June 2020 – St. Mark's Online

June 28, 2020June 28, 2020

St. Mark’s Sundays at 10

Join us for our pre-recorded worship service and a message from Interim Pastor David Mueller: “It’s Simple!”

Our leaders today are Pastor Mueller, John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, and Cecelia Cronk, worship assistant. Also participating are this week’s Virtual Choir: Dave Herrmann, Allen Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner.

We’d like to hear from you, too! John Lasher has posted a questionnaire to get a sense of how and when you are viewing the pre-recorded services. Please take a few minutes to answer those questions and let him know.

Click on the link below to go directly to today’s pre-recorded service, which begins at 10 a.m. The text of the sermon is below if you wish to follow along.

“It’s Simple!” (Matthew 10:40-42)

Interim Pastor David E. Mueller

I am going to begin by making a thoroughly outrageous claim! Life can be and often is complex, but against that background, the message of Jesus is incredibly simple. In my message today, I will attempt to validate that claim.

Pray with me first.

Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ into the world because You love the world and all the people of it, no exceptions. Believing in Jesus Christ puts us in a wonderful position of being agents in loving the world and everyone in it. Empower and inspire us all this day with Your Holy Spirit to desire to live seeking justice and peace in our community, our country and our world. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

I must insert here that last Sunday, I avoided preaching on the Gospel. In Matthew it fell immediately before what is being shared today. Jesus was portraying familial conflicts all over the place, claiming also that He came not to bring peace but a sword. That is scary, but I did not avoid it out of fear. At this time, when we are having to contend with a number of extremely difficult matters, I did not want to add to this reality.

I would share in passing that when Jesus uses the “sword” word, He is not talking about slaying anyone. By neither implication nor suggestion does the question “Who would Jesus kill?” have propriety. There is the “sword” of discernment between good and evil. Jesus desires to cut through the clutter and get to the truth of things, having cut away any falsehood. I could not help but offer this observation just in case in listening to last Sunday’s Gospel, anyone became upset. Please remember that Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17). If the Law requires “honoring father and mother” Jesus would hardly rebut that. If anything, when we put Jesus first, our other relationships of all sorts are enriched.

In today’s short Gospel, Jesus presents a litany of simple truths about certain circumstances in which Christians might find themselves.

The first of the circumstances Jesus mentions is: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me” — speaking to His disciples then and now. When we seek to represent Jesus to others, if we are accepted, so is Jesus. He then says: “whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” If we, therefore, are accepted, so is God. God is in the midst of our attempts to represent God, simple as that!

Later in his “Olivet Discourse” (Matthew 25), Jesus with his words and not a sword separates the sheep and the goats saying whoever did or did not do certain things to “the “least of these” did it or did not do it to him. The association is profound. When I offer food to a hungry person, I am feeding Jesus. Jesus places himself in the position of the receiver and not the giver in these instances. In Proverbs 19:17, similarly we read: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.”

Years ago, decades actually, there was a homeless woman walking around Wilmington. Occasionally she showed up at Concordia when we were at Washington Street at Lea Blvd. On one occasion, it was the dead of winter, and she came asking for some help. I looked at her feet and, I kid you not, she had two clear plastic bags revealing soaked newspapers wrapped around her feet. No shoes! There was snow on the ground. Sears was right down the street. I drove her that short distance, led up to the shoe department, and asked the clerk to fit her with a new pair of good winter boots. After retching a bit, the sales clerk fitted her, gave her a thick pair of socks, and off the woman went to walk some more in winter at least with shoes on her feet. She thanked me and as she walked away, I said to myself, “I just bought Jesus a pair of shoes and socks!” It is as simple as that!

“Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.” In Matthew 23:27, Jesus says “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.” If we are to judge prophetic effectiveness by how many hearers repented, the biblical prophets were miserable failures, with the exception of Jonah, who prophesied to the Gentiles of Nineveh, all of whom repented. We may not be living in a prophetic age, except for numerous false prophets, but if a true prophet spoke, we might just kill her or him, just like Jesus was killed. It is as simple as that! The welcome of a true prophet is rare indeed!

“Whoever welcomes a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.” I am not sure who is a righteous person, except that the biblical definition is “the righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11). We are looking for anyone who lives by faith in Jesus and enjoying time and talk with them. Simple!

“Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple….” This is simply beautiful. If, indeed, Jesus associates himself with those in need and we feed (clothe, visit, attend to) a child, we are especially attending to Jesus. I trust this does not surprise us. Jesus related with the children, the little ones. In Luke 18:17, Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” The biblical language used to refer to believers is “children of God,” not adults of God.

We must distinguish between child-likeness and childishness. We are expected to grow up in the will of God, but if we grow as much as possible in this life, we are still closer to children than to elders. Some folk, baptized decades ago, are still splashing away in the wading pool and refusing to go out into the deeper waters of the faith. There comes a time in the faith to stop splashing and start swimming.

One often hears in Christian Church circles, “the children are the future of the church.” Nope! The children are already the church, no need to wait. We, like so many congregations of every denomination or expression, have cause to be deeply concerned about the noticeable absence of children and young adults in our midst. There are complex reasons for this which need to be understood, but the simple truth is that we have not been giving them enough water.

In John 19:34, we read: “… one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.” If we could take this book and wring it, it would drip blood and water. The blood symbolizes the violent nature of humanity and the violence extended toward Jesus. The water symbolizes the cleansing we know in Christ and the thirst quenching this basic substance can be to others, especially little others.

In faith, we need to be soaking wet and neither dry off nor dry up in the living faith we are privileged to know and share. It is this simple: water could not be more significant! We Christians are waterers!

June 21, 2020June 21, 2020

Go and sin no more!

Editor’s Note: Happy Father’s Day! We join together again at a common time — 10 a.m. — with hopes of doing so in person soon. If you have arrived here later than that, the link to the prerecorded service on our YouTube channel will still work.

We are thankful to Interim Pastor David Mueller and John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, for their faithful delivery of these services that have kept us connected even while our building is closed during this Coronavirus pandemic.

Also participating in this service are worship assistant Beth Miller and this week’s Virtual Choir: Dave Herrmann, Allen Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner.

“Go and Sin No More!” (Romans 6:1b-11)

David E. Mueller, Interim Pastor

Bishop [William] Gohl was to have been with us virtually today, but he prefers to wait until he can visit with us physically, which all of us hope is sooner than later, even if we are prepared to wait until the disease diminishes.

Our second lesson from Romans 6 is one most of us are familiar with if only because it is traditionally read at all baptisms.

Before moving on, we pray:

“Lord God, Heavenly Father, help us this day to remember and be renewed in our baptisms. This “rebirth” — like birth itself need not be and cannot be remembered as usual. We did not choose our rebirth any more than we chose to be born to begin with. Just help us, O Lord, to know that You called us by name, made us Your own and promised never to leave nor to forsake us because of Jesus Christ. In His Name we pray and say “Amen!’”

The first insight I need to share with you is about prepositions and their importance in Scripture. In Paul’s letter, Chapter 6, it is especially important to note them.

Notice the preposition “into!” We are baptized INTO Christ Jesus and INTO His death.

Notice also “with.” “We were buried WITH him by baptism into death” and “if we have been united WITH him in a death like his, we will certainly be united WITH him in a resurrection like his.” The language here is intimate. “We know that our old self was crucified WITH him.”

In other words, in baptism we are drawn back to Christ’s death and, as we shall see, Christ is drawn forward to our lives now. It is all an extremely close encounter of the spiritual kind.

The question this occasions is: “How then shall we live?” If we are WITH Christ and were baptized INTO His death, what does this mean in this life and the next?

There are those in history and now who would answer this question in a behavioral way. Being IN Christ, we behave differently and better than we would otherwise. To some extent we should genuinely hope that is true. I would certainly like to think that not only in whom I believe but how I behave is vastly influenced by being IN Christ. That, however, has its limits and its downside.

Werner Elert, a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and ethicist, after World War II, wrote that we Christians lift up an ethic to which we cannot possibly attain. We can never come close to being or behaving like Jesus. Martin Luther is often quoted for having said: “Sin boldly!” Before we experiment with that one, please note that he was speaking to those who felt they did not sin boldly and about how important grace and forgiveness are in the face of our sinfulness. Paul, a little later in this letter (7:19) wrote: “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” While in a way that may sound like double talk, Paul is serious about openly sharing his reality.

If on the one hand Paul invites us not to continue in sin but goes on to admit that he continues in sin, even if he does not want to, what does this mean for us?

Sin most typically is understood as either bad behavior (commission) or as good behavior avoided (omission). Once again, we must stress that to some extent our behavior is influenced by being “en Christo” (in Christ). But is behavior what Paul is referring to here, and —if not — what in God’s name is he talking about?

I believe and many theologians are with me on this that Paul is here speaking of condition of relationship. Sin is brokenness with God and others. We are not to live in a broken but in a forgiven state. In Christ, our broken relationship with God is healed. God remains God and I, with all of my faults and sins, remain who I am. I am still not near perfect in anything, especially my behavior. With the relationship healed, God’s grace constantly flows with forgiveness toward and into me, having me live not in sin but forgiveness.

Maybe a pertinent metaphor would help.

It is Fathers’ Day! I love our children and they love me. I trust my bad behavior is at an absolute minimum especially as it regards my flesh and blood. I would never intentionally harm any of the three of them. I have sought nothing but their good even during those times I had to be firm. You might best be served by asking them about my imperfections. I could share with you about theirs.

But our love for each other is because of the relationship and not just the behavior. Our love is not just familial (phileo) but unconditional (agape). It can be damaged by bad behavior just as it can be affirmed by better behavior, but only in extreme instances can it be damaged, leaving permanent scars.

God is my Heavenly Father, my utterly perfect Heavenly Father. I am far from being His perfect son, who is Jesus and not me! But God still loves me because of the relationship, and with the relationship healed in Christ, I have the benefit of receiving and knowing God’s unconditional eternal love.

When Jesus encountered the adulterous woman in John 8 — followed by a crowd of Pharisees and others with stoning on their minds and hearts — He spoke of the one in the crowd having no sin getting to cast the first stone. By their own silence, not one of them stood the test. Jesus said to the woman: “Go and sin no more!” There are those who act as if Jesus said: “You are forgiven; go and sin some more!” Obviously, what Jesus actually said with “sin no more” had implications about her lifestyle or what we might more accurately call her “deathstyle.”

We are not forgiven so that we can misbehave, but are forgiven because we know where forgiveness can be found when we do misbehave. In the meantime, who among us would argue about good behavior like loving God with all of our hearts, souls, strengths and mind and our neighbors as ourselves? Go and sin no more!

June 14, 2020June 14, 2020

Rejoice anyway!

Please note the new 10 a.m. Sunday service start time!

Editor’s Note: This is the 14th Sunday since we worshiped together in our sanctuary! But worship continues — every day in so many different ways. Today, John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, is taking a small, virtual step toward regaining that togetherness, setting 10 a.m. as the time he will make our prerecorded worship service “live” on the St. Mark’s YouTube Channel. As he noted in a message published earlier this week, this is an effort to move us all back to a common time of worship, which — you may recall — we shared either at our 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. service. Now, at 10 a.m. on Sundays, we can “gather” again at a common time. Of course, if you can’t make it at 10, you can tune in later and join in the prerecorded worship.

The goal in the not-so-distant future, when the church has reopened, is to broadcast the service live on the Internet — “livestreaming” it — so that those who cannot be present can join in worship with those who are present in real-time.

For a little while longer, we savor these prerecorded connection points, provided by John Lasher and his team. In addition to John, this week’s leaders include Interim Pastor David Mueller and worship assistant Jeannine Herrmann. Also participating are this week’s Virtual Choir: Dave Herrmann, Allen Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols and Cheryl Powell. Additional voices on “The Lord’s Prayer” include: Fred Meckley, Jan Meckley and Teresa Stebner.

You can see the pre-recorded service, starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, on the St. Mark’s YouTube channel at the link below. If you subscribe, you’ll also get weekly notices of the upcoming broadcast.

Also below is the text of Pastor’s sermon, if you’d like to read along.

“Rejoice Anyway” (Romans 5:1-8)

Interim Pastor David E. Mueller

My strong hunch is that none of us would desire or accept a joyless Christianity.

Most of us fully realize that Christmas and Easter are more joyful than Lent. We are aware that there are circumstances in our environment which can, and, in some cases, should mitigate our joy. There is nothing joyful about a deadly virus. While we may support protests of certain kinds, they are seldom joyful.

Clearly, in the midst of such conditions, there are experiences of a positive kind about which we can be joyful, as when neighbors care for the family of a patient with COVID-19 or one sees video of a policeman and a protester kneeling together. Most people want to be happy. We live in a country which celebrates the “pursuit of happiness.” As human beings we need some joy anyway!

PRAY WITH ME PLEASE:

O Lord God, Heavenly and loving Father, we believe in You; we have our Savior in the person of Jesus, Your son, and in Him we know grace and forgiveness; we believe that we need and have Spiritual power to live in the world. Sometimes, Lord, the world can be an ugly and dangerous place to live. Other times, we appreciate the beauty around us and the people in our lives close to us. We rejoice in the beauty of the earth and most of the people inhabiting it. Please Lord, allow us to know joy these days, for we know that no matter how dark the night, joy comes in the morning. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

To be a Christian living in Rome was for the better part of three centuries, a potentially difficult and, at times, dangerous place to be. At one point, the citizens believed that Christians were cannibals because they heard that they were eating body and drinking blood. There was one Emperor who felt that the Christians were making the Roman government look bad because of how much the Christians cared for the poor. There were periods of persecution toward Christians, especially when a scapegoat was needed for government impotence or incompetence. Interestingly, persecuting a religious minority tends to assure their growth.

I personally believe that a person could get along fine in the faith if the only resources they had were one of the Gospels and the Roman letter. Paul’s letter to the Roman congregation is jam-packed with theological and practical significance.

In our second lesson appointed for today from Romans 5:1-8, Paul starts by reiterating how we are made right with God, that is, through faith in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ we have peace with God. In a similar reading from Philippians 4:4-7, Paul reminded the Philippian Church to “rejoice in the Lord, always … do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Interestingly, they and we are not promised answers to the prayers on our terms and timetable, but rather: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is Paul’s way of saying that being at peace with God is primary and essential and that whatever else is going on cannot violate, victimize or in any way damage that peace.

In Romans 5:2, 3, Paul invites us to boast (other translations: “rejoice”) not only in our hope of sharing the glory of God, but also in our sufferings. The Christian faith, in this case, as in some other circumstances, could not be any bolder.

Always pay close attention to the prepositions. We are told to boast or rejoice IN our sufferings and not because of them. In the midst of whatever sort of difficulties, dangers or disasters one might be in, boast, rejoice!

Paul goes on to delineate the process: “suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope.” If then we desire hope in the midst of suffering, boast, rejoice!

“Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” It is all here: Holy Spirit and love. The love, like the cup in Psalm 23, is poured and running over. We are filled up with and spilling over with God’s love even and especially if we also are dripping with blood due to persecution and pain.

All this, by the way, is love shown us “while we still were sinners” for whom Christ had to die! Perfection or near perfection is not a prerequisite for mercy and forgiving love. It is called grace!

I have found in my pastoral ministry that I could never run into a suffering situation and cry out “Rejoice! Rejoice!” or “Boast! Boast!” We hear a great deal these days about empathy, which is to enter a painful situation close enough emotionally to feel at least some of the pain being experienced by someone else. Sympathy stays at a distance and says “Isn’t it awful!” Empathy moves into the awfulness. Obviously, this is not easy and involves some risks.

While on staff at the University of Virginia Medical Center back in 1976, I was beeped in the middle of the night to come to the Pediatric Clinic. When I got there, everyone, including two physicians, was hysterical. I first insisted that the physicians leave. I learned quickly that a grandmother was in a room with her deceased 18-month-old granddaughter and would simply not give the child up.

I went into the room, introduced myself, and got down and leaned with her against the wall. We talked for a half hour, during which I learned that this was the second grandchild she had lost within a year. She brought tears to my eyes and an ache to my heart. She finally calmed down some, gave the baby over to me, the family crowd calmed and the physicians came back with this look on their faces as if to say: “It’s a miracle!” No! It was just a little genuine empathy.

We live in complex and troubling times for a host of reasons, but also divided times. Perhaps our greatest temptation is not so much to learn to rejoice or boast in our own sufferings, but not to rejoice in the suffering of others!

There is a Jewish “Midrash” — not a biblical but later interpretive imperative — that the Hebrews were not to relish or rejoice in the deaths of Pharaoh’s army when the Red Sea came on them after the Hebrews got through on dry land. It teaches as if to say: “Who do you think you are to relish the tragic deaths of others, even enemies?”

There have been people, some for decent reasons, others for silly ones, who have not worn masks in the face of COVID-19. There will most likely be consequences, but please, do not boast that you were smart and caring enough to wear yours and now those others get what is coming to them. Never boast of yourself or rejoice when others suffer even if they brought suffering upon themselves. Always be glad when justice is served, but not when the one it is served on suffers the consequences of their own acts. Four Minneapolis Police officers are in a whole lot of trouble. Let justice prevail but do not rejoice.

All of this falls into a very different place than we tend to think. What we are to boast about, usually quietly I suspect, is our hope of sharing the glory of God who know that Christ died for us not because we deserved it, but because He loves us.

Might we be so bold as to love even those who would persecute us?

June 11, 2020

Sunday mornings change for St. Mark’s

St. Mark’s is changing the way we present our Sunday morning worship service videos on YouTube in preparation for the day we reopen the building.

As the world slowly gets back to normal, discussions are underway about the best time and manner in which to reopen our building and worship together, in person. Once we reopen, our Sunday morning services will be streamed live. To prepare us all for that (hopefully imminent) time, we’re changing the way in which the prerecorded service videos will become available on Sunday mornings.

Rather than simply appearing, as they have been, each video will now “premiere” at 10 a.m. on Sunday. A notice of the premiere will appear on our YouTube channel sometime on Saturday evening and our YouTube subscribers should receive a notification at that time, too. Clicking on the link will take you to a “waiting room” where a countdown will indicate how much time remains before the video goes live.

To ensure everyone can find the video link in time for the start of the premiere, it will also appear on the St. Mark’s website in advance and the link will arrive by email, too. These links will also direct to the “waiting room,” and at 10 a.m. the video will begin playing automatically, synchronized on all screens and/or devices on which it appears at that time.

Once the video has premiered, it will be archived so that anyone who is unable to watch during the 10 a.m. premiere may view it later. During the premiere hour, those who tune in late can also rewind to the beginning and catch up on anything they missed.

In this way, we can all worship together at the same time, though still separate in location, and it will help us all to re-form the habit of worshiping at a set time on Sunday mornings.

— John Lasher, Director of Music and Worship Arts

June 7, 2020June 6, 2020

‘It’s NOT so simple:’ A message for Holy Trinity Sunday

Editor’s note: Our Leadership Council and Worship Committee are developing plans to reopen our sanctuary for worship after this long season of social isolation, which was made necessary by the Coronavirus pandemic. But again this week, we join in worship by way of a pre-recorded video. The service is led by Interim Pastor David Mueller, John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, and Brian Schmidt, worship assistant.

This week’s Virtual Choir includes Dave Herrmann, Allen Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner. Additional voices on “The Lord’s Prayer” are Fred Meckley, Jan Meckley and John Nichols.

The link to the pre-recorded service on YouTube is below, along with the text of Interim Pastor David Mueller’s sermon.

“It’s NOT So Simple” (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)

David E. Mueller, Interim Pastor

Every day is for Christians a time of acknowledging the Trinity, whom we cannot explain, but can proclaim. For a millennium, the Church has designated the Sunday after Pentecost as “Holy Trinity Sunday.” It has been a tradition to confess the Athanasian Creed on this Sunday, one of the three “Ecumenical” Creeds in our Lutheran Confessions. That tradition has waned because the Creed is repetitive, long and tedious to confess.

When I first looked at lessons a while back, I thought the second lesson was the familiar 1 Corinthians 13, only to discover later that it is 2 Corinthians 13. I have come to believe this lesson is no less significant than 1 Corinthians 13 about love.

In his letter to the Ephesian Church, Paul wrote: “I … beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.” (4:2,3)

The importance of unity within the Church cannot be overstated. In Matthew 12:25, we read: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” I mentioned a short while back that in His “High Priestly Prayer” (John 17) Jesus prayed that His believers be one even as He and the Father are one. Sadly, this prayer of Jesus has been not yet answered.

But God is One. The three persons within the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — are together in God’s work with us. We have consigned the Creation to the Father, Redemption to the Son and Sanctification to the Holy Spirit. Jesus saving us on the cross is not in conflict or competition with God’s creation, nor with the movement toward holiness in the Spirit. Being “saved” means a greater and deeper appreciation and stewardship of the earth and a special need for Spirit-led fire power. It is in the Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we are to seek to reach, teach and baptize people in all nations.

We Lutheran Christians ought to be especially aware of and sensitive to the buildup of tensions and tests of truth within the Church. By the late 15th Century repressed tensions had been building up in the Western Church for a long time. When Luther came along, did what he did and said what he said, there was an explosion of sorts. On the positive side, there was a return to faith and away from ecclesiastical regulations, the keeping of feasts and fasts, and a plethora of other required behaviors. On the negative side, the Church became divided as ever.

As Americans, we ought to be especially aware of and sensitive to the buildup of tensions, especially over taxes, which led to the Revolution, hardly a non-violent protest. And please, I say it with sadness, but America since has been one of the most violent nations on earth and at this moment are The Divided States. One wonders if the Civil War settled anything!

