Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

We confess that Jesus is Lord. We trust that God is active in the world. Even in times of confusion, uncertainty, & anxiety, we firmly believe God has the final word. As we wait & adapt this summer, we need to remind ourselves & one another of that very fundamental fact. Jesus Christ is Lord.

Christ gave the disciples & us the command to love one another. Paul exegeted that command for the Romans as “love does no harm.” In our context, this makes us more cautious with the health & lives of our neighbors than perhaps we would be of our own.

The following is an excerpt Luther wrote in reference to an outbreak of the bubonic plague in Wittenberg. “Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid persons and places where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. … See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” (& he did so without the internet)

We have a long tradition of believing that God sends the Holy Spirit into every aspect of our lives & into the world around us. The Spirit is not relegated to working within the walls of church buildings. The Holy Spirit is fully capable of working in scientists, healthcare workers, & civic leaders. God brings vocations together to discern the best path to love one another. We trust God will provide whatever is necessary to carry out that love.

As unfortunately experienced by several congregations around the world, there are challenges particular to congregations. Despite efforts to practice physical distancing, some have tragically encountered the reality of engrained habits & traditions designed to promote congregating colliding with physical distancing measures. It is imperative that each of us do everything possible to make worship safe for this parish and the communities we serve. St Olaf council has prayed, studied guidelines, and developed a strategy by which they hope to fulfil both peoples’ desire to gather and our responsibility to provide as safe an environment as possible. Please review and do your utmost to follow these protocols. (Zion will discuss adopting similar protocols at their June meeting.)

God’s Spirit in us & in the world will guide us in ensuring that ‘no harm is done to our neighbor’ in our continued endeavor to proclaim Christ in Word and Deed. The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46:1-2, 10-11)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

Each year we set aside a day of civic mourning – Memorial Day. We remember the loss of lives given during service to the United States Armed Services. We thank God for strengthening and calling them to lay down their lives in defense of our own.

Sparked by the high casualties of the American Civil War, a day set aside to remember the lives lost was initiated by both sides (albeit differing days & names) following the war. The purpose was to honor, remember, and grieve those many lost lives. Especially due to the domestic nature of the war, many families had lacked the closure (or even timely notice) at their loved one’s time of death. The tradition grew and it evolved into a communal memorial for the nation.

With each passing war, the national cemeteries expanded. Each generation added its own grief, hopes, and traditions to what we now know as ‘Memorial Day’ alongside the graves of its compatriots. Poppies were a contribution of the First World War, courtesy of the poem ‘In Flanders Field’ by Canadian soldier John McCrae. In the aftermath of World War Two, Truman signed a proclamation in 1950 (ironically during the Cold War and just shy of the onset of the Korean War) proclaiming Memorial Day’ a day of ‘prayer for permanent peace.’ During the Conflict in Vietnam, finally the official law was enacted making Memorial Day a Federal holiday. In 2000, between the two Gulf Wars, a ‘Moment of National Remembrance’ at 3PM local time.

We continue the traditions of our ancestors as we continue to honor the many lives sacrificed in service. We decorate the graves of servicemen and women who are no longer going about their daily lives here on earth. We offer comfort to those families who never had a ‘welcome home’ celebration for their loved ones. We come together as citizens to honor all those who have lost their lives defending our civil liberties. Most of all, we rest assured in the conviction that God did ‘welcome’ them home. We give praise to God for being their ‘refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ – just as He is for us. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46:11)

The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:25-28)

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

In our present circumstances, many people could describe their prayer life in one of two ways. On one hand, we have person A, who is exhausted and worries about having enough time or energy to properly pray for all the troubles in the world. They feel like their list of prayer concerns continues to grow exponentially. On the other hand, we have person B, who feels paralyzed by the overwhelming uncertainty of it all. They wonder where and/or how to even start to pray. There are probably even more of us who feel like we are riding a roller coaster between those two descriptions.

Paul’s reminder to the Romans speaks to all of us. God promises to hear our prayers. He listens to our inmost fears. God hears our unspoken (even unspeakable) prayers. He knows the inmost yearnings of our hearts. Even when we cannot find the words, God is listening. God promises to hear our prayers even when we do not have the strength to verbalize them. That promise gives us the power to pray.

