Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 (April 21, 2025)

April 21, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

The secular world thinks that Easter is a one-day event, but for those of us who are the faithful in Christ, we know that Easter Resurrection is an everyday event. Each Sunday, not just one during the year, is the day of Resurrection, making it the celebration of Easter again and again. Of course, the big news today comes from Rome and the Vatican as Pope Francis joined God's Triumphant Saints on Easter Sunday after taking some time to bless the crowds gathered for the Easter Mass. At American, if you were unable to be there, we had wonderful music from Debbie's solo, the Bell Choir, hymns on both the organ and the piano, the Joyful Easter Piano solo, and the leadership of our Gospel Music Group. The Gospel was from John, the Easter Gospel message was spoken, and we truly celebrated the Son who chose to Save Us from Our Sin, and whose Resurrection is one that we will get to share. Our Easter breakfast was filled with plentiful bakes, fresh fruit, pastries, and more. On May 4th we have our first Sunday Gospel Music service, and our carry--in meal after worship. The meal theme is your favorite Mother's Day food. Will there be lobster?????  I think for many moms, their favorite food for that day is something someone else prepares. Maybe ready-made is the way to go that day. Just a reminder that Easter is being celebrated on Sundays at worship now through June 1.

Today we are in chapter 2:17-20 of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. In the mid-1970s Melody and I discovered that we were unlikely to have biological children. Doctors we worked with cared for our lives as we sought all of the known ways to encourage a pregnancy. It was a tough time, to say the least, mostly because we had always wanted to have a large family, so we got involved with Lutheran Social Services of Southeastern Michigan to become a part of their adoption assistance in finding a newborn who would be up for adoption.  Our meeting, and there would plenty of them, required us to drive 250 miles one way into Detroit. We were finally approved, the baby that we would adopt had been born, and then, shortly after a major hernia surgery that I needed to have, we discovered that we were pregnant, Right Before Our Final Meeting to Adopt this newborn baby. When we met with LSSSEM that last time, we had a choice to make. We could keep the pregnancy a secret, or we could let them know that we had a pregnancy that was, in all likelihood, not going to carry to term.  We told the agency the truth, and the baby that we had worked so hard to adopt was taken away and given to another family. (We knew the couple who would get the baby).  It was like a punch in the gut! It felt like the death of this unseen child who was ours! We both had that massive empty feeling which people get when something they treasure is taken away. In our reading for today, this is exactly how Paul felt when he was unable to stay with, or even visit, the Thessalonians after their conversion to Christianity. To this point Paul has expressed his deep joy, his excitement, his thankfulness to God, and more because of the faithfulness of the Thessalonians, but now we get a real sense of the deeply emotional connection that Paul felt for these new Christians. In this text we get another surprise too, Paul speaks to the reader of his letter about the satan. Paul admits that there must be something, a darkness or negative power, which has gotten in the way of his being able to return to see the Thessalonians. After all, when the community of Christ is doing very well and celebrating God's Love for their lives and ministries, we should be aware that there is "something" could it be satan? who tries to get such good things to unravel and fail. I really believe that it is important to thank God for successes like getting every green light on your way to work in the morning. But how about the times that you get every red light and pedestrian crossing lights? When we are in our faith, we should thank God for not allowing us to move forward in our journey with impudence for the other "one" who might be acting in the morning's circumstances to shake our faith. When such a frustrating thing happens, it is instead an unplanned blessing to slow down and smell the roses. Our faith journey should always be surrounded by the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. In our lives we should not rail at what we consider a failure to get something that is worldly out of the way. Paul really wanted to get back to the Thessalonians in the north of Greece, but he was being hounded by rejection and persecution on his way south, and that made it nearly impossible to travel North again during his ministry for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is plainly true that sometimes the best plan of men, which is filled with excitement and commitment and meant to be an expansion of the success of the gift of faith, and the Gospel, does not happen. Human plans are not always God's plan, even when strong faith is present. 34 years ago, I came to American thinking that I would commit to stay for 10 years. Yet that was not God's plan for me. In the intervening years I have stayed for 34 years and will hopefully end my ministry from my current call setting when it becomes right to do. We adopted four more children, now all teens with a couple soon to be adults on their own,  a journey to receiving the call to serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the elected bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod was put on hold for other reasons, when it appeared my election was likely, and then I was elected to serve on the national Church Council in Chicago, and I became a member of the Academy of Preachers at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.  As I look back, I know that my plans were not always God's, but I had to still be open to all of the God possibilities that my LORD placed in my way. Like Paul, I had to admit that God's agenda must always take priority! Now, the gifts that I use to proclaim the Gospel have expanded to music, music, music, and preaching from my heart every Sunday. God's way has been filled with joy in my heart, and even when another call opportunity has presented itself, I pray for discernment, and God's answer becomes obvious again. Stay where you are needed!

