The Journey to the Destination

In case you missed it, the Christian Church entered the season of Lent on Wednesday. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the day when all fat, eggs, and dairy are used up before the abstinence of Lent took over. Notice, there is no need to drink up all the alcohol, but some traditions seem to make an attempt at that as well.

Another name for the season leading up to Lent is Carnival, from the Latin carne vale, or “farewell to the flesh. This can call the believer to the period of abstinence and fasting or have a focus on the spiritual rather than the material. It is probable that the is some joint meaning in the reference.

Following the strict religious traditions of the time, all celebrations end abruptly at midnight on Fat Tuesday, and the Christian community enters a time of fasting, prayer, emphasis on the spiritual disciplines, and a devotion to and remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus Christ on behalf of the believers. The time of Lent was also a season to instruct those people seeking to be baptized into the faith. With the sanction of Christianity by Emperor Constantine in A.D. 313, not only were sanctions and persecutions lifted from Christians, but there were even advantages and privileges for people becoming Christians. The large number of potential converts needed to be adequately instructed and their commitment to the faith confirmed. It is said that the season of Lent was one of the ways a person would indicate their resolve and dedication to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

Some 1,700 years later, we have mostly forgotten those traditions. Many of us have no idea of what Lent is or how we should faithfully observe it. Others consider Lent a Catholic observance and not something Protestants normally do. So, we arrive at Easter with little or no preparation for the day, a general lack of understanding of the sufferings of Christ needed to procure our salvation, and neglected the strengthening of our faith through the use of the spiritual disciplines.

While it may be too late to wear the ashes this year, it is never too late to strengthen our relationship to our Savior. This Lenten season I am reading Lent for Everyone, a devotional book for the season by N. T. Wright. There are dozens of other devotional books for the season, including picking up one of our own Daily Bread devotional books from the foyer for free. The main thing is that you begin, and that you be as faithful to your routine as you can possibly be. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or two. Remember, it’s about growth in grace, not perfection.

Pastor Craig

Sleeping Through the Storm

 

The picture is called Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt. You can read the story in the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41. As you read the story remember that the men in the boat with Jesus were seasoned sailors. This was
their living. They had been out in other storms, so they knew what they were doing. But they did not remember one this bad in years.

Imagine the scene on the boat. Try to put yourself in the state of mind that would make veteran sailors cry out, shaking Jesus, who, incidentally, was fast asleep. How can he be that calm, or is it that he just does not care? We recognize that we are in danger while this man is calmly taking a nap in the back of the boat! He fell asleep on a cushion. Is he that courageous, that crazy, or that foolish. How would it be possible to sleep with the boat bouncing from wave to wave? The waves washing over the boat should have been more than enough to wake Jesus!

The disciples finally shook him awake, grabbed him by his robe, and yelled in his face “DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT TO DIE!” It was not a lack of caring that allowed Jesus to take a nap. It was the confidence in his Heavenly Father, his belief in the one who created the wind, the waves, the very storm itself, could also provide safety from it as well.

When all seems lost, nothing is lost if you are in the boat with Jesus!

Grandmothers

 

Grandma & Granbpa Emmanuel

I hope that everyone reading this have wonderful memories of your grandmothers. My family is originally from Wisconsin. The upper midwestern personality is unique and incredibly special. My grandparents lived in Merrill, Wisconsin.

My father’s parents lived a few miles outside of town and owned a family dairy. My grandparents were
the only farm hands once their children moved away, so our family vacation each year was going “up there” during hay season to help bale and store hay in the barn for the coming hard winter. I am sure that my cousins and I were more often in the way than help, but we thought it was all fun.

Grandma & Grandpa Krueger

My other grandmother was a widow in lived in town. She worked at the local IGA grocery store, in the meat market. She did not have the farm work to do, so there was time to do more of what we wanted. She had two great treasures which I still hold dear, a collection of Reader’s Digests dating all the way back to the’30s. Each summer, I read them all. I only wish that I would have claimed them as my own when she finally passed.

The other treasure was made up of my mother’s record collection, several dozen old 78’s from the 40’s and 50’s. These I do have, and I still love the music from that period more than any other style or genre.

The point is that the houses and our time spent at each house was quite different, but each was a magical, memorable time, that I continue to cherish almost 60 years after it is gone.

This brings us to the reading for today, Proverbs 9:1-6. The passage is a personification of Wisdom. Wisdom is like a wise grandmother, who takes care of her house, prepares the meals so everyone is fed, takes care of their needs so that they feel valued, listening to anything that is communicated so that all feel heard. I am sure that my grandmothers heard every 6-year-old story of our previous year at school. They voiced the appropriate concern over the wrongs we suffered, rejoiced with our elementary achievements, presented us with gracious gifts from the local dime store, and offered us a place to be ourselves while encouraging us to grow into something grand.

What they both offered in their own way was unconditional love. A grandmother’s love and wise guidance have an impact on the mind of the young. As the children grow up to face various adult trials and challenges, hers is the voice that comes from deep within reminding us of acceptance, guidance, and showing us, in a very real way, the divine love of our Creator.

Now I am a grandparent myself. I remember clearly all the time they both listened to endless stories and provided comforting words. My grandmothers were the personification of wisdom itself, each of them in their own way. I can only pray that I might do something similar in the lives of my own grandchildren.

Rev. Craig C. Krueger

Be Imitators of God

 

Being a Christian was a new thing for everyone in the New Testament era. The ways that had become widespread practice were no longer effective ways to go about living one’s life. A new standard was in place for the people. The gods of the Greeks and the Romans were mean, cruel, dishonest, lustful, deceptive, greedy, and so much more. In fact, the people may have been more righteous than their deities.

As Paul instructs the church at Ephesus, he highlights for them the things for which they should strive. Ephesians 4:25ff says Speak the truth, be angry, but do not let your anger smolder and build into resentment, resolve your differences on the same day, do not steal, earn your money with your own hands so you will have something to share with the poor, use words that will encourage one another, be kind, forgive.

It is an extensive list, isn’t it? Paul was trained as a Pharisee. That meant he knew the law of the Jewish people backwards and forwards. He knew what was allowed and what was forbidden. He knew not only what was “black and white,” but he also knew what was allowed in the gray areas, those expectations that had, or required, exceptional circumstances. If you were not allowed to work on a holy day, well, what exactly constituted “work?” If you had animals that needed care, was that work or not?

In all of this, Paul could see that this new way that called for forgiveness and grace could very easily turn into another extensive list of rules, even more comprehensive than the Jewish people had lived under for centuries. How was that, Grace? How was that forgiveness? Would all the attempts to follow this Jesus turn into another system where people were simply trying to balance the scales between sin and righteousness?

Finally, Paul gave the Ephesians one simple bit of encouragement. He says, therefore be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1 NASB). Paul was boldly telling the new converts all over the world, that they should act like Jesus did in all things. Here we see just how differently Christian behavior was from the pagan world. Jesus was not only a model of behavior, but he was also the power to fulfill the life that was that showed forth the model.

Craig C. Krueger

The Journey is too Much for You

 

The reading for today come from 1 Kings 19:4-8 – Elijah was on the run. Queen Jezebel was after him, and she had no intention of stopping until Elijah was dead. An exhausted Elijah had found a hiding place in the bushes, and there he prayer for death but ended up taking a nap.

And it was in this place that the angel of the Lord came to him said “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So, he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And there the word of the Lord came to him.

The “wilderness” is a place of giving and testing. It is a place of refining and strengthening. It can also be a time of weakness and, even, depression. It can be a time where God meets you and brings clarity to the chaos that may be surrounding you at this moment.

When the word of the Lord came to Elijah in that cave, the words came as a question, a question that required an answer. What are you doing here, Elijah?

You see, Elijah wasn’t supposed to be hiding in the bushes, in a cave, or anywhere else. He was supposed to be boldly proclaiming that Queen Jezebel and her wicked husband, King Ahab were living on borrowed time. God was about to send judgment upon them and the idolatrous people of the nation of Israel. Elijah, it’s time to put your trust in this God of yours, and time to be bold in what you say and what you do.

“Elijah,” God said, “It’s time to go back the way you came and do the job which I have assigned to you.”

Think carefully of your experiences running from that which you fear, from a task which God may have given to you. How did you finally face your fear, or are you still trying to avoid what lies before you? Elijah heard the still small voice of the Lord in the wilderness. What is that voice saying to you? What will your response be to that voice?

Reply in the same manner that Elijah did. When Elijah stepped out in faith, God brought about an awakening of faith among the people of Israel, an abandonment of the false idols and a return to the worship in the temple. Maybe God is ready to use you for something totally amazing!

Squeeze It Tight

This picture is a sweet one of an 8 year old holding her mother’s hand. It is precious, but it is far beyond just being precious. It is Miraculous!

It is precious because the child’s hand is my granddaughter’s, and the adult hand is my daughter-in-law’s. It is miraculous because this picture is 8+ years in the making. It is a picture of hope --- hope of something that may yet be. It is the hope of what we hope will be. It is the first of something.

You see, Anabelle has been labeled as “Our Little Unicorn.” There is no name for the collection of symptoms she has. She defies description, medically. She has seizures and has had infantile spasms. All of these are under control as a result of a combination of keto diet and several anti-seizure meds. It is not that she is “low-tone” as they once thought. It is just that it takes incredible focus and repetitivesness to achieve coordination.

There definitely has been damage done developmentally due to the spasms and seizures she has survived. Her swallow reflex is an issue for her. There are many limitations: and yet there also have been some amazing accomplishments. She can prop up on her elbows to play with toys. She can make certain toys do what she wants them to do by manipulating them or pushing correct buttons.

She loves music and movement and rhythm and vibration. She is not as visually cued to recognition with people as she is by sound. For instance her grandmother made up a song for her, and she sings it to her when she first arrives to see her. Anabelle “knows” her more by what song she sings to her more than her appearance. Once she hears her song, then Anabelle lights up.

All of this to say that the picture with this article is a first. Anabelle has ben held, she has had people hold her hand, and she has had people carry her in their arms, but this picture is miraculous because it is the first time Anabelle has held someone’s hand in return. That brief squeeze is God helping Anabelle say, “I am here. I see you, I know you, and I love you.”

The next time someone holds your hand in return when you reach for theirs remember Anabelle, and thank God for the miracle of holding hands with someone you love!

Rev. Craig C. Krueger

Caring for the Poor Little Ones

 Augustin of Hippo (354 - 430 AD) is recorded as saying God will turn towards those at his left hand: . . . I placed my poor little ones on earth for you. I as their head was seated in heaven at the right hand of my Father - but on earth my members were suffering, my members on earth were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would have reached their Head. Would that you had known that my little ones were in need when I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to
bring your good works into my treasury. But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence.

Imagine all the things you have done, or tried to do, to impress your Creator. You went to worship, served on charitable foundations, gave hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars to "worthy causes." Imagine doing all these things, and so many others to impressed those around you. Now you have your chance to plead your case before your Creator. You quote your resume line-for-line. It is QUITE impressive. There's  just one problem. It's all about you. Everything you did, even when you gave money to other causes, it was all about you. Maybe you didn't get a

building with your name on it, maybe it was just a fancy certificate, or a plaque, or a photo-op in the paper, but it was still about you. 

The dear ones never saw you, never met you, didn't know you, so they had nothing to brag to their Father about. You put nothing in their hands, so you had nothing in the Father's presence. 

What if you knew ahead of time that your eternal destiny might rest in a story a "dear one" would joyously tell their Father in Heaven about you. How much effort would that have taken on your part? How much time? How much money? Just to show the love your Heavenly Father tried to show you, what if you had passed that love on to one of those "little ones." 

It may be much closer to the truth than most of us would like to believe!

Pastor Craig