We do not need the ‘right’ words or form or posture. God is listening. God hears our prayers no matter how chaotic they feel to us. The Holy Spirit does intercede for us. We can have confidence to approach God in all circumstances. Even when we feel overwhelmed or paralyzed, God is listening.

The grace and peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

⁴⁶ Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42, 46-47)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

God’s presence is with us during this time. The trick is to find ways to lean on the support of our community in new ways. Human beings were created to be in community and need the relationships we form with one another. We are not built to exist in isolation.

Communities of faith are blessings from God to help us face circumstances in life as people of faith. Paul had a poignant reminder about the function of community for the Corinthians as they struggled. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26) The Holy Spirit ‘gathers’ us into community to ‘keep us in the one true faith.’

As opposed to generations before us, we have a larger and more immediate menu of methods to undergird faith communities. Many new ways of forming and nurturing community have traditionally been underutilized by congregations. There is an old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Our traditional methods of forming faith communities worked well enough for most of us.

Historically in the church, the practices of forming faith communities have developed due to existing conditions. For example, Union churches formed prior to the American Revolution primarily as a consequence of widespread immigration to the New world from various German speaking provinces and a comparatively low level of immigration of pastors. The German-speaking Lutheran immigrants and the German-speaking Reformed immigrants had a common goal – a pastor who could speak German. That common desire to hear the Gospel, coupled with their circumstances as immigrants, led to those Lutherans and the Reformed sharing resources and formed joint communities. They changed how their practice of forming faith communities to meet the context they in which they abided.

Often these adaptations within the church take place gradually over generations. How many of you can pinpoint an exact date your home congregation switched worshipping English? I can tell from the church records, at least with St Olaf and Zion, it did not happen overnight. Some of the records are an interesting mix of Norwegian and English from the same pastor. I strongly suspect that a gradual transition is similarly reflected in records of our neighboring congregations (and the records of most non-English speaking immigrant congregations). The transition followed the trend and aging of the generations. As less adults were fluent in the former language and more adults were fluent in English, the language of the worship services transitioned. The transition of language followed the needs and context of the community.

Other times change to adapt to current conditions comes about much more abruptly. That same transition to English in worship was anything but gradual for congregations in Iowa. The Iowa legislature banned the use of any language other than English during World War I. The only language permitted to be spoken in the state was English. Their former method of conducting worship services no longer worked. They did not have the option of adapting slowly. Overnight, with the signing of a bill into law, their choices were cancel worship or learn English. Imagine how many sermons were preached in broken English to people who barely understood the language. Yet, there are still Lutheran congregations of non-English descent in Iowa. God helped them overcome that challenge for the sake of the Gospel.

Our current situation also has to do with language and worship. Even though we are deeply immersed in English, our practices have not included a lot of technology. Despite the ‘language’ of the internet growing over the past few decades, most congregations have not sensed an urgent need to use a whole lot of technology in the past. Most of us dabble, but would prefer a more of a gradual shift similar to our (non-Iowan) ancestors adopting English during the early 20^th century.

When the old way no longer works for whatever reason (like a global pandemic), we switch to a more abrupt model closer to our sister-congregations in Iowa during World War 1. We are discovering new ways to be community. We are learning new technologies and adapting them to our own context. And like those Iowan congregations way back when, we are not yet fluent.

The more abrupt the change is, the steeper the learning curve tends to be. There will be glitches. There will be anxiety and fear. No matter how steep the learning curve, the Holy Spirit will continue to ‘call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify’ us. Even on those days when we feel as human beings the challenge of being in community is unsurmountable due to our circumstances, we remember who is in charge.

Prior to conceiving Jesus, the angel reminded Mary, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 2:37). Jesus healed countless diseases, banished demons, performed miracles, and even brought a couple people back to life. Jesus rose from the dead. In comparison, our challenges to form community in these days seem rather minor. God can and does handle all our challenges. The Spirit will continue to gather us in these new ways. We continue to trust that God is working through all the gifts He has given us – even the internet.

The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” (John 4:21-26)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

That feeling that we need to worship in a specific location is hardly new. Places have been deemed ‘holy’ for thousands of years. Worshippers throughout the generations have had spots they were convinced were more suitable to God’s presence than others. That sense that God is present in some locations is not new.

Cruising through the Old Testament can be like a road-trip of ‘holy places.’ Whenever someone encountered God or felt God’s blessing, they made a sacrifice, gave the spot a new name, and christened it ‘holy.’ Over time, many of these places came to signify either an increased presence of God and sacred awe that either caused humans to seek them out or avoid them.

The Jews who were not taken to Babylon, called Samaritans following the return of the exiles, adjusted to their circumstances. Jerusalem was destroyed. The Temple lay in ruins. The priests and former leaders were off in Babylon. They, as shepherds, had been spared. They began to worship God on the mountain of their forefathers. Not only was it a safer worship experience (invaders often find mountain passes to be a nuisance), but it was in those mountains that they had experienced God’s saving presence during Jerusalem’s demise.  With the return of the exiles, this question of ‘where is God’ became problematic (along with other issues). The deeper issue was ‘with whom’ is God. The Samaritans held that God stayed with them. The Jews, on the other hand, believed God had gone into exile with them.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include the tearing of the Temple curtain in their depiction of the crucifixion. Oftentimes people interpret the tearing of the curtain as allowing everyone into the presence of God, but it also depicts God getting out. The time comes “when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” God’s presence is not restricted to a certain area of the Temple or a mountain.

As followers of Christ, we know God is not restricted to the places we deem appropriate. God is not restricted to either the mountain top or Jerusalem. God is not restricted to a building or a location. Our knowledge of this does not always easily translate into a sense of God’s presence outside our expected ‘norms.’ We can forget the purpose of our ‘Holy Spaces.’ The buildings were built as places for humans to gather as community, not to house God.

It is always amusing when I ask children, whether it be at Children’s Time or Confirmation Class, that basic question, “where is God?” I might disguise it as a variation such as, “where can you pray to God?” or “where can you praise God?” or some other form of the question, but the general overarching question boils down to “where is God?” The first answers tend to be along the lines of worship, Sunday School, maybe even at home. Then someone inevitably calls out, “everywhere!” The fact that God is everywhere is one of those things we know, but do not always process immediately. There seems to be a time lapse in human realization that God is not confined to any particular locale. Even though we do firmly believe God is indeed everywhere, we do not always keep that fact in the forefront of our everyday thinking.

This can translate into looking for God in all the ‘usual’ places and overlooking those encounters in places our brains consider less likely. We can be tempted to confine God to certain places in our brains. Those places built to offer a convenient space can become crutches. We are currently being challenged to expand that thinking.

Our current circumstances compel us to keep the fact that God is everywhere in the very forefront of our minds. (Sometimes the Holy Spirit utilizes a gentle nudge & sometimes a swift kick.) We cannot help but be aware that God is not confined to the inside of any building when we are supposed to be avoiding public gatherings for the safety of others. Suddenly a virus has taken away our crutch and we are compelled to adapt. We find new ways to gather as believers.

God is with us during this time. The trick is to find ways to lean on the support of our community in new ways. As opposed to generations before us, we have a lot of new tools that have underutilized by congregations. The former ways worked well enough for those circumstances. Now that those former methods are less effective in bringing us together, we adapt. We adapt for the sake of the Gospel. The church has been adapting for the sake of the Gospel for centuries. Christians have adapted for the sake of the Gospel since God sent Peter to break bread with Cornelius and his household (all Gentiles). It will not be easy or painless, but we too will use the gifts God has given us and follow His call.

The world’s need for God has not diminished. Our call to proclaim Christ in Word and Deed has not diminished. With our fellow believers in Christ, we shall continue to be the Body of Christ. That body may not look or move the same way as it did a few months ago, but the One giving it life is the same. God is still in control. God is still present among us. Christ is still the head of the Church. He will continue to provide us with the Holy Spirit to guide us into new frontiers.

The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla