"We are approaching the end of another year. Jesus has walked with us during 2008. He has been present together with the Father and the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He has heard our prayers and carried us throughout the year. Now, as the old year ends and a new one nears, we, too, pray, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” The future is unknown, but with Jesus by our side, we are safe and secure." From Portals of Prayer, selection for Dec. 30, 2008.

One more week to see the Blue Shoes Art Show

If you'll be attending the New Year's Eve Jazz Service at Mill Run on December 31, walk up to the second floor gallery area and enjoy the Fairfield Blue Shoes MRDD exhibit, hosted by the Visual Arts Ministry of UALC and promoted by Cheryl Fey, art director with Blue Shoe Arts, who said the self-taught artists receive all the money their art brings in, minus the cost of their supplies. These are some of the most delightful, colorful paintings we've ever exhibited. We fell in love with the first one, Noah's Ark--notice the animals are sea sick. I would have never thought of that! The second photo shows some wonderful butterflies--want to guess what their bodies are made of? Salt shaker caps. The third one has almost perfect perspective and is an orchestra. There are so many things to see in this painting you could look at it for hours. Click to enlarge.





Reminder: The Mill Run Campus is now closed on Friday and Saturday to save energy costs. So if you want to see the show, check it out on Thursday, or on Sunday if you attend services there.

Merry Christmas

We had several Christmas Eve services last night then one today at 10 a.m. at Lytham Road (traditional worship, 1960s style architecture). I heard the family behind me whispering:

"This smells like a church. I like it when a church has pews."

For all the pews
who from their labors rest
In oak and walnut we formerly confessed
Your name O Jesus
be forever, blest,
Alleluia, Alleluia!

We are waiting

The following is taken from The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings of the Twelfth Century, Penguin Classics, 1993. It is written by Guerric of Igny.

We are waiting now for the anniversary day of Christ's birth, which we shall shortly see, God willing, Scripture requires, it seems to me, that our spirit should be so lifted up and transported with joy that it longs to run towards the approaching Christ; and, projecting itself into the future, it chafes at delays as it strains to see what is yet to come. I think myself that the many passages in Scripture exhorting us to hasten towards him refer not only to the second coming but also to the first. How so? Because just as, at his second coming, we shall run towards him with physical energy and joy, so do we hasten to Bethlehem with jubilant heart and spirit. You know that at the resurrection, having put on new bodies, according to the Apostle's teaching we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall be with the Lord for ever. But even here there is no lack of clouds that will carry our spirits to high things, and then we shall be with the Lord if only for half an hour. . . this coming of the Lord to the individual soul is frequent in this middle time between his first and final comings, conforming us to the first and preparing us for the last. (from "The second sermon for Advent," p. 129-133 of Penguin edition)

O Key of David

O key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and none can shut; you shut and none can open: come and free the captives from prison, and break down the walls of death. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

O Lord of Light, Who Made the Stars

Final verse, which I jotted down in church Sunday

To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, Three in One.
Praise, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.

Latin hymn c. 9th century

In Latin, from Godzdogz

Conditor alme siderum,
aeterna lux credentium,
Christe, redemptor omnium,
exaudi preces supplicum.

Qui condolens interitu
mortis perire saeculum,
salvasti mundum languidum,
donans reis remedium.

Vergente mundi vespere,
uti sponsus de thalamo,
egressus honestissima
Virginis matris clausula.

Cuius forti potentiae
genu curvantur omnia;
caelestia, terrestria
nutu fatentur subdita.

Te, deprecamur hagie,
venture iudex saeculi,
conserva nos in tempore
hostis a telo perfidi.

Laus, honor, virtus, gloria,
Deo Patri et Filio
Sancto simul Paraclito,
in sempiterna saecula. Amen.

This is a difficult quiz!

But try it anyway. If you are LCMS you'll probably do better than I did.

You are 80% Lutheran! This is most certainly true.

 

Not a perfect score. What does this mean? You have room for growth in understanding Lutheran terminology and culture. Good thing Salvation is by Grace and not by merit. We can add nothing to what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. But it never hurts to learn a little more about the church on earth. Thanks for taking the quiz!

