March 13 sermon by consultant Rick Rouse

“Servants of Grace”

(1) It is a story that is both tragic and inspiring. Ben Larson was a seminary student at Wartburg Seminary who was doing what he loved most—serving the underprivileged in Haiti—when he was killed in that island’s devastating earthquake last January. Ben had what many would call “a servant’s heart”. He joyfully lived out his baptism—his life was an outpouring of love in response to God’s first loving him. Ben’s love of God and others was evident in all that he did—sharing his gift of music, passionately serving others especially the less fortunate, and learning from and loving the poor and disadvantaged. (2)

Most of the people who died in the deadly earthquake in Haiti were among the poorest of the poor. Ben went there in his senior year of seminary to teach theology and Bible in the new Lutheran Church of Haiti; but more deeply to learn from these people, to share his joy, and to give them hope. (3)

His wife, Renee, and cousin, Jonathan—also senior seminary students—joined him in his ministry in Haiti for the month of January. When the earthquake occurred, the three of them were on the fourth floor of the St. Joseph Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince. Two floors crashed down, trapping them, but Renee and Jonathan somehow managed to claw their way on to the collapsed roof. Ben was not so fortunate. As he lay dying, crushed from the rubble, Renee could hear him singing a hymn. His last words were “Lord Jesus, you bear the sins of all the world away. God’s peace to us we pray.”(4)

Ben was united in death with the bodies of the poor whom he loved. His life joined with those dear beloved people of God. Now his young widow, Renee, and cousin Jonathan, have vowed to continue his legacy of love and service; and are making plans to return to Haiti. At the Wartburg Seminary graduation ceremony last May, Ben’s life was celebrated once again; and Renee picked up two diplomas—one for her and one for her deceased husband. Her courage, faith, and determination were evident in her remarks: “This experience has given me a more profound understanding of the need for the Gospel message in our world today.” (5)

Called to Be Servants

Our lessons for this first Sunday in Lent have a clear message. We are called to be servants of GRACE and partners with Jesus Christ in God’s redemption of the world. (6) In our second lesson from Romans, we find the Gospel in a nutshell. We are saved by grace through faith. It is God’s gift to us through the sacrifice of His only Son on a cross that we might have eternal life. As we begin our journey toward the cross and the resurrection, the message is clear just as Martin Luther once proclaimed: It is faith alone. It is grace alone.

(7) The temptation of Jesus shows just how far Satan will go to bury that message and divert Jesus from his appointed mission of salvation. He is bold, this Lucifer, Christ’s nemesis on earth, to confront God’s Chosen One. He dares to sabotage God’s plan of redemption. Does he really think he is more clever than God’s Son? Nonetheless, he presents Jesus with the classic temptations of wealth, power, and fame. But Jesus does not bend nor break.

(8) He offers a true servant’s response to each. When Satan suggests he turn stones into bread, he could just as well be talking about the Midas touch. If Jesus could conquer the problem of hunger—not only for himself but for others—he would be rich indeed. Jesus counters that one must instead be spiritually rich—centered in God’s Word—the true bread of life. When Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he but bow down and worship, the Son of God reminds him that God is the only one worthy of worship. Finally, when Jesus is tempted to throw himself off the temple so that God’s angels will come and save him in some grand show of glory and fame, the Son of God once again shows he remains God’s faithful servant and true to his Heavenly Father’s mission of salvation; Jesus turns the tables on Satan, saying that one must not tempt the Lord.

(9) We are called in our baptism to live a life of service and to partner with Christ in the healing and redemption of the world. We too face temptation and may find we are easily distracted from our appointed mission. We may seek to pursue wealth, power, fame, or other dreams. Today’s gospel reminds us the only cause worth giving our life for is to be servants of God’s grace.

Jesus calls us as individuals and as a church to live as servant disciples. He enables us to do that by his Word and by sacrament. He empowers us to live our lives for him – to become more Christ-like along the way. Every Sunday we get a new start through Christ’s body and blood at the table of grace. We begin again as disciples with wholeness and new life. He assures us that our sin is forgiven and forgotten, so that we can start all over with a clean slate. He gives us the strength to overcome all things so by his power we can daily live out our baptism as generous disciples of Jesus.

