More baby joy

First came my sweet niece Dayla Elizabeth, and now my dear friends Phil and Rachel (whom I visited in May) have welcomed their daughter, Annika Claire, now two weeks old.


Look at what a tiny peanut she is...not even 6 pounds and absolutely perfect!




Quite content.




And happy to snuggle.




Always coming up with interesting positions for her cute little hands.




Klaus the dachshund used Annika as a pillow before she was born, so it only seems fair that he now return the favor.




Happy family at rest.




And hard at work devising strategies for one-handed eating. Corn on a stick...it's like the state fair!




I'm delighted I got to visit dear Annika so soon after her arrival, and I'm even more delighted that we'll be neighbors for the first year of her life. I'll be working diligently as Godmother Extraordinaire, so I'm sure she'll be reciting the Small Catechism before we graduate next May!

(Bonus: my brother now has Skype, so Dayla can be in on the fun too! I'll be running some kind of baby academy before you know it.)

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

I recently went with my supervisor to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for a wedding. I had never been there, so it was a great opportunity to wander around (for free!). Check out some of the late spring sights.


Interesting hut thing...I didn't read the sign so I have no idea what the story is here, but it's fascinating.




Various shades of purple with a great mixture of textures.




A few of the many, many varieties of peonies. I love peonies, and I have never seen so many variations, like this two-tone pink.




Japanese maple. It was the most amazing flame-red in the sun.




Large yellow lady slippers.




One of the lovely fountains.




And another fountain. This was the site of the wedding. It was a lovely spot for a small gathering.




It would be fun to visit the arboretum again during the other seasons to see all the different flowers in bloom!

June 26 sermon

Text: Romans 6:12-23
Preached June 26 at Gol


Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“In Holy Baptism our gracious heavenly Father liberates us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are born children of a fallen humanity; in the waters of Baptism we are reborn children of God and inheritors of eternal life. By water and the Holy Spirit we are made members of the Church which is the body of Christ. As we live with him and with his people, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God.”

Perhaps you recognize these words from the church’s liturgy for Holy Baptism. I do realize we are not baptizing anyone today, but Martin Luther was keenly aware that baptism must continue throughout our lives, and these words point to that truth: “As we live with him and with his people, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God.”

The apostle Paul has a lot to say about obedience in our second reading as well, doesn’t he? And it relates back to the reality of our baptism. In the verses just before our reading, Paul reminds us that, as children of God, we have been “brought from death to life”: “Therefore we have been buried with [Christ] by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

We are set free by our baptism into Christ. We are set free from the burden of fulfilling the law, which we can never do. We are set free from the responsibility of making ourselves acceptable to God, which we can never do. We are set free from the task of earning God’s favor, which we can never do.

This freedom we have as God’s people in Christ is a different type of freedom from what we might have in mind. Sometimes we understand freedom as the ability to do whatever we want, to follow our own desires, to live with no rules and no consequences. We can point to any number of politicians, actors, athletes, and others who seem to think they should be able to indulge their every whim regardless of the effect on their families, colleagues, and reputations.

But that is not how real freedom works, is it? We wouldn’t be free to live in safety if there were no laws to keep others from assaulting us whenever we irritate them. We wouldn’t be free to drive in safety if there were no laws keeping order on the roads. We wouldn’t be free to speak our minds or elect our leaders or enjoy our many other rights if it weren’t for the devoted people who have risked—and even sacrificed—their lives to protect those rights.

Freedom is not the same as self-indulgence. Freedom in Christ, in particular, is never self-centered. Instead, it is about the submission of our own will to God’s will. Jesus prayed in the garden as he faced his death: “not my will, but yours be done.” And he taught us to pray likewise: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Paul reminds us that we are free from sin, free from the law, freed by grace: “For sin will have no dominion over you,” he says, “since you are not under law but under grace.” Grace frees us from the grip of sin, but grace does not pave the way for a future of comfortable, self-absorbed lounging. We are freed from slavery to sin, and we are freed for obedience to God. Grace is God’s gift to us, the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Grace is also a gift to our neighbor, as we are freed to serve others in obedience to God’s will.

Paul understands that we are always slaves. The question is not whether we will be enslaved, but to what or to whom we will be enslaved. Will we be slaves of sin or will we be slaves of God? Will we be “instruments of wickedness” or will we be “instruments of righteousness”?

We know all too well, of course, that, even as God’s beloved children, we continue to sin. We confessed just a few minutes ago that we are “captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.” We know the reality Paul describes later in Romans when he says, “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” We do not stop sinning even after God claims us as his people through Christ.

But, even though we remain sinful, we are no longer defined solely by that sin. We are, at the same time, fully righteous in God’s eyes, and that is what ultimately defines us. I have heard this explained by comparison to recovery from an addiction. A recovering addict will be the first to tell you they were enslaved by their addiction, and that reality can never be forgotten. But, once they are in recovery, the addiction no longer rules their lives in the same way. So you might say they are both addicted and recovering.

Just so, though we remain entirely sinful, we are also entirely righteous, and this righteousness comes not from us or our work, but from Christ. It is conferred on us in our baptism, when we are clothed with Christ, so that, when God looks at us, he no longer sees our sin. Instead, he sees only Christ and his righteousness, given to each of us.

So how can we continue to live in sin when our sinful selves have been crucified with Christ, drowned in the waters of baptism? Sin may be ever-present, but it no longer rules over us, and it does not have the final word. We were baptized into Christ’s death in order to share in his resurrected life.

And what does resurrected life look like? It looks like the Spirit working in and through us, drowning our sinful desires each day and creating us anew. It looks like the Spirit setting us free to follow God’s will obediently. It looks like abiding in Christ, being rooted in God’s word and fed at his table, so that the Spirit can shape our lives in conformity to Christ.

So, as God’s people, we are no longer “instruments of wickedness,” enslaved to sin. Instead, we become “instruments of righteousness,” enslaved to God. The righteousness of Christ, God’s free gift to us, bears fruit in our lives in the form of love for our neighbor.

Even the most basic of care is a visible fruit of righteousness. Consider our gospel reading, in which Jesus talks about giving a cup of cold water to one who thirsts. Such simple acts of love and charity are signs of the Spirit working in and through us.

I once gave a glass of water to a maintenance worker who was fixing the door of my seminary apartment on a hot day. He was so grateful that you’d have thought I’d given him a pile of money. It must have just been exactly what he needed at the moment.

Last week, I was on a mission trip with several young people. My work group spent most of the week weeding and painting and moving heavy furniture. The work wasn’t glamorous, but it was what needed to be done, and it was appreciated.

God’s grace through Christ makes us righteous, and righteousness bears fruit in acts of love and service like these. Christ intruded into our human lives to confront us with the ultimate picture of love and obedience. And Christ continues to intrude into each of our lives to confront us in the form of neighbors who need our care.

As God’s children, set free in Christ from our bondage to sin, we “become obedient from the heart” as “instruments of righteousness,” allowing God to work through us for the sake of a world in need.

And the end result of this righteousness is eternal life, instead of the death that comes from sin. If we will be enslaved to something—and we will—shouldn’t we be slaves to the master who gives us life? Lucky for us, God has set us free from slavery to sin and its wages of death. Through Christ, he has claimed us instead as slaves of righteousness and inheritors of eternal life.

So we live confident in the promise that nothing—not sin or law, not life or death, not anything else in all creation—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, through whose power we serve, and in whose risen life we share eternally.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Weekly beauty: Quilting

I've posted before about the Holden ladies and their quilting. And there are lots of other active quilters around here!

Here are a couple of the quilters at First Lutheran. You can see a pile of their quilts in the background of the picture, on the right side.





These are patchwork-type quilts made by the quilters of First. The Priscilla Club, which consists of ladies from around Kenyon and beyond, gathers to quilt together on Tuesdays, and they are almost done with a couple of beautiful floral quilts.

Here's another example of a floral quilt that was up for raffle at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, where I recently helped with a wedding.





I think quilts are so beautiful in their vast variety. Check out this page of Google image results from searching "quilt." You won't regret it.

Mission trip 2011: The play

I already shared a bit about the work involved in the YouthWorks mission trip I recently participated in, along with nine First Lutheran youth and their pastor. But, as I said, no mission trip is all work. We had some fun too...and the work and fun tended to blend to a significant degree.


We made a Starbucks run a couple different times. This trip involved a whipped cream beard. Another involved a Lego tower.




We hung out on the shores of Lake Michigan, and some of the students were brave (or crazy) enough to venture into the very cold water. The rest of us lounged or played on the beach in our sweatshirts.




Three of our boys warming up the crowd for evening praise and worship. Apparently they found some very large, very stretchy pants.




And here are two of those same boys, called upon by one of the leaders to express their love for their dear pastor. One had to tell Pastor Luther how much he loved him, while the other had to show him how much he loved him (hence the shoulder rub happening here). It was a lesson about words and actions, of course.



