Pastor’s Pen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …… . . . . . . . . . Pastor David Wold

        The Fifty Days of Easter on the Church’s liturgical calendar ends on June 8, Pentecost Sunday, and the celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  This year at PLC we have a special treat.  MaryAnn McKibben Dana, author of “Sabbath in the Suburbs” will be with us for Saturday and Sunday, and a chance to explore with her the gift of Sabbath.

        When we think of Sabbath as commandment only, it has a tendency to be relegated to something we do, or another religious box to be checked off. Even when viewed as gift Sabbath may not ignite much enthusiasm. We’ve all received gifts we didn’t appreciate or fell short of our expectations.  Consider the young boy told to write a note of thanks for a birthday gift. He wrote: “Dear Aunt Mable, Thanks for the gift. I’ve always wanted a set of encyclopedias, but not much.”

        Sabbath, in our harried and over-scheduled lives, may sound good as time off to do little or nothing, but as such is largely out of reach for most of us. But what if God, ever gracious and full of loving surprises, had much more packed into that gift than we may have yet discovered?  What if all these years of thinking Sabbath was just a period of time in the weekend to avoid doing stuff, especially fun stuff, and actually was much more?

        What if Sabbath is an invitation into the heart of God and to the wonderful complexity of God’s family and creation?  Then the gift of Sabbath could be the further opening up of life, a tuning to rhythms we haven’t heard clearly, a celebration of relationships we thought we already knew or attainment of ones we thought impossible?

So this weekend together, June 7-8, could be a lovely gift of grace and discovery, and not just one more thing to do. Come and see. Blessings await.

Dear People of Peace,

Thank you for the warm welcome that you have extended to me in my first month as your sabbatical preacher.  I am enjoying getting to meet you all and learn a bit about your neighborhood, your parish and its mission.  If I don’t call you by name, please keep telling me your name until I do.

I am looking forward to sharing Holy Week and Easter with you.  I am also looking forward to our study of Mary Ann McKibben Dana’s book, Sabbath in the Suburbs, that we will begin shortly after Easter. 

I have read enough to see that the “sabbath” she is talking about is not a return to the hated day that your grandparents or great-grandparents may have told about when certain (usually fun) activities were forbidden.  Rather, it is the Sabbath that is the good gift of God to the Hebrew people who had been forced to work seven days a week during their years in slavery in Egypt.  The “Sabbath” that she is advocating is a day to step away from achievement and productivity and make time for relationships, rest and fun.

Does that sound wonderful? I believe that it is, but in our 24/7 world  where everyone is so busy, staking out such a counter cultural practice is going to be a challenge. While the author is negotiating this challenge from the point of view of a pastor/mother with young children, my newly retired husband and I are facing the same challenge at a different point in life.  How do you get time off when you no longer have a day off? It is going to be an interesting exploration.

Pastor Martha

Dear People of Peace,

I am so much looking forward to our time together, to getting to know you and the ministry of Peace Lutheran and the community in which you live, to the adventures you have planned for this sabbatical time.  The old proverb says that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”, and something like this dramatic transition is waiting for us in the Sundays of March. We will begin on March 2^nd with the last scene of the Epiphany season, the disciples’ glimpse of Jesus in the glorious light of the Transfiguration. We’ll be saying “Bon voyage” to Pastor Erik and his family and celebrating with them as they set off on the sabbatical journey that you all have been planning and preparing for during the last year. And we’ll be introducing the pastoral team for the duration of the sabbatical which includes faces very familiar to you, Pastors David Wold and Eldon Olson, and one not so familiar face, Pastor Martha Myers, which is to say, me. I will be your preacher for 3 Sundays each month from March through July, though not always the same Sundays. 

