Five Loaves and Two Fish

Dear Mount Calvary Lutheran Church,

            I had heard horror stories. Every three years, pastors and lay leaders from the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church in this county gather in “district conventions.” These are often a sorry excuse for Christian behavior and sometimes more closely resemble our rotting, secular political system. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This gathering in June highlighted and celebrated the work of small churches throughout the southwest and beyond. The convention affirmed nearly unanimously the need for evangelism, lay empowerment, and flexibility going forward.

            We all know the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. Churchgoing seems so 1950s. Sometimes, even some Christians seemed surprised that I get out of bed every morning and embrace the role of evangelist to the city of Phoenix and pastor to Mount Calvary. First, I would beg to differ that the church is unpopular. There is ample evidence that Gen Z, the youngest Americans, are rapidly finding their way to God (or rather Him to them.) If you don’t believe me, talk to a student from Grand Canyon University. We are so back. Second, regardless of popular trends, God can do great things with small stuff. During the convention, many noted that the Lord once fed the multitude with just five loaves and two fish. My message this month is simple. God is going to feed 1.8 million people in Phoenix through our smaller the 1950s, yet slowly growing church. Most importantly, our congregation is faithful, humble, healthy, and possesses the right culture. Essential, God pleasing qualities that can be lacking in some churches.

During my listening tour, I heard the need for accessible and blended worship. (We are hiring a worship leader if you know somebody!) I also heard many good things about our big heart and love for all people.

            This August is an exciting month for us as we step out to meet Jesus in worship, follow Jesus in our own lives, and serve central Phoenix together. Please consider the following:

Follow Jesus

·       On August 17th, we will welcome over a dozen new members.

·       After worship on August 17th, we will call Luther and Aman as associate pastors at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church.

·       There will be a baptism in the English service and in the Kunama service on August 24th.  This brings the total number of baptisms this calendar year in connection with the congregation to 5.

Serve Central Phoenix with Jesus

·       If you adopted a college student in May, you have the chance to connect with your adopted college student one final time before the start of the school year.

·       The Family Promise families we served in July have all found employment and permanent housing. Praise God! Our congregation is up to help again from August 24th to August 30th. There will be a male member of the church council present every night at 5:45 during drop-off to help facilitate.

·       On Thursday, August 28th, there will be a BBQ at GCU to welcome students to campus.

·       Mount Calvary is proud to unveil our quarterly mission partners for the year. One tenth of all offerings to the general fund will go to support these causes.

o   During the 1st quarter, we will support Family Promise. If you have not had the chance to serve with them, please consider stepping out and doing so.

o   During the 2nd quarter, we will support Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest and cut them a check for their annual toy drive.

o   During the 3rd quarter, we will Let Them Live. This is a powerful organization that financially supports women with unplanned pregnancies. While I recognize that anything adjacent to the topic of abortion can be a lightning rod in our society, Mount Calvary is (and always will be) proudly non-partisan, non-political, and pro-life. Perhaps the greatest thing we can do as Christians who value life is to sacrificially support expectant mothers in need.

o   During the 4th quarter, we will support the missionary work of a friend of the congregation, Adam Lee. Adam is a former professor at Concordia University Irvine. He and his wife serve as missionaries in her native Germany. They build relationships with travelers and locals by operating a hostel and teaching English classes in a small town in the country’s east. Their independent Lutheran church has experienced growth in recent years in what is one of the most atheistic regions of the world.

Finally, thank you! July was a great month for us financially. As shared in our stewardship devotions, God is looking for kingdom ROI. At Mount Calvary, we refuse to bury our talent in the ground, and we refuse to just keep the lights on. Your gifts are truly appreciated and are wisely invested.

See you Sunday.

In Jesus’ Service,

Pastor Kurt

Culture and Planning

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. - 1 Timothy 6:11-16

Dear Mount Calvary Lutheran Church,

St. Paul traveled throughout the Mediterranean Basin, planting and nurturing new churches—Christian communities in all the major cities. As he went, he appointed elders in every church in collaboration with that church. "Elder" here is synonymous with our title today of "pastor." One such elder was named Timothy. Paul wrote two inspired letters to Timothy, who was quite young. Today, these letters are gems detailing requirements for the pastoral office, offering remedies for common sins, and painting a picture of a healthy Christian community. Paul is after culture. The church and its pastors must embody a certain culture or way of being that will be gracious and magnetic to those outside the community.

The leadership guru Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” While Drucker did not necessarily have churches in mind, the statement has been taken as gospel in many organizations. "Culture" here means something akin to “patterns of belief and behavior.” From a secular standpoint, one may have all kinds of plans, but crises will inevitably arise which necessitate alterations. From a Christian standpoint, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:9).” While we can and should plan and strategize, what we believe and how we act those beliefs out has a bigger impact. How we do something says more about our character than our plans.

