Hope in a Time of Darkness

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

We are in the dark days in Alaska; December is upon us.  While I know people who prefer the snow and outdoor recreation opportunities of winter in Alaska, I know of few who prefer the darkness of winter to the light of summer.  We all know how darkness points to the pain and evil in life.  But, experiencing darkness is more than just symbolism.  There is a way that darkness can be oppressive and sap the energy and hope from a person. 

 

Unfortunately, Alaska experiences darkness in many sad forms.  We have some of the highest rates of substance abuse, suicide, and domestic violence of any state in the country.  These activities are not just someone’s idea of what is wrong.  Such self-destructive actions hurt the individual and others around them.  And, such actions shout out that someone may be discouraged, depressed, or has lost hope.  What causes someone to lose hope?  These are obviously complex problems, but I expect that the darkness contributes. 

 

After last month’s election I had someone sit down with me and ask, “Jonathan, tell me som good news.”  He was discouraged.  What causes discouragement in your life?  I have recently heard discouragement from individuals because of terminal illness.  I’ve heard people who are discouraged because of significant financial difficulties.  I have heard discouragement and loss of hope from people because of family troubles.  When life brings pain and disappointment and loss that seems beyond your control, have you sometimes lost hope?

 

This Sunday, however, is the beginning of a season of hope, hope because the love of God is breaking into our world of darkness through God’s Son, Jesus.  The word Advent means ‘coming.’  The church season of Advent, which begins this Sunday, reminds us that God has come and is coming. 

 

To a world that seems to descend more and more into conflict and decay, the King of Righteousness is coming as Judge and Savior.  To people who face illness and uncertainty, the sure love of God comes in Jesus.  To children who don’t know the security of a loving family or a warm bed, God assures eternal love in Jesus.  To people whose mistakes and sins cause them to lose sleep over their regret, Jesus comes in forgiveness.  To a world of people who can be discouraged, frustrated, or depressed, Jesus is hope!

 

No one really knows the actual date that Jesus was born.  But, I am convinced that the early Church knew what it was doing in choosing this time of year to celebrate Advent and Christmas.  Into the time of darkness, the light of the world has come.  Maybe in the darkness of an Alaskan winter that light of the world is even more meaningful.

 

The Gospel of John begins with these words, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:1-5)

 

The light of the world has come into the darkness in our lives.  In this darkness, Advent points us to the real hope that God has come, and God continues to come to us in Jesus.

 

A Child of God, Full of Hope Because Jesus is Coming

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.

 

God Be Merciful to me a Sinner - Thanks be to God

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

You know that Kathy and I recently returned from a trip to Germany that included a tour of Luther sites.  I prepared a book for this tour, which was entitled “A Journey of Faith.  Surprisingly one special moment of in this journey of faith happened for me after the official tour was over.  On Sunday, November 11, Kathy and I worshiped at the Market Church in Hannover, Germany.  Hannover is the major city nearest the place from which my ancestors on my dad’s side emigrated to the United in the mid 1800’s.  We were in Hannover looking for my ancestral roots.

 

While searching Hannover for information on my family we first visited the City Hall, or Rathaus.  There we saw a sobering model of the results of bombing in WWII.  Between 80-90 % of the roofs in Hannover were missing from bombing.  After visiting the town hall I was sent to the city archives.  On the way to the archives I saw a bookstore that included the name of my dad’s family on his mom’s side, Stender.  I visited the bookstore and talked to the owner, an elderly, white-haired lady who spoke no English.  From what little my poor German could understand, she had ancestors with the same names as my ancestors.  They weren’t the same people but it is very possible this lady and I were family in some distant way.

 

Then on Sunday Kathy and I sat worshiping in this old church listening to beautiful music and listening to the preaching in German, which I did not totally understand.  What I did understand, however, was what I saw.  The bricks in the enormous pillars were of many different kinds.  The bricks were of different color, and texture.  Some bricks were new and some were old.  In addition, where many other churches we visited had beautiful stained glass windows, only some of the bottom windows in the very front of this church were of stained glass.  The rest of the windows were clear.  It was obvious from the bricks in the pillars and the glass in the windows that this church too had been seriously damaged in the bombing in WWII.

 

This has been quite a year for learning about my family and our roots.  This past May when my dad’s brother died I also learned that he had been administrative aid to General Dwight Eisenhower in the march into and through Germany.  Now I was learning about my relatives and ancestors in Germany.  I have great respect and admiration for all my relatives I have met on my dad’s side.  I especially am thankful for their faith and their wisdom and their ability to deal with problems in a calm and reasonable manner. 

 

In liturgical churches the Sundays of the church year are often named.  The name for this Sunday as we worshiped at the Market Church in Hannover was Fried Sonntag, or Peace Sunday.

So, as I worshiped in this church on Peace Sunday, having met this elderly distant relative in the bookstore and having learned about my uncle’s war history, I realized that my faithful, wise, reasonable ancestors were very likely on different sides in a conflict that greatly damaged this house of God.  Even relatives of Christian faith and wisdom can be led to horrible acts of war.  What also became very clear to me as I sat in this church was the depths of man’s corruption by pride, and by self-righteousness, and through sinful rebellion against God.

 

In Romans 3:23-24 God moved Paul to write, “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  We are all sinful, even those you respect.  We all need forgiveness.  We all need the Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

On this Thanksgiving weekend as I count my blessings, I am very thankful for my family.  What a blessing and Christian heritage I have been given.  But, I am even more thankful for the grace of God that comes to a sinner like me, and sinners like my family, through faith in Jesus Christ.  God is good and merciful.  Thanks and praise be to God!

