From Pastor Johnson: Changes

Dear Peace family,

One of my favorite prayers is found in the service of Compline (night prayer): "Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Change, of course, is a fact of life. Some people find change exhilarating, while others don’t like it much.

Several of you have commented with some surprise that last month I mentioned the "R" word (retirement). I want to reassure you that I have no particular definite plan as to when I might retire. I was simply observing that, as I celebrate my 61st birthday in July, starting to think about retirement is not unexpected; and it would only be prudent for the congregation, as it begins a long-range planning process, to have it in mind as well. I may retire at 65, or I may not. It depends on a lot of factors. But one of these years, God willing, it will happen, and that will mean change—change for me, and change for Peace.

A more immediate change is in the offing, however. Shirlee Bartoli, our wonderful church secretary for some three decades, has decided to retire at the end of August. That will be a BIG change for us. Church secretaries are often the people that keep things running smoothly, much more than many people realize. That is certainly the case with Shirlee.

We have begun a search for a new secretary, and you can help us. First, you can pray for the congregation as we go through this transition. Ask God to bring the right person to this very important task.

Second, have a look at the job description in this issue of Tidings. If someone comes to your mind whom you think might fill the bill, let them know about the opening.

A committee has been established to interview candidates, and we will hope to have hired someone so that Shirlee can work with them for a couple of weeks in August.

We’re planning a retirement party for Shirlee, and you’ll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, again I urge you to be in prayer for Peace as we navigate this particular change—knowing always that Christ is the captain of the ship of the church, and he is trustworthy.

I’ll see you all when we get back from Turkey in mid-July.

Peace to you,

Pastor Richard O. Johnson

Classic Prayers

O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Good Shepherd of the sheep, who camest to seek the lost and to gather them into Thy fold, have compassion upon those who have wandered from Thee; feed those who hunger, cause the weary to lie down in Thy pastures, bind up those who are broken in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we, relying on Thy care and being comforted by Thy love, may abide in Thy guidance to our lives’ end. Amen.

                                           --Anonymous, 6th century

LITURGY NOTES:  “The Service”

“What time are your services?”  That question often comes over the telephone, as people inquire as to the schedule of the most basic activity of any congregation.  Of all the words we use to talk about worship, that little word “service” is probably the most overlooked and least thought about.  It doesn’t seem like a technical term, like “liturgy” or “Eucharist”, and so we don’t often take the time to define it.  And yet it has a lot packed into it!

Through most of American Lutheran history, the official “name” of what we do on Sunday morning has been “The Service”; the old “red book” which we used before the publication of the Lutheran Book of Worship was even called “Service Book and Hymnal.”  The Missouri Synod’s current hymnal refers to the liturgy as “Divine Service.”  All of these names come from a good German word, Gottesdienst.  It is not an easy word to translate, because it requires several English words to give a good sense--something like “God’s service to us and our service to God.”  But it is a good word, because it reflects so well the dual focus of this English word that we use so casually.

Worship is first of all “God’s service to us.”  Look it up in Webster’s and you will find that service means “doing something on behalf of another, as a servant.”  In worship, the wondrous truth is that God acts on our behalf!  Think about that wonderful passage from Philippians: Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.”  In our worship, that happens again and again.  Christ serves us, he becomes our servant.  He provides us with what we need.  He feeds us spiritual food, and washes us with a spiritual bath.  He gives himself to us, freely and lovingly.  To talk about “the service” is to remind ourselves that in the liturgy, we are being served by Christ himself.

Worship is also “our service to God.”  It is hard for us to understand that we might be able to do something for God--we, who are so faltering and stumbling, how can anything we might do actually be useful or pleasing to God?  Yet he tells us that our worship is very much pleasing to him.  He tells us that what he wants most of all from us is that we glorify him and serve him, and in the liturgy is one place where we do that.  We may not be able to fathom exactly why he gets such pleasure out of our songs and prayers and praises; but we must take his word for it--he does!  And so when we gather on Sunday morning, we are serving him.

Sometimes you see on a church bulletin a phrase like “the worship is ended; the service now begins.”  That’s one of those phrases where, in Tallulah Bankhead’s memorable words, “there’s less here than meets the eye!”  Certainly our service to God extends into the world, into our daily life; but what we do on Sunday morning--our prayers and our praises--is very much service, simply because it is what God wants us to do for him!

So this word “service” implies a kind of mutuality between God and his people.  He serves us, and we serve him.  Lutheran captured that idea so well when he said of worship that “nothing else be done in it than that our dear Lord Himself talk to us through His holy Word and that we, in turn, talk to Him in prayer and song of praise.”  As such, the “service” is a vital moment in our spiritual life.  It is where we are most in touch with God, where we most completely and truthfully interact with him.  “What time are your services?”  Important question!  Because whatever the hour, our service is the time we come into the presence of our Lord.