How Lutheran Are You?
Take More Quizzes

Cutting costs at church

At "Dear Lucy" a blog at the Financial Times, a manager writes that he's been getting grief for cutting coffee and biscuits, or was it tea. Some of the comments weren't sympathetic, saying it would make little difference. Our church earlier this year stopped offering donut holes at the coffee urn on Sunday morning. Maybe it's a rumor, but I heard the savings was $17,000 a year (we have 3 locations, 9 services, and lots of children whose parents don't keep an eye on the cups they fill up with donut holes). There was always a little collection plate for suggested donations, but apparently some didn't use it. Then I heard they also changed coffee brands, and saved another bundle. Then the huge shock came that affected our ministry (visual arts), but probably not a lot of others: they decided to go to a four day week, 10 hour day, and close the buildings on Friday and Saturday. Again--rumors, but I heard that's a savings of $50,000 just on utilities. These cuts have probably saved some jobs and/or programs. Maybe those Brits at FT just hadn't looked at food costs recently.

The real problem for church budgets, not only at our church, but your church, is the 80/20 problem--20% are giving 86.4% of the total donations to the church. Church Ethos, a blog, debates whether a tithe is commanded for NT Christians, but notes

"if only the “committed” Christians (as defined in the research) would give 10% of their income there would be an extra $46 billion dollars a year for kingdom work in the American church alone. Again, regardless of whether or not you think people should tithe or that the church will actually be faithful to spend that money wisely…just think what that kind of money could do. A few examples given in the research reveals what that much more money could provide: food, clothing and shelter for ALL 6.5 million current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East or enough resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide."

Or enough for donut holes and coffee at UALC, to keep the buildings open and enough to run our human service programs without government grants.

Gift suggestion for an artistic friend

Lilias Trotter was a student and friend of John Ruskin in the 19th century, but she gave up fame and a sure career as an artist among his circle of disciples to become a missionary among Arabs in north Africa. But she never forgot the pull of her art, and continued to draw and sketch along with writing devotionals and travel diaries. Her small, hand size books beautifully illustrated were quite popular for over 30 years, then as missionaries and vision statements changed, she sort of dropped out of view. I discovered her this year in a recently issued book "A blossom in the desert," compiled and edited by Miriam Huffman Rockness (Discovery House Publishers, 2007). The author's preface of how she first became the recipient of Trotter's little devotionals and then tracked down her paintings and original manuscripts is a story worth a book in itself--at least a librarian might think so.

Fortunately for those of us with limited funds--or attention spans--the Gutenberg project has scanned one (or maybe more, I haven't looked much farther) so you can see her beautiful, delicate watercolors and read her words, Parables of the Cross.


Look at the beauty and message she finds in a humble dandelion:

"This dandelion has long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying--the delicate seed-globe must break up now--it gives and gives till it has nothing left.

What a revolution would come over the world--the world of starving bodies at home--the world of starving souls abroad, if something like this were the standard of giving; if God's people ventured on "making themselves poor" as Jesus did, for the sake of the need around; if the "I"--"me"--"mine" were practically delivered up, no longer to be recognised when they clash with those needs.

The hour of this new dying is clearly defined to the dandelion globe: it is marked by detachment. There is no sense of wrenching: it stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind that bloweth where it listeth may carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given: a breath does the rest, turning the "readiness to will" into the "performance." (2 Cor. 8. 11.) And to a soul that through "deaths oft" has been brought to this point, even acts that look as if they must involve an effort, become something natural, spontaneous, full of a "heavenly involuntariness," so simply are they the outcome of the indwelling love of Christ."

Trotter certainly offered up her own life for God, leaving family, friends and fortune to settle in Algiers not knowing a word of Arabic, and the next forty years established 13 missions, called the Algiers Mission Band. According to her biographer, "she pioneered means, methods and materials to reach the Arab people [now] considered to have been a hundred years ahead of her time."

A sermon on preparing to die

Martin Luther wrote some very practical material. This might be a good one to read while listening to Henry Paulson and other government officials try to explain all the bailouts that will ruin us while watching the stock market struggle. Luther actually makes 20 distinct points, but only the first three matter, because 4-20 really expands on three.