Then, on Ash Wednesday, March 5^th, we will make the dramatic transition from the season of Epiphany to the season of Lent. I will be with you for some of these Wednesdays so I can get to know you better, though not necessarily in a leadership role.  Our Old Testament readings for the Sundays of Lent are some of the most foundational stories: the garden of Eden, the call of Abraham, water from the rock in the wilderness, the call of King David and the dry bones of Ezekiel.  After the story of the temptation from Matthew on the first Sunday, our gospel readings are all major stories from John’s gospel, running from Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night in chapter 3 through the raising of Lazarus in chapter 11.  I look forward to exploring these with you in the weeks ahead.

Let me share just a little bit about myself.  I am now in my 35^th year of pastoral ministry.  I began with 3 years as an associate pastor in Marion Iowa.  We moved to Washington when my husband began 31 years as a professor of accounting at Pacific Lutheran University and I was called as pastor of Renton Lutheran church. During my 23 years there Renton grew and changed dramatically, presenting new challenges and opportunities for ministry which resulted in the redevelopment of our entire site into the Compass Veterans Center, Renton and the café/music venue/worshiping community that is Luther’s Table.

In the years since I’ve served as interim or supply pastor in 6 congregations.  After 23 years learning the needs and gifts of one congregation in depth, it has been fascinating to get to know so many different congregations, their personalities and ministry challenges.  I love to preach so much that I attend the pastors’ text study here in Renton even when I am not preaching. But when I’m not preparing a sermon for you, I will be planting vegetables, tending our apple and plum trees, taking walks with my newly retired husband, Gerry, singing in the choir at Nativity, Renton, trying to get back to playing my long neglected folk harp, volunteering at Luther’s Table and enjoying our two grown daughters, Rachel and Lucy.

Looking forward to getting to know you better and to sharing this sabbatical journey.

Martha Myers, Sabbatical Word and Sacrament Pastor

Beloved of God,

I love baking bread from scratch.  In my book few things in life match the satisfying aroma of freshly baked bread just out of the oven and the message of home, hearth and love it conveys.  And I love this image Matthew gives us of a God who, like this Bakerwoman, is willing to get up to her elbows in dough, kneading and turning, pushing and folding and then, waiting with patience as the leavening does its thing, transforming a handful of ingredients into a life-sustaining loaf of bread.  Friends, you and I are in that dough!  And God’s strong hands, and the Spirit’s leaven, are at work in, with, and through us bringing lightness, structure and substance to a world that is longing to be fed with food that will truly sustain—the kind of bread only God can provide.

At our annual meeting (January 26) I suggested that, while it can seem like drudgery at times, the annual meeting can also be an occasion for taking in the satisfying aroma of the mission we’ve been about together; time for marking our journey, giving thanks for God’s sustaining gifts, and setting our sights toward God’s hope-filled future.   Peace is a Spirit-blessed community through whom God is bringing gifts of bread in the form of welcome, joy, belonging, and good news into the world.  What a privilege it is to be part of it!

2014 will be an important year for this congregation.  Capital projects that have been on the drawing board—projects your collective generosity will enable us to fund—will begin taking on flesh.  And in a scant few weeks we’ll embark on our first-ever sabbatical experiences as pastor and congregation.  For us Kindems that experience will be marked by a geographic pilgrimage from Seattle to New England, the British Isles, France and Italy, and encounters with places and people of whom we could only dream, were it not for your support and the incredible generosity of Christian Theological Seminary and the Lilly Foundation.

You, for your part, will have your own set of opportunities for a sabbatical journey which, though less geographical in nature, is no less spiritual.  Under the coordinated leadership of the Sabbatical Planning Team and Church Council the table is being set for some truly marvelous and extraordinary experiences!  My fervent prayer is that each one of you will choose in your own ways to embrace and enter into as many of those experiences as you can; to find your place at that table, for I am convinced that great gifts and life-sustaining food await those who will do so.

March 2nd will be my final Sunday with you until August.  Realizing that I need to be on the receiving end of the sermon that day and to sit with my family, I have asked Rev. David Wold to be the Word-bringer that morning, and he has graciously consented.  Rev. Eldon Olson and Rev. Martha Myers will also have roles within the service.  I will preside at the Table where—just as he promised— Christ will meet us with bread for the journeys we are about to make.  Following worship, we’ll gather for a bon voyage celebration meal.  I would love to see you here at Peace that morning.

Please hold our family in prayer—as I know you already do—as we move through this final month of preparation for this life changing journey.  There are still a number of details that need attending before we step on the plane, and alongside these, there’s the ongoing inward preparation for this extended Sabbath.  We, in turn, will be holding you in our hearts, and look forward to posting some of our thoughts and photos on a Sabbatical blog I’m in the process of setting up.

The God we meet in Jesus is both a Bakerwoman and a steady Companion, (a word which means, literally, “one who shares bread”) who meets us on whatever road we may be traveling, in whatever circumstances, assuring us that he is both able and willing to go the distance by our side.  For this we cry, Thanks Be to God!

With you, on the Way,

Pastor Erik

“O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error! —
that a spring was breaking out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct, oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life that I have never drunk?
– Antonio Machado

Beloved of God,

As we mark the beginning of the New Year—and with it the manifestation of the Christ Child through the shining of a star—this poem by Antonio Machado calls to me.  I received it from a friend recently, and it became a welcome companion on the plod through dark winter days.  The surprises and delights of which it speaks are like the delectable dates another friend recently shared—a sweet embodiment of the promise that the sun will again shine bright and warm.  The second group of stanzas, in particular, beckons, as 2013 becomes 2014:

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error! —
that I had a beehive here inside my heart.
And the golden bees were making white combs
and sweet honey from my old failures.

“Sweet honey from old failures”…Ah! Now that’s a prescription for the start of a new year: the conversion of all my unfinished tasks, unattained goals, and unfulfilled promises from bitter fruit to sweet concoction!  Oh, that such a dream would come true!

Dreams figure significantly in the stories Matthew tells around the birth of Jesus and the appearance of the star that guides the mysterious Magi.  A dream convinces Joseph to stand with pregnant Mary rather than call off their engagement.  A dream forestalls disaster when Joseph is warned to flee with the family from Herod’s murderous rage and find refuge in Egypt.  And when the Magi locate the Star Child, it is a dream that tells them to steer clear of Herod and journey home by another way.  In his book, Dreams: A Way to Listen to God, Morton Kelsey writes:

If it is absurd to believe that human beings can be reached and touched by the dynamism that lies at the heart of the universe, then dreams have little or no religious meaning.  Then dreams may be at most a help in unraveling the tangled web of one’s personal life… If, however, humankind is open to another dimension of reality, then the dream may be one of the most common avenues through which God reaches out to us.

Both Kelsey and Machado testify to the same truth, each in his own voice: the Divine seeps into our lives in differing ways, by differing paths; at times most potently and profoundly through the language of dreams.

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light and brought tears to my eyes.

As this season of light unfolds, Jesus is revealed as the Light no darkness can overcome.  He brings God’s light to the darkest places of our world and tells us that this is where God is to be found.  He calls us to be light for each other.

January is a full month for our congregation.  Decisions will be made regarding how we will pursue and fund our mission in 2014.  Opportunities for leadership and involvement abound as we prepare for the upcoming sabbatical.  At the root of all of these tasks and challenges is the conviction that we are not doing this on our own, but are accompanied by the One who called us through waters to new life, marking us with the cross of Christ and sealing us with the Holy Spirit.  This Triune God became God-With-Us in Jesus, and is as close to us as our own beating hearts.  Machado’s final stanzas bring us home:

Last night as I slept, I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had here inside my heart.*

That’s a dream I’ll be striving to hold fast as the months ahead unfold.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Erik

 To Those Who Wait,

Advent is once again upon us, ushered in with the reverberant echoes of Isaiah’s voice announcing God’s Dream for the world.  This Dream is grounded in four texts from four chapters this season: Isaiah 2, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 7.* How is it that these ancient prophecies—first spoken to a different people at a time and in a place so far removed from our own—still retain their majesty and power?   (The full citations are listed under Worship Life on page 4 below.)

At their hearts, these four texts are about transformation, and I look forward to exploring them with you in the weeks to come.  Our worship planning team has developed “windows” for entering into the spirit of these texts even before we cross through the doors of the nave.  We invite you to enter them with us.

Each of us has favorite moments (and, let’s be honest, dreaded ones too) that we anticipate during the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Getting the tree, making the special recipes, finding “just right” gifts for each person on the list.  During this tradition-laden season it’s easy to simply put our heads down and turn on autopilot in an effort to sustain traditions that have become central to our observance of the season.  The gospel texts of Advent challenge the “autopilot” mode by striking provocative, evocative, and sometimes discordant tones; sounds which are meant to wake us up and call us back to first things.

Advent hymns do similar work, but do it in a way that is less strident and therefore more inviting.  The hymn by David Haas quoted above and below, is one example.   “In our winter we are dead,” the words declare.  If such a thing is true, might we then ask which traditions we choose bring us closer to the season’s beating heart and “lead us in hope to see ahead the springtime and the gift that is to come”?

While awaiting Immanuel, we discover the truth that he—“the living word, the saving voice” also “waits for us.”  And knowing this, we know that our waiting can be joyful rather than fearful.  “GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY” is how the angels first sang it to shepherds’ ears.  And good news of great joy is, above all, what we long for still.

Pastor Erik

Beloved of God,

“Hold it together, Erik,” the voice said.  Turns out, it was my own.

“Hold it together” is a key phrase in my self-talk lexicon.  An appropriate one, too, at those times when I have so many balls in the air I have to struggle to avoid dropping them all.  The phrase is made of equal parts encouragement and judgment.  The encouraging part says: “It’s not too late, Erik.  Just chill.  Pull back now and you can regain your balance; you can do it.”  The judgment part says:  “Here we go again…I can’t believe you’ve allowed yourself to be in this same situation again for the umpteenth time!”

Sometimes the voice carries the overtones of a parent or teacher, coach or boss I’ve known.  But most of the time I recognize it as my own voice, warning me that the steering’s about to go out and I’m not buckled in; that I’m approaching a limit, coming to an edge, about to lose my balance.  The problem is, by the time that voice pops up, it’s often too late.  Like old Wily Coyote, in his famous battles with Roadrunner, my feet have left terra firma and are frantically peddling out in midair. Then gravity takes over…you get the picture. If I could only HOLD THINGS TOGETHER!

When Paul addresses the congregation at Colossi, he uses a huge canvas to paint with broad, sweeping strokes, his portrait of Christ.  With the lyric of an early Christian hymn as his muse, he throws bold colors across the page:

In case you haven’t got it, says Paul, Christ Jesus is God’s instrument for reconciling ALL THINGS in heaven and on earth, and God gets it done—alarmingly, amazingly, ironically, dumbfoundedly—through the cross.

Coming at the tail end of the church’s year, November is a month in which we behold the sweeping promises of God coming to fruition in the lives of the saints, in St. Paul’s testimony to a community that’s worried sick about the future, and in the figure of the One who, from the cross, declares—“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”  Paul’s testimony to the Colossians on Christ Reigns Sunday, the final Sunday of the Christian year, is a profound reminder that while we can’t ever seem to hold our lives together, the Crucified and Risen One does.  And not only our lives but ALL THINGS.

As tempting as it is to become curved in on oneself and think “it’s all about me,” it’s not.  Our failures—no matter how frequent or colossal—are no match for the grace God pours out upon us in Christ Jesus. God’s purpose and plan are much greater than we can imagine!  We get little snippets, glimpses of what God has in store through the testimony of scripture, but scripture is not exhaustive by any means.  As Paul says elsewhere,

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”[1] 

The upshot?  We are LOVED, dear ones, with a LOVE that far outstrips our ability to comprehend.  A LOVE that encompasses and, finally, overwhelms the crises—large or small—that populate our days.  Christ calls us through the waters of baptism to wade in that LOVE, and at the Table to eat and drink it so that we may become one with it, with him.

