April 29, 2022

GREETINGS HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Jesus lives and I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen. 

I have had 3 unexpected conversations about the future dates of Easter and in particular about the dates of Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, Protestant Churches) and Eastern (Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches) Christianity coming into alignment with the celebration of Easter which last happened in 2017 and will again happen in 2025.

In an article in The Christian Century, history professor Steve Ware asks the question, “When Is Easter this year?”  Ware explains how this came to be. Here’s the short version of the story: In 325 A.D., Constantine, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, convened the Council of Nicaea. Among the business before the council was to establish a uniform date for Easter. Out of the discussion and debate came the “Easter Rule,” setting Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

As is often the case with church councils, the decision was not unanimous. The Eastern bishops wanted to schedule Easter in conjunction with the Jewish Festival of Passover since, after all, Jesus went to Jerusalem, in the first place, to celebrate Passover. The Western bishops preferred a date corresponding with the beginning of spring, because that was the time already established for a lot of pagan celebrations, and they figured to capitalize on the momentum.

This is why, to this day, we have such things as the Easter Bunny and colored eggs associated with Easter. This, along with other issues, the church eventually split. To this day, we, who are descendants of the Western line of Christendom, use a different church calendar than the Eastern Orthodox churches. Sometimes our celebration of Easter falls on the same day, and sometimes it varies by as much as five weeks!

Because Jesus lives, what is the exciting thing here?  No matter what calendar we use, East or West, the risen Christ goes before us leading the way whether it is forging a new way in culture or anchoring ourselves with our Jewish roots, Christ will be made known in our lives and in our world. God is faithful and determined.  God loves us and this world. The Holy Spirit, like Jesus, breaks into our closed rooms and helps us to break out as we trust God.  The Holy Spirit will take what is familiar, like Peter and the disciples' fishing trip and turn it into an amazing adventure with a boatload of fish and breakfast on shore.  The Holy Spirit will work with Saul who thought he was defending God by going after the people of the Way, (followers of Jesus) all the way to Damascus.  Saul, who thought he could see, was blinded for Jesus to show him the way.

I can’t help but see the death and resurrection Themes in these Easter stories.  The disciples go back to what they knew – a kind of dead end and Jesus showed them something new, a new discipleship rooted in love demonstrated in action.  Saul (aka Paul) thought that his actions were glorifying God as he arrested followers of the Way only to have Ananias who was terrified of Saul and his reputation, told by God in a vision to lay hands on Saul and heal him.  Ananias calling Saul his brother did what was commanded in the vision and Saul was forever changed, with new vision, a new way of seeing and proclaimed the good news of God in Christ Jesus to rulers, Jews and Gentiles alike. 

As we go back to what we know, what exciting new thing is Jesus going to do?  How is Jesus meeting us in what we have always done before?  How is the Holy Spirit helping us to see more because Jesus lives?  Turn toward God’s abundance and see what happens and share your stories.  We need to hear these stories as they have the power to breathe new life in us and help us connect in ways we might have missed.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

April 18, 2022

TO THE HOLY AND BELOVED PEOPLE OF GOD,

I’m not going to greet you with Easter greetings yet.  We get 50 days to celebrate Easter and only the three days, not celebrate but rather contemplate Jesus’ last days.  There is a temptation to jump right to celebration but trust me, Easter celebration will have more depth and dimension when we set aside time to listen to Jesus’ last words, sit with him while he dies and dwell in the power of his suffering and death and wait in vigil, remembering his time in the tomb.

At Monday chapel time with our preschoolers, I asked, “What comes before Jesus’ resurrection?”  Blank stares.  Before Jesus rises to new life, he dies.  And it is a sad, sad day.  Stories of grandparents and pets started to pour forth. I witness the power of death in these little ones.  I shared the story of the sad day that Jesus died. It’s one of the reasons we gather so many times this week for worship, to hear God’s word and sing together.  It helps us with the sad days and gives us more to celebrate when Easter finally arrives.

I invite you to give yourself to the Three Days – which is one continuous worship service.  We will use one bulletin to move through these three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil to help us experience the flow and connection of these holy days.  Your schedule may not allow you to attend all the services, so you may watch online later.  Take a bulletin with and a hymnal to help you to join in at home.

God has given us a wonderful gift in his Son, Jesus.  More than we can comprehend or imagine.  Give yourself time with God’s gift.  Explore, wonder, ponder, contemplate.  All of this requires an investment of time and concentration.  Join us in the gathered community to open the gift of Jesus, his life, his death, and his journey to new life.  It’s easy to celebrate Jesus’ entry into the world at Christmas.  This is a more complicated path to celebration but well worth it as we respond to God’s great love for us.  It is kind of like practice or exercise.  It’s hard to do but the benefits and rewards show when you do the work, when you put in the time.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

April 8, 2022

One is not righteous who does much, but the one who, without work, believes much in Christ. The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘Believe in this,’ and everything is already done. ~ Martin Luther

Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings. Augsburg Fortress Press: Minneapolis, MN, 2012. p.56

GREETINGS BELOVED

FAMILY OF GOD,

This Sunday we celebrate Palm/Passion Sunday with a collective reading of the passion from Luke’s Gospel during worship. As this familiar story unfolds, look for the thread of God’s grace as it weaves through this story as Jesus teaches us how to live and how to die through his gift of grace. 

It is easy to find the crookedness of human behavior.  Religious leaders trying to find a quiet way to do away with Jesus, discover Judas, a willing participant, ready to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.  So where is the grace?  Luther points to the law that says do this and it is never done.  The religious leaders and Judas show us how we fail to fulfill the law.  We fail and God provides the way through Jesus.  This is grace.

Jesus knew he would be betrayed by Judas and warned the disciples and specifically warned Peter of his denial. Is it helpful to know the dangers ahead in our relationships?  Luther reminds us that grace says, believe in this and everything is already done.  Grace tells us that yes, we fall short, we fail, we act in fear to protect ourselves, we deny our relationship with Jesus in the face of peer pressure.  We know this about ourselves.

Jesus knows this about us.  God’s grace gives us the courage to look, really look at ourselves while also looking at Jesus and trusting Jesus more.  Trust Jesus more.  Trust God’s way of saving the world through the sacrifice of his son.  Jesus shows us the way through life and death to new, resurrected life.  Life that moves through death to life.

We don’t take kindly to dying to ourselves. 

We resist and we try not to move in these circles of life, death and life. We hear echoes of our desire for life and avoidance of death in Jesus’ garden prayer, “let this cup pass”. 

God’s grace finds us here too. As we read this together, pay attention to the grace that runs through Jesus’ passion. Experience God’s grace and think about how this grace, this trust in God shapes you and your view of other people.  And then take D.T. Niles words to heart, “Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”  Use your words to share how you experience God’s grace as the passion of our Lord unfolds before us again. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

March 31, 2022

GREETINGS BELOVED

FAMILY OF GOD,

Last Sunday morning, I walked into the church and smelled the strong scent of grains and protein.  Yes, the Take Away Hunger Food Packing Event was ready to go and people whose lives have been torn apart in the wake of tornados will be fed with the meals we helped to pack and sent off with thanksgiving.  Thank you all for your help in making this event possible.

Smells of grains and proteins are a pleasant fragrance because of how it helps our neighbors who are in need.  What scents do you associate with powerful positive or negative experiences?   

When Mary floods the room with the scent of pure nard powerful positive and negative experiences come with it.  This family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus have just been through Lazarus’ sickness that led to death with the stench of 4 days dead and all the emotional energy that accompanies sickness and death.  They heard Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb and they helped to unwrap Lazarus from his grave clothes and welcomed him back to life.

Time has passed, they are 6 days out from Passover and the family gives a dinner for Jesus.  Lazarus reclines at the table with Jesus and Mary anoints Jesus’ feet propelled by the powerful experiences they have lived through.  Their lives are changed and these powerful smells link these two stories together with the next story of Jesus’ own death and resurrection ready to unfold.

A fragrance that reminds them of their intimate dance with life and death and how their lives are changed, forever transformed because of Jesus.  Now this powerful scent is linked to the future event of Jesus’ death and God’s calling him to resurrected life.

We are invited into the powerful smells and the experiences they call forth as we remember our own journeys with sickness, death and God’s call to new life for all of us.  Recline with Lazarus enjoying new life. Serve and anoint with Martha and Mary, living through all the experiences of life with Jesus.  Hold this story with the parables of lost sheep, coin and family.  Is this one of the lost and found parties?

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

March 24

GREETINGS BELOVED

FAMILY OF GOD,

We get to be the ambassadors, the ones that get to tell God’s good news made known to us in Jesus Christ.  We have the great challenge of translating this good news into language that makes sense in our culture today.  As any translator knows, there are always decisions to be made when translating and we turn to the Holy Spirit to help us to discern the way forward.  And Jesus gives us these great stories, parables that communicate throughout time to help us with translating the good news now.  We’ve just experienced both Iowa’s men and women’s basketball teams get beaten even though they were better seated than the teams that won.  What are the odds of that? 

This week Jesus tells us the 3rd parable in a 3-part series where the odds keep getting worse and yet there is celebration to be had in each story.  Welcome to the party and the story telling!  None of us would throw a party over one found sheep amidst a hundred sheep in the fold or one found coin in ten.  But these stories help us to tell the story of God’s crazy attempts to reach us and call us back.  Because even when we think there is no hope for redemption or reconciliation and the odds are against us, God has a different ending that includes celebrations and life where there has been dead ends and death.

Jesus teaches these stories to a group of grumbling Pharisees, Scribes, tax collectors and sinners.  What a great group of people.  Ever encounter a mixed group like this or a bunch of grumblers in general?  Do the odds that Jesus present in these stories give you any hope?  Don’t worry, it gets worse. 

Dealing with grumblers?  Welcome to the family.  And this is a messy family.  A father had two sons.  How many biblical stories can you think of with a father that has two sons and how well that worked out?

Adam has two sons, Cain and Able.

Abraham has two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob

Joseph has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim

Tamar and Judah have two sons, Zerah and Perez

David and Bathsheba have two sons, the infant dies and Solomon.

How many families do you know that are living in messy and complicated circumstances?  How might this story, incorporated in your life, guide you as you walk in difficult situations?  Families are messy business and the father and sons in this story are no different and there is still a party and celebration for the lost has been found, the one who was dead is alive.  And yet there are hard questions.  Why didn’t the father invite the older son, who learns of the party from a servant? Will the other son, the older son, join the party?  Will the father’s pleading for sympathy and comfort be enough of a welcoming invitation for the oldest son?  Will the father still be at 50% with welcoming his sons?  Repentance, looking again, reconciliation are difficult and complicated.

We are given this beautiful and complicated story that invites us in.  How do you want the story to end?  What would you like to see happen?  Who is the hardest to welcome to the party or throw a party for?  Take each of these characters and invite them to the relationships you encounter where the odds are working against you and consider what it would take to throw a party for the lost who have been found and what it would mean for the rest of the household, especially the neglected, the overlooked and the responsible ones. 

Our relationships are complex and complicated, and the odds are against us and yet we are called to be translators and ambassadors of God's good news in Jesus Christ.  A Father had two sons, Adam and Jesus.  Trust the Holy Spirit in this journey and get ready, there will be a party!

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack