501 Duncan Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19809
Join us for real prayer in a virtual context, as we launch a new series of prayer meetings for our church, St. Mark’s Lutheran.
We’ll meet by way of the Zoom video conferencing software on the first Saturday of the month, starting November 7. We’ll pray from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. If you can’t join us online, we hope you’ll pray with us wherever you may be.
All are welcome. To get your Zoom link, fill out this form to contact organizer Margie Dodson.
We have a Call Committee! Praise God!
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, Oct. 4. Using remote technology ensured that everyone had an opportunity to vote.
It was great to see all the members in person and also those who drove to St Mark’s and placed their paper ballot in the plastic bowl attached to the paint roller extension. I am sure it was quite a sight and it definitely added some levity to the inconvenience of not being able to all meet in person!
We needed 36 for a quorum and had 81 ballots. The Committee was elected with 75 votes.
Our Call Committee will start meeting with the Delaware-Maryland Synod Representative this month.
Please continue to pray for St Mark’s, the Call Committee and our new Pastor.
The Holy Spirit is at work!
Dear St. Mark’s Congregation,
What a long strange trip it has been. 2020 is not the year we thought it would be. In spite of significant obstacles and through the power of the Holy Spirit, St. Mark’s has continued to thrive and grow. Our Transition Team has created our Covenant Journey and has indicated that St. Mark’s is ready to start the call process for our new pastor.
Praise God!
St. Mark’s Council met with The Rev. Robin Litton from the Delaware-Maryland Synod to discuss how to move forward. We have been assured that there is a way. There has been movement of pastors within the Synod during the pandemic and it is vitally important that we move forward.
On September 13, Council approved a slate of eight candidates (see the full list below) to be on the Call Committee. This group of members must be elected by the Congregation to be on the Call Committee as per our Constitution (C13.04).
Council has scheduled a Special Congregational Meeting for Sunday, October 4, immediately following the 10 a.m. worship service, to elect the Call Committee members. You may participate in the meeting in person in the sanctuary or watch it electronically as an extended part of our live-stream coverage on YouTube.
St. Mark’s constitution also requires that election of Call Committee members must be done in person. No proxy or absentee ballots are permitted.
Ballots have been mailed to members and will also be available onsite. They will be collected in the parking lot until 1 p.m. on Oct. 4. If you participate in the congregational meeting remotely (via YouTube), you must still come in person to St. Mark’s by 1 p.m. to submit your ballot. You will not need to leave your car, but you must deliver your own ballot.
Thank you all for your prayers!
Kitty Dombroski
St. Mark’s Council President
These are the nominees for St. Mark’s Call Committee:
A lifelong Lutheran, Amy and her husband, Kevin, live in Wilmington, Delaware. They have two adult children. Amy and Kevin have been members of St. Mark’s since moving to Delaware from Nashville, Tennessee, in 2001.
Amy’s professional background includes significant
human resources and business experience. She was St. Mark’s first Director of Education & Outreach, then worked as the office manager and, eventually, as an HR specialist for the non-profit Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children. She then became a fiscal management analyst for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. She now is the administrative specialist and a member of the management team at the University of Delaware’s Center for Disabilities Studies.
“I’m honored to be considered for the St. Mark’s Search Committee and I look forward to participating in the process as God guides us to the spiritual leader that will be the best fit for our congregation.”
Cheryl is a relatively new member of St. Mark’s, having arrived in early 2015 by way of Philadelphia. 
She is a physician’s assistant, currently employed at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center. She is also a retired Navy yeoman.
An avid reader, she also enjoys sewing, cooking and singing, and is a member of the St. Mark’s choir, along with her brother, David McClure.
She has a grown son, Duncan, who is a graduate engineer, working in civil engineering at a firm in Missouri. His girlfriend, Corrine, is completing her veterinary degree. Cheryl and David reside in Claymont.
Elise has lived in Wilmington since 2001 and became a member of St. Mark’s in 2003. 
She has been married to Tom for 17 years and they have two boys, Graham, 13, and Clayton, 11.
Elise has worked for Enterprise Car Sales for 16 years.
She is a member of St. Mark’s altar guild and enjoys crafting and restoring their home.