Live in that LOVE, won’t you, with me?

Pastor Erik

Beloved of God,

There’s been a lot of wrestling going on in our household these weeks as we grapple with the new rhythm that comes with having both kids in school full time for the first time.  We’ve been working on a morning routine that gets everyone up, fed, and out the door to school in time—without eruptions or flares of impatience.  And we’ve been helping our children negotiate the expectations that come with being a 4th grader and Kindergartener.  When we’re at our best, everything flows smoothly, like a well-choreographed dance.  And when we’re less than our best…well—I know you’ve been there!

There are moments in our lives when we can see change coming, can feel the tide shifting, the season changing, and we know that we will not be able to return to what once was.  These moments can be exhilarating as well as frightening, full of hope as well as grief.  Inevitably, they leave their mark on us.

In a story we’ll hear in worship this month, Jacob experiences one of those moments…a wrestling match on the bank of an ancient river.  You remember Jacob—second born twin of Isaac and Rebekah who robbed his brother Esau of both his birthright and his father’s blessing and then skipped town.  Twenty years and a lot of water have passed under the bridge since Jacob and Esau last set eyes on each other.  And Jacob has done quite well for himself.  In spite of his underhanded ways, God has blessed him and he has prospered.   Now, as Jacob travels with his family and all he has acquired toward the home territory he once knew, word reaches him that brother Esau is heading his way with 400 men.  Jacob is scared spitless!  As darkness descends, Jacob sends family, servants and possessions across the ford of the river.  He will spend the night alone.

Suddenly, out of the shadows, a Stranger leaps on him—who is it?  Esau?  A demon from the river?  All night long they wrestle each other—each one struggling for enough of an advantage to claim victory.

As the first hint of light touches the eastern sky, Jacob—now wounded—wrests a blessing from his Adversary, who, it turns out, is none other than God himself.  As Jacob, now free, limps toward the river ford at dawn, he carries a new name—and a new identity:  ISRAEL – Striver, Contender, Wrestler with God.

Everywhere we look these days high stakes wrestling matches are going down.  As I write, the Federal government  is shutting down while Congressional leaders circle each other in a senseless contest that keeps repeating itself over and again—with real consequences for our nation—especially the more vulnerable among us.  The newly released United Nations report on climate change introduces the most convincing scientific data to date on the reality of global warming, while those would deny this reality still cling to their ideological positions with religious fervor.  Meanwhile, closer to home, I-522 proponents and opponents are setting new $$$ records in that initiative battle on GMO labeling, leaving us voters with the challenge of deciphering it all.  The list goes on and on… Perhaps the most challenging wrestling match is the internal one each of us undergoes in deciding which of the myriad issues facing our state and nation deserves our careful attention, our advocacy, our voice.

God loves a good wrestling match.  Jesus was willing to go to the mat against the principalities and powers of this world bent on eviscerating our trust in the one true God whose mercy endures forever.  But God raised him on the third day, and his resurrection forever changes the odds we face in our battles with whatever comes our way.  With Christ in our corner, the odds have shifted permanently in our favor.As Brother Martin affirmed in his famous hymn:

Struggle is an important part of life—we struggle for clarity on purpose and direction, we wrestle with getting our relationships right and with challenges that face our families and our communities.  As followers of Christ, we pay particular attention to the fate of the last, the least, and the lost.  Our struggle on their behalf is part and parcel of the call we received in baptism.  In a world in which there are no easy answers, we still have a something and someone to guide us.  He is the one who went to mat for us all.  The one who said:  Love your neighbor as yourself.

With you on the Way,

Pastor Erik

Beloved of God,

It started, innocently enough, as a seemingly random conversation about shoes.  But it didn’t stay there.

