Overheard at the funeral home

From a five year old talking about death:

"It's ok. God has toys in heaven."

A Grundtvig Hymn

I have mentioned in the past my great admiration for the hymnody of the Danish theologian and poet NFS Grundtvig. While it is a shame that we do not have a better collection of his hymns in English, it is a greater shame that we don't sing the ones that we do have more often. Here is the text of Peace to Soothe Our Bitter Woes (I believe this 1904 translation is now in public domain, as is the tune). The tune, Fred Til Bod, was composed specifically for this hymn. It is often also associated with the hymn Hallelujah! Jesus Lives! (C.B. Garve). The LBW categorized this in the "Christian Hope" secton of the hymnal (LBW #338), ELW places it in the Easter section, where it properly belongs (ELW #381). As a way to introduce a congregation to the hymn, it may also be sung to the tune Dix (Usually associated with As with Gladness Men of Old) or Toplady (Rock of Ages) - or I suppose Gethsemane (Go to Dark Gethsemane), although that tune clashes with the text some. Personally, I find it to be a beautiful hymn, and think it would make a perfect funeral hymn.

Peace, to soothe our bitter woes,
God in Christ on us bestows;
Jesus bought our peace with God
with his holy, precious blood;
peace in him for sinners found
is the gospel's joyful sound.

Peace within the church still dwells
in our welcomes and farewells;
and through God's baptismal pow'r
peace surrounds our dying hour.
Peace be with you, full and free,
now and through eternity.

A Clerical Holy Week

It has been my experience that few lay people (although I have encountered some wonderful exceptions to the rule) have a good sense for what is entailed in the preparation and execution of Holy Week for clergy. So here it is.

My Holy week really began on the last Wednesday of Lent, with a visit from the synodical bishop. It was a wonderful visit, but required coordinating our lay leadership to be able to come and meet with the bishop prior to our early Lenten service, and still preparing a sermon for the late Lenten service (the bish was only there for one service). That last week of Lent continued with a funeral on Friday.

Sunday was Palm Sunday, which we made a big deal of this year. A procession, especially involving the children, a multi-part reading of the passion narrative, and different liturgies (orders of service) for each service that morning.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are two of the most important services of the church year - they are also two of the hardest to put together liturgically. There is a balancing act between the importance of the services in the life of the church, and the reality of the low attendance on those days, and the length of the services. They are also two of the harder services to preach every year.

The rest of Friday and Saturday are usually spent at the church - fine tuning the services, helping with the arrangement of the sanctuary, etc, etc.

Sunday begins before the sun rises. We used a liturgy that I crafted which combines elements of the festival Easter Sunday service with the Easter Vigil. Again, it is a balancing act. At St John, the early Easter service is essentially thought of as a festival service, but the Vigil is too important to entirely neglect. At the late service, we pulled out all the stops, with some wonderfully uplifting music.

Again, Easter Sunday is notoriously difficult to preach. You have at least three audiences: (1) Your regular attendanders, who are looking for a conclusion to Thursday and Friday, (2) The irregulars, who come every few Sundays and are looking for somethign set in the broader context of our congregational life, and (3) the Christmas and Easter crowd and visitors, who have no context in the rest of Holy Week, or even Lent.

In total, for those ten days:
* 6 Sermons preached
* 8 different liturgies and bulletins to plan
* Helping to arrange the church
* Helping to coordinate the music with the liturgy
* The prayerful preparation to get into the right mindset for each service
* Holy Week visits to shut-ins
* Sending out my pastor's easter letter
* Planning advertising and promotion

Holy Week is, in the life of the church, the foundation of what it means for us to be the church. It is for your clergy a spiritual, emotional, and physical marathon.

At the Banquet of the Lamb

As we enter into the celebration of the Great 50 Days following the resurrection of our Lord, the family of Saint John Lutheran Church lost one of our saints today. While we trust always that we will be reunited at the great wedding feast of the Lamb, and we celebrate her life and the power of the resurrection, we also mourn the empty space she occupied in our mortal lives.

Please pray for the family of Easther Schroeder - and for our family of faith - as we say our earthly good-byes.

**Services will be here at St John, Thursday at 2:00 pm. Visitation will be Wednesday, 6:00-8:00 pm at Memorial Oaks.**

The Paschal Homily

What follow's is the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom. It has been called the best sermon ever preached by Christianity's greatest preacher (ca. 400 ad). For centuries it has been read as the the meditation for the Easter vigil, and indeed it continues to be preached in many Orthodox churches to this day.

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,as well as to him that toiled from the first.

To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor. The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry.
Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death,
for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it. He destroyed Hell when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaiah foretold this when he said,"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?O Hell, where is thy victory? Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice
!Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Maundy Glory

Ok. I know full well that Thursday and Friday of Holy Week are somber and reflective days - certainly not days in which celebration is entirely appropriate. But I can't help myself. I was home for just a couple of hours this afternoon, and for the first time our little one strung together a couple of "da-da-da-da"s. She has been working on consants for some time now (mostly B's), but this is the first appearance of the D sound - and in that great string of da-da no less.

Yes, I am well aware that she has no idea what she is saying. But I really don't care. I am beaming from ear to ear in these last moments before our Maundy Thursday service.

The best Easter Card

In Wal-Mart last night, I found the best Easter card I have ever seen.
Exterior:
(Picture of a robed preacher in the pulpit). "Today's Easter message is ..."
Interior:
"Where the hell have you been since Christmas?"


Perhaps its only funny to clergy, but it made me laugh out loud in the store.

Maundatum

We all know the story of Maundy Thursday - of how Jesus washed his disciples feet as an example of service. And then there's the bit where Peter tries to refuse.

Maybe Peter just had ugly feet, and didn't want to take off his sandals.

Random Visitors

It is always fun to look and see how people get to this little site. We have had visitors from all over as of late - someone from Geneva with a World Council of Churches IP, folks from Australia, many visitors from England (though not, I understand, Wales), and from all over the US. How do they find this little corner of the internet? Some recent search terms that led here:

• Carolingian Creed
• Nikolaj Grundvig (this one brings people in fairly regularly)
• Funeral Sermon Outline (and many variations - apparently lots of folks are looking for help with their Funeral sermons)
• Evangelical Lutheran Worship
• david hansen (some folks apparently looking for me)
• Blogging Lutherans
• ELW Baptism liturgy
• Holy Week trivia (looking for sermon illustrations, maybe?)
• Pastor's kid blog

A Palm Sunday Homily

... No one can make us look on the cross. No one can force us to make the trip up Golgotha.
But there’s just one problem. If we want to stay at the party, we do so alone – Jesus has left. Jesus has left the party ...

Read the rest of my Palm Sunday reflection: "The Party & The Passion"