Late Summer 2023 Pastoral Letter
Dear Saints of God in Christ our Lord:
I have a confession to make, and my guess is that I am not alone. It is just this: That I am a little bit of a control freak. For example: I do not do so well when other people drive and I am a passenger – that is: I am not in control of the car. I do not like it very much when plans suddenly change, and things have to be decided on the fly. I do not like it when other people are not prepared when they should be. And, as I said above, I doubt that I am alone in this.
The reality is, that most people like to be in control. Most people like to have a sense of how things are going to work, what is going to happen, and most people do not like surprises or sudden changes in plans. There is always a bit of a dance of trying to balance being in control and having someone else be in control that can be a tricky thing for people to manage. For example, the relationship between parents and children is full of this challenge. Where children very often try to have autonomy, parents try to keep their children safe, which very often means not allowing their children to have autonomy. An employee and their supervisor can tread into the same territory, where the employee might want to do things on their own authority but their supervisor or manager wants to make sure that they know how to do the task, and that it gets done correctly.
And then there is our relationship with God – our Creator. This is not the same as parents and children or employees and supervisors. God is God, and He is in charge of all things. We are not God – we are part of His creation. God calls us to do things in creation and gives us responsibilities, but that is not the same as being in charge.
When we are confronted with Scripture passages that remind us to honor and obey God, we sometimes struggle because we want to be in control, and God calls us to recognize that He is in control. One of these Scripture passages is 1 Peter 5:6, which says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.” The thing about humbling yourself before anyone is that you are no longer in control. When you humble yourself under God’s hand, you wait for Him to exalt you at the proper time. But His view of the proper time might not be your view of the proper time. God calls you to be under His authority and under His care, and that means that you are not in control – you are not in charge. And, for sinful people like you and me, that is a really difficult place to be. We like to call the shots.
This is another chance for you and me and every Christian to continue to learn what the First Commandment means. There God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” As Dr. Luther reminds us, a god is what you look to when you are going through difficult times or when you need help. Usually, the person you trust most in difficulty is yourself. The Lord calls you to recognize that as sinful and to repent. You are not in control, and when you are uncomfortable that you are not in control, He calls you to repent. Turn from your sinful need to be control of all things, and recognize that the God who created all things, is in control!
Living under God’s loving care and trusting Him alone as the One in charge is not the terrible thing that it might initially sound like. Instead, it is a blessing to live under God’s loving care! He will exalt you. He knows what you need and when you need it. He is the Creator, and you are the creation. You do not need an answer to all of life’s questions. You do not need to know how everything will work out. You do not need all the details of God’s plans for your life. What you need to know is exactly what God reveals to you – that He is in control and that He cares for you. He cares for you so much that Jesus Christ died and rose for you, and has promised to prepare a place for you to live with Him forever. As uncomfortable as it may sometimes be, living under God’s loving care is exactly what you need. He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift for you.
I hope and pray that the remainder of your summer in Christ is a good one. If you have had times of recreation or you still have those times to look forward to, I hope that you will come often to the LORD’s House to hear His Word and receive His Gifts found for you there!
In Service to our Gracious King,
Pastor Steven J. Anderson
