah, “The Lord, your God, is in your midst . . . he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love.”  (Zep. 3:17)

  Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and see in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9

How does one measure success in ministry? I wrestle with this question each time I write an annual report. To be sure, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church had its share of successes in 2013. Our average worship attendance remained strong compared to other area Lutheran congregations. We reached our financial goals. Our many programs, activities and missions continued. We voted to proceed with a long-planned parish hall expansion project and authorized a capital stewardship drive to fund it. New members were added to our rolls and hundreds of prayers, volunteer hours and acts of kindness were extended. We can be proud of these accomplishments. In a time of financial uncertainty and societal change, we remain a strong congregation; a community of faith which seeks to be faithful to God, intentional in witness, spiritually centered and hospitable to all.

This is not to suggest, however, that the congregation was challenge free in 2013. Given the size of the church, our worship attendance should have been much higher than it was and in fact has declined in recent years. Our financial stewardship has kept up with our needs, yet far too many of our congregants give only on a “pay as you go” basis. Although a large number of children enroll in our Sunday school classes each fall, average weekly attendance is increasingly sporadic. Our confirmation classes remain large and our high school ministry grew, yet so many of our youth continue to distance themselves from their faith community as soon as their confirmation obligations are completed. Adjustments to our membership rolls remind us of the number of individuals and families who have lapsed into inactivity or moved to other places.

So how does one measure success in ministry? An honest assessment reminds us that God’s work is always a mixture of successes and challenges, strengths and weakness, hopes and disappointments. As the people of God who are Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, we seek to be a congregation that is faithful to our calling, accountable for our work and hopeful for our future. The meaning of our ministry is found in the work of ministry itself -- in the witness we offer, the service we extend, and, in the words of the Apostle Paul, in the practice of things true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable.

Many, including myself, speak with appreciation for the Hospice programs that provide care, comfort and ministry to those who are dying and their families.  The programs, often conducted in the homes of the dying, serve as an alternative to the hospitalization of death with dignified care, holistic medicine and spiritual support.

Although the hospice movement is popular among those who identify themselves as white, African Americans, writes Amy Frykholm in the August 5th issue of The Christian Century Magazine, often resist hospice care. The general lack of equality in access to medical care and an embedded distrust of the medical establishment are primary reasons. Yet, for many blacks there are religious reasons as well. Prayers for and belief in healing, for example, play a significant role in African American churches. Because hospice care is based on the assumption that death is immanent, some in the African American faith community view hospice care as an expression of faithlessness – a lack of faith in God’s ability to heal.

Still another reason why the hospice movement has been slow to catch on in African American communities and in black churches in particular, writes Frykholm, is the cultural belief that death is a communal rather than an individualistic process.
Because hospice programs are staffed by a team of strangers, including chaplains, who are specifically trained to serve patients with a variety of needs, the kind of professionalized care the team provides can be alienating to patients and families used to the prayers and support of pastors, relatives and friends they know and love.  When death is experienced as a communal event, as it is in the African American community, hospice programs, as well meaning as they are, are not viewed as especially helpful.  

All of the above is a prelude to a passage I found especially meaningful in Frykholm’s article, The Black Church and Hospice Care, Dying in Community. Among those interviewed for the article was The Reverend Otis Moss, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, who spoke not so much about the process of dying as of the communal experience of death.  Deeply rooted in the African American church, he said, is the notion that funerals are “homecoming celebrations”. Here’s the quote:

    We celebrate the life and the gathering of the community, lifting
    up the life and legacy of an individual. They are now home with
    others who have gone before them. You have tears, shouts, laughter,
    fellowship, food, more food. It eases the grief when someone has
    prepared the greatest sweet potato pie anyone has ever tasted as they
    tell the story of how Grandma used to grow tomatoes. The food, the
    stories, the sharing of people’s favorite songs—that helps people
    remember that this is not the end of the story. This is just the beginning
    of the story. It changes how you experience death because it is not final
    for you. In the African tradition, your ancestors speak to you and are with
    you all of the time. The people who go before you make a way for those
    who are living and for those who are not yet born.