February 2021

               Dear Belovéd of Christ:

               This year, Valentine’s Day falls upon the Transfiguration of Our Lord, the end of the Epiphany Season (February 14). The Season of Lent begins later that week with Ash Wednesday (February 17). So we see the close proximity on the calendar of the commemoration of love and the symbol of repentance and forgiveness.

               St. Valentine was, of course, a real person—a Christian martyr, in fact. He lived from approximately 226 A.D. to 269 A.D., being martyred at about the age of 42 or 43. He was a Roman priest (perhaps a bishop) who ministered to persecuted Christians under Emperor Claudius, doing such things as performing Christian marriages for them when it was against the Roman law so to do. It is also said of St. Valentine that he refused to sacrifice to pagan gods. Finally, being imprisoned for this, St. Valentine gave his testimony in prison and—according to tradition—through his prayers, the jailer’s daughter, who was suffering from blindness, was healed. On the day of his execution, St. Valentine left her a note that was signed, “Your Valentine.” He was likely martyred on February 14, 269.
               Of course, we do not know if all the legends and stories that surround St. Valentine are fully accurate. Most likely, there is truth to be found there, along with a bit of legendary exaggeration. In time St. Valentine did become the patron saint of courtly love. His love was sacrificial and was based in the love of God in Jesus Christ. However, his day has become about something quite different in the minds of most people. When we think about Valentine’s Day now, it tends to turn our thoughts to romantic, or sentimental, love.

               However, when the Bible talks about love, it does not mean some kind of sentimental feeling or emotion. It certainly does not have anything to do with red hearts, paper doilies, or greeting cards. Rather, it mostly has in mind a totally selfless and self-giving love toward another (the kind that the actual St. Valentine exemplified). The primary example of such love is God Himself. After all, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16).  It is His very nature. Everything He does for His dear children is done out of His love.

               God the Father loved us in such a way that He sent His only-begotten Son to die for the sins of the world so that people could be forgiven and in turn love one another. And that is where we see the close connection between love and forgiveness, or between St. Valentine and ashes. In fact, the connection between the two is so close that they cannot be separated. Love forgives, and forgiveness flows from love. So Jesus Christ is not only the greatest example of love, but is also the source and power of our love: for Him and for one another. He is Love in the Flesh who gave Himself into death on the cross for us so that we would be forgiven and thereby forgive others.

               Now, since He has forgiven us, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This is important because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God does not wait for us to somehow straighten up and get our act together. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4–5). “You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13–14). Yes, love and forgiveness do and must go together.

               Since God so loves and forgives us, we also are to love and forgive others. God says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). So, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7–11). “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). Yes, love and forgiveness go together.

               And finally, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4–8a).

               One more thought on this topic of love: You will notice that many of the quotes above come from the writings of St. John the Belovéd, Apostle and Evangelist. He is often called the Apostle of Love because of his frequent writing on the subject of love. The following is a quote about the end of St. John’s life taken from Jerome’s commentary on Galatians (page 260):

               “The blessed John the Evangelist lived in Ephesus until extreme old age. His disciples could barely carry him to church and he could not muster the voice to speak many words. During individual gatherings he usually said nothing but, ‘Little children, love one another.’ The disciples and brothers in attendance, annoyed because they always heard the same words, finally said, ‘Teacher, why do you always say this?’ He replied with a line worthy of John: ‘Because it is the Lord’s commandment, and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient.’”

               God grant you to know such love and forgiveness that you, too, love and forgive others. Have a Happy St. Valentine’s Day, and a Holy Ash Wednesday.

               In the love of Christ,

               Pastor Steven Anderson

       January 2021

        Looking Backward to Go Forward: Part 3

Dear Friends in Christ:

               The last two Pastoral Letters have dealt with the theme of Looking Backward to Go Forward, as we looked at how we might look to the past to find a better way forward as Christians in this post-Christian society. This month is the third and last letter in that series as I look at what this all might possibly mean for us as Christians here at Gloria Dei.