Unlike a lot of his material where he begins with the Gospel, then moves to every day life and relationships, in this advice he reverses the order. He first suggests you get all your worldly affairs in order so that in the event of your death, "there won't be occasion for squabbles, quarrels or other misunderstanding" among the survivors. "Second, we must cheerfully and sincerely forgive, for God's sake, all men who have offended us" and seek the forgiveness of others we have offended. Then the third thing is "we must turn our eyes to God, to whom the path of death leads and directs us." Here he makes the interesting comparison between the passage "from the small abode of the mother's womb into this immense heaven and earth, that is, into this world." So when we depart this life, which seemed so big after the womb, we pass through another narrow gate into a large mansion and joy will follow.

Points four through twenty expand on grace and the believers relationship with Christ, particularly in the sacraments.

Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, ed. by Timothy F. Lull, (Fortress, 1989), Ch. 28, p. 638

The coming threat to religious liberties

". . . in a society that redefines marriage to include same–sex unions, those who continue to believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman can expect to face three types of burdens.

First, institutions that support the traditional understanding of marriage may be denied access to several types of government benefits, and individ­uals who work in the public sector may face cen­sorship, disciplinary action, and even loss of employment.

Second, those who support the traditional understanding of marriage will be subject to even greater civil liability under nondiscrimination laws that prohibit private discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital status, and gender.

Third, the existence of nondiscrimination laws, combined with state administrative policies, can invite private forms of discrimination against religious individuals who believe that marriage involves a man and a woman and foster a climate of contempt for the public expression of their views."

Same–Sex Marriage and the Threat to Religious Liberty by Thomas M. Messner

Speaking of clarity, what does this say?

“Over the years, from many struggles, triumphs, and mistakes we began to articulate how that vision of love gets fleshed out, and the things that hold us together. A statement of faith (“our commitments”) and a statement of practice (“Foundation”) and a list of house rules (“Functionality”) were created to put words to the things we share in common, and to make room to celebrate the things we don’t. These documents are sort of the DNA or charism of the community. Community structures such as “the Onion”, defining the various layers of commitment and responsibility within the community life, were created to help people grow into the intentional community and reproduce the spirit of its founders.“

http://thesimpleway.org/mailings/TSW_Fall07.pdf

I spent a lot of time at this web site and its links, and was still mystified after about 45 minutes, so I gave up trying to guess what they were and why. It looked to me about the same as what we do at Hilltop, the food pantry, the Clothes Closet, mentoring, etc., but I wasn't sure.

Where is Martin Luther when you need him?

Pastor Eric Waters mentioned Thursday night that it was 491 years since Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door (October 31, 1517). No modern Christian has the clarity and common sense of Martin Luther--there doesn't seem to be anyone close in the ELCA. I've been reading through the Sept. 30 Council Minutes of our church and see that IF the ELCA decides to ordain gay and lesbian pastors and bless unions of gay and lesbian couples when it meets August 2009, our pastor will lead us away from the ELCA. That sounds pretty vague, especially since everyone knows if it isn't August 2009 it will be 2010 or 2012, but they aren't going to quit, give up or go away. I analyzed the last document at this blog and the language was just bizarre. Imagine writing about biblical sexuality and never mentioning "husband and wife" or "mother and father" with only one reference to a married man and woman. Where in the world do they find writers like that? Obfuscation. Reinvention. Goobledegook. Nonsense.

There are enough of these movements in Christendom among the Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc., that they could all pull out of their respective denominations and form their own church based on their sexual orientation first, their own concept of family second, and the word of God a distant third. Why, they could form a denomination of at least several thousand and leave the other millions of Christians to obey God! Why are we even messing around with this? If they aren't going to leave the Christian church, then we should leave them. I think UALC has been fiddling with this issue at least eight years. Come on guys, LEAD US OUT!

Honoring the poor

Anchoress has a story on her blog,

I have a cousin who is a priest. He has worked in some absolute hellholes and he’s also rubbed elbows with the very privileged. He notes that it’s only the very rich who want to strip down churches into bare halls, or who want to serve Communion in wicker baskets because “that honors the poor.” The poor don’t really appreciate the wealthier folks deciding what “honors” them, he tells me. Condescension, for example, doesn’t do it.

I wondered about that the Sundays we visited and worshiped at our Hilltop campus. Our UA members and song leaders would wear jeans and try to imitate their culture in the songs. The locals would wear the best they had and were such a mix I think our folks might have seemed a bit condescending in music choices. Were we honoring them with some sort of false identification with what we thought they should look like? Is there anything wrong with being just us for justice?

Papists, coxcombs, conspirators, thieves, blockheads and fanatics

The political season is a good time to read Martin Luther. The Reformer had a lot of enemies, both within the Roman Church and among the other Reformers who thought he hadn't gone far enough. No one can smear an enemy with the delicious detail and snarky cleverness of Martin Luther. However, you really need to note carefully the dates of his writing (preaching), because his thoughts evolved. Like from 1519 to 1520! My goodness, what a change.

Luther from the beginning of his understanding of the work of Jesus Christ determined that only baptism, the Lord's Supper and preaching of the Word were forms of the gospel, means for a personal, powerful encounter with Christ. Other reformers ran on ahead proclaiming that the bread and cup were only memorials and that baptism depended on human understanding and decision, not on grace. This led to some nasty fights and name calling. The Roman teaching was seven sacraments not two, so although Luther was respectful and even humble in his early disagreements and writings, thinking he just needed to jettison the extras that had been added the last two or three hundred years, he soon learned what we all do in politics and religion, follow the money. No one accepts loss of power, prestige and wealth gracefully.

As a librarian, I particularly enjoyed his recommendation that the papists burn his books and pamphlets--the early ones in which he treated the Pope with respect and love--saying that he had learned so much from the Grand Inquisitor and the censors, that now selling those books would be robbing men of money!

"Some 2 years ago I wrote on indulgences, but in such a way that I now deeply regret having published that little book (an explanation of the 95 theses). At that time I still clung with a mighty superstition to the tyranny of Rome, and so I held that indulgences should not be altogether rejected, seeing that they were approved by the common consent of so many. . . thanks to Sylvester (became Grand Inquisitor and wrote against Luther), and aided by those friars who so strenuously defended indulgences, I saw that they were nothing but impostures of the Roman flatterers, by which they rob men of their money and their faith in God.

Would that I could prevail upon the booksellers and persuade all who have read them to burn the whole of my booklets on indulgences, and instead of all that I have written on this subject adopt this proposition: INDULGENCES ARE WICKED DEVICES OF THE FLATTERERS OF ROME.

Next, Eck and Emser (Johann Eck and Jerome Emser, professors, humanists and critics) and their fellow-conspirators undertook to instruct me concerning the primacy of the pope. Here too, not to prove ungrateful to such learned men, I acknowledge that I have profited much from their labors. For while I denied the divine authority of the papacy, I still admitted its human authority. But after hearing and reading the super-subtle subtleties of these coxcombs, with which they so adroitly prop up their idol (for my mind is not altogether unteachable in these matters), I now know for certain that the papacy is the Kindom of Babylon and the power of Nimrod, the mighty hunter.

Once more, therefore, that all may turn out to my friends' advantage, I beg both the booksellers and my readers that after burning what I have published on this subject they hold to this proposition: THE PAPACY IS THE GRAND HUNTING OF THE BISHOP OF ROME. This is proved by the arguments of Eck, Emser, and the Leipzig lecturer on the Scriptures (Augustinus Alveld, a Franciscan). "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, [1520]" Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings [English], Fortress Press, 1989, p. 267-268. Note: the 2005 ed. has been scanned by Google

Good News, Bad News, Our Views

Martin Luther wrote and taught and preached a theology of the word

"with the theologian already drawn into the stuggle between God's "good news" in Christ and Satan's "bad news" in the temptation to become God (Gen. 3:5). Luther saw no neutral ground between the gospel and Satan, between God's revelation in Christ and the mysterious opposition to it by hardened hearts. . .The Christian theologian must concentrate on what God has disclosed rather than on what is mysteriously hidden. Luther expressed the most important aspect of his theological method, which is the hallmark of the way Lutherans learn to talk about God." A history of Lutheranism by Eric W. Gritsch, (Augsburg Fortress, 2002), pp. 42-43.

That's about the best explanation I've read on why so many Christian authors don't appeal to me. When I see "mystery" or "secrets of" or "how to" in the title or sub-title of a book or video series, I know it will be a snooze for me. If God kept it so well hidden that it took a Rick Warren or a TV preacher warning about the signs of end times, or a weight loss guru with Bible verses, then perhaps he didn't want me to find it. Actually, I don't meet many Lutherans who read anything Luther wrote. I think they assume that a 16th century writer couldn't speak to today's problems, or that he might be difficult. He isn't; he's delightful, and clear, and writes on every imaginable topic, but always from the middle of the good news/bad news struggle--never off from afar as an observer. He's got every tool to fight the humanist's vision as man at the center of the universe, if we'd just use them.

We have to argue one way about God or the will of God as preached, revealed, offered and worshipped, and in another way about God as God is not preached, not revealed, not offered, not worshipped. To the extent, therefore, that God hides and wills to be unknown to us, it is no business of ours. . . God must therefore be left to God in divine majesty, for in this regard we have nothing to do with God. But we have something to do with God insofar as God is clothed and set forth in the divine word, through which he offers himself to us. Luther's Works, vol. 33:139

Shine like the stars adorning heaven

When asked whether godly persons already justified should expect some merit on account of their good works that follow justification, Luther observed that the already justified remain sinners and need to pray for forgiveness for their sins in this life.

"Surely God gives works to individuals, but differently, as one star differs from another. Yet all of these are under the forgiveness of sins. As heaven (that is, justification) is under grace, so much the more are the stars. As the stars don't make heaven but only adorn it, so works don't merit heaven but only adorn justifying faith. This is the only reasoning that solves everything: "I believe in Jesus Christ, who suffered under Pilate for us." Everything is his, nothing is ours. Afterward, when by grace we are sons of God, we differ in our gifts, just as there are different stars in heaven." "Table Talk," no. 4331, January 1539, Luther's Works, v. 54, p. 328-329, (Fortress Press, 1967).

Taking the food stamp challenge

It was a bit off-putting for me that an unmarried couple took the food stamp challenge and was featured in the Feb. 2008 of The Lutheran. But maybe they were just eating together, not sharing a bed. When a guy and gal are listed as engaged, and they're eating a food stamp challenge diet, your imagination takes over.

Anyway, it was only 5 days, and he is a chef making omelets, fresh-baked bread, stir-fry dishes and homemade soups. Yet they were complaining by the end of the week. Seems they do know the beauty of buying 5 lbs of potatoes and 2 lbs of onions, and 3 lbs of carrots but yearned for yogurt, shakes, and bars.

"Jason Mendoza and his fiancee, Krista Oppie, like many other Lutherans, took the Food Stamp Challenge to learn firsthand about the hardships that millions of low-income Americans face in obtaining a healthy diet under current food stamp benefit levels. At presstime, Congress was in the process of reauthorizing or writing a new U.S. Farm Bill, which includes the Food Stamp Program. The ELCA Washington Office has encouraged Lutherans to call or write their member of Congress to ask that the per-meal benefit for the Food Stamp Program be raised."

Qualifying for food stamps does not mean you have no income or resources, but it is not intended for you to eat high on the hog, as we used to say back in the days when my dad thought crumbled crackers with sugar in a dish of cold stewed tomatoes was "dessert."

The article says they grew tired physically and mentally--you know the routine, stress at work, busy schedules, and sameness in the diet. Oppie says she now has more sympathy for the 35,000,000 who are hungry. No Oppie, they are not hungry on this plan--they may be bored, cranky and ungrateful, but they certainly aren't hungry. They are allowed to have income, and savings and a car and still qualify. They can go to the food pantry and get 3 days of food each month. Also, most people get out of their difficult circumstances quickly, unless someone, or some agency makes it easier to stay put and give up. And if they are married, they have very little chance of being poor.

Did God change his mind?

About 15 years ago our congregation used to gather on a grassy, park like spot and worship, dreaming of a new church building. We met in small prayer groups seeking guidance, and the story I was told was that we didn't make a move until there was discernment for the next step. The new church opened New Year's Eve 2000 and filled up. One of the reasons it filled so quickly is that we had 6 or so services at the old building and we were encouraged to worship in the new facility to get some balance. For maybe two years, people sort of worshiped here and there, and eventually settled into one spot (traditional, contemporary, and x-alt). People settled according to 1) music tastes, 2) where friends and family were worshiping, 3) which preacher was where, and 4) time. Then it seems God spoke again because we absorbed yet another facility, Hilltop Lutheran, which was struggling but had an excellent physical plant. Again, prayer, meetings, discernment. Yes, God wanted us to have an urban witness. Another group relocated to help populate that church.

I've sort of lost track--I think in 2006 we had 11 services, in 2007 10, and now maybe it is 9. But our original plan to be one congregation (whisper: mega-church) with three campuses has been difficult to manage. The first split I noticed was the choir, which the first few years served both buildings (bussed across the river). Then the traditional service at Mill Run was so poorly attended it was dropped, so those people had to shift back to Lytham, if they wanted liturgy. But some never returned and just changed to a different worship style. Meanwhile, Lytham started losing people, even those who lived near by, because adult children and grandchildren were worshiping at Mill Run. Then an x-alt service was added and it is always crowded with people who like that loud, thumpy music.

Now it's fall 2008. Someone on the staff, not sure who, has decided instead of one congregation we are now 9 (or 10, not sure) worship communities. Since we were told years ago that we'd been called to be one kind of church, this has left us scratching our heads on how to do this. There weren't any meetings on the grass or big prayer meetings, that I know of. But maybe something was happening when we were at Lakeside during the summer.

Instead of rotating the pastors from pulpit to pulpit, we will now all have a traditional arrangement. Everything will have to have a service and pastor behind it. Sort of like a town of 4,000 with 9 churches whose members wave on the corner, or at the store, who have Bible school together, and occasionally cooperate for a project.

We've been in the Visual Arts Ministry for nine years, our 10 members all attend different services and we hang shows at 2 locations; I'm in Women of the Word, which has about 5 meeting times in 2 locations--its the only thing I do regulary at Mill Run although I worship at Lytham; my husband is in the Haiti ministry which draws its volunteers from all services; the food pantry and clothes closet draws from all the services, as does the Highland school volunteers; our SALT (couples Bible study) has 8 couples attending 4 services; the advent and lenten services meeting at both locations, so we don't even see each other for those smaller gatherings; Bible school draws from all services and also other churches; Sunday school times are usually between services, so I'm assuming they draw from both. Frankly, we don't actually know very many people in the service where we worship, now we feel doubly shut out, yet this is supposed to be "our church." When we see people we know in the narthex, they are often going in to the next service and we stop and chat a few minutes.

This feels like an unwanted, unasked for divorce from our congregation.

American Lutheran Church in Norway

At one time, the Lutherans in the United States were heavily ethnic, and the synods reflected that. When we joined UALC in 1976 is was part of the American Lutheran Church which was a meld or merger of various Scandanavian synods. Then in 1988 the ALC merged with the Lutheran Church of America which I think may have been from its early English speaking roots in the USA with some non-Missouri Germans. The new name was Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA. Today I was reading a Norwegian newspaper on-line and discovered there is an American Lutheran Church in Oslo, Norway, founded in 1958. Here's the article, but its website is down for remodeling at the moment. I think the USA probably needs missionaries these days from China and Africa to revitalize our denominations. It looks as though you can hear a sermon in English in Oslo.

Sunday worship services are held at 11 am.
The pastor is the Rev. Stephan M. Kienberger.

The congregation's Mission Statement reads: "The mission of the American Lutheran Congregation is to bring people of different nations and denominations together, and in the English language empower them into becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ."