Voices Crying Out in the Wilderness

My Sermon that was given on 12/14/14 at First Lutheran in Morris, MN

Grace and Peace to you, from God our Creator and awaited Messiah, Jesus Christ, Amen.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”

John was being scrutinized by the authorities at that time. Why WAS he dunking people in the water? Yes, dunking. Immersing. In Greek, the word, βαπτίζω means to literally sink, dunk, immerse. When you eat your doughnuts with your coffee, many of you may βαπτίζω your doughnut into your coffee. I βαπτίζω my chicken nuggets in my ranch dressing. Dunking. It’s what we do. It’s what John was doing in the Jordan River a couple thousand years ago. The authorities saw what he was doing, and were asking; on what authority HE had to be βαπτίζω-ing people. HE wasn’t Elijah. HE wasn’t the Messiah. HE wasn’t the prophet… HE was just some wild man out in the wilderness… Crying out… that the real Messiah was coming. The Messiah; the Christ; the Savior of the world… was coming to save them from… themselves.

When have you needed saving? When have you done something terribly awful, that when you dig yourself a hole, you need someone to throw out a rope for you, BEFORE you just keep on digging? When you have Foot-IN-Mouth disease, and you need someone to bail you out before you keep on shoving it on in… When you try to repair a broken relationship, and yet, you end up breaking it even more, causing the divide between you to grow even larger. When you return home… only to realize that home… isn’t the home you left all those years ago…

This, this is my home.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jon Rundquist. I grew up in this church; this congregation. I bring you Advent Greetings from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul; where I have just recently (as of yesterday) finished my 4th semester of working on earning my Master of Divinity. I live in Lauderdale with my beautiful wife, Tiffany and our 2.5yr old son, Samuel. Tiffany is a full-time case manager working to coordinate medical services for the elderly in Hennepin County, and Samuel enjoys pre-preschool at a daycare at Luther Seminary for five days a week. I want to thank you, First Lutheran, for your welcoming presence, and your continued financial and prayerful support of my vocational journey. It’s always nice to have a place to come home to.

I have a few days left of my Clinical Pastoral Education at Unity Hospital in Fridley. There, I work with patients on the oncology unit, and the substance abuse unit. On the oncology unit, I have the blessed opportunity to be with patients in their battles with cancer and other associated complications. Across the way, I also have the unique privilege of walking with people in their times of struggle with their own disease of addiction. The doctors, nurses and other professionals are there to walk alongside folks struggling with their disease called addiction. They are there to save folks… from themselves; from their own disease of addiction.

Who do you have to save you from yourself? Who do we have to save us from ourselves?

The prophet writes, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners… to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion.” Isaiah 61:1-2

There’s a tremendous amount of mourning and grieving going on in our world country these days. ISIL wages war in a country we’ve left for good – twice; only for us to return a third time. Fifteen billion dollars were spent on campaign advertisements alone this election season; while millions go without enough food to eat in this country. So many mass and school shootings have happened in the last couple years that they barely get reported on anymore. Young men are dying in the streets of our country solely because of the color of their skin.  As a nation, we recently found out that our country ruthlessly tortured hundreds of men for years because whoever was in charge didn’t deem basic inalienable human rights necessary to give other human beings. Who is going to save us from ourselves?

These are the voices crying out in the wilderness. These are the voices crying out for a savior. WE are the voices crying out for a savior.

Paul writes in his letter to the Thessalonians, “See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all… Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Paul was right 2000 years ago. How many people have died in the name of ‘justice’; repaying evil for evil. If we are to follow the Bible so closely, how do we seem to miss Paul’s words here so often?  But then again, how many of you rejoice always, or pray without ceasing, or give thanks in all circumstances? “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” That’s right. We can’t. We can’t follow everything that Paul says; that Jesus says; that God says. There are 613 laws in the Hebrew Scriptures. That’s 613 times where God tells the people, “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not” – over and over again. Early rabbis quickly figured out that it would be nearly impossible to follow every single law. So, they follow which ones they can, and allow for human error and logic to dictate which ones are more important than others.

We as Christians know there’s more to the story. We know what savior awaits us. We know who John is crying out in the wilderness for. We know who WE are calling out in OUR wilderness. Jesus the Christ is our Savior. Jesus the Christ is our Messiah, our Emmanuel. For it is in Christ that we wait this season of Advent; in this time of darkness and patience. For it is in Christ that we βαπτίζω baptize the faithful. For it is our faith in Christ that we wait – to save us from ourselves. It is the promise of God’s Grace that is bestowed to us and everyone; through the awaited Christ. It is this Gospel message; literally this ‘Good News’ of Christ’s redemptive Grace that we must rest our blessed assurance on.

 The Psalmist writes, “Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.” Psalm 126:6

Lives have been lost, and tears shed. This Advent season; we must remember that even while there is so much death and destruction in our world; so much darkness – Christ, who is our light shining through the darkness, sets us free from this darkness and bondage of sin; so that we may, as the Psalmist writes, “come home with shouts of joy” at the promise of this Grace, and work together to restore our country, so that all may come home with shouts of joy.

I leave you with some words of redemption in relation to our local community. About 450 years ago; a few years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Church and jumpstarted the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics alike disagreed greatly with the Anabaptists (our modern day Mennonites, Hutterites, Christian Apostolics and Amish) and would persecute them greatly; killing them in droves. Three hundred years later in the late 1800s, the descendants from these persecuted Anabaptists began settling in America, with some settling around here, in western Minnesota. Hundreds of years prior, the Lutherans and Catholics killed them in droves, but in the late 1800s, these Anabaptists settled in the land of Lutherans and Catholics. Here in Morris, we have a fine example of how our modern descendants of these Anabaptists, the various groups of Christian Apostolic church members, us Lutherans and Catholics, along with our Mennonite and Hutterite neighbors; can all live together in this agriculturally-rich railroad and college town; despite our rough beginnings. God’s Grace was shown to all then, and it is shown to all of us now.

Seven years ago, when I graduated high school, there were no Latina/Hispanic students in the high school. This year, at least a half-dozen Latina students graduated from the high school, with more in the following graduating classes. Our Latina neighbors are growing, and slowly being welcomed into this community. Who is the voice crying out in Morris? Grace abounds in this community. I foresee great gracious potential in this community for each and every one of us to show our neighbors the same Grace that God gives us all. The same Grace we see in the promise of the awaited Messiah this Advent season.

Show our neighbors that this community is grace-filled. “Till the spear and rod can be crushed by God, who is turning the world around…” “the dawn draws near,” First Lutheran, “for the world is about to turn.” Be the voice that is crying out in the wilderness. Be the face of Christ’s redemptive Grace, Love and Mercy to our community. Together, we shall prosper.  

As Paul writes in today’s second lesson, the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen.

Being Rural, Being Radical, Being Church - Get Set for the Millenial Clergy Wave

Friends in Christ - Grace and peace to you this day from God our Creator and our Lord Jesus Christ:

Reading Emmy Kegler and Eric Worringer's blog post last week, and after reading the Rev. Charles Austin's article in The Lutheran (which the aforementioned co-authored blog post was written in response to); I decided to pair up with my co-CPE Chaplain and fellow Luther Seminary Middler, Dean Safe to write a response to both posts as well - to add more voices.

Ultimately, more voices are what we need. Ultimately, we think Millennials have proved their worth at making their voices heard. Through movements like Occupy Wall Street and many other vocal protestations of the issues affecting our generation and our contexts, we have been able to effectively raise our concerns. This is our take on what it means to be and do church going forward into a “shifting” American religious climate.

Both Dean and Jonathan’s upbringings consist of a primarily Small Town/Rural story. We are concerned with BEING the church and DOING church in a way that may be perceived as “radical”, but more important, what is life-giving to (particularly) rural people in a shifting world. Where oftentimes rural folk are neglected, or considered “fly-over country”; where churches are closing left and right; where rural people are aging - how can we as millennial pastors become passionately invested in being the church for these people whose lives are changing just as often without much say in the matter, and who are afraid of being forgotten? How can we be the radical, life-giving Church to a people whose histories are valued, whose traditions are near-sacred?

Radical and life-giving… Like The House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado.

Thus, we’d like to address the ‘Nadia Problem’ that Emmy and Eric make reference to. It has been a concern of ours as well. They write, “We have witnessed the rise and popularity, and celebrated the work of Nadia Bolz-Weber, but we also have an issue with it.  Not because of anything she has said or done, or because she is tattooed, crass-mouthed, or too progressive or too orthodox, but because she does not represent the actual ELCA.  She has been raised up and celebrated as a voice, particularly before our youth and young adults, as "a new way of doing church," putting the "evangelical" in "Evangelical", and so on.  Then we send kids home from Youth Gatherings and college weekends and seminary visits to places where church continues in much the same way it always has.”

Yes. Precisely. We wholeheartedly agree.

They continue, “Our concern, which again is brought up by this article, is that because Nadia has become an example, it allows the institution to use her image and ministry while still largely continuing on its own path, rife with institutional anxiety and attitudes of scarcity, and bemoaning the loss of a generation of institutional pastors.  We continue to produce leaders equipped to explain what it means to be Lutheran (using our institutional memory), when what the world hungers for is a real and meaningful experience of a God worthy of worship and service. What we pray and yearn for is not an institution with one Nadia as an example, but a transformational generation of leaders of all ages that are able to cope and proclaim the Gospel as well as she has.”

We’ve had some thoughts as of late, on our down time from CPE at Unity Hospital, that may ALSO seem “radical” at first. But as we state above, radical is how we need to look at how we DO Church. As the church is “shifting” in its identity (in our post-Christendom world where the church can no longer assume that people will come through the doors), we as millennial pastors-to-be are called to find ways to bring the church to the people without the pretense of “doing church”. Rather, as pastors, we are called to bring ourselves; our broken, ordinary, foul-mouthed selves and some bread and some wine and gather around a common space and say, “Hey. I have this message. I have this bread and wine. There’s community here, and I’m a sinner amongst you. Let’s talk.” It’s in doing this; in getting outside of the church walls, in losing the expectation that people must come to the church, where these radical acts of ministry will suddenly not be so “radical”. Radical, different, and earnest as we see these things now will be the new normal. We envision a world where pastors are out on the streets and sidewalks in the small towns and big cities with the homeless and poor and marginalized and everyone would recognize it as being the Church.

“Radical” congregations do indeed exist. They’re the ones with the hip names like, ‘Jacob’s Porch’, ‘Mercy Seat’, ‘Solomon’s Porch’, among others. Our point is this: Radical doesn’t need to have a hip name. Radical doesn’t need to be in a major metropolitan area to BE Church. A rural congregation of 15 people wondering where their hope has gone is no less doing amazing acts of ministry in living out God’s call. Radical can indeed be found in, as Emmy and Eric feel, “church[es] marked by “Scandinavian” jokes, cultural enclaves, Lake Wobegon stoicism, and endless conflict over any number of issues.”

Dean’s home congregation, Spring Garden Lutheran in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota is the traditional white-clapboard country Lutheran church as described above, however now the church is finding itself having to respond to the clarion call for widespread social equality. With the 2009 Churchwide Statement on Human Sexuality, the pastors voiced their support. However, no conversations with the congregation have been held. How do we spread those words of equality, peace, and hope from the pulpit in ways that aren't considered so radical? Because they shouldn't be. Why do we need to consider being an advocate of marriage, gender and racial equality in the name of Christ an earth-changing position to hold?  

Jonathan’s congregation in which he grew up in, First Lutheran in Morris, Minnesota; is one of two ELCA congregations in Morris. Morris is a small community that has undergone many changes in the last 20 years, but has been recently undergone a new change: Latino immigration. Northern and Central European Lutheran, Catholic, and Anabaptist immigrants emigrated to the area in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, and because of the railroad and fertile farmground; populated many small communities in the surrounding counties. Now, Morris and other communities around rural Minnesota are experiencing a newer changing demographic by way of immigrants from other parts of the world. How can Morris and these other communities be a welcoming face to these ‘New Minnesotans’? How can we be the hands and feet of Christ, to our new neighbors? These, and other important questions are what face modern Small Town/Rural communities.

It’s no myth and it’s readily apparent that these Small Town/Rural settings ARE changing. Small Town/Rural dynamics are steadily shifting - ways of life for many rural folk are becoming unsettled. Specifically in agriculturally-based contexts, small family farms are quickly becoming a bygone era, with land being purchased and cultivated by large, corporate agriculture. Modern advances in production and agricultural technology means the need for less hands and workers in the field. Gone, by and large, are the days of the small, family farm where commitment and teamwork were imperative for a family’s survival.

This is what we will be walking into as future pastors.

In this haphazard, shifting era, the important question that needs to be asked is how do we do ministry with a renewed sense of what it means to be the rural church, and the Church at large? What, in this time and space, can the Church be to give her people hope? It begins with this, we think: this “radical” concept we talk about above should merely be the standard by which we as human beings sharing the Gospel and living lives of grace should hold ourselves to. In essence, there shouldn’t have to be this “radical voice” in the first place. Those “radical voices” should be the Church - plain and simple - in broken spaces and places and with the broken people, of whom we are a part. This ‘Nadia Problem’ shouldn't be such a big deal. The way Nadia has been doing ministry should just be the Church, period.

We feel, as (future) Lutheran pastors, that all clergy (future and current, lay and ordained) need to create those spaces for the marginalized and oppressed. This should be a Church-wide undertaking. It is, after all, our calling, hope and promise that takes root in the Gospel proclamation. We hope that this ideal is what all of us, as Christians with a public leadership role, are aspiring to do. This needs to be the Church, not just some poster image that we claim as our banner but in reality are just using to mask issues of injustices in denominational polity.

How we as young (future) pastors begin to do Church may be different than it has been in many years, but as Emmy and Eric assert, “Young leaders are of great value to our church, particularly because of the rapid rate of cultural change that has occurred since the birth of the ELCA. The innovative ideas that young leaders (both ordained and lay) can bring to our worship, programs, structure, and congregational life should be celebrated as greatly as the gifts of the "older generation" whose retirement is impending.” It’s time for us up-and-coming millennial pastors and Church leaders to get our hands dirty. To revitalize. To go out among our people and ask, “What gives you joy? What can we as the Church do for you?” To proclaim the Gospel of Christ, clearly and with emboldened clarity, and to pass bread and wine for the sake of the world which we are called to serve and be a part of.

We are called, sent, redeemed and emboldened Luther Middlers, adding our voices; opening our hearts; nailing our theses to the door. Now it’s your turn.

Here we stand - we can do no other:

Dean Safe and Jonathan Rundquist

Luther Seminary Master of Divinity Middlers

“All alone, or in two's,

The ones who really love you

Walk up and down outside the wall.

Some hand in hand

And some gathered together in bands.

The bleeding hearts and artists

Make their stand.

And when they've given you their all

Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy

Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall.”

- Outside the Wall - Pink Floyd

Weeping and Gnashing: Sermon on The Parable of the Wheat and Weeds

Today's sermon on Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 that I preached at Living Waters Lutheran in Sauk Rapids, my current Home Congregation. It's a a rough text, and a rough sermon to go along with it. We are indeed called to "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable", right? As always, you get the benefit of pictures! 

What is going on in the world right now? Record cool temperatures have embraced the Midwest in the last couple weeks, while the Western United States has seen record heat, fires and drought. The Eastern seaboard is flooding, and Minnesota had one of the wettest Junes on record. The lands that our Savior once trod are now engulfed in constant bombings, with Israelis invading Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians. Hundreds of people have perished in the last couple weeks, with no viable peace in sight. One plane has disappeared, and another just like it from the same country was shot down, with hundreds of people gone forever. Children are crossing our southern border in droves, and we as an American people can argue till we’re blue in the face while these children lie in huddled masses, awaiting a resolution. An estimated 50,000 people in this country have been killed due to gun violence since I stood up here after the Newtown school shooting 18 months ago. Hundreds of people are dying in West Africa due to an outbreak of the Ebola virus, and civil unrest continues in Ukraine, Egypt and Syria. Meanwhile, here we are.

Here we are, in this air conditioned sanctuary, with little to no worry of any of these tragedies hitting too close to home. What can we, as people of faith, in the face of all this… this evil… what can we do to aid in all of this?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us another parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. At first glance, this parable makes for an excellent hellfire and brimstone sermon; complete with weeping and gnashing of teeth. But, I’m not that type of person to be spouting off such things, so I won’t. But, it clearly says in the text that weeds must go into the fire, with the weeping and gnashing of teeth… “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father...” It’d be easy to point to all of you sitting here in this room, in this sanctuary, that you are all the righteous ones sitting here, deserving of being collected and placed in the barn… But who am I to say so?

Death awaits you all with nasty, big pointy teeth...

Who am I? Well, I’m a member of Living Waters as many of you are, along with my family. I bring greetings to you from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, where I just recently completed my first year of my eventual Master of Divinity, on my way to be an awesome pastor like pastors Denise and Todd. For those of you who don’t know, or need a refresher, I was born in St. Cloud, and attended the recently destroyed Roosevelt Elementary for two years before moving and growing up in Morris, where Todd was my pastor. I eventually graduated from Morris Area High School in 2007, and after a few years attended Minnesota State University Moorhead. While at MSUM, I was deeply involved with Lutheran Campus Ministry where I met my wife Tiffany. Tiffany and I were married the day after she graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work, and we moved to St. Cloud where I attended 2 more years at St. Cloud State. While there, I was again involved with Lutheran Campus Ministry, became a member here, and we welcomed our son, Samuel into the world in March of 2012. We moved last June to Luther Seminary, where after spending two weeks with New Wine last year, I started and finished Summer Greek. I survived my first year of classes, and here I am in front of you today, telling you that I don’t know what to say about this Gospel lesson.

