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Pastor’s Pen March 2020

While this translation of Isaiah’s words (Isaiah 49:13-16) indicates that God has engraved our name on the palms of God’s hands…there is more. A better translation is that God has not just engraved our names but our very selves on God’s hands. What does it mean that God has imprinted every part of ourselves and our lives into the etchings of God’s own hands? What does that mean as we enter into the Lenten season? Lent is a season where we give attention to prayer, to fasting and to giving to oth-ers. This season we are going to look at God’s Work through Our Hands, reminded that we are etched into God’s hands.

We will go through the next 40 days looking at how our hands mesh into the very hands of God through Christ. As you hold a child’s hand, grasp a wiser old Lutheran’s hand, take the hand of a friend or a spouse…think about God’s hand clasping yours. The playfulness and seriousness of grasping another hand. Think about Christ’s hands scarred by the nails of the cross and through that act of love he will never let go of any of his baptized family.

Jesus promises, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29

Come to worship in Lent and see how God’s powerful hands are part of each of us. As we highlight different characters of the Bible during each weekend worship service and during holy week, it is my hope you see yourselves and those around you through them. As we hear stories of Eve, Nicodemus, Judas, Barabbas, Pilate, the thief’s father, Peter, the Centurion, and Mary Magdelene, may we see God’s redeeming work that culminates in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

Come to worship and experience the secure grip of the nail-scarred hands of our amazing God.

Lenten Peace,

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen December 2019

A new year begins December 1, with the first Sunday in Advent. The Season of Advent and the be-ginning of a new church year consist of the four Sundays before Christmas. The color of the church will be blue and we will light one candle each weekend.

In this season I find myself simultaneously filled by the joy and anticipation of the season and…running like crazy from one activity to another, barely on top of what’s coming next. So perhaps it is wise to simply to acknowledge the beau-ty, joy, and complexity of the season.

It is perhaps also wise to be drawn into the liturgy or songs and words and rhythm that worship brings. Reminding ourselves that we are participants in this story, not simply spectators or listeners. But that the word liturgy beckons us to live and experience these rich stories in our everyday lives.

It has been said that liturgy is humanity’s yearning for God and grace is God’s yearning for humanity. Liturgically, the stories we hear leading up to Christmas are stories of holy yearning, God’s and ours.

Advent means coming or to come. It is about two comings. It is waiting and watching for the Christ child in the form of new life, new birth and new hope. It is the fulfillment of God’s promises. It is also waiting and watching for the coming of the eschaton, the end times when the fullness of God’s kingdom will be present. These are both future events and present reality. We call this the already but not yet times.

Advent is also seen as the countdown to Christmas. Santa Claus has been mulling around since before Halloween. Shopping lists are growing as the number of shopping days dwindle. Menus are being finalized and travel is being arranged. Trees need decorating and presents need wrapping. Somewhere in all that is the stuff of everyday life—work, school, car pools, sports, paying bills and running errands.

The temptation is to live a “hurry up and get busy” type of Advent. That is not the liturgical understanding of Advent. That kind of Advent leads to a “hurry up, get to church, open the presents, take down the tree, Christmas is over, whew” kind of Christmas.

So what is the liturgy of Advent beckoning us to do to acknowledge the beauty, joy and complexity of the season? Perhaps giving some time to silence. Silence as a way of waiting, of watching of listening to what is going on within and around us. What if we were intentional about coming to church a few minutes early just to sit and watch the lights on the Christmas tree, or do so at home? What if we sat on a park bench for just a few minutes or at a chair at the coffee shop or paused in the library, or somewhere else. If we were to be intentional about silence for a just a few minutes each day of Advent what might the Holy One show us and say to us about all the other things surrounding us this season? Might the yearnings of God and of us come to fruition in beautiful, joyful and complex ways? I wonder.

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen November 2019

There is often a reading that occurs on All Saints Day. It is called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and Sermon on the Plain in Luke.

17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Luke 6:17-19

I find that I enjoy Luke’s perspective this year. I prefer the Sermon on the Plain because there is the act of sheer ac-commodation. The crowds come to listen; they also come to have their illnesses cured, and demons cast out, and needs met from his abundant power. These people are vulnerable in the extreme, and Jesus knows that. So rather than invite them on a spiritual pilgrimage up the mountain, Jesus comes down in their midst to meet them in their vulnerabil-ity and need.

What I like about our Lutheran perspective on sainthood which is that you become a saint when you are baptized. You do not need to die or work miracles to become a saint. But according to Luke, recognizing our vulnerability is what it means to be a saint. Not to be perfect, or to be different, or to be particularly pious, or to be zealous, but to be vulnera-ble, and out of that vulnerability to turn to God in need.

Luke helps me in turn make the connection between this passage and All Saints’, that day on which we remember those we have loved and who have moved to the nearer presence of God in the past year. Because death and grief are one of those things that reminds us of our vulnerability and solidarity with others. We don’t like to go to that place of vul-nerability, but as I am coming to enjoy reading Brene Brown, it is that which makes us human. She says when we try to numb those things that are uncomfortable or pose a risk – feelings of sadness, grief, and vulnerability – we also numb our capacity to feel joy, satisfaction, and happiness.

On All Saints we are reminded that no one is exempt from death, loss, or grief. And so in many ways All Saints’ is the practical and personal enactment of the words we spoke on Ash Wednesday a half year earlier. Yes, we are all dust, and All Saints’ invites us to recognize and give thanks for those who were important to us and who have returned to dust, caught up in the promise of the God who first created humanity from dust and continues to raise the dead to life in Christ.

Church, at its best, can be a place that reminds us that vulnerability is not something to shun or deny. It where we should hear that God has promised to meet us precisely at our points of vulnerability, our points of need, and our points of brokenness. This is why the Nicene Creed, after testifying to Jesus’ divinity and humanity and relationship to God goes on to assert that, “for us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven….” And this is why Jesus, in Luke’s Gospel, comes down off the mountain to bless those who are most vulnerable. So if you are feeling particularly vulnera-ble in these days moving into Winter, as Fall activities subside, know that you are blessed, blessed indeed.

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen September 2019

Refrain:

I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!

All who follow Jesus, all around the world!

Yes, we’re the church together!

1. The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people. (Refrain)

3. Sometimes the church is marching; sometimes it’s bravely burning, sometimes it’s riding, sometimes hiding;

Always it’s learning

(Refrain)

2. We’re many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces, all colors and all ages, too from all times and places. (Refrain)

4. And when the people gather, there’s singing and there’s praying; there’s laughing and there’s crying

all of it saying

(Refrain)

This summer we have been hearing about and reading and chanting the hymnbook of the Bible, the book of Psalms. In the midst of our focus we have been vacationing, learning, teaching, serving and being in God’s creation in ways that only summer can provide. As flat Jesus has taken trips to many different places near and far and as we ourselves have taken journeys near and far, I am reminded of the song above, “We Are the Church.”

Though our “home base” is the very beautiful historic building we are restoring, our church is so much more! I am continually humbled by the ways members of our congregation reflect the love of Christ wherever one goes.

I heard about many family reunions or friend reunions in which laughter and love were shared. I saw many different types of community gatherings that benefitted good causes and created fellowship among new and old residents alike. I attended sporting events which encouraged people of all ages to be active in positive activities.

I had the honor of joining with forty-one other members of our community to serve and learn in North Carolina. All of the people we encountered said, “you should be proud of your young people. They are quick learners and hard workers and so very kind.” I had the joy of joining fourteen young ladies from our congregation for a week of community at Lutherdale Bible Camp where they led worship, impressed people with their understanding of the Bible and again were a positive reflection of our community. Our larger Evangelical Lutheran Church body met in Milwaukee for it’s triannual gathering and history was once again recorded.

Our church building js undergoing some renovation. Stained glass is removed and being repaired, wooden frames are being created and masonry is being perfected. It is being transformed in similar ways to how God is transforming our bodies through summer experiences.

2 Our building is our pride and joy and we celebrated that during our community festival. God thinks our baptismal bodies are pretty special too. Our church and our individual bodies are exemplified through the words of that hymn. Both are about how we reflect the love and light of Christ in all that we do. As one of our leaders in North Carolina said, “ministry is about bringing dignity to whomever walks through our door.” We are about bringing Christ to whomever we come in contact with. We should be joy filled in the ways were church inside and outside of the building this summer. When we are church together in so many positive, life giving ways, the darkness dissipates and light shines forth. We should also be looking forward to the ways we will continue in this very full Fall month of September! We are the church together!

Blessings,

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen August 2019

God fishes for us not to catch us so we don’t go to hell, God catches us to love us in a way that reflects God’s love of his only Son and to draw us closer.

The Message Luke 5:1-11

Summer can lend itself to some lazy days of taking part in God’s creation. My daughter, Pennelope found out that she enjoys a summer pastime, that of fishing. Deerfield schools provided and opportunity for children to fish over by London and Pennelope took the bait.

With Blake Schutte’s lucky rod, she ended up “snagging” a fish. Her bobber went down so she reeled in the line and had a fish on the end. However, she caught it in the eye rather than in the mouth. Those around her thought it was dead until it moved it’s flipper ever so slightly. She threw it back in but was thrilled to share her story with us at dinner that night.

It got me to thinking about God. God puts us into his family of fish at baptism. We are reminded of God’s promises each time water “swims” around us and we touch it, play in it, fish in and around it. Throughout our lives we continually get “snagged” out of the water by God. Sometimes we are frozen because it is a bit scary and we are out of our element. Sometimes we dance in it. Sometimes we hold on and are just dragged along for the ride. Sometimes we eagerly go after God’s bait, knowing it will fill us in ways we need.

But no matter what, God is always trying to snag us because we are baptized. Any way that God can. God never stops providing the bait of opportunities to be caught by God so that we might be known by God. When we realize we are caught, God is so excited there is jumping up and down and dancing. God can’t wait to share his great catch with anyone who will listen. His eyes get sparkly and even teary eyed. Each and every time. To God, we are the catch of a life time each and every time.

So continue to enjoy the summer and getting snagged by a God who loves us and wants to show us that love in any way he can.

Blessings,

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen: April 2019

The season of Lent is often understood to be about repentance. In many ways its about repenting from our sinful ways and turning back towards God. This led me to spend some time recently pon- dering the nature or essence of sin. After a recent family development I was struck with the thought, perhaps sin is like bubble gum.

The stickiness of sin may at first appear pretty harmless and even intriguing to us; perhaps even be- ing enticing to us with a sweet fruit or refreshing spearmint flavor. We may dabble with it, even chew on it for a bit enjoying the novelty, the uniqueness, and the excitement it elicits. We operate under the assumption that we have it all under control, that everything is just fine. We may even start to explore a bit more with it, blow bubbles, twirl it on our fingers, pick it up off the ground and put it back in when it drops out of our mouth. But, eventually we become complacent, too com- fortable with it, and sooner or later we fall asleep and it ends up all over our hair, pillows, and lives in a big gooey sticky mess.

But what is God’s response to our sin, to our bubble gum? Well, I suspect that after the frustrationand disappointment which God experiences over our ridiculous actions, God approaches us withgrace and humility to do God’s best to remove the sticky gum from our lives. Sometimes God usesthe peanut butter and oil of friendship and family to lubricate it away. Sometimes God uses worship and prayer to cut it away. Regardless, God is always willing to assist us whenever we approach andconfess “I’ve got something sticky going on in my life!”

As we proceed through the church seasons of Lent and Easter, perhaps take a moment toacknowledge that it’s our bubble gum, our sins, that holds Christ onto the Cross. But perhaps more

importantly take a moment to acknowledge that its God’s mercy anden to us, which helps to lubricate Christ right off the cross and back into mercy and grace that helps to cut the stickiness from our lives.

Blessings,

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen: March 2019

As I arrive back from New Orleans, the place where Mardi Gras takes over during Epiphany, I think about the next season in church life, Lent. Mardi Gras begins on Epiphany (January 6) and ends on Shrove or Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Mardi Gras is the time of celebrating the light of Christ through parades, king cakes and much more. But even celebration cannot last forever. So after the main event of Fat Tuesday comes to pass, so then do we move into Lent via the Ash Wednesday service.

Ash Wednesday leading us into a time where we think about the fragility of life, mortality and the ashesthat will mark our heads and the beginning of Lent. Lent being the time which the church invites us “to theobservance of forty days of self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, self-denial; by reading andmeditating on God’s Word.” Perhaps some of us are already thinking, “What will I give up for Lent this year?”

Some years I wonder if I am really ready for Lent, or want to engage in Lent in ways that seem authentic towards the season. Some days I wonder if I want to get through Lent or if I want Lent to get through me.So maybe for Lent this year I will lean on Mary Oliver’s poem excerpt, “Wild Geese”:

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your bodyLove what it loves.”

Those lines encourage me not to approach Lent as a program for self-improvement. They save me from embarking on a journey of self-punishment in hope of a divine reward. They caution me not to devote forty days of my life to giving up only to take back on Easter morning what I gave up.

Instead these words might be a better way of living out the intention of Lent. To discover “the soft animal of my body,” that deeply human part of me that loves. What do I really love? What are my treasures?Where is my heart?

In walking through the gospel of Matthew, perhaps we need to be mindful of Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The heart follows one’s treasures. So maybe Lent, throughvarious practices allows us to acknowledge the treasures God has given us and discern them from the treas- ures we have given ourselves. Perhaps Lent is a time to face up to ourselves, see the good and the bad and figure out what direction we should go.

Learning to love and learning what to love, learning what to hold on to and what to let go of, that’s the real work of Lent. That’s when Lent gets through to me.

Blessings,

Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen: January 2019

Are you ready? For Christmas? Are all the preparations in place for memories to be made and relationships to be nurtured?

Well at the Slater house we are a bit behind this year. But my husband reminds me that Christmas starts on De- cember 25th, not October 31st! And so perhaps we all need the reminder that Christmas begins on the 25th and goes until Epiphany on January 6th.

Contained within this newsletter are ways to celebrate each day of the Christmasseason (which you can certainly do while singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas”). With each day of Christmas we should be reminded of the reasonChrist came into the world. Emmanuel, literally God with us to show just how much God loves us. God loves us so much that God was willing to come and be alive in our image of all the images of creation.

In this season of Christmas be reminded that we are blessed by a God who is willing to come in our flesh to reveal just how deeply God’s love resides within us.

Here are some blessings from “Sundays and Seasons,” our liturgical book that can help you bring God’slove from church into your home:

Blessing of your Christmas Tree as you sing “O Christmas Tree”

God our creator, we praise you for this Christmas tree, gift of the earth and sign of your evergreen pres- ence. AS we illumine this tree, let your blessing come upon us. Send us your Son, the tender branch of Jesse, who brings us light and life. May we who stand in its light eagerly welcome the true Light which never fades. All glory be yours now and forever. Amen

Blessing of Gifts while eating goodies

Blessed be your name, O God, you are the source of every blessing. From your hand we receive the good gifts of life, health and salvation. As we give and receive these presents, bless us with hearts thankful for the gift of your Son and lead us to share from our abundance with those in need. We ask this through Christ our Savior. Amen.

Blessing for the New Year while sipping Egg Nog

O God, you have been our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. AS we welcome this new year, bless us with peace. Fill our days with the light of Christ and lead us on the path of life until we see you in our heavenly home. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Give thanks for your blessings in this Christmas season, whenever it may begin. Know that God has al- ready blessed you, whether you feel prepared for Christmas or not, Christ is coming! You are loved.

Merry Christmas, Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen December 2018

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from hisroots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” Isaiah 11:1-2

Advent is the beginning of the new church year. It is the time when we once again take notice of the darkness that surrounds us as days grow short and even as we prepare for Christmas know that some are not seeing celebration. There is grief for those not present this year, the feeling of being over- whelmed by the tasks at hand, the other side of the season. We will have new paraments or cloths in the sanctuary this Advent. Lenore Swalheim has created these beautiful cloths that portray important images of the season. You may recognize most of the images, but the stump of Jesse may not be as well known, but is a very important image of the season.

Here is a little background. The superpower Assyrians took over God’s people. leaving God’s peoplewere at rock bottom. Though God told them they were blessed and set apart they were not feeling it and wondering where God was. The King of Judah, Hezekiah seeks out the prophet Isaiah to deter-mine how God would respond to a tired, hopeless people. The verses above are part of Isaiah’s re-sponse. The image here is of a tree that has been so devastated that only a stump remains. Jesse was the father of King David (1 Sam. 16:1–13), so Isaiah is speaking of the Davidic line of kings which is important because David was the king of kings for the Israelites. The prophet knew that things were asbad as they could get for the people of God. David’s line would decline to such a degree that it would be essentially left for dead. History tells us this is exactly what happened, with David’s royal dynastyall but dying out. Nevertheless, Isaiah also saw that while the Davidic line would seem to be dead, life would remain within the stump. A shoot—life barely detectable at first—would emerge. But once this shoot went forth, it would become a mighty tree. A king of humble origins would be a signal for the nations after the exile.

All of this is brought out in Isaiah’s reference to the shoot “from Jesse,” not “from David.” John Cal- vin comments that Isaiah “does not call him David, but Jesse; because the rank of that family hadsunk so low, that it appeared to be not a royal family, but that of a mean peasant, such as the familyof Jesse was, when David was unexpectedly called to the government of the kingdom.” However, that is not the only significance in Isaiah’s reference to the coming Messiah being the shoot of Jesse. Com-mentators point out that the only king in the Old Testament who was called the son of Jesse was Da-vid. All of the rest of the kings were called sons “of David.” In applying the parentage of Jesse specifi-cally to the coming Messiah, Isaiah is doing more than revealing the family from whom the Messiah will come. He is revealing that the Messiah will be at least as important in the history of redemption asDavid was. In fact, as later revelation tells us, the Messiah is even greater than David, being David’s Lord as well as David’s son (Ps. 110:1; Mark 12:35–37).

One of the things that makes Jesus the Messiah greater than even David himself is His right-eousness in judging the poor and deciding with equity for “the meek of the earth” (Isa. 11:4).Christ is the incomparably noble and righteous King, the only one who can flawlessly ensure that the least of all people will receive perfect justice. This is a great comfort for us in times when we ourselves are in the darkness of winter and in need of hope. This is where we as Christians begin the new year.

Advent peace, Pastor Holly

Pastor’s Pen November 2018

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments:“You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many posses- sions.Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24And the disciples were per- plexed at these words. Mark 10:17-24

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” As we watched our young people affirm their baptism,affirming that through baptism they are given eternal life, and as we approach All Saints, when wethink about being reunited with those before us, we might ask this question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The content of the question is odd. In a sense, it’s an absurd question. We can’t do anything togain an inheritance. To inherit something is by definition passive. If my father has an inheritance setup for me, the only way I get it is for my father to die. Then it comes to me. I haven’t done any-thing for it. My father might choose to give it to me before he dies, but even then, I have done nothing; I simply receive. So, from the very outset, the young man is going in the wrong direction if he wants to discover anything about eternal life.

There’s something else a little odd. How quickly Jesus changes the subject from eternal life to howthe rich young man is to live in this life. If the man is asking about salvation, if he’s asking about hisrelationship with God, Jesus answers his question by urging care for his neighbor. The symptoms of that broken relationship are not what the people are doing directly to God, but all the ways that they are living out an oppression to their neighbors, especially the poor. It seems that for Jesus thesign of God’s presence in the community is communal justice, a focus on furthering the commongood and caring for the most vulnerable.

So, for all of us, Jesus’ words are a warning. What we have can serve as a serious obstacle to life in the kingdom of God. Here’s how that works: If we are determined to hold on to what we have, if we place what we have at the center of our lives, if that’s what we think gives life meaning and pur-poses, if our stuff and our money become the measure of what life is all about, if our stuff and our money are what we are clinging to for security. Jesus encourages a willingness to let go of the hol- low supports for life, those supports that are epitomized, but not limited to wealth. There is a long list of things we are tempted to rely on. No wonder the rich young man went away sorrowful; nowonder the disciples threw up their hands in frustrated despair and asked, “Then my Lord, who can be saved?”

Exactly. We cannot soften Jesus’ words about the difficulty of the rich man entering the kingdomof God. In fact, I think the whole point of it is the impossibility of it, and the accompanying miracleof God calling us into God’s family. So often in Mark’s gospel, Jesus is the one who makes theimpossible possible. He feeds a crowd with a few loaves of bread and some fish. He restores sick and dead children to life. A destitute widow deposits her last coin. And in perhaps the mostunlikely miracle of all, God takes the crucifixion of God’s Son and turns it into the event that bringslife to the whole world. We are reminded again in the first few words of this gospel lesson that Jesus is on a journey; he is heading to Jerusalem; his face is turned resolutely to the mission before him. There in the holy city, by his death and resurrection, God would bring life to you, to me, to the whole world, indeed to all creation.

In this context when we ask the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer isnothing, except to open our hands and hearts to receive the transformed life that God offers to us, a life grounded in the love and grace of God, a life grounded in our own baptism into the death and resurrection of the Crucified One. That knowledge should be freeing. Freeing to know we can live into a promise that we will be with others again, freeing in knowing we can give instead of receive, freeing in knowing we can continue to live into our baptismal promises because of what God promised us, not what we promised God.

Blessings, Pastor Holly