Crazy where ramblings take a person.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday. I had never heard of such things until recent years. They just keep growing. First there was Black Friday. Growing up, it was never called that. It was the day after Thanksgiving. A big shopping day. I remember when we delivered the Herald & Review in Decatur, IL, the newspaper for Thanksgiving was HUGE! I mean really big. There were so many sale ads. We had to stuff the papers to get them ready for delivery. There was no Internet, no online shopping, none of those things. It wasn't even called Black Friday. I don't know when it became Black Friday. I guess someone decided it was a good thing and it stuck. Not sure why it is "black" but that is what it is.

Then came Cyber Monday. Why? Because folks started shopping online. Sitting at home on the comfy couch, you could spend your money. You could get what you wanted without facing the crowds. Stores began to run special sales on Monday after Black Friday. So it became "cyber" Monday. Shop, shop, shop! Spend, spend, spend. The more you shop, the more you save, every day at Shop and Save. Wait, that was a store ad. Guess it really plays into Cyber Monday. Save big money by spending big money. I guess it makes sense.

The came Giving Tuesday. What is it? The chance to help not-for-profits. After spending all your money, maybe you will feel a little guilty about focusing so much on the self, on the material, that you just might want to quell the conscience. Give to some organization that could use your financial help. So now, the email is filled with Giving Tuesday requests. Give to this one. Give to that one. I would suggest LWML if you are looking for somewhere to give on Giving Tuesday. Or perhaps your local church. Think about how much that would help here at St. Paul's if you were to support the local congregation in the work it does. Makes me think, maybe St. Paul's should get into Giving Tuesday next year, send out the emails, mailings, and all in order to gain your dollars.

Then I thought, is that really good stewardship? Who cares? As long as you get the money. As long as you meet the budget, who cares about stewardship? The Lord does. I do. And you should. Christian stewardship is not seen in guilt giving. It isn't taking part in Giving Tuesday. It is regular use of the resources that the Lord has given you. It is continuing to use your financial resources in a way that gives glory to your Lord and helps your fellow man. In reality, if members of congregations would be faithful in their giving to the local congregations, if they were tithe in a faithful manner, most congregations would not have any financial problems. Churches wouldn't have to beg for money to meet the bills. They wouldn't have to do fundraisers in order to make ends meet. That is poor stewardship. Terrible stewardship. It betrays either poor giving stewardship on the part of the members and/or poor stewardship use of the financial resources of the leaders of the congregation. Yes, it goes both ways. Members have poor giving habits. Leaders have poor spending habits. It is terrible stewardship for a church to spend more than it could ever support. Ask for more money, to spend more. It might be that the reason it is spending so much is that it feels like it is doing the right thing. But perhaps each congregation should take a hard look at what it is doing and ask, "Is this really what we need to be doing?" It is hard because it might mean giving up a sacred cow.

How did I get there? I don't know. That is what rambling does. It takes you places that you weren't expecting. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday and faithful Christian stewardship. All tied together somehow. I will let you wrestle with it. I know that I do. I wrestle with it regularly even without realizing that is what I am doing. Lord, give me guidance. Give each of us guidance and wisdom these days.

Give Thanks

"Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Jesus asked. (Luke 17:17) This will be the Gospel reading in many Lutheran churches this week as they have the Thanksgiving Eve/Day services. The lepers crying out to Jesus to be healed, then, as they follow Jesus' command, leave to go show themselves to the priests. As they went they were cleansed. The Samaritan returned to Jesus and gave thanks to Him for the healing. The point is made that we need to return to to the Lord and give Him thanks for the many blessings He has given to us.

That is heavy law. Truly it is. It is not telling folks that they should focus on the wonder of the Gospel and give thanks for the healing, the forgiveness, the love of Christ. It is saying, "Get yourself back to church and thank God for the blessings. Do it now! Or you are ungrateful!" Now there is truth in this. We should be giving thanks to God for the blessings He has given to us. But we do that out of joy and not out of obligation. To do it out of obligation is to begin to place our thankfulness under the Law, making it a necessary action in order to show that we truly thank God.

I often wonder about the other 9. Did they not give thanks? Did they go to the priest and not once utter a word of thanks to God for the healing? I know what Jesus is saying. He is showing the importance of giving thanks, and we should give thanks. But the other 9 were only doing what they were told. "Go and show yourselves to the priests," Jesus said to them. And they did. That was what they were doing. When they went and saw that they were cleansed, did their steps pick up? I doubt they drug their feet heading for the priest. They were cleansed! The leprosy was gone. Amazing! I often think that as they went, they were praising God for this healing. They lifted up their voices in songs of praise. They went to the priests and told them, "Jesus healed us!" When they spoke to their families, they told them what Jesus had done. And together they worshiped and praised God.

When you come to Thanksgiving worship this year, don't do it out of obligation, because you are told that you must return otherwise you are like the 9 lepers who did not appreciate what Jesus did for them. Instead, go to worship because you are healed! Because Jesus has healed you of the leprosy of sin. Because you know that without Jesus, there would be no blessings in your life. Because your heart is filled to overflowing for the many blessings of life.

Then don't stop there. Continue to thank God. I know that I thank God daily for the blessings He has given me: Penny, Rachael, Brandon, Matthew and Chelsey, Shirley and my brothers and their families, Penny's sisters and their families, my birth family, their children and grandchildren, my church family at Troy, as well as the families of Harvel, Ferrin and Altamont, my extended family in the LWML, more people than I can count. I give thanks for the blessings of faith and love, hope and peace that are given me despite the sins that I do and the unthankfulness that might reside in my heart. The forgiveness of sins! The wonderful, peace giving, life fulfilling forgiveness that is truly a gift of His grace. So much more. Luther would begin to list out even more things to give thanks for, and that would only touch the surface of that for which I give thanks.

I give thanks with a grateful heart, not because I am told to, but because I want to. I look at my Lord, fall to my knees before Him and thank Him for His love, for all that He has done and continues to do for me in my life. What a great God, an awesome God, a loving God, a wonderful God He is.

Yes, thank You God. I am one of those 9 who follow Your command and praise You as I continue on my daily way. I am that 1 who returns to You and thanks You. I see myself in both because both are folks who are healed, blessed and made clean.

So when I have eaten and had my fill, and I sit back in my chair and look around the table at the family, and the carnage of a meal well eaten, I will give thanks to God.

Yes, God is good. All the time!

Thank you veterans, a mite challenge and snow - random ramblings.

Veteran's Day was yesterday, Sunday, Nov. 11th. I want to thank each veteran who served our country in both peace time and war time. They have given of themselves. They have served with distinction. I thank God for each one. You, as a veteran, may not have received the recognition that you deserve, but know that you are greatly appreciated. I give thanks to God that there are men and women who are willing to serve in the armed forces in some way. I want to give a special shout out to Christian Engelbrecht as he took the oath yesterday (what a day to take the oath!) to become part of the Ohio National Guard. Very proud of him to take this step. God bless all our veterans.

This last week I attended the various meetings of the LWML in St. Louis, MO. Convention Planning Committee (CPC), Executive Committee (EC) and Assembly of Leaders (AOL). Each one had a special focus and work to accomplish. I give thanks that I have been able to serve the Lord as junior pastoral counselor of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. What a blessing this has been for me and how it has pushed me to grow in faith and service to the Lord.

Pastor Bob Mundahl, senior pastoral counselor, has challenged me to lose 20 pounds by the time we have the Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in later January. I accepted that challenge. Now comes the hard part, to accomplish it. 2 months, 10 pounds a month, during the holiday season. Am I crazy? Penny bakes so many wonderful Christmas cookies. How will I lose weight when I have a wife who bakes such great things? It will take discipline and hard work to accomplish this feat. Oh yes, we have committed ourselves to giving $10 a pound that we lose - to the mites of the LWML.

Here is a challenge for you. Would you join in supporting the mission of the LWML at this time. How about you commit yourself to giving a certain amount over and above your regular mite offering, a certain amount per pound that I lose. $1 a pound, $5 a pound, whatever you are able to do. This in not a requirement but something that you might want to do. I will also put this challenge out on Facebook, to see if we can raise more for the mites of the National LWML so that we can reach our mite goal of this biennium.

We wait to see if it will snow today. I hope it does. Penny and I love snow. We like to see it coming down, to see the landscape turn white. If only we could have it snow just on the grass and trees and avoid the roads, wouldn't that be grand? And wouldn't it be even better if it could snow when it was around 50 degrees rather than under 32? Is that too much to ask? Well, maybe it is too much to ask. I guess we must accept the laws of nature that the Lord has put into place.

Whatever - let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

For all the saints...

All Saints' Day. November 1st is the day when we remember those dearly departed who have entered into their eternal rest. It is a day that has really disappeared from the thoughts of folks, Christian folks. The focus is on Halloween, All Saints' Eve, Hallowed Eve.

I find that to be amazing. Why? We, Christians, have lost the focus of that which is to come for us - life eternal in heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For that is what All Saints' Day reminds us of - the fact that as we remain in faith, believing in Jesus as our Savior, we will go to heaven for eternity. This world, this world in which we live and breath and work, is but a temporary place. When our Lord Jesus comes on the Last Day, this world, this universe, will cease to exit. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, whatever that truly means. I know, we have ideas about what it means, as theologians, we come up with our best explanation, using Scripture to give us parts of what it means, but in the end, all we know is that the current earth will be no more and there will be a new life, a new place, which will be perfect, holy, just as our Lord Jesus Christ is holy. Now, before we get into a discussion of what Jesus means when He talks about heaven, eternity, let's agree that we know it is coming, it is perfect but in the end, we really can't understand it.

Stop for a moment and think about that loved one who has passed away, either recently or in the years gone by. Who is it? What was their relationship with you? What was their relationship with the Lord? That last question becomes the important one. What was their relationship with the Lord? Strong faith? Weak faith? A faith that held to Christ in the midst of pain and suffering? A faith that was there when needed but was struggling through the mundane days of life? It doesn't matter. Was there faith? Did they believe in Jesus as their Savior?

Faith of a child - that is all it takes. The faith that says, "Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ as my only Savior." That is what it is about, not how much faith, how strong faith. But a faith in Christ. Period. Actions that follow the faith are wonderful. But they don't save. Remember yesterday, Reformation day? Justification by grace through faith? The hallmark of Scripture? Salvation is a gift to those who believe. It is not earned by how much you do. Grace. Period. Did he/she believe? Yes, then they are saved. They have eternal life.

They are one of those that we sing, "For all the saints, who from their labors rest..." They are one of those in the white robes before the throne that John sees in Revelation 7. All praise to God for the salvation He gives through His Son.

All Saints' Day is a day of the proclamation of God's grace and mercy. It is a day in which we say, "Thanks be to God that He saved that person." That person, your loved one, your friend, did not save themselves. They did not get themselves into heaven by being faithful or by doing the right thing. They were saved by grace through faith. All Saints' Day reminds us that God saves. That He gives eternal life. That He is the One who takes sinners and makes them saints, gives them life eternal.

I think of my loved ones who died in faith. I rejoice for them. For they have received the crown of eternal life. One day, through Christ, I too will enter into heaven. One day, this heart will stop, this life on earth will cease, and I will begin life eternal with my Savior. Until then, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. And I thank Him for saving those who have gone before me.

A blessed and happy All Saints' Day.