I can’t just skip it. Jesus just dropped a bombshell saying that the righteous get collected up, yet the evil weeds get rounded up and thrown into the fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth… I can’t just skip it and talk about Jacob’s vision of ladders to heaven… Not to say that Jacob’s vision isn’t profound, it certainly is that… this certainly isn’t the week to go on vacation, Todd… Coincidentally, next week’s lesson is quite similar to this, and Todd happens to be gone next week as well… 

 Oh well. Here I go… Jesus tells this parable, two more you’ll hear next week, and then the disciples ask Him to explain this. Jesus says that the good crops are those who are children of the Kingdom, the weeds are the children of the devil, and must be burned, while the good crops are those who are righteous will “shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father…” The righteous ones… In the Greek, the Gospel writer uses the root word, δίκαιος which is usually translated righteous, but can also mean ‘just’… Righteousness equates to justice… So those who show justice on this world avoid the weeping and gnashing of teeth?

And accordingly, Jesus points out that those who are ‘children of the evil one’ will be thrown into the fire… How are we to tell the difference?

Who determines those who deserve the sun, and those who deserve the weeping and gnashing of teeth? In the parable, Jesus tells the people and His disciples that the farmer’s slaves asked if they could gather the weeds for their master… The farmer replies, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them…” How often has that happened in history? How often does that happen now? From the earliest examples of warfare, there have always been unintended consequences. There has always been collateral damage. What we intend to accomplish always has repercussions unseen. How many civilians died in both World Wars; in Vietnam; in Iraq; in Afghanistan; or currently in Gaza and over European skies? How many lives have been pointlessly displaced, forever changed, or forever lost due to someone pointing fingers at someone else?

J. R. R. Tolkein wrote The Lord of the Rings during and after serving in both World Wars, and then published them in the 1950’s. In the first volume of the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, two of the main protagonists, Gandalf the Grey and Frodo are sitting together in a deep dark mine discussing their current fate. Frodo is part of an interracial, international team that is on a quest to destroy the One Ring of Power that is the ultimate weapon to own. Gollum is a creature that follows this One Ring throughout the three volumes in the Lord of the Rings series, and in this first volume, he sulks in the shadows, but never truly shows his face. In the film version, the dialogue is slightly changed, but furthers my point better than the original novel. Frodo tells Gandalf that it’s a pity that his uncle, Bilbo never killed Gollum when he had the chance… Gandalf tells Frodo, “Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that die deserve life, and some that live deserve death. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

Especially in the Deep Darkness of Moria...

 So, what do we do then? We live our lives as we do, day in and day out. We strive to be the righteous and just people that Jesus calls us to be, but do not do it for fear of hellfire licking at our heels, but for the Grace bestowed upon us in spite of it. For it is indeed God’s grace that Christ died on Calvary for, and it is freely bestowed to all, no matter what. It is not for us to decide if one is deserving of the sun or the weeping and gnashing, but for us to live out the Gospel every day in spite of the hellfire made mention in this and next week’s lesson.

A few chapters before this, Jesus tells His disciples to

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

We all make mistakes. We say and do things we regret later, and we pay for the sins we commit, whether physically or emotionally. I told my youth in confirmation that we should not fear hellfire and brimstone where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, but realize that when we do and say things we regret, that regret is the hell we place ourselves in. That feeling deep inside of hurting another is the hell we should fear and avoid, not a fiery pit below. And there again, is where the Grace of God comes in. When we do make these mistakes, and pay our price, we can rest in Blessed Assurance that Christ forgives us of all wrongs, with no holds barred. We must move on, cut our losses, go on living our lives, all the while striving for justice and righteousness in this world, and work to make this world a better place for all.

For here we are, in this air conditioned sanctuary, surrounded by friends and loved ones, with little to no worry of the horrific events happening around our world hitting too close to home… and in a little while, we’ll pray for those around our world in pain. We hope and pray that these horrific events come to an end, so that one day we may all live in peace, striving to better the world around us, and not to destroy it.

So Frodo and Gandalf sat in the deep dark mine, discussing their current state, and Gandalf gave Frodo some more wisdom. Frodo, after reflecting the previous conversation, said, “I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf looks at him, and replies, “So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” Be. Live. Go out into the world, resting in the Blessed Assurance that Jesus Christ forgives us all of all of our sins, and live out the Gospel to bestow Grace, Love and Mercy to all.

Amen.

Perhaps 'Doubting Thomas' wasn't doubting atall...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Peace be with you!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Wait… Some of you may be sitting there thinking… wait… we said this last week. We already celebrated Easter. The stone has already been rolled away. We’ve heard the Good News. We sang that song. The Easter Bunny and Easter Beagle have laid their eggs. The Submarine Christians are back at home, waiting to surface again at Christmas. We ate the ham. We had the family gatherings. Easter is done.

         Nope. Easter has only just begun, and Spring is finally here. Yes, it’s cold, wet and rainy and Northern Minnesota has a freshly fallen layer of snow, but we’re here. In this sanctuary, we’re here, celebrating the resurrected Christ. Hallelujah! For some of us, it’s been too long since we’ve been able to say that. Hallelujah! Some of you may be doubting that we are still celebrating Easter. Some of you may be doubting that Spring will ever come. Doubt. It’s a strong word.

          Poor Thomas. How could he have known; how could he have experienced? The Risen Christ walks into the room with ten of the eleven, through a locked door and says, “Peace be with you.” He shows them His wounds, and gives them the power of the Holy Spirit. Thomas walks in later, missing out on the whole experience. The Mary’s saw the empty tomb. The other disciples saw Christ and His wounds. Thomas wanted that experience too. Thomas wanted to experience the Risen Christ.

          Do you ever do that? Do you ever walk into a situation, after a really good story was told, and you want to know what the story was, but once told, it doesn’t have the same magic? Did you ever want to see a great movie, but by the time you get to, everyone else has seen it and no one wants to talk about it anymore? I still haven’t seen The Desolation of Smaug…

          But even though everyone else has heard the story and seen the movie, you still want to know what happens. That desire is still ever present in your mind. Doubting Thomas was not doubting at all. Thomas wanted to experience the Risen Christ, and that’s it. He wanted a piece of the pie too.

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

We all have our doubts, our reservations. We look before leaping. When we buy something, we generally know what we’re buying before we actually buy it. We do the research, read the reviews, and heed the warnings. We test drive cars before we buy them (if they drive), and we watch trailers before we spend the million dollars to watch the movie in the theatre. This is called prudence.

 This is a wholly necessary practice to do. We need to be cautious in making decisions. When we take on huge responsibilities, we have to do our research first. As much as I’d love to wear that stole and have my own parish in the middle of nowhere, I can’t. I need the education and the experiences of seminary before I can go out there and finally live out my vocation. There are times that we need this due diligence for our own good.

When we don’t do the due diligence and think situations through, problems arise, and are sometimes fatal. In the early 1970’s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration developed the Space Shuttle program. The early prototype that was used for test flights was named Enterprise, after Star Trek fans petitioned NASA to name the first space shuttle after the USS Enterprise. However, this Enterprise was not to become the first orbiting space shuttle, but another test vehicle was outfitted to be a second orbital vehicle after the first orbiting space shuttle, Columbia. This second space shuttle was known as Challenger. After nine successful missions into space, the tenth mission on January 28, 1986 was to be Challenger’s last. Seventy-three seconds after lifting off the ground, Challenger exploded, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

After investigating the cause of the tragic accident, investigators discovered that a faulty O-Ring was what caused the explosion. This faulty O-Ring was brought to the attention of NASA before the mission, but in a meeting held before the mission went underway, the issue of the faulty O-Ring was dismissed. You see, in this meeting when the faulty O-Ring was discussed, members of the meeting slowly agreed with each other that it was a problem that could be overlooked. There’s a phenomenon in communication known as Groupthink, when members of a group start to agree with each other too quickly, and issues are overlooked. Decisions are made without dwelling on them long enough, and the group starts to dysfunction by over functioning. Where was Thomas in the group meeting discussing the O-Ring?

Where was Thomas when the United States decided to enter a war with Iraq based on false intelligence and whispers of the infamous Weapons of Mass Destruction? Where was Thomas when the United States decided to deregulate the banks, slowly throwing us into the global recession that we’re only just now getting ourselves out of? Where was Thomas asking, “Hey, let’s look at this here a second. Let’s think about the ramifications of what you’re saying…”

 “Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.”

          There may be times when I seem smart, but I struggle in school. I’ve gotten where I am because of my perseverance and effort, but there are plenty of times where I’ve struggled in class. You see, There is no way I should be here. Against all odds, I’m here in front of you, preaching. I’m finishing my first year at Luther Seminary, and well on my way of attaining a Master of Divinity. I graduated last year from Saint Cloud State with a 3.18 GPA, a low B average. I graduated from Morris Area High School 7 years ago with a 2.6 GPA, a straight C average. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Last week, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD. I was told that those with ADD often don’t fare well in high school, and usually don’t enter a 4 year university. If they do study at a 4yr school, they tend to not graduate. If they do graduate, only 3% of those with ADD enter and finish grad school. But it is possible. I had faith in myself that I could get this far. My parents, teachers and mentors have faith in me, and I rely on that faith to keep me going. With this recent diagnosis, I can label my struggles and rely on the support of others. The Psalmist writes today,

 “Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.”

         I am secure in my faith, in the faith of others, and the support we all share. We all need support, so here I am.

          Here I am, I front of you, against all odds that were presented to me all but a week ago. For the longest time, I thought it would take me the longest time to get here. For so long I had been saying, I’m on my way to seminary and I have X number of years left before I can get there. Now I’m saying, “Yes, I’m in seminary, but I have X number of years left before I can have my own call.” In two weeks, that number decreases by one. I’m getting there, and I have to do Thomas’ due diligence and take my time. I have to make sure. This year has been a year of making sure. I’ve known for a few years that this is where I’ve needed to be. I’ve needed to be in seminary, but this year, it’s been a process of making sure, of looking at Christ’s hands and feet at Luther Seminary. I needed to “Come and see”, just to make sure.

          Seminary and ministry are elements of life that need to be experienced before you can know for sure that one can do this for the rest of their foreseeable future. Sure, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe," but I would add that those who “Come and see” are also blessed. Ever since Martin Luther was able to mass produce the Bible in the common tongue with the help of the Gutenberg press, we’ve been able to “Come and see” for ourselves. We’ve been able to look upon Christ’s hands and feet for ourselves.     

There are times when we can’t afford to think. When life presents us with limited options, we shoot from the hip with the option we think is best. We make a ‘leap of faith’ that everything will work out. There’s no room for Thomas in these situations… or is there? Thomas was utilizing his faith when he outstretched his hands and felt Christ’s wounds. There will be times when we need to feel the wounds, and that’s okay. We need to experience what others have experienced, for that is community. Thomas was a part of that community of the disciples, and he needed to reconnect to this community. It was Thomas’s faith that propelled him to ask to see Christ’s wounds, not his lack of faith.

It all comes down to faith. Faith is what drove the disciples to the Upper Room. They may have been frightened, but their faith in Christ held them together in their community. It was Faith that led Thomas to the Upper Room. It was faith that drove Thomas to ask to see the Risen Christ’s hands and feet.

          It is my faith in gravity that prevents me from scaling high buildings. I have faith that Earth is spinning and that our planet is large enough that gravity holds me to the ground. Does it make me any less of a human being to JUMP every now and then just to make sure I can come back down?

