May 8th, 2025

Greetings Disciples of Jesus!

The Bible is a library and very complex literature that is meant to be studied and reflected upon, especially the book of Revelation.  The information that follows is gleaned from the Bible and Craig Koester’s book, “Revelation and the End of All Things”.  Koester advises us to think about what we expect of Revelation’s visions and the large realities they open for us.  Last week we had the 7 letters to the churches and the question of who was worthy to open the scroll with the 7 seals and the slaughtered yet living seven eyed and seven horned Lamb who was found worthy and there was worship.  This is the template for our celebration of Christ’s resurrection.  This is why we keep the weird looking lamb before us and keep looking for where Jesus shows up.  This shapes our developing vision of resurrection.

The worthy Lamb opens four seals and each of the four living creatures calls forth the horse and its rider.  The white horse and bowed conquering rider, the red horse and peace taking rider with the great sword, the black horse with the scales holding rider and the green horse with the Death rider who could kill with sword, famine, pestilence and wild animal a ¼ of the earth.  These horsemen may stand for the larger realities of conquest, violence, economic hardship and death awakening a sense of uneasiness in the reader's well-being and sense of security. The opening of the 5th seal reveals the martyrs who are told to rest a bit longer and the 6th seal was the earthquake that chases all the powerful into hiding asking, “Who is able to stand?”

This is the question our Sunday lesson from Revelation 7:9-17 answers and we are brought again to the Lamb and the throne with the multitude from every tribe, people, languages robed in white with palm branches shouting out “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!” They are joined with the angels and the 4 living creatures worshipping God.  I hope this sounds familiar.  Revelation likes layering images upon images hoping to stir our imaginations into deeper insight and reflection.  Keep thinking about resurrection.

The vision draws our attention to the white robed worshippers who have come out of the great ordeal and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb resulting in white robes.   Amazing what the power of the Lamb’s blood can do and the worship it calls forth in those who have come through the great ordeal.  The vision asks us to look for more than just blood stains as we see this Lamb become the shepherd of the people who will guide them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  And the opening of the 7th seal gives 90 minutes of silence in heaven before the smoke of the incense and prayers of the saints rise before God and heavenly fire and thunder comes to the earth.  I hope you are thinking about the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit’s fire.

Besides setting before us the threats we face, the vision is designed to awaken the readers’ willingness to identify with those who have suffered for the faith.  The martyrs suffered not because they were sinners but because they were faithful. They received a divine response showing that they are valued in God’s eyes.  I hope we are encouraged to look at the lives of those martyred because of their faith. Read their stories to inspire you.  Most every week on the back of the bulletin we share the commemorations that names martyrs.  Look them up and learn about their lives and deaths and then think about Jesus’ resurrection and the gift we receive because he lives.  What does that call forth in you, people of the Risen Christ?

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

May 1st, 2025

Greetings Disciples of Jesus!

This year we spend time in Revelation during the Easter Season.  We get all the good parts on Sunday so let’s spend a bit of time with the complicated parts in between times. The information that follows is gleaned from the Bible and Craig Koester’s book, “Revelation and the End of All Things”.  We read Revelation 1:4-8 on Sunday which begins with John’s address to the 7 churches that are in Asia.  These seven churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.  Each church is addressed individually but not privately as this is a circular letter that travels in their midst.  The letters to each church follow the same basic pattern:

Address from Christ

Words of rebuke and encouragement Summons to listen and promise to the  faithful conqueror

Rev. 1:4 speaks of the 7 spirits who are before the throne which may also be the 7 spirits, the 7 heavenly representatives of these churches.  The address to each congregation mentions traits from the vision of the glorified Christ in 1:12-20 which invites the churches to consider their situation in relation to Christ and not in comparison to one another.  When we keep our eyes focused on worshiping one God, it helps us from coveting our neighbors or comparing ourselves to other churches.  As we explore these letters it is good for us to remember our own situation in relationship not to other churches but in relationship to Christ.  Revelation is a complex book that builds on patterns and symbolism and demands deep study from us.

Here is how Christ is identified in each of the churches:

Ephesus – the words of him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand, who walks among the 7 golden lampstands.

Smyrna – the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life.

Pergamum – the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Thyatira – the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Sardis – the words of him who has the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars.

Philadelphia – the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

Laodicea – the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation.

Three of the churches – Ephesus, Pergamum and Thyatira were dealing with the problem of assimilation.  These were places of high cultural and religious diversity.  They had internal conflicts about acceptable and unacceptable forms of Christian faith and practice.  They struggled with to what extent Christians could accommodate pagan practices and how important it is for Christians to maintain a distinctive identity. 

As Ephesus struggled with resisting assimilation, they lost the love it had at first – pursuing the way of Chirstian love without compromising the integrity of their faith.  Pergamum wrestles with to what extent Christians could conform or assimilate into the pagan society. The congregation is drawn to Balaam from the book of Numbers who was to curse the people of Israel but instead ended up blessing them, but the people of Israel joined the pagan practices of the people of Moab. Thyatira is commended for its love, faith, service and endurance.  They are rebuked for tolerating a self-identified prophet who was teaching Christians to practice fornication and to eat meat sacrificed to idols (2:20).  Connections are drawn from the Old Testament to Jezebel for this community.

Smyrna and Philadelphia deal with the problem of persecution most often instigated by local members of the community rather than the government. Christians in Smyrna were considered a subgroup of Jews and fell under the same protections of Jews.  Many of the non-Jews viewed Jews with contempt, charging them with hatred of humanity because they refused to honor other gods and did not participate in civic rites that included pagan religious rites. When the Jewish community attempted to sharpen its boundaries the Smyrna congregation faced persecution on two fronts, leaving them poor.  Philadelphia was small, poor and denounced by the local synagogue.  They refused to deny Christ.  And the promise they are left with is that Christ holds the keys to lock and unlock the door leading to the presence of God and those who persist in faith will be pillars in the temple of God.

Sardis and Laodicea face no threat from the outside – no accusers or imprisonment.  These congregations seem to be thriving and yet the message to these churches is almost all negative.  Their problem is complacency.  Their threat is comfortable conditions.  They are not threatened by society but by the judgment of Christ. 

Sardis looks alive by society standards but in the eyes of the risen Christ they are at the point of death.  They lack vigilance.  Christ comes like a thief to steal them of their complacency that they mistake for security.  They deceive themselves with contentment with incomplete obedience to Christ.  They have “soiled their clothes” (3:4), they have sinned by compromising their relationship with God and Christ and have not washed their clothes in the blood that makes them white. The promise and warning is to preserve in walking with the risen Christ, dressed in white and having Christ write their names in the book of life.

Laodicea does not know the truth about itself.  They think that because they are rich, they need nothing.  They cannot see their condition in relationship to Christ.  Christ says he is about to spit them out because they are neither hot nor cold (3:16) and yet Christ stands at the door and knocks which suggests that he is somewhat of an outsider to the church that bears his name.

The messages to the 7 churches will be built upon in the visions that unfold in the next chapters of Revelation.  Whether we face persecution, assimilation or complacency the vision of the heavenly throne room, the 4 horsemen and the other visions can help to awaken the complacent, strengthen the persecuted and bring those tempted to assimilate a renewed sense of faithfulness.  The promises made to these churches are not forgotten in the visions that follow and point to the final chapters of Revelation that gives us a picture of everlasting life. 

This is John’s picture to us as he went back through the Old Testament to make sense of what God was doing in Jesus Christ and what it means to trust the risen Christ.  In our adult forum we reflected on a quote by Barbara Johnson that suggested we are an Easter people living in a Good Friday world but we wonder if we are Good Friday people living in an Easter world because Christ is risen and the whole world is changed and yet we live in this between time!  It is hard for us to get beyond our Good Fridays where we think the world is falling apart with sin, death and the power of evil.  It is hard for the reality of the resurrection to take root and direct our lives as our Revelation congregations remind us.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

April 27th,

Greetings Disciples of Jesus!

Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  The 40 days of Lent are over and we are blessed with 50 days of Easter, to feast and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!  To live into the reality of Jesus resurrection and the meaning that has for our lives will take a good 50 days to sink in.  We have all the good parts of Revelation, and continuous readings from John and Acts to walk with from the Bible helping us to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.  We will begin each service not with confession but with thanksgiving for Baptism to celebrate Jesus’ defeat of sin and death.  Even though we continue to encounter both sin and death, they do not have the last word or the final say.  Jesus has walked through all sin and death and shows us the way. 

