August, 2014

  FROM THE PASTOR   

I was trying to figure out why the name sounded familiar – Chandler S. Robbins. He was the subject of an interview article in Birding magazine (Sept., 2012), at that time a 94-year-old patriarch in the world of ornithology. Fine, but why did the name ring a bell? Then I read more closely. Oh, it’s that Robbins.

                Robbins was the author of the first “real” field guide to birds I ever owned. I’m pretty sure I received it for Christmas in 1969. Considering my age, I took good care of it. But it has seen better days. Some pages are loose, and one is missing. I seem to have used the index as a sort of checklist – but if that’s what I was up to I was optimistic, as I checked off birds that I still haven’t seen to this day. Speaking of the index, it looks like the dog tried to eat it. And throughout, the pages are stained and worn.

                In other words, the book got used.

                Robbins would be pleased. I know because of an anecdote from author Scott Weidensaul. It seems that Weidensaul’s copy looked even worse than mine. But when he found himself in the presence of the great Chandler Robbins, he overcame his embarrassment at the condition of his book, and asked for an autograph. In Weidensaul’s words, when Robbins saw the book, he “beamed that thousand-watt smile of his, held up my battered field guide, and said with undisguised delight, ‘This is a book that’s been used!’”

                That story sets me in mind of a question: What would God say about our use of God’s Book, the Bible? The writings in the Bible are “God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16). We call God the Author, but God did not simply drop a book from heaven onto someone’s lap. Rather, “prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:21). In speaking of the Bible, theologians have used language similar to that which we use to describe Jesus of Nazareth – fully human, fully divine.

                God has gone to much trouble to communicate with us – inspiring the human authors, superintending the production and collection of this library of writings we call the Bible. What does God think of what we have done with His Book? Can God flash a (more than) thousand-watt smile at us and say, “This is a Book that’s been used!” Even more to the point, do our lives look like our Bibles are getting used?

                Okay, so by now I have most of you on a guilt trip. I’m sure there is no one, myself included, who has always used the Bible as we should. Feeling guilty? Then I have an important message for you. Ready? The core of the Bible’s message is not a guilt trip but a “forgiveness trip”. That’s not saying there’s nothing there about guilt. (There’s no forgiveness if there’s no sin to forgive.). But receive the forgiveness of sins, okay? It’s yours through Christ.

                Now isn’t it amazing that God has communicated to us? Not only in a Book, but especially in His Son! A number of you have recently bought new Bibles. May they someday be tattered, perhaps written in, marked with fingerprints, perhaps tear-stained, pages falling out. May God look at each copy and say, “Yes! This is a Book that’s been used!”

COMMUNITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

Parish Messenger

                                                               FROM THE PASTOR

I’m no biologist, but I think I know one thing about life: No one understands it.

                Scientists can describe a great many things in connection with life. They can specify characteristics of plant life as opposed to animal life. They can detail the workings of a living cell, map out DNA, write treatises on respiration or elimination, or recognize differences between organic and inorganic matter.

                They can tell the difference between dead or living tissue. So can anybody with a working nose. (As the scripture says – Martha the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days [John 11:39 KJV].)

                But to describe is not necessarily to understand.

                We instinctively recognize what is living as opposed to dead. But what exactly is “life”? And how did it get here? Of course, I believe God imparted it to us. But will it ever be explained – really explained – by scientists or philosophers? I doubt it.

                As I write, we await the greening of the landscape. The green, when it comes, is familiar yet mysterious. Spring green signifies photosynthesis. Somehow, sunlight works with soil and water, and plants turn green. Huh?

                Light is turned into life. It’s as if God says, “Abracadabra,” and presto! There is life. Furthermore, the world’s smartest botanist won’t come up with a better explanation than that.

                I’ve been struck with some verses in the Gospel of John that speak of life and light: “In [Christ] was life, and the life was the light of human beings” (John 1:4). Later in the Gospel, Jesus says, “Whoever follows me will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Light and life go together. Let’s call it Christian Photosynthesis. The light of God’s Word works with the water of God’s Spirit upon the soil of our heart. Then it’s as if God says, “Abracadabra,” and presto! There is New Life. I admit, that sounds a bit hokey. But will any theologian come up with a better explanation?

                Plants, as we can easily observe, seek out light. Take a walk in the woods, or even along a wasteland thicket, and you can see this: Leaves and branches reach toward the light. If you place a board on the ground, the plants underneath will strain to get to a place where the sun shines.

                People, on the other hand, perversely do the opposite. “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Go figure. We seem to think that if no one sees the dirt in our lives, it isn’t there. But Someone does see – that’s why He sent the Savior to be the light of life. To flourish, we need this light. We need for light to shine on us as we truly are – and upon Jesus as He truly is, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

                “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). Friends, we can afford to walk in the light – and it is in the light that we find life.  And some day Christ will stand at our graves and (as it were) say, “Abracadabra,” and presto! Eternal Life!

FROM THE PASTOR

COMMUNITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

February 2014 “Love is in the air.” Pardon me while I muse on that interesting expression for awhile.             When we say that love is in the air, we are not saying we think love somehow has gotten mixed up with the molecules of the gases we call “air”. Perhaps we have a vague sense that love is around us, like smoke from the neighbor’s chimney, sneaking through any leaky spots in the house. Or like germs, something catchy.             Interestingly the Bible says that “God is love” (I John 4:8). It also says that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). Now, stay with me on this. In each of the original languages of the Bible (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), the word for “spirit” is the same as that used for “breath” or “wind” – that is, for moving air. Sometimes the biblical writers enjoy working with the double and triple meanings available because of this. (See chapter 3 of the Gospel of John for a specially striking example.)             Now, remember I asked you to stay with me. One more thing: in Psalm 139:7, the writer says to God, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” He goes on to say that there is no place at all that God can’t follow him. (You can call this the Doctrine of Divine Omnipresence if you want. But might it not be even better to catch the writer’s goosebumps? I get the sense that the writer can feel God breathing down his neck.)             One more thing. God did not need to create the world or anything else. All creation – the fact that you exist, the fact that there is a place for you to exist – comes from the overflow of God’s love. And when God’s creatures didn’t think that was enough and they sinned, God’s love did not back off, it intensified. “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).             So let’s put this together. God is love. God is Spirit, and thus like breath and wind – moving air. God is everywhere present. Creation itself comes from the overflow of God’s love. When we fell, God intensified His love and sent His Son to rescue us. You can’t stop God from loving. Could we not even say that God’s love is like smoke from the neighbor’s chimney, sneaking in to surround you? And watch out – it’s catchy.                    Love is in the air – the very air you breathe COMMUNITY LUTHERAN CHURCH January, 2014     Have you made New Year’s any resolutions?     Have you broken any?     I for my part don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. I’m not against you making them, but they’re not for me.     What I do believe in is taking stock – looking over my life in God’s Presence and thinking things over. We can do this at other times; I hope we do it every day. But the New Year naturally gives us the sense of a new start, and often brings a slight lull in our activities, so we can take a breath and ask ourselves, “How’s it going?”     I believe the best starting point for taking stock is God’s grace. Actually “starting point” is too weak a term. May it be the very air we breathe! As fish live in water; Christians live in grace. At least that’s how it’s meant to be.     People make two main mistakes about grace. One is to presume upon it. The other is not to believe deeply enough. In both cases, grace is not all-encompassing.     When we presume upon grace, we are saying it doesn’t matter what we do, since God will forgive us. This is really saying there is something we don’t want God messing with. This is – how do I say this? Well, it’s really stupid, that’s what. All-encompassing grace means God belongs everywhere in our lives. Everywhere.     When, on the other hand, we don’t believe deeply enough in grace, we are saying there are places God can’t reach, even if we wanted Him to. This is silly, too. And it stunts our growth. All-encompassing grace means there is nothing God can’t forgive, no place in life where God can’t grant us a new beginning.     Once we are well immersed in grace, then I know of two great questions for taking stock. The first is, “What do I need to repent of?” (I almost wrote, “Is there anything I need to repent of?” But of course there is.) Whatever doesn’t belong, we can take it to Jesus and say, “Here. I don’t need this anymore.” And we turn from it, to Him.     The second question is, “What one thing can I most usefully focus on for change?” This is different from a resolution. When we make resolutions, we say, “From now on, I’m going to do (or not do) thus and such.” But “from now on” tends to last about three days. Instead say, “Heavenly Father, you and I both know I’m not doing well with thus and such. I present this to you as an area for breakthrough this year. Please keep bringing this back to my attention, and lead me into Your will.”     If you make resolutions as such, I recommend that they be very small, something like: “Tomorrow morning, I am going to spend five minutes thanking God.” Or, “Right now, I am going to turn off the remote and get some exercise.” May victory come not from your will power but God’s Presence. A wise Presbyterian writer name Rosaria continued on page 2                                                                                                  Butterfield says, “I learned the first rule of repentance: that repentance requires greater    intimacy with God than with our sin. How much greater? About the size of a mustard seed.”     Whatever you do (or don’t do) about resolutions, may God grant you a fruitful and worthwhile New Year.   FROM THE PASTOR September, 2013                A certain phrase has found its way into English from the French – embarras de richesses, or “embarrassment of riches”. It refers to having so much of a good thing that one hardly knows what to do – like the proverbial kid in a candy store. In our day, there is always an overabundance of opportunities – some good, some bad, some trivial.                We need to look at our opportunities and prioritize in part by asking how our activities relate to God’s Kingdom. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”(Matthew 6:33).                I want to mention some of the many opportunities coming up for us this fall in our church, synod and region.                Sunday worship – Don’t forget how important this is just because it comes every week. This is where the King of kings and Lord of lords promises to meet with us. For us it happens on Sunday mornings, 10:00 am (at our church building in Palmer during September and October). NOTE: good refreshments and fellowship afterward!                Couple Prayer Series – Shirley and I want to invite married or engaged couples to join us for this superb six-session series. Through it, many marriages have been deepened, and some saved. Begins Thursday, September 12, 7:00 pm (Palmer).                WELCA – The Women of the ELCA group meets regularly, shares time around God’s Word, eats good food, and does many good things. But strangely, it’s usually the same six or eight women. If you are female, consider joining them. Watch for announcements: I think the next meeting is Tuesday, September 10, 7:00 pm (Palmer).                Synod Lay School – People perhaps don’t realize what a great resource our Synod offers in the Lay School. Anyone can attend, and you can either go through the whole course or pick and choose at your own pace. See the information elsewhere in this newsletter. Do consider this enriching, deepening opportunity.                Synod workshops – Almost always there are interesting workshops or retreats from our Northern Great Lakes Synod of the ELCA. Two interesting events coming up are a church music workshop with Jay Beech (October 19 at Bethany, Republic); and Breaking the Mold, an event to help us reach out to young adults, youth and the unchurched.  The nearest session to us is at Messiah, Marquette on November 23. We will have more information available at church.                Love INC, CUP – That stands for “Love in the Name of Christ, Central Upper Peninsula”.  When this fledgling ministry gets off the ground, it will be one of the most important things we have going in the area. It brings churches together to serve those in need. Coming soon, one fun opportunity to help is a Harbor Cruise Fundraiser on September 7. If you’re interested, I can help you get in touch with a board member.                The Negaunee Ministerial Association has a number of great things in the works. This includes the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University this fall, the wonderful Alpha Course this winter, and an area youth ministry, WIN for Christ (“WIN” stands for Westwood-Ishpeming-Negaunee). WIN for Christ is sponsoring a Jerry Jacoby Concert on October 30, 7:00 pm at Ishpeming High School.                God is good to us here in the central U.P. Besides living in such a beautiful place, we have all these opportunities before us. May God bless you as you choose among them.

FROM THE PASTOR

Community Lutheran Church, August, 2013

            There is more than one way to be remarkable.

            Last month I wrote about big trees, using them as a model for the principle that “sometimes big things are just small things accumulated.” I said that big trees got that way by imperceptibly turning soil, water and sunlight into wood, little by little.

               It was an easy illustration to use, because large things get our attention. It boggles the mind to read of redwood trees over 360 feet tall, or a sequoia tree estimated to measure 50,000 cubic feet and weigh about 1800 tons. Even a “little” 150-foot pine tree looks impressive.

               But size isn’t everything. There is more than one way to be remarkable.

               Consider the lowly Black Spruce. There are few superlatives for it with regard to size or even beauty. Many of the specimens you and I might see look like gangly, misshapen sticks with clumps of needles attached. They might be only 20 or 30 feet tall.

            For a local example, you can see Black Spruces growing in the bog beside County Road 492 between the Negaunee Cemetery and the Independent Apostolic Lutheran Church. (Most of the other trees there are American Larches – or tamaracks, as I’m accustomed to call them.) Another place to look for this tamarack-spruce combination is in the swampy area on the west end of Goose Lake as seen from Highway M35 – but don’t go off the road!

               So what’s remarkable about the spindly, often ugly, usually small Black Spruce? Well, note where I told you to look for them – in bogs. They can and do grow elsewhere. In fact, foresters will say that given the right conditions, a Black Spruce might grow to 100 feet. But they will live where most other trees won’t – in wet, cold, unfertile, acidic muskegs. I’ve seen them in places where even the tamaracks are missing. A little spruce with a one-inch diameter trunk might be 100 years old. But it has stayed alive for a century where a redwood or sequoia wouldn’t last six months. That’s quite an accomplishment, don’t you think?

               As I’ve said, there’s more than one way to be remarkable.

               Our Lord Jesus knew this principle as it related to people. He saw remarkable people where others saw ugly, scraggly specimens.

               Others merely saw a “sinful woman”, but Jesus saw one who loved much because she had been forgiven much (Luke 7:36-48).

               Others saw a captain from the hated occupying army, but Jesus marveled at greater faith than he had seen even among the Chosen People (Luke 7:1-10).

               The disciples saw a foreigner who was making a pest of herself, but Jesus saw the beauty of her feisty faith (Mark 7:24-30).          

               Others saw Simon, a fisherman who acted before he thought and was always putting his foot in his mouth. But somehow Jesus saw Peter, the great Apostle.

               Others see just you. Just me. Jesus sees a treasure that’s To Die For.

               That leads us to an interesting question to ask in our prayers: Lord Jesus, what do You think is remarkable about my friend? My spouse? My neighbor? My coworker? What about my congregation? What about me?

               May God give us eyes to see the remarkable.

Sometimes big things are just small things accumulated.

               Take a walk in the woods and look at a big tree. What is it doing? Seems like nothing. Yet something momentous is happening. The tree is turning sunlight and soil into wood, one cell at a time. That is how it got to be a big tree. You cannot, on any given day, watch a tree grow; but there it stands, proving the power of small things accumulated.

               Constructive change is almost never sudden. Try thinking about changes that happen quickly. When I did it, I thought of tornadoes, earthquakes and dynamite – all essentially destructive forces. If there is a “sudden change” that we think is good – a birth, a graduation, a wedding, a job promotion – it is seldom a big change in itself. Rather, it marks the end of one gradual process, and the beginning of another.

               On the other hand, God sometimes does bring about quick, constructive change. We’ve all heard stories of lives that were suddenly transformed by an encounter with Jesus. God can and does work rapid improvement in believers, or even whole churches. Praise the Lord for this! Note that these things are miraculous, like healing the blind or turning water into wine. With greater openness to God’s Spirit we might see more such wonders.

               That said, often the big things are just small things accumulated. God wants to see growth in our lives, and growth by nature happens bit by bit. Some of God’s favorite means for working among us are plain-looking things like regular worship, habitual prayer, or daily time in God’s Word.

               In my own life, one significant factor for growth has been the habit of reading from the Bible every night before going to bed. I don’t take a lot of credit for this; it was just something God established in my heart over thirty-five years ago. The average time spent has been small, often just between ten and fifteen minutes per night. But even at ten minutes, that adds up to over 22,500 hours so far – which is over 900 days, over two-and-a-half years.

               When I first started, the result of this was mostly that I became familiar with the overall flow of the Bible’s story. Then as the Holy Spirit got a greater hold on me, the reading became a major shaping force. But interestingly, these short devotional times have almost never been dramatic, inspirational events. Instead, subtle things happen – such as a word of comfort or correction or even curiosity (as in, “I wonder why Joab responded to David in that way?”). The really great thing has been the power of small things accumulated.

               At this point I could imagine some reader being discouraged. You may be thinking you are now old and it is too late for the cumulative power of small things. I would encourage you to look at it differently. It is never too late to make changes, and even a small change could make a big difference.

               Because sometimes big things are just small things accumulated. 

 

  June 2013  

As you read this, I hope it is not a Big News Day. I hope all the news in the media is trivial – such as some film star’s bad fashion choices or some genius crook posting his crime on Twitter. That would signify a slow news day, and generally, slow news is good news.

               But sooner or later, there will be fast and big news riveting our attention. (Some recent examples are the Boston Marathon bombing or the May 20 monster tornado in Oklahoma.) Sometimes a Big News Day comes directly to us – that is, something difficult happens and it occupies us fully. Other times, the Big News is further removed, something that rivets our attention but we are watching it at some distance in the media.

               When we are in the very thick of a Big News Day, perhaps we can’t think past survival. “How do I get through the next hour?” That may be enough of a question for now. If you find yourself contending with such a day, I hope you already have practiced turning to God for help. But if not, it’s a good time to start.

               On the other hand, often we are more distant from the Big News. Here are some reflections on how to think and what to do when our attention is drawn to such events.

Turn the fascination to good use. I do no one any good by gawking at pictures on MSN. But I might do plenty of good by praying. There might also be a place for giving, or more rarely, for helping in some direct practical way. If you give money, it’s important to find a good channel for your resources, such as ELCA Disaster Response – an agency that knows what is helpful on the ground and can be trusted not to misuse funds.

Look for the helpers. This is good advice attributed to Fred Rogers (of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood) when asked how to talk to children about catastrophic events. When we see the helpers – EMTs, firefighters, police, chaplains – we are bound to find something hopeful. This is also one of the places where we most observe people acting according to the image of God in which we are made.

Remember the Incarnation. Incarnation (“in-flesh-ment”) is the theologians’ word for God becoming human in Christ. It is important, while watching human suffering, to remember that we worship a God who entered our world to suffer with and for us.

In the midst of Big News, remember the Biggest News. God’s promise of eternal life, of making all things new, is both bigger and better news than whatever is on TV today. Because we don’t find much about this on Yahoo or CNN, it is all the more important that we remind ourselves and one another: God gets the last word.

May the great Good News always capture your heart and rivet your attention.

                                             Pastor Doug Norquist

MMUNITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

FROM THE PASTOR

It was a spring day in Minnesota, which is something like a spring day in the U.P. In other words, it looked grimy and slushy and there was snow on the ground. I was a smart grade-school kid; or maybe just smart-alecky. Anyway, I informed a neighbor boy what season it was. He responded in a tone we reserve for the very young or the senile.  Very patiently pointing to the nearest snow bank, he asked, “If it’s spring, how come there’s snow on the ground?”

            Well, he had a point. But I was secure in my superior knowledge, for I had read my wall calendar. On March 20^th, right there in black and white, it declared: Spring Begins.

            My friend and I both had impeccable logic. His was – open your eyes and look around you: anyone can see it isn’t spring. Mine was – open your eyes and look at the calendar: anyone can see it says, “Spring Begins.” We were both right, and both wrong. I’m sure it’s like that in some of our adult arguments, too.

            We were experiencing what the theologians call the “already/not yet” of life. It was already spring (the vernal equinox had been reached); and it was not yet spring (there was still snow on the ground). It happens in other parts of life. An adolescent is already in some ways an adult – and not yet an adult. The work of the school term is already done – but that blasted final bell has not yet rung. Or there comes a point when everyone knows the Negaunee Miners have already won their basketball game, but the buzzer has not yet buzzed. (Eat your heart out, Redmen.)

            The Christian life is an “already/not yet” life. We are already citizens of heaven; we have not yet arrived there. We are already victorious in Christ; we have not yet received that victory in fullness. The powers of darkness are already vanquished; they have not yet completely been quieted. Death has already been conquered; we have not yet escaped its sting.

            This year on the last day of March we celebrate the festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord, also known as Easter. No doubt it will look grimy and slushy and there will be snow on the ground; but we will be eleven days into spring.

            And it may look like death is not yet finished; but make no mistake, the Easter cry is, “Christ is risen!” He has driven death into the ground.

 




November, 2012

            Starting in mid-October, the U.P. spends a few weeks or months deciding whether it’s autumn or winter. As I write this, the blazing glory of fall is past, yet there is a holdout of un-fallen leaves. More than once the snow has come deep enough to cover the grass; yet as I write, the grass is still green. Think of last year: there was up to a foot of snow on November 9, yet we had bare ground for most of December.

            Maybe we can’t tell if its fall or winter, but no one will mistake this time for summer. Flowers disappear, leaves skitter to the ground. Increasingly it looks like death. Yet hidden in the bare branches, mysterious dormant life is poised for reawakening.

            When I moved here, it was spring, but too early for leaves to sprout. I played a little game as I explored the local woods. I would look at the trees and try to guess by shape and texture what sort of tree each was. Mostly I turned out to be right. But a few “elms” grew maple leaves, and I think there was even a young “birch” that turned out to be a wild cherry.  Some “dead spruces” turned out to be living tamaracks.

            The tamaracks interested me specially.  I’d expected the other trees to sprout leaves, but I had thought these “evergreens” were dead. When they awakened green, they were preaching to me that there can be life – and hope – where I hadn’t expected it. Indeed, all bare winter trees should preach hope to us. During the long gray season between autumn glory and verdant spring, we know that vast stores of potentiality remain hidden in the black twigs.

            Likewise, since God is at work in the world, it follows that there are hidden possibilities all around us. (Remember how Jesus compared God’s Kingdom to yeast hidden in dough, or seeds in the ground.) Hope holds on to these possibilities even before it is quite clear what the possibilities are. Hope is the attitude that asks God, “What are you up to? Where is the hidden element of new life that you want to draw forth?” Hope looks with expectation at one’s own life, the lives of those around us, and our life together as a church. Think of it as a game, like my tree-guessing exercise. Look at a child and ask, what sorts of gifts does God see hidden in him or her? Pray them into being! Look at some bleak situation, perhaps a failed marriage or a person whose life has bottomed out. Is all of God’s grace used up? Has God given up on all new beginnings? I think not. Hope declares that if God hasn’t given up, I shouldn’t either.

            In the Bible, an idea closely tied to hope is that of waiting. In fact, one Old Testament word can mean “to hope” or “to wait”, depending on the context. The message of hoping and waiting is also preached by the bare trees. The long gray season usually lasts from October till May. That is a long stretch, but we know our wait will be rewarded. Yet in everyday life, while we hope and wait for some new thing, we do not need to wait for God’s presence. The popular author Beth Moore puts it this way: “Have you waited long upon the Lord? For His Word? For His hand? Until He speaks – until He acts…and He surely will – you need not wait upon His love. Patience to wait does not come from suffering long for what we lack but from sitting long in what we have” (Praying God’s Word, 213).

While you wait, while you hope – remain. Abide in God’s love.     
  Pastor Doug

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At one point in the C. S. Lewis children’s book, Prince Caspian, several of the main characters are for the first time able to look upon Aslan– a great and beautiful and fearsome and loving Lion who, in that imaginary world of Narnia, resembles the Christ of our world.  The author says that Aslan looked “so majestic that they felt as glad as anyone can who feels afraid, and as afraid as anyone can who feels glad.”

            Did you ever feel that way about being in the Presence of God?  It fits well with Martin Luther’s much-repeated phrase in the Small Catechism – “we are to fear and love God.”  These days, people would rather talk about love toward God as opposed to fear.  But of course, the two are not opposed.  Both are appropriate responses to God – even inevitable if we understand clearly who God is.  Likewise, the fear of God and joy in God’s Presence are not opposite, but complementary.  (It is interesting that the same book of the Bible that gives us the phrase, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” [Nehemiah 8:10] also says, “Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God?” [Nehemiah 5:9].)

            I will not split hairs about whether the “fear of God” refers merely to awe and reverence, or also to something more like fright.  But I will say that, if we get an idea of the overwhelming hugeness and grandeur and holiness and beauty of God – and then realize that this God loves us and invites us into His Presence – we will feel “as glad as anyone can who feels afraid, and as afraid as anyone can who feels glad”.  What makes it hard to get an idea of this is, we really have nothing on earth – or in the whole universe – to use for comparison. It simply understates things too much, to say that God is many times more powerful than the sun, and billions of times more brilliant than the most intelligent human you’ve ever met.

            Make no mistake, though: this most invincible and superior of all beings is also interested in you.  This God wants more than fear (of any kind), He wants your love and trust.  Rejoicing in you, God wants you to rejoice in Him.  There are many gaps between God and human beings which prevent this mutual rejoicing.  Jesus has come to bridge every one of them.  One such gap is our inability as finite little creatures, to grasp who God is.  But Jesus became finite and little like us, so that in Him we might see the love of God.  He says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen [God] the Father” (John 14:9).  Another gap is created by our fear – the wrong kind of fear, fear  of God’s condemnation.  “But God sent the Son [Jesus] into the world, not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).  There have been other gaps between us and God, but Jesus has come to bridge every one of them.

            If this registers in your soul, you will feel great joy and love.  But as you realize just Who it is that wants to come so close to you, it should also give you – well if you don’t like the word fright, then at least it should give you a thrill of excitement like that of young people going on what they call a “scary ride” at the fair.

            May the joy and love and the delicious fear of walking with God be yours always.  Enjoy the ride.

         Pastor Doug

AUGUST

The 20^th-Century composer Olivier Messiaen was also a devout Christian who thought deeply about spiritual truth.  As an experimental composer, he developed elaborate theories about rhythm, which he thought of as the way music moves through time.  He connected this to theology, saying, “All God’s creations are enclosed in time, and time is one of God’s strangest creatures, since it is totally in conflict with his eternal nature, he who is without beginning, without end, without succession.”

                It is easy to forget what a stupendous creation time is because – well, because we are experiencing it all the time.  But God transcends that.  God is eternal.

                One of the early attempts at expressing the awesome timelessness of God was Psalm 90.  “From everlasting to everlasting, You are God,” says the psalmist (verse 2b).  Or as another translation puts it, “From eternity past to eternity future you are God.”  God goes on forever in both directions.

                During August in Richmond Township, it is the custom to celebrate Heritage Days.  Mostly it’s a big party at the park in Palmer (and incidentally a great chance for our congregation to sell pies).  Heritage celebrations like this are great; but do take a moment to put it in perspective.  We celebrate – rightly so – a heritage going back to about the 1870s.  A lot has happened.  The land has been deforested and reforested.  Several mines have opened and closed.  A huge pit has been created that gets deeper day by day, and huge piles of dirt and rock are now part of the horizon.  The whole physical layout of Palmer has changed more than once.  Important things that happened in, say, the township’s fiftieth year are completely lost to human memory. 

                And all of this, to God, is but the blink of an eye.

                Not that God forgets it, still less that God doesn’t care.  God has no problem taking it all in.  And as for caring, remember that the Eternal One “who is without beginning, without end, without succession” was willing and able to be “enclosed in time”.  That is central to our gospel message: Jesus – the timeless, eternal Son of God –became time-bound for us.  Any way you come at it, God’s love boggles the mind.

                Plenty of people, even in little Richmond Township, have not yet been captured by this beautiful Truth.  We have a job to do, till everyone has had a chance to respond to God’s love.  For that matter, who of us wouldn’t benefit from being boggled a little more deeply by this Word?  Perhaps we as a congregation will be led to new ideas for activities or programs.  But do you know what our main job is as a congregation?  Simply and faithfully to be the church – to hear the message of God and Christ, to respond, and to look for ways to share it.

                Perhaps the place to start is prayer.  And perhaps a good prayer to begin with comes from the end of Psalm 90 (verses 16-17): “Show your deeds to your servants and your glory to their children.  May the favor of the Lord our God be on us, prosper for us all that we do – yes, prosper the work that we do.”  Or as the hymnist Isaac Watts paraphrased it:

                                O God, our help in ages past,

                                Our hope for years to come,

                                Still be our guard while troubles last

                                And our eternal home!

              Pastor Doug