"The problem of leading a Christian life in a non-Christian society is now very present to us, and it is a very different problem from that of the accommodation between an Established Church and dissenters. It is not merely the problem of a minority in a society of individuals holding an alien belief. It is the problem constituted by our implication in a network of institutions from which we cannot dissociate ourselves: institutions the operation of which appears no longer neutral, but non-Christian. And as for the Christian who is not conscious of his dilemma - and he is in the majority - he is becoming more and more de-Christianized by all sorts of unconscious pressure: paganism holds all the most valuable advertising space. [...] I am not concerned with the problem of Christians as a persecuted minority. When the Christian is treated as an enemy of the State, his course is very much harder, but it is simpler. I am concerned with the dangers to the tolerated minority; and in the modern world, it may turn out that the most intolerable thing for Christians is to be tolerated."


-- T. S. Eliot, The Idea of a Christian Society

Praying the Psalms II

In my last post on "praying the psalms", I presented an approach to wording the psalms in such a way that they were personal (i.e., worded in such a way that they are directed from the one offering the prayer to God). Because I was only presenting on this one subject, I may have left some with the impression that "praying through the psalms" only takes this form.

This is not the case. Prayer is the petition of the Christian offered in faith to God trusting that he hears and answers. There is no "according to Hoyle" where prayer is concerned!

So I want to share another way I have approached "praying the psalms". When I "read through the psalm before 'praying it'", as I mentioned in my last post, I will occasionally be moved by what I read to offer a very specific prayer before continuing.

For example, I was beginning to pray through Psalm 44 this morning when I paused after the first verse.

O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old

Even though the psalmist goes on to talk about the specific mighty deeds of God in the life and history of Israel, I was moved to pray: "Oh Lord, you have given us life through the faithful witness of our families and the community of faithful saints that have gone before us. Thank you for giving us these 'fathers of the faith' and their faithful confession. Grant that we may be found faithful to the Christ they proclaim and that we, too, may be 'fathers in the faith' to those who come after us. Through Jesus Christ. Amen."

At that point, I switched gears and read through the psalm in "third person" fashion (not as a prayer), pausing for prayer at several points. This, too, is "praying the psalms"!

Immanuel!

Last night (Christmas Eve), my family worshipped with two groups of saints in Christ Jesus. Last night I was reminded once again of the unity we share in Jesus Christ. Despite the differences that will continue in the midst of Christ's body - the church - until His second coming, I was reminded again that "the kingdom of God is breaking out all around us".

Heather's parents' (Tom and Sarah Clark) congregation, West Noblesville Community Church, presented the Word of God in the format of a candlelight service at 7:30! Structured around the sequential lighting of a series of candles from a central "Christ candle", the service alternated between readings from the prophecy, birth and life of Christ and singing very familiar Christmas hymns in the musical settings you will hear frequently on Christian radio stations at this time of year. Pastor Jeff's sermon was very directly focused on the truths of the incarnation (i.e. the true God's presence with us as the true man, Jesus of Nazareth) revealed in Matthew 1:23: Jesus was God; Jesus was fully man; Jesus was God with us. Although the lights in the nave were dimmed throughout the entire service (to accent the candles being lit on the altar in the chancel), the "candle lighting" for the congregation was conducted at the end. After the sermon, the congregation gathered together to remember Christ through the breaking of bread and the fruit of the vine (1 Corinthians 11:17-26).

Later that evening, after putting the kids to bed, Heather and I joined with the congregation of Christ Lutheran Church for the Christmas Eve vigil service. Here, too, the congregation gathered around the Word exclaimed in the hymn, read from the Scriptures, and proclaimed in the sermon. Pastor Piazza's sermon pointed to Jesus' incarnation and His coming for us. We gathered together to marvel again at Christ's ongoing incarnation as we received the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the altar - the Lord's Supper!

Many Christians refer to the gathering of believers around Word and Sacrament as the Divine Service: God Himself draws near to us and brings His good gifts to us! He is present in His Word! He is present where He comes in Body and Blood! He is present to heal, to bind up the broken, to herald Good News, to bring salvation and the forgiveness of sins!

We receive these gifts in repentance and with thanksgiving! Our response to these good gifts extends beyond the hymns and songs of praise we offer on Christmas to the lives we lead through the power of the Holy Spirit as we wait for Jesus' second coming.

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:6-21)

A Three Hour Tour...

"the weather started getting rough"

Yesterday, the Rosenkoetter family left to spend a few days (including Christmas) with Heather's family in Noblesville, Indiana. We left around 10, with the idea of getting in around 4 o'clock after stopping for lunch and the requisite potty breaks. (That is, 5 o'clock local with the time change.) To skip ahead to the ending, we rolled into Noblesville at 4:30am this morning!

The "wintry mix" wasn't too bad; we had to go slow, though. (45-50 mph was about the fastest we drove the entire trip.) However, after breezing past Terre Haute towards Indianapolis, the traffic ground to a halt about four miles short of the intersection with 231. We waited there (with small movement) for three hours!

Knowing we needed to get gas and food, we checked a map and bailed. We turned around and headed back to the intersection with IN-59, had dinner at Burger King and then drove north to catch highway 40 across to I-465 at Indianapolis. That was a great plan - until we hit a backup at about the same point. We spent the rest of the night clearing one accident, only to drive two miles and run into another one.

Fortunately, we did get in safely. Although Heather's sleep was far more broken, I slept soundly until 11am!

Praying the Psalms I

One of my classes this quarter is Worship, wherein we review some of the history of the development of the liturgies in the Western church, the Lutheran confessional writings as they relate to worship, and the related Scriptures. Another part of the class is "practice" - we will demonstrate the conduct of the liturgy. (Not suprisingly, one is not able to pass the class without passing that particular assignment. I guess the church is concerned that her ministers not do this badly...)

Dr. James Brauer, my professor, has also taken the opportunity in this class to encourage us to practice some ancient Christian disciplines as he joins the chorus of our faculty in exhorting all of us to continually deepen our personal devotions. One such practice is praying the psalter.

The psalter is a collection of writings expressing faith in praise and petition. As near as I can tell (because there are diverse opinions on the subject), praying the psalms is an effort to make the Psalms "personal" (i.e. subjective) instead of reading them as a "third-person" (i.e. objective) exercise.

As you can imagine, some psalms are written in such a way that they are easily made prayers. Consider how Psalm 35 (here verse 17): "How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!" The whole psalm can be prayed directly without modification.

But this is not always the case. Consider Psalm 37, which begins:

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb." This is addressed to someone other than God. The entire Psalm is like this!

I've found a couple ways of working with such psalms. The first is to note the form of the verse as "third person address" and modify it in my prayer to address God. For example: "Lord, let me not fret myself because of evildoers or be envious of them who do wrong; for they will fade like grass and wither like the green herb."

The catch is that psalms will (often) switch their mode of address mid-stream and without warning. At one moment, the psalmist is addressing God, the next he is pointing to God's mighty deeds and speaking to the people, then he is addressing his own thoughts and meditations (that is to say, he is talking to himself), then he is speaking about others and you cannot tell right away who he is addressing!

