Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

From the Pastor

February ‘12

 

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;

and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!

~ Isaiah 55:1

 

A Samaritan woman came to draw water,

and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

~ John 4:7

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Water is life. Without water, there is no life. I will always remember my father’s enthusiasm afew years ago, when scientists felt confident they had found evidence of water on Mars. Where

there is water, there is life. Without it, life cannot be sustained.

 

We are water. 60% of our body is water, with 70% of our brain and 90% of our lungs made ofwater. Without it, we could not survive. It is no wonder then, that water plays a central role in our lives of faith. We look to the waters of baptism that wash us from sin and bring us to new life. Think of how many of the great stories of our faith involve water, from the waters of creation, to Noah and the great flood, to Moses parting the Red Sea. Water was central for Jesus too, as his power is revealed through changing water into wine, calming the stormy waters and even walking across the sea. On a deeper level, Jesus offers living water for all who wish to come and drink.

 

Over the next two months, we will take a water journey. In these weeks leading up to the beginning of Lent, we will consider what it means to be walking wet. This is an invitation to consider your life, and how God’s waters of grace and love might flow through you. It is a baptismal calling, as we respond to the great things God has done in our lives. On February 19th, the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins, you are invited to make a commitment for the following 40 days, to take on an act of service or a spiritual practice. This can take on many forms, from joining a small group or Bible study, to helping out at Emmanuel Dining Room or LCS.  There is a sea of opportunity!

 

Then, during the season of Lent, consider taking a Lenten Journey. We will wade though the waters together, reflecting on some very familiar stories while also encountering some less wellknown experiences of God at work in the water. As the two scripture passages above remind us, we are invited to come and drink, but also to share that living water with others. This should be an exciting journey together.

 

May you live each day drenched in the love and grace of God through Jesus, and may that love overflow in you for the world!

 

Peace and joy!

Pastor Kathy

 

 

January ‘12

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Merry Christmas! Yes, I know by the time you are reading this, the calendar will have turned to 2012 and the stores will have all shifted to Valentine’s Day paraphernalia. However, it is still Christmas. The 12 days of Christmas is more than just a song, and those twelve days begin on December 25th. So Merry Christmas to you all!

 

Perhaps there is something for us to learn from this seemingly counter-cultural idea of celebrating Christmas for the whole twelve days. Christmas is, after all, about giving thanks to God for the miracle that God chose to dwell with us, taking on human form, and live. Jesus. Emmanuel. God-with-us. This is good news. It is news worth celebrating, not just for one holy night, but every day.

 

With this Christmas remembrance comes great expectation for all that God will continue to do in this world. As the candles of Christmas Eve fade, the light of the Epiphany star glows ever brighter. The light from the manger becomes the light to the na-tions, as the most unexpected guests, the magi, seek the Christ child. So much about the Christmas story is radical and inclusive. God-with-us is also God-with-them. God came for us. God also came for those who are other. God came for rough-around-the-edges shepherds who lived in the fields. God came for wise men from far away, as-trologers who charted the starts in hope of divining some greater purpose in life. God came for women and children, for fishermen and tax collectors, for Pharisees and Ro-man centurions. God came for the world, to break into the darkness of this life and offer hope of light that cannot be overcome. God came for you.

 

So, I encourage you to continue to greet those around you with, “Merry Christmas!” When you get a strange look, remember this good news, that Christmas is the miracle that God came for the world, and God came for you. That’s a message worth sharing every day of our lives. Thanks be to God!

 

With joy,

Pastor Kathy

 

 

December ‘11

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free;

from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in thee.

~ Hymn 254, verse 1, Evangelical Lutheran Worship

 

Dear friends in Christ,

Advent is a season of expectation. It is a season of light and hope, of joy and promise, of love and peace. The word Advent means “coming” and yet this Advent expectation is often over-looked in our culture. It seems this year is no different, that the stores and radio stations have already moved into full Christmas mode, with the overnight shifting of displays or the press of a button on the DJs console. Yet for us within the church, Advent holds a special gift, the gift of waiting.

 

The idea of waiting is becoming more and more counter-cultural. Even now, as I write this, re-tailers are calling out to us, “Why wait for Black Friday?’’ Come spend your money now. Why wait for Christmas when you can get the goodies now? Is there something we can learn from the discipline of waiting? After all we do say, “Good things come to those who wait.”

 

So just what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for time to simply pass so we can start decorat-ing the house or mail out the cards? Are we waiting for the perfect family gathering or waiting to find the perfect gift under the tree? Are we waiting for all of our hopes and wishes to be made real for us, in ways we can touch and taste, smell and sense? Or do we wait for something even deeper?

To me, there is something even more precious than our traditions and trappings waiting for us this Christmas. We can think about waiting for a particular day on the calendar, that we have set apart as a day of celebration and joy, or we can wait for something else. We can wait for a glimpse of something beyond ourselves. In the act of waiting, we find ourselves also hoping and imagining all that is possible with God.

 

Advent helps us see that God can work in ways beyond our expectations. God can take a rough-around-the-edges guy named John, who eats locusts and wild honey and make him God’s holy messenger. God can help us forge a path through the wilderness, to see that even in the midst of the messiness of our lives, there is still something pure and clean and new. God can take a poor, humble teenage girl named Mary and transform her into a mother, willing to risk her life to participate in the plans God has made for her. All things are possible… for those who wait.

 

What are you waiting for this Advent? Are you waiting to do the same things you have always done to get ready for Christmas? Or are you waiting to peek into the manger once again, and be transformed, with the life-changing, radical and yes, even messy idea that God came to live on this earth, just like you, just like me?

 

Come thou long-expected Jesus. Come into our hearts. Transform our lives. Help us see the joy in waiting, that we may see you ever-more clearly.

 

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Kathy