Friends in Christ,
Preaching at my home congregation’s 50th Anniversary Celebration the first Sunday in May was an incredible honor, as many of you know. I was the first “native” son or daughter of the congregation to go on to seminary and become a pastor, and the congregation truly “partnered” with me and my family back in the day as both they and I answered God’s call to further the work of God’s kingdom. It was a fun, fabulous and mildly terrifying moment as I stood there in the Lord of Life pulpit that morning, walking down memory lane, preaching the good news of Jesus and inviting those who were gathered into the sweet and exquisite mystery of grace. Thank God I had a robe on so no one could see my knees shaking.
The whole day was great, and filled with a sacred litany of memorable moments that I won’t soon forget; here are just a few of them:
-A wonderful video montage of the congregation’s history since 30 or so Bismarck Lutherans (including my parents) took a leap of faith in 1967 to be part of a new congregation on Bismarck’s north east side. I was four years old.
-My dad’s personal reflections during the first part of worship as one of the few remaining charter members of the congregation.
-The wise, gentle woman who was my “assistant” the only time I ever tried my hand at teaching VBS back when I was a high school kid, and whom I highlighted in the middle of my sermon during my “walk down memory lane,” coming over to me during the luncheon and thanking me for speaking about her in the sermon and then saying, “I had no idea that I made that kind of an impact on you.” More than you know, sweet Coralyn; more than you know….
-Dad and I standing next to each other in the bass section of the choir at the end of the service as we all belted out Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” I owe part of my existence to good old Handel, since my mom and dad actually met during practices for “The Messiah” at Trinity Lutheran Church, the congregation they departed from to be part of Lord of Life.
-Processing into the sanctuary with a bunch of other robed and vested clergypersons, all of whom played (or are currently playing) some kind of God-anointed role in the life of that congregation.
-6 foot, 8 inch Larry Kleinngartner, one of my childhood idols from that church, and part of the Anniversary Planning Committee, coming over to me during the luncheon and informing me that I was their “Plan A” for a preacher that day. “Who was your ‘Plan B’?” I queried back at him. “We didn’t have a ‘Plan B’!!” Larry blurted out. “We were hoping you would say, ‘Yes’!”
It was a glorious day. And there were SO many more moments like those listed above, too numerous to mention. But there was this other moment that happened too—an…odd sort of moment that caught most of us by surprise. Honestly, it was a moment that most of us (I think) would have been very fine without. But there it was; there he was, like an uninvited kid who had shown up at the wrong birthday party. It was my brother Tim who pointed him out to me after worship, and my first response—I swear I am not making this up—was, “I thought he had died.”
The uninvited “kid” in question was one of Lord of Life’s former pastors, the second one, to be exact: I’ll just call him, “Pastor B.” He wasn’t part of our clergy processional, he had no role in the service, and frankly, I don’t think anyone there that day expected him to come. He just showed up. One of the not-so-charitable other thoughts I had after my brother convinced me the man in question was still very much alive, went something like this: Well, that takes a lot of audacity, Pastor B., after what you put this congregation through back in the day…
Those years Pastor B. was with us were not, to quote Dickens, "the best of times" in the history of Lord of Life, so it seemed a bit
incongruous to me that he would dare show up on a day that we were truly celebrating the best of times. What could have possibly possessed him to show up…and dredge up a past many folks would soon forget? It was weird. I gushed like a geiser during my sermon about the pastor who followed Pastor B. (Pastor Jay Stratton…he of the fabulous shoes fame, whom I have introduced to you before), but there I was, sort of staring at him during the luncheon, thinking, “I have absolutely nothing to say to that man.” So, I finished my cake and left it at that.
And now here I am, seven weeks later, about ready to go out to the golf course, and he—uninvited guest that he continues to be—plops into my unsuspecting mind as if to say to sinful little me, “I was welcome there that day, even though you and many others probably didn’t think so. That is why I came. And oh, by the way, you give all the credit for your preaching prowess to Pastor Stratton; well Mr. Smarty Britches…by the time the Holy Spirit spoke to you through Pastor Stratton, the Holy Spirit had spoken to you many times through my sermons, even though you probably will deny that. I know I wasn’t a very good pastor at times to people like your parents, and I know I made plenty of mistakes, but I still believe God used me in my time there—for some good.”
EGADS! WHAT IS THAT GUY DOING IN MY BRAIN TODAY???!! God only knows. And maybe I best leave it at that: God only knows. I still haven’t changed my opinion on party-crashing Pastor B, and if I had to do it all over again, I still wouldn’t say anything about him in my sermon (if you can’t say anything nice, Philip David, don’t say anything at all).
But, today I’m suddenly finding myself flung back into the wild and wooly pages of our sacred scriptures to remember all the uninvited –and occasionally icky--guests that somehow manage to populate a good many of the pages in there; ALL OF WHOM somehow played some sort of role in God’s sweet and sacred story of salvation, even if they were nitwits, and MANY OF WHOM (if we are really honest), would never EVER make it into a list of the top ten (or thousand) cool Bible heroes we hold fondly in our heart. Way to go, Moses! Um, er, but did you really kill an Egyptian dude that day? Eeeew.
Interestingly, just yesterday, I was sitting in on one of our ladies’ bible studies and we were plowing through a sequence of very hard questions asked by the study leader. Somehow we got onto the topic of disciple Judas and the question of whether or not he had any free will in betraying our Lord or if he was simply “predestined” to do the dastardly deed that would—in many folks’ minds—guarantee him a one-way ticket to hell. Did God “use” Judas to further the kingdom, or did Judas betray Jesus without any divine provocation whatsoever? Suddenly one of the women, a guest from another church here in town, spoke up: “Personally, I think there’s a place in heaven, even for Judas.” Wow! If there’s hope for Judas, well, then…
There’s hope for everyone. And there’s room for everyone at the table of grace. Even for folks we don’t really…want at the table. Because by the time we’ve started drawing our nice little lines in the sand, Jesus has already moved to the other side of the line and said, “Hey Leer, come on over; I’ve put Judas in charge of the grill tonight. And I had Pastor B. bring some Fresca. Hungry for a burger? All are welcome here!”
I’m kind of irritated Pastor B. annoyingly crept into my headspace today (and truth be told, I’m kind of irritated I just wrote that last line in the paragraph above); there are so many better memories from that glorious May Sunday to lift up and celebrate; and SO many other people I would rather think about than him! Thankfully, most days I will do just that. But for some reason, today I was supposed to (predestined to?) think of him. I’m still not entirely sure what that reason is, but I’m guessing it has something to do with Jesus. Doesn’t everything?
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Phil
Peace in Christ,
Your "Senior" Pastor Phil
(As posted in JUNE 2018 Newsletter)
Preaching at my home congregation’s 50th Anniversary Celebration the first Sunday in May was an incredible honor, as many of you know. I was the first “native” son or daughter of the congregation to go on to seminary and become a pastor, and the congregation truly “partnered” with me and my family back in the day as both they and I answered God’s call to further the work of God’s kingdom. It was a fun, fabulous and mildly terrifying moment as I stood there in the Lord of Life pulpit that morning, walking down memory lane, preaching the good news of Jesus and inviting those who were gathered into the sweet and exquisite mystery of grace. Thank God I had a robe on so no one could see my knees shaking.
The whole day was great, and filled with a sacred litany of memorable moments that I won’t soon forget; here are just a few of them:
-A wonderful video montage of the congregation’s history since 30 or so Bismarck Lutherans (including my parents) took a leap of faith in 1967 to be part of a new congregation on Bismarck’s north east side. I was four years old.
-My dad’s personal reflections during the first part of worship as one of the few remaining charter members of the congregation.
-The wise, gentle woman who was my “assistant” the only time I ever tried my hand at teaching VBS back when I was a high school kid, and whom I highlighted in the middle of my sermon during my “walk down memory lane,” coming over to me during the luncheon and thanking me for speaking about her in the sermon and then saying, “I had no idea that I made that kind of an impact on you.” More than you know, sweet Coralyn; more than you know….
-Dad and I standing next to each other in the bass section of the choir at the end of the service as we all belted out Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” I owe part of my existence to good old Handel, since my mom and dad actually met during practices for “The Messiah” at Trinity Lutheran Church, the congregation they departed from to be part of Lord of Life.
-Processing into the sanctuary with a bunch of other robed and vested clergypersons, all of whom played (or are currently playing) some kind of God-anointed role in the life of that congregation.
-6 foot, 8 inch Larry Kleinngartner, one of my childhood idols from that church, and part of the Anniversary Planning Committee, coming over to me during the luncheon and informing me that I was their “Plan A” for a preacher that day. “Who was your ‘Plan B’?” I queried back at him. “We didn’t have a ‘Plan B’!!” Larry blurted out. “We were hoping you would say, ‘Yes’!”
It was a glorious day. And there were SO many more moments like those listed above, too numerous to mention. But there was this other moment that happened too—an…odd sort of moment that caught most of us by surprise. Honestly, it was a moment that most of us (I think) would have been very fine without. But there it was; there he was, like an uninvited kid who had shown up at the wrong birthday party. It was my brother Tim who pointed him out to me after worship, and my first response—I swear I am not making this up—was, “I thought he had died.”
The uninvited “kid” in question was one of Lord of Life’s former pastors, the second one, to be exact: I’ll just call him, “Pastor B.” He wasn’t part of our clergy processional, he had no role in the service, and frankly, I don’t think anyone there that day expected him to come. He just showed up. One of the not-so-charitable other thoughts I had after my brother convinced me the man in question was still very much alive, went something like this: Well, that takes a lot of audacity, Pastor B., after what you put this congregation through back in the day…
Those years Pastor B. was with us were not, to quote Dickens, "the best of times" in the history of Lord of Life, so it seemed a bit
incongruous to me that he would dare show up on a day that we were truly celebrating the best of times. What could have possibly possessed him to show up…and dredge up a past many folks would soon forget? It was weird. I gushed like a geiser during my sermon about the pastor who followed Pastor B. (Pastor Jay Stratton…he of the fabulous shoes fame, whom I have introduced to you before), but there I was, sort of staring at him during the luncheon, thinking, “I have absolutely nothing to say to that man.” So, I finished my cake and left it at that.
And now here I am, seven weeks later, about ready to go out to the golf course, and he—uninvited guest that he continues to be—plops into my unsuspecting mind as if to say to sinful little me, “I was welcome there that day, even though you and many others probably didn’t think so. That is why I came. And oh, by the way, you give all the credit for your preaching prowess to Pastor Stratton; well Mr. Smarty Britches…by the time the Holy Spirit spoke to you through Pastor Stratton, the Holy Spirit had spoken to you many times through my sermons, even though you probably will deny that. I know I wasn’t a very good pastor at times to people like your parents, and I know I made plenty of mistakes, but I still believe God used me in my time there—for some good.”
EGADS! WHAT IS THAT GUY DOING IN MY BRAIN TODAY???!! God only knows. And maybe I best leave it at that: God only knows. I still haven’t changed my opinion on party-crashing Pastor B, and if I had to do it all over again, I still wouldn’t say anything about him in my sermon (if you can’t say anything nice, Philip David, don’t say anything at all).
But, today I’m suddenly finding myself flung back into the wild and wooly pages of our sacred scriptures to remember all the uninvited –and occasionally icky--guests that somehow manage to populate a good many of the pages in there; ALL OF WHOM somehow played some sort of role in God’s sweet and sacred story of salvation, even if they were nitwits, and MANY OF WHOM (if we are really honest), would never EVER make it into a list of the top ten (or thousand) cool Bible heroes we hold fondly in our heart. Way to go, Moses! Um, er, but did you really kill an Egyptian dude that day? Eeeew.
Interestingly, just yesterday, I was sitting in on one of our ladies’ bible studies and we were plowing through a sequence of very hard questions asked by the study leader. Somehow we got onto the topic of disciple Judas and the question of whether or not he had any free will in betraying our Lord or if he was simply “predestined” to do the dastardly deed that would—in many folks’ minds—guarantee him a one-way ticket to hell. Did God “use” Judas to further the kingdom, or did Judas betray Jesus without any divine provocation whatsoever? Suddenly one of the women, a guest from another church here in town, spoke up: “Personally, I think there’s a place in heaven, even for Judas.” Wow! If there’s hope for Judas, well, then…
There’s hope for everyone. And there’s room for everyone at the table of grace. Even for folks we don’t really…want at the table. Because by the time we’ve started drawing our nice little lines in the sand, Jesus has already moved to the other side of the line and said, “Hey Leer, come on over; I’ve put Judas in charge of the grill tonight. And I had Pastor B. bring some Fresca. Hungry for a burger? All are welcome here!”
I’m kind of irritated Pastor B. annoyingly crept into my headspace today (and truth be told, I’m kind of irritated I just wrote that last line in the paragraph above); there are so many better memories from that glorious May Sunday to lift up and celebrate; and SO many other people I would rather think about than him! Thankfully, most days I will do just that. But for some reason, today I was supposed to (predestined to?) think of him. I’m still not entirely sure what that reason is, but I’m guessing it has something to do with Jesus. Doesn’t everything?
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Phil
Peace in Christ,
Your "Senior" Pastor Phil
(As posted in JUNE 2018 Newsletter)