In my experience, the best way to address this is to read the entire psalm first and then re-read it as a prayer. While this approach makes for a "clean" prayer, I've abandoned it. In addressing my Father in heaven, I do not find it troublesome to start saying something and only afterwards realize that what I say is nonsense or offensive. At this point, I will just back up and start again with an improved understanding of where the psalmist is going: "Forgive me my shortness of sight, oh Lord. Teach me to read your Scriptures rightly!"

Now this post is all about how to word a prayer from the psalms in a personal way. I have said nothing about what makes a psalm "personal" or how to handle difficult psalms (consider praying Psalm 35:8)! Perhaps I'll take these questions up in another post sometime soon.

"Christianity is perceived to be a good cause which is in danger of collapsing through lack of support. Or - in a quite different manifestation of the same fundamental attitude - there is a strident summons to more energetic efforts in evangelism and social action. I do not mean by speaking in this way that it is not very important for Christians to be active in both evangelism and social action. But I do sense an underlying Pelagianism which lays too much stress on our own activities and is too little controlled by the sense of the greatness and majesty and sufficiency of God. I am saying that there can be a kind of Christian activity which only thinly masks a lack of confidence in the sufficiency of God. [...] It may well be that for some decades, while churches grow rapidly in other parts of the world, Christians in Europe may continue to be a small and even shrinking minority. If this should be so, it must be seen as an example of that pruning which is promised to the Church in order that it may bear more fruit (John 15:1ff.) When that happens it is painful. But Jesus assures us, 'My Father is the gardener.' He knows what he is doing, and we can trust him. Such experience is a summons to self-searching, to repentance, and to fresh commitment. It is not an occasion for anxiety. God is faithful, and he will complete what he has begun."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Sem Kids Christmas Party!

Saturday morning was the annual Sem Kids Christmas Party, which is put on by the Seminary Women's Association (SWA). A truly good time was had by all! In many ways, it had the same feel as the Mt. Calvary Advent Celebration from last week: game stations, craft stations, cookie decorating, and snacks.

One of the really nice extras at this event was the "kid's Christmas store" activity. Here the kids go off to another room and gather/make/buy presents for their parents. (I cannot be sure what was going on in that room; it was off limits to parents. However, David and Emily went in with a little money and came back out with less money and a set of wrapped gifts for Mommy and Daddy.)

Although Heather and I volunteered a little time at the event, there were a number of folks who put in a huge amount of effort to pull this off. They did an awesome job! (Note: Most activities on campus rely on an "everyone volunteers a little and benefits a lot" approach to staffing. For those of you reading this blog as you considering a stay with us at the seminary: This is a great strength of the campus community.)

"[In] the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Europe turned to another vision of public truth, a vision inspired by the achievements of the new science and eventually embodied in the idea of a secular state. No one, surely, can fail to acknowledge with gratitude the achievements of this period of human history. But no one can be blind to the evidence that the liberal, secular democratic state is in grave trouble. The attacks on it from powerful new religious fanaticisms are possible only because its own internal weaknesses have become so clear: the disintegration of family life, the growth of mindless violence, the vandalism which finds satisfaction in destroying whatever is comely and useful, the growing destruction of the environment by limitless consumption fueled by ceaseless propaganda, the threat of nuclear war, and - as the deepest root of it all - the loss of any sense of a meaningful future. Weakened from within, secular democratic societies are at a loss to respond to religious fanaticism without denying their own principles. What could it mean for the Church to make once again the claim which it made in its earliest centuries, the claim to provide thepublic truth by which society can be given coherence and direction?"
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Brian's note: Lesslie Newbigin penned these words before the book was published in 1989!

"Scripture, it has been wittily said, is not a picnic where the authors bring the words and the readers bring the meaning. The content of the gospel is Jesus Christ in the fullness of his ministry, death, and resurrection. The gospel is this and not anything else. Jesus is who he is, and though our perceptions of him will be shaped by our own situation and the mental formation we have received from our culture, our need is to see him as he truly is."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Decorations in New Places

Advent (the season of the church year that precedes Christmas) always brings about the most decorating in the Rosenkoetter family household. This year was not different. But, as you can imagine, a new apartment means a new challenge to figure out where to put things. Since we are now living in approximately one-third the square feet that we had last year, we could not put out all of the same decorations. Here's a small sample of our efforts to decorate in Advent-anticipation of the coming Christmas!

David and Goliath

Sunday afternoon was the Mount Calvary Advent celebration! From two o'clock to four thirty, we enjoyed games, craft stations, treats, a movie about the true gift of Christmas in Jesus Christ. (Live music was provided by my fellow field worker, Brad Urlaub, and my professor from Lutheran Mind during the Fall quarter, Dr. Sanchez!)

Pastor Zimmerman put it very well when he announced the event yesterday morning after the divine service: "Your kids are going to hear the wrong message about what Christmas is about thousands of times over the next few weeks. Wouldn't it be a good idea to make sure they hear that Christmas is about Jesus?"

One of the activity stations was to decorate the (tike-sized) tree. I got a picture of David John "aiming for the stars"...

Mount Calvary during Advent

Habitat for Humanity ... and Everything Still Hurts!

What better way to shake off the soreness from Thursday volleyball than to get out there on Saturday morning and help build a house! (Yeah, right...)

Mount Calvary, my field work congregation, has been out to the St. Louis Habitat build site earlier this year, but I haven't made it out until now. Three of us (Bill, Tim and I) met at the church at 7am and drove out to the site together; we met David and Dean once we were there. Along with a bunch of other volunteers (apparently more than the site was accustomed to), we set to work installing the front steps, porch lattice work, planting shrubbery, putting up the house numbers, and a whole bunch of work on the inside that I was never in a position to observe.



It turns out that today was the dedication day for the 2008 build houses, so we all shuffled into a nearby elementary school gymnasium and took part in a ceremony where each new owner was presented with a home owners manual, a Bible, a Christmas wreath for their door, and the keys to their house. Each new owner was given an opportunity to express their thanks, and I am very pleased to say that each was quick to acknowledge God's hand in granting them the blessing of these houses! (Most were overwhelmed in the moment, too.) One woman broke out into a song "How Can I Thank You?"; she had an amazing voice and the lyrics gave testimony to her conviction that this opportunity was a heaven-sent blessing.

Even though a "roof over our heads" is a blessing we attribute to the gracious working of our Creator-Father, one woman recognized her blessings coming through Jesus Christ. Another was effusive in recognizing the Spirit working all about her house! Yet another, who had made a number of challenging decisions while preparing for this home and at times was not certain she would be able to follow through with her commitments to the project, bore witness to the fact that God is always good! She quoted from the sermon on the mount: "seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things will be added unto you" (i.e. ). What an fine witness!

Oh, did I mention that Channel 4 (KMOV) was doing a special on one of the families. Cameras were on the street the whole time and they tracked the family through the dedication ceremony. I hope the family's witness to the workings of God in their lives through this labor of love finds its way into the final televised version. It's not posted yet, but this link above is where you should look!

Intramural Volleyball ... and Everything Hurts

Concordia maintains a very active intramural sports program, and the students (along with a number of the faculty and staff) are active participants. The participants are sorted into a number of teams that participate in every sport together. (For example, I am on the "Papal Bulls" and my friend Terry is a member of the "Wolfensian Wolfpack".) Not that everyone on the team participates in every activity. Far from it! During the fall, the major team activities were ultimate frisbee and flag football. I did not participate in either of these; however, I did try to score a few points for my team by playing the chess tournament. (It did not go well... I knocked out my two teammates and then fell out of the tournament in the next round.)

Anyway, this quarter the big team sports are basketball and indoor volleyball. Although it's been years since I played indoor volleyball (the last time I played regularly was in California!), it sounded like a lot of fun. So I went out to play my first game with the Bulls last night.

Spouses can participate and family members who show up to support their team score participation points for the overall championship (scored across all sports) each quarter. Heather, David and Emily showed up last night during the first game. Although I didn't play my best volleyball, David and Emily both came over to the sidelines when I rotated out to say "good job". That alone made the evening worth it!

It really was a great time! The matches are played in three games with rally scoring (i.e., every serve scores a point, the serve switches sides when you lose a point on your own serve). The first two games are played to 25 and the third (if needed) is played to 15. Our team won both of the first two games, and we played a third "game" without keeping score until the next teams showed up to take the court.

Unfortunately, I used some muscles I haven't used in a really long time! I've been sore all day. It might be easier to list the parts of my body that don't hurt! Sound like fun? It does to me... I'll be back at the field house next Thursday at 3:45 to abuse my body some more!

"It is the work of the sovereign Spirit to enable men and women in new situations and in new cultural forms to find the ways in which the confession of Jesus as Lord may be made in the language of their own culture. The mission of the church is in fact the church's obedient participation in that action of the Spirit by which the confession of Jesus as Lord becomes the authentic confession of every new peopoe, each in its own tongue."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret

Grades...

The word went out yesterday afternoon that the registrar had posted all of the grades that she had. I have received all As and one A-! What a pleasant surprise!

My "Lutheran Mind" (i.e. introductory systematics) grade is not in yet, but I knew it probably wouldn't be. My professor (Dr. Leo Sanchez) is a member of Mount Calvary, my field work congregation, so I knew he'd been leveled by a nasty illness most of the break.

Power Out!

We had heard from Heather's cousins (and seen on the news) that the electrical power grid in St. Louis could be flaky, but we got our first taste of it on Tuesday morning. Our kids woke up in the pitch black of their room (they still use a night light); Emily's crying woke us up. Whatever time the power had gone out, it was starting to get cold in the apartment. (We later learned from our stove that the power went out at about 4:31am.)

We made the best of it: a flashlight sitting on the dresser became the kids nightlight and Heather distributed candles in the dining room/office, the kitchen and the bathroom. (I didn't think to take any pictures.)

The good news is that Captain Elementary and the seminary both have really efficient "notification systems". Captain Elementary (David's school) cancelled classes by 6:45am (no power = no light and no heat); the power was back on by 7:15! The seminary wisely said "power is out - we'll get back with you later". Later was after 7:15; so I had classes as scheduled.

It turned out to be a hectic day, with both kids home, another sem family's kids dropping in (they go to the same school, but their Mom's school wasn't cancelled), and the jitters from a two-week break and a long weekend not quite worn off yet. Ah well! The good news is that things seem to have ironed themselves out! (I'm writing this on Thursday morning.)

Winter Quarter Underway

On Monday the winter quarter got underway with a regular schedule of classes and reading, coupled to a light dusting of snow. My family made the most of the remaining snow in the afternoon!

"Can I get off the bus? Can I stand outside myself and look at my way of thinking as a critic of it? More specifically can this book, one among millions of books which we call the book, the Bible, call into question the whole way in which I, as a member of this society, understand the world? This is a point at which the experience of a foreign missionary has something to contribute. [...] [As] I have mentioned earlier, a portrait of Jesus can be happily accommodated in the premises of a Hindu missionary establishment, because Jesus has been painlessly incorporated into the Hindu worldview. The foreign missionary knows that this is not the conversion of India but the co-option of Jesus, the domestication of the gospel into the Hindu worldview. He only slowly begins to realize that the same thing has happened in the West. Jesus is understood in the light of the assumptions which control our culture. When 'reason' is invoked as a parallel or supplementary authority to 'Scripture' and 'tradition', what is happening is that Jesus is being co-opted into the reigning plausibility structure. But the business of the missionary, and the business of the Christian Church in any situation, is to challenge the plausibility structure in the light of God's revelation of the real meaning of history."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Thanksgiving Feast

David's elementary school has a long (i.e. 38 years!) tradition of hosting the kindergarten "thanksgiving feast"! The class has been preparing for weeks! The kids prepared costumes, butter, practiced songs, and did "grass-roots marketing" (i.e. we have been hearing about it the wholetime).

The picture below is the whole group of kindergarten students (all three classes) in position for their singing. They performed a number of great pieces, such as "What Were the Indians Doing?" and "Mr. Turkey!"



Here's a picture of David before the front rows filed in in front of him. (I had to crop him out from a group of other students. Sorry for the awkward picture.)

The event was a family affair. Just like most of the other kindergartners, the whole family showed up. Here's a shot of Emily and Mommy clapping and singing along!

Geocaching in Forest Park

This past weekend, David, Emily and I struck out into Forest Park with nothing more than a set of coordinates, a GPS receivers, a compass and ... well, okay, we also took the truck, our winter coats, and directions to parking that was within a quarter mile of our final destination.

I know I have mentioned it before on this blog, but the kids and I are occasional geocachers. We have not taken many opportunities to do so since coming to St. Louis, but we certainly enjoyed our two excursions into Forest Park this weekend! (The picture below is from Sunday, which was the second of our two excursions.)

Tutoring

Before the start of the Fall quarter, I offered to serve as a tutor through the Student Services office! It's an awfully good thing that I didn't know how busy the quarter was going to be: I thought that tutoring was a volunteer activity (it is not) and I figured I would have ample time to work with a fellow student or two (that was debatable)!

As I just pointed out, it turns out that tutoring is a student worker position, which was nice. Of course, I'm not going to accumulate a fortune working as few hours as I did this past quarter.

Early in the quarter, the Director of Student Services, Rev. Dr. Wally Becker, asked if I would be willing to work with a Hebrew student. I agreed. Before I'd even met with my first student, he gave me an opportunity to work with a second Hebrew student. I agreed. (Like I said: it was a good thing I didn't realize how busy the quarter would be.)

Tutoring is excellent! I get to be of help to other students who are working through the challenge of a new language, and I get to sharpen my own language skills through continued synthesis and re-presentation. And did I mention I get paid to do this?

