Category Archives: service

Trust Live Serve

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Yesterday was Resurrection’s annual Faith-in-Action day, where over 200 members of the congregation served in a dozen different venues. It is a great tradition that reflects our congregation’s mission to Trust, Live and SERVE.  Last year I was inspired to write about it here.

Yesterday was full of Holy Spirit energy.  Children assembled Birthday Bags for the local food shelf, the puppet team preformed at a homeless shelter, and adults worked on a home damaged by last summer’s tornado.  Families were encouraged to work together so that the children could learn from their parents the value of service.

Several of us went to Woodbury Health Care Center to entertain and interact with the residents. I chose the Care Center because my mom recently became a resident there and I wanted her to meet some of the congregation.  Several of our talented youth and adults played piano or lead singing as together we worked to bring the joy of Jesus Christ into their lives.  Naturally many of them brought joy to our hearts as they affirmed our ministry together.

Service is not restricted to one day of the year.  We serve in our daily life.  When my mother was living in a nearby assisted living facility she was visited by one of our high school student who brought her dog along on Sunday afternoon visits.  The two were a big hit with the residents.

Volunteer service is a vital part of our community life together.  Most assisted living facilities and care centers have well-trained and committed staff who invest their lives in caring for our growing senior population.  The staff often works long hours with frail people who are often forgotten by society.  Serving alongside these professional evoked a sense of gratitude and awe at their daily ministry of caring for our aging parents and grandparents.

Community service helps us connect with segments of society that many of us ignore or forget: the 3M manager who helps stock the local foodshelf, the medical device sales representative who sings for a senior center, or the bank executive who pounds nails at a Habitat for Humanity work site.  Jesus calls us to move outside our “normal” areas of influence and control so that we can discover a different slice of the American life.  Service is not simply a band-aid on society’s ills; it can be an opportunity for education and inspiration for real transformative change.  We are changed as we serve.  Our smiles can grow into the deeper conviction for justice and righteousness.

Lord Jesus, teach me to serve as you have served me.

Racing with St. Patrick

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Today we celebrate one of God’s great saints.

There will be a variety of St. Patrick Day celebrations, including road races. Many of the races will feature post-race celebrations, including green alcohol.

It has always been curious to me that a day dedicated to an evangelist and missionary should become the focus of such drinking and carousing. Not that I am against parties, since I can  enjoy post-race celebrations very much. But when people think of St. Patrick they seem to focus on the Patrick and not the Saint.

But that is even more curious, since St. Patrick was born in England, captured by Irish raiders and sold as a slave in Ireland. After serving as a shepherd for six years, he escaped and made his way back to England. During this adventure, he had a conversion to Christianity and he felt the call to preach the faith to (surprise!) the Irish people. He studied for the priesthood in France but was not a very good student. His superiors did not want him to go, but still he went. He preached all over Ireland, making converts and founding monasteries. He became a great hero, not only for Ireland, but for the Christian faith.

In his confession he wrote, “If I am worthy, I am ready also to give up my life, without hesitation, and most willingly, for his name. I want to spend myself in that country, even in death, if the Lord should grant me this favor. I am deeply in his debt, for he gave me the great grace that through me many people would be reborn in God, and then made perfect by confirmation, one people gathered by the Lord.”

St. Patrick reminds me of St. Paul.  St. Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). St. Patrick, like St. Paul, ran the good race. Maybe we should try to run like him.

Lord Jesus, teach me to run the race of life with you and your saints.

Hospitals and Churches

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I have been sitting at the hospital today, watching my mother as she recovers from a nasty fall.  Mostly she is sleeping and when she is awake, her dementia limits conversation.  Still I am thankful that I can simply be with her.

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Churches are often describes as hospitals for sinners.  I want to push the metaphor as I sit with my mom.

1.  The hospital staff cares:  they use my Mom’s name and explain what they are doing even though she has dementia.   Do the people of God show as much care for the stranger who visits?

2.  The staff knows their roles and strengths.  The Personal Care Assistant has a different role from the Nurse.   Do the people of God know their strengths and gifts?

3. The staff will push my mom at times.  The Physical Therapist had to challenge, cajole and push my Mom to stand and take a walk down the hall.  Are the people of God willing to challenge one another in compassion, generosity, and service?

There may be other lessons to be learned.  What do you think?

Lord Jesus, bring healing and hope to your people.

R U Hungry?

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This coming Sunday at Resurrection our Gospel reading will be Mark 6, Jesus’ feeding of the 5000. It is a familiar story that is in all four gospels. On several occasions when food was running low at a church event, people would approach me as pastor to duplicate Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes. I have failed every time to perform some magic trick. However, I never remember anyone going away hungry. Usually we “s-t-r-e—t – c—h” out the food to feed whomever is needy.

Like many stories in scripture this is open to various interpretations as to how it impacts our lives. I don’t believe the story has only one meaning to it, that once the reader discovers it, the story is finished. Rather the story rubs up against my life, challenging, enlightening, guiding my life.

A primary interpretation is that Jesus is like Moses in the Exodus, providing manna in the wilderness for the people of God. In fact Jesus is God himself, since he did not need to consult God about the people’ need, but simply blessed, broke and gave the bread to the people, a foreshadowing of his “blessing, broke and gave” sequence at the Passover meal (Mark 14:22). Jesus is the one who feeds us. John 6 is a lengthy teaching on Jesus as the bread of life.

But I think a second interpretation is the calling of the disciples to feed the people.

Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.” (Mark 6:26)

Jesus gave the loaves to the disciples that they might feed the people. As followers of Jesus we are called to be people who feed others, literally. The church has often been an agency that works to feed the hungry. Whether it is the hungry in the horn of Africa or local hunger of our city streets, we are still called by God to feed the hungry around us.  God has blessed us that we might give to others in Jesus’ name.

Lord Jesus, teach me how to feed the hungry in your name.

Remembering Dr. Kari Egge

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Dr. Kari Egge was a saint, though she would never use such a title.  She lived her faith in her vocation.  Her death this week stirred all kinds of memories for me, since she was active in the high school youth group at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi when I first came on their staff. Kari’s brain was always working, asking deep questions that I could rarely answer.  Yet she had a passionate heart that saw the needs of the world. She went off to college at George Washington University and then into Humanitarian Aid work with such diverse organizations as the Peace Corp, Catholic Relief Services and the American Red Cross. She played key leadership roles in responding to various disaster’s world-wide from the drought in Southern Africa to the tsunami in Indonesia. She received her doctorate in Public Health from Tulane where she studied HIV/Aids and how to treat it in the developing parts of the world.

I remember one particular conversation with her when she was home visiting her parents. I had an idealistic view of her relief work, thinking how wonderful it must be to help people in need.

Her response brought me back to reality, “Much of what I do is simply handle the bureaucratic mess. I am often tired and overwhelmed; we are usually short of key supplies or personnel and the local government often restricts everything we try to do.”

“So, Kari, what keeps you going?”

“I am not sure, but often some good comes. Some people are helped . . . or lived who would have died. I sense God has a hand in that.”

Kari could have lived a very productive, meaningful life here in the United States. She had a sharp mind and wit, a fun spirit, and caring heart. Instead of staying here, she heeded the call to meet the critical needs of people in distant lands. She lived out Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

When she was diagnosed with terminal cancer she did not dwell on her approaching death (though she did make some rather grim jokes about it), but rather how it affect her two young children, Dylan and Isabelle. She loved them, her parents and the many friends she made around the world. I will miss her.

Lord Jesus, grant comfort to all who grieve the death of Kari Egge.  Thank you for her faithful witness of compassion.

Baptism Fire

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Teaching confirmation last week, I told our students that Jesus’ baptism by John was not a sign of repentance of sin, but an ordination into ministry. Baptism is a multifaceted experience for Christians that needs to be lifted up in various ways for us to see the beauty and wonder of this gift from God.