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 (April 15, 2025)

April 15, 2025:  Tuesday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

Good morning, dear friends in Christ. 

It sounds like this weekend, for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, will be wonderful temperatures, and at the very least here in the desert, an opportunity to come to our carry-in Easter breakfast from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, and then to join us for our Easter Festival Worship at 10AM.  I pray that you allow the Spirit to move you this Sunday to be with us.  In prayers today, please keep Liisa in your prayers for her travels to provide signing for the hearing impaired.  She has flown to Texas to be a stand in for her good friend and colleague Itai who is the victim of brain cancer which has metastasized into his ears.  He is losing his hearing.   Please pray for Liisa and Raul as they travel to Dallas to be with their son for Easter.  Godspeed for their safety.  Please pray for Kandice in Hawaii as she battles cancer, and for Jeff here in Tucson who is battling a very similar cancer, that they find hope and healing in their treatment and care and have the best possible quality of life in the weeks and months ahead.  Give thanks that both Shannon and Joshua in Colorado have found work after six months of unemployment and part time work.  Offer prayers that the JOY of EASTER will fill our hearts with the Love of God and grow our faith and certainness in Christ's gifts of life now and forever, forgiveness of sin, and Salvation.

In our reading from 1st Thessalonians today we encounter Paul's thankfulness for the faith and witness of the new Christians who have spread the Good News of Jesus Christ far and wide, so that others may come to know what they have found in God's Only Begotten Son, the compassion of Christ for all people, the gift of freedom from the burden of sin, and the steadfast promise of eternal life for all who believe in Him as Lord and Savior.  Doesn't it all sound wonderful?  Well, my friends, read on.  This wonderful faith in this foreign land was facing the very same reality as the Christians were facing in Judea.  Persecution!  The gentiles were, for the most part, comfortable with the pantheon of gods and the benevolent leader of Rome, so when this faith arose on the scene with gentiles listening to Paul, having a change of heart (metanoia), the persecution of this new community of believers in Jesus Christ began.  It has been the way for several thousand years now, and the people who have faith in Christ as their Savior find themselves called to stand against the lies and bullying of those who don't want that Truth revealed.  Usually when people are persecuted for some human message that they have clung to, many will separate from their faith, and act as if they had never really believed.  But Christians, filled with the Spirit gift did not, and do not today belie their faith and trust in the Christ of God!  In terms of the world, over the years since the recession back in 2008, our nation has been chugging along at a pretty good pace.  In spite of military interventions and the fairly new war in the Ukraine, our economy has rebounded nicely, though homes are out of reach for too many today, we beat a worldwide pandemic, and our recovery has gone very well, and during that time Christians have been pretty comfortable because no one has started to persecute us.  But just like the new Christians in Judea, and the new Christians in Thessalonians, and having seen the history of the church, we must now know that the persecution of we who believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior is in a tipping condition, and in all likelihood will bring persecution on those of us who believe that the ultimate authority in our lives must be Jesus Christ, and the justice of God through Christ, must always be our priority and our proclamation!!  We cannot, as the richest people of our nation are attempting to do, fail to care for the least, the last, and the lost.  They are in every part of our neighborhoods and communities and our nation, and they are also our sisters and brothers in Christ.  The Gospel charges us to intervene on their behalf, doing all that we can ourselves, and then encouraging the resources of our nation to pick up the rest.  The big question today for all of us who accept Christ as our Savior is whether or not we can be as bold as the people who stood in the face of persecution, the Christians of Judea, and the Christians of Thessalonica and beyond.  These early Christians lived under a dark cloud of suffering, and yet, carried their faith in Christ forward with courage.  All we need to do is to ask our forebears in the Church how it was in their lives.  We find their answers in their own word in the histories of church communities who dealt with racism, poverty, and social justice issues of their day.  It was the Word of God, the living Christ, who brought the power of faith and love as the answer to the brokenness of nations and their leaders.  That very same Word of God leads you and me too.  In the state of our nation today, we must be constant as we maintain the gift of faith and the TRUTH of GOD in the face of those who would bring harm upon us all.  The promise of Christ that we will be vindicated, no matter how beaten down we may become, is sure and certain.  I never ceased to be amazed at how the sin of people tries to stand in the way of the victory of Jesus Christ.  This Sunday, once again, you and I will proclaim to those who want the human way to win, that the victory is already won, because Christ Is Risen!  He Is Risen Indeed!

