Spring - God's Presence in Life's Changes

Dear Fellow Children of God,

The chores I indulged in early this Friday morning may seem mundane and even dirty.  I picked up some more trash in the yard, trash that is now visible as the snow is melting.  I raked up the waste our dog and the neighborhood dogs have left on our lawn during the past winter, and threw shovels full of animal waste into the woods.  I took out the summer tires so they can replace the snow tires on our vehicles.  And (this is perhaps the most exciting) I took out the deck furniture and placed it around the gas grill.  All of these chores are a sign that the seasons are changing.

What a winter we had the last 6 months – record amounts of snow mixed with normal Alaskan winter temperatures!  There are still drifts in my yard.  In fact, I was at the home of my son, Andrew, on Thursday night.  Andy has a hill in his yard that faces North.  There is still 3-4 FEET of snow waiting to melt on that hill in front of his house!  It’s not that I don’t like winter.  I actually enjoy being outdoors during the winter.  This past winter I spent time ice fishing, skiing, and riding a snow-machine.  But there is something wonderful about the arrival of Spring and the start of another growing season and summer. 

Seasons are not only God’s idea.  Seasons are God’s promise.  In Genesis 8:22 God tells Noah, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."  The re-awakening of Spring-time is God’s plan.  The fullness of life experienced in the Summer is God’s idea. The harvest and slowing down of the Fall - after a summer full of work is God’s promise.  And the rest and slumber of winter is God’s wisdom. These seasons all talk to us about God’s hand in the world around us.  No matter what the changes are in our lives, God is in control.

There is a part of the human mind and heart that feels uncomfortable with change, whether the change is growing old or the advent of a computer driven society.  Some wish we could live in a perpetual Alaskan Summer.  Some long for the old days when people communicated face to face instead of through a text-message.  Some may wish the kids were still at home.  Change can be uncomfortable.  And while some change may be good, some brings problems and trouble too.

But, the change of seasons reminds us of two truths of life as a child of God.  First of all, no matter what the change, God is still Lord of the universe.  The change of the seasons is God’s idea.  The new life of Spring following a harsh winter is God’s idea, in part to remind us that He is constantly bringing new life into a dead world.  The Lord of love and righteousness is also the Lord of the universe. Thank you, Lord!  Secondly, change reminds me that I never will get totally comfortable with this world, and that is good.  Some change, like the arrival of Spring, seems comfortable.  But some change is very uncomfortable.  I am not meant to find ultimate rest in this world.  This world is not my eternal home.  God’s plan and desire is that heaven is our home in the eternal presence of the Lord.

There are tulip leaves pushing up in our front yard.  Red rhubarb is peaking out from under the dead leaves of last summer.  And today I even noticed some raspberry shoots poking through the dirt on the hill in back of our house.  Spring is here.  And, in all the changes of life God in His love and power is in control.

A Child of God, Thankful for the beginning of Spring.

Pastor Jonathan

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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Jesus Rose - So Now What!

Dear Fellow Children of God,

I have never bought a lottery ticket, and don’t have plans to do so.  But, most American probably heard recently about the “Mega Millions Lottery.”  Three winning tickets split winnings of $656 million in the recent drawing.  So, once a person wins the lottery . . . now what?  If you won such a lottery would you retire, or keep working?  Would you buy a new home, or invest the money?  Would you give to charities or keep the money for yourself?  It is one thing for someone to win a lottery.  But, what happens after a person wins?

Last week many of you celebrated Jesus’ rising from the dead on Easter morning.  The case can be made that one of these winning lottery tickets are nothing compared to what God gives as a gift through Jesus’ Easter Victory to all who believe in Jesus as their Savior.  By His suffering and dying and rising Jesus offers forgiveness to all of us for a debt we cannot repay.  Everyone of us faces death unless Jesus comes again before we die.  But, to all of us who ‘do not get out of this life alive,’ God offers eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus.  Even the Mega Millions don’t compare to the gift that God offers us in Jesus.  So . . . now that Jesus has risen what do we do?

