Word for Today

From John 12,

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  

From Hebrews 5

having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Dear friends, welcome to Monday. I'm glad you made it! I'm glad the seed of Sunday has born the fruit of Monday.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus likens himself to a grain of wheat which falls to the ground and "dies." This is the classic Lenten theme, culminating at Good Friday. What is beautiful about this image is that life brings forth life.

Do you see the shape of the cross in the picture below? This is actually a pavilion that was designed for the 2010 Expo in Shanghai China. Designed by a British architect. It is a massive configuration of rods that hold seeds of 6,000 varieties.

Even as the rods are pointed outward in all directions, I feel drawn to the center of it.

So it is with Christ Jesus. The fruit that is born in faith sends us out, and in.

God bless you as you watch for the fruit of faith today. May the Spirit of Christ help you notice!

Read about the "Seed Cathedral" here.

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

word for today

HUGGING YOUR MONSTERS

From Numbers 21,

And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."

From Psalm 107,

Then in their trouble they cried ^| to the LORD

and you delivered them from ^| their distress.

From John 3,

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  ¹⁵that w

hoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The setting is the wilderness. The people are the Israelites. The problem is, the people had grown weary of their long journey and tired of their one-item menu. Manna had been provided to them by God and although they were surviving, they were not thriving. What does any group of people do when things are uncomfortable (or too comfortable)? They grumble. They complain. They test God's patience.

The Lord had enough. Poisonous serpents appeared before the people. (Now THAT would add a little excitement to the day) The serpents bit many people, and the people were dying. Through the efforts of Moses on behalf of the people, God provided a solution to the poisonous problem.

A question: why was it an image of a serpent? Couldn't the image have been anything else (I mean anything else). What is the thinking behind making an image of the very creature that threatens you life?

God is letting the people know what it's like to hug their monsters. Rather than fleeing away from the scourge, the people are to run toward it (at least toward an image of it). The last thing a bitten person would want to look at is another snake! Yet this was the means of healing. This was the path toward wholeness. This was the way to pull the poison out of the people, and place it on something else. They were commanded to hug their monster and thereby be made new in the realization that God was hung up on a desire to heal and restore.

That desire becomes even more real and uncontainable when Christ Jesus, a human, is lifted up onto a pole. We are our own poison, and the crucified one takes the poison out of us. FOR. GOD. SO. LOVED. THE. WORLD. Look to Jesus. Now your Lord has become not a monster, but a Messiah.

Journaling prompt: write about your monsters and how God is leading you not around, above or below them, but through them.

Who around you needs your encouragement to "hug" their monster? You're part of their life.. might as well see that as an opportunity!

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

Word for Today

From Exodus 20,

 ²I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;  ³you shall have no other gods before me.

From Psalm 19,

¹The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky proclaims its maker's handiwork.

²One day tells its tale to another,

and one night imparts knowledge to another.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

 be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock (or strength) and my redeemer.   

From First Corinthians 1,

we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block

From John 2

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up"...     ...he was speaking of the temple of his body

I don't know much about laying floor tile. I do know that it makes a big difference whether or not you start well! If you have a swell in your subfloor you're going to have problems. If the corners of your room are not 90 degrees you're going to have a problem. If your first tile is crooked, well you know.

According to the Do It Yourself network, here are the steps: 1) Prepare the Substrate, 2) Lay Out the Pattern, 3) Make the Cuts, 4) Apply the Mastic, 5) Lay the Tiles, 6) Grout the Joints.

These "steps" are not so far from the spiritual life. There is a natural flow, or progression, that gives language to our life in Christ. So without further ado, let me try a prayer based (perhaps loosely) on these six steps:

1)Lord God, creator of heaven and earth, you have prepared me and my nights and days. 2)You have given me in succession life, mercy, pardon, promise and purpose. 3)I repent of my failings, of attempting to be You, of dismissing the value of the lives with which you surround me. 4)Let me more clearly, nearly and dearly be as you would have me. Through Christ adhere myself to you so that 5)I may be part 6)of the whole.

You try it! Then email me back! Your prayer will enlighten me!

This morning's poem

My Trouble with Anesthesia

Or, On the Eve of Surgery

...I desire continuity which for me and by extension you, more likely my daughters is a sense that there is a succession of yearning, grace, elation, nearness, spirit, thralldom, memory. To desire is not to acquire however since in the middle of my life and I suspect more often than I accept there is a break, something stronger than a comma which happens to me not by me so while I live and move and have my being I will leave a swallow of coffee in my cup, a few dregs for another time...

Word for Today

From Second Corinthians chapter five:

"For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Dear friends in Christ,

Ash Wednesday comes to us this week, February 22nd. For those who are familiar, there is time given during the worship for you to come forward, kneel at the altar rail, and receive an ashen cross on your forehead. You will hear these words:

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

You may recognize the first picture. Mt. St. Helens, 1980. Powerful forces thrusted hot ash far into the sky.

The next picture shows a handful of that floury, powdery ash. Seemingly good for nothing. Artists from the Pacific Northwest have used ash like this to create curious and amazing works of art.

Next is a pencil sketch by someone with the name "Horseman". This is his interpretation of "Jesus wept."

Life comes from ash. According to Sadao Shoji and Tadashi Takehashi (professors at university in Japan), "Volcanic ash soils begin to form with rapid restoration of vegetation soon after ash deposition and create a productive and comfortable environment. They also have various important functions such as accumulation of large amounts of organic carbon and nitrogen, plentiful storage of water, water quality improvement, and preservation of paleoenvironment and archaeological artifacts."

Dear friends in Christ, we have a Lord who turns our explosive, corrosive, effusive ash into an artistic sketch of life. In so doing he comes near, so near in fact that he becomes our sin. And when that happens, we are freed to become the righteousness of God. Step into Ash Wednesday boldly and humbly. There is an ashen cross for you. Thanks be to God.

Adapted from the prayers of the Church for Ash Wednesday 2012 (Evangelical Lutheran Worship)

We remember all those who have returned to dust, with whom we are one in the body of Christ (especially those we name in our hearts now..). Remind us again that your death is for us the death of death, and give us faith to live with courage. Lord, in your mercy,

hear our prayer.

What shape is the sketch Christ makes with your ash?

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

Word for Today

The Day of Transfiguration

From Psalm 50:

²Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,

God shines forth in glory. 

From Second Corinthians 4:

⁶For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

From Mark, chapter 9:

And Jesus was transfigured before them,   ⁶Peter did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Dear friends,  Jesus was transfigured. He glowed to lead us "lest too far we wander." This Sunday is one to celebrate the shining love of God through Jesus. Not explainable, but infectious! It's not too difficult to read the below lyrics with theology in mind.

Watch the Mills Brothers singing The Glow Worm here

Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Lead us lest too far we wander
Love's sweet voice is callin' yonder
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer
Hey, there don't get dimmer, dimmer
Light the path below, above
And lead us on to love

Glow little glow-worm, fly of fire
Glow like an incandescent wire
Glow for the female of the species
Turn on the AC and the DC
This night could use a little brightnin'
Light up you little ol' bug of lightnin'
When you gotta glow, you gotta glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow

Glow little glow-worm, glow and glimmer
Swim through the sea of night, little swimmer
Thou aeronautical boll weevil
Illuminate yon woods primeval
See how the shadows deep and darken
You and your chick should get to sparkin'
I got a gal that I love so
Glow little glow-worm, glow

Glow little glow-worm, turn the key on
You are equipped with taillight neon
You got a cute vest-pocket *Mazda*
Which you can make both slow and faster
I don't know who you took the shine to
Or who you're out to make a sign to
I got a gal that I love so
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow
Glow little glow-worm, glow

Dear Jesus, illuminate yon woods primeval. Through our nights and days, you are the only source of lasting Light.

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church

Word for Today

From the Prayer of the Day for the sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Almighty and ever-living God, with mercy you look upon our weaknesses. Stretch out your wondrous hand... 

From 2 Kings chapter five

Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he (Elisha the prophet) would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!

From Psalm 30

¹I will exalt you, O LORD, because you have lifted me up

From 1 Corinthians chapter nine

²⁶So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air;

From Mark chapter one

Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him

Dear fellow boxers, we have good news today. It's quite uplifting, really. Paul was on to something when he said he doesn't box the air. Rather, like an athlete he tirelessly trains himself to be a peak performer, a peak preacher, a peak proclaimer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I suspect we all have the same level of determination. We are determined to do what we are determined to do. It's not a question of whether we have determination. It's a question of what we are determined to do! Naaman the gentile general (of an enemy people nonetheless!) thought he was all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips. He thought that Elisha himself, the healer and prophet, should come out and wave his hand over the sores, make it right as rain, so Naaman could be healed. He was boxing the air with his leprous hands. His leprosy afforded him a convenient way to make it about something else, something other than a necessary step of faith. Elisha did not wave his hand. Naaman went down into the water kicking and screaming like a toddler. Naaman came out of the water like a toddler sans the kicking and screaming. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. How awesome is that. The healing of leprosy was the means for the Spirit of God to touch Naaman's soul, and heal him there too.

Paul hints at something with which we all struggle. We beat the air trying to knock out a malady that doesn't even exist, because of Christ. Listen to how Christ touches a man with leprosy. The man was not focused on his leprosy.. he was focused on Christ. He came begging, saying to Jesus "If you want you can make me clean". Jesus, prompted by the determination of this man said absolutely "I want. Be clean!" And like a swimmer finishing his last lap Jesus   S  T  R  E  T  C  H  E  D. Touched. Healed.

What have you been boxing at? If you could do something else with your time, what would it be?

I have been boxing at the idea that accomplishing something is actually a let-down. I would rather expect that the Lord will always provide vision. Especially if I come begging.

Pastor James Aalgaard
St. Paul Lutheran Church