          I have faith that Jesus Christ died and rose again for my salvation from sin. Does it make me any less of a Christian if I sin boldly now and then? Martin Luther famously suggested that we sin boldly, saying, “Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however… are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign.”

For that is the promise of Easter: That our Risen Christ died on the Cross for our sins, and rose again on the Third Day. We are saved by God’s grace through our faith. We may need to look upon the wounds of Christ now and then, but we are certainly blessed if we don’t. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Look upon the wounds of your Risen Christ, and belong to this community we call Christianity. For we are defined as Christians because of this Easter miracle. Jews and Muslims believe that Jesus lived, taught, preached and died. It is Jesus’ resurrection on the Third Day that separates from the other two Abrahamic faiths, but unites us as Christians. For there are many dividing lines that are drawn between Christian denominations, but this Easter miracle unties us all. So look upon the wounds of your Risen Savior. Have that communal experience that Thomas was looking for, and live in the splendor of God’s grace, love and mercy.

I leave you with the end of John’s Gospel. “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Hallelujah.

Amen.  

Trial - Luke 22:66-71

Lord,

We put You on trial ev’ry day
Upon waking we hope and pray
That the Truth You died for is True
And the Faith we have, You imbue

We are not perfect and we doubt
We are human, yet we seek out
A Lord and Savior of our own;
A friend for when we are alone

And when we do not need a friend
We tuck You away and pretend
That our life is fine without You
Upon remembering, we rue -

We rue the day we left You there
In our pocket, without a care
For You are forever with us
Even in that pocket, no fuss -

No fuss is made from You atall
You do in fact, You have the gall
To love unconditionally
No matter what, totally free

For that is what you died for yes?
Grace upon grace, thus we confess
That You, Lord are our Son of God
Son of Man, with You, Lord we trod

We trod with You, Lord ev’ry day
Upon waking we hope and pray
That You carry us when we fall
That You raise us up when You call

Us Home.

Amen

Embracing Change

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

            “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

            Change. We love it. We hate it. Change happens.     

Sometimes change is gradual. The sun sets; the sun rises. It takes approximately 24 hours for the Earth to make a full rotation. 365.25 of these rotations happen every time the Earth travels around our Sun. Seasons (eventually) change. Because of Earth’s axis and our corresponding distance to the sun, we experience gradual change in our weather systems, however, the gradual change has become much harsher in the last few years. Children (eventually) grow up. Much like the seasons, sometimes this change is much harsher than is meant to, but generally, there is a gradual change with children maturing.

There are times when changes are too gradual and slow. It took the Church around 300 years to agree on what books should be in the Bible, 1500 years (and a rogue monk) to allow the common folk to read the Bible, 1800 years for the Catholic Church to formally admit the Earth was round, and 1900 years to admit that Jews didn’t kill Christ. Women weren’t allowed to formally be ordained in some protestant churches until the 1800s, LGBT folk until much later. It took almost 200 years for the United States to allow voting rights for everyone, and marriage equality is slowly changing the hearts of the nation, state by state.

            While some change is gradual, change can also be thrust upon us. Bombs are dropped, planes crash into buildings, and our nation is thrust into perpetual war. Parents divorce, loved ones die and thus, our family dynamics are never the same. However, sudden change sometimes arrives in the most unexpected of places.

            Moses was born, shoved in a basket coated with pitch and bitumen, and sent down the river, because his mother wished to save his life. He grew up, and after killing an Egyptian, Moses fled from Egypt and became a shepherd in Midian. God heard the cries of the Israelites, and called upon Moses to save God’s people. Moses went up to Mount Sinai, and God thrust upon him tremendous change. All of a sudden, God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and even though Moses pleaded to have someone else do it, God chose Moses. So Moses did as was commanded, and led the Israelite people out of Egypt. “Do not be afraid, little flock…”

            Some of you may have noticed, that I was not here on Wednesday. Well, at least for long. Wednesday morning, I dropped Sam off at daycare, and he was his normal jolly self. I went to class, went to the bank, and drove to work. I did as I always do, dropped my stuff down, put my phone on the desk, and went to the office to talk to Jen. I had a lovely talk, and then grabbed what I needed, and returned to my office. I heard my phone ringing. It was Tiffany. Sam was sick with a fever at daycare, and I had to drive back home to pick him up and take care of him. Tiffany was at a social work conference, and unable to leave, so the burden was on me to be there for Sam.

            I just drove all the way here. I had so much to accomplish, including writing this sermon. There was no way I’d be able to write this sermon and hangout with sick Sam all day. I had things to do here. I had to help the youth with their worship leading, show them how to light the Thurible, work on my Mission Trip for next summer and write this sermon. All of that changed with that phone call. Change was thrust upon me. I showed Jen how to use the Thurible, packed up my things and I rushed home. I did what was absolutely necessary, and I was off. Sam has spent the last few days pushing out his 2 year molars, and had given me little opportunity to finish this sermon.

            Change happens like that. Sometimes, our whole life gets thrown out of whack because of something out of our control. And how does one feel when this happens? Scared, and completely out of control.

            So, there he was. Not so alone with the thousands of Israelites behind him. In the wilderness. With no water. The Israelites had just survived slavery in Egypt and the escape from Pharaoh’s army. Now they were grumbling, miserable, and thirsty. Whining and complaining, they pointed their frustrations at Moses.  Moses was at his wit’s end. The Jewish Study Bible reads, “Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? Before long they will be stoning me!” God instructed Moses to strike a rock, and water would come forth from the rock. So, Moses did as he was asked and water issued from it. Moses struck the rock, and God came to the rescue of the Israelite people, bringing forth water for everyone to drink.