 

A Child of God, Blessed beyond reason by our Savior, Jesus,

Pastor Jonathan

 

 

P.S.  Please remember Thanksgiving Worship is held tonight, November 21, at 7:00 p..m.  I hope many of you take this opportunity to Worship and Thank God for His great love and mercy.

 

P.P.S.  Here are some pictures that might help you understand this devotion.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/ALessonFromSearchingForFamily?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

P.P.P.S.  I’m sorry about the extra e-mail you received yesterday.  That was due to the complications of dealing with computers as I tried to have my weekly e-mails sent out while I was gone.

 

 

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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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Giving Thanks

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

Recently my wife, Kathy, and I were discussing our personal devotions.  Kathy has started the practice of journaling during her daily devotions.  She writes down thoughts from her devotional Bible readings that strike her head and heart. She also makes notes about her prayers.  In addition, using a suggestion from a book written by Max Lucado and others, “31 Days of Blessings,” Kathy is writing down every day 3 blessings from God for which she is thankful.

 

I like that idea for a number of reasons.  First of all, I have been thinking of devotional suggestions for St. John for 2013.  In addition to joining other Christians in reading God’s Word together, what a wonderful idea to give thanks together.  Imagine if everyone at St. John read God’s word together and wrote down God’s blessings in their lives.  Can you imagine how contagious this attitude of thankfulness would be?

 

Another reason I like this idea is that my mind is turning to the Thanksgiving holiday.  In planning the Thanksgiving worship service and in thinking about the national holiday, it is healthy to consider the blessings of God and to grow a heart of thankfulness.

 

But, mainly I like this idea of writing down reason for thanks because it is at the heart of how God calls us to live.  In Colossians 3:17 we are told, And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  God’s love for us in Jesus gives us reason for hope and joy . . . and thanks in all situations of life.  When life is difficult, we know that God continues to love and forgive us in Jesus.  When life brings smiles, we know the loving hand of God is in these blessings.  And even in the worst of times the blessings of God are present.  So, as God tells us in Colossians, we can do all in Jesus’ name, giving thanks!

 

Imagine if every day each of us at St. John remembers and writes down at least one, or maybe two, or three of God’s blessings in our lives.  After taking time to remember God’s blessings it is natural to give God thanks.  Imagine if we not only remembered God’s blessings and thanked Him, but then shared our reasons for thankfulness with others.  I am convinced that this attitude of thanks and faith will bless everything we do. 

 

There is another benefit to this attitude of thankfulness.  When we share our thankfulness to God we share joy and faith.  I am hoping that in our devotional time each of us grow in thankful hearts.  I hope you will share with me the ways God has blessed you and your reasons for thanks.  I hope that perhaps on many Sundays at the end of worship one member will bless the rest of us with God’s blessing in their life which has caused them to give thanks. “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

 

A Child of God, Blessed with Many Reasons to Thank God,

Pastor Jonathan

 

P.S.  Kathy and I returned home late Wednesday night after a LONG day of travel.  Here is a link to pictures from our Reformation part of our trip.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/ReformationTourAndGermanyTrip10282012To11142012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

P.P.S.  My “Picasa” website has a limit of pictures I can post.  However, if you friend “Jonathan Rockey” or “St. John Lutheran Church” on Facebook, you can often see bigger albums.  There is an album I posted on Facebook about our genealogical search.

 

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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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Trusting the Lord to Strengthen Us

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

Have you ever been asked to do something new, something you’ve never done, something that takes you out of your comfort zone?  Recently I was approached in a local restaurant by a lady who, at that time, looked familiar but I did not remember.  She said something like, “Pastor Rockey, I am the director for the VPA play “Sense and Sensibility.”  I think you would make a good ‘Sir John Middleton.’  I’d like you to try out for this part.”

 

I tried to get out of this new experience.  I responded that I had never been in a play before.  I pointed out that I have a very busy schedule.  She assured me she would work with me on those concerns.  So, I asked my congregational President, Dave Nufer, and my wife, Kathy, what they thought.  I thought they might agree I was too busy or that this new opportunity was out of my area of skill and experience.  However, both encouraged me to try out.  Kathy even said she thought this new experience would be good for me. I had tried to say no on three counts to three people, and failed.  I will be tackling a new experience when the play runs January 11 to February 3. 

 

It is not uncommon for God’s people to be asked to do something they are not sure they can do.  In fact, God asks people to do jobs for Him that are much more difficult than simply taking part in a local play.  Often these people also try to say, ‘No!” Moses claimed he had trouble speaking.  Jeremiah told God that he was too young.  Peter told Jesus to leave him, because he was a man of unclean lips.  Each of these men tried to say no to God.  But in each case God equipped and strengthened these men.  God used these men to accomplish His purposes among His people.

 

I bring up this topic because soon many St. John members, many of you, may be asked to consider serving in a task where you may feel uncomfortable.  In order to conduct God’s work many will be asked to help us do the work of evangelism, or the work of Christian education, or to plan worship, or to work with our youth, or to serve in other positions of servant leadership.  On Sunday night, October 21, one of our current leaders was sharing with me that it is difficult at times to find people willing to serve.  This same person, however, shared that trying a new experience and serving God can also be a source of real joy.

 

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, God tells the church, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”  When we seek to serve the Lord we use gifts and talents and abilities He has given.  God gives these gifts for the common good of all in His Church.  When we step out to try new opportunities of service, we are serving the Lord who stepped out for us.  Jesus took human form to live and die and rise to save us

 

So, I am in the play!  I’m still wondering, “What did I do?”  But, I have committed myself to enjoy this new adventure and I hope to find a way to serve and bless others.  I pray that if you are asked to serve the Lord you won’t say, “I can’t,” but instead respond, “God help me to serve You.”

 

A Child of God, Stepping out and Seeking to Grow,

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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