But worship wasn't all silliness, of course. By mid-week, the kids (and the adults, on occasion) were moving with the music.




Unity Lutheran Church was our gracious host for the week. Here's the chancel of their beautiful sanctuary. I love the stained glass, along with the woodwork and rich fabric on the reredos.




And here's our whole group just before our departure from Milwaukee, on the steps of Unity Lutheran.




We undertook our voyage in a 15-passenger van, with 11 passengers and a bunch of stuff. It looked okay at the beginning of the trip, but here it is midway through the return trip. We stopped at the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells to let the kids play at the water park (sadly, the $34 day pass was too steep for everybody, so we didn't stay). But they rummaged through their stuff looking for their swimsuits, so the van ended up a bit of a disaster, with stuff on all the seats as well as under and around all the seats.




It was a great experience for the kids, and they've been keeping in close contact with some of the new friends they made.

Mission trip 2011: The work

Last week I accompanied nine high school students from First Lutheran (along with their pastor) on a mission trip to Milwaukee. It was a huge relief that it was organized by YouthWorks, so all of the logistics of housing, ministry sites, meals, and evening activities were arranged for us. They did a great job with everything.

We were split into work groups, so I worked with five of our youth and four from a church in Illinois. We weeded three gardens at the Family House, a facility of several houses that have been converted into a nursing home.








We also cleaned out some cluttered storage rooms for them and even got to play Bingo with some of the residents.




My group also worked at the Gingerbread Land (as did the rest of the First Lutheran group). Gingerbread Land is a block of homes owned by a woman who makes them available to folks who need them.





We cleared pews out of the worship space in the church on the block.





We also did a lot more weeding. The group had fun painting these doors with scripture verses they chose themselves.








We also painted this play equipment, and I think you can tell they had fun even with the more mundane work.








At the end of the week, they got to go to St. Ann's, a facility providing child and adult daycare, and play games with some of the folks there. They had a great time doing that too. But they also understood that their service made a difference, even when they were doing things like weeding and painting that weren't glamorous or dramatic.

The kids worked hard for much of the day, but of course no mission trip is all work. Stay tuned for some highlights of their play time!

Vacation Bible School

It's that time of year...VBS season is starting! I got in on the fun at Holden last week.


The theme was "Hometown Nazareth: Where Jesus Was a Boy." So some very talented folks painted Nazarene backdrops for our excursion.




My favorite touch is that they included Aspelund, a nearby town (or sort-of former town) in the direction signage.




The kids worked hard and had fun with their craft projects and food projects and all sorts of other learning.




And they learned what's on this banner: that God has called them by name and they belong to him (Isaiah 43:1).




One of the theme songs for the week was "Nothing Is Impossible With God," (Luke 1:37) and that is proven by the fact that VBS went so smoothly with so many kids doing so many different things all in one place! Kudos to everyone who put in so much planning and effort!

Weekly beauty: Shelly Hehenberger

Recently, I stumbled upon a children's book called Jesus, the Word, written by Marc Francisco Bozzuti-Jones and illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger. It happened to be on clearance at Augsburg Fortress, so I bought it for my niece.

See how beautifully illustrated it is? It's captivating. (Click the photos to enlarge.)











Shelly Hehenberger has illustrated (and written) other children's books, which can be found on Amazon or on her website. She also works in other media. Check it out.


Oil and wax on wood:

"Incarnation above and below"




"Transition"




Murals, commissioned by Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina:

"Pentecost"




"Baptism"




Check out the rest of Shelly Hehenberger's website here.

Sami update

Been a while since an update, I think. Here you go....


I recently received a prayer shawl, which I added to my little prayer space. Guess who was delighted to discover and claim it?




Sami's been quite the intrepid explorer as of late.

She figured out that the laundry room door doesn't latch securely, so this is what I discover when I've been asleep or away. She is much less obsessed than she used to be now that it's no longer forbidden territory.




She likes to skulk about under the bathroom sink, where there really isn't room for her.




And I indulge her every now and then by putting her on top of the kitchen wall cabinets. She loves to roam...




...and then settle right into her usual state of consciousness.




Meanwhile, it finally (finally!) got warm enough (at 101 degrees!) to rid myself of the big winter comforter, and Sami loves when it's piled at the foot of the bed.




Sadly, Sami has been a bit under the weather lately, but I think she's on the mend. We'll do more tests in the next few weeks just to rule out a couple things, but she seems to be doing fine now, which pleases me.