            Moses was no longer the boy who rode down the Nile in a basket, or a shepherd alone in the wilderness. By this time in the story, Moses had already met God, learned God’s ineffable name, confronted Pharaoh and his magicians, and led God’s people out of Egypt. Moses was now the leader of the Israelite people, and on his way to the Promised Land that was flowing with milk and honey. (Sounds Sticky)

           

            “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing… Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin… For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them…”

            There I was. Alone in the baseball field. I had just survived ten months in Orange County, where life was unlike anything I had known before. I had missed the wind blowing in the trees, the quiet peace that was small town life, the clear air of Midwestern Minnesota. This was my home. For years growing up in Donnelly, I longed for the city life of Saint Cloud, my birthplace. But as the years wore on, Donnelly (and by extension, Morris) became my home. So upon leaving home and arriving in the land of make believe, otherwise known as California, I was quickly tired of sunny and 70 degrees every day. Crazy I know, but after 3 months of sun, I started to miss… ya know… weather… My parents had divorced when I was a sophomore, and I moved to California with my mother and little brother for my Junior year of high school. I hated the dramatic changes that my life had taken. From small town to mega suburbia; from small high school to larger high school (still nowhere near as large as some of your schools…); from living with two parents then one and helping support myself and my little brother; from everyone knowing what a Lutheran was to almost no one knowing…

            I went to school, went to work, paid for our school lunches, and fought my parents on where I should be living. I won. I moved back to Donnelly at the end of that school year, and this was my first chance of being alone. Alone, under the clear blue sky, in the baseball field. I had no idea the changes that were about to befall me even then, but I didn’t care. I was home. Over the course of that final summer at home and the eventual school year, I learned about love; about friendships; about how to live on my own. My father moved down here to the cities before I even finished high school. I was on my own at 17. Those next 6 years after high school, I moved eight times, lived in 5 different apartments, attended four different universities, married Tiffany and became a father. Here I am today, telling you, that change is hard, but change can be good. Change was thrust upon me when my parents divorced and I moved to California and back, but I became who I am today because of it. “Do not be afraid, little flock…”

            There He was. Alone on a cross. He had just barely survived being beaten, flogged, and pierced through the side, and there He was, suffocating to death on a cross. Jesus was no longer the 12 year-old carpenter’s son reading in the temple. No longer was He just the man who was being baptized in the Jordan; just the man who healed the sick, cured the blind, or fed the hungry. Neither was He merely the man who told parables; the man who fished with his friends; or the man who calmed the seas. Jesus had changed so much in those short 30ish years; seen so much; been so much to so many.

Just a few days before, He was riding into Jerusalem with palms or coats being thrown at His feet for Jesus and His disciples to walk on. Just a few days before, He had dinner with his friends, and He washed their feet. Jesus knew he was going to die, but change was thrust upon His disciples when the authorities arrested Him. Peter denied Christ three times. The cock crowed. Judas ended his own life. On Easter morning, His disciples were scared, ran away, or were doubtful. After Christ’s ascension, Peter and the rest of the disciples went from following Jesus to proclaiming His message. 

They were thrusting change upon the world. And this change happened slowly over time, but the entire world was forever changed because of Christ’s life and eventual death on the Cross. The entire world was saved because of God’s grace. Christ changed the world. Christ changes us. Christ changes you. Change happens. Everything on this planet changes. Coal eventually turns into Diamond; children eventually become adults; students become teachers; and winter (eventually) turns to spring.  

Life begins anew with spring, yet

Frosty winter has died, forget?

Cold must cease to welcome the birds

Christ must die, to rise on the third

Change happens. God blesses this change, and instructs us to not fear it. We are different because of this change, but we are better for it. We are not defined by who we were, but by who we are today. I don’t love Minnesota because of the winter, but because of the spring. Easter is not determined by Lent, but the timing of Lent is determined by the timing of Easter. We hearty Minnesotans stay here through these long harsh winters because we know and we love the beauty of spring. We are Lutherans because of the emptiness of this Cross. We believe in and profess the living word, the risen Christ. It is God’s grace and mercy because of Christ’s death on the Cross that we proudly profess is freely given to everyone. Grace that is freely given because of Christ’s death and resurrection. Change is coming my friends. Do not be afraid. Embrace it.

Amen. 

And the Papers, They Were Signed and Said: They'd Never Fight Again

This is my unedited Sermon from Feb 23. I delivered it without the Star Wars bit, but I think it adds more to the feelings I wanted to put forth. Without further ado, here you be:

Ninth Grade (or thereabouts) me...

Ninth Grade. Those of you currently in 9^th grade and older know that feeling. What feeling? The feeling of being in Ninth Grade of course. You’re in that awkward phase of puberty, where nothing sounds or fits just right, and sometimes, you just do stupid things. Okay, so we all do stupid things now and again, but the frequency of stupid things happening seems to increase once you hit Junior High (or is it senior high here?) Well, okay. I was in Junior High at Morris Area High School. There were about 500 students in the entire high school, 7-12grade. I graduated with 72. Of that 72, I was the on the bottom of the social proverbial barrel. I was probably one of the most awkward children in 9^th grade, and that didn’t help my social status. So, being the bottom of the proverbial barrel, kids picked on me. Frequently. There was this kid Rick that would smack me so hard on the arm, I’d have bruises. I didn’t hit back, for my arms were even more flimsy than they are now. No, I didn’t hit back. I followed one of the lessons of today’s Gospel. I ‘turned the other cheek’ in a manner of speaking. I would turn so he would then hit my other arm… Yeah… It doesn’t work so well. By following Christ’s example, I ended up with two bruised arms instead of one. There’s bound to be some sort of logic involved in there right?

“Turn the other cheek.” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Some of you have heard these phrases before. But how many of you are willing to do so? How many of you are willing to lay down your pride so that your enemy may persecute you more? Is that the point? Is that the lesson Christ is teaching us? Pray for those who persecute you…

Ninth grade is an awkward time to be pondering these questions. Ninth grade is an awkward time anyway. You’re somewhere in that liminal period between Junior and Senior High, with some kids still acting like teenagers and yet some are growing full beards. Guess which one I was. For most of my grade school years, my mother was the youth director at the church, and we were always at church on Sundays, rain or shine, no snow or driving blizzard. We lived ten miles north of town, on the edge of nowhere, so there were some Sundays where all five of us piled into the front seat of the clunky old pickup truck just to make it to church. We were always at church on Sundays, so I’d slowly absorb some of what the lessons were saying. I apparently absorbed today’s lesson right around 9^th grade. I distinctly remember thinking “turn the other cheek” when Rick would hit me, hoping the kid might find some heart in not hitting me a second time. Nope. I wore two bruises, because I was being righteous. I was being the man I thought I should be.

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45)

All was quiet on the western front, in faraway fields in 1914. German and Allied soldiers who were shooting at each other for days, gave an impromptu ceasefire on Christmas Eve that lasted until Boxing Day (December 26^th). During that ceasefire, they celebrated Christmas together. Sworn enemies that had been fighting for months on end shared meals and song together, all with the bodies of their friends around them; the bodies of men that were shot by the very men that were now celebrating Christmas together. The soldiers came together; put aside the politics and the warmongering, and became a community, all across the western front; for at least a day or two. But, Christmas came and went, and on December the 26^th, fighting resumed, for another four years. For those brief hours of celebrating the birth of our Savior, community was formed, and peace ruled the land. They loved their enemy, at least for a while.

Fast forward a bit. I was a senior in high school, and our choir was putting on a talent show. I wanted to play guitar in front of everyone, but I’d never played in front of anyone before really, so this was my big break. It was 2007. The American military had been engaged in the Middle East for my entire high school career (and as it turns out, my entire college career so far…). As a bleeding heart socialist in a conservative community, I was the sheep in the pack of wolves that was Morris Area High School. They were in a way, “my political enemies” I could have played something antagonistic, but I chose a different path. I chose a better way. Again, I turned the other cheek. I knew what I wanted to play, but I had to pass it with the choir teacher. Mr. K knew me well enough to know that I was going to sing something political. He was pleasantly surprised when I presented him with a song from 1950.

Ed McCurdy wrote, “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” in 1950. It has been covered many times since, and I heard it from the Chad Mitchell Trio. It’s amazing such a song can be so timeless, but I got up there, in front of everyone, and I sang these words of peace:

Last night I had the strangest dream

I'd ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war

I dreamed I saw a mighty room

The room was filled with men

And the paper they were signing said

They'd never fight again

And when the paper was all signed

And a million copies made

They all joined hands and bowed their heads

And grateful prayers were prayed

And the people in the streets below

Were dancing 'round and 'round

And guns and swords and uniforms

Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream

I'd never dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war.

From that fateful night...

I sang those words, in front of all of my friends, their parents, and half of Morris. With my foot rapidly quivering the entire time, I proclaimed to those gathered there, that we should indeed put an end to these wars. Enough was enough. Seven years later, Iraq no longer has major American military presence, and we’re hopefully leaving Afghanistan this summer.

            

Return with me, to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This time, we meet Luke Skywalker on the ice planet of Hoth, (similar to the climate we currently reside in) freezing to death. He had just had an altercation with a large monster and was losing consciousness. Before he loses coherency, Luke hears Obi-Wan calling from the distance. Obi-Wan instructs Luke to head to the Dagobah system to learn the ways of force from Yoda.

            

A giant battle soon ensues; Luke and the Rebels flee from the Empire’s attack of the planet, and Luke ventures off to learn the force from Yoda. Yoda, a once proud Grand General of the Republic, is hiding out on this planet far, far away from the clutches of the Emperor’s grasp. Luke crash lands on this swampy planet, and soon discovers Yoda. After a discussion or two with Yoda and Obi-Wan, Luke begins to learn the ways of the force from Yoda. He carries Yoda around on his back, lifts rocks using the force, and learns to hone his skills. Yoda then tells Luke, “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack” 

Later on, Luke is sitting with Yoda, when he feels a disturbance, and he wants to check it out. Yoda tells Luke, “Your weapons, you will not need them.” But he takes them anyway. Luke wanders around in the swamp for a while, and then sees him. Darth Vader: the man who killed his father (or so Luke thinks). Vader draws his lightsaber. Luke draws his. A slow motion lightsaber duel ensues, and Luke soon chops Vader’s head off. Too easy. Vader’s head rolls on the ground, and then, a cloud of smoke. Underneath Vader’s shattered mask is not Vader’s face, but Luke’s. This surreal vision was only the manifestation of Luke’s daringness to bring his weapons. The idea was that if Luke continued down his aggressive path, Luke would become what he hated most: Darth Vader.

Christ didn’t say “Turn the other cheek” because he wanted us to be weak willed. A classmate of mine explained that in those days, for a person to slap another once in public was an outrage, but for a person to slap another a second time, on the other cheek, meant that the slapper was the one disgraced. They went over the line. Christ wasn’t telling us to not fight back, but that the slap shouldn’t happen at all. To slap another twice was more disgraceful for the slapper than for the abused. “Pray for those who persecute you” isn’t a commandment of defense, or to make yourself feel better, it’s a commandment of ending violence. If we truly followed the “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”, we’d all be blind and in need of dental surgery. If we only turned the other cheek, and prayed for those persecuting us, we’ll still have those two bruised arms. This text is not about the perpetuation of violence, but about a call to END the violence.

In a country where many are killed due to gun violence; where many are abused by their partners; where kids are picked on at school; we need to implement a change. Christ commands us to find a better way.

Remember that February is Black History Month. Remember the sacrifices Martin Luther King Jr. and others made to end the violence in this country. There are better ways of resolving conflict. Christ told us this 2000 years ago, and think of all the wars since then that have been waged in His name. Find a better way folks. Don’t just turn the other cheek, but pray for those who persecute you to stop the persecution, to find a better way.

I leave you with a video of a recording of John Denver and the Chad Mitchell Trio singing "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"