QUILLOWS

For some, it's a made up word, combining Quilt and Pillow.

For some, it is cruel and unusual punishment that ought to be banned.

For others, it's like seeing an accident on the road. You never want to see or experience that pain and yet you can't help but looking.

On June 5, we have our annual Quillows Ceremony at the 11:15 worship where we recognize our graduating seniors with a special quillow that the parents have made to wrap their child once again in their arms before sending them off to college. While it is a tough and emotional service to get through, it is also a very special and heart warming moment to experience for both the families and congregation who have raised these young people together.

As we celebrate another Quillows on Sunday, we realize that many hands have shaped these graduates. While the parents alone stand up with their child, the Sunday School teacher who first taught him the Ten Commandments looks on. The youth volunteer who took her bowling, breaks into a smile. The choir director who coaxed him to sing sheds a tear. The confirmation small group leader marvels at how well she has done.

These are our kids. We have all played a role in shaping them to be the people who stand before us today. And while we all don't get to wrap that Quillow around their shoulders on June 5, on those lonely college nights when they feel so far away from home and crawl into bed with that Quillow, they will remember that there is a greater family here at Christ that loves them.

Join us on June 5.

Bring a tissue!

Pastor Scott

The beginning of summer...

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and for a lot of us summer vacation means traveling. Now I am curious, when you travel and you are away over the weekend, do you find a church to attend on Sunday or do you worship at the "Church of St. Mattress"? I am guessing for a lot of us we don't take the time to find a place to worship when we are away from home. This summer I am challenging you to take your faith with you when you go on vacation. Pack it in there with your swim trucks and flip flops. I know there are a million excuses not to do this and I don't want to hear any of them. Being in God's house and with God's people is incredibly important for our souls even when we are away from home. Take the time and do the research to find a church so you can have your soul fed. I guarantee you it will be worth it.

To help you do this I want you to email me (chermansen@christelca.org) after you have had the chance to worship somewhere else. I want to hear about the experience. I want to hear about what was different and what was the same. I want you to realize that we are a part of a gigantic family across this globe that finds their unity in Jesus.

Now when you walk in to this new church I also need you to promise me that you will approach this experience with a positive attitude and an open mind. Certainly it wont be Christ Lutheran but the Spirit is alive and working in that place, that same Spirit that fills Christ Lutheran and that Spirit wants to connect with you.

Vacations are great, we all need them, but don't forget to take your faith with you. I look forward to your emails.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Chris

Parenting--at age 20

I heard my mom and dad once say that you never stop being a parent. While I now know what they mean, I sure hope I'm not turning into them!

Our oldest, Hannah, just turned 20. She is doing well in college, old enough to vote, and responsible enough to make her own decisions. Though Gretchen hates it when I say it, Hannah is a woman, no longer a little girl.

And yet, when we put her on the airplane this past weekend to send her off to L.A. to work in a Physical Therapy Clinic for the summer, those parenting instincts kicked in. Do you have a jacket? Do you have enough money? How will you get around? Don't talk to strangers. Call us when you get there. Pack some cold medicine.

For the most part, she patiently accepted our neurotic parenting without once reminding us that if the US Government considers her mature enough to choose a President, we should trust her enough to pack her own toothbrush.

You never stop being a parent.

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he invited them to call God "Our Father." It dramatically changed the way they understood their relationship with God as one who looks over, protects, love and worries about his children, no matter their ages. And when they wander far from home and lose their way, like a parent, God will not rest until they are safely home.

Hannah will do well in LA. It is a great opportunity and a unique adventure. And while we encouraged this summer job and helped set it up for her, there will always be just a twinge of anxiety until she is back home.

Always a Parent, Always a Gift,
Pastor Scott

Now what...

Now that 6pm on May 21 has come and gone let’s talk about the work that needs to be done.

I recently read an article about atheists who are excited about this event because when it doesn’t happen they are looking forward to “rubbing it in Christians’ faces.” How in the world did this happen? Typically when someone talks about the end of the world they talk about someone who will take the express elevator up (themselves) and someone else who will end up extra crispy, and those who are told they will be extra crispy don’t usually like that.

We love to judge don't we. We love to say who is in and who is out and somewhere along the line churches thought it would be a good idea to use this approach as a way to draw people to the faith. Newsflash: it isn’t working. It is widening the chasm between those who go to church and those who don’t. It is increasing the animosity between the pew-sitters and the non-pew-sitters.

Now Jesus preached a message that was challenging but he also tried to reveal how incredible God’s love is. He understood his audience before he spoke so he could share the message that they needed to hear, the message that would lead them to God. It may have been delivered in different ways but the result was always the same, getting closer to God.

The end of the world will happen, someday, but the Bible tells us over and over again not to worry about it. We are to live everyday as if it might happen at any moment.

There has been a Martin Luther quote floating around that I think is excellent. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” No matter what happens tomorrow we have work to do today. We are called to lead people to God, and by the looks of the animosity that our “atheist” brothers and sisters have towards us, we have a lot of work to do. Let’s stop creating division and start building a better world. Are you with me? Because we need you!

See you in church,

Pastor Chris

A Strange Family

Just this week I was amazed again at how diverse our congregational family is.

At our new member class sitting at the same table was a lifelong Lutheran who great up as a preacher's kid eating lunch with a woman who grew up primarily Muslim. This week I will meet with a guy who was Jewish and once considered being a rabbi but now is interested in converting. I had lunch last week with a guy whose bumper stickers clearly display his suspicion of the government and another person who thought Marx didn't go far enough.

This is our family!

And yet they all have found themselves here at Christ Lutheran. They don't look the same, vote the same, even believe the same. But there is something here that they hold in common--Jesus.

When I look at the Bible and see the mismatch of people who followed Jesus, they look like, well, like our congregation. Rich and poor, conservative and liberal, opinionated and meek, Jewish and Gentile. But they all agreed that Jesus is both Lord of their lives and Savior of their souls.

If there is room enough in just one week of my life for all these different kinds of conversations, then I have to think that there is room for you at this church, too. I don't assume that you will agree with me all the time. But I do assume and expect that you will be engaged in the questions with me.

Because that is what family does. . .even one as strange as ours.

Peace,
Pastor Scott

Finding Perspective

Last night I watched an interview between two Christians. I assumed that both of these Christians believe in Jesus, go to church and read the bible, but for some reason it seemed like these two believers really didn't like each other. The interviewee had recently written a book and the interviewer seemed to be taking great delight in attempting to thrash the book's content and push the author into a defensive position. Have you ever seen anything like this? Why would two people, who seem to be working for the same goal, go after one another with such hostility and anger?

I am firmly convinced that we would rather be defined by our differences than our similarities. We are very good at creating divisions and once these divisions have been established we tend to surround ourselves with individuals who only share our same opinions. What is worse is that churches do this, believers do this and instead of doing God's work we sit and debate.

Now this is not to say that issues shouldn't be discussed, those types of discussions can lead to tremendous growth, but when these debates lead to gridlock it is God's work and God's people that suffer.

We have more in common with each other than we think. We need to define ourselves by our similarities, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and that, as believers, we are called to go to work. Now you and I may not agree on everything but that doesn't mean that we cant go to work for God's people. That doesn't mean that we can't work side by side building a home or serving a meal. That doesn't mean that we can't live out our faith for the benefit of others.

There is a time and place for debate but not at the cost of God's people. Let's put aside our differences and get to work, for God's sake and his people.

See you in Church,

Pastor Chris

LOVE WINS--A Reminder

I just got back from the senior pastors' conference for large churches in the ELCA and had several conversations about Rob Bell's latest book, "Love Wins." Some think that he is asking the questions that we've been avoiding for years while others think that he crosses the line into heresy. If nothing else, he has rattled the evangelicals' cage and caught the attention of many young people who have turned their back on a church that teaches eternal punishment.

Is Rob Bell a universalist?
Does hell exist and if so is anyone in it?
Doesn't God get whatever God wants--everyone to go to heaven?
Is heaven out there somewhere or is heaven what we create here?
Is our concept of heaven and hell correct?

Get the book. Read the first three chapters. And meet me on Wednesday night, May 11, for three weeks beginning at 7:00. It should be a pretty interesting conversation.

Peace,
Pastor Scott

Searching for the right words.

A lot of people have done a lot of writing this past week. A lot of people have done a lot of talking this past week. I have been searching for the right words. The death of Osama bin Laden has been the topic of conversation since Sunday night and, as only we can do, we have found a way to let this divide us too. Many have talked about justice finally being served, while others have said this death should not be celebrated. Others have talked about closure and the healing this brings while others have worried about the potential repercussions.

As important as these issues are, and they are important, what has consumed me this past week is the question, "How do we, as people of faith, confront evil." Two things come to mind; first: Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pacifist, saw pure evil in Hitler and felt the need to stop this evil. He associated himself with a group that planned an assassination attempt on Hitler, an association that ultimately cost him his life. (If you dont know much about Bonhoeffer please look him up, he is a fascinating man that we need to know about.)

The second is Ephesians 6. Verses 10-20 speak of this battle against evil and our need to put on the full armor of God. I find this passage so helpful because it reminds us not to fight evil on our own but only with God's protection.

Now I am not offering any answers here but I am interested in your thoughts, how do we confront evil? Is there an evil that needs to be confronted? If there is, is it our job to confront it? And, what is the best way to carry that out?

I look forward to hearing from you.

See you in church,

Pastor Chris