Francine has been been a member of St. Mark’s for 14 years. During that time, she has served as a Steven Minister and has been part of the Wednesday Bible study group, the craft group, 
Caring Hearts, co-chair of the Lutheran Community Services breakfast and (prior to COVID-19) was a tutor at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant’s after-school program called “Edge.” She has participated in many women’s and charitable activities.
Francine is a wife, mother of three and “Nonni” to 12 grandchildren. She is a native of Wilmington and a retired elementary and middle school teacher.
“I look forward to working with the Call Committee, the Church Council and the congregation with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to jointly select our next pastor.”
Jerry has been a member of St. Mark’s since 2004. He is happily married to Cecilia and the 
proud father of Dana, Solomon and Holly.
Jerry has served St. Mark’s as a Sunday school teacher for the preschool and elementary age classes and most recently served as the “Zero Gravity” youth leader with Cecilia.
The Schracks live in North Wilmington. Jerry works at Swarthmore College as assistant Director of Horticulture and Grounds.
Mike has been a member of St. Mark’s since 2006. He is married to Faith, who serves on St. Mark’s Leadership Council, and has a son, a stepdaughter, two stepsons and six grandchildren. He 
earned a B.S. degree from the University of Delaware in Operations Management Business and an MBA from Wilmington University.
He is a retired field grade Army officer with approximately 25 years of military service and a retired senior department head director of hospital in Pennsylvania, with more than 25 years of experience in facilities management.
Mike worked as a quality engineer with Thiokol Corporation, which manufactured rocket motors for satellites. He now teaches military science Army ROTC at the University of Delaware. His previous teaching experience included Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a public high school in Philadelphia.
Vicki is an active member of St. Mark’s, teaching confirmation classes, serving as co-leader of the Wednesday Bible Study and participating in Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening 
Bible studies. She is also a member of the Delmarva Emmaus community, actively sponsoring and supporting church members on their “Walk to Emmaus” experience and an active member in their “Fourth Day” community of alumni.
She is a member of the Kairos Prison Ministry Program in Delaware and served on six teams with the Maryland Women’s Team at Jessup (MCI-W).
Currently retired, she served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, attaining the rank of master sergeant. She has also done a lot of farm work and has worked as a groom with show horses, as a ranch manager and as the caregiver for her mother, the late Roberta Dukes.
Wayne has attended St. Mark’s since 2009 and says he enjoyed the worship experience so much that he attended a new member class and joined the church.
Wayne was elected to the St. Mark’s Leadership Council in 2011 and was elected president of the Council at the beginning of his second term. He served two years as president.
He has played guitar with the contemporary worship band “Souls on Fire” for the last three years.
In today’s edition of the Midweek Extra, Interim Pastor David Mueller talks with special guest Mindy Holland, chaplain of Lutheran Campus Ministries at the University of Delaware, one of St. Mark’s ministry partners.
Chaplain Holland talks about her background in the ministry, how campus ministry connects with students’ lives and how things have changed in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Students want to engage deeply with Scripture and to engage deeply with complex questions,” she said. “… They want to look at the hard stuff and say how does this relate to me and how do I then turn it around so it can bless others? It’s a rich gift to be with them as they engage these new questions.”
If you have questions you’d like Pastor Mueller to address in future weeks, feel free to call the church office or send an email.
A link to our live-stream service (via our YouTube Channel) is below, along with the text of Interim Pastor David Mueller’s sermon. For more information on this new online option, please read the guide provided by John Lasher, director of music and worship arts.
“Justice Deserved” (Matthew 18:21-35)
Interim Pastor David E. Mueller
You are getting a double dose of the Joseph story in that I referred to it last Sunday and here it is as the Hebrew lesson for today. It is an incredibly beautiful story about why forgiveness is far better than bitterness.
By typical human standards, Joseph had every right and reason to come down hard on his brothers. This was the equivalent of human trafficking today. It must have been pure agony and loneliness for years for Joseph to have been ripped out of his family and by his own brothers to boot. On a practical level, however, now that they all had been re-united in Egypt for 17 years, not knowing that their progeny would be there for over 400 more years, it made sense to get along and not be estranged.
By contrast, in the Gospel we are confronted with one of the worst cases of utterly base violations of the “Golden Rule” anywhere in the Christian Scriptures.
Right away, I want to emphasize that this parable is first and foremost about God’s forgiving grace and mercy. This can easily be lost in what must be ravenous rage in most of us about the awful turn of events and treatment of the second debtor by the first. Keep thinking thankfully about how gracious and merciful God is. Refuse to get lost in the inhumanity and ungratefulness of the first servant.
PRAYER:
Lord God of Heaven and Earth, we rejoice in You and Your promises made to us. Help us never to be guilty of abusing You and Your grace and mercy and Your eternal love of us, shown especially in Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.
This begins with the disciple we can count on as being mildly cantankerous in his questioning and commenting on the words of Jesus. OK, Jesus, you shared about going personally to someone who has offended us — that is, keeping the matter contained and only later bringing in others if necessary. So then, how often do we need to do this forgiveness thing? We need to give Peter a little credit here because he probably knew full well how hard forgiving others really is.
The answer that Jesus gives here may as well be “Infinitely!” In former translations, we heard 70 times 7. Now it is 77 times. In either instance, it is “don’t ever stop forgiving.” The number 7 in Biblical numerology always means complete. Forgiveness is never one and done.
There is more math herein. Scottish preacher William Barclay, in his “Handbook of Parables of Jesus” published in 1970, concludes that 10,000 talents is at least 10 times as much as the taxes paid by the total number of provinces in Judea. In 1970, it would have been 2.4 million British pounds or nearly 4 million U.S. dollars. Many of us might recall back then and now realize how much inflation there has been since 1970. The point is that it was utterly impossible to be paid back. One cannot help but wonder how on earth the steward could have accumulated such debt. Talk about things sneaking up on you.
The debt the steward wanted repaid in full was 500,000 times less. I am happy that Barclay did this math because otherwise we would not grasp the enormity of what the first man owed in comparison to the pittance owed him. A denarius was a day’s wage.
In the first place, Jesus told this parable to show how infinitely large and vast is God’s grace and mercy. In the second place, by implication, we are to consider the sins committed against us. As much as we may have hurt, as disappointed in a friend or family member as we may have been left, by human standards — as much as you have a right to expect justice — none of it is but a pittance compared to what any of us owe God.
We may not be murderers, thieves or gossips, and we may give generously of our time and treasures. We may not be America’s most wanted. When one looks at the comparison between crooks and people like us, the distance from God’s perspective might not be that much. We each and all owe God infinitely more than anyone else owes us!
“Have patience with me and I will pay you everything!” That is the biggest joke here. But how many bargains have we made with God? “Lord, if You forgive me, I promise never to do it again!” And those of us who are parents, how often did your children at various ages make similar promises? Did you believe them?
OK, so neither the math nor our methods work out very well for any of us! Perhaps it is because of the value we tend to place on our hurts.
Gigi and I were driving to upstate New York on Easter Sunday afternoon, 2019. Back in 1983, we were run into from the rear at a stop light by a woman driving 50-60 mph. There were no skid marks, just boom! I would love to share more about that some other time. Suffice it to say, I have lived in my rear view mirror ever since.
On that Easter afternoon there was this large white vehicle five cars back weaving in and off the road on both sides. I asked Gigi to get out paper and pen because if the vehicle got past us, I wanted it reported. Next thing we know at between 70-80 mph this Chevy Tahoe smacked us, pushed us off the road barely inches from the guard rail, and 500 feet later came to a stop.
I do not believe this was an accident but a criminal act. She admitted fault and the State Trooper gave her four tickets.
We were physically uninjured, but you should ride with Gigi and experience the lingering effect of this hit. I forgive her, but so that she harms no one else, I want her license suspended. Her insurance, All State, advertises 40% discounts for good drivers. I want her to pay at least 40% more. Am I an ogre? Possibly, but it is the reality of how I feel. Yet I can still forgive her, lest I (we) be the one(s) who are losing sleep over this incident.
Just as important, and really inescapable, as are our feelings about this woman’s crime against us — we must be honest and authentic — so also forgiveness, as Jesus states, must be authentic, that is, “from the heart.” There is no faking forgiveness! God sees through it even if no one else does.
In Luke 7:36, Jesus has a woman of questionable character anointing his feet and drying them with her hair. Obviously this freaked out his Pharisee host. Jesus then told another story about two debtors, one owing 10 times what the other owed. Which one, asked Jesus, will love the creditor more for forgiving the debt?
The one forgiven the most!
