January 2015
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —fleeneda@gmail.com In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago. When we sing this beautiful hymn on Christmas Eve, I cry. Not because it’s necessarily theologically or even meteorologically correct, but because it touches on the human conditions under which Christ came to Earth. It was in the bleak mid-winter of the human race that Christ came - the mid-winter of human sin and suffering. God’s people were subjected to an oppressive government. The Roman client king Herod terrorized the local population. The people waited and hoped in a Messiah to save them. Amid all this darkness, Light entered the world - and was not overcome. Christ is our light in the darkness. And there is plenty of darkness in our lives. We know it all too well. We can wonder where God is; we question God and God’s timing; we cry out to heaven, “How long, O Lord?”
And Christ enters our darkness and brings light - a light that will never be overcome.
As I write this, it is the 26th of December. The shortest day of the year has passed, but colder weather is still to come. I know folks don’t like to hear about it, what with the milder weather we’ve had so far, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a winter like last year’s. Our human condition seems to be like that. The darkest days of humanity are gone with Christ’s return. But there still is plenty of cold and snow that we go through before we come to God’s new Spring. In the meantime, Christ is with you. Never forget - at the Incarnation, God threw his lot in with humanity for all time by becoming human, to enlighten and redeem you.
Christ knows our Winters. And Spring will come.
See you in church!
Pr. David
Zion’s Annual Meeting
The 2015 Annual Meeting of Zion Lutheran Church will be held on Sunday, January 25th. We will have a Carry-in Dinner following the worship service and the Annual Meeting will be held immediately after the dinner. All members are encouraged to attend the meeting. All church treasurer’s are asked to turn their books in at the church office for audit by January 11th.