March 2013
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —fleeneda@gmail.com Okay. I admit it. Sometimes I don’t practice what I preach. Hey, conscience, stop twisting my arm! What I mean is, I don’t practice what I preach a lot of the time! In the pulpit I preach about God’s love for sinners, God’s invitation to repent, and God’s unshakeable promises. But outside of the pulpit, I doubt those promises as much as any human being. It’s so easy to look at the world and all the tragedy in it and think, “This is it? Couldn’t God have done any better?” All of us experience tragedy which shakes our faith in God and God’s promises – specifically, the promises that God will one day destroy death, and that our ultimate destiny is to be with God. All of us hear that nagging voice in our head. This isn’t true. This is a bunch of baloney. I was stupid to believe in this stuff in the first place.
We find ourselves feeling miserable. Perhaps we even feel judgmental – both toward others and toward God. We might be tempted to think that no one has ever felt this level of anger or sadness before. But it isn’t true. Many heroes of faith knew doubt and despair. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish monk, wrote about his own spiritual depression, calling it “the dark night of the soul”. Martin Luther suffered from bouts of depression, withdrawing to his study or bedroom for days at a time. Once, his friends, unable to rouse him in his office, broke the door down. They brought him to, and he described the fears and doubts assailing him. In a letter to a friend, Luther wrote, “Christ holds me but by a thin thread.” Luther later described this time of dread as a time of “testing” or “affliction”. The opponents which Christ defeated on the cross – sin, death, and the devil – appear to be resurrected and attack our faith. We find ourselves assailed by false messages.
Give up. God doesn’t care about a sinner like you. But God does. In times of spiritual testing like this, Luther eventually found it helpful to find God working through it, destroying all pride and complacency to turn him back to God. While the devil seems powerful in such times, God is more powerful and uses that time of testing to bring us closer. Even in those times we feel abandoned, God is very much present. We Lutherans believe that God is most fully revealed not in moments of triumph or glory, but on the cross, when Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God is likewise most present when we carry our crosses. God continue to strengthen us in our Lenten “wanderings”, confident that eventually we will reach the Promised Land. See you in church! Pr. David
Holy Week Schedule March 24, Palm Sunday: we will meet outside on the north lawn by the cross and process into the sanctuary with palms as the opening hymn is sung. 10:30 AM (weather permitting) March 28, Maundy Thursday: worship with Holy Communion begins at 7 PM March 29, Good Friday: our worship service will also begin at 7 PM March 30, Easter Vigil: our service will begin at 8 PM with cake and sparkling grape juice reception afterward. March 31, Easter Sunday: worship with Holy Communion will begin at 10:30 AM