We were at REI in June, picking up a few items for summer travels when Chris fell into a conversation with the woman in the checkout line next to her (Mary by name) about the sturdy shoes the woman was wearing. By degrees that conversation between Chris and Mary about shoes became a conversation about our hoped for Sabbatical, and when that happened, it moved onto holy ground. 

Mary: WHERE MIGHT YOU GO FOR SABBATICAL?

Chris: Europe.

Mary: WHERE IN EUROPE?

Chris: Scotland.

Mary: AND WHERE IN SCOTLAND?

Chris: A small island off the West Coast called Iona.

Mary: I JUST RETURNED FROM IONA.  I LEAD PILGRIMAGES THERE, AND HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT HOW TO PREPARE SPIRITUALLY FOR A TRIP TO IONA…

Chris: [Jaw drops]

A few days later we received an email from Mary, affirming our serendipitous meeting:

“I truly delight in these sorts of exchanges and, since you have already engaged the pilgrim’s path, you now walk in a way that no encounter is happenchance or without deep import!  Even when simply asking a stranger in line at REI about her shoes!! [1]

Oh, how thin is the veil between the mundane and the sacred!  In days that followed we came to see our encounter with Mary as providential and a great affirmation of what we were hoping to do.  In fact, that encounter with Mary led us to conclude that even if Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) turned down our Lilly grant application, we would somehow summon the resources necessary to continue with the portion of the sabbatical vision that included Iona.

Fast forward to August 15…We knew CTS would be communicating its decision during the final weeks of August, but we didn’t know how it would come—via mail, phone, or email.  After losing sleep over it, I finally contacted CTS via email to ask how their decision would be disseminated.  Five minutes after hitting SEND, the reply came to my INBOX:

“Letters went out by USPS yesterday and will arrive at your congregation’s mailing address any day now!”

That reply guaranteed more sleepless nights as we waited for the letter to arrive.  Then, finally, on Saturday the 17th, while working with a crew on the Little Free Library project at Peace, I spied the approaching mailman and intercepted him as he headed our way. Among that handful of mail I spotted the return address of Christian Theological Seminary on two letters—and my heart skipped a beat.  I immediately went inside to let Chris know it had arrived. She ran up the stairs and we both took refuge in my office.  Sitting at my desk, I stared at the envelope with my name on it, my hands shaking.  I wanted to say something, to utter a prayer, but could not.  The power of the long journey leading to this moment, the investment on the part of so many, and my own deeply held dreams all combined and I was overwhelmed. 

As Chris held me, I gestured for her to pray, and from her mouth came the most beautiful and eloquent prayer of thanksgiving and release—affirming that whatever the outcome, we knew our lives would continue to rest in God’s hands.  Then, reaching for the scissors, I slit open the envelope, opened the letter, and read:

“Dear Erik, It is a pleasure to inform you…”  Oh!  Those sublime and long awaited words!  THE ANSWER WAS YES!!!

Our plans and those of the congregation would be fully funded.  Gathering our kids and holding each other in a circle, we shared the news.  Hugs and joy and dances all around…

Sharing this news has been a great joy for us in recent days.  And now, as the calendar shifts toward fall, we’ll be moving together from the “Sabbatical-that-might-be” to the “Sabbatical-that-will-be.”  We offer our deep gratitude to the Sabbatical Planning team – Michael and Lisa B, Donna K, Eldon O, Kathy P, and David W—without whom these efforts would not have succeeded, and to the Council leaders and congregation for embracing this possibility.  The gift is so astounding; we are humbled as well as energized.  We know that many other letters bore news of a different outcome, and so our elation is coupled with a heightened sense of responsibility to steward this marvelous opportunity in fullest measure.  Thank you for your prayers, your support, and for your willingness to embark on this journey together in the year ahead.

As September begins, many opportunities for shared ministry are before us.  God’s Work – Our Hands is more than a motto, it’s a way of life for God’s people.  And this life we share is immeasurably richer with each person present.

I look forward to reconnecting with you as the fall unfolds.

With you on the Way,

Pastor Erik