The Road Not Taken

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Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” Luke 9:28-33a

Last Saturday, Pastor Craig and I went hiking at Highbanks Metro Park. We bundled up and headed down my favorite trail. About halfway around our familiar route, Pastor Craig noticed that the trail divided and turned on a path diverging from the one we had always taken before. “Where are you going?” I asked. He explained that he was getting cold and didn’t really want to take our usual path. He thought this would be a shorter walk and loop us back to our car a bit quicker than the 2 miles we had left to go if we continued on the path we knew. I looked down the path and surmised that the trail must just connect into another trail that followed along Powell Road. I had never really been impressed with the scenery of that trail and wasn’t all that enthusiastic to follow. I tried to talk him into just going the way we knew, but he recited my own words back to me, “Let’s try it, we might discover something new.”

Doubtful, I reluctantly followed him on to this new path. Too my surprise it led us to a whole bunch of new paths at High Banks. I wasn’t sure how I had missed this whole section of the park. I had no idea these trails even existed. It was absolutely beautiful.

As I reflect on this moment, it reminds me of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost.

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

In the Gospel reading for this week, Jesus leads Peter, James and John on a new trail. They go up on a mountain and they experience what we call today the transfiguration. Jesus turns dazzling white and both Elijah and Moses appear with Jesus and talk with him. Peter recognizes the beauty and sacredness of the moment and asks to remain there together, only for a cloud to come in and overshadow them and a voice come from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” Jesus then leads the disciples down the mountain and begins preparing them for his death. This moment is a significant turning point, in Jesus’ life and for the disciples’ journey of faith. It is a moment that not only transfigures Jesus but changes the direction of his ministry and mission for the world.

Where have you experienced these crossroads in your life? Where have you found a new path? Where is the Spirit leading and nudging you in your faith journey to try something new?

I don’t know about you, but in the midst of Covid and all the changes we have faced, I find myself not wanting to take any new paths or even try new things. I am exhausted and tired and adding one more thing just seems like a lot to handle. As it is cold outside, I find that comfortable and safe, just feels easier. And yet, I think back to my hike last weekend. What if I had refused to take the new path, all that I would have missed out on and still have yet to discover?

What if Peter and James and John had decided to not listen to Jesus and stay on that mountain and not come down? Sure, they would have missed the pain of the cross, but they also would have missed the joy of the resurrection.

All of us are given choices in life, paths that are put before us, new and old. It takes faith and trust to try new things especially the older and more comfortable we get. As Lent approaches, it is a time built into our church, to try new things – to dig deeper in our faith and try something new. I encourage you this week to pray about where God is calling you in your spiritual journey down a new path. Consider this Lent adding or deepening one of the spiritual disciplines of our faith to your daily activities. Consider focusing on prayer, fasting or even giving. Allow the Spirit to lead you down a new path and perhaps, like Peter, James, and John discover, this new path just may lead you down a journey that changes and transforms you forever.

Join us in worship this Sunday whether in person, live streaming, on YouTube or even in our Sunday morning Zoom Room. Let us turn to God, listen and open ourselves to whatever path he leads.

In Christ’s love and service,
Pastor Wendy

A Genius Plan

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“Dad! Dad! I have a genius plan!” beamed my six-year old.

“You do, Jonathan!” I smiled back at him with an inquisitive look. “What is your genius plan?”

“I am going to save all my game time and bank it to use it on Saturday.” This cracked me up even more. “The game will not save and more time will allow me to win it. Isn’t that a genius plan?” He called back seeking approval.

Gleaming, I thought about it for a second. Not having responded quick enough for his comfort, he asked again. “Isn’t that a genius plan, Dad?”
“Yes, Jonathan! It is a genius plan.” I of course responded as I cracked up laughing.

It really was a genius plan. Patiently waiting and coming up with permanent solution is pretty bright. Especially when you want something very much is that true. It so much easier to get distracted, to lose our focus and miss God right before our very eyes. Unlike my son, I fall prey to this tendency much more. Not Jonathan however.

Jonathan’s intuitiveness and faithfulness is much more like the centurion whom Jesus encountered that requested for the healing of one under his command. This centurion upon the pain-staking realization that a slave in his household was not recovering from illness and was near death was unsure what to do. Word would have spread to him because of his faithfulness in helping construct the synagogue about the works of Jesus. But it was not his faith. He simply was there to help and respect the culture of the community. With the situation worsening to very dire possibilities, he was all out of options though.

All options gone. The centurion pondered the circumstances and came up with a genius plan. He sent some of the Jewish elders to go quickly to Jesus. Requesting Jesus to come visit him, he hoped that Jesus’ healing powers would make the situation better. Okay? Jesus came. But that wasn’t the genius of the moment. The genius of the moment happened upon Jesus’ arrival.

At Jesus’ arrival, the centurion came out of his house. He called to him from a distance. He knew this was not his faith. He realized that he no laurels of his own to stand on and make this request. Yet, he knew what he had heard. With that in mind, he asked him to heal his slave while standing a way off. Making it clear as he made the request to Jesus that his soldiers followed his commands even when not with him present. He was certain Jesus could and would do the same.

Now that is genius! The centurion understood that Jesus could not be all places at once and that a solution in that moment or healing in that moment did not require Jesus to be in the room. That was so much indicative of the faith that Jesus pointed it out and lived it out.

The genius of Jesus’ life is that incarnated in his death and resurrection is permanent healing. This does not require Jesus being physically present with us now. Faith inspires and informs us that through death and resurrection of Christ, healing is for us all.

Come to All Shepherds Lutheran Church this Sunday. Worship with us at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM in-person or on our YouTube Livestream at 9:30AM or 11:11AM. Experience the permanence of God’s healing presence in his life, death and resurrection. Experience the presence of God now and forevermore.

Shepherding the Shepherds,

Pastor Craig

Celebrating 200 Years in Delaware County

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200 years ago in Delaware County! Families had a vision. Their young ones had a dream. Uncertain of what the future held, they built a church. They constructed a community of faith that would Proclaim the Grace of God, Teach the Word of God, Serve the People of God So that all may come to Believe. January 28, 1821, the first Lutheran Church was born in our county – St. Mark’s Lutheran Church!

The elders of the congregation would take the time to weekly prepare for worship over the years. Making sure the sanctuary was up-kept, they tended to their house of worship. They swept. They dusted. The little things were not minute. Getting ready for worship was a job and joy. Placing paraments, trimming candles or preparing the meal, the people made sure that their house was cared for being always ready for family and guests – invited and unexpected. All were always welcome.

Teaching the Word of God was done with much care. The children would gather for early instruction in the faith. The stories of faith would take on life in Sunday School Classes. Intentionally trying to share the faith would lead the development of Vacation Bible School and Amazing Grace Day Camp and other learning ministries. Nothing would stop the Word of God from being taught in the community of faith’s collective mind. Learning from the family of faith in the family of faith was foundational to their mission and vision.

The leaders of the congregation dirtied their hands over the years. Serving the people of God inside the community of faith and in the community around them was integral to their work. Their neighbors mattered to them. People in Need, Family Promise, First Fridays, the list of service done and rendered is too extensive to capture in totality.

But the faithful from the beginning until now did all this with one purpose…So that all may come to Believe! People coming to believe in Christ was their purpose through the years and is our purpose now.
Your family and you are a part of this lived vision and this realized dream.

Your family and you really are! As families who are now part of the Lutheran heritage in Delaware County, our faith history proceeds us in so many ways. Continuing to construct a community of faith that Goes, Loves, Encourages and Nurtures ALL People in Christ’s Name may be our mission, it is still born out of the same Gospel that tells us to Go! Make disciples of all nations. It is born out of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

While St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church will begin its 200th year of worshipping as a community of faith this Sunday, worship with us at All Shepherds in the communion of saints at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM. We will livestream at the last two worships. Not only will we gather around Word and Sacrament, but we will gather around the Word and Sacrament that has been celebrated in Delaware County for over 200 years. You are part of rich faith heritage that connects us in God’s name so join us.

Shepherding the Shepherds,
Pastor Craig Richter

Out of Nothing

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“Let’s go fishing!” Never having gone fishing before, I still recall my father’s simple words when he invited my brother and me out for our first fishing excursion. One might not think that those three words are that significant. To a ten-year old boy who was excited to experience a new adventure, “Let’s go fishing!” caught my attention and made my heart skip.

What a first fishing excursion it was for my dad, he had to teach us all about fishing. He showed us boys the three rods for our excursion. The three of us looked those rods up and down to see if they were ready for the day. He opened up his childhood tackle box to determine what we would need to purchase for our outing. List in hand, the three of us would journey out later to the local K-mart to purchase all needed supplies. “This is hard work!” I remember thinking. “Why can’t we just go catch some fish?”

A little less excited, I kept at it. At the local store, we discussed the benefits to the different types of bait. Should we get plastic bait? Should we go to another store and purchase real night crawlers? Did we need bobbers? All the different questions flooded my mind. “How could it be this hard?” I thought.

Finallly! Finally! All was purchased at the store. We were ready for the next morning. I was an exhausted young boy. Time to call it a day.

The next day was full of its own adventures! It was full of trying to find a shaded place on a hot, humid summer day. We drove to not one, but two places together. It was full of learning how to bait on a line. Putting live bait on a line can be quite the adventure. It was full of casting the rod into the Elkhorn River. Doing so and getting nothing back can cause one to grow tiresome. It was full of disappointment. All that work, we caught nothing.

We caught nothing! Peter and the first disciples catch nothing too! Participating in much harder work than I did and experiencing greater disappointment than me, they had worked all day. Their work was not merely a past time. They needed their haul for the day because it was their livelihood. They did not have the convenience of giving it up and calling it a day. They had to try and try again. And still they caught nothing.

After catching nothing in their nets, Jesus strolls by and sends them out to fish again. Reluctant and resistant, Peter relents and heads out into the waters one more time. And to his surprise, Peter and the other fisherman catch more than their nets can hold. Their nets are breaking.

Finished with the job, Peter falls at his knees and acknowledges his doubt. In his acknowledging the nothingness of his faith, Jesus shows his how much he has received and how he has more than he can imagine before him.

My story did not end as well. We still caught nothing that day. But I had more than I could imagine before me. I had a memory that drew the three of us closer. Out of nothing came something very significant.

Out of nothing comes the most significant thing of our lives. Out of the nothingness of death of Christ comes the gift of the resurrection and eternal life now. Worship with us at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM in person or at 9:30AM or 11:11AM on our youtube channel. Hear and experience how out of nothing, God in Christ gives us more than we could imagine.

Shepherding the Shepherds,

Pastor Craig

Responding to God's Call

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“Now, Wendy, with your gifts and talents, don’t ever expect to come back home to be a pastor. Expect to go to Texas.” I remember specifically, the Bishop of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod, Ralph Dunkin, speaking these words to me the day that our Synod approved me to enter Seminary. I also remember my first response to his words, “But, I don’t want to go to Texas.”

In fact, this was not his last words to me on this topic, every step of the way through my candidacy process he would always close our conversation similarly. When I decided to do a two year internship (in Texas – I might add J), he again said to me, “Now, Wendy, don’t expect to come back home to be a pastor, I have way too many students graduating that year who also want to come home for you to come back. Besides, our Synod has never been granted more than one new pastor a year to serve in our Synod since we are so small.” Then when I told him I was engaged to another Seminary student who was to be a pastor he said, “Now, Wendy, don’t expect to come back home to be a pastor here, there is no place in our Synod that is big enough for two pastors.”

So, when the day came that the bishops of our church had convened and discerned just where all the 1st year candidates would go to serve their first call, you can only imagine my surprise, when Bishop Ralph Dunkin called me and said, “Wendy, welcome home, you and Craig have been called to the West Virginia-Western Maryland to serve for your first call.” And so my first words to him were, “How?” His simple response, “You are as surprised as I am. I never thought you would come back here, but I guess the Holy Spirit had different plans.” And so the Spirit led Craig and I to serve 8 years in the mountains of West Virginia for our first call.

I am always fascinated to see how the Holy Spirit calls. It is a journey and path that is unique to each and every one of us. For Samuel, God first called to him at night in the temple. For me, I heard the call sitting in the backseat of my grandparents’ car driving home from school. Just as Eli in the scripture struggled to see God’s call to Samuel, at first, so did my bishop struggle to see how it would be possible for me to ever be called back to my home synod. It was unclear at first, just where God was leading.

All of us are called by God. God guides each of us to different opportunities to bring us meaning and purpose to this life we have been given. In our baptism, God gives spiritual gifts that we are able to discern and share. Long ago, God called Samuel, a young boy, to remind the people that God was still with them. In my youth, God called me, a young girl, to become a pastor and return home to serve. God calls us in simple every day ways that can impact a situation more than we may even be aware. God calls us to life changing, faith taking, forever transforming ways. You may be called to share a smile and kind word with a stranger, you may be called to respond to someone with patience rather than reaction, to pray for a friend you haven’t thought of in years, you may even be called to move to a new place, take a new job, care for a loved one who is sick, the list is infinite. Yet, as I have learned after all these years, God’s call is one always to extend love. God’s call comes to each of us and each time we respond in faith; our lives are deepened and our purpose clarified.

Still, understanding God’s call takes time, it takes wisdom, patience and discernment, it takes understanding and faith. Eli was able to direct Samuel because he knew God’s voice, how to recognize and hear God. My home bishop was able to call and welcome me to West Virginia because he too had learned over the years how to trust God even when the odds and circumstances did not seem to lead one to the place they were headed. As we grow in faith, we learn to see, hear and recognize God more.

Join us in worship this Sunday whether in person, live streaming at our 9:30 or 11:11 worships virtually, zoom worshipping together or even on your own time through our Youtube channel. Let us take time to turn to God, respond to God’s call to worship and to work together as God’s people to grow in faith and our ability to recognize, see and hear just where God is calling us this day.

In Christ’s love and service,

Pastor Wendy

Breakthrough

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Blurry vision in the left eye and unable to clearly make out the letters on chart, the ophthalmologist examined our middle son’s eyes. Had his eyes worsened since he lost his glasses last summer? Or had his eyes stayed the same? The eye measurements revealed good news and unfortunate news. His left eye remained the same and his right eye slightly weakened over the last six months. It was now very clear. New glasses would begin our new year!

Nathanael’s inability to see clearly over the past nine months. In the midst of global pandemic, what was once as clear as ever was blurred by uncertainty, by lack of clarity in our day-to-day lives and by raw emotion. This blurriness has made every day living very overwhelming many times, but in our straining we continually manage to get through.

The blurriness of this time has strained us to rely on different markers to guide us through. Sometimes the markers guiding us have led us into dangerous uncharted territory. Other times the markers have steadied us in new ways unlike before.

When Nathanael chose his new glasses on Thursday morning, it was a breakthrough for me. Not only will his new glasses clear up his vision, our vision needs cleared up too. The crystal clear waters of baptism that break over our eyes do just that. Baptism helps us see more clearly in all that we face. All that we are facing is a lot right now, a lot this week and a lot in life period, baptism that stirs up in us the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control – clears our vision and guides us through the power of the Holy Spirit through.

Worship with us at All Shepherds Lutheran Church via our YouTube Livestream at 9:30AM and 11:11AM this Sunday. Or worship with us in person at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM. For in the waters of baptism and the baptismal community, the clarity of God’s love for us breaks through for all to see more clearly the faith, hope and love that abides for all.

Shepherding the Shepherds,

Pastor Craig

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year, All Shepherds’ Family!

St. Paul writes: 3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5

All Shepherds’ staff and leadership are so very thankful that God has brought each of us together in this past year to walk and journey in faith together! We pray that you each have a very blessed New Year! Thank you for partnering with us in ministry together! Your love, prayers, encouragement, gifts, service, generosity, determination, faith and passion for the Lord are a blessing from God to the world.

As we reflect back on this past year together we invite you to look back with us through this slide show.

https://youtu.be/HGWZxRJ84Ps

We look forward to see just where God will lead us together in 2021!!!

In Christ’s love and service,
Pastors Craig & Wendy

Do not be afraid.

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“That would terrify me too!” The brutal honesty of a high school sophomore captured the moment best. Keegan Trefz’ few words brought to light what many watching the 2020 All Shepherds Virtual Christmas Pagent were thinking when the angel appeared. What on earth just happened.

Okay! It was not a real angel that appeared in the play. For those who viewed it, you already knew that. The angel appearing on the screen was merely my bad impersonation of the angel that glorious night long ago. Nothing that I could have done would have remotely depicted the moment and all its glory. And truthfully, maybe that is what made it so real and so impactful. My bad impersonation WAS terrifying. It was terrifying like that moment long ago.

The shepherds were terrified in that field. The night was quiet. They tended to the sheep and reflected on their day’s work. The hopeful expectation was for an eventless night and no danger to beset them or the flock. When all the sudden, that changed in an instant. Out of nowhere, a bright glorious angel stood before them. Not only were they terrified because something could be threatening them and their flock, but also they were awe-inspired by what appeared to them. What were they to do?

What are we to do? In a Christmas experience that we wish was eventless and not riddled with danger, what are we to do? The angel said to the Shepherds long ago and to the Shepherds here today. What we are to do is “Do not be afraid!”

“Do not be afraid! To you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is the Messiah the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a child, wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” The child’s birth happens in the dangers of this night for you and for me. That is truly awe-inspiring.

Experience Christmas with us on All Shepherd’s YouTube Live Stream at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm. We have in-person seating at 4pm and limited in-person seating at 8pm still. Whatever is happening in your lives, hear this promise. God is with us in the birth of the Christ Child!

Shepherding the Shepherds,
Pastor Craig

Disoriented.

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In tears the other morning, Jonathan glanced at me with watery eyes. The overwhelming sense of irregular school patterns and two at-home teachers (aka parents) with different pedagogical styles had finally taken its toll. He was uncertain, anxious, exhausted and unsure. Without hesitation, he balled up in tears and insisted. “I need you. I cannot do it without you.”

The toll that this pandemic has taken on so many can easily leave one empty. What more does one have to change? The end of the last school year looked different. The summer was filled with much different activities. The first four months of this school year have included smaller classes, distancing and masks. And that only partially captures the life of my first grade child. My littlest one is worn out.

I can easily find myself empty too. Advent has filled itself with different preparations. Our family has done work for a Virtual Christmas Pageant. Christmas Eve will be scaled back. I am disoriented.

Pondering the passage from Joel, it suffices to say that the people of yesteryear were worn out too. Their time in diaspora had taken a lot out of them. Living in a place that they knew but that they no longer really completely knew was tough. Everything had changed under the new rule and the new circumstances had left them disoriented. They needed. They could not keep doing it the same way. They needed God.

The prophet Joel spoke into the people’s yearning and longing with these powerful words. “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.” He pleaded with them by reminding them of God’s grace, mercy, patience and forgiveness. And most of all, his abundant steadfast love, he desired them to recall. God loved them.

God LOVES you! God really does love us. Despite as disorienting as this Advent and Christmas may be with traditions changing, with the strong possibility of being distant from loved ones and with a Christmas like no other, it is that night like no other long ago that reorients us. The LOVE of God breaks into our world and reorients us by coming in abounding steadfast love. We are reoriented by God’s love as God shares his family with us, his life with us and all that is his with us. God loves us. God really does LOVE you!

Worship with us this Sunday at 8:00AM, 9:30AM and 11:11AM in person at All Shepherds or 9:30AM via livestream at All Shepherds Lutheran Church on our YouTube Channel. For A Virtual Christmas Pageant, Zoom To Bethlehem on Sunday at 6PM will take place. Come be with us in the presence of the one who reorients us in the love of God.

Shepherding the Shepherds,
Pastor Craig

What brings you joy?

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A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to check out of Meijer when a magazine caught my attention. It was a Time Magazine special edition entitled, “The Power of Joy.” I was curious to see what a secular magazine would say about such a spiritual and powerful emotion. It drew me in and I found myself going back later to purchase it.

Joy – as we enter into the third week of Advent our focus turns to “Joy.” What is joy? When have you experienced joy in your life? What brings you joy?

Advent and the Christmas season is often a time associated with much joy. As we reflect back on Christmas’ past we can often remember experiences from our own lives filled with joy and love - times in our life surrounded by special surprises where we felt truly listened to and cared for; memories of treasured moments with those we have loved; intimate moments when we have been filled with God’s wonder and peace; and even our own experiences where we have been given the pure gift of watching another’s joy and excitement in this season. From this, I believe these special memories lead us as a people to lift this time of year up so highly in our desire to create and recreate these feelings of joy that we will often overextend ourselves and wear ourselves out in this season. I wonder how much our deep need to experience joy drives us in this season.

And suddenly Advent and Christmas becomes a time of spending more money than we have, not take care of ourselves as we know we should and stressing ourselves out in trying to recreate and force these experiences and memories that we hold so dear. And thus, we can suddenly find that we are creating the exact opposite experience we are so deeply yearning. I wonder how often it occurs that when we don’t experience that same joy, this same magic we have experienced in our past, that it leads us to darkness, confusion, depression, anxiety and even faith crisis when it is not felt or experienced the same way.

And yet, in reflecting in the scripture today, the joy that Elizabeth, the unborn baby within her and even later Mary expresses is surrounded by many unknowns and uncertainties. They have been given gifts but ones that will take much sacrifice, excruciating work and pain. And yet, even knowing this, they experience joy.

In the Time Magazine Joy Special Edition, Rev. Douglas Mcarthur a retired Methodist minister writes, “Joy is different. Joy is a gift. It is not something we earn, strive for or take credit for. Since it’s a gift, we do not know when it will come. It arrives unexpectedly, in its own way. Joy erupts under difficult or pleasant circumstances. But one thing is for certain, when it comes into your life, you know it.”

We all know that this year our Christmas will be different. Many of our favorite traditions we hold to and yearn for will not be able to happen the same way. We won’t be able to see all of our loved ones and gather in all of our big Christmas gatherings. The joy we anticipate will not necessarily come the same. And yet, Christmas will still come. Christmas cannot be cancelled, taken away or even stopped because Christmas is something much more. It is a gift of God breaking into our world and bringing a joy that will never be taken away.

Join us this Sunday for worship whether in person, virtually through our live streaming or in our zoom room, on YouTube, or even on TV (Spectrum1020 at 10:30) or the radio 98.5FM for those in Delaware City as we thank God for this gift of joy in our world even when we can’t feel it or see it. My prayer for each of you is that this season you may experience the gift of joy like John did leaping for joy at the sound of God’s promises, like Elizabeth did being filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary came to her, and like Mary did rejoicing and singing when she heard God’s blessing through Elizabeth.

In Christ’s love and service,
Pastor Wendy

Silent Night

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Chaos and anxiety overwhelmed me. Two funerals were going to happen on Wednesday. In the morning, a small group of immediate family and friends would gather for the Celebration of the Resurrection for Christel Mattern. Standing on the hillside of Green Mound Cemetery for the Celebration of Resurrection for Shirley Rose Skatzes Nelson, another small group would congregate in the afternoon. Never in our seventeen years of pastoral ministry of serving six churches in the mountains or even now had this ever happened.

Questions ran through my mind. How would Pastor Wendy and I pull this day off? What were all the last minute details that we needed to complete? What words of comfort would I preach? All of these are the typical questions in preparing for a Service of Remembrance. Nonetheless, the questions were magnified in the moment because I take great care with this ministry, we had two funerals and it was a first time experience.

With thoughts swirling in my head, I heard a voice of peace, singing the lyrics to a beloved Christmas hymn to his little daughter, settle everything for me.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Christel Mattern, who had sung for years Silent Night in German at the close of Christmas Eve Worship, had written this poignant story of peace. On the Eve of Christmas growing up in Germany, she had fell ill with an ear infection. Throbbing in pain, she could not find relief. She hurt. She cried. She was in pain. It was at that point her father sat her on his lap. He held her in his arms. He started singing Christmas music into ears to sooth her. I imagine that he sang the peaceful words of Stille Nacht because it was her tradition to sing Silent Night in German at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church every year.

The Eve of Christmas may still be a few weeks of way. Chaos and anxiety may be filling you up. What else would someone expect in the year 2020? But hear the words of that beloved Christmas song echoing through the years that renewed my soul this week bring peace to you now.

Silent Night, Holy Night
All is calm, All is bright
Round Yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Sleep in Heavenly Peace

May the story of peace in the upcoming birth of the Christ Child still your hearts in these days.

Worship with us on All Shepherds YouTube Livestream. Join us in person at 8:00AM, 9:30AM or 11:11AM. Be comforted with the promise of peace for all who have lived and died in the Lord. This voice of peace is for all to be comforted with too.

Shepherding the Shepherds,
Pastor Craig