The Pastor's Windshield for October 2023

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; 
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
(Psalm 95:1-3, 6-7a)

The Psalmist invites us to come before the Lord, our Maker, in worship. Public worship is one of the most basic elements of practicing biblical faith, both for God’s people in Old Testament times and for us living in the New Testament. However, it can be easy for us to take the content of worship services for granted or perhaps never even learn what certain things mean and why they matter.

Think about the following questions: Why do we do what we do in a worship service? What does God’s Word teach us about the “essentials” of Christian worship? What is meant by the title often used in our Lutheran circles, “Divine Service”? Why do Lutheran worship services look and sound different from some other Christian congregations? There are many important questions like these regarding Christian worship in general and our Lutheran theology in particular. To discuss these questions and explore the meaning and practice of worship in greater detail, we’ll be focusing on Christian worship as our new Sunday Bible study, beginning on Sun, October 22 at 9:00am.

In our study, we’ll take a closer look at the overall purpose of public worship, the individual elements of the service, the flow of the Church Year, the schedule of Scripture readings (known as the “Lectionary”), and Christian hymns. We’ll also learn more about the types of services in our Lutheran Service Book hymnal along with some of its additional features. The study will also be tailored to your questions and the aspects of worship that you have questions about. 

A hymn which is new in the Lutheran Service Book is #602, “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives.” I think it does a great job of portraying what is happening when we gather each Sunday: we’re receiving Christ’s gracious gifts! Yes, we’re glorifying and praising Him, but that is only one dimension of the service. Notice how the hymn traces Christ’s gifts through the flow of the service, from our Baptism (and baptismal remembrance with the Invocation), to Confession and Absolution, to God’s Word read and proclaimed for us, to the reception of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

1 The gifts Christ freely gives
    He gives to you and me
To be His Church, His bride,
    His chosen, saved and free!
Saints blest with these rich gifts
    Are children who proclaim
That they were won by Christ
    And cling to His strong name.

2 The gifts flow from the font
    Where He calls us His own;
New life He gives that makes
    Us His and His alone.
Here He forgives our sins
    With water and His Word;
The triune God Himself
    Gives pow’r to call Him Lord.

3 The gifts of grace and peace
    From absolution flow;
The pastor’s words are Christ’s
    For us to trust and know.
Forgiveness that we need
    Is granted to us there;
The Lord of mercy sends
    Us forth in His blest care.

4 The gifts are there each day
    The holy Word is read;
God’s children listen, hear,
    Receive, and they are fed.
Christ fills them with Himself,
    Blest words that give them life,
Restoring and refreshing
    Them for this world’s strife.

5 The gifts are in the feast,
    Gifts far more than we see;
Beneath the bread and wine
    Is food from Calvary.
The body and the blood
    Remove our ev’ry sin;
We leave His presence in
    His peace, renewed again.

6 All glory to the One
    Who lavishes such love;
The triune God in love
    Assures our life above.
His means of grace for us
    Are gifts He loves to give;
All thanks and praise for His
    Great love by which we live!

Text: Richard C. Resch, 1947
Text: © 2001 Richard C. Resch. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110018755

Again, as the Psalm invites us, come and worship the Lord. Come and receive His gifts, both in weekly worship and Bible study. Come and gather with His saints. Come before Him in thanksgiving. Come and receive His forgiveness and refreshment.

Grace & Peace,

                        Pastor Kory Janneke

A Reflection based on the Sermon from Sunday, October 1, 2023

What is humility? We probably tend to think that humility is being down on ourselves, even putting ourselves down. However, this may be more indicative of depression or other struggles rather than having a humble spirit. We know that humility is the oppostive of pride, being puffed up with our own sense of self-importance. But what is it like for someone to be humble in everyday experience?

I find the insights of Christian author C.S. Lewis helpful here. His definition: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." In other words, humility isn't about our level of "self-esteem." Humility doesn't stem from either a low/high view of ourselves, nor does it come from what other people think or say of us. In practice, humility is simply thinking of ourselves less of the time. Instead of contstantly focusing on my opinions, my reputation, my tasks, my feelings, and so on, to be more humble would be to think less about all these things pertaining to my ego and to think more about God's verdict of me, and more about the lives and needs of other people.

Humility, then, could be defined as "self-forgetfulness." Tim Keller spoke of humility this way. He writes in his book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, "This is gospel-humility, blessed self-forgetfulness. Not thinking more of myself as in modern cultures, or less of myself as in traditional cultures. Simply thinking of myself less."

Paul spoke this way to the Philippians: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3-4) Paul paints a needed picture of humility for the Church and for everyone. This other-centered humility is needed in Church relationships, marriage and family life, friendship and neighborliness, and beyond.

However, must must always be clear that efforts at humbling ourselves do not make us Christians or bring us salvation. God must do that for us from the outside. Only Christ Jesus saves us! Only in Him do we see the ultimate truth about ourselves - that we are lost and condemned sinners without Him, but that in Him, we are beloved and forgiven children of God. God issues that verdict - He makes us right with Him through Christ alone, who humbled Himself for our salvation, even to the point of suffering and dying for us on His cross (see Philippians 2:5 and following).

Forgiven by Christ and justified by God by faith, we need not worry about what people think of us, nor even what we think of ourselves. We know that the Father sees us as His forgiven children through Jesus, and that is more than enough. Because of that, we are free to focus not just on ourselves, but on others and their needs and interests, just as our Savior has done for us.

A Prayer:  Lord Jesus, just as You thought not of Yourself and Your own interests but of me and and reconciling me to God when You gave Your life for me, help me to live not only for myself and my interests but for You and Your kingdom, as well as for my neighbors and their lives and needs. Help me to take a real interest in others just as You showed such great interest in me and my salvation. Amen.

"Our Hiding Place" - The Pastor's Windshield - September 2023

When Jimmy Buffet died this summer, many people shared their opinions about his life and legacy. Buffet made a career of writing escapist, “beach bum” songs. His most famous line was, of course, “wasting away again in Margaritaville.”

If it’s been a while since your last getaway, maybe wasting away in some tropical sunshine sounds pretty good about now! We all need to get away, perhaps to our own backyards, or to a good book, or to a vacation hideaway. We are created to need rest, time in God’s creation, and other healthy forms of refreshment.

Sometimes, however, Christians have been characterized as escapists, as if believing in Jesus is just a coping mechanism or a way of hiding from the troubles of life. What do you think? Is that what we are as Christians, people running away from life’s stresses and problems and hiding away in our theology or churchly bubbles?

It's my belief, though, that the Christian faith is far more than escapism. I believe that Christianity is objectively true, and I personally believe that Christ is not only our Savior, but also our Strength as we face such things as illness, bad news, broken relationships, and all the other trials of this life.

King David faced no shortage of real-life struggles. In the Psalms, he frequently referred to the Lord as his strength, refuge, and shield, as he lived through war, family strife, and the consequences of his own sinful actions. In Psalm 32:7 he writes, “You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance.” Is this an example of escapism to be avoided or of faith to be imitated?

I once had a parishioner challenge me on how and why “hiding” could be a good thing in our faith. To this individual, hiding was viewed negatively. It sounded like running away, operating from fear rather than faith. But here is how I see it: we can either hide in the Lord or (try to) hide from Him. But imagine trying to outrun God. How far would you get? There is no escape from the One who is almighty and all-knowing! Try as we may – and we dotry – we cannot outrun or hide from God. 

God is after us, to be sure, but is He after us like a bounty hunter aiming to make us pay for our transgressions, or is He after us like the loving Father that He is, wanting only to draw us back to Him through repentance and faith? Through His Word, God clearly shows us that He pursues us out of long-suffering, never-failing love. We try to run away from Him, maybe out of guilt, maybe because He has something to say about how we’re living, or maybe because we’re angry with what He’s allowed to occur in our lives.

But even when we run, God is there, both with us and before us, because what He wants more than anything is for each of us to run to Him, to find our only Refuge and Hiding Place in Him. He is your Hiding Place even when you come to Him with all your sin and guilt – even the “worst” of it! He can handle it. He can forgive you. In fact, He already has at Christ’s cross! 

He is also a Hiding Place for you when people let you down – your spouse, friend, teammate, coworker, etc. Every human being – from those closest to us to those in positions of power and influence – will let us down at some point because they’re sinful people like us. But those are times when God wants us to run to Him in prayer, to “hide” in His promises and His loving presence, and then to turn and face life’s pressures or letdowns once more, in the assurance that He will not fail us.

You may be familiar with the old hymn, “Rock of Ages.” The hymn prays that God would free us from sin’s guilt and power in our lives. The hymn also looks ahead to standing before God’s judgment throne. What hope will we have on that Day? In the words of the hymn, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.”

No other “hiding places” will work – not our good deeds or intentions, nor other people or anything else in this world. We cannot escape from God. But, we can “escape” to Him and hide in Him. 

Christ Jesus is our Hiding Place. We can always run to Him with the realities of our sins and troubles, confident that He will receive us in forgiveness and strengthen us with His grace. Some may call this “escapism,” but for us, it’s simply exercising our faith in Christ our Savior.

In Him,

                  Pastor Kory Janneke