Interim Pastor David Mueller has a very special guest for today’s St. Mark’s Midweek Extra — longtime friend Rabbi Peter Grumbacher.
Rabbi Peter Grumbacher
The men met years ago while serving next-door congregations in Wilmington — Mueller at Concordia Lutheran Church, Grumbacher at Congregation Beth Emeth — and their friendship has grown and produced many fascinating conversations and encounters for Jews and Christians over the years.
Pastor David Mueller
Some at St. Mark’s will know Rabbi Grumbacher from the 2018 trip to Israel he co-hosted with Pastor Mueller. Others will know him from the class the two men have co-taught on interfaith relations with Sister Jeanne Cashman at the University of Delaware’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Wilmington, where they were affectionately known as “The God Squad.” You can read about that collaboration in this 2017 News Journal article.
In this informal-but-substantive conversation, these two men, who have invested their lives in faithful service to others, discuss Jewish-Christian relations, Israel, the United States and the need for education and respectful dialogue.
You can watch their exchange on our YouTube channel here:
Interim Pastor David Mueller has invited St Mark’s members and friends to send him topics, issues and questions for him to address during these Midweek Extra videos. And the ideas and questions keep on coming!
Today’s topics include:
Creative ways of developing Christian service during the COVID-19 pandemic
Christian nationalism
If you have questions you’d like him to tackle, call or email the church office.
Here’s the date we’ve all been waiting for: Sunday, September 6! That’s our tentative reopening date, as outlined by St. Mark’s leadership.
Details were included in a letter sent to members and friends by the Worship Committee last week.
As part of the planning process, the Worship Committee distributed a survey, asking respondents their preferences about returning to in-person worship. St. Mark’s building has been closed since mid-March in an effort to slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Seventeen people are ready to return as soon as possible. Sixty prefer to wait until Delaware enters “Phase Three” status — or later.
The plan now is to re-open St. Mark’s for a single 10 a.m. service. The plan is tentative and will follow state guidelines, with proper safety measures and volunteers in place in our worship area.
The following recommendations were made by the Worship Committee:
Greeters will ensure that names are gathered, temperatures taken and will distribute homemade face masks, if needed
Ushers will distribute communion items from a table prior to entering the sanctuary and provide guidance as people move to pews and leave the service.
The congregation will not sing or speak during the service.
Communion will be consumed in the pews
The offering will be collected in a basket at the rear of the church
Several volunteer roles are essential for us to re-open. If you are planning to attend when the building is first opened, we ask you to prayerfully consider filling one of these roles during this time of transition:
Greeters – take temperatures, gather names, hand out face masks, if needed
Ushers – monitor communion table elements, guide worshippers to their pew, count the number of worshippers in attendance, dismiss worshippers at the end of service, take offering to the church office.
Liturgist/worship leader – Read the prayers and scripture
Sound board – operate sound board and livestreaming equipment
In order to familiarize you with these recommendations and roles, a video will be produced to illustrate the manner in which worshippers enter, attend and exit the church.
We hope that you prayerfully consider volunteering for one of these roles and that you will attend church at St. Mark’s when you feel it is safe for you to do so according to your personal needs. Services will be livestreamed for those continuing to worship from home.
Our prayer is that you be blessed by our worship service wherever it finds you!
Please indicate your willingness to serve by filling out this form by August 14 so that we may prepare for returning to Sunday worship on September 6.
If you’ve been gardening during this time of Coronavirus pandemic, you may have strong feelings about weeds these days. Interim Pastor David Mueller has a weed-related challenge for us in his message today.
Join us as we worship by way of a prerecorded video, produced by our Director of Music and Worship Arts, John Lasher, who has worked with Pastor to provide these online services each week.
Also participating today are Cheryl Powell, worship assistant and soloist, and this week’s Virtual Choir: Allen Kirk, Myrna Kirk, John Lasher, David McClure, Fred Meckley, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner.
The link below will take you to the video on our YouTube channel. The video goes “live” at 10 a.m. The text of Pastor Mueller’s sermon is also included below.
“Have You Loved a Weed Today?” (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
Interim Pastor David E. Mueller
In a class at Princeton years ago, a professor claimed that many parables of Jesus were intentionally designed to confuse his listeners. Confusion is a state of affairs most people cannot tolerate, which compels them to work their way out of the confusion, to think through all angles until it begins to make some sense.
The perfect example is the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7). “Which one of you, having 100 sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”
Any shepherd, as well as anyone else for that matter, would find this absolutely insane. One cuts his loss of one sheep and continues to watch out for the 99. What on earth was Jesus saying?
With today’s parable, even though Jesus explains it, listeners are left with incredible questions and concerns. I am no botanist, but I have enough yard to know that if weeds are allowed to grow, they take over quickly. Explaining this by speaking of people instead of plants makes thing worse and not better. Evil in the midst of us tends to thrive even as we suffer difficulties at least.
Haven’t many or most of us at one time or another, perhaps more often, asked why God doesn’t do something about certain people, groups or forces that tend to be so effective at causing problems? Why can’t basically good people be left alone to accomplish good things? Why are we constantly confronted by resistance?
Yet again with incredible energy, we are faced with the evil of racism raising its ugly head ironically in the north and not just the south, perhaps in our very midst here at St. Mark’s? How can some people be so cruel, insensitive and selfish as to fight for not wearing a mask when all the research strongly supports wearing one is a main mitigation against the virus?
Is this mere misguidance or is it evil? Where is God in any of this? Must the devil so often prevail so it seems?
Jesus, as a Jew, got much of his teaching from the Hebrew Scriptures. I turn to the book of Ecclesiastes of the Wisdom Literature to seek some assistance. There are at least a few hints herein.
Solomon, traditionally believed to have been the author, says in 7:15: “In my vain life, I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in theirevildoing.”
Ain’t it the truth!
Similarly in 8:14, Solomon says: “There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked, and there are wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous.”
God, this is just not right!
Both Solomon writes and Jesus says that in the end, the righteous will prevail and the wicked will fail miserably, but what a hell of a meantime this is.
Have you heard about the lawsuits against the poison Roundup? It kills weeds for sure, but evidently has caused many cancers in those who use it frequently. That sort of risk Jesus raises — namely, that we do not want to harm the wheat or good folk as we poison, cut, or in some way kill the weeds. I get that!
In Romans 12,9, we note: “Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” We are not told here to hate evildoers, but the evil they do.
There are children and families still stuck in cages at our southern border. I hate that! It does no one any good to hate the perpetrators!
There are tens of thousands of good police personnel without whom life and crime would be worse. What of those police who cause unnecessary harm, even death? That is a question for us all these days.
What of those white guys who wave foreign and domestic enemy flags, shout racial slurs, make violent threats, and — all too often — are violent? I hate that!
What of politicians and government officials who fail in their duty to keep Americans safe and secure, physically, financially and otherwise? I hate that!
Speaking of police, Gigi and I were in Venice, Italy, on what we called our “There is Life after Tuition Trip.” After dinner one evening, we walked what there is of streets amidst the canals. We came upon a very drunken Gondolier who was surrounded by six policemen. There were several Carabinieri, military police, and an equal number of Polizia di Stato, civilian police, being incredibly patient with this young man. They spoke softly to him, encouraged him to stop shouting and making a fuss, and seemed prepared to take whatever time it took to wait him out or wear him down. There were no threats, no gestures of force, no drawing of weapons. That has stood in contrast to all too many scenes here in America. I realize that we are not frequently exposed to our police being patient and kind.
There is almost nothing in the words of Jesus that could be interpreted as “do nothing!” If then, weeds or evil people are so near us, what do we do? Hating, killing or harming them in any way is not the Christian way. What then? Love them! How? Allow them to get away with their evil ways? Not really. Come on, Mueller, you are suggesting this, so what do we do?
Love is misinterpreted sometimes. There is absolutely nothing mushy about love here. It is not a weak gesture. It is not passive but active. It seeks to express care for sure, care they probably have not known in their lives or they might not be the people they have become.
“Pray for those who persecute you.” (Luke 6:28) Offer them an example which is their moral opposite! Pray for them! Be Jesus to them, forgive them, show them mercy and grace. Pray for them! Be the redeemed person you are and they are not!
“Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:6) Let them see the rejoicing we do in what is good, true and positive. Let us refuse to rejoice in their evil ways. Pray for them! Praying cannot hurt. It can keep us engaged!
Back in seminary with a student body of approximately 400 or so (oh, to have that many today!), there were about a dozen of us who were not satisfied with what we were being taught about certain matters or about important matters about which nothing was being taught.
We set up what was an “inner seminary.” We had retreats, discussion sessions, prayer times. What really kept the seminary administration’s bowels in an uproar, was when we planned a weekend retreat with special guests or held an evening symposium.
We invited Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party to come and speak to us. In the late Sixties, one of their stated desires, not goals but desires, was to get 13 states in the South for themselves. I remember moving from the back of the room right up front where Fred was sitting with several of his companions. When given the chance, I asked if after getting their 13 states, might some small percentage of their own people start to exploit them? His answer was “perhaps, but at least they would be our own people.”
Sadly, two weeks later, he and another Panther were shot and killed by the Chicago police in a raid.
There were then and there are now those white folks who would think of the Black Panthers as a terrorist organization. They did have a violent streak in what could better be called riots and not just protests back then. But we engaged them, sought to understand them, did not have to agree with them on anything. How Fred Hampton thought of a bunch of German Lutherans inviting him to dialogue we will never know.
As Christians, washed in the blood of Jesus, forgiven and freed, loved forever, we cannot allow ourselves to merely become victims of the evils around us. Engaging evil in a careful, caring, intelligent, faithful and prayerful manner is far less risky and potentially far more effective than doing nothing. Jesus engaged the devil and those throughout his ministry who were less than righteous.
Have you loved a weed today? If not, give it a shot! You might just discover a new and possibly righteous part of your Christian self.
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!
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, enduranceproduces 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?
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.”
Editor’s note: On this Memorial Day weekend, we thank God for those who have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice. We pray for those who suffer in body, mind or spirit. And we gather once again — together in spirit, yet from afar — to worship by way of this pre-recorded video during this time of Coronavirus pandemic.
Thanks to Interim Pastor David E. Mueller, John Lasher, director of music and worship arts, and Barbara Sheridan, worship assistant, who lead us today. Also participating are members of this week’s virtual choir: Dave Herrmann, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols, Cheryl Powell and Teresa Stebner, along with vocalists Fred and Jan Meckley. Our pre-recorded service is linked below, with the text of Pastor’s message included here if you wish to follow along.
“The Sanctity of Suffering” (1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11)
David E. Mueller, Interim Pastor
The Easter Season is about to end and next Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, that Festival of Empowerment occurring 50 days after Easter. I have spoken previously of the number 50, which in Biblical numerology means “Jubilee.” Jubilee is an opportunity to start over again, cleansed and redeemed from the past. Read Leviticus 25 for the origins of Jubilee.
The Gospel lesson for today (John 17:1-11) is a portion of Christ’s “High Priestly” Prayer, one of only two times we to get to listen in on the very prayers of Jesus. The other is in the Garden of Gethsemane following the Last Supper and just prior to His arrest. The prayer here is about the relationship between the Heavenly Father and Jesus, that of complete “oneness.” Jesus prays that those who believe in Him, His disciples throughout history, might be “one as He and the Father are one.” Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Christian history is that the Church remains as divided as we do. Christ’s own prayer has not been answered.
I am opting to use as my text today the second lesson from the first letter of Peter. Before we jump into Peter’s words, I believe it best that we first pray:
Heavenly Father, good, glorious and gracious God, we thank You for allowing us still to meet during this viral crisis, even if we do so removed physically from each other. Enable us, however, to be spiritually one, united and knowing the bond of peace, willing and increasingly able to represent You in positive, loving and uplifting ways to the world brought low by all kinds of forces, including right now, a virus. May our words to others and — if possible — our deeds bring healing, helpfulness and hope. We ask as we have been taught and invited to ask, in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
As I have shared on previous occasions, there are various forms of suffering we can experience:
1) Standing for what is right and just (if anything, there is not enough of this);
2) Suffering for Christ (probably not much of that either);
3) Suffering because we live on a fallen planet. Of this we tend to think there is far too much. In living on planet earth, we can suffer from either consequence or coincidence. It must be said that if you go out in public without a mask and don’t keep social distance, you could get COVID-19 or give it to someone else. That is consequence. If you happen unknowingly to get the virus even when taking appropriate and necessary precautions, that is coincidence.
The suffering Peter speaks of, however, is purely because of Christ.
We often incorrectly think of persecution as a common risk for early Christians everywhere. This was not true. Only during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (late 3rd and early 4thcenturies) was persecution universal within the Empire. Prior to that era, persecutions were regional and sporadic. Peter was writing at a time when persecutions could happen. It sounds as if, indeed, they were.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12) On Sunday mornings we are in the midst of a study on the Seven Churches of Asia Minor as are recorded in Revelation 2 & 3. Frequently in most of those congregations, refusal to venerate the Emperor in some way, thought by Christians to be idolatry, guaranteed serious sanction.
I must admit to becoming particularly upset with those who believe that saying “Merry Christmas” became forbidden with those saying it anyway being persecuted. I never stopped saying it even as I also have said “Good Hanukkah” to my Jewish friends. Rabbi Grumbacher says “Merry Christmas” to me and my family. Jesus warned us about straining for gnats and swallowing camels. (Matthew 23:24). This is a perfect example of such and hardly persecutory.
There were precious few Christians in Nazi Germany and their occupied countries who took the risk of saving Jews from not just persecution but annihilation. The greater masses of “Christians” in those territories either didn’t care or were too afraid to act. Claiming they didn’t know what was going on was pure nonsense. There are eras in Christian history when the Christians were the persecutors, as also in the Spanish Inquisition. This is as sad as it gets!
In our own day, literally right now, we are learning that COVID-19 is having proportionately far greater incidence and impact among people of color and the poor. What is an appropriate and effective manner for Christians to speak out about and act to mitigate this reality? Regardless of government action or inaction, are Christians, in America and elsewhere, willing to risk some form of sanction or persecution precisely because Christ mandated us to care for the vulnerable ones? It is a greater problem with us when we become indirectly persecutors. Ignoring this reality is a deadly sin of omission.
We “rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings … if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory … is resting upon you.” (1 Peter 4:14) Paul wrote the same thing in effect when he also invited Roman Christians to rejoice or boast in their sufferings, speaking specifically about suffering for Christ right there in the capital city. (Romans 5:3-5)
While not seeking to suffer, which would be a genuine sickness of spirit, there is something sacred about suffering, especially suffering for Christ and (or) suffering for what is right and just according to Christ.
Perhaps the sanctity of suffering is most revealed in Peter’s invitation to “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you indue time.” (1 Peter 5:6) Humility is the first of the seven saving virtues. Especially Luke the Evangelist employs these reversals like those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted; the first shall be last and the last first. There is that timing issue again in Christian understanding of God, namely, that suffering, injustice and the like may be the norm now, but the promise patiently trusted is coming when the Lord decides.
“Cast your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves … resist him (the devil) … and after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace … will himself restore, support, strengthen and establish you.”
We are not in Christian teaching promised immunity from anything difficult, dangerous, diseased, etc. What we are promised is that in the midst of any of those, we are loved, cared about and promised ultimate relief. In the meantime and in the midst of whatever suffering we incur, especially for Christ, we are to rejoice.
There is something holy in such suffering. There is sanctity in suffering. We do not and, indeed, must not, go looking for suffering in order to know sanctity, because as we are living for Christ and what is right and just, suffering will come on its own. The “world” cannot stand true righteousness and justice and all too often will not accept true love and care. Our purpose and our prayer is that the people of the world may come to see the sanctity of our suffering and rejoice with us in the Christ who suffered for everyone everywhere. Amen!
I’ve been listening to music over the past few months while stuck in the house. I always feel better when I listen to songs I love and I tend to get them stuck in my head. YouTube is nice, it’s free and a bit of a time waster. Perfect.
I started with Bonnie Raitt singing “Angel from Montgomery,” but then John Prine died of COVID-19 and I was bummed. The world lost a beautiful writer. I don’t care how old he was.
The April “Lion” arrived and after reading Rev Mueller’s Musings I had Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young wailing “Ohio” for days. The distrust resonated with me.
Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Exodus” came next. Not exactly Lutheran theology, but I like being one of Jah people — even if just for a few minutes.
And now — Alabama Shakes. “Hold On.” I can’t get it out of my head. If you haven’t heard it (and you like loud, rock, Janis Joplin-type music) find it on YouTube. It’s addictive. Brittany Howard mentions somebody up above a few times in the lyrics so God’s in there too. At least I believe he is. It’s my kind of prayer — especially when she wails “I don’t wanna wait.” It feels like a cry from one of the Psalms.
St Mark’s Council met on May 17. It was a long meeting — three hours. We had a lot to discuss. Fortunately, before I wrote this letter, the Governor sent guidelines for opening churches. And then we heard from the ELCA and then the Synod. We are getting a lot of advice. But, to be clear, no one is sure. We have a lot of information and common sense to sift through. Members of the congregation have had some great ideas too.
And now we have to buy stuff that may take awhile to get here. We need to be clean and safe. We are still working on a tentative date and we’ll get those specifics out when we have them. We have to be safe. But I want you to know we are working on a plan.
Council formed a Building Safety Committee to come up with suggestions for opening the building for a service. The Worship and Music Committee is working on how to have a safe service. We may not know exactly when we will be together but we will do our best to be safe. Council will meet again on May 31 via Zoom for more discussion.
A few other things:
We applied and were approved for a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan. The money has been deposited in our account.
The Great Room is finished – waiting for us to return.
We have changed the locks on the outside doors. Inside door locks remain the same. We are going to be careful about distributing keys. There were way too many keys out there and this was a good time to get that under control. Let me know if you need to get in the church and I will arrange for you to get in. Council will decide on May 31 how many and who to give keys to. The church building remains closed at least through May 31.
As we continue to observe social distance to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus, we give thanks for the technology and leaders that bring us together even when we are apart.
Join us for this pre-recorded worship service, led by Interim Pastor David E. Mueller, Director of Music and Worship Arts John Lasher and Worship Assistant Gregory Landrey. Also participating are this week’s virtual choir: Dave Herrmann, John Lasher, David McClure, John Nichols and Cheryl Powell and vocalists Fred Meckley, Jan Meckley and Teresa Stebner.
The link to the video is below and you can follow along with the text of Pastor’s sermon here, too.
“Abiding ‘Effectionately’” (John 14:15-21)
David E. Mueller, Interim Pastor
I believe I have previously shared with the people of St. Mark’s about the “Get Well” card we developed at Concordia a long time ago. It bears repeating today. You will see why in a minute.
In my pastoral training, we were taught when entering a hospital room or a living room to take a quick snapshot. In the case of a hospital room, look for cards, flowers, balloons or any other signs that the patient has people who care for her or him. Living rooms are far more difficult to assess.
In hospital rooms, I often noticed a card signed by everyone back at the fire hall, the Kiwanis, or the bowling league. I wondered why we couldn’t design a card from the congregation. A commercial artist in the congregation and I put our heads together and came up with a functional design. A scroll-like oval formed the outer side of an 8 X10 piece of heavy and nice stationary forming the words: “Your brothers and sisters in Christ at Concordia are praying for you.” We passed this around during worship on a clipboard and everyone in attendance signed it. It turned out to be wildly popular both for those who received it as well as a reminder to pray for those who signed it. It folded with praying hands on the cover and a Bible verse on the right inside folded page. The verse was John 14:18, which read in the then RSV: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.”
Especially during times of spiritual struggle, medical malady, relational brokenness, pandemics and whatever else might be causing a person agony, promises of God become particularly pertinent. The only caveat that invariably must be understood and accepted is God’s timetable.
I have often used the illustration of a toothache, which thank heavens I have not had in a long time. When a severe toothache hits, the whole body becomes almost useless and whatever one is doing or supposed to do comes to a grinding halt until one’s dentist can work her miraculous art. For some period of time we are defined by that toothache. No amount of time spent remembering that your kidneys and other vital organs are functioning fine matters.
In many human circumstances with pain, a person in effect can to some extent be defined by the matter. He becomes a “cancer patient;” she is a “divorcee and single mother;” Mabel has a son who is a “junkie.” The prayers for remedy can be prayed without ceasing even as the tears are increasing and the fears not decreasing. God seems a million miles away, not really giving a rip about my issue, or too busy with more difficult problems, etc. The “I will come to you” promise seems shallow and extremely difficult to believe.
I have been touched in my own struggles with Psalm 6. It’s a short Psalm and I hope you will read it later. In it, David is desperate and depressed. He floods his bed with tears. Nothing is going right. But in short order, long before any actual resolution to his issues, David reaches out and proclaims: “The Lord has heard my supplications; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies SHALL be ashamed….” (6: 9 & 10a) In effect, David seems to have learned to trust God’s timing.
Jesus promised to return and it has been two millennia! God is not in a hurry!
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all day long?” (Psalm 13:1-2a;). Here too, David holds nothing back in his questioning, but we need jump only a few verses (5 & 6) to read: “But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
There is a spiritual art to maintaining faith in the midst of difficulty, disaster, dismay. In John’s Gospel, appointed for today, there are some “holy hints.”
“If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Dutch Priest Henri Nouwen has written about “the wounded healer.” Often, those most effective in helping — even healing — others, are those who are themselves in pain. Sensitivity activates in us that often isn’t present or active when all is well. The current viral crisis has produced incredible amounts and accounts of people helping people even if there are also sad accounts of others being self- absorbed and unreasonable.
Years ago, I was attending another conference and was in great emotional pain. I ended up co-founding a professional organization and the letters I received when I got back astounded me. One Native American wrote: “Everything you said had deep top roots of wisdom.” That sounded and felt good but I didn’t understand how I could have functioned so well, given how I felt. Jesus’ primary commandment to “love one another,” did not abrogate loving God and others as self, but accentuated them. Loving may seem easier when all goes well, difficult but deeper when things are not right.
Jesus also offers the Holy Spirit, the “Advocate.” I love Acts 4:31: “When they (the Disciples) had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of Godwith boldness.” The Holy Spirit empowers us to love.
“Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14: 19b) And that is our hope, no matter how dark the night, joy comes in the morning. (See Psalm 30:5.)
When it comes to God acting, God fulfilling promises, we need faith (trust), love, spiritual empowerment, hope, and … patience. James the Apostle in his letter (5:7) wrote: “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.”
This litany of necessary ingredients to abiding “effectionately,” as well as affectionately, is no small list and of no minor tools of the truth trade. Yet as we receive and employ this equipment, these gifts: “You know him (Jesus), because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” Nothing that can be named (see Romans 8:31ff) can separate us from him, nothing! Jesus means everything! Amen.
e Wisdom Literature to seek some assistance. There are at least a few hints herein.
