New Direction

“[H]e is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” (Mark 16:7)

Christ’s Resurrection changes everything! God’s promised King is not dead, but alive! He is not far away but close! He is available now to love, forgive and to lead you and me!

Christ’s resurrection means he is alive to lead disciples in a new direction. They were outside Jerusalem in the south, near the center of power as well as close to Jesus’ strong supporters such as Mary, Martha and Lazarus. There were many reasons to stay where they were, grief and a hot meal being at least two. But the messenger brought the stunning news: “Christ is Risen!” Before they can process that news, they are directed: “Go to Galilee” and given a comforting promise that helps them leave behind Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and others: “he is going ahead of you.”

St. John’s is trying to discern the next steps where Christ has already gone. In January, St. John’s voted to allocate part of the Jorgensen fund for outreach, specifically a new position, “Associate Pastor for Outreach.” An initial group of council members (Phil B., Ben F., and Kevin S.) and young adults (Zoey G., Paul B., Zack M., Hank R., and Victor R.) has met and identified that young adults (those 18-29 yrs old) are looking for caring friends, purpose for life, and causes to fight for. This age group is underrepresented in most congregations, including St. John’s, and needs what the church has: community that is founded on our Risen Lord’s love, forgiveness, and direction.

Funding a full-time position for the long term would be difficult for St. John’s alone (the total package for a new pastor is around $80,000/yr), and so the Council voted to reach out to other congregations. We have begun conversations with the Cactus Conference (the 11 ELCA Lutheran congregations in the West Valley) about a Young Adult Ministry. A group of leaders from congregations met in early April and will meet again in May to write a proposal to the Synod and Churchwide.

One idea is that St. John’s call a part-time pastor of outreach and that the Cactus Conference call the same person to a part-time call for Young Adult ministry, combined a full-time position. Together, we could pay a full-time salary and be more likely to attract a highly qualified candidate for this position. We will be working out the details over the coming months.

Keep in mind our vision to “deepen relationships and develop leaders”—this is God’s direction we discerned in 2019 and affirmed in January. This means deepening relationships with those underrepresented at the center of the church’s life, for example, young adults. We will be developing leaders, both a new pastor as well as those trained to assist in this ministry. It will not necessarily mean that there are more young adults in existing worship services or contributing financially, but it will mean deeper relationships and growing leaders.

More details will be coming as Council, the Young Adult Ministry task force, and the Cactus Conference meet. Bring your questions and thoughts to the Congregational Meeting on Sunday May 1 at 9:45am in the Sanctuary.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Peter

The World is Not What We Thought

The Russian war on Ukraine has revealed that the world is not what I thought it was. In the 21st century, I thought nations would not send hundreds of thousands of troops across a border to seize land from another sovereign nation. By not having to build up huge militaries, we could spend our money and energy to build dynamic societies and economies that provide opportunity for those who have historically struggled with poverty and access to education. The internet would guarantee that truth would be accessible to everyone and lies would be easily disproved. If you thought these things too, the Russian war on Ukraine has proved us wrong. It seems like we haven’t learned the lessons of the 20th century. Here we go again.

Cycles of humans hurting humans have happened throughout history, but it never felt so personal or real as it does now. The book of Judges tells story after story of God’s people learning from their failures for a generation or two, but then falling back into idolatry and self-destructive ways before crying out to God from the rubble. Repeat, with increasing suffering and death. Reading Judges from the relatively comfortable position of the late 20th century, we could say, “Oh, aren’t we enlightened!” Wrong. Human nature rears its ugly head again.

The resurrection of Christ is our only hope to break the cycle. I’ve said this before, but it is true in a visceral way now: hope of human progress has once again been blown up. Once again, we have human dreams dying under a barrage of cruise missiles and artillery, human aspiration dying on an imperial cross. What hope is there for life when looking at the power of death and evil? Only Christ’s resurrection.

This Easter, we will proclaim, “Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed!” and we can say it with the fervor of a people who know there is no other hope. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died!” Because Christ lives, we can face what seems like the endless cycle of human sin knowing that ultimately the cycle is broken, and only life in Christ remains. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?... But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:57-58). The world is not what we thought—Christ is alive!

I am encouraged by Christ’s resurrection, willing to face the cycle again with renewed energy to love neighbors and enemies, and pray you will be too.

Pastor Peter

Deepening Relationships

Our vision as a congregation is to deepen relationships with God and each other and develop leaders. This vision helps us focus on where we are going and what steps we need to take.

Let me spotlight two ways St. John’s has been deepening relationships and developing leaders and then a new opportunity, but first emphasize how important it is that the Church is focused on youth and young adults. I hear some talk about how nice it is to see youth and young adults in worship (and lament their absence). But the risk is that adults only want to see youth and not hear from them. The Church should listen to young people about God, faith, and following Jesus—that is, to deepen relationships. The Church needs to focus resources and energy in developing youth leadership, which is more difficult because of the many demands and pressures on young people in this technologized and hyper-competitive world. We can’t assume young people will want to be leaders in the church without intentional ways for their voices to be heard, for their influence to shape the church, and for resources to be available for them to grow as leaders.

Two ways St. John’s has been doing this are both in partnership with others. First, Camp ALOMA. St. John’s encourages children grades 3-12 to go to summer camp and provides financial support for any child to go who wants to. We encourage high schoolers to become junior counselors and then HS graduates to become counselors. Camp has helped develop leaders for St. John’s who have taught VBS, Sunday School, participate in worship, and led the mission of the church in other ways.

Second, Phoenix-area Lutheran Youth (PhLY) is a partnership with nine other ELCA congregations to provide larger youth ministry possibilities, led by Casey Goslin. Why should only large congregations have paid staff to help gather larger groups of youth together? Rather than give in to the economics of youth ministry, together St. John’s and other congregations provide these opportunities for youth to deepen relationships and develop their leadership skills. Many of the youth you see helping in worship are growing because of their involvement in PhLY.

While Camp ALOMA and PhLY are helping us move forward with our vision, a hole is with young adults—people between the ages of 18 to 29. Campus Ministries at ASU, UA, and NAU are one of the ways that the Church has directly reached out to this age group. A part of your offerings go to support Campus Ministry, but this does not help us in our part of the West Valley.

An opportunity for us is to partner with other Lutheran Churches in the West Valley to start a Young Adult Ministry especially focusing on GCU, GCC, and ASU West—all in our backyard. This opportunity arises in part because St. John’s approved using some of the Jorgensen Fund for Outreach and also because the Cactus Conference (the congregations of the West Valley) has been talking about a joint Young Adult initiative. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to guide these conversations and offer your thoughts to myself or Council members. Look for information in the next few months and offer your questions and support.

Thank you for your energy and passion to help deepen relationships and develop leaders of all ages!

Glad to be on the journey with you,

Pastor Peter

 

Nuance and Grace

A rule of thumb I have found helpful: Don’t make decisions when you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. The acronym HALT is one way to remember this. In each of these states, our ability to perceive what is really going on and make healthy judgments are impaired. My daughters call it “hangry” when people are hungry and snap at others over petty grievances. Some studies suggest driving tired can be more dangerous than driving drunk! When in one of these four conditions, it’s better to halt and take care of the real problem first before risking relationships, health, and property. Add on-going pandemic stress and fatigue to the mix plus reactionary political polarization, and it’s a wonder any of us can function without careening like a bowling ball in a glassware shop. By the grace of God, we made it through Christmas without smoke pouring out of every ear or tears from every eye!

It’s no wonder we can’t hear nuance. Nuance is trying to say multiple things at the same time. Nuance is when we say “I’m fine” but also “I really need someone to talk to.” It’s when teacher after teacher calls in sick and the principal tries to be upbeat in order to keep morale up but at the same time sound the alarm bell that help is needed. It’s when a building collapses and an inspector admits that he missed the cracks but that the department rushes its inspectors and needs to hire more. It's when a leader insists that both water conservation and augmentation are necessary to deal with a looming shortage.

When we are stressed, hungry, angry, lonely, or tired we only hear one thing, not the multiple things that need to be held together, and we react out of our own misperception and misjudgment. We dismiss the person that needs to talk. We ignore the principal’s plea for help. We get angry at the building inspector and forget the need for more funding. We build plants to take salt out of water but keep using water like it’s endless. It’s similar to when we are impaired by fatigue or alcohol, we miss clues about what’s really going on and respond in ways that are unhealthy to us and those around us.

One solutions is to HALT, to stop and address the issues that impair us. But how do we do that when the stress and fatigue of the pandemic are chronic and beyond our control? Even if we use destressing techniques like meditation and prayer, even if we get more sleep (which are all great ideas!), the basic problem doesn’t go away.

In many ways, the problem is similar to Sin (with a capital S), the endemic condition of humanity. Our perception and judgment are always warped by Sin in ways we can’t detect, and so we careen selfishly through our family, school, and work sometimes only barely noticing the damage we leave behind.

God has shown us the answer to Sin: Jesus. He takes the endemic human plague into himself and dies on the cross. His resurrection is healing from Sin. God gives him to us as grace, a gift in Baptism and Holy Communion, in our gatherings to receive Christ in Word and Sacrament.

So, the ultimate solution is grace, first a gift God gives to us, then a gift we give to others. In the midst of our stress, hunger, anger, loneliness, and tiredness we HALT and remember God’s grace towards us so we can be gracious to each other.

Beginning with grace helps us hear nuance and to empathize. Grace loosens our tensed shoulders and slows our quick tongues. We hear a person’s reluctance to share pain openly. We hear the principal’s tender plea and want to help. We understand the inspector’s rush and encourage systemic change. We reduce our own consumption for water and encourage others to do the same. We hear the many things our neighbor says because we hear the love that God speaks even in stressful times.

Listening,

Pastor Peter

Not again! Where is God working?

“Despite the change of the calendar, I suspect it will feel like little has changed. A vaccine for COVID-19 is available…”

That’s what I wrote in January 2021. I thought about just copying the whole article and using it again. What’s changed? How has God been working?

It feels a bit like one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day. Bill Murray stars as a weatherman who is assigned to cover the Feb 2 events in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania when the groundhog is pulled out to forecast if the winter will be long or short. Murray is trapped repeating the same day over and over again, through comedy and tragedy. 2021 started with COVID fears and restrictions and the promise of a vaccine. 2021 started with political, social and cultural divisions exploding into ugly fights between family, friends, and even strangers. We pray over and over for God to help guide us out of this pandemic and our cultural divisions, but where’s God working? We’re living the same thing over again.

Maybe. Like anyone, Christians are also prone to become depressed or disillusioned. We pray and may lose heart when we don’t see God at work.

But maybe we’re not repeating last year. One of the problems with humanity is we have trouble seeing ourselves and the world clearly, especially when stressed and emotional. We tend to forget the past and overreact to the present. Are we focusing on the wrong things? Are we missing where God is working?

Look in the manger with me. Look at the Christ child behind the inn. In the middle of Roman occupation, social strife between groups trying to reform Jewish society, would you have looked for God working in a peasant family from Nazareth? Would you have expected kings to tremble at this baby or wise men to leave their homes? We fail to see where God is working because God is at work hidden in the world. What the world overlooks and calls weak—those are the places where God has worked in the past and likely where God is working now.

At the end of Groundhog Day, Andie McDowell’s character loved the unloveable weatherman. It was this caring that ended Bill Murray’s endless day and started a new one. 

It is God’s love in Christ, even to death on the cross, that ends what seemed like the endless history of human selfishness and Sin. It is resurrection with Christ that gives us confidence about a new year coming. Will we see it? The manger is our guide in between: we see God working, loving, leading, in places and relationships where there is weakness. Look for the love, look for the forgiveness that breaks the cycles of anger and hurt. There, I suspect, you’ll find God at work.

Looking for God's love in all the unlikely places,

Pastor Peter

 

No Home for the Holidays

Jesus, Mary and Joseph were homeless that first Christmas. They were in Joseph’s family town (Bethlehem was the ancestral home of King David), but there was no family to take them in. They were living a culture that valued hospitality, but no one opened their home. There was no room at the inn. The only rest for the family was where animals ate and slept. And there the King of Kings was born! In the cold, without warm water or towels to wipe the newborn, without OB/GYN or nurse or midwife, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the world.

To be more precise, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were a family struggling with homelessness. Sometimes we use the adjective “homeless” as if it is an eternal condition, like “Mary is short” or “Joseph is old”, Jesus is “homeless.” But they would not always be in a state of homelessness—it was temporary. Eventually, they did make it back to Nazareth where there were people to welcome them, where they had a home. This is why we say they "struggled with homelessness" rather than "were homeless."

The end of the eviction moratorium on Sept. 30 has meant increasing numbers of people struggling with homelessness. We talk with them every day at St. John’s: yesterday, it was Jessica and Derek. Brothers Christopher and Timothy are regulars. Sunshine is 19. Glenn is 67. Tabitha and Marcia live in a blue pickup with a shell. We hear stories of abusive boyfriends; aunts who get tired of addictive behavior; an apartment complex being remodeled; rent going up from $700 to $1100. The situations are difficult and varied. What can the Church do?

At least three things: First, care. Sometimes we can become numb. At best, numbness is a coping response when we don’t know what to do. At worst, it disregards our common humanity and Creator and forgets that when Jesus was born everyone turned a cold shoulder. Because we care, we share our names and ask theirs. We listen to stories how they got on the street. Everyone has a story, and sometimes you may hear a true one. But even the story shaped to elicit help tells of pain, abandonment, and longing—parts of many of our stories.

Second, connect. Although they are far from perfect, there are resources available. After many (many!) years of work by many partners, there is a new Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) center opening down the street at 7031 N 56th Ave. Already people can get replacement ID’s and birth certificates (necessary for applying for jobs, housing, more services) and soon there will be over a dozen agencies providing services, including Lutheran Social Services (LSS) and Family Promise. Put LSS’s phone number 480-654-4539 or Family Promise 480-659-5227 in your phone so you can share them. Only rarely is it helpful to give money to someone—it usually is a drop in the bucket compared to the complex needs that people have. Connecting to those who can sort through the issues makes a difference.

Third, communicate. Although the reasons for the increase in homelessness are complex, affordable housing is at the center of it. Some members of St. John’s know personally how difficult finding an apartment or home is. The Arizona Republic just published an article about the need for 280,000 new affordable housing units in Arizona. We can communicate with our elected leaders that affordable housing must be an urgent priority. If in Glendale, write, email, or call Mayor Jerry Weiers at 623-930-2260 or glendalemayor@glendaleaz.com to let him know what you think. Find out your city council members, state legislators. If we don’t communicate, our leaders will think we don’t care and will instead listen to other voices.

We care because God cared enough to enter the cold, sinful world with a family without a home. We help connect people with resources because God connected us to forgiveness, hope, and eternal life in Jesus. We communicate with leaders on behalf of others because Jesus advocates for us.

Come Lord Jesus!

Pastor Peter

The Lord of the Harvest

The Lord of the Harvest

Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt 9:37-38)

One of my stock phrases is, “Money is not the problem. If there is vision and people to lead towards the vision, the money will come.” I’m usually saying this when somebody is lamenting that the church can’t do X or Y because we don’t have the money. I’m not saying there is money already in the bank; I’m saying that when there is a clear, compelling, and well communicated vision of what God is calling us to do and when there are people willing to lead others towards that vision, then people naturally give and the money comes. For example, when St. John’s leaders expressed a vision of having an intern pastor, people stepped up to give money needed to make it happen.

It’s different when we already have some money but no clear vision. The Jorgensen Fund was given in 1984 when Walter died. The congregation couldn’t touch the principal but received the income for 35 years. There was no vision for it, except perhaps, “we’ll use the income to cover deficits in the general operating fund.” From that point of view, it was very helpful: there were tough financial years that the Jorgensen Fund helped keep the lights on. But is that God's vision?

We are currently in a process to decide the vision for the Jorgensen Fund. You’ve hopefully seen the videos part 1, part 2, and part 3 that help us know the Jorgensen’s and their faithfulness to God and God’s Church. A survey in June revealed that people’s hearts were in improving the property, reaching out (especially to youth and young adults), and savings for the future. The Congregation Council has been working on recommendations to discuss with the Congregation in November. I encourage you to participate in these on Nov 14, 21, 28 at 9:45 in the chapel and online.

As you pray for God’s guidance, consider the two part vision we chose in 2018: Deepening relationships with God and others and Developing Leaders. Our vision should guide how to use the Jorgensen fund or any fund. For example, which choices direct us towards deeper relationships? Which options help us develop leaders? Money is a tool towards a purpose not an end in itself; how does the Lord of the Harvest want us to use this tool?

The harvest is plentiful, that is, there are many people who do not know Jesus and feel harassed and helpless in the face of the maze of life (Matt 9:36). I suspect you know some of them. The Lord of the Harvest sends you—yes, you!—and this congregation so that others may know the freedom and love of God in Christ. As we approach Thanksgiving, I’m thankful to be a “field-hand” with you and pray God gives us vision not only for how to use the Jorgensen Fund but how to “harvest” during these changing days!

Thankful to harvest with you,

Pastor Peter