Dear
friends,
August is usually a quiet time—the "dog days of
summer," and all that. But this last month I’ve been struck several times
by reminders of the wideness of our Christian fellowship, and the greatness of
our mission.
Let’s start with the thirteen youth and adults from
Peace who journeyed to Mexico to build homes for the poor. I had the great
blessing of praying with them as they gathered in Peace’s parking lot to
depart. They were excited, enthusiastic, maybe a little nervous—understandably
so!
But if you were in church on August 21, you know what
a wonderful and fulfilling experience they had. Most of us don’t have the
opportunity to see the kind of poverty that exists in much of the world; and very
few of us have the privilege of helping people who are in such need. These
members of Peace have now done that, and they will never be the same. What a
wonderful experience for them—and a wonderful thing for us to be able to have
sent them as our ambassadors.
August 21 we also commissioned Johanna Johnson as a
one-year global mission intern in Slovakia. This wonderful program of our
church gives young adults an opportunity to do a year of service in the name of
Christ. Johanna will be working in a parish there, and of course she is really
serving on our behalf, as do all our missionaries. We can’t be there, but we
can support and pray for those who can. We are thereby involved with those
brothers and sisters in Christ in a land that few of us know anything about.
For me, another reminder was my week in Orlando at the
ELCA churchwide assembly. Everyone was interested in the discussions and
actions regarding sexuality, of course, but for one who was there, there was so
much more. Hearing the speakers, talking to people personally, reading the
reports—all of it was a reminder of the great breadth of our church’s mission.
This is why Lutheran Christians have felt it important to think about the
church, not just as a congregation, but as a larger entity. Through our
participation in the ELCA, we touch millions of people around the world,
ministering to those in need and bringing both the gospel of Christ and the
love of Christ to so very many dark corners. I wish you all could have been
there.
Sitting here in Nevada county, it isn’t always easy to
remember the breadth of the church. But as we pray, as we worship, as we give,
as we serve those close to us, we are also taking part in a much bigger
mission. At Johanna’s commissioning, we heard the words of Matthew 28, the
so-called "great commission": "Go into all the world . .
." You, as a part of this one
congregation here in Grass Valley, are doing just that. Thanks be to God for
the great blessing of serving!
Peace to you,
Pastor Richard O. Johnson
Classic Prayers
Our Father, I think of all the pain and heartache, the
tears and sorrow, the greed and cruelty unloosed around the world. Help me to
be an instrument of Thine to alleviate the pain, by this day:
returning
good for evil,
returning
soft answers for sharp criticisms,
being
polite when I receive rudeness,
being
understanding when I am confronted by ignorance and stupidity.
So may I, in gentleness and love, check the hasty
answer, choke back the unkind retort, and thus short-circuit some of the
bitterness and unkindness that has overflowed Thy world. I ask this in the name
of Jesus, who alone can give me the grace so to act. Amen.
--Peter
Marshall (1902-1949)
Presbyterian pastor, and Chaplain
of the U. S. Senate
Mexico was a great experience and it was everything I
expected. Hard work, physical and
emotional struggling, and deep growth in one’s faith. Trips like these are meant to stretch and grow one’s character
and faith. It did all those things and
people (adults and youth) came back saying they loved it and were glad they
went and would definitely go again. Yes, we did accomplish the goal of building
two houses. Thanks for all the support
and prayers from everyone at Peace Lutheran Church. As Christians, we support the poor and needy. We suffer for those less fortunate. This trip was one strong way for our
congregation to live out our identities as Christians.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Dean
“Read Through the Bible”
in a Year
September
1. Ezekiel
25-27
2. Ezekiel
28-30
3. Ezekiel
31-32
4. Ezekiel
33-35
5. Ezekiel
36-38
6. Ezekiel
39-40
7. Ezekiel
41-43
8. Ezekiel
44-46
9. Ezekiel
47-48
10. Daniel
1-3
11. Daniel
4-5
12. Daniel
6-8
13. Daniel
9-12
14. Hosea
1-4
15. Hosea
5-9
16. Hosea
10-14
17. Joel
1-3
18. Amos
1-4
19. Amos
5-9
20. Obadiah
1
21. Jonah
1-4
22. Micah
1-4
23. Micah
5-7
24. Nahum
1-3
25. Habakkuk
1-3
26. Zephaniah
1-3
27. Haggai
1-2
28. Zechariah
1-5
29. Zechariah
6-10
30. Zechariah
11-14
Liturgy Notes:
The Liturgical Lessons
(Part 1)
“On the Lord’s Day, all
who live in city or countryside assemble.
The memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read for
as long as time allows.” So wrote Justin
Martyr in the middle of the second century A.D. For as long as Christians have worshiped, reading the Scriptures
has been one of the most important parts of the Sunday liturgy.
The early church took this
practice over from the Jewish synagogue, where it was customary to read two
lessons, one from the “Law” (the five books of Moses) and one from the
“Prophets” (the rest of the Hebrew Bible).
It is likely that the earliest Christians continued this practice; then,
as Paul’s letters began to circulate among the churches, portions of these
“epistles” were added. We don’t know
just how or when the custom of three lessons – Old Testament, Epistle and
Gospel – came about, but we know that this was the pattern very early in the
church’s history. Eventually the first
lesson, from the Old Testament, was dropped; but in the twentieth century, due
to a more serious commitment to expose congregations to the whole Word of God,
the three-fold lesson has become standard again in Lutheran, Episcopal, Roman
Catholic and some other churches.
The Scripture lessons are
really the central focus of the first half of the service. Through them, God addresses us. Some Sundays it seems that the three
appointed lessons fit very nicely together and have a common theme; other
Sundays, our lectionary provides three lessons that don’t seem to have much in
common. But any of the three lessons
may be the place where God speaks to us in particular on a given Sunday, so it
is important that we attend closely to all three.
The first lesson is nearly
always from the Old Testament, recalling for us the connection between the
Christian church and the covenant God made with Israel. The only exception to this is that during
the Easter season, our first lesson comes from the Book of Acts. This book, which tells the story of the
young Christian church, represents for us the continuity between the old
covenant and the new.
The second lesson is often
called the “Epistle”, though sometimes it comes from a book that is not an
“epistle” in the strictest sense.
Through this lesson we hear words of advice and exhortation from St.
Paul or one of the other apostles.
The third lesson is always
the Gospel, through which we hear the words of our Lord (or accounts of his
life and teachings). The church has
always treated the Gospel reading with special respect in
worship. This
is not because the four gospels are more important than the rest of the Bible;
the entire Scripture speaks God’s word to us.
But when we are hearing the Gospel, we are especially aware of the good news
that God has given us in Jesus Christ.
During medieval times, there were many special things done to symbolize
the uniqueness of the Gospel lesson.
There would be a lengthy and elaborate procession with the “Gospel
Book”, with candles and incense going before.
People would stand, remove their cloaks, put down any weapons they might
be carrying. The book would be kissed
by the priest and deacon. Today, many
of these ceremonies have fallen by the wayside. In some cases, Luther rejected the more extreme things, though
for the most part he regarded these ceremonies as “adiaphora” (roughly, “take
it or leave it”). But modern Lutherans
still sing a special verse (often “Alleluia!
Lord, to whom shall we go?”), some “acclamations” (“Glory to you, O Lord”),
and stand for the reading of the Gospel.
In many congregations, the Gospel is sometimes or always read in the
midst of the congregation instead of from the lectern. Next time we will look in more detail at
some of these special things and what they mean.