               One such possibility is to look to the saint who is often called the Founder of Western Monasticism, St. Benedict, who wrote the Rule of St. Benedict. Now here, you might (rightly) ask, “Didn’t the Reformation do away with monasteries and monasticism for us Lutherans and Evangelical Christians once and for all?” The answer to that is complicated, as you might expect; but for the most part, the answer is: Yes, it did. However, that is not the full answer. Dr. Luther was himself released from his Augustinian monastic vow and later married Katherine von Bora, who was an escapee from a convent (yes, she had to escape). Dr. Luther had some harsh things to say about the horrible abuses that took place in the monasteries and convents. Indeed, the Lutheran Confessions, to which this congregation and your pastor subscribe, condemns those abuses and the idolatry of works righteousness that those monasteries came to embody. However, the Confessions do also say this about the monasteries, “The chapters and monasteries which in former times had been founded with good intentions for the education of learned men and decent women should be restored to such purposes in order that we may have pastors, preachers, and other minsters in the church, others who are necessary for secular government in cities and states, and also well trained girls to become mothers, housekeepers, etc. If they [the monasteries] are unwilling to serve this purpose, it would be better to abandon them or tear them down…” So there was some hope that the monasteries could be rehabilitated to serve as places of education and community for Christian men and women, and not places of vice and works righteousness. But that never really happened.
               Of course, we are not talking about reinstating monasticism, in any event. That is not the way we live today nor is it the way that Holy Scripture calls us to live as Christians within our different vocations. However, there might be some good applications that we can take from the Rule of St. Benedict that we might consider applying to our lives as confessing Lutheran Christians today in this post-Christian society.

                At the heart of the Rule of St. Benedict are the two ideals of: PAX (living in PEACE) and ORA et LABORA (Pray/Worship and Work/Labor). These ideals guided their lives together within the Christian community in which they lived, namely that they were to live together in peace, supporting each other in their lives as Christians, and that they were to live focused on Jesus present for them in worship and Liturgy, and in the noble gift of the work and labor that God gave them to do. The important thing for us is that St Benedict’s model for the monastic life was the Christian family, with the abbot as “father” and all the monks as brothers. Because of this, almost all the Rule of St. Benedict is applicable to church communities that are not made up of monks, but can be applied to lay people living and working in their different vocations.

               So what might that look like for us here, as we (God willing) come out of the shadow of this pandemic? Perhaps something like this: 1) Living in peace together is something that we embody here in our congregation quite well, confessing the saving Word of Christ, and rejoicing together in it every Lord’s Day. As we go forward and are able to meet again together more freely as brothers and sisters, we might start looking for more opportunities to gather together for meals and for other opportunities for Christian Fellowship and mutual support and conversation. Living in peace might also look like finding more ways to reach out into our community with the love of Jesus Christ.

               2) Prayer and Work might look something like this: rather than offering fewer worship opportunities for the Divine Service and for other Services because we are a smaller congregation, we would instead actually offer more such opportunities, and commit ourselves to attending these Services for our continued growth in Christ, and growth in Faith and Love. Might we commit to Midweek Services once again in Advent and Lent, or even beyond these Church Seasons, to more regular Worship opportunities during the week all year long? What if we offered regular times here for the beautiful Services of Vespers or Evening Prayer? Or times in the morning for Matins followed by a lunch together?

               As for the work/labor part, we could follow these worship opportunities with a time of working on some kind of Service Project of the congregation’s choosing for our community, our missionaries, our seminarian, or for any in need around the world.

               These are just some ideas for our consideration on how we might look to the past to inform how we might faithfully move forward into the future.

               With that in mind, on the next page you will find notes from the November 2 meeting with a developer about how we might start to think about making use of our school building for the continued Ministry of the Gospel here. We expect him to report back to us sometime in the beginning of this year with his findings. When the time comes to make a more concrete decision, we will ask the entire congregation to be involved in that decision making process. In the meantime, we invite and encourage you to keep Gloria Dei in your prayers as we respectfully look backward to what has gone before us in order to move forward with boldness toward what God has in store for us.

Your servant under Christ,

Pastor Steven J. Anderson

Looking Backward to Go Forward: Part 2

December 2020

Dear Fellow Advent Traveler:
               Last month I wrote about how our life in the Holy Christian Church might be compared to driving in traffic, merging from the on-ramp onto a highway. You have to look backward at what is behind you in order to step on the gas and move forward toward what lies ahead of you. This month I am expanding that thought with the little phrase that is engraved on all the outside rearview mirrors of our cars, “Objects in the Rearview Mirror are Closer Than They Appear.” Those side mirrors distort reality. Because they are convex in order to give a wide field of vision, they also make objects appear small. Smaller objects always seem like they are farther away from us, with the result that cars or trucks that appear as if they are blocks behind you are actually quite close to you. So the warning on the mirrors is necessary as a reminder that the objects you see in those mirrors are closer to your car than they actually appear.

               What does all of this have to do with our life together in the Holy Christian Church? As I talked about last month in the Gloria Dei Messenger Pastoral Letter, I think that we in the 21^st century Church will need to look backward into the Church’s History in order to go boldly and joyfully forward into our future. And, I think that, like the warning on our rear view mirrors, our history is much closer to us than we think, or than at first appears. 

               We have just celebrated in November our 80^th Anniversary, looking backward to our founding and the hard work of those who came before us to establish and build up this congregation for the proclamation of the saving Gospel. Before that, in October, we celebrated the Reformation of the Church, looking backward to the hard work of the Reformers to restore the true and pure proclamation of that same saving Gospel. But these celebrations were both also looking forward, not just backward. These celebrations inform who we are today, because of what those who came before us did and confessed. The Church’s past is never too far away from us—it is always ‘closer than it appears.’

               For example, think of the holy Season of Advent in which we find ourselves right now. Advent was already celebrated as a time of fasting and devotion leading up to Christmas by 480 A.D. It is probably much older than that, but its origins are clouded in the mist of the earliest days of the ancient Christian Church. So for at least 1,540 years, the Church has been celebrating the season of Advent. But that ancient history is as contemporary as right here and right now, what we are celebrating every Sunday.  

               So also with the celebration of Christmas: there are still those who cling to the foolish and disproven idea that the date and celebration of Christmas are somehow tied to paganism, or that they came from pagan origins that were then incorporated into early Christianity. This is, of course, ridiculous, and easily disprovable. The incarnation (which means ‘taking on human flesh’) and birth of Christ by the Blesséd Virgin Mary have been celebrated by the Church on either December 25 or January 6 since early day, and certainly since 200 A.D. There is ample evidence that point to December 25 as the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The idea that our celebrations of Christmas had their origins in paganism is also easily refuted. So, like Advent, Christmas is part of the ancient story that is as contemporary to us as right here and right now.
              

Let us rejoice together this year in a holy and joyful Advent and Christmas in Christ Jesus. Let us look backward to those who have gone before us in the holy Christian Church, and—guided by their faithfulness—move always boldly forward, knowing that what is behind us is much closer to us than we might think, helping to guide our steps. And let us prayerfully think of our life together in the Holy Christian Church, and what it might look like, especially here in our congregation. How might the Church’s history help to shape our future here together? How might we live together better in Christian community, loving and serving each other and our neighbors? What might it look like to live more and more in the Word of Christ and in His Holy Sacrament, so that these divine gifts that bring heaven down to earth might increasingly become the central things in our lives?

               Please ponder these questions as you prepare your hearts to receive your Advent and Christmas King again this year. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel!”

               Your servant in Christ,

               Pastor Steven J. Anderson

Gloria Dei’s Eighty Years of Gospelling Chicago & Beyond

November 2020

Dear Fellow Celebrators of our Octogintennial Year:
               You all know the routine for merging into traffic on an expressway: you have to look backward in order to go forward. Either by looking in your mirrors, or by physically turning your head (or preferably by both), you have to see what is behind you in order to step on the gas pedal and propel your car forward into what lies ahead of you. 

               I tend to think of our life together in the Holy Christian Church like that. We have to have the ability to look backward at what has been in order to go forward toward what is ahead. We know that in the Church today, things are different—most likely very different from when you were a child, or even from when I was a child. The Church does not have the same favored role in society it once did. People do not feel any sort of societal pressure to be a member of a congregation, or even to identify as a Christian. Because of this, people who used to be peripheral “members” of Christian congregations are no longer to be found there. In fact, it is probably more detrimental for people’s status and position to be associated with Christianity today than it is not to be.

               But this is not necessarily a bad thing. It simply means that the people who remain in God’s Holy House—those who remain faithful to the hearing of God’s Word, receiving of His forgiveness, and supporting the proclamation of the Gospel—are those who are there because they truly believe that God is true, His Word is faithful, and that all of His Gospel promises are “Yes!” in Jesus Christ. In other words, it is the faithful who remain.

               This month we are celebrating our 80^th Congregational Anniversary, our Octogintennial Year! We were formed on January 24, 1940, with these simply words recorded as a motion in our official Church Minutes (emphasis mine), “The purpose of the meeting was then stated, namely, the permanent organization of an Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. After a brief discussion, in which all present participated, it was duly moved, seconded, and unanimously carried to form an Ev. Lutheran Church in this community.”

               Pretty straightforward and simple, wasn’t it? Yet those words to which we look back upon, themselves look back on words that were said long before them, the very words of our Lord Jesus, who said, “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” Where the saving Name of Jesus is confessed in its truth, there is the Holy Catholic Church to be found. That is what our forefathers in Christ did at that meeting on January 24, 1940: they gathered in the Name of Jesus, and confessing His Promises, they prayerfully called this congregation into existence. They then immediately called a Pastor, and planned for the first celebration of Holy Communion (“February 11^th, first Sunday in Lent, was chosen as the date for the first celebration of the Lord’s Supper”—the Minutes). And did you note the wording of their resolution, “the permanent organization…”, in other words, they planned for this congregation to last.

                And so, in the Name and with the Promise of Jesus guiding them, this congregation came into existence, and has faithfully served here for these 80 years. That is what we look back to—and rejoice in—at our 80^th Anniversary Celebration on November 22. But we look backward toward those founding moments in order to go forward. The past indeed has much to teach us and tell us about how we might face the future. As the Church’s place in society continues to change and shift, I think that we will probably have to look back even farther than 80 years, to the days of the Reformation Church, the Medieval Church, and even to the days of the Ancient Church, and recapture those ages’ sense of meaning, mystery, and community; when God’s immanent Presence in the Word and Sacrament were the center of people’s lives, and the Church was called to live in a totally different manner than the world and the society which surrounded them. It may be time to look backward to go forward; to explore a kind of 21^st century Lutheran version of the Rule of St. Benedict and Benedictine Community for us today, living more and more in a Christ-centered and Cross-shaped community of the faithful.

               This is a time of great change, but also of great hope in a great Savior. Let us rejoice in our anniversary, but continue to look forward in hope to what God has prepared for us in Jesus Christ.

               Your servant in Christ,

               Pastor Steven J. Anderson

October 2020

 “Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace.” (Collect for Reformation)

Dear Heirs of the Reformation:

               The month of October brings with it our congregation’s yearly commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther’s 1517 posting of his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church door.  As has become customary in the recent past, our parish will keep this commemoration on the Sunday prior to October 31. Reformation Day is the one church holiday we celebrate in the life of this congregation that is uniquely Lutheran.

               Besides the commemoration of the posting of Dr. Luther’s 95 Theses, Reformation Day also always includes the singing of Dr. Luther’s hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”), which is his paraphrase of Psalm 46.

               But a much-forgotten hymn of Dr. Luther’s based on Psalm 124 carries the theme of the Reformation as well as “A Mighty Fortress” does. That theme is: the salvation of sinners who have no power or worthiness in them accomplished solely by Christ alone. That other hymn is “Wer Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeyt” (often translated as “If God Had Not Been on Our Side”). Itparaphrases Psalm 124, a psalm that speaks about divine deliverance given to the LORD’s people.

               Those who were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem’s Temple—especially for the Passover Festival—sang this psalm of King David. This “Song of Ascents” begins as a remembrance of what the LORD had done for Israel, especially their liberation from Egypt: “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us; then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul; then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul” (Ps. 124:2-5).

               Those who remember the Exodus story see it recalled in the words of Psalm 124. As the LORD’s faithful people remembered their deliverance—whether from Egypt, Philistia, Assyria, or any of their ancient enemies—the significance of having Him on their side would never be forgotten. The same can be said of Dr. Luther and the Reformers. Their work and effort would have been for naught, had God not been on their side. As the wrath of the Church (as it was at the time) and the Empire rose against them, the German theologians and princes awaited the torrents of persecution. But even as they came, the Reformer’s confession of faith remained and the LORD’s people were delivered.

               This coincides with the second portion of Psalm 124: “Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped” (Ps. 124:6-7). These words reflect the exultant cries of the Israelites having arrived in safety on the opposite side of the Red Sea. The Reformers, even in spite of earthly losses, could have uttered the same words.