Regardless of political perspective, most people with a heart deplore the violence extended to George Floyd and especially others of color who have suffered a similar fate not just in recent years but for centuries. America’s “Original Sin” of racism is a cancer. It would seem that no amount or type of political chemotherapy or targeted radiation can cure it.

That is where we Christians come in. We know full well that it is about hate which cannot be legislated away. Only changed hearts can destroy hate, hearts which have known and shown love. That is 1 Corinthians 13, unconditional, unmerited and — unfortunately — often unwanted love.

But in 2 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote, directly to the congregation there but by implication to anyone else: “Put things in order.” In other words, establish priorities; know what really matters and what does not. The liver, the kidneys, the spleen, the stomach, the heart, and yes, the brain of a black man are all the same color as mine. Excuse the anatomical metaphor here! How much, if at all, is the skin color to matter? And did not God create all of us, seek in Christ to redeem all of us, grant the Spirit to lead and empower all of us? Hate, discrimination, denigration are always very bad priorities leading to extremely bad and deadly outcomes.

“Agree with one another!” In the Church this ought to be easier than in the secular political world. Capitalist economic systems are governed by self-interest, while faithful ecclesiastical systems are governed by community interests.

For believers, it is simple. If you and I believe in Jesus as Savior, the rest is secondary. If I forgive you and you forgive me, what do we have to fight and disagree about? In the Lord’s Prayer, God does it all, except that we forgive as we are forgiven. I realize I am being idealic here because in my lifetime, the Church has been divided as ever. More than anything else, that ought to deeply concern us. Some of the people I disagree with these days most vehemently are those who call themselves Christian. I do not — cannot — believe Christians should ever celebrate what separates.

“Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.” The implication here is plain. If we live in conflict and division the one thing we can absolutely count on is God’s absence! In the Prophesy of Amos (5:14) we read: “Seek good and not evil that you may live, and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you.”

St. Paul wrote the same in Romans 12:9: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.”

“Greet one another with a holy kiss!” There was never anything sordid in the Middle East about sharing kisses. Sure, Judas greeted Jesus with a kiss that was anything but holy. In holiness, would you kiss your worst enemy?

None of this is easy, is it? It is easier to hate and kill.

On a personal level, I am not a racist, nor, thank God, are any of our adult children or grandchildren. I will vouch for that. But my family, like yours, lives in and has privileges that people of color, poorer Caucasian people and some others do not have. On a whole lot of different levels, it is killing them and to be frank, it is killing us, too. This is systemic racism.

Now if we truly believe that Jesus did not die simply to save me from my sins, but died for the sins of the whole world, then that is a world which is not operating in a righteous and just way. It is a nation and world which needs forgiveness.

SMLC [St. Mark’s Lutheran Church] is also a system, as well as a collection of forgiven sinners. Paul refers to the Church as a body, which, if all parts are functioning, is healthy. If a leg is not doing its part, then we limp. Attending to the leg, for the sake of the whole body, is the smart thing to do.

Especially now people of color are crying out, certainly not for the first time. The repressed anger and frustration are being expressed. It is good for the American system for all of us to hear the cries and attend to the injustices and disparities. Otherwise we all are brought low and fall down. That is the way a political system like ours is supposed to work. If not corrected, divided we fall!

Listen again to the Prophet Amos (5:15a & 16): “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate…. In all the squares there shall be wailing and in all the streets they shall say ‘Alas, Alas!’” The days of Amos are right now!

In so attempting to listen and seeking to respond appropriately and effectively, as Christians and as Americans, we do not have to accept violence and looting by the few who would destroy rather than construct a more perfect union.

Today, in a special commemoration, we acknowledge and celebrate that all of God is for and available to us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are being attacked from without by a virus and from within by a cancer. Both are deadly. We are a people of life, eternal life. We do not just live abundantly but share generously of our privileges.

“Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy (if virtual) a kiss…. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

June 4, 2020

March and Rally for Justice

Synod leaders marching in Washington D.C. with a banner that reads 'Racism is a sin.'

Bishop William Gohl of our Delaware-Maryland Synod ELCA and others in our family of faith plan to participate in the March and Rally for Justice in Wilmington on Friday evening.

The event starts at 6 p.m. at Tubman Garrett Riverfront Park, 80 Rosa Parks Drive.

If you participate, look for the Synod’s banners and wear a mask.