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (April 14, 2025)

April 14, 2025:  Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Good morning to all of you who are joining in this Bible Study this morning, later, today, or sometime in the future.  This can be a very stressful week across our nation as nearly every one of us has the responsibility to file our income tax in just a few days.  I hope that you have been able to accomplish that.  In prayers this Monday, please offer a prayer of thanksgiving that Tricia has been able to travel to see her son, his wife, and the new grandbaby.  Pray for Lynn and Frank as they travel in our state to Prescott.  They are from southern Minnesota.  Pray for Annette as she prepares to have some pretty major dental work done this week.  Pray for success in this dental care, and for a quick recovery.  Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the success of Gail's knee surgery, and also prayers as she does her therapy that will help her get her full mobility back.  Prayers for Melissa and Roger as they make decisions about their housing situation, with the possibility of finding a new apartment. 

In our reading for today, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12, we find Paul continuing to talk about the ways in which he, and his companions, worked very hard to not become a burden to the people, all so that there would be no sense in the community that Paul was just another itinerant salesman who came to take advantage of them.  By living on his own resources, Paul was able to show them that the message of Jesus Christ that he brought to share with them, was a free gift, and not any kind of an item that could be purchased.  Paul presented himself as an ambassador for Christ, who was the world's true king.  Of course this endangered not only Paul, but also those who came to faith in Christ, especially considering that Roman Emperors had been proclaimed to be gods after their deaths, and now the Roman Emperors were claiming themselves to be gods to be worshiped!  Paul is able to present himself as a most unusable and unlikely choice for this ambassadorship, and yet Christ Himself had come to transform Paul's life exactly so that in his own brokenness, Christ's grace would fill Paul's life as he came to share the free grace of Christ's love for all people.  Paul was certainly the right life example for these new believers.  We believe that Paul was a tent maker, and it was through this endeavor that Paul was able to provide for himself and his companions.  So, long hours of making a living, enabled Paul to bring a free message of grace, though in other readings Paul makes it clear that expecting to be supported by the church and her members is not inappropriate, and in fact the world of the church, main stream churches and larger churches provide financially for their pastors, while there are certainly small congregations, both mainstream and tiny conservative ones, where their pastors must work to support and supplement their church's provision and assistance for the person who is called to serve the Gospel in their midst.  What Paul is working so hard to accomplish as he preaches and teaches the Gospel in the midst of the Thessalonian people, is to give these new Christians a concrete model of what it means to "walk worthy of God".  This phrase describes a model of "behavior" which is pleasing to God.  The reality of this is that Paul is living the Beatitudes in his everyday living and also when he is serving the Gospel.  I am confident that this style of living is the one for which you and I should also reach for in our lives.  At this point in the passage for today we must be willing to admit that this living style to which Paul ascribes does not in any away earn salvation, forgiveness, or the life with God that we all hold in our hopes.   No, instead of works, our justification comes only through the merit of Jesus Christ, who died to pay the price for our sin and brokenness.  For the Thessalonians this is a brand-new way of understanding the relationship that a person has with the One, True, God vs how people had been relating to the pantheon of Romans gods, which at the time of Paul, included the Roman Emperor.  Through all of this Paul truly became the friend and mentor in Christ for this community. 

I will be with you again tomorrow morning to share with the next passage in which Paul speaks to the issue of persecution of Christians.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim