Immanuel Lutheran Church - Benson

“Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’  For it is not wise to ask such questions.”
Ecclesiastes 7:10

I think we all have the tendency to look back on our history, and most of us come to believe that the past was better than the present.  It always seems like we were happier, safer, and lived easier in the past than we do now.  We even hear this sentiment from family and friends. 

Of course, when I was growing up, I heard the other side of this story.  I heard all about how winters were always colder, how my dad struggled more than we did even to make it to school!  You know that type of story: “I had to walk through snow 12 miles uphill both directions, and I enjoyed it!”  Even when this type of tale was woven, it was always in favorable comparison to what was going on at the present (which was usually my dad having to drive us from one activity to another).

But we hear this story too often in the church.  We look back in time to a “golden age of prosperity” in our particular congregation, or our city, and we compare it with what we see now.  We remember when the pews were filled with children and all of the activities and Bible studies were fully attended.  And the pastor preached better sermons too!

But here, in Ecclesiastes 7, we are told that it is not wise to ask these questions.  It is not wise to compare the present with the past.  Why?

One reason is that our perceptions are always flawed.  We may remember more children in the pews 10 years ago than are there now, but that was probably because they were louder!  We may remember a lot of people involved in the activities we attended, but we only remember that which we attended.  We don’t know about all of the other activities or Bible studies to which we never went!

To compare the past with the present is a sign of unwisdom (Is that even a word?  If not, I invent it now!) because it demonstrates for all to see our limited scope, our small perceptions, and our fears. 

And our fear is always the basis for this comparison.  We fear the change going on in our world, our neighborhood, and our church.  But what we do not realize is that we, too, are changing.  We are not the same person that we were 10 years ago, and that colors our perceptions as well.  We tend to see only what we want to see, and those things that we do not want to admit are real become invisible to our eyes. 

Only God sees all as it is.  We can only see what we allow ourselves to see.  We always need to beg our Lord to let us see, even a little bit more, of what God’s plan is for us, our church, our neighborhood, and our world.  That is the connection in the parable of the blind man in Luke 18: 35-43. 

In this story, Jesus is walking down the road, and a blind man calls to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  This is an interesting call to one who throughout this gospel telling has been referred to as an itenerent healer.  This blind man sees more clearly than the disciples who were, immediately before this story, told by Jesus that he would have to die and rise again, but they did not understand.  “In fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” (Luke 18:34). 

This blind man, when Jesus approached him, asked Jesus to restore his sight, even though he was one of the very few that could see.  “Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you’” (Luke 18:42).  Faith allowed him to see Jesus as the Son of David, and faith allowed him to follow Jesus and glorify God after this healing.  Faith allows us to see that, although this world is changing, it is not changing for the better or for worse, but for opportunity.  Faith allows us to glorify God, so that all they people, when they see it, will praise God as well (Luke 18:43). 

When we are blind to the opportunities that God puts before us, we cannot be the body of Christ we are called out to be.  When all we see is negative change, and compare our “good” old days as better than these, we will not work to spread the good news!

When God gives us the faith to see, we also realize that the “good” old days were not nearly as good as we remember.  The author Annie Dillard put it this way in her book For the Time Being: “There were no formerly heroic times, and there was no formerly pure generation.  There is no one here but us chickens, and so it has always been: a people busy and powerful, knowledgeable, ambivalent, important, fearful, and self-aware; a people who scheme, promote, deceive, and conquer; who pray for their loved ones, and long to flee misery and skip death.  It is a weakening and discoloring idea, that rustic people knew God personally once upon a time - or even knew selfishness or courage or literature - but that it is too late for us.  In fact, the absolute is available to everyone in every age.  There never was a more holy age than ours, and never a less.”

Our time is as holy as the time in which David reigned over Israel.  We can talk with, and even wrestle with God as much now as Abraham did so long ago.  Our days, our time, will one day be the “good old days” for our children, who will remember their youth with fondness just like we all remember our youth with rose-trimmed glasses.

But it is up to us to remember that today has as much holiness available to us as any day.  Each and every day God is sending us out into this world to be a blessing to all whom we meet.  Each and every day can be better than the last because each and every day we can grow in our faith, love, and trust in God and in our service to others.

God help us to do this!

“Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.”
Psalm 33:12

Many of you who read this may not get these references, but thinking about this verse makes me think of all the snarky, sarcastic, satirical cartoons that I amuse myself by watching.  You probably have heard of these shows, and probably cannot stand them - programs like “The Simpsons” or “South Park.”  These, and many other similar shows, are animated programs, but made for an adult audience.  Their primary audience is people like me, who grew up watching cartoons on weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings.  But these programs take the characteristic Saturday-morning-cartoon style, and turn it on its’ head, harpooning cartoons as well as current events.

The reason I bring this up is because in these cartoons, slogans like, “God Bless the USA” are usually spoken by a particular kind of character.  This type of characterization is shown most clearly in one “South Park” episode called “I’m A Little Bit Country” (originally aired on 4-9-03).

This episode satirizes the rise of both supporters and protestors of the war in Iraq in early 2003.  The protestors are all alike: outspoken, forceful of their own views, claiming their right of protest.  They take drastic actions for protest, including burning a flag.  They are called, by their opponents, unpatriotic, hippies, and un-American traitors.  They call themselves “rational.”

The supporters of the war all all alike as well: they speak with Southern accents, generally all men, and threaten violence to those who disagree.  They are called “rednecks” by their opponents, and call themselves “patriotic.”

In cartoons like this episode, slogans like “God bless the USA” are used by the war supporters as if it were the defense of their position.  Almost as if God were leading the USA into the war.  

I wonder if ancient Israel had the same disagreements.  Psalm 33 is a victory and praise song for God, who thwarted the nation’s enemies.  “A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.  The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save” (Psalm 33:16-17).

This psalm was written by a people who knew the horrors of war.  They saw war and destruction first hand many, many times.  Situated geographically between Egypt to the South and the empries of Babylon, Assyria, Alexander, and finally Rome to the North, the land of Israel was constantly watching mighty empires wage war through their backyards!

And the Israelite people’s history is not without their own warfare.  They entered the land by defeating in pitched battles the indegenous people.  Throughout their time there, before the Babylonian exile and the ensuing diaspora, the Israelites fought with other kingdoms and between their two kingdoms many times.

But in thanksgiving to God, the psalmist writes, “Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord…”  He did not write, “Safe is the nation…” or “Always-winning is the nation…”  But he wrote (in a word that can be translated as either “happy” or “blessed”) happy is this nation.

This is different from our asking God to bless us on our endeavors (which we should do, and accept that God’s will is done with or without our prayer for it - see the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism).  The psalmist cries out for us to recognize the blessing that God so richly gives us even in times of war nearby or far away.

The slogan “God Bless the USA” should never mean that we wish God to bless our nation at the expense of any other nation.  In fact, we should be praying for countries where war is close, for those are the people who need God’s deliverance.  “God Bless the USA” should always be a call for us to recognize the infinite blessings we recieve from God’s hands, even in times of war, disease, or financial insecurity.  “Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.  Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.  Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalm 33:20-22).

God surely blesses us in the USA, and God surely blesses all people, for God has chosen to bestow blessing on every one.  “God gives daily bread, even without prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that he will help us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanks” (Fourth Ppetition, Lord’s Prayer, Small Catechism).

I, of course, enjoyed the South Park episode for its humor and ability to take a serious issue and make me rethink the parameters of the usual debate.  But it’s distinction between those who supported the decision to go to war in Iraq and those who protested that decision was quite stilted and stereotypical (that was, of course, for humor’s sake, so I don’t fault them too much).  What we need more of in this country is the ability to see around the stereotypes we have built and to discuss the big, important questions in a way that will allow us to “thrive and prosper,” as the writers of South Park decided was the goal of the debate anyway.

And those of us whose faith resides in the blood of Jesus Christ can remember every day that God indeed blesses us, as God blesses this world that was created through the Word, and sustained every day, every minute, every second, by that word.  Should God take the blessings away, we would surely cease to exist.  And so we pray, like Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Tale:”

“God bless us, everyone.  God bless us indeed.”

This article: http://www.slate.com/id/2211937/?gt1=38001 proposes the positive side of church-shopping.

If you’re not familiar with this, church-shopping is a uniquely American experience in which people try out many different churches until they find the one that they “like.”  There are many negative aspects to this occurrence:

1) Previous generations would remain fairly stable within their denomination.  A Lutheran parent would raise a Lutheran child, and a Roman Catholic parent would raise a Roman Catholic child.  But in our world of church-shoppers, that can no longer be taken for granted.  Denominational ties are no longer the most important factor for people when attending church.

2) What people like in a church is so varied between people.  The article states that many people are searching for belief systems that match their own, but that may not necessarily be a good thing.  If you know your pastor will always tell you what you want to hear, how will the Law and Gospel challenge you?  And if you’re looking for a specific style of music at your church, how will you react if the new church changes style?  You will shop around for something else that you like.  Church is supposed to be enjoyable, certainly, but it is also supposed to be enjoyable for everyone else, and not just one person or one subsection of the population.

3) Following on #2, with church-shopping as regular and general practice as it is now, most churches are left with a homogenized group, that is, a collection of people who are generally like each other.  This grouping occurs along many lines, including race, age, worship style, and beliefs.  However, when the church is mostly made of the same group, no one is challenged by the Word of God (again), because the Word becomes taken hostage by what is liked by that group. 

There are probably many more negative sides to church-shopping, but this article proposes the positive side.  Go ahead and read it and  ponder it, because it raises a good point.  Many people in our church are worried about attracting more people.  But what do we have to do to attract more people?  What do we have to change so that others may feel more welcome here.  Is it our worship style?  Is it our hymnal?  Is it some of our beliefs?  Is it our building?  Read it, ponder it, and listen for God speaking to you.  This is not an easy subject, and not an easy discussion.  But we will need to have it, and we will need to have your ideas!

God bless you,
Pr. Bryan