Paul is quick to identify several habits which are corrosive to Christian culture. Paul urges Timothy to avoid silly controversies. In Paul’s day, in the Greek-speaking world, there were scores of self-assured pseudo-philosophers always looking to start an argument over the smallest point of conversation. Paul says to avoid such conversation. It is distracting and tears down the unity of the church. Paul also warns Timothy to avoid greed and dishonesty. While money is not evil, 1 Timothy does give us the famous axiom, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Finally, Paul exhorts Timothy to teach the truth. False doctrine is detrimental to the salvation of those in his care. Although nothing could supersede this disastrous consequence, false doctrine has the added disadvantage of creating false leadership and toxic culture.

Paul, the great messenger of Jesus, also praises several levers of virtue towards Christian culture. Paul says the overseer (pastor) ought to be “sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2).” On one hand, Paul means these as qualifications for pastoral ministry; on the other hand, it would be silly to limit these virtues in the congregation. When all God’s people, his kingdom of priests, his royal household, act in this way, a world-impacting culture takes shape.

During the month of June, Mount Calvary will be looking at our strategy and culture. I would like to meet with each member of the congregation over the course of the month to hear your thoughts. I did this when I first arrived, and now, three years later, I want to follow up. I will be asking about where you would like to see Mount Calvary go (strategy) and about your experience at Mount Calvary (culture). In conjunction with this, our Bible Study from the weeks of June 8th - July 20th will be on 1 Timothy. Please stick around after church for the study. You will also see materials on giving come through the mail. Our congregational budget is a tool to support our culture and the strategy to get it out there.

In Jesus’ Service,

Pastor Kurt

What Happens When I Die?

Dear Mount Calvary Lutheran Church,

Our sermon series during the Easter season is “Resurrection Power.” This series aims to connect the dots from heaven to earth, creation to eternity, death to life. Easter is not just one day out of the year, it is a way of life. Easter is not just another holiday, it is the day 1 for a new world, a world without death. 

One of the most common questions (one of the biggest dots to be connected) I get as a pastor is, “what happens to us when we die?” As Christians, we believe in heaven, but what do we mean by heaven? What do we do with popular images of pearly gates, St. Peter, and a partly-cloudy, 75 degree paradise? Additionally, it can feel like heaven's so far away. Heaven is a prize at the end of life detached from our needs here and now. 

The Bible teaches that we are made soul and body. God formed human beings from the dust of the earth and breathed life into them. We are material and the very whispers of God Himself. When we die, our bodies remain here. You may have decided to be buried or cremated. Regardless, what was your body will decay. Our souls though so to be with God in heaven. Think of Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross, “today you will be with me in paradise.” Additionally, there are several places in Revelation where the souls of  His people cry out to God in His presence and throne room. The New Testament describes this state as, “sleep,” “peace,” “rest.” This will be a great time, however, it isn’t the end of the story.

When Jesus returns (Matthew 25:31-46), he will judge those who are alive and those who have died. Souls will be reunited with bodies as bodies are raised from the dead. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” Death is not the end. Heaven, our soul being at rest with God, isn’t even the end. Our souls and bodies belong together. Jesus will raise our bodies to be like His post-Easter body. Then, after the judgement, He will make a new heavens and a new earth, a perfect world to live in much like this one only without sin and evil and its effects including death. That is a place a lot better than one only defined by white gates and harps. This hope isn’t just for the future and it isn’t merely a better alternative to a bad possibility. This hope has the potential to change how you face each and every day. 

What happens when we die? In short, alot. Medical death is just a step on the way in our ongoing life with God. God– the one who loves us, created us, redeemed us, and wants to live with us face-to-face forever.

Meditation on Mercy

Dear Mount Calvary Lutheran Church,

Over 400 years ago William Shakespeare placed the following words on the mouth of Portia speaking to the Shylock, a Jewish juror, in The Merchant of Venice.

“The quality of mercy is not strainedIt droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this, That, in the course of justice, none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea; Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.”

Generations have been moved by its timeless meditation on our universal human need for mercy. While we all seek justice, we should be sure we do not condemn ourselves in our pursuit of right and wrong. In the words of Jesus, “the measure you use, will be used back on you.”

Many have noted the phrase, “it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” I would like to take a moment to address this timeless truth.

More than a few find Christianity difficult because of the Jesus’s demand, and it is a demand, to forgive others. This seems so unfair. Indeed, it is! Worse, forgiveness seems like a slippery slope to permissiveness. When evil is uncovered, forgiveness is treated like a magic wand creating a dazzling Halmark moment but little healing, much less justice, for the victim. In an age when everything we have held dear seems to be slipping from our clutches, how can we possibly forgive those who take from us? In the words of an inscription from a cell in Auschwitz, “if there is a God, He will have to ask my forgiveness.”

I don’t pretend to fully understand the pain of the truly suffering, the anger of the rightly wronged, or the anguish of the wronged and agitated soul.

I can say Good Friday, the day Jesus died, is a day of reckoning. It’s the moment we have been secretly waiting for. Indeed, it is the cosmic day of atonement. Whereas one sacrifice could buy ancient Isreal another year on that strip of land in the Middle East, the death of Jesus throws blood across the fabric of the universe. In a moment the author of life steps out of the story. The God of galaxies dies leaving the world eerily quiet in His wake. His people stare every day at the cross-shaped scar. It is a day of justice and mercy. You see, justice and mercy are not opposites nor are they synonyms for soft and hard, weak or strong, permission and punitive, Justice and mercy are a paradox. They are always together, always different. They are twice blessed. They are both so necessary.

Jesus’ death was not a copout, loophole, or technicality. It was perfect justice. A human being was punished for the crimes of human beings to an infinite degree. The sound of nails echoes in the farthest corners of the universe. Jesus’ death did not let anyone off the hook. Rather, the death of Jesus leaves us wondering, “what more can we do?” What more can we possibly hope to contribute to justice? God punished the worst among is in the most dramatic way possible. In one stroke and in the screaming words, “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” that is my God, my God why have you forsaken me, God Himself jumps into hell. Anything we bring to the table seems anticlimactic. All our wars, all our feuds, all our prejudice just seem empty. Devalued. It takes all our strength to throw a pebble at the rock of ages.

We sit in the dark day, 4pm yet pitch black, sobbing. We must rebuild and move on. We must live and this can be harder than dying. How will we live? By mercy. Mercy twice blessed. This is the paradox of justice and mercy. While the death of Jesus is perfect justice, poetic justice, and justice is the most primal sense, God has let us live. God showed us mercy in His nature. Mercy always gives twice. God gave us mercy, thank God. Looking inside at the feral desires of the heart none of us really deserved it. God also showed mercy to Himself in a way. He gave up one son for billions. One child for all his kids. He rescued humanity from human beings, you from yourself. He brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light where in the light of day we call a spade a spade. We can say thank you. We say your mercy is good.

In Jesus’ Service,

Pastor Kurt

The Lenten Exchange

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

Between the vestibule and the altar
    let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.[a]
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

-Joel 2:12-17

The Lenten Exchange

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The tradition of Ash Wednesday has roots going back as far as the Old Testament and is so named for the practice of putting ashes on one’s self as a sign of repentance and contrition. Think of the common Biblical phrase, “repent in dust and ashes.” The meaning stretches to the very first pages of scripture where we read that God made Adam from the dust of the earth. Ash Wednesday is a reminder that we are mortal beings who depend on God for each breath.

Lent goes hand in hand with Ash Wednesday. While we may think of Lent as a Catholic practice, fish frys, fasting, and the like, Lent dates from the earliest days of the church as a time of preparation for Easter, specifically baptisms on Easter. New Christians would be baptized on Easter. In preparation they would fast and undergo extensive spiritual exercises for the 40 days before Easter. The rest of the church would join them in solidarity. Thus, began Lent.

When we talk about Lent today, we often talk about “giving things up for Lent.” Someone says he is giving up social media for Lent. Someone says she is giving up soda for Lent. These things are good and healthy. I do these kinds of things every year. However, there is a danger in only doing healthy things during Lent. Social media can be toxic. Soda or sugar is not the best food for your body. While it’s true that God wants us to take care of ourselves as far as it depends on us and it's true that we Americans are generally terrible about eating well and living simply, the kind of spiritual exercise and change God is after in Lent cuts a lot deeper.

In the prophet Joel we hear that God wants us to, “rend our hearts and not our garments.” In other words, God is after internal change during Lent more than temporary, outside changes especially ones that seem trendy and rooted in mere wellness.This presents a challenge for me and you, are we really ready to rend our hearts this Lent? Put into plain English, are we ready to have our hearts broken this Lent?

It’s so hard to move on from something that we love. Whether it is a relationship that has ended, a loved one who has passed, or simply a hobby we can’t do anymore- our affections must change and adapt throughout life. Lent too is a call to change what we love. It’s going to be hard. Lent strikes deeply at our values. Lent is an example of exchange. We are called not just to trade feasting for fasting and the wedding song for a dirge, we are called to trade our love of sin for the love of God. Sin can be the most difficult thing to give up for Lent. The love of sin, even innocence and fun sins, really rends the heart.

This Lent can we take concrete and intentional steps to trade our pet sins for a deep love of God’s grace? This Lent can we trade apathy for a commitment to virtue? Can we stop saying yes to evil and no to good? Can we start saying yes to charity and no to ourselves?

This is modeled on God Himself. In the contest of giving things up for Lent, God gets the prize. He gave up His only Son for you. He traded His death for your life. Jesus fasted from the joys of heaven for our sorrowful ways. He gave up time there for the painful blip of existence here. He walks alongside us during this 40 day journey.

With all Israel in Joel’s day from the youngest to the oldest, from the peasant to the priest, I invite you to let your heart be broken this Lent. With all Israel, I invite you even now to return to your God.

A truly blessed Lenten journey to all of you,

Pastor Kurt