September 15th, 2022

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Our hymn of the day for this Sunday is the African American Spiritual, “There is a Balm in Gilead” (ELW # 614).  This hymn is an answer to God’s question in Jeremiah 8:22a, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”  This spiritual proclaims YES, yes there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. 

Refrain

         There is a balm in Gilead

         to make the wounded whole;

         there is a balm in Gilead

         to heal the sin-sick soul.

1 Sometimes I feel discouraged

and think my work's in vain,

but then the Holy Spirit

revives my soul again.  Refrain

2 If you cannot preach like Peter,

if you cannot pray like Paul,

you can tell the love of Jesus

and say, "He died for all."  Refrain

3 Don't ever be discouraged,

for Jesus is your friend;

and if you lack for knowledge

he'll ne'er refuse to lend.  Refrain

Text: African American spiritual

It is not an aromatic medicinal ointment like Vicks Vapor Rub but the response tells us that this balm is not located in Gilead or any place in the world but rather it is the Holy Spirit that revives our soul and Jesus is our friend who died for us.  Our hope, our balm is found in God who acts, and we respond and answer, yes, there is a balm, a hope and we are the ones who get to answer and respond to God’s gift of grace. Rub this balm of grace into our lives with its sweet aroma radiating from us.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

September 8th, 2022

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Carole and Ray Hegtvedt were very faithful servants of God at Christ the King Lutheran Church and in all they did.  They recently died. Both within a day of each other. 

Carole would so faithfully come and help us to assemble the newsletter when we used to do that, and Carole and Ray helped us count the offering.  They had their quiet behind the scenes serving.  Neither wanted to draw attention to themselves or be “a bother” to others but loved to serve and care for others in a quiet and behind the scenes manner.

It is that attitude of not wanting to be a bother and just plain trying to get through each day for the Hegtvedts that left our community surprised to hear of their deaths although we knew they were struggling with their health.  Some of the residual results of being disconnected from one another for such a long period of time and getting swept up in the challenges before us. I am grateful for the care they received through hospice.

Carole and Ray were a gift to us and we give thanks to God for them and the opportunity to walk together in faith for a period of time.  Ray once shared with me something he observed in worship in the park.  He was wondering if I had noticed the snow egret flying over us.  I had not as my attention was on the order of worship.  But Ray’s attention had been captured by that bird.  Egrets are symbolic of purity, strength, balance, concentration, longevity, and piety.  Egrets tend to enjoy solitude, freedom, and independence.  Maybe in sharing this observation of this beautiful, rare bird, Ray revealed a bit about himself and Carole.

That same worship service, he also noticed that as Bekah Ode was making her way to communion, she said, “We are blessed.”  I loved that Ray shared that with me as he was encouraged by Carole to do so.  Yes, how true, we are blessed.  Thank you, Bekah.  Thank you, Ray.

What a beautiful gift.  This is the gift of the community of faith.  We help each see how we bear the image of God in this world.  We give thanks to these servants of God, Ray and Carole as they now cheer us on in the communion of saints.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

September 1st, 2022

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

It’s Labor Day weekend and a good time to reflect historically as we take a day off from work to celebrate work while we notice the many “Now Hiring” signs on businesses.  This 3-day weekend rose out of the industrial revolution of the late 1800s.  The average American worked 12-hour days, 7 days a week for basic living.  In some places, children as young as 5 or 6 worked in mills, factories and mines earning a small wage.  Workers often faced unsafe working conditions, access to fresh air, unsanitary facilities, and no breaks.

In response, labor unions organized with rallies and strikes to protest poor working conditions and negotiate hours and pay. The first Labor Day parade took place on September 5, 1882, with 10,000 workers taking unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square. Many of these events turned violent such as the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886.  Many states passed legislation recognizing a “workingmen’s holiday”. Congress finally recognized and passed legislation after the May 11, 1894, Pullman Palace Car Company strike in Chicago resulted in a boycott called by the American Railroad Union on June 26 that crippled railroad traffic nationwide.  The federal government dispatched troops, riots ensued, people died.  To repair ties with workers, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and territories and on June 28, 1894, President Cleveland signed it into law.

Take some time to reflect upon this day that arose out of human brokenness, a little resurrection and sign of hope. Left to ourselves, we work ourselves beyond what is good for us. We neglect to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Our need for rest, for boundaries on work, and for Sabbath reminds us of God’s love for us and the world. 

Consider revisiting the Exodus story and Pharoah’s treatment of his labor force.  Had he only cared for his workers rather than being threatened by them, the blessings that could have come forth were never known. Think about how you take work into your own hands and your failure to share it with God and others and what happens.  What protests, strikes and riots emerge?  What does your brokenness show you?

