Lent

Holy Week stress and an answer to prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Holy Week has been a good one for me this year, but there was still some stress for me.  This is an account of one particular stress point and the faithfulness of our awesome God who came through for us.

We have a number of traditions here at Salem Lutheran Church as it pertains to Holy Week; traditions I look forward to.  Here are just a few of them (that relate to my particular stress point this week):

–We have a large rugged cross that stands in the narthex during lent that has a purple cloth draped on it topped with a crown of thorns.

–On Maundy Thursday we strip the altar and bring that rugged cross outside, to the base of the narthex ramp and drape a black cloth over the cross beams.
[A cool story about this from Good Friday.  Our custodian saw a van flying down the street next to the church on Friday.  When the van got to the church and saw the cross at the base of the ramp he slammed on his breaks and came to a screeching halt.  He looked at the cross for a couple moments and then proceeded on his way.  This cross, each year, attracts a lot of attention.]

–On Saturday we bring that rugged cross back inside to prepare it for Easter.  There are rings attached to the cross that hold Easter lilies.  We then staple the palms from Palm Sunday to the cross.  And let me tell you it is quite a sight…as pictured below…

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…well…here’s where the stress comes in…

…on Wednesday this week my wife and I noticed that the Palm branches from Sunday were dead.  They were dried up and crunchy even though they were still in water.  The problem was that we forgot to cut the ends to allow the branches to soak up the water.  Now what were we to do?  Wednesday was already a stressful day for me and this was the last thing I needed.  One of my deacons came in and cut the ends and put them in water.  We prayed that somehow God would resurrect those palms for Sunday.

On Thursday when I went out to Belmont for Maundy Thursday worship I noticed that Belmont had a bunch of palms that they were no longer needing.

[cue the ligh bulb that popped up over my head]

I asked the ladies of Belmont if Salem could have the palms and they said that would be no problem.  Now we have palms for the cross and our Easter tradition can continue.  An answer to prayer.  Praise be to God!

Now…as I write this, people are up in the sanctuary getting ready for Easter worship.  There are families in the Fellowship Hall preparing for the Easter breakfast.  And I am here finishing this post and soon will be finishing my Easter sermon.  I sit here feeling refreshed from great Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worships.  I sit here feeling hopeful that our amazing God is ever so faithful.  I sit here looking forward to our Easter worship services (as tiring as they will be for me, but I never seem to notice at the time).

God is faithful…not because He “resurrected” some palm branches for us, because…well…just look at the cross.

Have a very blessed Easter Sunday and God bless!

-edh-

Tired and excited

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Greetings and salutations (or "hallucinations" as my custodian likes to joke).

I had a very fun and very busy weekend this past weekend.  Because of that I did not get my normal "Sunday Morning Prayer" posted.  I will be resuming that this Sunday.

This past weekend, my wife and I along with two other couples (plus a baby) packed a van and traveled down to Iowa to the Amana Colonies (follow the link to see for yourself…it was really neat).  We had some great German food (and of course some great German beer).  We walked through some really neat stores and had breakfast at an old stone hearth bakery.  Needless to say I took a "tiny" step back in my marathon training.  Oh well…I will get back on track this week.

In any case, the weekend was a great little break for me.  This Lenten season has been an extremely busy and tiring one for me…on so many levels.  Please don’t get me wrong here though…I don’t mean to wine with a sob story, but I am tired…and excited.  You see…Holy Week and Easter is what keeps me going.  This is the time of the year that gives me so much energy.  I am going to prepare hard for this joyous time of the year.  I am going to give all I have (and then some).  We are going to praise God for the gift of life we have in Jesus Christ like there is no tomorrow. 

In a way…I am running a marathon and am sprinting to the finish line.  The adrenaline is pumping and I am ready to "finish" hard…but…

…after I finish this "marathon"…after Easter is done I will be crashing hard for a couple weeks to recover and re-fuel.  Frankly…I will need a break.  So please excuse me if I don’t post as much as I normally do until after Easter.  With my energy reserves running low, I need to focus on what I need to do here.  I love leading worship during Holy Week and Easter and love preaching during this time even more.  It is such a powerful time for me (and my wife).  I know I will have the strength I need (thanks be to God), but I need to focus on my church family here.  I will be stopping by to visit the blogs I normally read, but I need to take a break from writing for a little bit, but with a periodic post from time to time as energy and time allow.

So in the mean time, God bless you as you prepare (however that may look for you) for Holy Week and Easter.  And may we all basket in the glow of God’s awesome glory.

Praise be to God…always and forever!
-edh-

Sunday morning prayer – 02/10/08

/ The Pastor

Grandma update:  She is STILL hanging in there.  Mom tells me grandma is getting weaker and weaker and thinner and thinner all the time.  Everyone is blown away by her resiliency.  As for the misunderstandings that were going on in the family a little while ago, about the nature of hospice care, things seem to have been cleared up.  Talking and open conversation has prevailed.  Praise the Lord for answering that prayer and for bringing us closer together!

Evangelism blog:  I know I have not done much with this in the past week or so (maybe starting a new blog right before Lent was not such a good idea).  But I do plan to post something early next week.  I still desire to continue our conversation about evangelism; discussing, encouraging and searching for better ways to proclaim this awesome message of God’s love.  I have so many things running around in my head right now…I just need to "catch them" and put them in print.

Deep freeze:  It’s -11 degrees F right now (wind chill is much colder).  Need I say more.

Prayer: As we begin our days (in whatever way that looks like), lets join together in a word of prayer…

Loving and merciful Father, we enter this Lenten season with heavy hearts as we ponder and reflect on our sinfulness and mortality.  We know that we have let you down.  We have not lived up to your expectations.  We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  But gracious God we ask that you would hear our cries and soften our hearts so we can see and begin to understand our rebelliousness.  We want to serve you.  We want to please you.  Dear God…grant us healing, grant us understanding, grant us discipline so we can better serve you and others.  And God…thank you for sending your Son so we may live.  In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

God bless your day and take care!
-edh-

What are you giving up for Lent?

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Ash Wednesday is upon us…and with that we have Lent…and with THAT we have the "big question" – "What are you giving up for Lent?"  I know that there isn’t anything really biblical about that tradition, but it is something that I have done in the recent past.  I do it because it reminds me of the great and awesome sacrifice that Jesus made for us…a sacrifice that cost him his life and gave us eternal life.  I do know that if I do not give up something God will still love me; that I won’t be censured by the church and that people will not look down on me.  If I choose to give up something for Lent, it will be my choice.

Last night my wife and I were talking about this when she started pondering what she was going to give up.  Last year she gave up ice cream (something she loves dearly) but she said that was too hard so she won’t do that again.  Then she said, "I did think about chocolate, but there are too many things I really enjoy that have chocolate like my morning mochas and ice cream…so maybe I won’t do that."  Then I said, "Giving up something for Lent is not suppose to be easy.  If it is not a sacrifice for you then what’s the point."  That statement pretty much ended our conversation.  So I am not sure where we are at with this whole giving up something thing.

How about you?  What do you do?  Do you give up something for Lent or do you think it is just some silly tradition people hold?  I do think there is some value in it if it is done for the right reason.  If you are giving snacks thinking that will help you lose weight, then maybe that motivation is not pure.  If you are giving up TV because you think you watch too much then maybe that is not good either.  Then again, maybe I am completely off base.  If so…what is the point of giving something up for Lent?  Does Jesus really need it?  Do we really need it?

When I think more about this…about really taking this seriously and giving something up that I really, really enjoy I wonder what it would be like to give up…say…coffee.  I drink a few cups a coffee a day – some in the morning and then the afternoon.  I don’t know…40 days without coffee might drive me insane, but then again, if Jesus gave in to temptation and came down from the cross or avoided it all together, then we would all be damned.  Hmmm…

What do you think?

-edh-