Lutheran Church of Providence
February, 2020 Newsletter
Pastor’s Corner
Driving home the other day I saw Christmas lights glowing at many houses. I don’t know if they were left over from last year or if people were getting a jump on this year. When I got home, in the mail were several brochures aimed at the upcoming Lenten season. How fast time flies when we finish one Holy Day (Christmas) and enter another somber group of Holy days, Lent, leading to a grand celebration of Easter.
Christmas seems to get most of the emphasis due to the fact that stores make most of their profit during Christmas. They are attempting to make Easter like Christmas for their own gain but it hasn’t taken hold like Christmas has. Part of the reason is that Lent and Easter have the topic of death in it. We don’t like to think about death even though all of us will entertain it with our bodies one day.
Ash Wednesday reminds us of our death when we receive ashes on our foreheads and are reminded “you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Not a whole lot of joy in that. During Lent we look critically at ourselves and admit how much we have sinned against God, been disobedient and deserve to be punished. We don’t deserve anything good – but God looks at us, loves us, and devises a plan to bring us back to Him. Lent is a time to reflect on that plan and to look to God for His gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
This year we will have our mid-week Lenten services every Wednesday at 7:00 PM beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 26. In the following weeks we will consider parts of Jesus’ life and death as seen through the eyes of certain people at that time. In each of these cases we will be able to identify with these people even when they do things that we consider shameful. However, that’s the person we present to God every week when we approach His table to receive Jesus’ body and blood in Holy Communion. As we contemplate who we really are, beneath the façade that we like to present to others, we plead with God to have mercy on us.
God does have mercy on us but then we go out and do the very things that we promised God we wouldn’t do. What great love God has for us that he repeatedly forgives us again and again even when we don’t follow through on what we promised to do.
The good news of Easter is built on a stern look at who we really are and how undeserving we are of God’s love. Our task is to take this message out to the world and invite them to get to know God in a personal way. People in the world don’t want to die forever but may have never been taught the way to eternal life. I ask you this year to choose at least one person that during this Lenten season you will pray for, invite, spend time with and reach out to with the Gospel message. Let them know that as a church we are here to serve them with no strings attached. Please, I beg you, get involved in at least one program in the church and make it a priority to bring someone along with you. The joy of doing so will bring you happiness beyond any material gift that you received at Christmas.
Pastor Weikart
MESSAGE FROM VICE-PRESIDENT ROY ARMSTRONG
I remember growing up and watching some very silly—but delightfully entertaining for a child—movies on TV that centered on Genies and the magical mysteries of the mysterious east! “The thief of Baghdad,” “The Flying Carpet” or the “The 7 voyages of Sinbad” all would equally entertain us as we sat mesmerized by the fantasy that unfolded before our eyes. Now I can’t be certain, but I think the magical phrase from “Arabian Nights” is featured in at least one of these films: Open Sesame! Do you remember that phrase? It would be the magical password you would need to use in order to enter the secret cave where a genie and his/her bottle were waiting for their new master to find them. Open Sesame! To be opened was to reveal the secrets that lay within. To be opened was to allow the story to continue in a new and marvelous way. To be opened was the first step in a new relationship that was about to unfold.
In the Gospel of Mark, there is a man who cannot hear or speak and his friends ask for him to be healed and we are told that Jesus looking up to heaven, sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly (Mark 7.33-35). The season of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday is a time for us to be open. It is not always by intention, but we can often find ourselves feeling closed off to God and the spiritual realities of our life. We become so busy and overwhelmed with the fast pace of our world, and the pulls on our time and energy that we become the classic “Human Doing” versus the “Human Being” that we were made to be! So, I have some suggestions for where our lives might benefit from being ‘Open” to God, neighbor and ourselves during these days of Lent. Open Our Eyes, Lord! Paul saw the light of Christ shining around him on the road to Damascus. As individuals and communities, what do we have difficulty seeing? How does our perspective change when we view the world through the eyes of Christ? Consider praying for God to help you ‘see’ as God sees the world!
Open Our Hands, Lord! We use our hands to pick up a child, to serve a meal, to play an instrument, to wipe away a tear. Jesus used his hands for healing and for deeds of great power, and the psalmist reminds us that we are always held fast in God’s hands. In Deuteronomy, Moses encourages us to open our hands in service to others. What would it mean for you to open your hands to serve God? One place to start would be to use our hands to serve one another as opposed to insisting on being served!
Open Our Ears, Lord! Ancient Greek philosophy notes that we have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. Jesus reminds us that we sometimes hear but don’t listen, listen but don’t understand. Opening our ears isn’t as easy as it sounds. Why not use this time of Lent to set aside an extended time of silence, listening, prayer, and meditation? Or perhaps you can try a whole day to work on listening. Don’t be worried about trying to share your opinions as much as you are about making sure you completely understand the opinions and perspectives of others!
Open Our Heart, Lord! Listening to Paul’s teaching, Lydia opened her heart to God and was baptized. Her willing, trusting faith echoes down through the centuries as we witness her “open heart procedure.” Why not join in with others to respond to a need either locally or globally. Well I don’t know how this little exercise might change you or your life; but if those old movies were any indication, ‘to be open’ is the beginning of a whole new adventure!
As we enter this Easter season let everyone know “Gods’ Church is Open.” ur Church,” Lutheran Church of Providence is Open” invite a friend, a relative or a stranger to attend Church this Lenten/Easter season make a difference in someone’s life!
Just a Child of God,
Roy Armstrong
MEMORIALS
A memorial was received from Myrtle Wells in memory of Donna Boslau for the air conditioner fund.