The insurmountable debt forgiven by the king of the first debtor here should have brought him so much joy and gratitude that he couldn’t wait to forgive the debt of the fellow who owed him so little. He chose instead his own fate — and, oh, how just was his deserved reward!
Abusing God’s grace is a dangerous matter. Accepting God’s grace gratefully is a genuine delight. Thank you, Jesus!
Amen.
We have waited and prayed and longed for this day! For the first time in almost six months, the sanctuary at St. Mark’s will have worshippers in attendance! Church doors open at 9:45 a.m. and you will see many changes, as you know already if you have watched our “Reopening Day” video.
That’s not to say we have not been worshiping together throughout this long building closure, which was done in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We have been together — online!
And thanks to the work of John Lasher and our Worship Committee, that online option will continue for all who are unable to join us in the sanctuary for any reason. See John’s guide to the new “livestreaming” broadcast that starts today at 9:55 a.m.
Many thanks to Interim Pastor David Mueller and John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, for producing the weekly prerecorded worship services that have helped us stay connected as much as possible during this time of extended separation.
Thanks, too, to the musicians and the virtual choir, the worship assistants and all who have continued to support the ongoing ministry of St. Mark’s with your prayers, gifts, mask-making, fundraising, notes of encouragement and other assistance. Thanks to Council President Kitty Dombroski and all who serve with her on the Leadership Council and its Worship Committee. Thanks to Office Manager Cheryl Denneny and Sexton Rick Johnson and all who have given their time and talents during this unexpected interruption of life together.
Now some of us are returning to in-person worship, but many will continue to wait until the virus is brought under control or a vaccine is available. We trust you to make the best decision for you and your family and we want you to be comfortable and connected in the way that suits you best.
We will continue to provide online access to our worship services. They will be broadcast live on our YouTube Channel and then will be archived there for future viewing. You can participate at any time, wherever you have an internet connection.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to develop and refine the tools we use for these broadcasts. We are amazed at the ways God has provided — and we hope to fill you in on some of the stories behind the scenes in the not-too-distant future.
Click on the image below to link to our YouTube livestream. The text of Pastor Mueller’s sermon for today is also available below.
I believe most of you by now realize how important the righteous acts of Christians are to me. It is never exclusively or even primarily our personal salvation and spiritual well-being. We carry in our redeemed hearts and minds, the compassion, healing impulses and genuine concern for others of Christ.
The story was told decades ago about a certain lighthouse, the obvious purpose of which was to keep ships in the channel and not aground at night. Volunteers showed up regularly to clean, repair and manage the lighthouse so that it continued to fulfill its purpose. But the volunteers started gathering, having parties and neglecting the lighthouse in favor of activities more fun but less noble and necessary. It no longer fulfilled its purpose!
Jesus warns against putting our lights under a bushel basket (Matthew 5:15). The Church, which is not a building but a community of believers, has as its purpose to “let your light so shine, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) When we move in on ourselves and fail to shine for the sake of others, we lose our purpose and reduce Christ’s suffering and death to meaninglessness.
At the very core of the Christian faith, however, is something even more important in a practical way. Without this core, we are not Christians at all for this core is also at the center of the nature of God. I am speaking of forgiveness!
David, in Psalm 103, professes the following: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…. He does not deal with us according to our sins … as far as the east is from the west so far he removes our transgressions from us.” (portion of 8-12)
Remove or ignore this core essence of God to forgive and we lose. Other gods may demand appeasement, sacrifices, rigid rituals, but God invites faith in who He is, and regarding us, what He does in Christ.
Matthew 18:15-20, our Gospel for today, is a powerful if really simple process about our learning to forgive. It is also perhaps one of the most abused portions of the Christian Scriptures, which has been used by Popes and other pious persons to manipulate kings and other leaders. It has been used all too often as a threat: “if you do not do what I/we want, you will be excommunicated.”
Clearly, this passage has been rightly called “Church Discipline.” At the end of the process “if an offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The Amish in our day and certain churches in the past have called this “shunning!”
Please do not go to the end of the process too quickly. As Christians forgiven, it is both our duty and our delight to be forgivers. This could not be any more serious or special. If we don’t forgive, we are not forgiven. In the prayer our Lord taught us, God the Father does the feeding, the avoiding and the deliverance. The only thing we pray for and do is to be forgiven AS we forgive those who sin against us. The forgiveness petition is the pivot around which the whole prayer matters and the Christian life centers. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:7), Jesus shared “blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Travel with me to the beginning of this process. If someone in the Church sins against you, “go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” The Eighth Commandment as we number them is about not bearing false witness. Luther went so far as to say that if we tell the truth about someone for malicious reasons, we are violating this commandment. Bearing false witness implies blabbing about someone else all over the place. The prescription in Matthew 18 begins with keeping the issue, whatever the sin is, contained. But it is more: “If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” The purpose is not to judge the other but to hopefully embrace the other, to hold again the other in positive regard.
If that does not work, “take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” This mandate of two or three and not just one other witness is found in Deuteronomy 19:15 and thus has biblical precedent. Once again the purpose is to reconcile and restore the relationship and not to judge. The others are to witness to your behavior and not just to confirm the intransigence of the perpetrator.
If that does not work, “tell it to the church.” Only after several truly righteous attempts to straighten out the mess does it become potentially a public embarrassment and sanction. If even that does not work, then the person is to be shamed and shunned.
As antiquated as this process may seem and as abused throughout history as it has been, there are very practical advantages, especially to the forgiver whether the forgivee is moved to acknowledgment or not.
My favorite account in the Hebrew scriptures is the story of Joseph which takes up a significant amount of biblical space, Genesis 37-50. Joseph was sold by his jealous brothers into slavery. They were forced to come to Egypt to obtain grain due to a drought in Palestine 25 years later. They did not recognize Joseph and after Joseph’s own ruse — holding the youngest brother Benjamin responsible for a theft — he revealed himself to them. They all moved to Egypt, where the Hebrews would spend 435 years. Seventeen years after moving to Egypt, their father Jacob died. The brothers freaked out, believing now the axe of Joseph’s wrath was surely going to fall. What Joseph said to them in Genesis 50:15-21 is as beautiful as it gets. The deepest weeping comes from the forgiver. The brothers did not get their due! They had spent 42 years in guilt, shame and fear.
This is often true of anyone who has been in some way violated and yet has an opportunity to forgive. The one who forgives or is willing to forgive even if the other refuses to accept it, is free of the burden. When as Christians we are in a constant state of being forgiven and forgiving, we are far freer to be about the more positive aspects and privileges of our faith. Forgive us AS we forgive!
There is more. First of all, you do not have to and cannot forgive someone who sinned against someone else. As the Fallwell scandal has surfaced, Becki has been quoted as saying: “I wish Christians were as forgiving as Christ.” She didn’t violate or harm me. Perhaps the students, faculty and administration at Liberty University need to forgive her and her husband but not me. I cannot forgive someone for murdering another. It is noticeable how many of those affected by such a crime, are freed of a lifetime of anger and anxiety when they forgive the perpetrator even if they also get justice in imprisonment.
Secondly, no Christian community including St. Mark’s can or will survive the presence of animus and the absence of forgiveness in its midst. Jesus, still in the Sermon on the Mount says: “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23, 24) This is often associated with Holy Communion. It is first “Holy” because the meal was established by Christ. It is also “common unity” with those partaking with you. You might have heard someone say along the way, at the altar, Holy Communion is between me and God. No it isn’t! God is NOT present when chronic conflict or animosity exists between God’s people. God affirms the reality of His people: if they are forgiving, so is He; if they are not, neither is He!
I believe that we need steady reminders of the power and absolute necessity of forgiving grace all over the place within Christian community. Without it, there is not just something missing, but someone missing. Without God we lose! With God we forgive and win!
If you have shared in our prerecorded worship services, you have seen the technical prowess of John Lasher at work. John, who is the music and worship arts director at St. Mark’s, and Interim Pastor David Mueller, along with our Leadership Council, Worship Committee and many others, all have worked hard to keep our connections alive during the long separation made necessary by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A few weeks ago, John produced a video explaining the new procedures that will be in place for those who return to in-person worship in the sanctuary,
Now, he has information about how things will change for those who worship online and how to access our first “livestreamed” service, which begins at 9:55 a.m. on Sunday, September 6.
Sunday, September 6 is the day St. Mark’s will reopen the church building in a limited capacity to resume worshipping together in person. This will also change how our services are presented online, since they will no longer be prerecorded, but streamed live, in real time.
The link to our live stream will remain the same from week to week. This link — which you can easily find on the homepage of our website — will be used for Sunday services, Christmas Eve and other special services and possibly other events such as weddings or memorial services which take place in our sanctuary (though these latter two will depend on the wishes of the families). We are also tentatively planning a few special live episodes of our Midweek Extra series , which will also be streamed over this same link.
If you happen to visit the link at a time when we’re not streaming, you will either be directed to our YouTube channel page or to a livestream “placeholder” page with suggestions for other videos you may wish to watch (the top suggestion will be one of our most recent videos).
Our Sunday services will always be at the same time (10 a.m. initially, then back to 9 & 11 once things get back to normal), and any other livestream events will be announced well in advance, so you will know when to “tune in.” We will typically take the stream “live” with background music about five minutes before a service/event begins.
Our live streams will be archived on our YouTube channel, so those who are otherwise occupied during the 10 o’clock hour may still view the services later, as they have with the prerecorded services.
Printed copies of the sermons will still be distributed to those without internet access and DVD copies of the service videos are still available to these same members. Once we begin streaming live the DVDs will not be available until sometime after the service ends on Sunday.
In addition to allowing our own members to attend our services online, when unable to do so in person, live streaming is a wonderful means of outreach. Those in our community who may be unable to attend services in person for one reason or another can view our services online (live or archived), and newcomers to the area who may be seeking a new church family may choose to “look in” on St. Mark’s.
We hope you will join us for these live services, and look forward to the outreach potential afforded by this new ministry tool.
Interim Pastor David Mueller welcomes Rob Gurnee, executive director of Lutheran Community Services of Delaware, to today’s Midweek Extra.
LCS has been serving low-income families in Wilmington and New Castle County since 1959, assisting with emergency food, housing and many other needs.
The men discuss the ministries of LCS and how its work and that of other nonprofit agencies have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Rob also talks about the “Pick Your Own” LCS Walk/Run for Hunger and the new format for the popular annual fundraising event that many at St. Mark’s have been part of — as donors, runners and walkers. (Check out a few photos from previous events below.)
It’s a good time to make your plan for participating in this year’s Walk/Run for Hunger. As the name of this year’s event suggests, you can “Pick Your Own” route, pick your own day, pick your own starting time. Here’s what you need to know:
REGISTER NOW! Individuals, churches, teams, dogs — you name it! — can register and collect sponsors OR support someone who is fundraising. If you need help, contact Alex with any questions. All proceeds go to LCS food programs.
Check out our “Reopening Day” video, produced by John Lasher, to see what is changing when services resume in St. Mark’s sanctuary, starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, September 6.
In today’s prerecorded worship service, Interim Pastor David Mueller explores Paul’s instructions to Christian believers and urges us to consider the implications for our lives and our community.
“Be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, extend hospitality to strangers.” Who of us would argue against any of that litany of goodness? Who would not want to be a member of a family like this?
Also participating in today’s service are John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, and Brian Schmidt, worship assistant. This week’s virtual choir includes Dave Herrmann, Allen and Myrna Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell, Paige Stebner and Teresa Stebner.
Today’s prerecorded service may be the last as St. Mark’s aims to reopen on Sunday, Sept. 6, with the doors opening at 9:45 a.m. The service will also be streamed live online. More details to come. Be sure to check out the “reopening” video to see how things will work.
You can access today’s service below using the link to our YouTube channel. The text of Pastor Mueller’s sermon is also included here.
“What is the Point?” (Romans 12:9-21)
Interim Pastor David E. Mueller
I confess that Romans 12:9-21, today’s appointed second lesson, is one of my favorite sections in the Christian Scriptures. This is not because I believe myself to be an example of its fulfillment. It simply challenges me in a major way.
Leviticus 19 is known as “The Holiness Code” for the Hebrew people. It is a summary of sorts of the other 600 or so laws commanded in the Pentateuch. We would most likely agree with most of it with a few exceptions like: “Nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials,” or “You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you.” That tattoo prohibition would get a whole lot of folk in trouble now.
Romans 12:9-21 in a similar way summarizes expected behavior of Christian believers. It might be an interesting exercise for each of us to look over these prescriptions to see if there are any we think are outdated, incredibly difficult to perform, or not of interest to us. Let’s look together today, mindful that almost any passage herein is a sermon or a study on its own.
We pray: Lord God, gracious and merciful Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, empower us by the Holy Spirit to understand Your Word for us written by Your servant St. Paul, and by the same Spirit lead us to living out these precious instructions for Your faithful people. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
One of my three grandsons came to me about six years ago and asked me if I would pick his Confirmation verse. I recommended Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.” He liked it!
We begin with this verse. Sometimes, it is not possible; that must be said. There are many people in the world who do not want to live in peace and will not accept peace if offered to them. They seem to be so accustomed to violence or conflict that they do not know how to live without it. That is a real shame but it can be true in families, in communities, in countries, and most unfortunately in churches. The end of the verse stands, however, that there are no exceptions. If possible, live peaceably with ALL!
At the beginning of this portion of Romans, Paul writes: “Let love be genuine!” Here is “agape” again, unconditional love, which exists in the subject and requires nothing of the object. It is to exist in us authentically whether others accept it or not. It is impossible to fake agape. It is the love with which God loves us and the love we are expected to offer others, even if our expressions of it are less than perfect; only God’s love is without blemish.
It starts within the Christian community: “Love one another with mutual affection.” Here the word for love changes to “phileo,” familial love. Being in a relationship with each other of unconditional love allows familial love to develop. Just look at what also follows in a flowing and growing way: “Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, extend hospitality to strangers.” Who of us would argue against any of that litany of goodness? Who would not want to be a member of a family like this?
There is still more. “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.” Like I said previously, there is a sermon or a truly lengthy study in each of these expressions. But guess what? None of it will work, certainly not without love but also not without discernment. I believe this may be more necessary these days than ever.
“Hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” The Greek for devil is “diabolos,” meaning “deceiver.” Distinguishing between good and evil is difficult to say the least. Evil is sometimes obvious, but more often is masked, presenting itself as good, valuable, worthwhile, etc. One gets sucked in and in short order is captured with no escape. Is it any wonder that we are to pray: “Deliver us from evil?”
When one considers feeding, giving drink and expressing care toward enemies, which means by implication that helping friends is already happening, then the absence of these expressions toward friends and enemies alike is at best wrong and at worst evil! Do not repay evil for evil; it never helps! If we have discerned what is evil and hated it, and are holding fast, “cleaving” to good, that is, “what is noble in the sight of all,” then we are being God’s and not the devil’s servants.
One can take almost any modern invention or technological capacity and use it for the good of others and not just self; or, the same can be used for evil and the detriment of all. Social media is shown to be quite detrimental to teens who overuse it, and to adults who seek political truth and are led into all kinds of falsehoods and half-truths. We must learn as Christians to discern, to scrutinize from a Godly perspective what is good and true and what is evil and wrong.
We might just be served by looking at current reality and asking whether it is good or evil. It can be as simple as that! Is it good or evil that a black man was shot in the back seven times by the police? Are almost 180,000 deaths due to COVID good or evil? Is political division filled with animus good or evil? Is a major evangelical figure preaching family values and living opposite good or evil? The litany could continue ad infinitum. Ask the question of issues concerning you.
At the same time, ask of yourselves: are we rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep? The matter invites intimacy and genuine empathy. Are you overcome by evil or overcoming evil with good? The reason I appreciate this section of Scripture is — as stated — not because I am good at it but am challenged by it. I am challenged by this biblical assessment and not some other.
Peter, in the Gospel for today, took physical as well as spiritual issue with Jesus having to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Ironically, this is immediately after Peter gave his simple confession that Jesus is the “Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Interestingly, we have learned long ago to refer to the day on which the suffering and dying took place as “Good” and not “Evil” Friday. Let that sink in.
A hymn which comes to mind, a favorite of mine, is “Lift High the Cross, the Love of Christ Proclaim.” It was written in England by George Kitchin in 1887, but was not published in America until 1974. At first wash, we, like Peter, may have resistance about Jesus having to suffer and die. What a way for God to go! Yet it is the love of Christ that is proclaimed on it.
The Cross of Christ is both what covers our sins of falling short of God’s glory and motivates us to faithfully live into Scriptural mandates to love and care ourselves. In this, Christ’s suffering and death is good and not evil.
As in any era, we Christians have some significant discerning to do!
Amen.