Another trip up north

I finally made it back up to Underwood, Minnesota, last weekend to visit my dear friends Phil and Rachel. It's a long trip, but I made good time, and Friday was a lovely day for a drive. Saturday was rainy but I survived anyway (thanks to Classical MPR, the first radio station to interrupt my constant diet of CDs in six or seven years).

But I digress. I took a different route this time and noticed some churches with great Scandinavian names like Sverdrup and Tingvold (pictured here).





I also enjoyed the "Otter Tail County Scenic Byway" signs that have otters on them. Super-cute.





We had a great time just relaxing, which was a nice change from the frantic pace I've been keeping lately.





Rachel is on bedrest at 33 weeks pregnant, and Klaus the dachshund thinks the baby belly makes a good pillow.





We watched the action on the lake with the opening of fishing season (not much going on, with pretty icky weather).





And, on Saturday, a couple other friends joined us, one with this handsome 10-month-old in tow. The dog thought the baby was fascinating, and the baby thought everything in the house was fascinating (and tasty!). Never a dull moment!





It was a wonderful trip and much-needed getaway for me. And, hopefully in a few weeks, I'll return to meet the baby girl currently serving as Klaus's pillow!

Spring interns' meeting

Last week we held our spring cluster meeting of interns and supervisors from around southeast Minnesota, facilitated by a member of the Contextual Learning staff at Luther Seminary. It's a time to discuss joys and challenges of internship (or supervision), and to explore topics that will enhance and enrich our ministry. This year we've focused some of our time on stewardship.

Unfortunately, my supervisor and I had to leave the meeting early (an emerging trend as of late) to meet with a family for funeral planning. But we were there for worship and some early discussion, and it was great to reconnect with fellow interns, if only briefly.

Last fall, we gathered at St. John Lutheran in Owatonna, and apparently I forgot to take pictures. Sad times. But this time around I was on the ball, so check out the beautiful sanctuary of Trinity Lutheran, also in Owatonna. They're just beginning construction on a major building project, so they have exciting (and chaotic!) times ahead.

Weekly beauty: Gerard Manley Hopkins

For this week, a beautiful poem, "God's Grandeur" by G.M. Hopkins. Enjoy!

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Latest randomness

It's been quite some time since a dose of randomness, so here we go...

• I've been a little skittish about chanting liturgy. It still isn't one of my strengths, but I did it of my own free will a few weeks ago at Trinity, even when I had an easy out, so I guess that's some kind of progress.

• Check out this classy set-up from a restroom at Sears at the Mall of America. I made a quick stop when my visitors from home were here, and boy am I glad I got to see this.

• I posted this on Facebook a couple weeks ago: "Yet another joy of small-town life: Today my postmaster called me to say, 'Just after you were here, a package came for you. Thought you might want to know in case you want it today.' Quite a contrast from my St. Paul mail carrier who used to literally throw packages down the stairs to my door." My postmaster is so great!

• Based on a piece of wisdom I found on the interwebs, I recently shifted my jewelry storage. Now I use some of my teacups so I get to enjoy their prettiness while being able to see my earrings better. And it freed up space in my jewelry box, which was getting over-crowded. Beauty and functionality together...it makes me happy every time I walk by.

• Mileage totals are gradually rising: 2,098 miles in April, 1,121 of them for church-related activity. After eight months of internship, I've put 13,261 miles on my car. Always on the go...and that doesn't even account for all the miles logged as a passenger!

Busy weekend

This weekend was full of activity...Southeastern Minnesota Synod assembly and a wedding, along with a few other things. My supervisor and I covered about 350 miles over Friday and Saturday.

Because of the wedding, I was only able to attend part of the assembly, which was held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. I was glad I got to be there for opening worship, which started with bagpipes.





Bishop Harold Usgaard preached. It's always a pleasure to see 500+ people from various congregations gathered in one place to make a joyful noise to the Lord.





Friday afternoon and most of Saturday were occupied by a wedding and rehearsal at The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake, a Minneapolis suburb. It was a beautiful setting, and I was told that a bald eagle circled overhead throughout much of the ceremony.





It was a valuable learning experience, since weddings at locations like this are very different for pastors than weddings at the churches they serve. The rehearsal was held at a different location, for example, so we didn't see the space ahead of time (common scenario, from what I hear). It requires a good balance between anticipating obstacles and going with the flow.

The only glitch was a sound crew that showed up late and delayed the ceremony a bit, but everything was beautiful anyway.





And we got to enjoy the lovely weather! Nice days have been in short supply this spring, so it was great to get outside.

May 8 sermon

Text: Luke 24:13-35
Preached May 8 at Gol and Hegre


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

The political and religious authorities of Jesus’ day thought they had taken care of him on that Friday we called Good. They knew he was dead, and that should have been the end of the Jesus story, shouldn’t it? But, as we know, it wasn’t the end of the story, and that’s precisely what we celebrate during this Easter season.

Somehow, in spite of their best attempts, Jesus’ enemies couldn’t silence him. The large stone and the Roman guard couldn’t keep him in the tomb. The locked doors of the disciples’ gathering room couldn’t keep him out. Jesus just keeps showing up! God’s activity doesn’t end with Jesus’ death. God’s activity doesn’t even end with Jesus’ resurrection.

God’s activity continued on the road to Emmaus on the evening of Jesus’ resurrection, when two disciples encountered the risen Christ. They gathered together, they heard God’s word, they shared a meal, and they set out to proclaim their transformative news.

God’s activity continues today as well. Here in this place, we gather together, we hear God’s word, we share a meal, and we are sent out to proclaim the good news. Here in worship, we encounter the risen Christ.

As we gather together, we leave behind the outside world to step into a space designated for the sacred. We step into this space to listen for what God might say to us. But we are not fully separated from the rest of the world, are we?

The disciples were walking to Emmaus on the very day that the empty tomb was discovered. Naturally, they were “talking with each other about all these things that had happened.” They were immersed in the situation around them. They were astonished and bewildered at this mysterious turn of events, and they didn’t know what to make of it all, so they were thinking through it together.

In the same way, we don’t shut out the news of what’s happening in the world when we enter this place. We know that today is a day to celebrate mothers, and that’s a big deal. We know that Osama bin Laden was killed this week by U.S. forces, and that’s a big deal too. In the midst of such news, we come together with our brothers and sisters, who can help us think and question and pray and try to make sense of it all.

We do not shed the joys or burdens or fears we carry with us. We come to lay them at the foot of the cross, to hear how God will address them, to see how God is present in the midst of them, and to learn how God might work through us for the good of others who have joys and cares and burdens of their own.

As the disciples on their way to Emmaus “were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them.” So Jesus comes near to us as we come together. As we gather for worship, we encounter the risen Christ.

What does Jesus do when he joins the disciples on the road? He speaks to them. “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” Jesus preaches God’s promises, fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled, assuring the disciples of God’s love and faithfulness until their hearts burn within them.

In his holy word, God speaks to us most directly. We can see God at work throughout our lives—in the beauty of nature, in the wonder of a newborn baby, in our relationships with others (maybe in our relationships with our mothers)—and God is most certainly at work in these places.

But in these places, God does not address us personally. God doesn’t speak directly to us and God isn’t explicitly for us in these places—just ask those who have experienced the wrath of nature along with its beauty. Hearing God address us directly through his word, and hearing that God is truly on our side, allows us to better recognize God at work elsewhere in the world.

And so, just as Jesus opens God’s word to these disciples, he opens God’s word to us. Jesus is God’s incarnate Word—the Word made flesh who dwelled among us—and it is only through Jesus the Christ that we can rightly understand what God would say to us in his word as it is written or proclaimed.

Jesus’ presence in God’s word is so compelling that, even without realizing yet that this stranger is Jesus, the disciples on the road ask him to stay with them. “As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’”

As we hear God’s word read from scripture and proclaimed in preaching, it makes Christ present for us and creates our faith anew. In hearing God’s word, we encounter the risen Christ.

After the disciples got to the village, they came together to share a meal with Jesus, still a stranger to them. “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him….” Finally, the disciples recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The action of the meal is what opens their eyes.

It’s quite a simple, everyday activity in which Jesus makes himself known, isn’t it? After he emerges from the tomb, raised victoriously from the dead, he doesn’t go around Jerusalem triumphantly showing himself to the religious and political leaders who sought to silence him.

In fact, the disciples feared that perhaps Jesus wasn’t the Messiah after all: “But we had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel,” they say, no longer sure that their hope was well-founded, because Jesus appears defeated. But, the disciples learned, Jesus is found in the ordinary, among those who have eyes to see him.

We, too, gather to share a meal. And in this meal, Christ comes to us in a form we can recognize. Christ confronts us in the physical form of the bread and wine—a form we can see, smell, touch, and taste. Christ gives us his very body and blood, strengthening us for whatever lies ahead and uniting us with all God’s people, including these two disciples who first recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Like these disciples, we remember by doing. We become part of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection by enacting it in this meal of which he commanded us to partake. The apostle Paul tells us, “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” [1 Corinthians 11] and we respond: “Christ is died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” This is God’s great promise, and by celebrating this meal, we are enacting this promise and all the others God has given us.

As we share in the meal, we encounter the risen Christ.

Finally, after they had gathered together, heard God’s word, and shared a meal, the disciples changed course: “That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.…Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” These two set out transformed. They headed back to Jerusalem to share the good news of their encounter with Jesus.

Now you have encountered Jesus. You have been called by the Holy Spirit to gather in this place. You have heard Christ speak to you in God’s word. You have received him—time and again, if not today—in the bread and wine. You have clearly experienced his promises for you.

You are part of a community of saints here who can help you discuss “all these things that have taken place.” They can help you think and pray about what it means to encounter Christ. They can help you discern where God is at work in and through you. So now you go forth to look for Christ wherever else he might be.

And now you know that Christ is not found where we expect to find him. He is not found in triumph and glory, in the showmanship of this world’s boasting. No, this Christ, who has won the ultimate victory over sin, death, and the devil, chooses humility over showmanship.

This Christ is found in the ordinary—as in the breaking of bread. He is found in the painful—in sorrow like that of the disciples who thought their Messiah was dead. In the darkest valleys you will travel, there Christ is found, walking alongside you and suffering with you.

Christ is found in the person of your suffering neighbor—the loved one who needs your care and support more than ever, or the unknown person who crosses your path unexpectedly and inconveniently, but who, nevertheless, needs your care.

So you go forth to look for Christ in these places, now that you’ve been reminded how to recognize him. And not only do you go to look for Christ, but you also go to show forth Christ for others who need to encounter him.

You go and proclaim the good news that Christ has a word for all such people—a word of forgiveness and new life. You go to your suffering neighbors and share the good news that Christ is found in their pain too, suffering with them and upholding them in the darkness.

As we are sent out to share our transformative news, we encounter the risen Christ.

One of my favorite Easter hymns says, “Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb; lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.” And that is exactly what Jesus does as we gather together with our cares and burdens. That is exactly what Jesus does as we experience the word and the meal. And that is exactly what Jesus does as we return to the everyday travels of our lives.

Even after Jesus’ death, he is not silenced. No, Jesus keeps showing up, transforming us, igniting new faith in us, empowering us to love and serve God and neighbor. This is what worship is about. It is our encounter with the risen Christ, who has won the final victory, who reminds us that God is for us, and who shows us that nothing in all creation can separate us from his love. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Weekly beauty: Kirsten Malcolm Berry

I'm not sure when Kirsten Malcolm Berry's work first caught my eye, but there is a print (I think it's a print, anyway) of this piece hanging in the Seminary Relations Office at Luther Seminary:


I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry. John 6:35




I love the way she incorporates the Greek New Testament verses that inspire the art. The Greek language is beautiful in itself, so it adds to the work.

You can purchase original watercolors, signed offset prints, inkjet prints, and cards on her website, and within each of these categories you can also see her gallery of work.

I believe I've read that she's a local Twin Cities resident. (Incidentally, so is He Qi, whose work I featured here and here.) Here's some more art from Kirsten Malcolm Berry, for your enjoyment.


Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God... Luke 2:13




What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:3b,4




And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light. Revelation 22:5

Thai massage

Every once in a while I like to treat myself to a massage. I hadn't done this for three or four years until I went last fall to Gam's Thai Massage in Northfield. I just went back last week, as a post-Easter splurge to unwind after the crazy weeks of Lent.





On both visits, I've had a 90-minute basic Thai massage, which involves stretching and twisting, hot rice packs and cool washcloths, as well as more familiar massage techniques.

Anything that lets me begin by soaking my feet is off to a good start as far as I'm concerned! (Those are the super-comfy drawstring pants Gam provides for the session, along with a soft t-shirt.)





Hot tea to enjoy while I soak my feet, and a glass of water for after the session. Beautiful hospitality in a serene environment makes it easy to relax.





Gam is very talented and committed to her work. Even with my birthday long past, she gave me a gift card for a free massage, because she normally sends a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for birthdays. So I have another 90-minute Thai massage to look forward to sometime soon!

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

My May newsletter column for the churches.*


One of my favorite Easter hymns bears exactly that title: “Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!” (LBW 131, ELW 382).

Here’s a gem from verse 3: “See the grave its first-fruits giving, springing up from holy ground.” Jesus as “first-fruits” from the grave tells us Jesus is the first one to be raised from the dead to life eternal, but he won’t be the only one. We will one day join him, along with all of God’s people!

This means that “henceforth never death or hell shall us enthrall” (verse 4). Now that Christ has defeated death, it is no longer a threat for us either, because Easter is not only about Christ—it’s also about us. Because everything God has done through Christ, he has done for us.

In our creeds, we confess that we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. It is Jesus’ resurrection that sets in motion this future reality. Because Jesus defeated death, we too are set free from death, and we will all share in the glory of Jesus’ resurrection. “Be we Christ’s, in him forever we have triumphed over all” (verse 4).

Christ’s resurrection is not just a glorious event to be admired from a distance. It is for you! This Easter season, I hope you run with Peter all the way into the empty tomb to immerse yourself the wonder and glory of this miracle.


* Side note: my April newsletter column was reprinted in the Kenyon Leader. They misspelled my name and messed up the last couple sentences, at least in the online version, but I think the main point was made anyway.

Easter worship in the graveyard

As I mentioned, the folks of Trinity tried something new this year to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, worshiping in the Concord Cemetery for their Easter sunrise service.

As the bulletin said, "We gather this morning in the place of death to celebrate God's gift of life eternal. The grave does not get this last word!"





The opening reading was perfect: Elijah and the valley of dry bones from Ezekiel 37.

We had some time to wander around the cemetery for quiet contemplation among the graves. Many folks, of course, have family and friends buried here. I don't, but I happen to find cemeteries fascinating, so I just kept an eye out for anything interesting.

Here are the oldest dates I found: John and Adeline Chase, born in 1795 and 1798, respectively.








We also had a "roll call of our beloved departed," a time when each of us just named one or two loved ones who have gone before us to eternal life and were on our minds that day.

We read the resurrection story from Matthew's gospel, prayed, and sang a few songs with guitar accompaniment. Most attendees of the sunrise service later attend 9:00 worship as well, so Pastor Chris gave a short meditation rather than the same sermon twice.





There were about 70 people there for this grand experiment on a chilly morning...not bad for a congregation whose average worship attendance is 80-something. I think it was twice as many as Pastor Chris expected!

It was a powerful way to come together and proclaim Christ's victory over death! And apparently it even made the local paper.





After this early worship, many of us returned to the church, where the ladies were cooking up a breakfast feast. And a clever message greeted us from the sign, as usual.