Pastor's Message

June 2003

Remember. As I write this column we are making special plans for our worship service on Memorial Day weekend, and as you read this, we will probably have just celebrated the holiday. It is an important holiday in the life of our nation, a time when we remember those who have fought in wars to secure and preserve our freedom, and especially those who have given their lives to protect us from forces that have sought to harm and oppress us.

But remembrance is hollow if all we do is remember with a few passing thoughts. I am sure as we go through the holiday we will often be encouraged to say thanks to those who have served in our armed forces. We also need to be ready to step forward and work to preserve our freedom, and we need to be willing to extend freedom to others, whether in our own land or in distant lands. We might argue that part of the motivation for the war in Iraq was a desire to extend freedom to the people in that distant land, but we must also be willing to extend freedom to people in our own land who may have different perspectives than we do, or who struggle under oppression that is a result of race, poverty, lack of education or even physical impairment. Remembering is not passive. Remembering on Memorial Day should also call us to action, to cherish, preserve and extend our freedom.

Remembering is an important part of our faith as well. Our ancestors in faith, the Jewish people, remembered Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their deeds of faith. They remembered the teachings of the prophets. But most of all, they remembered God’s actions that formed and preserved them as a people, especially the Exodus from Egypt. As Christians we also remember. We remember our Lord Jesus, as we break bread and pass the cup in Holy Communion, how he gave his life for us. And we remember how he was raised from the dead, not because it is simply a pleasant memory, but because of the hope that is ours to participate in the same wonderful resurrection to eternal life. But the same point must be made again, our remembrance is hollow if all we do is remember with a few passing thoughts. We must also remember with actions, deeds that help us realize that new life already in this time and place. We can understand this as we also remember the miracle of Pentecost, how the disciples received power from God (Acts, chapter 2), a power that moved them to action, that helped them to establish the church, first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.

If you stand in Jerusalem, Manheim might look like it is “at the end of the earth.” I was recently reading an account of the travels of some of the first settlers from Germany, and I guess Manheim looked like the end of the earth by the time they endured all the hardships of traveling across the ocean to come here. And yet, God gave them great power, not just to endure, but to establish a church in this place. Through the years, many have added their strength to build this church, and many have given years of their life, to provide a legacy for us today, a legacy where we can come to worship and participate in the fellowship of Jesus Christ. But once more we must remind ourselves that we are not just here to enjoy the legacy that has been left for us, we are not to just remember and give thanks for their sacrifice, but we must ask what we are doing to preserve and extend what has been given to us, and what we are doing to make this legacy grow for our children, and for generations to come.

I hope you will have (have had) a good and relaxing Memorial Day, that you had the time to remember, and that you took time to recommit to protecting our freedom. But even more important, I encourage you to remember our Lord Jesus as you come to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion on June 1, to receive the power that comes to us through the grace of God in this Sacrament – a power that is no less than the power received by the disciples on Pentecost. And as we remember the wonder of the event of Pentecost on June 8, may you also receive power from God, that we may yet build on the legacy we have received.