               However, Psalm 124 and even the necessary work of the Reformation are not ultimately concerned with any sort of earthly success. The true deliverance that the LORD gives is from enemies greater than any Egyptian Pharaoh or even the Holy Roman Empire that the Reformers faced. That with which the Reformers were concerned was salvation: deliverance from sin, death, and the power of Satan. “If it had not been the LORD who was on [their] side,” such deliverance is impossible. This deliverance is given to us in the baptismal word and water as the LORD brings His people out of their slavery to sin into salvation through that saving water. Satan’s hordes ride out to recapture us, to keep us from reaching the promise of everlasting life. But as the LORD is on our side—present among us with His free gift of forgiveness—we remain free, redeemed, and secure!

               That is the same truth to which we cling today as our enemies rise up against us. Each time we go in pilgrimage to the LORD’s sanctuary, we remember this deliverance that He has accomplished for us. And as we gather to commemorate Reformation Day this month, we also remember that Dr. Luther and the Reformers have a special place for the sole reason that they faithfully believed, taught, and confessed that truth about divine deliverance for helpless sinners. We reaffirm that they have handed down that saving truth to us.

               The focus of our Christian lives is on “the LORD who was [and is] on our side.” That is the truth we confess. It is the truth that King David made clear for all divinely-delivered people in the last verse of Psalm 124: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth”(Ps. 124:8). The burden of our salvation is not placed on us, but is carried by Him who sustains all creation and bore the sins of the world.

               Thanks be Jesus, who is still on our side! His Word remains forever!

Pastor Steven Anderson

September 2020

Dear Saints of God:

               As this strange summer continues into late summer and fall, many people have been waiting in eager anticipation for things to get back to “normal.” There was a time when people talked a lot about what the so-called “new normal” would look like. Now, people might not even be sure if there will ever again be a “normal” because our fears, anxieties, worries, and concerns are changing so quickly. It can be exhausting. Every time I turn on the news or have a conversation with someone, it seems like there is a new thing to try to fix or resolve. It is really difficult even to know what to think anymore, and feelings bounce quickly from fear to hope to worry to frustration to so many different things. Thoughts and feelings are moving around like a boat in the middle of a storm without an anchor, drifting wherever the thoughts and feelings of that particular day and that day’s new cycle blow.

            This exhaustion is nothing new in Christ’s Church. St. Paul writes that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors to the Church in order to lead—with God’s Word— toward the unity of faith and the knowledge of Christ Jesus “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:14).  (In this verse, “doctrine” doesn’t refer to teachings about Jesus, but human doctrine and thinking that is included in the thinking and understanding of the current time).

            In the middle of our exhausted floating around, tossed around by every wind of thinking, cunning, craftiness, and schemes, stability is not found in being current on the latest scientific or political trends, or in mastering popular opinion or agreeing with everyone else. No, our certainty is found in Jesus. 

            St. Paul continues, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).  It is in Jesus and in Him alone that true stability is found. Jesus is the Truth, and life with Him is stable, not being blown around or floating about in the exhausting waves that shift one direction and then another according to the calendar or the news cycle.

            When you are exhausted and do not know where to turn next, turn to Jesus, and the safety of the ark of His Holy Church, where His Word of truth is proclaimed. Trust and rely on Him and the Word proclaimed in His Church. Support that preaching, so as the winds of change howl and blow all around you, you will have a place to come in safety and peace to receive the only true and life-giving Word.

            How do your thoughts and your feelings line up with the news, the politicians, the celebrities, or your friends and neighbors? The good news is that lining up with them is not important. What is important is that you are growing up more and more into maturity in Christ Jesus. He sets you free from human understanding, cunning, craftiness, and schemes. Instead of those things, by His unchanging death and resurrection, by His ever-present promises, by His gracious love, He holds you fast.  When you are connected to Jesus by faith, safe in the ark of His Church, you are not blown around because Jesus holds you firm, anchored in Him. So rejoice and be glad!  No opinions, cunning, craftiness, or scheme can define you.  Jesus defines you, and He has named you as one for whom He died and rose. You are His!