Barbara Brown Taylor writes this about baptism connecting all God’s people together, both ordained and laity.

What we have in common is our baptism, that turning point in each of our lives when we were received into the household of God and charged to confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share in his eternal priesthood. That last phrase is crucial. Our baptism are our ordinations, the moments at which we are set apart as God’s people to share Christ’s ministry, whether or not we wear clerical collars around our necks. The instant we rise dripping from the waters of baptism and the sign of the cross is made upon our foreheads, we are marked as Christ’s own forever. (The Preaching Life, p. 30)

Our baptism is our call into ministry. We all have a place to serve in God’s family and God’s world. Through baptism, the Holy Spirit is placed within us to be a burning ember of power and life.  To discover our place can be a challenge in the free-market society we have. There are so many options from which to choose. Yet God has given the Holy Spirit to guide, nudge, empower, coax and affirm our direction in life. The community of faith and our inner voices become crucial in the discovery process.

Luther Seminary has a process called the Dependable Strengths Articulation Process which helps congregations and individuals discover their calling for daily life.  Resurrection Lutheran will be using this process on Saturday morning to help people discover how they can use their baptism fire for God’s glory.

Holy Spirit, ignite us with a passion to serve Jesus and his people.

“Do I Have To Go?”

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Barbara Brown Taylor wrote a helpful book on preaching that extends way beyond preaching. Here is a section that she wrote regarding where we go when we follow Jesus.

Affirming the ministry of every baptized Christians is not an idea that appeals to many lay people today. It sounds like more work, and most of them have all the work they can do. It sounds like more responsibility, while most of them are staggering under loads that are already too heavy. I will never forget the woman who listened to my speech on the ministry of the laity as God’s best hope for the world and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be that important.”

Like many of those who sit beside her at church, she hears the invitation to ministry as an invitation to do more —to lead the every member canvas, or cook supper for the homeless, or teach vacation church school. Or she hears the invitation to ministry as an invitation to be more—to be more generous, more loving, more religious. No one has ever introduced to the idea that her ministry might involve being just who she already is and doing what she already does, with one difference: namely that she understands herself to be God’s person in and for the world. (The Preaching Life, p.27-28)

I totally agree with Barbara that our ministry is our daily activities and relationships, but lived with the identity of being a child of God. God has placed each of us in our unique settings to be God’s agent, God’s hands, feet, heart and voice in God’s world. We don’t need to travel to a distant land to do “mission” work, we do “mission” work in our homes, offices, schools, and community as we interact with others. A “mission” trip may help us to see the needs of God’s world and to discover our dependable strengths and gifts to meet those needs. It may strengthen our relationship with God and others, but mission can happen wherever we are.

Lord Jesus, let me rediscover my mission in you today.

Trail Crew

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Trail Crew near Lake Haiyaha in Rocky Mountain National Park

A final thought from Labor Day. While hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park last month, I encountered a trail crew building a new bridge. As a teen-ager I had thought trail crew would be the greatest job. They were paid to hike in the wilderness, surrounded by the wonder and beauty of God’s creation. Their work had tangible results, a path that leads from point x to point y.

Only later did I realize how hard their work truly was. Rocks, streams, trees, even mountains block their route. The crew had limited resources, mostly assorted hand tools, to construct the trail. Earlier that I had seen a crew moving large stones with only shovels and pickaxes so that the path could pass through a large boulder field.  They had to battle rain, heat, cold, mosquitoes and biting flies, while eating only the food they carried in. Watching them work, I realized their job is not as idyllic as I once thought.

The Bridge below Lake Haiyaha

Still as I watched, I gave a silent prayer of appreciation and thanks for the work they were doing. For years I have hike mountain trails, prepared and cleared by others. I realize that a small part of my tax dollars go to pay for this as does part of my user fees. Still I am benefiting from other’s labor. I am thankful for those who planned, surveyed, built and maintain our national parks and wilderness areas.

I am also mindful that Jesus has prepared the way for us to the Father.  He cleared the trail for us.  He lifted the heavy burden of our sin off our souls and buried it in the deepest sea. He continues to maintain the path that leads to eternal life.

