Perhaps you've noticed: it's winter! Every year after a few months of winter I get a serious case of cabin fever. I mean, I go out, sure. . . I go to work, swim team practice, last night I even went to see a play in Cleveland with my family. (Hence the picture below!) But it still seems dark all around me. Even as I write the sun is flowing in the window but because it's so cold outside, it still seems dark to me. 

I am usually (usually!) an upbeat, cheery person most days. But when the winter drags on and on I simply want to strangle that groundhog and make him get his act together and bring on the Spring! (Violence to rodents or any other of God's creatures is strictly frowned up, by the way!) It seems that darkness seeks to envelop me when the days are shorter and darker. When all I want to do is crawl into bed and cover my head except for then my back aches from laying down for too long! (Such a pitiful case I am) What can I do? I exercise. I write. I read, but the enemy grabs ahold of me and brings me down deeper into the dark abyss of despair-for-no-good-reason. 

Luke 11:33

In his life, Martin Luther wrote about these "dark nights" which he called anfechtungen (in German). I have found his words about the enemy's attacks and the darkness he experienced to be especially helpful. He clung to the Word of God, and he relied on the Sacraments - remembering his baptism and partaking of Christ's holy supper. The community of faith was an amazing resource for him as the people of God nurtured and cared for him in his anxious state. 

Some people don't think the enemy is real. They think it's a figment of our overactive imaginations. In seminary it was never clear to me whether the professors believed in the reality of Satan, an adversary to God, or if it was a mythical way to explain evil in the world. Further, I always wondered if they just chalked spiritual battles up to moods, sin, and that nasty human free will/original sin thing. Whatever the case, I sincerely believe and teach the disciples in the flock I am entrusted to care for, that the closer you are to Christ, the deeper God pulls you in to the divine heart, the MORE the enemy will attack. Satan wants nothing more than to pull you away from Jesus and his love. This is the struggle we are all committed to: living faithfully while under attack.

Luther was right when he said, "No one should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church and the ministry of the Word were instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn't help, the prayer of another will." 
The church is the light of Christ in the world. You may not think that your presence in your faith community is something that is important. You might say to yourself, "If I don't show up, no one will miss me." But that is simply not true. You are needed. Every Sunday. The community of faith has a hole in it each week because there is always someone missing from the assembly. You are the light. . . you are like a bulb in this chandelier picture. The light gets brighter the more bulbs that are lit! And it is this light that illumines the darkness of your brothers and sisters in faith. We do it for each other through the power of Christ, and by the way - he said to do it, "Let your light so shine before others. . ." It's not just about talents, but it is also about relationships. 

Peace,
Amy

Give Thanks in All Circumstances

Have you ever read the The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom? It has been years since I read this true story of a Dutch family that hid Jews in above their watch repair shop and ended up in concentration camps because of their actions. But it is one that I can never forget, especially when I think of the words of Paul who urged believers to "Give thanks in all circumstances." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) In the story Corrie is complaining of how bad things are in the camp and it seems she is losing heart as her sister is ill and they are worried about so many things. Betsy, her sister who is with her in the camp struggling to stay alive, replies with Paul's words.  Corrie cannot understand how her sister can be so upbeat, so hopeful in the face of evil, pain, death and persistently annoying lice that plagued their barracks. She will come to understand later those lice kept the guards away from their crammed quarters which allowed them the freedom to share the Word of God from a tiny bible they managed to smuggle into the camp against their frail, emaciated bodies. This Word of God brought hope, courage and the will to live to many women who otherwise would have certainly given up.

Give Thanks (Photo by Amy Little)

Life can be very hard sometimes.  Circumstances can be very trying. . . especially when they are forced upon us by someone else, when things happen that are not a result of our own doing. Sometimes just living can be a struggle, dealing with demons of the past, or watching things fall apart before our very eyes and realizing that we are helpless to affect the outcome. But Paul instructs us in these matters as well, words that are hard to hear and hard to understand right now, that we are to GIVE THANKS is all circumstances!  ALL circumstances you ask? That's what Corrie asked her sister Betsy.  The answer was "YES! In ALL circumstances." Paul continues by saying, "for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."

Give thanks, even when we don't feel like it? Yes.

Give thanks when we are in pain and cannot find relief? Yes then too.

Give thanks when our world is turned upside down and we don't know which was is up? Ummm hmm.

Give thanks when it seems there is nothing to be thankful for? You betcha.

Why? Because you don't know what Jesus is doing behind the scenes. Because you need to give up on fixing everything yourself and fully rely in the One who loves you most and who promised to never leave you! Because God has a bigger plan in mind and it is one that you cannot fathom no matter how you try, it's not rational, it's not reasonable, it's not even understandable-- right now that is (and maybe not in this lifetime!) It's a matter of faith, deep faith. . . and even though things are difficult there is always, always, always something to give thanks for in your life! And maybe you will come to find out that the lice that infest your life are just the thing that God is using to create a new thing!

Give thanks to the Lord for his mercy endures forever. Amen.

Baptismal Promises

In the Lutheran baptismal liturgy there is an ancient portion that asks the believer to renounce sin, evil and all that keeps us away from God.  The pastor asks the parents, sponsors and those who can answer for themselves, (I paraphrase here:) "Do you renounce the forces of evil. . . the devil and all his empty promises. . . that which keeps you away from God?"

Participants answer, "I renounce them!"

What does this mean in a world filled with darkness and pain?  People all around us, perhaps including us, are suffering from grief, after-affects of long term abuse, residual baggage that just won't seem to go away, not to mention temptation, frustration, and on and on. . . it seeks to hold us captive, denying us true life and vitality.

There's a line in one of our beloved hymns that starts, "Praise the One who breaks the darkness with a liberating light. . . "  Darkness is shattered by Christ's light forever.  It has no power over us and that is not just a bunch of empty words but the reality of life in Christ.  Oh, we can let it take us over; we can allow other's assaults on us to be foremost in our minds, holding us hostage, keeping us from growing and thriving, separating us from the One who loves us most . . . but it doesn't have to be that way.  I know it's not easy but the good news is that Healing Does Happen.  Prayers for healing are answered.

We can and DO renounce those forces of evil that seek to take away our confidence, security, self-esteem, energy and LIFE!  Christ's light frees us from whatever prison we might find ourselves in. . . "Praise the one who preached the gospel, healing every dread disease, calming storms and feeding thousands with the very bread of peace."

Christ calls us to come out of the darkness and into the light of his love!

Remember your baptismal promises and if you have to, renounce the devil every day!  Renounce the darkness and evil and pain that have a grip on you!  Christ is with you in this, he's been there/done that!  He loves you beyond all measure of love and wants you to be free to live, REALLY live!!  Amen.

Hymn reference:  ELW 843 Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness