Is your word any good? Like the Old Westerns, “My word is My bond.” We like to think we are people of our word. We make a concerted effort to follow through and do what we said we’d do. We want to be seen as straight-shooting, trustworthy folks who keep their promises.

When someone doesn’t keep their word to us we get irritated, don’t we? Of course! With politicians, we just expect them to break their promises. We are disappointed when companies break their policies, their promises. We are hurt when someone breaks their word. Broken promises break our trust.

The Bible speaks about “giving your word” as making an oath. Like the president and other officials take an oath, a promise, to faithfully execute the responsibilities of their office. An oath is a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one’s future action or behavior.

We know first, that sometimes making an oath can get you into trouble. Like when King Herod who swore an oath ended up cutting off the head of John the Baptist (Mt 14:6-10). Or the time Peter perjured himself, swearing an oath that he didn’t know Jesus (Mt 26:72).

But more realistically, we know we often break our promises. In today’s world, if something better comes along, people will do what they can to walk away from their prior commitment. We break our promises to friends, our children and our spouses. If we are painfully honest with ourselves, we admit that we are not always true to our word.

Because the LORD is a God of His Word, the church is a community where we make many promises. Every time you say the Apostle’s Creed you are making a promise that you believe in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit over every thing else. If you were married in the church you promised to make Christ an active part of strengthening your marriage. When a child is baptized, parents make promises to bring their children to worship regularly and raise their children as Christ followers. When we do Affirmation of Baptism on the Sunday of the LORD’s baptism. you make a public profession of your faith, a promise, that you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in Holy Baptism (LBW, p.201). We make lots of promises in the church. When we do, we are not making promises to the Church, but to God.

And we know. We break our oaths to God. Although we expect God to be faithful to us, we make excuses for why we are not. We rationalize why it’s okay to break our oath, our covenant, with the LORD.

We should know that God holds us to our word:

“When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” (Num 30:2, see also Deut 23:21, Ps 116:14)  

And again:

“ When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.” (Eccl 5:4, see also Ps 22:25, 50:14, 66:13.14, Ezek 16:59 and Matt 5:33-37)

Yet, God makes a way for us sinners who don’t keep our word, who don’t stay true to the Word. Even though we distrust and despise his WORD, the LORD is always faithful. Even if we are faithless, he remains true. (2 Tim 2:13) Our God is a God of His Word. “For no word from God will ever fail.” (Lk 1:37) The LORD swears an oath on His own glory to be our God and to be with us (Deut 29:12-13, Deut 31:23). So, the LORD sends His Word in the Flesh. The Word and Promise of God is incarnated in Christ who willing takes up the Cross. The Word in the Flesh takes on all our unfaithfulness upon the cross to give us God’s Word, give us God’s faithfulness.

God makes a way for us oath breakers so that by trusting in the Word Made Flesh we are made faith filled. As we trust in the Promise Giver and Promise Keeper, we are empowered to walk in his Word. We become the faithful in Christ.

May the LORD’s unfailing love, your salvation, come to you, according to His promise. (Ps 119:41)

Your servant in the Gospel,

Pastor Douglas

On September 27 the ELCA released a “Declaration of the ELCA to American Indian and Alaska Native People.”  The document contains a full page of confessions to the American Indian and Alaska Native communities of the ELCA and in the U. S. as well as to non-Indigenous communities of the ELCA.  A link to that document can be found here.

There is no doubt – there is absolutely no question – but that when settlers from Europe came to America, there were already people living here.  There is no doubt – there is absolutely no question – but that treaties were broken, promises were not kept, and people – including children who were forcibly enrolled in boarding schools – were mistreated and abused.  There is much that we need to repent of.  We also know that all of our homes and all of our churches – and even the ELCA office building on Higgins Road – are all built on land that once belonged to someone else.    

I am reminded of the account in 2 Samuel 21, when “there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year” (verse 1).  David inquired of the Lord and asked why.  The Lord replied, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The Israelites had made a treaty with the Gibeonites when they first entered into the Promised Land (Joshua 9).  Even though the Gibeonites had tricked the Israelites into making that treaty, Joshua knew that they still needed to keep their promises.  But several generations later – during the time of King Saul – those promises were broken.  Israel needed to deal with the fact that they had not kept their word.  They had to face what they had done.  It was only after they had done so that God would again bless them.  2 Samuel 21: 14 tells us that after Israel made things right, “God heeded supplications for the land.”  It makes you wonder if part of the reason for all of the problems within our country – as well as within the ELCA – is because of promises that have been broken.

But there are a couple sentences within that declaration/confession that make me deeply troubled.  In the first paragraph it says, “We have devalued Indigenous religions and lifeways.”  In the second paragraph it says, “We confess that we are complicit in the annihilation of Native peoples and your cultures, languages, and religions.”  I completely agree that it is severely wrong to devalue other people and their lifeways.  It is absolutely wrong to annihilate other peoples and their cultures and languages.  What I want to address is the ELCA’s confessing its devaluing indigenous religions.  I read that statement in the light of the “Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment,” which the ELCA Churchwide Assembly overwhelmingly approved in 2019.  A link to that document can be found here. 

What concerns me about the ELCA’s Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment is the section entitled, “Limits on our knowing.”  In that section it says, “We must be careful about claiming to know God’s judgments regarding another religion.”  Instead it says that “all we know, and all we need to know, is that our neighbors are made in God’s image and that we are called to love and serve them.”  Certainly our neighbors are made in God’s image.  Certainly we are called to love and serve them.  But since it is a fact that people who are not followers of Jesus also love and serve their neighbors, then the ELCA is saying that the church of Jesus has nothing unique, valuable, and important to offer to other people.

If the church of Jesus has nothing unique, valuable, and important to offer to other people, then I could see why we might feel the need to confess devaluing other religions.  But if the church of Jesus does have something unique, valuable, and important to offer to other people, then it is not that we devalue other religions.  Rather it is that we value people.  We love people, and we want people to know and love Jesus and to know that Jesus loves them.  We would not be loving and serving our neighbors if we did not tell them about Jesus.  

Are the only options either devaluing other religions or feeling that as followers of Jesus we have nothing unique, valuable, and important to offer?  The account of the apostle Paul in Athens in Acts 17 says that there is another option.  Please notice five things from this account.

First, verse 16 says that Paul was “deeply distressed to see that the city (of Athens) was full of idols.”  Are we deeply distressed over the ways in which people place so many other things before and above God?

Second, in verse 22 Paul began his message in front of the Areopagus on a very positive note.  He did not blast the people for all of their idols.  Instead he said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.”  In our relating to people who do not know Jesus, do we begin on a positive note and do we maintain a positive spirit? 

Third, we see in verse 23 that Paul had taken the time and had put forth the effort to become familiar with their culture and the objects of their worship.  He said, “As I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship.”  Do we do the same?  

Fourth, he found a connecting point.  As Paul looked carefully at the objects of the Athenians’ worship, he came across an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” (verse 23)  Do we look until we can find a connecting point?  Can we identify the aspects of our culture that reveal the spiritual yearnings and longings of people?

Fifth, he was able to relate to the people by quoting from their poets, who had said, “In him we live and move and have our being” and “We too are his offspring.” (verse 28)  Are we able to relate to and connect with people today by quoting from the sources that give expression to their feelings, needs, and longings?

So either devaluing other religions or feeling that as followers of Jesus we have nothing unique, valuable, and important to offer are not the only options.  Like the apostle Paul, we need to recognize the spiritual yearnings and longings of people, and then we need to find ways to connect with them.  We do this, not because we devalue their religions, but instead because we value people.  We love people, and we want people to know and love Jesus and to know that Jesus loves them. 

Editor’s Note: This piece was written by a Luther Seminary student earlier this spring.

I can’t tell you what spring is like in places beyond the Midwest — I’m sure they have it but it certainly pales in comparison to the spring that we enjoy in Minnesota. Saint Anthony Park and the ever-creaky Bockman Hall were covered in snow one day this week and basked in warm sun the next. Through open windows a new breeze blows in and with it the promise of a new age. A new age not held by the chains of ice and cold but one dominated by the warmth of the sun.

It is on to this odd state of transition that I cannot help but project my own faith. We as believers live in a time of transition. We have felt the warmth of the Son but are all too familiar with the cold and death of sin. Yet just like those experiencing spring in Minnesota, we know that the days of sin are numbered. We may not know for certain what that number is but that God has assigned it.

There is a moment in early March (and yes, I am a hardy one) when we first feel the warmth that God has given us. It is a feeling unlike anything else as it brings us to the end of our reality and then on to the next. That first warm day in March announces that winter is ending and summer is soon to follow. It is a sweet promise but one that loses its meaning if we spend the rest of the season behind closed windows and in a dorm. There, away from the sun, the promise becomes stale.

I remember the moment when I first felt the warmth of Christ. It brought me to the end of my reality and onto the next. Yet it is a warmth unappreciated when it is followed by distance and silence; by greeting the new breeze with closed windows and walls. Like students in spring, we as believers must live into the warmth and not merely observe its effect through a double-paned window. We will never replace the experience of when the Son first broke the cold but we can continue to live into the promise of that which the Son brings.

How do we live in the sun in a time when winter looms so close? I really couldn’t say but certainly we must first step from our dorms and houses and into where that light shines. We know darkness because we have seen light; cold because we have felt warmth. There is wisdom in that simple pairing — now that we have known, we should know.

The snow on my window’s ledge is gone but, without any regard of my own attitudes, it may return tomorrow. Spring is a time of transition, one that aims to break us of winter and usher in a period where we need not worry about snow. Until that time, I will have to wait and celebrate the warmth as it is given — that is the reassurance that allows us to hope for summer even when winter surprises us again.

A. Nestenprest

“Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.  The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan.  I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;” (Psalm 68:21-22)

Throughout the ages, there have been times of captivity. The Lord allows, for His purposes, things to happen that do not make sense to us. The Lord, in time, will bring back those who are His that they may know He is God. There is no place anyone can go where the Lord does not see and whose hand is not present. No matter the circumstance, know that the Lord is Sovereign.

Heavenly Father, You are there, my mind knows this, but sometimes I do not feel Your presence or remember Your promises. Guide me away from these thoughts and into reality that even if I am in a time of difficulty, I never feel abandoned by You. Though the world leave me behind, You are always there. Help me see in You alone the goodness, hope and eternity You promise.

Thank You, Jesus, for walking in the wilderness alone for forty days to break the bonds of captivity. Thank You for hanging on the cross to break the bonds of death. You know adversity and have paid the price that we might know, now and forever, that You are with us and for us. Lead me, Lord, ever deeper into the mystery of faith that I may always abide in You.  Amen.

“God will hear and answer them – even the one who sits enthroned from of old – with whom there is no change, and who do not fear God.  He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has violated his covenant.”  (Psalm 55:19-20)

The Lord is unchanging.  There are times where the wicked seem to be free to do their wickedness, but the time comes when, for them, there is no more peace.  Do not be deceived, all things are in the Lord’s hands and in Him is the hope of eternity.  He shall prevail.  The Lord offers the promise to all, but only for those who come into His covenant does He fulfill the covenant.

Lord, let me not be wrapped up in the ways of the wicked, but instead, walk according to Your never changing Word.  Lead me in the way of righteousness, that I may go as You lead.  Help me discern the difference so I may see plainly Your way of truth and walk in the counsel of Your Word.  Guide me according to Your goodness to understand more clearly the things You would have me do.

Lord Jesus, without You and the grace You give it would be impossible.  Help me now and always to live according to the never-changing way You have established in the creation.  Guide me by Your light to walk in the way I should go that I may not veer from the narrow path of life You lay before me.  Help me now and always to seek Your way for my life and listen to Your counsel.  Amen.

“Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.  He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me.”  (Psalm 55:17-18)

Let’s face it, we all love to murmur and complain.  Not that this accomplishes anything, but we do it anyway.  Be not one who is constantly complaining, but look to the Lord who knows your need before you ask.  Your soul is in the promise of the Lord if you will but submit to Him in all of your ways.  Turn therefore and be comforted in the promise of the Lord knowing that He knew you before you were born.

These words are so easy to read Lord, but hard for the heart to act upon.  Help my unbelief that I would trust You in all things and for all things knowing that You will bring all things together for glory for those who love You.  Guide me O Lord to walk in all of Your ways now and forever that I would know that my soul has been redeemed in peace and that the battle is Yours alone.

Lord Jesus, You have come and fought the fight and won the war for as many as believe.  Although the battle rages on around us in this generation, open my eyes to see that the war is over.  Grant patience for what must take place and lead me beside the quiet waters that I may have my soul restored.  You are Lord and Master and You know all that is needed.  Guide me in Your ways now and always.  Amen.

“Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness.  “I would hasten to my place of refuge from the stormy wind and tempest.”  (Psalm 55:7-8)

Lord, the times and seasons are in Your hands.  You have set all things in their course.  You allow what You allow and You hinder things of which we do not know.  You have given the promise that all things will work for glory for those who love You.  Lead Your people through every tempest that we all would learn to trust in Your goodness above all things and walk in Your ways.

If it were up to me, I would flee to the hills, hide and never return.  It would do nothing and accomplish stagnation.  Keep me close to You Lord that whatever may come and no matter the circumstances, I may forever hold fast to the truth of Your Word.  Lead me O Lord that I may walk in Your ways all the days of my life knowing that You alone are Sovereign in all the earth.

Lord Jesus, You have come that we may have life and have it abundantly.  It is not a life free from the troubles of this world, but a life led by You through all the troubles of this world.  Help me now and always to hold fast to the truth You have revealed and to face every storm You lead me to face.  Guide me now and always to walk in Your ways and by Your example.  Amen.

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.”  (Psalm 51:12-13)

Sustain.  We ebb and flow in this world, good days and bad.  In the Lord there is the promise of being consistent.  That consistency, shines like a lamp in a world of darkness.  To have the joy of the soul restored and a willing spirit to live for the Lord is the promise of salvation for all.  Take upon yourself the salvation of the Lord and come into His holy presence and walk in His salvation.

Lord I hear these words and I like them, but then I walk in the way of sinners and their darkness is my darkness.  Lord, lift me up and sustain me now and forever that I may join in shining the light of Your glory in a dark world.  Guide me in the way of truth that I may now and forever abide in You as You abide in me knowing that only in You is their life and light, hope and a future.

Lord Jesus, Light of the world.  You have come in this world of darkness to bring the grace we need to be lifted up into the Father’s eternal presence.  You are the hope of joy in a weary world of flashing darkness.  Open my eyes to see first the glimmer, then continue to open them that they may learn to receive full light.  Bring me along Your path Jesus that I may be fully restored.  Amen.