You show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; Psalm 16:11.

What path are you following through life and who constructed it?

Lord Jesus, place me on the path that leads to yourself, that I might become what you created me to be.

Labor Day Ministry

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As we enter the Labor Day week-end, I am mindful of the various ways we labor. Our careers or vocations can dominate our lives, though we rarely take time to reflect on their significance. Yesterday I explored my daughter’s vocation; today I will reflect on my son’s. (Part of my vocation as a papa!)

I have written on Luther’s concept of vocation in the past (Light work and Deep Gladness). Luther’s emphasis was that our daily work was where we love our neighbor, where we make the world a more trustworthy place for all, Christians and non-Christians alike.

The prince should think: Christ has served me and made everything to follow him; therefore, I should also serve my neighbor, protect him and everything that belongs to him. That is why God has given me this office, and I have it that I might serve him.. . . When a prince sees his neighbor oppressed, he should think: That concerns me! I must protect and shield my neighbor….The same is true for shoemaker, tailor, scribe, or reader. If he is a Christian tailor, he will say: I make these clothes because God has bidden me do so, so that I can earn a living, so that I can help and serve my neighbor. When a Christian does not serve the other, God is not present; that is not Christian living. “Sermon in the Castle Church at Weimar” (25 October 1522)

Recently I met my son, Jonathan, for lunch. He and friends are starting their own business which will be serving our neighbors by providing safe, non-skid floors for pools and bathrooms. The product is called Life Floor.

Often people think that the Christian ministry needs to be done in or through a church and that it must be tagged with the name of Jesus. That is too narrow. Ministry or service happens in our homes, schools, offices and community centers when we serve others.  Our love of God is reflected in our love for our neighbor.

My son’s work is a form of ministry, of serving and loving our neighbor. He will soon install Life Floor in my mother’s apartment bathroom. This will be a true benefit for her since she recently fell while showering and made a trip to the emergency room. Life Floor will be a benefit to my mom. Seeing and addressing the needs of others in our complex world is Christian ministry.

How is your vocation serving your neighbor?

Lord Jesus, may my daily life become a path to love and serve my neighbor: at home, at school or work, or in my community.

Mountain Guide

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First, I want to thank Sarah Storvick for being my guest blogger last week.  I appreciate her thoughtful reflections on participation in a “fake” book club and our call to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ.  I am so thankful for having gifted co-workers to share the call to trust, live and serve.

Pastor John Atop Hallett's Peak in RMNP

Second, I am thankful for a refreshing vacation.  I had some great hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, including the top of Hallett Peak on the Continental Divide.  While atop the peak, I met a volunteer ranger named John. He named all the surrounding peaks for me and told me stories of some of his past hikes and climbs.  He was carrying an ice axe which was not needed on the hike up.  He informed me that he was planning to descend via Andrew’s glacier, an alternate return route that I had been considering.  But seeing his ice axe caused me concern since I did not carry one.  I asked, “Do you think I could descend the glacier without an ice axe?”

He responded,  “I honestly don’t know, but you are welcome to follow me and together we can find out.”

Ranger John preparing to descend Andrews Glacier

Ranger John lead me across the boulder-strewn divide to Andrew’s Glacier and there he stopped to attach some light hiking crampons to his boot. He then directed me on the best angle to descend the ice field and how to navigate beyond the small lake at the glacier’s bottom.   His guiding presence gave me peace and confidence through some tricky parts.

Shortly after John and I parted, I wondered if I would have been as patient and caring to a fellow hiker?  Ranger John certainly was enthusiastic about hiking and proud of the many hidden splendors of Rocky Mountain National Park.  He was a natural evangelists for the park and especially the back country.  Am I as enthusiastic about my journey with Jesus Christ and the high country through which he guides me?  Are you?

Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people” (Mark 1:17).

Lord Jesus, guide me this day along the path you have given to walk.  Prepare me to be companion guide for the people I meet.