That is a question which St. Paul address when writing to the Christians in Corinth.  All of 1 Corinthians 15 is written about Jesus’ rising from the dead and the implications and results of His resurrection.  Paul summarizes the blessings of  Easter in 1 Corinthians 15:54 b – 57. “54.. . . ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Jesus resurrection is our victory over death!

Then, God uses Paul to tell the Corinthians, and to tell us, what kind of difference Jesus’ rising makes for our lives as God’s children.  “58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  

Jesus’ rising from the dead doesn’t just mean we will spend eternity in heaven.  It means that in this life we can be steadfast and immovable, because “death has been swallowed up in victory.”  Jesus’ rising from the dead means that in this life we can give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord because God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  In other words our life has a firm foundation and the power to live in God’s forgiving love because Jesus rose on Easter.

This is really important, not just because this is the week after Easter, but this is also important because this week our 8^th Grade Confirmation Class begins life as people who have stood firm and confessed their faith before others.  The students are telling others their answers to, “What now?”  They have each written an essay they will share with the congregation this Sunday on the theme, “How I want to live as a Child of God.” 

If you were ever professed your faith in Jesus before others you know the struggles to live in this world as God’s child.  I ask you to please pray for these young people, and pray for yourself, that the words of 1 Corinthians 15:58 may be true.  “Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,”  Jesus has risen and that makes a difference.

A Child of God, Seeking to LIVE Jesus’ Easter Victory,

Pastor Jonathan

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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Resurrection Victory Over Enemies We could not Defeat

Dear Fellow Children of God,

I have a pastor friend who had to declare bankruptcy many years ago.  He did not want to do it.  But, this pastor was in a mission congregation in an oil state in the mid 80’s.  When oil prices dropped people started leaving the area.  The congregation he served had been started by the church district, and the district told him they were closing the congregation because they did not have the funds to support it.  He couldn’t sell his house for anything near what he owed because everyone was leaving.  But he could not stay either because the church was closing.  He took a call and served a church in another state, but he had to declare bankruptcy to get rid of his old house.  The debt was too big for him.

Do you face struggles that at times seem just too big for you?  Maybe like my friend it might be finances.  For some the struggle with an addiction is a battle they just have not been able to win, yet.  Sometimes troubles in a family seem overwhelming.  Problems at work may require a new job.  Can you think of problems you face in this life you just can’t fix?

Christians believe there is one struggle we all face within ourselves that we can’t overcome on our own.  That is the struggle with selfishness and sin.  The Apostle Paul wrote, while he was a leader in the church, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19)  I have often said there is one Biblical teaching that is proven every day in this world.  That is the teaching about evil and sin.  Everywhere we look, even the best efforts of people fall short and exhibit selfishness and lack of trust in God.  Sin is that struggle which we cannot overcome on our own no matter how hard we try.

That is why the events we celebrate this coming Sunday are so important.  The struggle against sin we could not overcome, Jesus did overcome.  Jesus took our guilt, our selfishness, and our sin to the cross.  He paid for the sin of the world in His suffering and death.  But, sin and death did not have the final word.  Jesus did not stay dead.  On the third day, Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead winning victory over all sin, over death, and victory over our guilt.  The struggle that is too big for us was overcome by God’s Son, Jesus, when He rose from the dead!

One of the consequences all people face because of our sin is death.  In my family there have been 3 deaths in this past year of close family members one generation older than I am.  Death is one of those enemies that is bigger than we are.  But, when speaking to Martha, Jesus told her the blessings we receive from His resurrection.  "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

The most important event in the history of the world is Jesus’ rising from the dead.  In His death Jesus paid for our sin.  In His rising He overcame sin and death so that we can live forever with Him in heaven?  His victory is our victory over the struggle that was too big for us.

So, have you seen the victory celebrations of a sports team when they win?   Where are you going to celebrate Easter this year?  I pray you are able to make it to Easter worship to praise God and to rejoice in the Easter victory Jesus has won for you.

A Child of God, Victorious over Sin and Death Because of Jesus’ Resurrection,

Pastor Jonathan

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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