The Heart of a Pastor

Desperate

This past Christmas my wife gave me the seven volume set of the "Complete Sermons of Martin Luther".  Every once in a while I will check these out and see how Luther preached a particular text or a particular church holiday/season.  This Sunday (May 11) is Pentecost Sunday so I decided so check out what Luther said about this day.  The follow is an excerpt from his Pentecost sermon in 1534:

"We desperately need this Pentecost sermon of the Holy Spirit, so that he may give us a courageous heart, so that we, too, may persevere, regardless of who is offended, regardless of how much people may slander us.  And even if cults and sects arise, we will also ignore that.  That's the kind of courage we need, a courage that remains undisturbed by any of these things and simply continues fearlessly to confess and publicly proclaim Christ, who was so grossly misjudged, condemned and killed." (The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. VI, pg. 163)

Up to this point Luther talks about these scared, timid, uncertain, disciples who, upon the Holy Spirit filling them, started proclaiming to the people (and the powers that be) that the one they condemned and crucified has been raised and is Lord of all.  This One is none other than Jesus Christ.  This proclamation was a bold one and took an incredible amount of courage.  This courage came from the Holy Spirit that allowed them to see that nothing of this world can take away the gift that we have from God through Jesus Christ.  And once they realized this; that nothing of this world could harm them, the disciples boldly proclaimed the Good News.

We too need this courage (as Luther states) and that is why this Pentecost message (the one proclaimed by the disciples on that first Pentecost Day) is so important.  We need to hear a message that gives us strength because this world needs courageous Christians.  This world needs people willing to share their faith no matter what others think.  This world needs people willing to stand up and speak against injustices.  This world needs people to take their faith into the "Monday through Saturday" world.  This world needs people who are firm in their faith knowing there is hope beyond all the crap going on around us.  This world needs courageous Christians; the world is desperate for them.

We need to constantly and continually preach this Good News.  We need to affirm in people the promise of God through Jesus Christ.  We need to proclaim this hope we all have.  We need to be strong, forward, unashamed and bold.  We need to know and/or be reminded that because Jesus died and rose from the grave; conquering death; and giving us victory, we need not be afraid. 

So boldly go and preach the Good News through word and deed.  Speak out against injustices.  Take your faith into the "Monday through Saturday" world.  Make that unpopular decision to say "no" to Sunday sports and say "yes" to worship.  Dare to give more than you "think" you can afford.  Be courageous.  Be courageous because there is nothing in this world that can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Dare to say..."JESUS IS LORD!" Amen.

-edh-

Sermon blog update

I have finally updated my sermons blog with sermons from March 9, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday.  I am not claiming they are anything spectacular, but they are there...enjoy.

-edh-

WorkingPreacher.org

WorkingPreacher.org is a new preaching resource put out by Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  It contains a number of excellent articles and text studies on the upcoming lectionary texts.  The web address is...well...just what the title suggests:  www.workingpreacher.org

And...its FREE!

I highly recommend this site.  I have already gain some important insights to sermon preparation.

Enjoy!
-edh-

Monday morning check in (on Tuesday)

Well...I am back after a long weekend.  And...like my awkward Thursday last week, I got a feeling this will be an awkward Tuesday since I was off yesterday.  My whole week is going to be thrown off.  Oh well...

Grandma:  The funeral mass for my grandma went very well.  The mass was held in the nursing home chapel with about 80 people present.  Nine of the 14 grandchildren were able to be there.  Needless to say it was a bitter sweet reunion.  After spending some fun, quality time together we realized that we need to get together more often.  So my wife and one of my other cousins are going to be planning something this year (at the very least a New Year's Eve gathering).  Funerals and weddings should not be the only time family gets together.

Eulogy:  This was one of the toughest things I have done.  I spent some time sharing some memories of grandma...and was doing fine.  When I got to my closing (talking about grandma's faith) then I started to have trouble...especially when I made eye contact with some of my cousins.  When I made eye contact the waterworks started.  I finished by sharing the Gospel.  Normally during a funeral that I preside at, I schedule the eulogy before the sermon so I can have the last word...sharing the Gospel.  On Saturday (at grandma's funeral mass) the priest had me near the very end...so I had the last word.  Imagine that...a "Lutheran" proclamation of the Gospel at a Catholic mass.  Oh well...we are all brothers and sisters in Christ so what's the difference?

Winter:  I love...I mean, like...wait a second...I use to enjoy...I mean...I am down right sick and tired of winter.  The bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills are getting old.  As you know I am training for the Twin Cities marathon.  Running on the treadmill is fine, but I need a change of scenery...I need to get outside, but I am not running outside if it is below zero.  Call me a wimp, but I want to enjoy my run without worrying if any limb is going to freeze and fall off.

Personal stewardship:  I haven't given a report on this for a while.  My weight loss is going fairly well.  I have plateaued, but I am losing some weight.  Pants are feeling looser all the time which means I am putting on muscle mass while losing fat so therefore my weight is not going down as fast.  As for my training, I am on track and looking forward to registering for the Twin Cities marathon in April.

A message for the road:  "When Satan reminds you of your past remind him of his future"

Take care and God bless!
-edh-

Sermon delivery

This Sunday (for the second Sunday in a row) I am using a preaching-from-notes style instead of the full manuscript style.  Part of me feels a little guilty - that I am not spending enough time in sermon prep.  But another part of me feels a little more free - more free to allow the Spirit to guide me when I preach the sermon.  I think I am still doing the same amount of sermon prep but the actual preparation is different.  Maybe that is what is causing me to feel this way.

Then there is another part of me that feels a little guilty that I am not producing a manuscript for people to take home or a manuscript for my sermons blog.  But then there is still another part of me that says the sermon is an event, not something tangible that you can hold in your hands.  The sermon is something that happens on Sunday that (hopefully) causes a change in people's hearts that in turns helps them live the Gospel for others in their daily lives.

With all these "parts of me" it is a wonder I get anything done.  Can anyone out there relate to this?  What are your feelings on the "sermon event"?  Am I silly for feeling guilty?

Right now the feeling of freedom is overriding my feeling of guilt.  I think it is because I am looking more forward to preaching this sermon because of that freedom.  I am not being "tied" to some pre-written words on a piece of paper. 

I don't know...does this make any sense?

-edh-

Monday morning check in

Busy week
Whew...a busy week is done.  Even though I feel a little tired, I feel pretty good.  Thanksgiving eve went very well with a very good turn out.  The Celebration of New Life service for Gordon went very well also, on Saturday.  We had about 300 people in attendance worshiping and celebrating the New Life we have in Jesus Christ.  We had a great soloist who sang "How Great Thou Art" and the tear jerker, "Thank You" by Ray Boltz.  As prelude music, the family hired a local harpist to play for a half hour before worship - absolutely beautiful.  Sunday worship also went off just fine.  With the three sermons I got to write last week, I was worried something would get missed, but once again, God provided and the Gospel was preached.

Prayer shawls
One of the ministries of Belmont Lutheran Church is wrapping people in prayer shawls.  When people are in the hospital or shortly after they get home, they are presented a prayer shawl from the congregation.  The shawls are made by some ladies in the congregation.  In the two years I have served with Belmont I did not know about this ministry until last week.  Doris, the secretary for Belmont, asked about doing a blessing of the prayer shawls in worship.  They hadn't done this for a while and asked if I could do that.  I said sure, but I have never done anything like that before, but I will figure something out.  Does anyone out there have any experience with blessing like that or know of a blessing service I can use?  I am not looking for anything too elaborate - just something that can be done during the regular Sunday service this Sunday.  Thanks much.

Sunday morning prayer
I am sorry I did not get a prayer posted.  I know there are people that show up, here, for that Sunday morning prayer, but with the chaos that was last week, I just did not get one written.  For me that prayer serves as devotion for me to prepare for worship.  I know that all that I do on Sunday morning I can not do on my own.  My prayer during sermon and worship prep is basically that I am not that talented and if it were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin (to paraphrase Luther's sacristy prayer).  I plan to get back to my routine this weekend.

Scripture
"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:  His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'" (Matthew 1:18-21)

God bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS (I love this time of the year)!

-edh-

Deviled Ham

I just had to share this with you...

...I was visiting this exegetical web site I visit quite often for sermon prep called CrossMarks Christian Resources.  If you page down a little bit to "Other Resources" there will be a link to exegetical notes on the lectionary.  I then found the Gospel text for today and this is what I found in the opening paragraph:

"...this is the one shot the lectionary preacher has of saying, 'This is the first reported case of deviled ham."  (Of course this is the reference to Jesus driving out the demon from a man into a herd of pigs)

I don't know about you but I laughed out loud when I read that.  That line could be a good sermon opener this Sunday.  If not a sermon opener then you could use it as a fun Bible fact to open a conversation...an ice breaker.

On a serious note...check out CrossMarks sometime.  There is a lot of good information for Bible study and sermon prep plus other resources.  The author of the site is a former pastor in Minnesota but now is a professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary Gettysburg.

Enjoy and God bless!
-edh-

Hope does not disappoint

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

I have read this text a number of times.  I have preached on this text and have studied it in Bible study, but now I see it differently.  In light of Andrew's situation, recovering from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq, I wonder how Andrew would hear this text.  And as I wonder about that, I find myself wondering how we as Christians should hear this text.

We are reminded very quickly by Paul of OUR situation because of God's love through Jesus Christ.  Because Jesus died and rose from the grave (which he did FOR YOU and FOR ME), we have access to a peace and grace beyond all understanding - a free gift given through faith.  And through this faith, we look forward to our ultimate glory that we will share with God someday...

...but we live in the here and now -- with suffering...

I have a hard time thinking that one should "boast" about their sufferings - especially when one is faced with a life without their God-given legs.  Does Andrew "boast" in his suffering?  I don't know.  Would I boast in that kind of suffering?  Part of me says "I hope I would", but another part of of me says "I don't know what I would do". 

Another question that comes to mind is this:  Does one have to suffer in order to experience hope?  Is it only through suffering that we truly understand God's grace and love?  And as a close friend of mine asks, "Do I suffer enough?"

Being a good Lutheran I understand Luther's comments that we are not to search for "our cross" or our own sufferings.  That is not the point.  I understand that suffering will naturally come our way.  Maybe it has to do with how we approach suffering - how we respond to it.  Do we become bitter and angry or do we look at it as a way to grow closer to God - a reminder that we NEED God?  Maybe I am asking the wrong questions or looking at this the wrong way.  But maybe the point is that any suffering we face on this earth is nothing compared to the glory we will experience with God someday through faith.  We live here for but a moment, but our New Life with Christ is forever.

I am not sure how Andrew is responding to his "suffering" but my prayer for him is that he knows and has assurance that he will experience a glory with God that one cannot fully imagine.

So I guess hope does not disappoint.  "Suffering"...take your best shot, I cling to my faith in Christ - anticipating a life that you cannot take away.  Praise be to God and AMEN!
-edh-

Baccalaureate worship thoughts

This is my last post dealing with baccalaureate (at least until next year).  But I do want to offer a few final thoughts.  If you want you can check out the sermon I preached on my sermon blog (the link is also on my blog roll).

I was not sure how many people to expect but was pleasantly surprised when more than 75% of the seniors were there.  The total number of people was about 350+.  It was the largest crowd that I have ever preached for.  That realization alone made my heart beat a little faster.  I am not sure why.  I wasn't nervous.  I think I was mostly excited to deliver a message to these seniors that I felt they needed to hear.

During the service, two of the seniors gave their faith story.  Both of them did a fantastic job.  I began to wonder if I even needed to get up and preach.  As the song before the sermon began, my heart rate started to speed up and I began to wish I had brought my water bottle with me - my mouth was completely dry.  I tried to calm myself down through prayer - trying to convince myself that this was not about me.  My heart rate did slow down but my mouth was still dry.  I was frustrated because I hadn't felt this way since internship.

I started to preached and found myself fumbling around at first, but as I got into the second and third paragraph I started to clam down even more and things started to flow better (my mouth was still extremely dry).  Afterward a number of people came up to me to thank me for the message.  Even  couple seniors thanked me.  I am so uncomfortable about receiving compliments about sermons I preach because they are not from me.  But I responded graciously and silently gave credit to God (I should have been more vocal about that).

All in all it was a fun experience.  I feel the message that God wanted delivered was delivered.  Will the sermon have any impact on these seniors as they go into the great unknown?  Only God knows and that is whose hands I will leave it. 

Thank you for allowing me to debrief.  Take care and God bless.
-edh-

Fun discoveries

Fun web site discovery
Someone left this web site address on my wife's desk yesterday:  www.jcplayzone.com (I have linked this on the left hand side of my page under my favorite web sites). This web site is designed for children and it's filled with fun games, crafts, printable coloring pages, recipes, and more.  With all the crap that kids can come across on the Internet it is refreshing to see places where kids can play (and learn) safely.  Check this site out and share it with your kids.  I plan to publish this web site in my bulletin on Sunday.

Fun baccalaureate sermon discovery
I have said this before and I will say it again.  I am always amazed with the whole sermon prep process.  I try to begin the process without an agenda.  If I am faithful to keeping preconceived notions at "home" then something amazing happens in the end -- a sermon -- a message for God's people.  God is faithful.  And because of God's relentless faithfulness, I feel guilty every time I enter the sermon prep process with worries - wondering and fretting over what I will preach (silly boy, it's not you preaching but God through you).  One of these days I will get that through my thick skull (and heart).

With that being said, the baccalaureate sermon I was asked to give is basically done.  I have some fine tuning to do yet today, but it is done.  My plan is to talk to the seniors about "Living water".  In college (or where ever they are going) they are presented with so many sources of so-called "living water".  These kids are searching for meaning and purpose and often times willing to try anything.  My point to the seniors tonight is to not forget who you are or whose you are through baptism.  Your meaning and purpose in life has been given to you in Jesus Christ -- the only "Living water" you will ever need.  Who knows if they will listen to me, but you got to believe someone will...right?

(Maybe not so) fun meal planning discovery
Before you go off and eat something from the frig, make sure your wife (or husband) wasn't planning on having that later.  For lunch yesterday I had a cheese ravioli Lean Cuisine.  This morning my wife calls me at work and says, "Where's my cheese ravioli!?!"  I knew right then and there I was in trouble.  Apparently part of my wife's meal planning for the week included her having that ravioli for lunch today at work.  I guess I missed that memo and I got a feeling my wife will make sure I see that memo in the future.

God bless you as you make fun discoveries of God's love and faithfulness and remember to "drink in", "bath", "bask" and enjoy the "Living water" of Jesus Christ.  You just can't go wrong with that.  Amen. -edh-

P.S. And don't eat your wife's lunch.