Embracing a Ministry of Giving and Service

(10) One of the untold stories of servanthood is the witness of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church located at Ground Zero in New York City. This spring Beth and I visited this amazing congregation that has been engaged in ministry for over 200 years. (11) On September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Towers collapsed there was damage to all the surrounding buildings except St. Paul. Across the street, not even one stained glass window was cracked. (12)God had a purpose for this church in this time of tragedy. It was to show an unwavering spirit by bringing hope and healing at Ground Zero.

St. Paul’s opened it’s doors to become a place of rest and refuge for all the rescue workers. (13) Today you can see evidence in the church of their ministry of hospitality and welcome. (14) Through this act of service, they sought to restore bodies and souls. (15) This revitalized the congregation and gave them a new sense of mission and purpose. (16) Before 9/11, it was like looking in a mirror and seeing distorted images, uncertain about their future in the city. (17)

Now they see clearly where God has led them. Just as a new tower is being built, (18) so the people of St. Paul are rising to the challenge of being God’s servant church in New York City. Today they welcome thousands of pilgrims a day who come to pray and to remember. (19)

God’s Vision of a Church in Mission

There are two bodies of water in Israel. One is the Dead Sea, so called because there is no outlet for the water it receives. It only takes so cannot sustain life. The other is the Sea of Galilee teaming with life and that empties out into the Jordan River giving nourishment to the land. As a church we are called to exemplify the later. To give ourselves away in love for the sake of Jesus. To remember that as a community of faith, we exist not just for ourselves but for the sake of others—for all those Jesus came to save.

There is evidence that doing church the way we’ve always done it before isn’t working anymore. Many of us have come to realize that we must return to God’s vision for the church as described in the New Testament.

We are called to be a church in mission—reaching out to bring people into Christ’s loving embrace and to make disciples. So what is God up to here at Immanuel? Is not God calling this congregation to be transformed into a church that exists not for itself but for others? To adopt a missional or discipleship model. To be a servant church? One that reaches out to welcome the stranger, the newcomer, the unchurched? Here are ten examples of what this might look like. (20)

1. In measuring effectiveness, the maintenance congregation often asks: “How many pastoral visits are being made?” The mission congregation asks: “How many disciples are being made?” (21)

1. When considering some form of change, the maintenance congregation says: “If this proves upsetting to any of our members we won’t do it.” The mission congregation says: “If this will help us reach someone on the outside, we’ll take the risk.” (22)

1. When thinking about change, the majority of members in maintenance congregations ask, “How will this affect me?” The majority of members in a mission congregation ask, “Will this increase our ability to reach people for Christ?” (23)

1. When thinking of its vision for ministry, a maintenance church says, “We have to be faithful to our past.” The mission church says: “We also have to be faithful to our future.” (24)

1. The pastor in a maintenance church says to a newcomer, “I’d like to introduce you to our members.” In a mission church members who bring new people say, “I’d like you to meet our pastor.” (25)

1. The maintenance congregation often seeks to avoid conflict at any cost. The mission congregation understands that conflict is to be expected and can be an opportunity for learning and growing. (26)

1. The maintenance congregation is preoccupied with tending to its committee structure and organizations. The mission congregation seeks to understand how to make the gospel relevant to the culture. (27)

1. When thinking about growth, the maintenance congregation asks: “How many Lutherans live within a 25 minutes drive of our church.” The mission congregation asks: “How many unchurched people live within a 25 minute drive of this church?” (28)

1. A maintenance congregation looks at the community and asks: “How can we get people to support our congregation?” A mission congregation asks: “How can we support our community?” (29)

1. A maintenance congregation thinks about how to save their congregation. A mission congregation thinks about how to save the world for Christ. (30)

Like the first disciples, we have our preconceived notions about God, about the church, about the Christian life. About the way we think things are supposed to be. Then God’s Spirit comes along and turns it all upside down. We are called in our baptism to be transformed—to die to our old way of life and open ourselves to a new way of thinking and believing. By grace, we are encouraged to embrace the change God offers us, to put on Christ; to take on the mind and heart of a faithful, loving disciple.

When we tell ourselves, “I can never change.” Or “That will never happen,” we presume too much or believe too little. In Jesus Christ, God tenders all of our conclusions as premature and all of our inevitabilities as simply bad faith. In Christ, God opens closed doors, brings resurrection, reclaims the lost, changes the unchangeable, and reveals new possibilities. Thanks be to God.

Immanuel member has solo show at Dolphin gallery

Immanuel member Archie Scott Gobber’s solo show, “Super Power” runs through Jan. 8 at the Dolphin Gallery, 1600 Liberty St., Kansas City.

In the show, Gobber taps into cultural anxieties resulting from the current economic woes and political failings to examine contemporary social polarities.

Learn more about the show here.

MLM Christmas Store needs blankets, teen and women's gifts

The MLM Christmas Store will be in operation at Immanuel beginning Wednesday, Dec. 8. While we offer space, we also need to offer other resources. Two Immanuel representatives attended the Nov. 5 organizational meeting and learned of the greatest needs.

Most needed items are blankets (full size or larger), teen gifts such as watches, CD players and gifts for Moms. Client Moms enjoy large size sweatshirts, blouses, perfume, small appliances or wallets.

If shopping is not your choice, consider a cash gift or gift certificates from WalMart, Target or Old Navy.

Immanuel will host an ingathering of blankets on Sunday, Nov. 28.

For the 1,000 families who will visit the Christmas Store, this IS Christmas. Shop with your heart leading the way.

Immanuel's Bach Vespers series continues with Advent cantata Dec. 12

The Immanuel Bach Cantata Vespers series continues its 23rd season at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 with Bach Cantata #61: Nun komm, der heiden Heiland (Savior of the Nations, Come.) Fellowship and refreshments follow the service.

The cantata was written for the first Sunday of Advent and based on Luther’s Advent chorale of the same name, which is ELW #263. The chorale prays for the coming of the Savior and gives thanks and awe for the divine gift.

Luther’s hymn was included in the very first Lutheran hymnal of 1524 and is core of Lutheran Advent hymnody. In fact it was the proscribed Hymn Of The Day for the first Sunday of Advent.

The central message of the cantata has two parts:

• We plead for Messiah to come to save us
• Will we accept him into our hearts?

The Sunday lessons on which the cantata was based were Romans 13: 11-14, in which Paul warns early Christians to get ready to receive Christ; and Matthew 21: 1-9, Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The Advent mood of this cantata requires a strings-only orchestra, soprano, tenor and bass soloists and choir.

Here’s what to listen for in the cantata:

• The opening choral fantasy is in the form of a French Overture—a three-part musical structure for kingly entry procession—appropriate to first Advent Sunday and to Christ’s entry to earth. The movement opens the first part with a section of stately dotted rhythms where each voice repeats the first line of the chorale, followed by all voices singing together the second line of the chorale. The second part continues in the form of a brisk dance fugue, three beats to the bar marked “gai,” in which voices sing independently of each other the third line of the chorale. We hear the happy throng of the world receiving her king. The third part returns to the stately processional style of the first section for the fourth and final line of the chorale—in every way the entrance of royalty.
• In the second part, the tenor (Evangelist) sings a recitative to outline the significance of the Incarnation. “The Savior has come, has taken on himself our poor flesh and blood, and receives us as blood-relatives. O most precious good, what have you not done for us?” The music moves into a flowing Arioso and he continues: “You pour down from heaven its radiant light and blessing.”
• The tenor then moves into a beautiful aria with flowing string accompaniment: “Come, Jesus, come to thy church and grant a blessed new year. Advance thy name’s honor, Preserve the sound teaching and bless pulpit and altar.
• The fourth movement is both unusual and pivotal. In his recitative, the bass (Jesus) sings the lesson from Revelations 3:20: “Behold, I stand before the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to you, there make my home and celebrate the evening meal.” The strings begin with dissonant knocking chords, played by plucking the strings. We hear in them the savior knocking. Will we open our hearts?
• The soprano speaks for us as the individual Soul in her aria in the fifth part, answering the door: “Open wide to him, O heart of mine. Jesus comes to enter.” It is interesting that these opening phrases all have a rest of silence mid phrase—creating an open space where Jesus might enter. The music slows, becomes more serious and she sings, “Though I am but dust and earth, yet He would not disdain to find his pleasure in me, so that I become his dwelling”. The music again picks up as she exclaims: “Oh, how blessed I shall be!” With only the simplest of accompaniment (cello and organ) she must stand alone to personally open her own heart.
• In the final movement, the chorus joins to celebrate the Christ coming into all our hearts. Bach concludes the cantata with the last half of the beautiful Epiphany chorale “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright!” (found as ELW #308 and prescribed for the Feast of the Annunciation). He uses the last two lines of the hymn--perhaps to portray the “can’t wait” anxiousness to receive the Savior. Sopranos sing the melody high above the other voices who underscore the phrases in anxious musical activity. In the last line, the first violins ascend a long scale to the very highest final note. It is the morning star shining brightly as Christ takes his place in our sky—a beacon of hope and assurance. This final movement is a beckoning prayer of petition for the Christ to enter our hearts:“Come, O beautiful crown-of-joy, tarry not long! I await for thee with yearning.”

Join our Vespers worship to welcome the Savior. Experience the Savior knocking at your heart’s door and be there to open your heart to welcome him in. Experience the lessons in a profound way and invite a friend to share the experience of worship and music.

William T. Stewart, Bach Cantata Vespers Director

A message from Immanuel's sponsored missionaries

A Blessed Thanksgiving

“There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself, though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility, and our hearts to love life. Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome, and no horizon would ever awaken our longing. Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and excitement of life. This shy inner light is what enables us to recognize and receive our very presence here as blessing. We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and drama that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish, and sustain us. The gift of the world is our first blessing.”

John O’Donohue, “To Bless the Space Between Us”

As we were packing for PNG last year, a former missionary gave us this advice: “Don’t take any books that are important to you. The humidity and mold will ruin them, but be sure to take whatever book you cannot live without.” It was good advice. We carefully selected about 50 books, among them the Bible and ELW, and the one that I “could not live without” is a book of blessings by John O’Donohue, “To Bless the Space Between Us.” \ I rather like to imagine the “space between us” as blessed in our journey together in mission work.

Nov. 21 marks our one-year anniversary in Papua New Guinea. We flew into this island country with energy and excitement, not really feeling fear but with a heightened awareness of entry into the unknown. While we came with some expectations, we really tried to divest ourselves of all expectation and just experience life as it comes to us.

As we celebrate the first of our four years of service, we feel very blessed; and as we think about family, friends, and all of you in the U.S. preparing for Thanksgiving, we give thanks for all of the support we’ve received this past year. We are reminded of all the missionaries who preceded us in the past 124 years. We give thanks and are blessed to be “heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and drama.”

We have known delight in many forms — the children who laugh and love to say our names as we walk to the office, the family who adopted us during our village immersion on our first Christmas, the beauty of the flowers and vegetation.

We have been blessed with meaningful work and good colleagues, both our Papuan New Guinean counterparts and our fellow missionaries. We have been blessed with good health, Rod’s ongoing battle with tropical sores and Nancy’s broken arm aside, and with people who care for us and about us: Sam, Viktoria, Sofi, our extended family.

We have known sadness---the death of a Papua New Guinean friend and colleague, the stark reality of sickness where malaria and TB are the top causes of illness and death, the visible presence of poverty and domestic violence. We live in the tension of the paradoxes of this country — wealth and poverty, simplicity and complexity, indigenous rituals and modern song and dance. We pinch ourselves and still wonder many days how we came to be doing this, and then we remind ourselves that it feels like the most natural thing in the world. We speak in Tok Pisin because it is so important to the relationships we are forming, even though we can get by with English. We laugh at our own mistakes.

One of our sponsoring churches once wrote and said “this is the first time we’ve ever sponsored real live missionaries in wild and faraway places!” We laughingly acknowledge that we are “real.” PNG does have some “wild” places and we have seen some of them. And, yes, it is “far away.”

I find great assurance, however, that we are all in ministry together regardless of distance, that we are truly One in Christ Jesus no matter where we are, and that “the space between us” is truly blessed. It is not just the 9,000 miles from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea that is blessed. But the space between Sullivan, Mo., and Cedarburg, Wis., is blessed, the space between Portage, Mich., and Lancaster, Wis., is blessed, the space between Overland Park, Kan., and Ludington, Mich., is blessed, the space between Willmar, Minn., and Sheboygan, Wis., is blessed.

And there are several more, many of you not knowing one another but joined in ministry and in blessing.

As each of you, our sponsoring churches and individuals, reflect on your past year, we suspect that you, too, have had delights, sadness, surprises and everyday encounters with the Holy. Our lives may not be as different as we think, for we are all called by Jesus to serve, to go out, to live our faith, to proclaim the Good News, to walk humbly with our God.

This Thanksgiving we say “thank you” for choosing to sponsor us in our work in Papua New Guinea, or mipela tok bikpela tenkyu. Some of you have sponsored missionaries before; others are experiencing it for the first time. Each of you is important to us, however, and critical to the work of ELCA Global Mission and ELC-PNG.