In the coming quarter, I'll have the opportunity to continue with the two classmates who are taking Hebrew. (Basic Hebrew runs for three weeks into the Winter quarter, and then converts into the Hebrew Readings class for the last seven.) Moreover, Dr. Becker asked if I'd be willing to work with a student in Greek.

This last opportunity came as a pleasant surprise. Although I have a decent command of Biblical Greek (for a novice, that is), I did not score well on the qualifier. I had thought of retaking the qualifier to open up the possibility of tutoring Greek. But when the Fall quarter bogged down, I decided I was better off just sticking letting things ride as they were.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to working in the languages again during the Winter quarter. I hope it continues to be valuable for the poor guys stuck with me as their tutor!

"I am sure that he who is to preach and expound the Scripture and has no help from the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages but is to do his work solely with his mother tongue will certainly make many a pretty mistake. St. Augustine felt that too and held that there ought to be men in the church - especially those who are expected to deal with the Word - who are conversant with Greek and Hebrew, since the Holy Spirit has written the Old and the New Testament in these two languages. - Martin Luther, "To the Bohemian Brethren (1523)"

Little Wonders

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about the seminary community is the constant flood of unexpected encouragement and support.

I do not want to diminish the importance of regular supporters who express their love for our lives and labors through their prayers and gifts - these are invaluable as well! But these are commitments that faithful Christians have made and told us about. We never take these for granted, but they are of a different character. In one sense, we "expect" them.

Here are a handful:

* There have been countless "short-notice babysitting swaps" between us and other families out in the Woods. People bounce between apartments and are quick to supplement your refrigerator when you are missing something you need to save the trip to the market. Kids bounce in and out of the apartments (especially during the summer) and the parents keep an eye on one another's kids. I have seen others' loan one another cars to solve the "single family car problem" when it comes up. I would love to list all of the examples we have experienced or observed, but there isn't time or space! It would end up being a directory of everyone living in the Woods!

* In the middle of the quarter, I was struggling with the question of being here and feeling wholely inadequate. At that point, every waking moment had been devoted to studying if it wasn't spent in class or having meals with Heather and the kids. Despite this, I had received a round of "grades" that were ... um ... not what I was accustomed to. Dr. Utech, my professor for Pastoral Ministry, stayed after class to talk to me about it one day. He did not try to blow it off. He did not try to diminish the significance of my concerns. He encouraged me with the knowledge that I had been encouraged in this path by my church, my district, the synod and my peers. He observed that I seemed to be going through one of those periods of heightened "tentatio" (i.e. temptation). He shared with me from his own experiences in the earliest years of his seminary education. At no time did it seem like he had any other place he'd rather be. It is a great joy that we are being formed by men who are themselves pastors.

* One of the seminary's evaluation techniques is an instrument called the Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS) test. While the feedback provided by this instrument was accurate (based my own results and my classmates' observations), it was blunt and picked at some real scabs. Most of us walked out of the sessions where we receieved our results in a state of shock. Tough love, indeed! Mine poked right at those areas that had given me the greatest pause when contemplating even coming to seminary in the first place. It was as though the test results were saying: "You were right to worry about this! What ARE you doing here?" A week of thinking them over helped to soften the impact somewhat; most of us realized the question was now "Okay, what have we learned and what are we going to do about this?" But the best encouragement I received was from Professor Egger, with whom I read Hebrew on Monday and Thursday mornings. When I shared my distress about the feedback I had received, he said: "Remember that you are the same person today that you were when you walked in to receive the results of the test." Did I mention that the faculty here are top notch lovers of God's children?

* There is a couple on campus (Concordia Seminary also forms women for service as Deaconnesses) that I met over the summer. Both of them (their names are JJ and Sarah) are wonderful people who seem to be everywhere doing everything. (In another walk of life, I would have called these two a "power couple", but the label does not fit two such servants.) Early in the quarter they offered to come by and watch David and Emily so Heather and I could have an evening out. (How many places do YOU know that turn up free babysitting?) We had a good time; they had a good time with the kids; I think David and Emily are ready to trade up for a new set of parents!

* I received an email from Pastor Adam Parvey, the new pastor at my parents' church in Springfield, MO. He wrote mid-way through the quarter to introduce himself, ask how he could be praying for us, and asking how things were going in general. As a recent seminary graduate himself, he is naturally very understanding about the experience here. But he wrote us! And he's praying for us! Someone I've never met is praying for my family and me. God's gifts never cease.

John 21:25 (ESV)
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

A Strange Thing Happened

As I've already mentioned elsewhere, I've been assigned to Lutheran Senior Services for my institutional field work assignment. Throughout the quarter, my fellow detailees and I have been hoofing it out to Breeze Park in St. Charles. Because of the I-64/40 construction, this is a forty minute trip (one-way)!

I was on my way out this Sunday, but I needed to work on a few "pastoral care reports" which we fill out when we enjoy repeat visits with the residents. I decided to stop by Starbucks on my way and fill them out over a cup of coffee. (My Starbucks consumption has gone WAY down during the past year! But I had not celebrated the "end of the quarter" in any way, so that was my excuse.)

I ordered my cappuccino (told you I was celebrating!) and when the barista brought it to me, I tried to give her my money. She said, "Don't worry about it." It took me half a second to realize what was going on. I was dressed like this...



It turns out that Dcs. Pitkin had encouraged us to "try visiting residents wearing our clericals to see how the residents' reactions would change." I'm not sure what kind of change she was expecting, but I received a range of reactions: from ambivalent to very positive. So I continued to wear them as I visited with residents throughout the quarter.

Now, I'm not going to tell you how I responded to the offer of free coffee at Starbucks, because there will be as many opinions about what's appropriate as there will be readers of this post. However,here is a quick run down of my thoughts:

1) I think it is marvelous that there continue to be clear demonstrations of appreciation (whether corporate or individual, I cannot say) for clergy. There are many possible explanations for this, but almost all of them are good.

2) There is the very real possibility of someone else seeing this as "taking advantage" of a position of public trust. I would never dream of going into a Starbucks with my clerical garb on with the goal of getting free coffee, but nobody else knows that just to look at me.

3) If an individual were to respond in this way from some sense of guilt or out of an inappropriately high view of the clergy (as earthly authority figures), then accepting the offer would reinforce that.

As you can see, there was a lot that flashed through my mind at that moment. As you can imagine, it was not appropriate to stand there with the barista and conduct an impromptu Q&A to figure out WHY I was being extended this generosity. The offer was there, and I had to decide how to respond. So I did what I ended up doing and trusted the Lord would sort out how it was received by those who were close enough to see or hear it transpire.

I welcome your comments...

Looking Ahead through the Rear View Mirror

As I was walking to campus on Friday afternoon for some last minute studying in the library for my Hebrew final, I witnessed the Greek students taking the traditional "dip in the fountain" that marked the successful completion of their competency exam! The Concordia Blog Cabin has a new post with video of the latest batch of "competent" Greek students. (You may remember a recent post describing a similar event. Of course, it was a LOT warmer then!)

A lot has happened since then. Here were my classes:

Pastoral Ministry - an introduction to the Office of the Ministry and its modern context. Readings included Loving the Church you Lead by David Hansen, Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg, Ministering Cross-Culturally by Sherwood Lingenfelter, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Bo Giertz' The Hammer of God.

Lutheran Mind - an overview of key Lutheran hermeneutical lenses, such as: law/Gospel, two kinds of righteousness, two kingdoms (or realms), proclamation versus explanation, etc.

Introduction to Historical Theology - a methods course focused on reading and analyzing primary sources in light of their historical context

Greek and Hebrew Readings - intended to be intermediate grammar classes in both languages; we would translate pericope-length passages outside of class and review our work together in class

I'm looking forward to classes for next quarter:

Confessions I - the Augsburg Confession and the Apology to the same

Worship I - introduction to the theology and history of Christian worship in general and its Lutheran expressions

Theology of Missions - introduction to the theology of... well, just guess! I am working through one of the books for this class over break. For one of the book review assignments in the class, we get to pick from a long list. I chose Lesslie Newbigin's The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. (We'll get to read another book by Newbigin during the quarter called The Open Secret.)

Hermeneutics - the name says it all... (or at least the hyperlink to Wiktionary should help)

More to come... stay tuned...

"It is obvious that the story of the empty tomb cannot be fitted into our contemporary worldview, or indeed into any worldview except one of which it is the starting point. That is, indeed, the whole point." "One does not defend this new perspective by trying to demonstrate its compatibility with the old. One challenges the old with the demand and the offer of a death and a new birth."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

A Stack o' Things to Write About

My first regular academic quarter came to an end with the completion of my last final (in Hebrew Readings) at 3PM on Friday, 14 November.

For those who will immediately ask: I have no idea how my grades turned out, and I won't know until the first week of the next quarter. But perhaps you've hear the running joke: "You know what they call a seminary graduate with a C average?" "Pastor."

For what it is worth, I believe I did better than carry a C average, but the experience has been interesting, exciting and challenging! As you probably noticed, I haven't posted to the blog since before the quarter started... it really has been that busy! But my plan is to make up for it over break. I have been accumulating a set of "reminders" and information next to my computer about the things I've wanted to write this quarter. So I plan to start publishing them day-by-day over break.

So stay tuned, and I'll try to catch everyone up on the activities of the "Rosenkoetter family at seminary"...

Concordia Seminary Field Day!

After the orientation activities ended on Friday, Concordia Seminary Field Day followed on Saturday! This activity is organized and staffed for the benefit of the whole seminary community by the Student Services organization with a great deal of volunteer help from the student body and their families.

The morning was the main time of activities for the kids (there were "big kid" activities scheduled throughout the day). A little area in our park near the Woods (our apartment complex on the west side of the campus) was set up with face painting, a wading pool with prizes hidden under bubbles, ball throwing games, T-shirt painting, and a "family as team" contest to see who's dad could put on a t-shirt that had been folded, soaked and frozen solid. (Our neighbor's in the next building won!)

The highlight of the morning activities for the kids was a firetruck from the city of Clayton spraying water on the whole company for a very long time. A couple pictures of the fun are included in this posting. (As a humorous side note, the water supply about fifty yards down from the fire hydrant busted and was rendered inoperable for out seven hours shortly after the event... coincidence?)

The day ended with yet another sponsored picnic at Luther Statue Park, on the east side of campus. This event was pretty low key; imagine a really large church potluck that is very well attended. After everyone enjoyed their fill of BBQ, pasta salad, punch, punch (or water), many sat around talking as the sun went down. Others (especially those of us with children) moved our conversations away from the tables deeper into the park, where our children worked off their sugar playing some combination of tag and "chase me! chase me!".

I volunteered to help clean up this event, which was a considerably larger task than I had expected. But as my classmate Paul said: "I was undoubtedly going to help clean up anyway; I might as well volunteer for it."

On the whole, a very sweet day...

New Student Orientation Week

There's not much I can say about the experience of orientation week beyond simply to note its arrival and its passing.

My fellow "new students" and I spent much of Wednesday through Friday participating in "get to know your classmates" discussions centered on the unique challenges and opportunities associated with pastoral formation at the seminary. These discussion were facilitated by Dr. Hartung, the Dean of Ministerial Formation. Although I'm not ordinarily a fan of "group encounter" discussions, the topics were on every one's mind and the shared concerns expressed were, for the most part, valuable.

The highlight of Friday was registration for classes and the information fair in the adjoining rooms. Perhaps "registration" is not the right way to describe it. In the words of Dr. Gibbs, the first-year student advisor: "although we are a Lutheran seminary, the first-quarter registration process is very Calvinistic". In other words, they register your for your classes and sections and then hand you your your schedule. You are predestined for your assigned schedule!

One of the surprises for the day (there were several) was learning that I was assigned to the honors Hebrew Readings section taught by Dr. Saleska. Apparently I scored higher on my qualifier than was wise!

Another surprise from registration was receiving my "Institutional Module" assignment. As I've mentioned elsewhere, seminarians are assigned a field work congregation, which provides us an "internship" within the "standard" congregational context; these assignments have not been communicated to us. In addition to this, we also do two modules during our first year: one in institutional ministry, another in cross-cultural ministry. I'm happy to say that I've been assigned to work with Lutheran Senior Services. I will find out more about this at a special meeting scheduled for LSS field workers on Thursday of this week; look for another posting on this topic then.

At the information fair, we received a number of gifts from organizations and endowments that support the seminary: a gift certificate to purchase a clergy shirt at the bookstore; a copy of Pieper's Dogmatics, vol. I. and a gift certificate for the Kolb and Wingert edition of the Book of Concord. The first two were gifts from the Seminary Guild and the last from John E. Meyer Memorial Alumni Book Endowment Fund. As I've mentioned before, the constant flood of support and gifts for us and my fellow seminarians is humbling.

Grant's Farm

While my parents, Arthur and Dorothy Rosenkoetter, were in town to visit before the start of the quarter, we took a short trip to visit Grant's Farm on Saturday, 30 August. Grant's Farm was originally a sixty acre property given to Ulysses S. Grant by his father-in-law, Frederick Dent. It was later purchased by the Busch family (who, until recently, owned Anheuser-Busch breweries) and hosts the Busch family mansion.

Of course, we didn't go to visit the mansion! The Busch family has maintained an animal park on the grounds and it is also where the world famous Clydesdales are housed, fed and trained. Another draw was the promise of two free samples of Anheuser-Busch product at the Bauernhof at the end of the tour of the animal park.

The facility uses trams to shuttle visitors from the parking lot to the main part of the animal park. This ride takes visitors past Grant's Cabin. Our tram guide showed a great sense of humor with the following: "A new Presidential Library was constructed on the back side of the cabin a couple of years ago." (The only thing in view behind the cabin is an outhouse...)

Disney's Meet the Robinsons

A couple of months ago, my family and I discovered the Disney animated movie "Meet the Robinsons", a wild ride that combines "Back to the Future"-style time travel and timeline changes with the antics of a wacky family of inventors and original thinkers. We loved it! The children loved it so much that we checked it out of the library again this past week.

I don't want to take any space up with a recap of the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, then you need to read a review of it before my post will make any sense. Ms. Sheri McMurray has provided a great synopsis of it at Christian Spotlight on Entertainment (from ChristianAnswers.net).

As we watched it again, I discovered that the end of the movie offers a remarkable illustration of the Christian life that deserves more attention than it has received in the Internet postings I have read. (Before taking the time to write this post, I scanned the Internet (using Google), looking for reviews of "Meet the Robinsons" with Christian themes. (My search terms are in bold.))

Near the end of the film, Lewis has returned (from the future) to the science fair (in the present) with his "memory scanner". The entire movie centered on how Lewis' successful science fair entry becomes the invention that launches a life that eventually sees Lewis as the chief inventor of a major company whose products have revolutionized and improved life for everyone! (In fact, the villains in the movie (themselves from the future) have dedicated their efforts to ruining Lewis' science fair demonstration, stealing the device, and passing it off as their own.)

But Lewis came back from the future with more than just the knowledge that he needed to successfully demonstrate his invention in order to unlock a highly successful future. He also knows that in the future he saw, he has foster parents (Lewis is an orphan), he is married to a wonderful wife with a terrific family whose quirkiness mirrors his own eccentricities, and the world is a pretty remarkable place besides! However, because Lewis did not live the life between the science fair and that future yet, he has no idea how it will all unfold. He just knows what the future will look like at one point in time.

While demonstrating his device at the science fair after returning from the future, he discovers that one of the judges and her husband are his foster-parents of the future and a crazy little girl who trains frogs to sing is his future wife. A reporter shows up and announces that Lewis has a bright future ahead of him. Lewis, seemingly struck by the blessings showering down around him, smiles a terrific smile, nods and says, "Yeah." There is much yet to come for young Lewis, but he is already seeing his perfect future unfold! It isn't all there yet, but because he knows what is coming, he recognizes it unfolding around him.

The movie closes with a series of scenes of his unfolding life that include his new foster parents driving him away from the orphanage and their eventual purchase of the building that contains the huge room that will eventually be his lab. The last scene shows him working enthusiastically in his lab as the notes, diagrams, models and inventions begin to accumulate on tables and drawing boards around him. We know that from this point on, Lewis lives his life very confidently. He adopts the motto "Keep Moving Forward", which is reflected in his refusal to give up when his invention ideas meet with initial failure.

Life in Christ is a lot like this. Through the Word of God, we know what the future holds; it is no longer in doubt. Moreover, because the Father has given us faith in Jesus' atoning death and resurrection, we know that this future is for us!

Christ has defeated death and the devil by His perfect life, sacrificial death and bodily resurrection. He has revealed that he will return in glory for the final judgment of the earth, at which time he will usher in the new heaven and new earth, which will no longer be separated! God himself will live with us; he will be our God, and we will be his people. Immanuel! God with us!

And this future is free from sin; we will live in perfect trust; we will not worry about what we will eat, drink and wear (Matthew 6:25-34); we will look to the needs of our neighbor continually. There will be no death, or mourning, or crying, or pain!

Even now, we see the future unfolding around us! Christ has ascended bodily into heaven, but remains present to strengthen us in the sacrament of the altar. Because God's Law (which judges us sinners) describes the perfection of God's creation, we catch glimpses of what perfection will look like all the time. When sinners (that's us) show compassion towards one another (whatever our reasons) or sacrifice our own good for the benefit of others, we see the world as it was to be and will eventually be again. True, this view is dim right now; but the view is there to behold! (1 Corinthians 13:1-20

We know what to look for because we know what is coming. God has revealed this future to us in and through the Living Word, Jesus Christ. We do not know exactly how it will unfold, but we walk with the endurance, character and hope that comes by grace through faith. (Romans 5:1-5)

--

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for(O) these words are trustworthy and true."

-- Revelation 21:1-5

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church - Brentwood, MO - 24 August 2008

Pastor Zimmerman abbreviated his sermon to provide time for two groups from the congregation to discuss their work over the past summer to minister to the needs of others: those who served at Indiana HandyCamp, sponsored by Lutheran Disabilities Ministries in Indianapolis, IN; and those who delivered a Christian Vacation Bible School at Norway House, Manitoba, Canada, sponsored by

However, Pastor did not simply leave the presentations to speak for themselves. Before he began to guide the groups in describing their experiences this past summer, he "framed" their presentations by means of three illustrations.

Pastor introduced the illustrations by referencing a recent effort to bring together seven students from different religions to live together in a "reality show" environment. The moderator prompted their discussions with questions. One of these was: "Why do you suppose there are so many religions in the world?"

Pastor responded to this question by asserting the situation was far simpler that this question supposed: there are only two religions! Two of the three illustrations graphically presented these "two religions in the world".

During the first illustration, Pastor Zimmerman put on a pair of garden gloves. The Muslim participant from the "reality show" provided a statement that best describes this first religion: "I work for God to earn his favor and a place in heaven." All religions other than the religion of the true disciples of Jesus of Nazareth fit into this first category. Question: Why garden gloves? Answer: In this religion, what you get is what you work for.

The second religion is the religion of Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate God-man, who lived a perfect life, died as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and was raised by the Father on the third day so that all who trust in Him alone will inherit eternal life. To illustrate this second religion, Pastor took off the garden gloves and donned a baseball mitt. Question: Why a baseball mitt? Answer: With Christianity, what you get is what you receive from God Himself. Can you catch a ball that is not thrown?

The third illustration was an element of contrast for the presentations to follow. Lutherans, Pastor said, are often accused of wearing two baseball mitts. We are seemingly so averse to even the appearance of works righteousness that we eschew service to our neighbor and seek only to receive, receive, receive.

Of course, this is not at all what Christ taught; it's not what the Lutheran Church teaches, either. To extend the second illustration: we give away what we have received! God's Word teaches us that our freedom in Christ is given us for the benefit of the world around us. As we have been freed from sin through the faith in Jesus that comes from God alone, we can now confidently abandon our own sinful pursuit of "self-fulfillment" and look to the benefit or our neighbor.

We forgive as Christ forgave us! (Colossians 3:12-13) The Father did not wait for us to "make the first step". While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8) So we do not wait for our neighbor to "make the first step" or "prove their worth". Every person is a person for whom Christ died; every person is a person in need of forgiveness and mercy (1 John 4:19-20). Who is YOUR neighbor? (Luke 10:25-37)

And They're Off!

Attached are a series of pictures from David's first day at kindergarten at Captain Elementary School! The picture above is the group of "sem kids" walking along Founders Way heading towards Captain. As you can see, David wanted to ride his bike. So far, he's wanted to do this every morning.

The next picture is David dropping his backpack "on the line" for the Hearts class. This class is David's class, and it is taught by Mrs. Rosenkranz. (David had already met her during the orientation.)



Every morning (weather permitting), the kids get to play on the playground until time to "line up". This last picture is the kids as they line up to go inside.



As you will discover if you follow the links at the top of this posting, Captain Elementary is a public school in the Clayton District. We are fortunate that the seminary is located in such an excellent school district. However, this is not the only school option available to our seminary community. For those of you who follow my postings to gain insight into the experience of seminary life or to gather information to aid your own discernment in following our Lord's calling, please check out the page on local school options provided by the CSL Student Services.

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church - Brentwood, MO - 17 August 2008

For the time being, my family plans to continue attending at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. If we are fortunate enough to be assigned there for field work, we might be with these brothers and sisters in Christ for quite some time!

The congregation's introduction to the Lutheran Service Book continued this week. We prepared for worship by singing the Agnus Dei (that is, "Lamb of God") on page 210 of the LSB. Heather, the kids and I arrived late and had to sit in the back under the choir loft, so I was not able to gauge how well the congregation took up this beautiful pre-communion song.

Pastor Zimmerman's sermon was based on the Gospel reading (Matthew 15:21-28). In this passage, a Canaanite woman comes to our Lord and begs him to heal her daughter, who is suffering from demon possession. In a difficult passage, our Lord seems to be unwilling to heal the daughter of a woman outside of the "lost sheep of the house of Israel"; but, in the end, when the woman goes so far as to equate herself to the dogs that that wait at the master's table for crumbs to fall from the childrens' mouths, he "relents".

It has been my pleasure to chew on this passage for a little over a week now. My brother and I recently began translating the lectionary together to keep our translation skills sharp. (And so I can take advantage of my brother's vastly superior knowledge of Scripture and the Christian teachings of our church). So we began working on this passage two weeks ago. On Tuesday morning, I also joined in a Bible study led by Pastor Zimmerman which also took up this then-upcoming Gospel. Because I have been working this passage over for so long, Heather and I have also had opportunities to discuss it.

The beauty of the Gospel lesson is not that the Lord leaves the woman a "dog" or says "fine, crumbs it is then". Our Lord shows the woman for what she really is: a child of Abraham and a member of the house of Israel. For the promise to Abraham is by faith. And this faith is not from ourselves, it is the gift of God; God raises children of Abraham through faith! The Canaanite woman knew that crumbs falling from the mouths of the master's children was enough; our Jesus said "no, my child" and gave her the loaf.

I was really looking forward to hearing the Pastor apply this Word of God to us. Unfortunately, Emily and I had to leave the sermon for an emergency trip to the bathroom just as Pastor was applying the text. But his preparatory remarks focused on our tendency to focus on what we do and can do, as well as what we have done and accomplished, in evaluating our worth. His examples included the efforts of China to "prove something" in hosting a larger-than-life olympic games and our introductory question when we meet someone: "What do you do?" We are a people trying to build a Tower of Babel under our own feet!

I do not know what Pastor said after Emily and I stepped out, but I liked where he was going. The last thing I heard was "this Canaanite woman had surely done everything she could for her daughter. When we returned, the first words I was able to concentrate on were: "The measure of our lives is not what we can do, but what God has done for us (in Christ)." I have great confidence that whatever connected these two phrases was of great benefit to its hearers; I wish I had been one!

This Lord's Day, we also celebrated the Sacrament of the Altar together. In many ways, our Lord draws near to seek, save, strengthen and preserve us. We come to him again as beggars, knowing we deserve nothing, but ready to take the crumbs that fall from his table. Instead, Christ Jesus feeds us with his very body, and nourishes us with his very blood. Amen.

It's a Greek Thing...

... but they invited the Hebrew students, too!



The tradition at the end of the summer Greek class after the ELCE is complete is for the students to dive into the seminary fountain outside of the library. This year was no exception, and the Hebrew class was invited to participate as well. The group picture above was taken before we dove in; the celebratory cigar enjoyed by my friend Jay (pictured below) and others was after (obviously!).

Want to see the video... I swiped it from the seminary blog. Check it out...

Dinosaurs at the St. Louis Zoo

With David John ready to start kindergarten (stay tuned for a new post on this topic soon), we wanted to take some time to visit the St. Louis Zoo and enjoy the special "dinosaur" exhibit they've included. So Friday morning we did just that!

The exhibit included sixteen robotic dinosaurs designed "to scale". Each one had a small placard telling about that particular dinosaur and where its fossilized remains have been found, but the real fun was watching the automaton's move about.

We've observed that Emily like animals - from a distance. And knew, from experience with David's dinosaur toys, that Emily really prefers dinosaurs - from an even greater distance. Consequently, David was really excited to see the main exhibit, and Emily was really excited to sit with Mommy outside of the exhibit when Daddy and David went back through to read about some of the dinosaurs

But Emily did enjoy the rest of the zoo. We have picture here of David and Emily climbing on a giant beetle statue outside of the insectarium. I am happy to report that my children find the bug display less traumatic than did their father when he was young.

Another One Bites the Dust!

The Hebrew Entry-level Competency Exam (ELCE) has come and gone: 75 of a possible 80 points!!! I have completed my pre-seminary preparations and can now begin pastoral formation studies in the fall "on schedule" (i.e. the schedule our family had set out for ourselves).

It has been a very enjoyable, but very challenging, summer wrestling this language to the ground. Although I am not "fluent" and must rely on a lexicon to carry out any translation work I do in the Hebrew scriptures, I now have a good foundation on which to build!

Praise be to God in heaven!

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church - Brentwood, MO - 10 August 2008

Well, question answered! What should I find in the pews at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church this Sunday but the Lutheran Service Book!

In addition to "breaking the new hymnals in", this morning's sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Allan Buckman. Pastor Buckman and his wife, Carol, are former missionaries to Nigeria who have, in recent years, been actively directing the course of Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA) to reach out with the love of Christ to new immigrants to the United States who have settled in St. Louis.

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church - Brentwood, MO - 27 July and 3 August 2008

Class has been keeping me very busy this past week and I did not get a chance to put up a blog posting for last Sunday until now (the following Sunday). On both weeks, we returned to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church.

This week, Pastor Zimmerman and Kristen Schade, the organist, introduced the congregation to the Nunc Dimittis from LSB page 211. Mt. Calvary has a set of the blue Lutheran Worship hymnals in their pews, so I suspect that the congregation is preparing for a transition to the LSB. (I have not taken the opportunity to ask anyone about this.)

The sermon addressed the gospel reading, the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The sermon was titled "You Give Them Something to Eat!" When the disciples' solution to the peoples' problem was "send them away" the Lord told the disciples to meet their need for food!

Our Lord was teaching the disciples (and us), in a very concrete way, what he had already demonstrated. When he had left the crowd to find some solace after hearing of his cousin's death, the people had followed him. They needed him! And Jesus had compassion on them; he did not send them away. Whatever he was seeking for himself fell to the side as he reached out to heal those who had followed him.

Pastor Zimmerman noted that the disciples learned the lesson. He cited Acts 2 to demonstrate. On Pentecost, when three thousand people came to the disciples and cried out "what shall we do?", the disciples did not send them away. Rather they faithfully pointed the crowd to repentance and baptism into the risen Lord Jesus' name.

It surely did not stop there. The ministry of Christ through his body, the church, extended from Jerusalem to the entire world. Above all, we carry the good news (that's what "gospel" is, folks) of Jesus life, death and resurrection for us sinners. But, having been saved from destruction ourselves, we are bold to live out the complete trust we have for our Father by abandoning the cares of this world to reach to those in need around us. We serve our neighbor with love in the confidence that the Father is taking care of everything.

What do we do when this world has need? We pray: "Lord, have mercy!" Sometimes we pray: "Send so-and-so to minister to this need." Often, however, the Needy One has come to us directly and, by the grace of God working through the Holy Spirit, we have responded without thinking. In those moments, we have surely been Christ's Body, dropping our own desires, obsessions and convenience to the side, to minister to the need of our neighbor.

Taize Contemplative Worship at Chapel on Thursday

Chapel was a new experience in worship on Thursday. We followed an order of worship that has been developed by the Taize community in southeastern France. Our worship included an opening song ("The Lord is my song, the Lord is my praise"), a setting of the Kyrie that I have not heard before, and a closing song ("Lord God, Son of the Father, grant us peace" - sung in Latin).

Quoting from the worship flier distributed before the chapel service: "The three brief songs were created at the Taize community, founded in 1940 near Cluny in southeastern France and known for [...] its contemplative style of worship, often employing ancient languages."

Although our chapel service did not include a portion of the prayer in which the congregants offer their individual petitions to the Lord in the presence of the congregation, I have been told this variant is used by others who adopt the Taize community's style of worship. This was told me by a classmate who observed this practice at Concordia University - Seward.

I would have liked to reproduce the order of worship here in its entirety for the readers' benefit, but it appears to be copyright protected by the Taize community and licensed through OneLicense.net. So I will simply refer the interested reader to the hyperlink at the top of this post.

Prof'n'Stein with Dr. Jeff Gibbs

Much to my surprise, there was another Prof'n'Stein event on Friday afternoon. (I had been told to expect them no more than once a month.) This time Dr. Jeff Gibbs took to the soapbox to share some of his thoughts with us. In his talk, he asserted that our hymnody fails to fully represent the rich New Testament teaching of the kingdom of God. (Not that it is wrong, but rather that it is incomplete.)

In particular, Dr. Gibbs observed that the hymnody focuses on our comfort in death without fully expressing the reality that awaits us, which is a source of great hope: we will be raised anew in glorified bodies free from sin! So many of our hymns and our teaching speak of a "freeing" of the soul from the body at death, which encourages a negative view (even disdain) of the body and the world that is closer to gnosticism than Christianity.

Will we who are believers in Christ see God face to face upon our death? Yes! And it will be glorious to behold. But the world is being remade in Christ (Romans 8:18-25), his reign (his "kinging", often called his "kingdom") is breaking out all around us, and in the end time, heaven will draw near to earth and there will no longer be any separation ("sea") between the two . We will be God's people; God himself will live with us, will be with us and will be our God! (Rev. 21:1-5)

Dr. Gibbs suggested that writing hymnody that reflects these great teachings of God is not hard. He even suggested a new stanza to close out our beloved LSB 878 ("Abide with Me")):

And when, O Lord, you come at last to save,
put death to death and raise us from the grave,
With all creation, standing brave and free,
I shall rejoice, for you abide with me.

Busch Stadium!

On Thursday night, Heather, the kids and I accompanied the youth from the ECCE Amplified event to Busch Stadium to watch the Cardinals play the Brewers! This was our first trip to the stadium and it was made doubly pleasant for having been a gift from the seminary. (I had volunteered to chaperone the youth, but when extra tickets were available, they encouraged me to bring my family along!)

Unfortunately, not everything went well that night: Wellemeyer (the Cardinals' pitcher) struggled and the Brewers beat the Cardinals. Jay Jay, a friend and summer Greek student, was also there and rooted for the Brewers throughout the game. He didn't missed the opportunity to rub in salt on Friday.

Health Update - Good News!

Well, for those who are curious, the lab results came back and look good. In other words, those things that might be detected from a blood culture have been ruled out. That's where the diagnostic value of the test ends.

I saw the doctor again on Tuesday. The inflamed lymph node is also no longer tender and the doctor observed that it has gotten smaller. He believes my lymph node was probably just doing what it was supposed to: trapping the bad things and preventing them from spreading. Consequently, he thinks we probably got around to treating it at the tail end of its doing its work.

Needless to say, until it is fully healed (i.e. gone), the doctor will continue to have me come in to keep an eye on it.

Thank you for your prayers!

Tilles Park

After some wickering with our class schedule, the Hebrew class was able to take Friday "off". (Actually, the instructor asked that we take the day to shore up on the material we've been covering before we move on to the new stems in the last four weeks. All of our work to date has been with the QAL verb stem; we still have about six more to go. Fortunately, they have a lot in common with the QAL stem, so the task is not as daunting as it may sound.)

Although I have been studying pretty steadily since Thursday, I also took the opportunity on Friday to enjoy a picnic lunch with Heather, David and Emily at Tilles Park. Heather and the kids have been there before with some of the other seminary wives and their kids. The big attraction is the fountains which are turned on and off in a computer-controlled sequence. There were approximately twenty kids running in and out of the water the entire time we were there. There is also a very large playground as well, but this is one of the rare times that a playground plays second-fiddle to anything else.

Here's David weaving through the springs. (Here's a David quote: "I go too fast and too high to get hit by the water." Yeah, David, that's why your soaked!)

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church - Brentwood, MO - 20 July 2008

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, we are eager to settle into a single congregation and join them for Sunday Bible classes and worship. Thinking we had figured out the notes in the bulletin from last week, my family returned to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church this week. Sadly, we were mistaken: Mt. Calvary does not have children's Sunday School during the summer. There is a "Children's Worship Experience" for the youth after the children's message during the 10:30 service, but that is the extent of the children's Sunday School program until fall.

Rev. Darrell Zimmerman, the pastor of this congregation, led the congregation in songs of praise and presented a sermon on the gospel reading, the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. The sermon was titled "Life Among the Weeds!" We knew we were in for a challenging sermon when Pastor Zimmerman began by reciting a new verse for the hymn "There is a Redeemer": "When I stand in glory I will see His face, In the meantime, Jesus, I'm living in a miserable place." This was just the beginning, and the message continued to emphasize that neither prosperity nor adversity could distinguish between the wheat and the weeds as we grow together in this world. We eagerly await the second coming and might rashly bring it on before the harvest has fully come, but Our Father is merciful: "'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.'"

During the divine service, the congregation commissioned a team of its members who are bringing the Gospel to a Cree indian group in remote Canada by helping the local parish there conduct Vacation Bible School. In addition, the congregation bid a fond farewell to Michael and Mary Podeszwa; Michael is a seminarian and has been serving as a field education worker with Mt. Calvary, while Mary has served as the congregation's Director of Christian Education. Michael and his family are leaving for Cincinnati, Ohio where he will be serving as vicar for the next year.