            In Christ’s peace,

               Pastor Steven Anderson

August 2020

Dear Fellow Believers in the Resurrection:

We know that (as of this writing) 140,000 people in this country and 600,000 around the world have died from the novel coronavirus that holds us all in so much uncertainty. Different websites put that death toll in front of me every day or so. During this Stay-at-Home Order, we have had two funerals: one graveside for our brother in Christ Charles Nottke, Jr., and one here in church for our sister in Christ Verla Ziebarth at 95 years of age. Perhaps it is not too strange that with all of this present reality of sickness and death, I have been thinking about death perhaps a bit more these last weeks. It is both an occupational hazard for pastors, and an existential hazard for us all.           

When death is so near it is worth reminding ourselves what we as Christians believe about death. The Proper Preface used when the Holy Communion is celebrated in a Funeral Service (the Proper Preface is what the Pastor chants right before we join in singing the Sanctus with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven) reminds us that for the faithful in death, “life is transformed and not taken away, so that this earthly body is prepared for an eternal home in heaven.” All who die in the communion of Christ’s Holy Church will enjoy that eternal dwelling place at the resurrection of the dead. We confess as much when we confess in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in… the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
           

In the Nicene Creed we confess not only belief, but also anticipation: “I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” The original Latin text there is: “expecto resurrectionem mortuorum…” You will see in the Latin the word for  “expect.” In other words, we expect the resurrection of the dead. The emphasis is not on seeing it with our eyes, but eager expectation: we eagerly expect that there will be a resurrection of the dead according to all of Christ’s promises to us.
          

“In the midst of life we are in death; from whom can we seek help?” asks one of the burial anthems in the funeral committal liturgy. “From you alone, O Lord,” we respond. Our expectation of the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting is one that we invoke with sincerity, longing, and need. We need help, for death looks for all purposes like the end. We have help in the person of Jesus Christ who will raise up all people on the last day. The mortal bodies that lie in death all over the world will receive life again. Bodies will be resurrected and souls reunited with them. We expect it, we need it, for life in the bodies notwithstanding its hardships is very good and death is so destructive and gruesome and final.

And that is exactly why each week in the liturgy, we are staring down death. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why we come to the Divine Service: It is God’s proclamation of eternal life in the midst of temporal death!

And so each week, confessing the Creed, we are facing down death together as we confess eager expectation of the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We name and confess that promise of God to us in Jesus Christ. Some days it is very difficult to believe. Other days we can say it confidently with the joy of the memories of those who have died in Christ and the hope of the new creation where dead, sorrow, and sin are no more.

During these present days, may we hold extra hard onto the joys of life in this age and the expectation of new and renewed joys in the next.

Waiting with you in expectation,

Pastor Steven Anderson

June/July 2020

Greetings:

              On May 28, 2020, our governor lifted the restrictions on houses of worship in the state of Illinois. As such, we will resume our regular Sunday Divine Service schedule of Bible Class at 8:15 a.m. and Divine Service at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, 2020.

When Divine Service resumes on June 14: the church doors will be open before and after church to minimize the amount of contact with door handles, etc. Safe social distancing will be the order of the day, even in the pews. Feel free to sit together as a family, but be aware so that you are not sitting directly in front of or behind another person or group. As per Illinois guidelines, we ask for a space of 6-10 feet between individuals and/or family groups for the time being.

We have plenty of room to move around and safely space ourselves apart. You may not be able to sit in your usual seat. Offerings will be collected as you enter or leave in the offering plates placed by the doors to the church.

Hymnals and bulletins will be handed to you as you enter. This will help us in keeping to a minimum the amount of hymnals we will need to clean each week.

We will celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Initially, we will commune via a continuous line to avoid touching the altar rail. The ushers will direct you to the aisle, where Pastor and an Elder will offer you Christ’s body and blood. Pastor and the Elder will wear masks during the distribution.

There will be fewer cups per tray to minimize cross-contamination. Take care that you do not touch other cups as you take yours.

We will continue to offer our Lord’s blood in the chalice. You are free to receive from the chalice or the individual cups. Pastor will continually clean the rim of the chalice—as he always does—but with the added protection of using alcohol on the purificator.

Please observe about a 6-foot distance between individuals or family groups as you line up to receive the sacrament. Follow the ushers’ directions to return to your seats.

After the service, please wait to greet one another until you are outside (weather permitting) to avoid groups gathering in the narthex. We are Christian community and will continue to greet each other with Christ’s peace, albeit, if a different manner for now.

Wearing face masks is encouraged.

Congregational singing will be slightly decreased by the elimination of the distribution hymns, for now. We will still have an opening, sermon, and closing hymn.

              If you are showing signs of illness or are vulnerable to illness: please be encouraged to stay home. No one will think less of anyone for making that decision at this time. We want to love all of our members in the best way possible.

              Once we have returned to worship, Pastor will resume visits to shut-ins and to those who request that he bring them Holy Communion.

To repeat: We will return to our normal schedule of the Divine Service on Sunday, June 14th, at our regular time of 9:30 a.m.

We will also resume our regular Sunday morning Bible Class at 8:15 a.m. in the Martin Luther Room (lower level of the sanctuary) on the same date, where we will also practice proper social distancing.

What does this mean for our Facebook live-streamed services? That remains to be seen. We will look into the possibility of continuing the Facebook live-stream services for those who desire it, either on Sunday or a different day of the week. That will depend on the resources available to us.

Thank you for your support and your prayers during this most difficult time. We continue to cling to the certain promise of God, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will never leave you or sake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6), as we move forward in ministry here at Gloria Dei. We believe that our gracious God still has work for us to do here, as we—together as His body in this place—continue to proclaim the good news of Christ crucified and risen!

Pastor Anderson

April/May 2020

Dear Resurrection Christians, Loved Ones of the Risen Christ:

“Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

               This past Lent and now Eastertide find us facing some rather unsettling uncertainties and fears. What will the COVID-19 virus mean for the future of our world, our nation, our community, our congregation, and our own family? Nothing makes us more uncertain and frightened than those aspects of life that are not under our control. Let’s face it: we like to be in control, and this virus has shown us that control is an illusion.

               Uncertainties are real sources of fear. Even if we have not faced medical uncertainties stemming from this terrible pandemic, it is unheard of to live as a fallen creature in this fallen world without having encountered some sort of uncertainty. Job loss or a pay cut causes questions about how long one will be able to pay the bills before the collectors come. A serious conflict with a loved one or a sin committed by or against them causes uncertainty as to whether or not the relationship can be restored.

               But thanks be to God, we have the certainty of a blesséd eternity that overcomes all the uncertainties of life—yet we are given so much more than even that! For the merciful, forgiving, and restoring work of God in Christ also overcomes all the certainties of this fallen world! Sin and death and all the evils that come with them are unavoidable certainties in this life. But all have their end in Christ! “In the World you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (St. John 16:33b) 

               Revelation 21 paints a beautiful picture of the results of Christ’s overcoming the world: a new heaven and a new earth! The dwelling place of God coming down to be with us! All tears wiped away! No more mourning, crying, or pain! “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:5)

               This is what we celebrate in Easter! This is what we confess when we proclaim in the Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. ”  We find this certainty given to us in God’s Word and Sacraments! 

               For many already impacted by this virus, there are certainties: dismal certainties. As of this writing, there have been over 206,000 deaths worldwide from this virus; almost 55,000 of those in the

US. These numbers frighten us. There are hundreds of thousands of families who are mournfully certain they will not be able to hug or hold their loved one any longer in this life. Further, and more generally, it is a sad certainty in this fallen world that many broken relationships will never be repaired, not everyone seeking a paid job will find one, and some will forever be wrestling with some trial or another.

               But we have a greater certainty, a certainty that comforts us in our grief, meets doubt with truth, and gives hope for us to endure! That certainty is found in the “living and active, sharper than any double edged sword” Word of God!

               Uncertainty and doubt are great contributors to the fallen frailty we experience in this life. They cloud our vision and darken our world so that we often cannot see the world unfolding ahead of us. But God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The light of Christ is not overcome by any darkness (St. John 1:5), but shines ahead and over the shadow of this world to the hope of the life to come.

               Through Holy Baptism, through Holy Absolution, through Holy Communion, and through the ongoing proclamation of the Word of God, God continually delivers Christ, His Cross, and His Resurrection to you. Through these means, the Holy Spirit holds us firm in the faith. In this Word we find redemption and eternal life; life where the perishable has put on the imperishable, and the mortal has put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53)!

               We may never in this life be certain of our health and wellbeing, nor of our plans for “success.” But, we “believe in the resurrection of the Body” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12ff)! We know for certain that—for all of us who are in Christ—health and wellbeing will be restored, and every last cell of our frail flesh will be made new in glory on the Last Day. The brokenness between people may well remain in this life. But then all brokenness will be repaired, as the full realization of our oneness in Christ will be fully revealed at His return.

               We are called as Christians to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things” (Explanation to the 1^st Commandment). Fear—in this context—means to “take God seriously as our Creator and Judge.” Apart from this fear of God, we need have no other fear! St. John writes, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). We know who the Victor is! We know our future is secure in Him! We need not fear.

               It is with the Cross and Resurrection of Christ in view that we rejoice and pray with hope and certainty these words of the Psalmist, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sin, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s . . .” (Psalm 103:1-5).

“Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

                                                                                          Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Steven J. Anderson

March 2020

Dear Lenten Pilgrims:
                “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil… and when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.’” (St. Matthew 4: 1, 3)

               Imagine it, if you can. Satan comes to Jesus. He is not afraid to come even to the LORD God Himself to try to get Him to sin. He wants Jesus to forget God, to forget His Father, to forget even who He is and what His mission is. 

               Jesus, being fully Man as well as fully God, was hungry, and Satan knew it. So he thinks that he will show Jesus a way to get something to eat. Satan wants Jesus to think that His Father has forgotten Him, but that he—the tempter—will actually help Jesus to fulfill His needs. “Here are some stones,” he tells Jesus, “just make bread out of them.” “No,” Jesus answers him, “I will wait until My Father feeds Me. I do not need your help.” And the devil leaves Him. Jesus did not forget His Father or His Father’s Word. 

               But Satan does not stop. He comes again. He does not give up so easily. Now he comes to Jesus and speaks the very Word of God from Holy Scripture. The devil knows the Bible inside and out. He knows what it says. But he neither loves nor trusts God’s Word. To him, it is a dead letter. He is quite happy to use it for his own purposes, twisting it, making it unrecognizable, and causing people to sin. “The Bible says that God will take care of You,” he tells Jesus. “Therefore, if You hurl yourself down from the highest point of the great temple in Jerusalem, You will not get hurt. Go ahead; Your Father will protect You.” Again, Jesus remembered what God had actually said about trusting in Him, responding, “No, Satan, again you would have Me sin, for I have no right to test God like that.” And again, in the face of God’s true Word, Satan has to depart. 

               But Satan does not get tired. He comes again. He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment, with all of the power, pomp, glory, and riches. Satan promises Jesus that all of this temporary, worldly wealth and power is his to give to give to Jesus, if only Jesus will fall down and worship him.  

               But Jesus remembers the First Commandment—He should because it is His Commandment, after all: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Jesus loved His Father with His whole heart and rebuked the tempter, “Get thee hence, Satan!” In other words, “Be gone! Go away! You have no place or power here!” Worship is for God alone, and so—for the third time­—Satan must depart, having failed to entice Jesus to sin.

               We are now entering into the holy Lenten season. Lent begins with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. He goes into the wilderness to face the devil and all of his temptations, slings, and arrows in our place. Jesus faces Satan and hell itself for us, conquering them by God’s Word. From there, He sets His face toward Jerusalem to go to the cross for the sin of the world. There the tempter will think—for a moment—that the victory is actually his. But again he is wrong. The victory belongs to Jesus, and therefore to us! The season of Lent causes us to reflect upon the darkness of our sin and the greatness of our Savior. We focus upon Christ’s Passion and move through Lent toward the Holy Week observance of His betrayal, suffering, and death. As a people sick with sin, Lent points us to the One by whose wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

               Like Jesus in the wilderness, we remember God’s Word and trust in it because this is the Word that conveys forgiveness, life, and salvation to us from the cross of Christ. And this is the Word that drives away Satan, the tempter, and all of his lies.

               So let us remember God’s Word again this Holy Lententide. Let us hear it and receive it with great humility and thanksgiving. Let us receive Jesus in His body and blood as well. It is important that we discipline ourselves and our families into this “good, right, and salutary” discipline of setting aside time to hear more of the Good News of Jesus Christ!

               Your servant in Christ,

               Pastor Steven J. Anderson