Pastoral Message: “More Miscellaneous Musings” Week of Easter Sunday April 12, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“More Miscellaneous Musings”
Week of Easter Sunday
April 12, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
Here are some reflections on a variety of topics during this first week of Eastertide:
Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Re-Cap with a Thousand Thanks!
Ours was a very rich Lenten season in my estimation. Pastor Veronica and I had the privilege of visiting and addressing with our dialogue message other congregations in the Capital Conference of our Synod, an important opportunity for me as a newcomer to our Synod as I seek to get to know those in our wider church. I hope that you feel blessed as well by the experience of having heard a number of different pastors address the theme of change from a variety of angles. A thousand thanks to those who provided soup and bread for our meals and for those who led the evening prayer services.
And now we have observed and celebrated in its fullness Holy Week, beginning with Palm/Passion Sunday, and culminating on Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of Our Lord – with the Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday with its Vigil of Easter forming the focal point for the weekdays bracketed by the Sundays. Each of our liturgies offered up in real time and in person the drama of Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection. It’s so very poignant and powerful not just to hear the stories, but in many ways to enact them once again in our ritual actions – like processing with palms, and washing feet while commemorating the institution of the Lord’s Supper, stripping the altar, and engaging the way of the cross, inside and outside, even adoring the cross of Christ with physical, devotional gestures, and gathering around the new fire and the paschal candle to hear again the living stories of salvation in a darkened church lit only by candlelight, and getting wet at the affirmation of baptism, and sharing in the first Eucharist of Easter. What an honor to immerse oneself in the fullness of this sacred drama. The way in which Faith-La Fe observes all of Holy Week makes me thankful yet again for the privilege of serving as a pastor of this congregation. Another thousand thanks!
And it takes a large team of people to make all of this happen so very beautifully – those who sing and play music, those who decorate, those who plan and lead worship, and more. A thousand thanks to you, this wonderful team. And then also thousand thanks to those who made our Easter Sunday fellowship opportunities very festive indeed – Easter Breakfast between services, the Easter Egg hunts for the children present, and convivio following the 11:00 am service.
Attendance at and participation in all our liturgies for Lent, Holy Week and Easter was strong and quite respectable – some 40 worshipers on Maundy Thursday, almost 70 total for the three services on Good Friday, some 50 for the Easter Vigil, and then 130 at 9:00 am on Easter Sunday and about 60 at the 11:00 am service. Thanks be to God and thousand thanks to all who shared in our observances and celebrations.
Further Word on the Refugee Family and an Invitation
Here is promised further word concerning the family from Afghanistan who recently moved from Faith Place to another location. At our Congregation Council meeting this week, Faith-La Fe leaders voted to approve a rent rebate to the family as a modest way of compensating them for some of the less than desirable living conditions in the space. The family had been paying $1600 in monthly rent to Faith-La Fe for about six months. The approved rebate to them amounts to $300 per month for the six months they paid rent directly to us for a total of $1800.
Additionally, the Council also invites donations from members of the congregation for a housewarming gift for the refugee family as they continue to make the transition to their new place. For those who wish to contribute, please write “Refugee Family” on the memo line of your check or on the outside of an envelope for cash contributions. The deadline for making these donations is April 30.
These gestures, both the rent rebate and a housewarming gift, become modest, but tangible expressions of thanks to the family and to God for the privilege of having hosted them here at Faith Place for a season in their odyssey of having their lives upended in Afghanistan and now their acclimation to a new home in the United States. Please join us in making this offering of thanks.
Christ’s Resurrection is for All of Creation, too!
Even when I sit down after the final amen, sermons are never ever finished, for the Holy Spirit continues to do her work even afterward. It is impossible in a fifteen or so minute sermon to say everything there is to say about the day’s passages from the Bible. And, of course, once I sit down as a preacher, quite frequently I’m struck with new insights that lead me to exclaim to myself, “Why didn’t I think of this sooner to include it in the sermon?” Easter Sunday morning’s sermon was like that for me. Here’s what I wish I would have included: that Christ’s resurrection is not just for Jesus and for us human beings. No, Christ’s resurrection is for ALL of creation – including the flowers, eggs, and bunnies, and chicks, and more, all the symbols of fertility that we associate with Easter, but which don’t quite fully capture the significance of resurrection as life from death and not just life from life. For plants and animals are subject to decay and death just as human beings are. Jesus is Christ for the whole cosmos, he who was and is the very word of God made flesh who was with God and was God when creation began. So, Christ’s resurrection also means new life from death for flowers and eggs and bunnies and chicks and more!
This is what the apostle Paul had to say about all of this: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:19-23) Thus, for those who grieve the death of beloved pets, of cats and dogs, and more, and the demise of beloved trees and plants in the yard, there is hope for new life and restoration in Christ for them, too, when the whole creation will enjoy the full benefit of the resurrection at the last day. Thanks be to God.
Join us for a Quiet Day Introducing Lectio Divina, Sacred Reading
Now that Holy Week and Easter Sunday have been commemorated and celebrated, things schedule-wise return to normal at Faith-La Fe. The forum on worship will resume this coming Sunday between services with our continued explorations of Holy Communion. And our two Wednesday Bible Studies resume, one at 10:30 am and the other at 6:00 pm – in person in the conference room in our office suite or via Zoom. It's never too late to join in these in-depth explorations of the coming Sundays’ Gospel passages.
But there is one coming special occasion I invite you to mark in your calendars now: On Saturday, April 29, beginning at 10:00 am and concluding in the early afternoon, I will lead an introduction to lectio divina, or sacred reading, an ancient approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerged from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. I’ve done extensive work exploring the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and I’m eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended. Please plan to join us for this prayerful occasion which promises to enrich in profound ways the ways you engage and are engaged by the biblical word.
In the joy of Eastertide,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
Thrivent Creighton Resource Center Family Picnic
When: Saturday, April 15, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Where: 2052 N 36th Street, Phoenix
Description: Thrivent volunteers will help hand out food and supervise games at the event where families play, eat, and socialize. Our $250 grant will buy books for the youngsters and some of our volunteers will earlier prepare or deliver macaroni and potato salad. Please call Gail Turner (303-868-2808) or Fred Cowley (602-228-3349) to let them know you’ll attend. Thank you!
Another Word of Thanks from our Parish Ministries Team!
Thank you to everyone who made our festive Easter Brunch and Easter Egg Hunt so enjoyable. Thank you, bakers and bringers of hot casseroles, breads, pastries, delectables, fruit and beverages. Thank you, movers of tables and chairs, window cleaners, decorators and floral arrangers who worked so hard the morning before. Thank you to the fillers and hiders of hundreds of plastic eggs for the hunt that delighted the children in our midst. And a special thank you to the crew who set out and served all the donated food and stayed until the kitchen was cleaned and Parish Hall was prepared for the Convivio celebration that immediately followed.
Communicating Pastoral Care Needs to the Pastors
Pastor Veronica and I are here to serve you in your times of need and opportunity, to support you through our pastoral care-giving. If you are in need of pastoral conversation or visitation, please reach out to one or both of us directly – or have someone in your family or with whom you are close make that direct contact. Please don’t assume that word of your need or desire will come to us indirectly through others. Members of Faith-La Fe attend to each other’s needs in laudable ways, which is a wonderful thing. But there have been some occasions when your pastors have not been aware of circumstances that would warrant our outreach to you. We are here for you and want to be a part of the care that our congregation offers. So, please don’t assume we’re too busy or that what’s happening in your life does not warrant our time and attention. Pastoral caregiving is central to our identities as pastors of the church. Both Pastor Veronica and I regularly monitor our emails and phone messages, so please leave messages and we’ll engage with you promptly. My contact information always appears with my signature line below.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further detail about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
May 18 at 7:00 pm + Ascension of Our Lord, Holy Communion
May 28 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Day of Pentecost
May 31 at 7:00 pm + Visit of Mary to Elizabeth, Holy Communion
July 22 at 10:00 am + Mary Magdalene, Apostle, Morning Prayer
August 15 at 7:00 pm + Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Holy Communion
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
Saturday, April 29 – an introduction to Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, an approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerges from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. I’ve done extensive work on the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and I’m eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended.
Saturday, June 3 – a day to more deeply explore the spirituality of preaching, with special focus on how sermons are occasions of spiritual guidance. We’ll also spend some more time on your role as listeners to sermons, and how you can get still more out of preaching for your spiritual edification. We will touch on listening to sermons at next Sunday’s adult forum, but focusing on this topic for a whole Saturday will give us occasion to go still more deeply into the topic. On this day, we’ll also learn some of what Luther had to say about preaching!
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.