We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hold you in our prayers:

“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart for all of your share in God’s grace with me in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” (Phil. 1:3-7)

God i blesim yupela!

Nancy Anderson and Rod Nordby

A message from Pastor Jennifer Thomas

Dear friends in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, born in a manger, crucified and risen for you.

I wish you could see the beauty of Immanuel Lutheran Church from my perspective, the flesh and blood of brothers and sisters in Christ striving to reflect the love of God in life. Immanuel is an amazing congregation, and each person is a valued member.

The love of God lived out in our midst reminds me of a song from the musical Rent, “Seasons of Love.” It’s about love! With the love of God as the foundation for our plans, we will be great as a church as we build on the legacy of those who came before us.

The visioning process with our consultant, Pastor Rick Rouse, is reaping great results: learning, conversations, prayers and understanding as well as surprises. It is a delight to be on this journey with you.

When we embarked on the journey, one of my hopes was that we would be transformed by the process. And, I have to admit, I hoped we would be transformed, but already, I have been transformed. I’ve learned a lot, and what I’ve learned continues to push me to grow, and most importantly, the encouragement has been to be “more me,” or rather authentic.

There’s a craving in our world and in our community, and even within us for authenticity. In confirmation worship notes, students indicate that what means the most to them is when words in worship apply to daily living. They, like most adults, are looking for direction. And I am so glad they are here, looking for direction from Immanuel through worship, Sunday school and service.

In a world full of changes, the sturdiness of our building and our worship services as well as a variety of other ministry opportunities provide safe spaces to risk, to move, and to be even more ourselves – bringing our hopes and our dreams to light in the presence of other people who have been called here by God with their own unique perspectives and gifts. Whether we’re 10 or 99, we have dreams and expectations that we bring with us when we enter this community.

Immanuel has a rich legacy of being a great church, of dreaming big dreams, and seeing them to fruition. And we still are a great church on a journey to continue to dream big in our ministry plans. Part of being a great church is always being relevant to the generations who attend. We’re exploring how we’re doing at reaching our seniors, our young families, and everyone in between. As well as exploring how we’re doing at reaching our neighbors, broadly defined – local, city, region, state, nation and world.

Our best gift is the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, the grace! Sharing the good news, the gospel, the grace, with those who need it most is our responsibility. And at this time of year, the good news is about the birth of Jesus in our world, the Word made flesh. Those who need the good news the most include the broken hearted, the grieving, the unemployed, the disenfranchised, the sick, and all others. And that’s most of us.

From visiting with several members, the pressures at work and school are enormous. Companies and schools are expecting more and more production with fewer and fewer resources. And, at Immanuel, the trend in our budget has been similar, but the future looks brighter for 2011.

While we’re encouraged to be creative in ministry, the good news is that our salvation doesn’t depend upon us getting this right. At Immanuel and throughout the church, God doesn’t expect anything. God gives of himself for us and for our sakes. God entered the world in the form of a human, the Word incarnate.

A this time of year when we look for the end to come and Jesus to return again, we have what we need. And we have what the world around us needs, and that one thing, my friends, is hope. Hope that comes in the form of flesh and blood poured out for us for the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection from the dead. Immanuel (God with us) proclaims that good news every minute of every day. Each year that’s 525,600 minutes!

--Jennifer Thomas

Dec. 13 meeting to examine how Immanuel can help Gordon Parks Elementary students

We can make a difference in the lives of the at-risk students at Gordon Parks Elementary School.

That was the conclusion after about 20 people from Immanuel and the Volker neighborhood participated in an Oct. 19 research session with Shannon Solis, development and volunteer coordinator with Gordon Parks Elementary School. The session was sponsored by Immanuel’s local organizing committee, which focuses on how God’s people can help shape solutions to the problems of our day.

All Immanuel members are encouraged to attend a one-hour gathering at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec 13, in the Spong Common Room to learn about next steps. Along with Solis, we’ll meet with Wadendra McBride, parent involvement coordinator, and Dean Johnson, executive director, to learn more about how we can help with:

• Research into if and how other urban school districts combine test scores with data such as life skills, behavior improvement, emotional control and good decision-making to present a holistic view of school’s accomplishments and progress.
• Volunteer ministries, such as serving lunch at the school, or sponsoring a donation drive for belts or other items the students need to complete their school uniforms.

Linda Fewell, Immanuel Organizing Committee