Pastor Nipper
“Gratitude is more attractive than worry.” - Rev. John Tirr, pastor at Tyson House UT Campus Ministries, Episcopal/Lutheran
I normally like to open my letter with a passage of scripture. It seems the most appropriate way to begin a message to my friends and family of Our Saviour Church. Somehow, the above quote, mentioned at the beginning of our recent SE Synod/ELCA Assembly in Chattanooga, Tennessee, seems appropriate for the nature of the Church and the work she is called to be about these days.
For every speaker, workshop, election, and hallway conversation that took place from June 4-6, 2010, in the Convention Center there in Chattanooga, (for me) that was the tone of all discussion. Sure, there were concerns about the world’s problems (oil spills, natural disasters, continued reactions to ELCA social statements, the economy, the drop in giving to the Synod/ELCA, need for advocacy for children—the list goes on and on); but for me, even they were tendered with the sense of “What can we do about these things with what we have been given!?!?” instead of “Where are we going to get the money, people, volunteers, to do this or that?”
In the last year alone, all four states of our synod (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee) have had federally declared disaster areas. The ELCA and our Synod have responded in every case, and, in every case, are still there! Our own constituents of our synod, along with many others from many other synods, have responded in many and various ways to the needs of the people – Lutheran and otherwise! We should be grateful to the Church for her long-standing care and concern for others, especially in circumstances beyond our control where drastic need overwhelms the people in a moment’s notice. You have been there—with your gifts of time, talents, and money. Give thanks to God for the opportunities we are given to serve Him. I certainly am grateful for each one of you!
Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow see through grateful eyes a beautiful but struggling world instead of eyes of worry? How many times did our Lord say to His best friends, “Oh you of little faith! Why do you doubt? Why do you worry?”
I didn’t open with scripture but I will close with it: Jesus said to His constantly troubled followers: “…can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?...instead, strive for His kingdom, and (needful) things will be given to you as well…) Luke 12:25 & 31, (with the parentheses mine). God always finds a way. Yea Rah!
This is the day that the Lord has made—let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Ps. 118:24)Your friend in Christ,
Pastor Jim
The Forty Days
And it rained for forty days and forty nights. The people of Israel wandered for forty years. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days.
Days or years, the number forty bears with its value a special spiritual texture. It represents something Godlike, holy, full of wonder and mystery. The number forty brought about great change no matter the length of time it represented (years or days).
The season of Lent is forty days. Back when I was growing up ("back in the good ol' days") I was taught that Lent began its forty day trek and ran through to the day of Palm Sunday. Holy Week was a whole 'nother creature, again-back in those days.
Since the time of the Lutheran Book of Worship ("the green book"), it has been suggested that the forty days begin with Ash Wednesday and the season runs from Monday through Saturday to the day before Easter (Holy Saturday) because Sundays now all year are days we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Those Sundays, then, became "feast days" in the midst of the duller more somber days of Lent when you fasted and faithfully moped around with either ashes on your head or a powerful burden on your heart and mind! "Feast days" then, meant you could eat, drink, and be merry! So-this year, Lent begins on February 17, and runs through to Saturday, April 3rd - not counting Sundays, right?
This is most certainly true.
Beginning soon we will offer a number of disciplines for you to consider and make this Lenten time a very inspirational one. Some are already listed in this newsletter, and some are in the works even as we speak. Those other opportunities will make themselves known in their own way.
Watch and read ahead and find a spiritual exercise that you feel fits your needs the most. This is a special time, and we want you to be moved and inspired in a new way in service to God and in love to the world in which we live.
Your friend in Christ,
Pastor Jim Nipper