December 2020

“Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” Psalm 80:7

Dear Redeemer Family:

As we end the year of the coronavirus, we have had to learn some bitter lessons. We have had to face a new normal. And people who have refused to learn, have faced a terrible consequence. Things that we have taken for granted have been taken from us. And, we have been changed. I have had to miss the last two Sundays. The first because I was coughing so hard that my wife was afraid that I would scare some of you. I probably would have. Sometimes, it scared me. The second Sunday because the day before Ruth was notified that she was Covid positive (by the way, she has been tested several times now). And, I am currently waiting for the results of my Covid test, which I assume will be positive as well. Ironically, I’m feeling better today. But we have had to change. We have had to slow down.

We are now in the “holiday season,” and we are also asked to forgo certain traditions, like large gatherings. That is right and proper in the present circumstance. We have had to pause our “in person” worship service because of the surging numbers of this virus. We can live with that. Many of you don’t know, but since March, I’ve performed four funerals which were caused by this virus. And many of you do know I don’t like funerals. If this will prevent more tragedies, I’m in favor of it. We will get through this. We have word now of not one, but three vaccines that will be distributed soon. This is very good news. But, we have to wait.

The Church has been nice enough to provide us with a season of waiting. It is called Advent. This year, we may well be forced to actually observe it as it should be. In this season when the cultural gravity pushes us down the hill to Christmas way too fast, it’s time to apply the brakes and slow down. And this year, we will have to slow down. As counter cultural as that may seem, there’s too much to hear, too much to see, too much to experience, too much to take in to hurry through Advent. We sit with Isaiah and his people who longingly waited for the coming of the Promised One. We stand with John the Baptist as he calls God’s people to prepare the way of the Lord.

This slowing down makes room for the Spirit to show us those things in our own hearts and in our own systems that we might rather leave undisturbed and unacknowledged. The Advent scriptures urge repentance, another practice that is best not hurried through. It may not be pleasant to acknowledge the places in our lives where we have wandered; nor it is delightful to hear a word about a God who has standards and who is angry at both individual and corporate sin. Still, that word stands front and center in the Advent scriptures and begs to be heard in a culture that makes no room for such things. Perhaps this year, as all has changed, slowed and spaced out a bit, we can hear these words more fully. Doing so, perhaps we may more fully prepare for the coming of the Promised One, and receive Christ more fully into our homes. Have a blessed Advent this year.

In Christ,
Pastor Rose

January 2020

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11


Dear Redeemer Family:
Though Christmas is a season, the majority of people think of it as only a day, or at most two days; Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And most people will only think of the Gospel lesson from Luke 2 with its proliferating images of the nativity, which is important. But, it is just as important to make sure that the deep spiritual and theological truth of the incarnation – the Word dwelling among us here and now – is held up as well throughout the years.


If we dwell only on the images of Luke 2, without making connections to what the Incarnation means for daily life, we will miss out on one of the great spiritual truths of our faith – that all creation and all of our lives are filled with divine presence. Some theologians call this “deep incarnation,” which broadens the scope of the term beyond Jesus to all persons and, indeed, to the vast expanse of the universe. This is found in the Gospel lesson of Christmas Day, and this year, for the Second Sunday in Christmas; the First Chapter of John’s Gospel: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus, the Author of Creation comes and dwells among us, still!


In other words, let us consider what becomes incarnate at Christmas. Surely, with all our senses we experience the divine presence in the liturgy and especially in the body and blood of Christ received at the altar. For us, the incarnation is not a past event but something happening in our midst. As with the Season of Advent, we are called to continually “awake” and see the salvation at hand.


The mystery never ceases to surprise and catch us off guard; in manger and on the cross, God’s hidden and vulnerable presence is revealed to us, as Martin Luther reminds us in virtually all of his writings. In the Incarnation, we have very concrete examples in which justice, love, joy, and freedom are revealed in the very human circumstances of daily life.
Let us always welcome the Christ Child. And let us always welcome the Word of God Who comes and lives among us! May you all have a very joyous, and spiritual, Christmas Season. And may He for Whom we have waited always live and dwell in our hearts!

In Christ,
Pastor Rose