Introduction

This article is the February 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.

Unsteady Ground

Even though southeast Nebraska is prone, very occasionally, to experience earthquakes, the kind of devastating, world-shattering quake like the one that killed uncounted Haitians is beyond the imagination of most of us. Aside from the deaths of people and the destruction of property, the other fearsome effect of an earthquake is that it takes something of bedrock dependability—the stability of the ground we walk upon—and breaks it into little pieces.

It’s no wonder, then, when we watch the reports on television or the Web, when we read the accounts in newspapers and magazines, that we find ourselves moved, sometimes to tears. It’s a combination of empathy—the aching in our hearts and spirits for the throngs of people whose lives are forever changed—and the aftershock that comes upon us. We are shaken when we realize that whatever we may trust to be dependable may, in the end, prove just as shaky.

Even When Steeples

On most days, we feel as if we can trust the Church. Or at least, we place our confidence in our congregation, this little piece of the whole where God calls us to live and serve. But as we know from even a quick look back across our own personal histories, the Church, here and across the country, can “go all wobbly” on us.

Sometimes this can tempt us to give up, to say that the Church is just one more failed, fallen, human institution. And there’s a shred of truth in this. The shred is that because each of us is, in part, a failed and fallen human creature, the Church, as a body of such creatures, will share in that fractured human nature.

But that’s not the end of the story. The Church is both human and divine. It is the body of Christ just as much as it is the community of sinners. And so, we can live in hope and not despair. It helps in times like these for us to remember the powerful poetry that Nikolai F.S. Gruntvig gave the Church in his beloved hymn:

Built on a rock the Church shall stand,
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in ev’ry land,
Bells still are chiming and calling—
Calling the young and old to rest,
Calling the souls of those distressed,
Longing for life everlasting.

We are God’s house of living stones,
Built for his own habitation;
He fills our hearts, his humble thrones,
Granting us life and salvation.
Were two or three to seek his face,
He in their midst would show his grace,
Blessings upon them bestowing.
—Hymn 365, Lutheran Book of Worship

Living as Christians

So, what do we do? It’s as if we stand with a newspaper in one hand and scan the headlines to read nothing but bad news, while in the other hand, we hold the Bible and long to trust that God’s Good News will outweigh and overcome the worst that the world can throw at us.

As we make our way through the final weeks of the season of Epiphany and prepare to begin our journey through Lent, we will turn our thoughts and prayers to focus on the theme: Living as Christians. During Lent, our midweek services will take us on a path to equip us for waking each day and Living as Christians. We’ll contemplate seven themes:

+ Evil
+ Justice
+ Baptism
+ Church
+ Prayer
+ Music
+ Lord’s Supper.

Watch for more details in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please pray for all whose lives are shaken, that God may be our solid bedrock.