Reflect upon your own Sabbath day practices.  How do you remember the Sabbath and keep it holy?  Does your rest include remembering God’s rest at the end of creation?  Does your remembering include that you are more than what you do or accomplish?  You are a human being, so remember to BE and rest in your being as you rest from your doing.  Sabbath is a time to remember and to rest.  Rest from worry and anxiety.  Rest in hope of what God brings forth from death, suffering and brokenness.  Remember, we celebrate our sabbath on Sunday, the day we remember the power of Jesus’ resurrection. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

August 25st, 2022

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Leftovers.  I love leftovers.  As the primary meal planner in my home, I love to have a back up plan with leftovers.  For some foods, I think they are better the second time around.  And most of the time the interesting things learned in study stay in the notes and don’t make the sermon. 

Here is a leftover from our gospel lesson last week.  The woman was bent over for 18 years (Luke 13:11).  That’s a long time to be bent over with limited ability to move and see the world in which she lived.  This is Jesus’ response to the pleas of the synagogue leader who wants healing to happen on the 6 other days and not the Sabbath.  What does Jesus want to draw our attention to by healing on the Sabbath when the healing could have easily taken place on one of the other 6 days.  Healings that are not life-threatening take place on Sabbaths is a pattern for Jesus.  What would Jesus want us to learn about healing and Sabbath?  The Sabbath time as a time of healing and restoration?

Eighteen years is a long time, and this is not the first time 18 is used.  Eighteen could simply be a catch word to link two narratives together.  In this case the woman is bent over for 18 years and there were 18 that died when the tower of Siloam fell (Luke 13:4).  Linking tragic loss of life in both cases.  The question Jesus throws back at the listeners who have told Jesus the news about Pilate’s killing Galileans as they offered sacrifice is, “do you think they were worse sinners than other Galileans, do you think they were worse offenders than others living in Jerusalem?  No, Jesus says, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did."  What does Jesus want us to connect with these two stories together?  How will our idea of Sabbath expand and grow?

Eighteen makes an appearance in the word for life.  All Hebrew letters have numerical equivalents.  Aleph (a) equaling 1, bet (b) equaling 2 and so on.  The letters chet (8) and yod (10), which together add up to the number eighteen, also spell chai, meaning “LIFE” from which the phrase, “l’chaim,”

“to life”’ comes from.  Both the 18 people killed in the accident and the woman bent over for 18 years are lacking full “life.” 

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem with his mission to ultimately restore life, even life through death.  Life is restored for the bend over woman and anticipated life returned for the 18 killed in the tower of Siloam – resurrected life, restored life as Jesus prepared them for his death, his resurrected life and his return to the Father. 

Chew on those leftovers as you reflect on the restoration of the Sabbath and the gifts God gives to us through his Son, Jesus.  The Holy Spirit nurtures these reflections in you, helping you to make connections between what God did and is doing now in your life.  The restoration, the release from evil’s hold on us, the turning toward God in the midst of tragedy and loss of life.  Jesus prepares us for life, death, life again and return home to our creator. 

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

August 18th, 2022

GREETINGS TO THE HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

“Brew coffee or tea, sit with a friend and ask them questions – questions just one step riskier than the last time you talked.  As you listen, observe the flickers of sadness or hope that cross their face.  Try to imagine what it must be like to live their story, suffer their losses, dream their dreams.  Pray with them and dare to put into words their heart’s desires and dare to ask God to grant them.”  - Andy Crouch

I didn’t have the opportunity to sit and share a beverage with one of our college students, but I did have the opportunity to have a quick conversation in the fellowship area at church and I was richly blessed.  Lauren Frank will be starting her sophomore year at Marquette University in Milwaukee.  In our conversation, I learned that one of her favorite books is ”Tattoos on the Heart:  The Power of Boundless Compassion” by Gregory Boyle, priest and founder of Homeboy Industries in LA..  The book is a reflection on his time serving in one of LA’s poorest parishes and walking alongside gang members, offering them another way.  The stories are told to help us recognize our own wounds in the broken lives and daunting struggles of these young men and women.

I’m listening to the book, enjoying the storytelling as Boyle reads.  I’ve been collecting phrases from his stories.  One of the gang members tells Father G that he is going to marinate on that – to let it soak in.  Some of the poetic phrases from our prophets this summer have also made it on my marinating list.

From Hosea 11:3-4

I took them up in my arms

Led us by cords of human kindness

With bands of love.

Who lifts infants to their cheeks.

From Isaiah 1:18

Come now, let's argue it out.

From Jeremiah 1:4

Before I formed you in the womb

I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you;

Marinate on those words.  Marinate on the relationships God has brought together and what soaks in and how God weaves us together.  Sit for a while with another and be seasoned and influenced, trusting God’s love for us.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack