Cross Lutheran Church
April 2013
Pastor’s Corner
Lent is a season of reflection, re-evaluation, repentance and reconciliation. Lent is a time of pro-
found grace and we are invited to let that grace sink in, take root and change us. Through our observance of these days by listening to the Scripture from the Lenten liturgies and by partici-pating in the traditional practices of the Church, we are invited, in this holy season, to be stripped down and cleansed from all the obstacles that keep us from seeing our true selves clearly, stripped down so that we may come to understand more powerfully the love of God who embraces all of who we are, even those unclean and dirty parts.
Prayer is the other traditional practice we engage in during this season, hopefully with more emphasis on what we need to do to be more like Jesus. Through prayer, we are able to experience Lent on a much deeper and spiritual level. Prayer allows us to slow down, to be more focused, and enables us to be stripped away from our obsession with this world and move us to a higher consciousness with God. Prayer also allows us to "see" our life and our works with the eyes of faith that opens the heart to seeing that God is in the midst of it all.
All of this leads me to ask the question, “How do you present yourself and how do you really see yourself?” I’m reminded of the last supper and the disciple Judas, and that he presents himself as morally superior to everyone else at the table. Essentially, he accuses them of sitting down to eat with dirty hands.
There are people in this world who try to make us feel dirty like Judas. They show up in our churches every now and then. They try and create controlling cliques within the church to divide members rather than unite them. You can often recognize them as they use rhetoric like the following:
o The "nobody knows Jesus like I know Jesus"
o The "Let me tell you about so-and-so to help you know how much better I am”
o The “holier-than-thou types”
The truth of the matter is we're all dirty (Rom. 3:23). Every- body comes to the table with dirty hands. Why do you think we set sanitizers around our homes? It is not simply for the little grubby hands in our midst or having the practice of washing your hands before dinner or taking a bath or shower as part of your regular routine. We're all sinners. Nobody's perfect. That's why God came in Jesus. We needed Someone to save us from the continuous messed up circum-stances we find ourselves in due to bad choices or consequences of our unbecoming behavior. We need Someone to give us what we can never earn—the right to be a part of God's vast and eternal family. We need to have someone want us when we have burned all of our bridges.
In essence, we come to the realization yet again that we need Jesus!
Everybody comes to the table with dirty hands. The good news is we are all invited to sit down and eat with the Savior through faith. We could say that his blood washes the dirt from all of us.
I hope that we have found time to embrace the resurrection through our meals. Reflecting on the Emmaus supper and Jesus' breakfast with the disciples on the beach, we're invited to remember Christ's presence in our lives and at our meals. In the process, we're invited to recapture some of the depth of life that comes when we break bread with others over a prolonged meal and not just grab a quick bite of fast food together. We are encouraged to invite Jesus in the very ordinariness and messiness of our lives.
Finally, we are challenged to embrace the resurrection of fellowship in our relationships. We are invited to partake of relationships not just with each other, but to understand the holy relationship of the Trinity. Having arrived at the Resurrection with Christ, I hope we "get a deepened sense that Jesus' resurrection involves us with others. It forms bonds of friendships. It initiates us into a company of men, women, and children who can no longer understand themselves as autonomous selves, independent from one another,” but as sisters and brothers in God’s family.
Easter Tidings,
Pastor Michelle
St. Matthews Women’s Retreat
When: Friday, April 19 - Sunday, April 21, 2013
Date/Time: Arrival--6:00 p.m., Friday; Saturday, 8:00 a.m.--4:30 p.m; Conclusion--11:00 a.m., Sunday
Where: St. Benedict's Abbey
12605 224th Avenue
Benet Lake, WI 53102
Contact: Pr. Michelle Townsend de López
414/344-1746
Registration Deadline: Monday, April 8, 2013
*Limited scholarships available
The Greater Milwaukee Synod’s
Anti-Racism Team
Invites you to participate in the next
Internalized Racial Oppression and White Privilege Workshops
Breaking the Bonds: A workshop on internalized racial oppression
and
Troubling the Waters for the Healing of the Church: A journey for White Christians from privilege to partnership
Should have completed either LHRA, Crossroads, YWCA or some other Introductory Anti-Racism Training to Participate
April 19 and 20 and June 7 and 8, 2013
Friday (5:15 - 9:00 p.m.) and Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.)
Two different parts: Light meal available on Friday before each event
Saturday Continental Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks
Hosted by: Atonement Lutheran Church (262-637-5671)
2915 Wright Ave., Racine, WI 53405
(?’s/Emergency, Marilyn--414-536-0585)
$150 per participant for both Sessions
Cost includes materials and food
Scholarship assistance available upon request
Questions? To receive more details or if you have questions, please contact the co-conveners of the Greater Milwaukee Synod’s Anti-Racism Team:
· Jerry Key, 414-465-0352, or
· Chuck Ruehle, 262-886-3286,
Make checks out to Greater Milwaukee Synod, Memo - Anti-Racism Training.
*PLEASE CONTACT OUR CHURCH OFFICE FOR REGISTRATION FORM--414/344-1746.
Notes from the Parish Nurse
A recent Bible reading from John 12:1-8 shares with us the story of Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, bowing low and using expensive perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet. Mary did this to show Jesus how much she loved him. This reading made me think of how important our feet are to us and what we can do to take good care of them. These tips can be followed by everyone; they are especially important to follow if you are diabetic.
1) Avoid walking barefoot, try to wear shoes or slippers, even in the house.
2) Wash your feet daily with mild soap and water.
3) Always test the water temperature with your hand before putting your feet in the water. I usually recommend checking the water with the inside of your wrist, as this is an extremely sensitive part. Your hands might be used to the hot water and not sense how hot the water really is.
4) After washing, pat your feet dry, there is no need to rub vigorously.
5) Dry your feet well, especially between the toes.
6) You should use a good skin moisturizing lotion to prevent the skin from becoming dry and cracked, however, don’t put the lotions between your toes. NEVER USE POWDER BETWEEN YOUR TOES.
7) Inspect your feet daily for puncture wounds, bruises, areas of redness, and blisters. T here are six key areas to check including the big toe, the base of the little toe, the base of the middle toes, the heel, the outside edge of the foot, and across the ball of the foot.
Taking care of your toenails is also extremely important;
1) Soak or bathe your feet before you trim your nails.
2) Make sure that you trim your nails under good lighting.
3) Trim your toenails straight across.
4) Let your health-care provider know if you have an ingrown toenail, you shouldn’t use the over-the-counter treatments without consulting with your health-care provider.
Finally, protect your feet, avoid frostbite or the use of a heating pad to your feet. Wear clean, dry socks daily; socks with square toes are preferred. Your shoes should be wide enough, long enough, and the back of the shoe not too loose, as this may rub across your heal and cause blisters. Buy new shoes in the evening as there is swelling that occurs throughout the day. After purchasing new shoes, break them in slowly, wearing them at increasing intervals throughout the day for a week. Avoid pointed-toe styles and high heels, as well as shoes that are made of plastic. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet the night before he was crucified, a sign of love to them, but also perhaps a sign that he wants us to take good care of our feet as well!
Your Parish Nurse Linda
Contemporary Witness by Amy Jandrisevits
This morning I am going to talk to you about three things. Geese, musk-oxen, and spiders. This could very well be the most depressing and freaky contemporary witness of all time. J Joking aside, I really am going to use those animals as my illustrations. Pastor Michelle is probably regretting asking me to do this . . .
I’d like to start by sharing this African proverb with you because it really packs a punch. Listen to this. When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. I’ll read it again . . . When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. We’ll come back to this.
Four weeks ago, we started the church season of Lent and typically Lent is a good time for people to self-reflect. Think of it like “spring cleaning” . . . you go through all of your junk--you decide what you want to keep and what you need to get rid of. So let’s do that right now. Except let’s reflect on where we’re going as a church, so that when we leave this season and move onto Easter, we are better, stronger, focused, and more unified.
What I’m going to talk about this morning is something that I feel defines Cross and the people here. You see, we already have a jump start on this hypothetical spring cleaning. It is something that makes this church unique. In spite of all of our differences - I mean look around this place . . . we are all very different people – but despite that, we are a pretty unified group. We have a common goal and it affects every single ministry of this church. We are motivated to live like Christ and it shows. If you saw my notes, you’d see that that last sentence was underlined. We are motivated to live like Christ and it shows. In the First Communion class a couple weeks ago, Pastor Michelle told Elijah and Kinley that the word “Christian” literally means “little Christ.” We here at Cross take Jesus’ words-- “love the Lord with all your heart” seriously --because we know that when we do that, everything else falls into place.
Do you remember that song from the 60’s . . . They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love? I’ll be honest . . . I’ve always found it a bit cheesy and I have this silly visual of guitars and campfires and hippies when I hear it . . . but isn’t it true? Think about the words--it talks about the very essence of Christianity: love and unity. The first verse talks about being one in the spirit; and the second verse says that everyone will know that they are Christians simply because they act out of love.
Whoever wrote that knows that Christians are being watched. I once heard that the only Bible that some people will ever read is YOU. People are watching you to see if your words match your actions. And they’re watching our church to see if we really are “one” in the spirit.
You know, one of the reasons why people turn their noses up at organized religion is (and this has really been studied) because they feel that Christians are hypocritical. What happens in this building doesn’t translate into what happens when they walk out of those doors. They profess love and kindness on Sunday mornings, but as soon as they get out the doors, it’s another story! In fact, sometimes people don’t even wait to get out those doors . . . the division is INSIDE the church. The only thing that goes out the door is our credibility! That division is what people see when they look at Christians. Our examples are a waste of time and we are no longer effective. Ask anyone in here and we know that we are more powerful when we stick together, right? It’s so basic and intellectually it makes sense. But compromise and teamwork are hard and they require hard work, right? We ought to learn from the animal world, where sticking together is a matter of survival. Isn’t it?
The National Geographic did this story about arctic wolves and it described the hunting technique of seven wolves. In this particular story, the wolves targeted musk-ox calves, who were guarded by 11 adult musk-oxen. What these adults did was very interesting. They bunched together, shoulder-to-shoulder in a semicircle . . . with their powerful back hooves facing out. You can imagine what this looks like, right? This was how they protected those calves and as long as they stayed like this, the calves were safe during the standoff--which could last hours. But then this author writes that while he was watching, a single ox broke rank and the herd scattered. The rest of the group panicked, leaving the calves exposed to the predators. None of the calves survived.
I’m not telling you that story to depress you. I’m telling you because wolves and other ill-intentioned predators want to attack us here, too, don’t they? They want to break our concentration and get us off task--which is sometimes easy to do. Let’s face it--it’s hard to live like a Christian . . . I’ll be the first to admit that. And it’s even harder when you know you’re being watched. But we all know that there are people want to bring us down. These people penetrate our unity--because when we as believers break rank, we are easy prey and we can no longer protect each other or our church. Then we all feel crummy! Churches and church goers are ruined because the harmony and unity within is destroyed . . . people argue and cannot find a common ground. They cannot agree about who’s in charge and who should be in charge; they complain about the church service, the sermons, communion, the Elders, the pastor, the board, the youth, the candles, the carpet; they tear down their brothers and sisters in Christ; they pretty much look for anything that kills the harmony.