FROM THE PASTOR….

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

 I enjoy the Wednesday night Lenten Services.  I like to mix a little teaching with preaching.  I like going into the Bible and finding stories - rich stories of people before us who gave us a witness of faith and devotion.  This last week we talked about Shiphrah and Puah and the week before we talked about Matathais Maccabee.  It was interesting to hear how they stood up for what is right and stood up for their God.  In both cases, their adversaries were dominating foreign oppressors and the situation bleak form them and the Hebrew people.

As we moved on in history we looked at others that stood up for their faith in God.  But what was strange is that the adversaries were not dominating foreign oppressors but the church, domestic society, and the indifference of people.  We heard Martin Luther King say, "We should not be interested in negative pace without tension but peace with justice."  Martin Luther King was called an extremist.  He said in the Letter form the Birmiingham jail, "I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction in this.  Was not Jesus an extremist in love - love your enemies;  Was not Amos an extremist for Justice-let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream; was not Paul an extremist - I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ; or Martin Luther, "Here I stand...,"  King goes on and on.  The point is that there are times that we may need to challenge the status quo and stand up for what we believe.  These differences in thoughts, ideas, and expressions of faith can cause tension.  In some cases they are the result of a long time of peace without tension rather then peace with fairness and justice. 

In our church community, there are some pockets of tension.  That was obvious at the congregational meeting.  Just like you,  I don't like tension.  As I go around listening to people's concerns, I hear a bunch of thing that are not true.  I hear some that I need to apologize for and correct.  Please know that I will do the best I can to address any and all issues that are my failings and mistakes.  The Church Council is also going to develop means of communications so that we can all know the issues and address them appropriately and resolve them fairly.

We are church of Jesus Christ.  It is his church and we all work together to share our thoughts, ideas, and visions for what that means for us as we walk on our faith Journey together.  But this doesn't mean there will never be tension; in fact, greater diversity almost guarantees there will be.

Jesus shows us the way to get through the tension:  love one another!  With prayerful hearts, and humility before God and each other, we will be able to overcome the differences and that this group of people called Trinity Lutheran Church can together discern what God is calling us to do and happily move toward doing it.

Prayerfully,

     Pastor Gerry

 

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