I share with you this Easter poem/prayer from Pastor Mark Anderson that does a lovely job of connecting Easter with our baptism and the promise of this covenantal relationship.

Lord,

The grave is empty.

The stone is rolled away.

Death has lost, and You have won.

And yet,

our hearts are slow to believe,

still tangled in fear,

still clinging to yesterday.

But You are risen

whether we feel it or not.

You are risen for the doubters, the weary, the broken.

For us.

Raise us with You.

Pull us into Your victory.

Let us walk in the light of Your never-ending mercy.

And You have spoken: “I have called you by name. You are Mine.”

You have raised us in Baptism,

clothed us in Your righteousness.

Your Word is stronger than our doubt.

You are risen! Indeed! Amen.

Used with permission; GOD’S WORD IS LIFE Copyright © 2025 by Pastor Mark Anderson. All rights reserved.  www.pastormarkanderson.org

Blessing to you all as we live into the promise of our baptism and look beyond the power of sin and death remembering there is more because the tomb is empty, Christ is risen and meets us on the other side of sin and death.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

April 10th, 2025

Greetings to Jesus’ friends,

Many thanks to Jon Bengtson who played the role of BoxBob and Amy Calhoun who played the role of BoxSue in our skits for our Wednesday worship services.  Thanks also goes to Susan Stanley for her behind the scenes work in directing and prepping for each week’s skit.  Thanks to all who shared their reflections after each skit. I enjoyed hearing your perspectives and what caught your attention.  BoxBob and BoxSue brought us through the season of Lent hoping to draw us closer to Jesus.  We focused on the disciplines of Lent – prayer, fasting and good works and finished with our focus on Good Friday.

BoxBob had a no good, horrible, worst day ever and he thinks he is an awful person. But BoxSue gives him a different frame of reference when she suggests that he wouldn’t feel so bad about what he did if he were really an awful person.  Being hard on ourselves is one of the ways we navigate no good, horrible, worst day ever times.  This helped BoxBob and maybe us too when we are down on ourselves for something we have done or failed to do.   Feeling bad helps us to move forward.

BoxSue invited us to think about our own no good horrible worst day and hold it up against Good Friday and Jesus’ suffering and death by crucifixion.  That is another frame of reference for comparison. Perhaps the comparison will help us to see the goodness of Good Friday and its holiness as we see God’s Friday, God’s no good horrible worst day ever as God experiences the death of his beloved and only son. God through his Son, Jesus entered the fullness of humanity, living like us and dying like us, to show us the way through our days, even our most no good, horrible, worst day ever.

God shows us the way through our lives especially in the season of Lent culminating in the pinnacle events of Holy Week.  We have the 40-day season of Lent because Jesus fasted and was tempted and tested for 40 days as he began his ministry.  So, we set aside 40 days every year.  Sunday we will celebrate Palm Sunday welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem and the Three Days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil.  These are high holy days calling us to worship and sacrifice. Worship – valuing, giving worth and in our case – it is valuing God, finding worth in God.

For the Jews, the Exodus is a pinnacle event marked with seder celebrations, meals to remember.  God hears his people’s cries and frees them for worship of God.  God through Moses wants the Pharoah to let the Hebrew people go out into the wilderness, to Mt. Sinai – a three-day journey to worship God and make sacrifice.  And you know the rest of the story. 

The highest holy days of Christianity are before us in Holy Week.  This is our time to spend three days in worship focusing our attention on this magnificent event of what God has done.  We do a great job of welcoming Jesus at Christmas and celebrating Jesus’ victory over death on Easter. 

But the three days – Maudy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil are hit and miss for Christians, and I would say mostly miss.  I can only guess what runs through people’s minds for which worship service they choose to attend or not attend.  Three in a row, all beginning at 7:00 pm seems a lot.  So a consumer mentality might sink in.  And people have busy schedules especially if you have kids.  It could be your tradition as to which services you attend.  And possibly your schedule just doesn’t allow it.  But if you can, will you try to make this 3-day worship journey together?

God wants our attention, our undivided attention.  God thought it was an important task for the Hebrew people to walk for 3 days in the wilderness to worship him.  There is something about the journey, about taking three days to get to our destination that is of value and worth for us.  God knows that about us.  God knows how wrapped up we get in our slavery, our culture, our traditions. 

It takes some time to unwind from the pulls of the world, from the traps and distractions that pull our attention away or off God and what God is up to in this world and in our lives.  I’m not asking you to walk three days in the wilderness.  I am asking you to come three nights in a row at 7:00 pm to give your undivided attention to God. 

Look again at what God demonstrates to us in Jesus as he washes his disciple’s feet and gives us a meal to remember him by and strengthen our own witness of serving like Jesus did.  Whose metaphorical feet might Jesus be putting before you to wash or in what way is God calling you to humble service?

Look again at his dying on the cross in community with others around the world.  Sit for an hour and hear the story of his passion and pray at the foot of the cross.

Look again at a time of waiting in the midst of death, hear the old stories, recommit yourself to your baptismal promises and celebrate Jesus’ supper at Easter Vigil.  Wait with God.  Then we are ready to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday.  We are ready to worship.

It only happens once a year, a three-day journey in worship.  It’s the difference of hiking a mountain trail or taking a tram to the top.  The hike is more challenging, but the views and experiences are much more in-depth, feeling the journey with our bodies.  Everyone is rewarded with the view on top, but the journey to how we got there, strengthens us and helps us to grow in love and appreciation of God.  Sacrifice your time, three of your evenings.

Some of you will find other ways to worship, sacrifice and enter the holiness of these days but if you are able, please join the faith community.  We need each other and worship is better when we are together.  God is busy in our world telling his tales and working with us through these themes of servanthood, sacrifice and waiting.  I’m looking forward to our time together this Holy Week!

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

April 3rd, 2025

Greetings to Jesus’ Disciples,

I am enjoying our community Lenten discipline of gathering on Wednesdays for fellowship, sharing a meal and worship. I enjoy the insights people share from all ages. This past Wednesday, as we explored good works with BoxBob and BoxSue I was delighted to hear in the reflection time someone share how our good works are a response of gratitude for what God has already done.  Well done disciples! 

Here is another rendition from Crazy Talk: A Not so Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms- ed. Rolf Jacobson, (p.181).

Good Works:  What you do because you don’t have to do anything.

Your friend invites you to dinner. 

You ask, “What can I bring”

Your friend answers, “Nothing; there is nothing you can bring.

I’ve got it all covered.”

Out of gratitude, you bring something anyway.

Now read this article again. But…
For “friend” substitute “Lord.”

For “invites you to dinner” substitute “saves you from your sins.”

For “bring” substitute “do.”

See also: Justification; Sanctification.

Luther focused on good works not becoming the goal but a tool that helps us to trust God working in our lives.  God’s grace comes first to us, not by anything we do and God’s grace transforms us and this transformation can be seen in our good works.   We are grateful to God and our gratitude moves us to do good works.  God’s grace flows through us like our life blood and our lives bear the fruit of good works in our families and communities.  God changes us, changes our hearts and minds and we continue growing in our trust and love of God all the more.

BoxBob and BoxSue helped us to see our temptation to be clever with our good works as BoxBob tried to do good works that had the word LENT in them, like making terrible tasting LENTil soup, LENT money, gave a vaLENTine and tried to be siLENT while his mom watched a show.  All of these did not really help the neighbor and frustrated BoxBob too.  Sometimes we try to be more clever than we need to be rather than trusting God’s knowledge of us and our taLENTs and wanting to work with us as BoxSue pointed out. 

We trust God to work through us having faith that God shows up in our lives and works with us to produce good works or fruit. God bears witness to this through his Son, Jesus and these good works prepare us for Holy Week where we will see God’s good works as Jesus washes his disciple’s feet and commands them to do likewise, shares a meal with them to help them remember and does the ultimate good work on Good Friday or God’s Friday.

Praying and hoping that your good works are welcoming the hand of God and getting the soil of your heart ready for the work God is doing in us and through us.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack