What’s Up with Lent?

The season of Lent has been a time when Christians have focused on the core principles of their faith.   Early Church historians point out that Lent was at first the time when early Christians began to teach people about the faith in preparation for their baptism.  Many Christians in the first few centuries of the church were baptized during the Easter Vigil Service (a service that starts sometime after sundown on the Saturday before Easter) to accentuate the believer participating in the event at which Jesus Christ saved the world. So basically, the season was a time prepare new disciples of Jesus Christ.  What ended up happening is that rather than segregate these new disciples to work on their faith alone, the church decided it was best if we all work on this together.  Lent has been and is a time to get serious about our faith ever since.

Lent has always included the following elements to help people commit or recommit to a life of discipleship:

1. A call to repentance: we recognize our need for God and our need to be forgiven for the things that we have done or failed to do.   The words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” spoken as ashes are imparted in the beginning of Lent, remind us of our limited nature and our inability to save ourselves.   Since Hebrew Bible times ashes communicate the realization of the believer that life is transient and that only by appealing to the Eternal One can he or she have any real hope.

2. A re-commitment to living out the faith daily: sometimes our healthy patterns of practicing the faith can drift away due to the demands of living in a sinful world.   The repentance spoken of above is characterized by the Bible in one of two ways.  Changing one’s mind or changing one’s direction.   So, Lent can be a time recommit to a practice that has been left behind in the chaos of our living in broken world.  Restarting Bible reading or a prayer practice, or attending worship more often are some common examples.

3. The exploration of new ways to live out the faith: changing one’s mind about one’s faith and starting a new direction in the faith can mean picking up a new practice or new way of living the faith that you might lead you to a closer relationship with God. If you haven’t had a regular devotional life before, Lent is a perfect time to start.

4. The denial of those things that obscure our faith: perhaps the idea of “giving something up for Lent” is the most common way people think about Lent.   People fast so they can remember what it is like to be hungry for something.   This opens the heart of the believer for God.   Lent is perfect time to drop a behavior that is leading your life astray.   It is a perfect time to do away with those things which make us unhealthy and weigh on us.  An essential part of a life of discipleship is to care for the life we have been given because that is what those who love us would like us to do, and nobody loves more that God who sent Christ to save us.

5. The preparation of the heart for the coming joy of Christ’s resurrection: reliving the story of God sending Jesus to the Cross and Resurrection is the best thing one can do with Lent.    We are reminded of our own dignity as well as our brokenness and God’s answer to the dilemma of living in the tension between these two things.   The best part of Lent is about making the story of Jesus real again.  This can kindle hope which strengthens our faith, which in turn can empower us to love others as Christ loves us.

Just as we set time apart for God Sunday of each week, we also set six weeks out of the year to focus on the essentials of our faith.  Lent is a gift to help us not to take the essential elements of our faith for granted.  It enables us to remain grounded in the faith that gives life.  It is this faith that kindles in  us hope for each day and that
hope helps us persevere through all the challenges that we face in life.

Be blessed
Pastor Knecht

Encouragement for Anxious Times

If you find that times seem anxious for you lately, know that you are not alone.  The pace of change in our world has left many people behind, as the world they once knew seems to be relegated to distant memory.  In our own area of the county we have seen profound changes economically, technologically, socially, politically, demographically, culturally, and morally.   There appears to be people who are comfortable with and excited by these changes, as well as those who are threatened by them.  If you are like me, perhaps you are a bit of both. There are some things you think are wonderful and there are some changes that are keeping you up at night.   If you find yourself dealing with the anxiety of the times then I recommend reading 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy is one of the Pastoral Letters of the Apostle Paul.   Some of Paul's personal letters made it into the Bible and Christians have found them inspirational ever since. He wrote these letters for several reasons. 1 Timothy and Titus were written to lay out some ground rules for the early Christian communities.  Philemon was sent to deal with a critical issue.  2 Timothy was written to help him and the members of his community get through some anxious times.   This is why when the world seems crazy, 2 Timothy is one of my go to pieces of scripture.  Paul writes:

For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NRSV)

I love that Paul brings Timothy back to an intimate and physical moment of prayer, or perhaps even his baptism.  The memory of the word of God connected with the touch of Paul's hands upon the head are the fuel to rekindle the faith of one who may be in doubt because the times are uncertain.  This faith leads to empowerment, or what social scientists are calling "agency" these days.   Paul is reminding Timothy that he is not helpless.   He can show love to others and discipline himself.  Just because the times are hard does not mean one need to give into despair.   Paul does not sugar coat the problems that are going on his world or ours. He writes:

For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! 2 Timothy 3:2-5 (NRSV)

When I read these words I feel that the more things change, the more they stay the same.   The self centered nature of our sin is something that every generation must deal with on its own terms as it becomes uniquely manifest in every age.  Paul is writing to Timothy to remind him to place his trust in Christ who is more powerful than the forces of the world that beat the faithful down.  He continues:

The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him; 2 Timothy 2:11-12 (NRSV)

The heart of the matter for Paul is to encourage Timothy to hold on the the most precious thing we have, the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   Our life is secure in Christ, so why would one want to throw it away?  At times anxiety can cause us to make silly decisions, and we might hold onto the wrong things while throwing away that which actually will help us thrive.   That is why the Holy Spirit sends people into our lives to remind us what is truly important and what will really help us navigate living in a broken world.   He encourages Timothy and his sisters and brothers with these words.

Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 (NRSV) 

Guarding the good treasure given us can be a way to explain what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  The word translated "guard" (φυλάσσω) is also commonly translated as "watch", "keep", or "obey".   Living a life of discipleship in Jesus Christ involves all of these things.   We guard or protect the heart of our proclamation that Christ died for all no matter how the world classifies a person.   We watch the Gospel work in the lives of the faithful and witness what we see.   The stories of God at work that result can open the hearts of those in need.    We keep a commitment to prayer and reading God's Word to help keep us centered and to ask God to help others.   We listen to the voice of God through worship, prayer, and witness so that our relationship with Christ may stay strong.   When facing a challenge it is good to know one is not facing it alone.   2 Timothy reminds us that Christ is with us, even in anxious times.

Be blessed,
Pastor Knecht

The Only point of the Church is the Gospel

 A World Undone?

These past few months seem to be strange times for our church and Christians in general.   As write this we are in the midst of a national election that is bringing up powerful emotions in everybody.   Some of us fear a Clinton presidency will bring about the end of all that they hold dear.   Others of us fear a Trump presidency will bring about a police state to our county that will be complete disaster.  Indeed, others of us lament the loss of civility and the possible ending of relationships if people knew how we really feel.  No wonder mental health professionals are speaking of “election anxiety”.    Like the emotions generated by 9-11 and the economic meltdown of 2008, this anxiety seems to be affecting large numbers of us. 

What is a Christian to do?

Lots of voices in the culture are crying for me to as a pastor speak out.  The caveat is that this is only if it is for their particular side, other opinions are greeted with disdain and if I disagree any legitimacy I may have is automatically called in to question. In North Carolina during the past few weeks both Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s purse who supports Donald Trump and ELCA Bishop Timothy Smith who criticizes Trump’s views on women, immigrants, and Muslims used the following quote to argue for supporting their respective views.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

                                                                                                           -Martin Niemoeller

You know it gets serious when people quote a pastor who spent World War II in a concentration camp, worked with Dietrich Bonhoeffer to make a place a for Christians who refused to belong to a church that accepted the “Aryan Laws” and spent the postwar years trying to get Germany to grapple with how their society went so wrong.   Both of these pastors from North Carolina are telling us Christians to be engaged and to speak out, but what should we actually speak?

I will answer with another quote, this one from missionary and theologian Leslie Newbigin:

“The business of the church is to tell and to embody a story, the story of God’s mighty acts in creation and redemption, and of God’s promises concerning what will be the end.   The church affirms the truth of this story by celebrating it, interpreting it, and enacting it in the life of the contemporary world.”[1]

In short, we exist for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

As scripture will tell us, this is whether the times are favorable or unfavorable.   If Hillary Clinton wins the election and Donald Trump loses, we live out the gospel and help a wounded society.  If Donald Trump somehow pulls out a surprise victory, we witness Jesus and work as Christ's ambassadors to a broken world.  In addition to telling the Gospel story, Newbigin uses the word embody so the gospel does not devolve into a mere ideology.   The actions he describes should look familiar to those who walk on the path of discipleship.   Celebrating as when we gather for worship or fellowship in what the bible calls koinonia, it is God’s people gathering to live out the truth that we are one common humanity in relation to God.    Interpreting, such as when we read the Bible and show how God’s story meets our story and the world we live in, and we grapple with how best to navigate all these relationships.   Finally, he speaks of enacting the Gospel in today’s world, which means small acts of love which add up to become grace for the afflicted.

This is not just a Spiritual Thing about the Next Life

When we embody the Gospel, we start to live as if the Kingdom of God is already here.   We welcome those world deems as unclean, we feed the hungry, visit the sick and those imprisoned sharing words of hope and deeds of love that bring spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual comfort.  We do this because this is what Jesus did in the story of our sacred Scripture and because this is what Christ does today through those inspired by the Holy Spirit who serve their neighbors and world.

Because the Gospel is holistic it will always be political.   Jesus was political; handed over to the Romans and executed with a sign in three languages saying “the king of the Jews”.   His interrogation in John 19 is all about politics, “so you are a king” replies Pilate.  

There will be those extreme secularists who will argue we have no voice or are just a voice among voices.   Fundamentalists will say that we have nothing to say outside of those who already belong to their tribe.  Only if one becomes indoctrinated into their rigid culture and adheres to their litmus tests of purity is one given a voice.  Christ will call us to a different situation outlined in Scripture in such places such as Matthew 25.   Our razor to cut to the heart of the matter will be to ask questions such as how does the politics of the world affect God’s children?  It asks also questions like, who has the most authority? Or, who is most vulnerable?

In Christ Alone

The real heart of the matter in this toxic emotional environment engendered by the power politics of today is to ask the question where does my loyalty as a follower of Jesus Christ ultimately lie?   The biblical witness, and the witness of the faithful agree; it is to Christ.   Faithfulness to Christ is not synonymous with patriotism, and is certainly not synonymous with loyalty to a political party.   Conservative Evangelical leaders who have made political party loyalty a litmus test for authentic Christianity have created a pernicious heresy completely antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Liberal or progressive Christians who castigate those who espouse conservative views conform to the same worldly attitude.   The prevalent attitude of our culture was captured succinctly by journalist Matt Taibbi.

“Lie No. 1 is that there are only two political ideas in the world, Republican and Democrat. Lie No. 2 is that the parties are violent ideological opposites, and that during campaign season we can only speak about the areas where they differ (abortion, guns, etc.) and never the areas where there's typically consensus (defense spending, surveillance, torture, trade, and so on). Lie No. 3, a corollary to No. 2, is that all problems are the fault of one party or the other, and never both. Assuming you watch the right channels, everything is always someone else's fault. Lie No. 4, the reason America in campaign seasons looks like a place where everyone has great teeth and $1,000 haircuts, is that elections are about political personalities, not voters.” [2]  

This is not the way of Jesus Christ; we are called to stand against such thinking. A person who has as their ultimate concern the furtherance of the Gospel will see the world differently than many.  This person will also realize that my faith relationship with Jesus Christ may lead me to have different concerns than they do and that we can disagree in love.  As I once heard Shane Claiborne say, it is how we disagree as Christians that really matters.  

The world may not view this perspective as legitimate, but I have met many Christians who hold views that cross firm party lines.   One can find a follower of Christ, who opposes abortion and the death penalty, who cares about the empowerment of women and worries that our jobs are going overseas, who is ready to welcome the refugee but worries about the size of government.  In fact, if as a disciple of Jesus Christ your views conform perfectly to a candidate’s or political party's, I would ask you to go back to your Bible and think about things a bit more.

Hope for the World

My hope is that like the group that gathered around Jesus our church will have people across the political spectrum who will work together for the love of God, neighbor and world.  If you will vote for Trump, we invite you to be with us.  If you will vote for Clinton we ask you to join us.  If you are frustrated with the process, we really want to include you in our walk with God.  We have no choice but to do this because we exist only for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Be blessed

Pastor Knecht

---

[1] Newbigin, Leslie, Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship (1995, Grand Rapids MI Eerdmans) 76.  Emphasis added

[2] Taibbi,Matt “The Fury and Failure of Donald Trump” http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-fury-and-failure-of-donald-trump-w444943 accessed 10-20-2016.

Fight Terrorism: Teach Generosity

Waking Up to the Same Nightmare

Terrorism is nothing new.  It has been around my whole life.   In my childhood, headlines reported acts by the IRA, FALN and the Weathermen. Europe had the Bade-Meinhoff gang and Red Army Faction.  Israel has suffered terrorist attacks its entire existence as a modern state.  In the 90's Timothy McVeigh attacked Oklahoma City, a cult poured sarin gas into the Tokyo Subway. Then we lived through the rise of  Al Qaeda with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 9-11 and the London and Madrid attacks.  Now we have ISIS. While much press is always given how we can prevent future attacks, surprisingly little is given to how do prepare to respond when attacks occur.  Given the reality of human history this point should not be overlooked.

So I would like for us to think about how we can prepare spiritually for when attacks come. Terrorists like ISIS not only attack physical and human targets they intentionally target the spirit of the community in their cross hairs.   By examining what Jesus teaches us, we will have the tools to strengthen and protect our own spirits and the the spirit of the community we serve.

The Terrorist's' True Target: Goodwill

The primary goal of a terrorist attack is to disrupt the target society by instilling fear.  Part of achieving this plan is to disrupt those who work for a civil society, destroy goodwill, so people will feel they have nowhere to turn and are cowed into submission. For example, ISIS wants the flow of refugees to stop, just like the Communists did when they built the Iron Curtain   ISIS needs people to kick around, children to conscript into its army, people with skills to keep the water running, the lights on, and most of all to sell crude oil.   When people leave the conflict zones, ISIS loses human capital to continue its struggle for domination in the Middle East.  Our goodwill starves ISIS of resources. Their goal: instil fear to stop generosity.   Our fight: stand up for our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ and remain gracious.

The Jesus Way

People forget, but the scholarship is clear; Jesus lived in a time when terrorism was rife. On Epiphany we will read how Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled the state sponsored terror of Herod.  Two of Jesus' own disciples may have been identified with groups that may have engaged in acts of terror, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Jesus was killed using a Roman method to intentionally inspire terror.  So when you read the words of Jesus below, remember that he was no pie in the sky dreamer, but a person who lived and served in a very violent society.

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. ' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:38-48 NRSV)

Refuse to Submit

For ordinary folks like us, the Way of Jesus Christ may seem hard,  but I will ask you to pray and think deeply, and hopefully see the grace in it.    When we succumb to fear and take revenge for ourselves in contradiction to biblical teaching, we play by the terrorists' rules.   The core of radical fundamentalist Islamic teaching is that Allah needs the terrorists to take revenge on the infidel  (btw doesn't that really say their god is weak?).  When we seek out revenge, we will only give them new motivation for further acts of their revenge. We will also be submitting to the scenario they wanted all along.

Countless Christian Martyrs and the the great peace leaders of the 20th century such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. realized the gift of Jesus' teaching.  They understood it for what it precisely is, a courageous, comprehensive, and effective strategy to stop evil. They would not submit to an unjust system.  When we stand with them, we are refusing to submit, and standing up to evil.  As Paul wrote when we are gracious, it is as if we are pouring hot coals over their heads.  This is because by being gracious and generous we are disrupting their agenda of violence.

This struggle we have is not just with groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, the KKK, Neo Nazi's or Anarchists.  It is is spiritual struggle against powers at work within our very communities and homes. These powers are calling us to become hard hearted and fearful. If we submit to them we lose, not just to them, but indeed we lose our very selves.

When humanity killed God's only Son, God did not take revenge.  He refused to submit and raised Jesus to new life.  God refused to submit to death and stood for life. Countless Christians will continue to to do the same, by serving and helping those who the world says should be their enemies. When we aid the Syrian refugee, we are fighting evil, When we clothe and feed the homeless, we are fighting evil.  When we greet and welcome the neighbor from the county we can't find on the map, we are fighting evil.  When we affirm human dignity of every person, we refuse to submit to the world's agenda.  If the headlines have shocked you lately, maybe it is just the time to stand with Jesus and be generous.

Be blessed,

Pastor Knecht

Whose Lives Matter?

Your's does.  

So tell me your story.  The details matter; your experiences matter, your life matters.

We in the church need to hear how the structures and attitudes of our world affect your life on a day to day basis.  I will do my best to listen understand and ultimately act in a way that gives a blessing to you and others.  I will be honest and admit that at times I will fail, so I ask God to help and guide me.

Can you pray this with me?


God's Children Divided 

In the Bible, St. Paul explains that as people are renewed in Jesus Christ, they see that the distinctions between people made by a broken world are artificial.  They are creations of human cultures and structures .  This one thing, faith and science agree on; we are all of the same species.   In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! (Colossians 3:11 NRSV)

Just because these classifications, distinctions, and dividing lines are artificial does not mean they are unimportant; they are real.   People have been killed because of them, black men & police officers, Jews and Palestinians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

Even when these problems don't lead to death they affect the lives we live everyday.   How do I know this?   I hear the stories from the people I minister to every day.   As a pastor I have the amazing opportunity to cross boundaries and enter into the many, varied, and different communities that make up our society.  I remember one day last year where I talked with middle and working class kids and their parents on the school yard,  counseled and helped a woman about to loose her apartment,  then had dinner at a country club overlooking the Manhattan Skyline with some really well to do folks.   I have had the privilege to minister to firefighters, police, and EMT's as well as pray with recovering attics and homeless men.  Guess what?  They all had stories, and lives that matter.

I must confess I am angry at world which is trying to tell me that I can not listen to this person's or that person's story.   I need to hear the stories of black men and women,  I need to hear the stories of police and firefighters.  I must hear the story of worker trained for the job that no longer exists and likewise, that of the immigrant come to work to send money home to his or her family. I need to listen to the story of those fleeing the almost apocalyptic destruction in Syria.  I need to take in the grief of those who feel the world is changing too fast.

The truth is, if I can not admit that black lives matter, why should I expect someone to think that my life matters?  If I can not listen to the story of how dangerous and difficult it is to serve in the police department, why should I expect someone to take the time to listen to my fears and worries?  We can only access universal truth through the particular stories of actual people.  If I declare the stories of a group I don't like as invalid, I am negating my own story.  Therefore, I need to hear your story and I pray that I have the courage not to let society's labels get in the way. 
 

Why must I do this? 

Because God heard my story.  Christ answers it everyday by placing people in my life who support, listen, and counsel me (even when I am really behaving like a jerk!).  More important than this, I am Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ,which means I am to follow his lead and show compassion, hospitality, and concern to my fellow children of God no matter how the world classifies them.

I realize this is hard work, this is truly spiritual warfare.  I will need all the strength that the Spirit can give just to make a halting effort.   I also know that I will fail at times, because, I admit I have failed in the past to truly listen, and I have certainly failed other times in taking action.  

I pray for God's forgiveness and ask for renewal of my life. I will also pray for allies wherever I can get them,  I will not be picky; there is just too much listening and work to be done.

Be blessed and become a blessing,

Pastor Knecht

Holy Cross is Building Up and Growing Out

Building Up

God is Good!  It is my good pleasure to share how we have seen the Spirit working in our church this Easter season.   After the long cold winter we have been blessed with not only the coming of Spring, but of new life to our church.   There is so much to celebrate that I probably will forget to mention something.  Please see this as a Good thing!  Some of the highlights are:

1. Worship! It was amazing to see so many people in church this Easter!  The growth of our Worship Team was on display as they led us in songs that were passionately and excellently offered up to God.  We are blessed have Jon Torgrimsen lead us and the team and we are seeing the fruit of the good work he is faithfully doing for us day after day.  More people need to worship with us, because they can come to Jesus through the good work of all who work to build up our worship.   Faith can be awakened and strengthened.

2. Mission! Our food ministry to Springfield had totally turned around the reputation in our community.   I had a man stop me on the street last Sunday as I rode my bike with my son and tell me about how he had heard that we in Holy Cross are doing great things.  Now this is not why we serve, we serve because Jesus served, and we are called to be a blessing to our neighbors.  Otherwise we are just another club and not the church.   We can create space in our church and activities for more people to help out serving Springfield.   One of the blessings of serving is it can heal those who do the serving.  Having purpose can help make people more appreciative of the good gifts God has given them.  We can be a bridge between those in the community who want to help and those who need it.

3. Kids!  Notice all the new kids lately.  Holy Cross has always had a heart for children and we are seeing lots of new faces in our Sunday School, we've got 5 high schoolers playing in our worship team or helping out with media and sound upstairs, ten middle schoolers in confirmation.  Our Christian Nursery School is having an amazing year!  With new programs to serve the parents and children of our community (this should be seen as mission too!)  More kids need to come along with us because in a world without purpose,  those who mentor our children can share with them how God in Jesus Christ has a purpose for their lives.

4. Outreach! Our upcoming Rock Cafe, our movie nights, our tables at town events to collect food and share the Good News of our congregation to this community. More ideas will be on the way.   Our hope is that these events can help us find ways to engage our community and make it easier for you to invite people to our church.  Many of these people who come will find God's grace through our congregation!

5. Community! Thanks to the diligence of our community action team people our fellowship/coffee hour after church had taken place Sunday after Sunday.  If you remember how it was a few years back when we would not always have it, this is an amazing blessing.   I have noticed people are staying a long time after worship to savor the relationships the Spirit is building. Our Mardi Gras/ Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner and upcoming picnic will provide more opportunities to build relationships.   We need to expand the circle, because hey! there are a lot of lonely people out there and God says it is not good for anyone to be alone.

6. Spiritual Growth! We had 19 people participate in the first Discipleship Academy course!  14 of them completed it and attended every session!   We will have our second course "Bonhoeffer's Thought"  Wednesdays at 1 & 7:30 PM in May.   We will continue to find ways to grow disciples through our ministries, because it is the outcome that God expects and it leads people to a blessed life in communion with Jesus Christ and their fellow disciples.

7. Prayer! Holy Cross has always been a place of deep prayer and it continues to be so.  Open your eyes on Sunday and witness people praying for each other all over our church!  We are not church who leaves the prayer up to the pastor alone, but engages the entire community.   While we continue to pray deeply for Gianna Torgrimsen and Tom Nolz for their healing, please know that one of the joys of serving Holy Cross is all the stories of answered prayer I hear.  This past month three stories of God providing deep healing have been shared with me.   Prayer gives, healing, hope, peace, direction and inspiration to our lives.   It helps God change things in us.   More people need the gift of prayer,  more people need to learn how to pray, we can do our part to fill this need.

Reaching Out   

As I described these seven signs of how the Holy Spirit is working to build up our congregation, please notice that I tried to make the case in each instance of how these things that God is doing for us can be a blessing not just for us, but for our neighbors as well.  To me the most amazing part of our redevelopment has been Holy Cross's restructuring of things so I can can concentrate more intently on the things that God has called me to: preaching, teaching, equipping, modeling discipleship and providing Spiritual direction.  Each passing month I am able to spend more and more time meeting with people in town, community leaders, families who send their kids to our school, people I meet in Dunkin Donuts, to bring Christ to them in my humble way.   I am grateful for this opportunity,  I need to thank Jim Donaldson, Steve Bertschy especially, for their daily contributions to help get things off my plate so I can do what God called me to do.   Lots of others have helped and we have really had a culture change in our congregation where we are working together more effectively as a church.  I praise God for this.

But now I need to ask for your help and support in these areas.

1.  Talk about Holy Cross and share this message with every person you can.  We have Good News to share!  I am out in the community for our church and I need you with me as well.   I can only do so much, and people will often respond better to your impressions than mine.   I am the pastor I am supposed to think my church is great.  No one thinks that about you.

2. Support our church by carving out some time to show up and help out.   Start with coming to church more often.  Our church life is better when you are here,  and I am betting your life will be better too.   Move up to helping out the ministry and mission of our church by plugging into an area of service.  Pray for me and the mission of Holy Cross every day.

3. Give a financial offering to God through Holy Cross.  Your contributions will help us do God's work.  My thoughts on stewardship are simple, God has blessed you and you can use your blessings to bless others.   We are blessing people with the work we are doing as a church following Christ.   We will be pledging later on this Spring to our annual fund.  If you have never pledged before I ask that you prayerfully commit to trying. We bring Jesus Christ to people in your neighborhood,  we shepherd your neighbor's children,  we pray for and feed your neighbors in their time of need.  We show love to the people you love.  Yu-Mei and I tithe 10 percent of our income and God not only provides, but blesses us through this.  The real upside is that this money we give does God's good work in Springfield and beyond.

Please pray on these points and act on them.  Please also give thanks to God for the incredible work he has done in us and will do in the future.   See you in Worship and at the Rock Cafe next Saturday May you be blessed this day.

In Christ,
Pastor Knecht

The Chaos of Holy Week and Hope of Easter

No,  I am not writing about how busy I am!   I am writing about how chaos plays a role in the story of Holy Week and Easter, with the hope that when your life seems chaotic you just might see God at work.

Kaos vs. Control

Control good?

During my childhood, the spy film parody Get Smart made fun of the cold war with the Soviet Union by describing a spy on spy battle between two international spy agencies KAOS and CONTROL.   The hero Maxwell Smart, agent 86, worked for CONTROL; his enemies such as the recurring character Siegfried, worked for KAOS.   The default assumption that control is good and chaos is bad, underlies how the characters are divided up into good guys and bad guys.  This should make sense, if you asked a person on the street their true feelings, control would be seen positively and chaos negatively by most people (there is always a minority of chaos lovers out there).

Chaos bad? 

One of my underlying assumptions about culture is that often the deepest issues of the human condition are not actually discussed in the places where they are intended to be discussed, but happen in places hidden in plain sight.  A satire like Get Smart can bring to light a deep issue in a way that we can laugh about it, and perhaps think about it in a deeper way later.

The battle between chaos and control happens in every human heart.  Too much chaos- life is stressful and dangerous.  Too much control- life is stifled and growth is impossible.  Our fear for survival may lead us with a preference for control,  but when things become too predictable life is robbed of any sweetness and joy.

Chaos vs. Control on the Road to the Cross 

Sometimes we confuse control with peace with disastrous results.   Too much need for control can lead us down unhealthy paths.  It can hurt those we are called to care for (like our kids).  It can rob all the joy from life.  Most of all, it reveals a complete lack of trust in God.

The gospel accounts show us that the fear of chaos leads Pontius Pilate to condemn Jesus to death unjustly and release a guilty man who actually caused real chaos that led to the death of innocents (Barabbas).  Fear of chaos led Jesus's enemies to conspire to have him betrayed in secret rather using legal means.   Judas' gut reaction to the unknown woman's chaotic act of anointing Jesus seems nudge Judas into betrayal of his master.  Pilate, Judas, and the leaders of the opposition to Jesus all want to do away him because he represents a potential chaos that brings change to the world they wanted to keep.  And they were right.

Jesus as Agent of Chaos 

The order of the world that Jesus came to change, was unjust and oppressive.   The Romans, Sadducees and Pharisees all had issues with being over controlling of others.  Jesus came to bring dignity and respect to those marginalized by the world.   He wanted every person to know they are God's child.  He died to set all free from sin and he created a whole bunch of chaos to get to the cross. I know many will upset by me describing Jesus as one who brought chaos but that is exactly how the Bible describes it.

On the road to Jerusalem Jesus eats and drinks with those he is not supposed to, touches and heals those who were ritually unclean. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was certainly a chaotic affair,  then he heads straight to the temple and overturns all the tables of the money changers.  He then confounds Pharisee and Sadducee (liberals and conservatives) alike through his teaching.   He heals and forgives his enemies as they lead him to the cross, refuses to acknowledge the authority of Pilate to judge him, and questions God the Father.  When he dies the temple curtain is torn in two.   Matthew even talks of earthquakes and people coming back from the dead.

Why would the Savior of the world intentionally to cause so much disruption and chaos?

Chaos as the Stuff of New Creation 

My own personal faith story is that God used the chaos I was going through in my early twenties to bring me to a living faith in Jesus Christ.   The Holy Spirit called me from an old way leading to death to a new way leading to life.   I was open to listen because my life was a chaotic mess.   God used chaos to bring about something new and better.

This is how God has worked since the beginning of space and time.

Genesis 1 tells us that the earth was formless and void, which Biblical Scholars of the Hebrew Bible have been telling us for a long time was an idiom meaning a "chaotic mess".   God calls forth light and then uses the stuff of chaos to create the universe.   The meaning is simple,  chaos is a tool that God can use to bring new life.   Jesus used the chaos of holy week to make a new creation, which includes all people in a promise of salvation.   The chaos he created overthrew the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil.



If you are going through a chaotic time now, please know the promise of the resurrection in Jesus Christ.  God can use it to bring you to something new better.   God is not only stronger than chaos, God can use it to bring you to new life.   Please let me be clear,  I am in no way advocating one seek out chaos.  Real chaos happens on its own, and seeking it out doesn't sound healthy or faithful to me. However, if you are going through something really terrible now, please know that God can use even this to bring you life and hope.   God loves you so much he will use every tool at his disposal to bring you new life.    We need not be held in bondage to fear of an unpredictable future or the possibility of an unbearable present, because we have a God who can use all things to love us.

He is Risen!

Be blessed,
Pastor Knecht

It's the End of the World as We Know It: And I Feel Fine!

We are a culture that is obsessed with the end times. Being in ministry for almost 20 years now, I have lost count of how many books, articles and emails have come my way dealing the so called end times. Right now, the Left Behind series is coming back to big screen. From the other end of the spectrum, I write this on the day that Christopher Nolan's film Interstellar is to be released in theaters. This film describes a world in danger of ending due to an environmental catastrophe, and a potential attempt to leave earth and settle somewhere else. My daughter has read the Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner and the Selection which all deal with young people dealing with a future broken society on the verge of ending. This brings me back to the days of my own youth, where I watched such films as Soylent Green, Omega Man, Colossus: the Forbin Project, and of course the original Planet of the Apes. Perhaps the appeal of these films is the adrenaline rush of fear one gets as one watches, or thinks about all the bad things that can happen at a potential end of the world. One can then return home to his or her bedroom and be surrounded with the comfort world that is not over quite yet. It was all just a nice thrill ride, or was it?

The Last Days

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, (Hebrews 1:1-2 NRSV) 

These words written by the anonymous author of the New Testament letter of Hebrews almost 2000 years ago, show that the earliest Christians thought that they were living in the last days. They knew that the world that they had known was on the verge of ending. If one looks at this in a simplistic way, one could say they were wrong. We are reading indeed these words 2000 years later. The world did not end, you may say.

Standing at the End of the World 

As someone who reads history voraciously, I can tell you that the simple view is wrong. Countless worlds have come and gone since these words were first penned by an unknown scribe. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70 AD. The Roman Empire ended in 476, The black death devastated Europe from 1346 until 1353. Closer to our time the First World War(1914-18) came along and ended the world known as the Gilded Age or Belle Époque (good time). The dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima (1945) could be cited as another (remember those films with the big bugs). Each one of these were world ending events for countless people. In my daily ministry I meet people whose worlds have ended all the time, most often from a death, but sometimes an accident, illness or loss of employment.

Apocalypse as Revelation 

The word apocalypse comes from a greek word meaning to reveal. It is about one having her or his eyes opened to a new way of seeing. This is what happened to the first Christians. The imperial political propaganda of their day regularly told them they were living in the best of all possible worlds (called the Pax Romana) and it would last forever. For a persecuted minority, this was actually bad news. However, these first followers had their way of viewing things changed. What changed it? They saw the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God's only Son. They now knew that things were different. They saw that their world was more fragile than they had thought and was actually a mortal thing. It could die. This would not be a cause for fear, but grounds for hope, because they also saw that God raised Jesus from the dead. This Jesus promised this same blessing for all who follow him (John 3:16).

This did two things for the daily life of the first Christians, and does the same for us who follow in their footsteps as disciples today. First, by not fearing death we are released from our fears for the future. Secondly by coming to a mature understanding that all worlds are mortal we can actually appreciate what a gift it is to have one at this moment. Every moment of your life is a priceless pearl and you can choose to cherish it or take it for granted. To know that there might be a deadline might just help you appreciate the life you have been given just a bit more. This appreciation will motivate you to use your gifts better, find more joy in daily things and be more at peace. This can actually help you make better and fruitful decisions about the future, lift them up in prayer and leave the results to God.

How can I say all this? Because the witness of disciples who lived each day as if it could be their last one have reported these things. Martin Luther is supposed to have said "If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today!". He could say this because he knew what God has done in Jesus guaranteed that if his world ended there would indeed be another and we get to be part of it.

Be blessed

Pastor Knecht

Prayer Applications 

1. In the morning make a list and write down your fears for the future-ask God to help you trust that they can be taken care of. Read Isaiah 25:6-10, Revelation 21:1-7

2. Take a legal pad and write down every good thing you see during your day. Start your day by asking the Holy Spirit  to help you see the good in your world. Give a prayer of appreciation for each as you go to bed. Read Psalm 100.

Technology and Resurrection

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Immortality 

I am sure by now you are aware that all types of data is being collected on each person everyday.    The news is rife with stories of privacy issues, data breaches and eavesdropping.  Every time you visit a website, purchase products online (or just with a credit card in a store),  rate or write a review of something, or click that harmless looking thumbs up button on Facebook or Pandora that data goes somewhere.  On top of that wearable tech such as Google Glass and the Samsung Dick Tracy watch are in their prototype stages.     Will these be collecting other types of data?  Could they be used to capture emotions and reactions to events and record them with the images the camera is collecting while tracking your location?   If so, could someone then collect all his or her data and use it to create a realistic profile of her or himself.    Could that profile then be combined with a process of artificial intelligence to create a newly regenerated virtual person?   Can this person then be downloaded into a piece of tech that can communicate and interact with the world?  If the answer to these questions is yes, have human beings found a way to be immortal through their own devices?

Not yet, but people are actually working on these very types of things.

Hell 

The whole problem with this is, that if we can construct an immortal life through our own efforts we would be simply carrying our broken pasts into a dark future.   The traumas lived through would be carried on into eternity.  There would still be pain, there would still be loss,  there would still be evil.   These experiences of our sinfulness wear us down and tinge our lives with sorrow.   As we carry these burdens forward, time itself would loose all meaning,  there will be no urgency to do anything, experience would pile upon experience.   We would find that we were not damned to hell, but that we had created it ourselves for all eternity.   It is the reason why the Bible portrays God as expelling Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:22) Then the LORD God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--  (NRSV)  This was not done out of spite or punishment, but as an act of grace so that no person would be condemned to unending suffering.


Forgiveness and Hope

While we may know the hope we have from a life of faith is an eventual eternal life,  it is not the first hope we have.  For the hope we have in Jesus Christ is first and foremost grounded in forgiveness.   Forgiveness breaks the cycle of evil that has been built up in our lives over time.   It heals the relationships we have with God, others, and the division within our own hearts.   If not forgiven, we can not be healed, if not healed we are not prepared for eternal life.   It is why when God sent Christ to the Cross it was first and foremost and act of forgiveness.   Jesus would show his wounds to his disciples to prove that he had forgiven them.   That the pain of Good Friday could be reconciled, proved that God can reconcile any division imaginable.   If you don't think that one really needs forgiveness to live eternally,  do this experiment.   Review the major news stories of the last week,  count how many are tragic or even evil.   Then take that number and multiply it by 52 and get an idea of how much pain just one year exists in an broken world.  Then think about that going on year after year with out end.   Unless the cycle is broken there will be no hope; it is the ultimate blessing for us that God has chosen to break the cycle of sin with the cross of Christ.  

Living out that hope in tangible ways is what we call discipleship.  True disciples don't wait for the forgiveness to appear in some distant future, they work on it now.   By advocating for the vulnerable, feeding the poor,  encouraging the downtrodden, we provide signs of hope that point people to a God who wants to heal, restore, and forgive.  In a life of Christian discipleship the best way to use technology going forward will be to use it as a tool of discipleship to do Jesus' work of being there for the least of the world.


Isaiah and the LORD's Mountain

One of the earliest references to resurrection in Scripture is comes from  the prophet Isaiah.   He gave us this vision of hope:  (Isaiah 25:6-8) On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.  (NRSV)  Notice that God does not just give the eternal life alone.   The promise is for the removal of tears (pain) and disgrace (shame).   Before these gifts are mentioned, Isaiah speaks of God destroying the shroud.   The removal of the shroud or sheet is the removal of the division between God and people, it is this removal that makes a blessed eternal life possible.  It is forgiveness that gives us hope.    So as we live out the greatest three days in history, perhaps it is most healthy to move beyond a childlike desire to merely live forever to mature faith that hopes for forgiveness.

May all have a happy and blessed Easter

Pastor J. David Knecht

Go to Church, What's the point?

The question of the world to our church 

Gone are the days when church attendance helped you look good to your neighbors.   In the world of my
parents and grandparents people felt guilty if they were seen outside of church on Sundays.   Today people feel guilty if they don't workout.  They are more likely to say on a Sunday "Darn! I missed my bike ride ! (Or yoga class, golf, or whatever) than they would lament at not being able to worship.    There is no societal pressure in New Jersey to be a person of faith,  in fact it may be seen as a liability to some because it makes you less available to do the things that convey status these days.  I do think those who argue that we are persecuted today are grossly exaggerating.   I have personal friends who lived under dictatorships who were persecuted for their faith, and that is not what is going on in Union County New Jersey.   People are not presenting to me that they are hostile to those of us who practice our Christian faith, they are just... neutral.

Searching for the Answer

I personally think this is a great time to be the church, because in this atmosphere where people in the culture are neutral towards us, we have the blessing of being able to see the real answer to the question of what's the point without the blinders of popularity.  We can use the tools of our faith, scripture, prayer, conversation to uncover the Holy Spirit's true purpose of a life of faith and then spend some time talking about the question with those in our neighborhood an communities.   They answer that we will come up with will certainly be better than "everybody else is going."  It will be a real answer, that reveals a real purpose.

The Wrong Answer 

"I go to church to get fed!"  Well good for you.  So what? I can get fed at lots of places in the culture.   The person who stays in and gets up late to read on Sundays can honestly tell you the same thing.  So can the guys I see on the way to church on their road bikes, or running along the paths. (three things that I actually get fed by).   If this is our only answer to the question of what's the point?  Than I am sorry to say, that there would be no point.   Being fed is not enough of a reason to make the sacrifices we make to be the church. No neutral person in our culture would see the purpose of showing up at our door if that is our only answer. Now don't get me wrong, lots of churches do a lousy job of feeding people spiritually and physically. The decline of Christianity in our culture was aided by churches that just asked people to give without feeding and building them up in the first place.   Feeding people spiritually and physically is a good start,  but it is the start, not the goal, and certainly not the point.

The Bible's Answer 

"I will bless you.. so that you will be a blessing"  (Genesis 12:2) says God to Abram.  In this simple phrase we begin to see the answer that will not only give us something to say to the culture but to sustain ourselves as we journey in a life discipleship of Jesus Christ.  We are called by Christ to help, to serve, to proclaim, to build up, and to bless.   Yes this means to make a difference, but it is more than this.   Yes, this means to proclaim our faith, but it is more than this too.  Indeed it is to speak up for those who have no voice, but it will be more than this as well.  "Peace (shalom or wholeness) I leave with you, As the Father sent me, I send you" (John 20:21) says Jesus, when the disciples see him resurrected.   The Bible's answer is clear.  God calls us to go to be part of a church (or any Christian community) for the exact same reason that Jesus was sent to the world!   When we witness and experience the resurrected Jesus we are sent to bring peace (wholeness) to our neighbors.   That may mean food, or prayer support, or baby siting, or spiritual direction or any host of other things as long they do the work of Jesus to include, reconcile, feed, heal , cast out demons, and yes, even save.

Your Answer 

As the culture is neutral about the church, it is neutral about the Bible,  so just giving the above answer may not at first resonate or seem relevant to those we see on a daily basis.   The way they will see our purpose is by seeing it work out in our lives as we try to do the things Jesus showed us how to do.  This means finding a beautiful and creative way to make Jesus' story part of your story,  not in artificial or boilerplate way, but in a way that is real to you and evident to those around you.   We have word for this in Christian circles,  it is discipleship.   Disciples reflect their master,  they do the same work and have the same agenda.   They go about the work in their own way that reflects who they really are, but the purpose is the same. Disciples of Jesus
 confess that we do the work that Jesus was sent to do.  It is why Paul calls this gathering that meets somewhere near you on Sunday "the body of Christ". Jesus would also command his disciples to make more (Matthew 28:20),  not to build up some movement, or create an organization, or institution, but to carry on what He started at the Cross.

My Answer 

To become a disciple of Jesus Christ,  because like him, we do good for the world.


Keep the Faith,
Pastor Knecht

Coming this Lent to Holy Cross

Stories Around the Fire

Fridays in Lent 7-8:30PM

I don’t know about you, but I love a good camp fire! The stories seem better, the food somehow tastes bolder, and most of all the conversation seems richer. Join us Fridays in Lent for a time to tell our stories of God and life around a campfire in our courtyard. Each week, we will center the the around a different aspect of Jesus own story as told to us by John's Gospel. We are praying that this simple act can help us live the story of Jesus that meets our need to be in relationship with others. Bring a chair, maybe a bag of marshmallows, or a pack of hot dogs, along with your favorite beverage and let’s see how the Spirit moves us this Lent.

Week 1: March 14 I am the He: John 4
Week 2: March 21 I am the Bread of Life : John 6
Week 3: March 28 I am the Light of the World: John 9
Week 4: April 4 I am the Good Shepherd: John 10
Week 5: April 11 I am the Resurrection: John 11
Week 6: April 18 I am the Way the Truth and the Life *after good Friday worship

Lenten Sermons-Jesus’ Bible 

The Story of Jesus is intertwined with the story of the people of Israel. They were chosen as God’s people to bring a light to the nations of the earth. Jesus was sent to save all in the world. The stories of the Hebrew Scriptures have many touch-points, parallels, and common themes with the life, ministry death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In our sermons this Lent we will explore a small portion of these together. Jesus used the Hebrew Scriptures to teach people about the living relationship they can have with God that gives hope, healing and peace. Ever since followers and disciples heard Jesus teach, saw him heal, and witnessed his sacrifice they saw that he embodied the core of the teaching of their Scriptures. So come and don’t just become acquainted with the “Old” Testament, but learn about the Bible Jesus used to help make all things new.

March 9 Lent 1 Jesus’ Bible, Our Shame Genesis 3:1-10
March 16 Lent 2 Jesus’ Bible, Our Hope Genesis 12:1-4
March 23 Lent 3 Jesus’ Bible, Our Struggle Exodus 17:1-7
March 30 Lent 4 Jesus’ Bible, Our Heart 1 Samuel 16:1-13
April 6 Lent 5 Jesus’ Bible, Our Life Ezekiel 37:1-14


Hope you will come by Holy Cross for these!!  Be blessed and....

Keep the Faith,
Pastor Knecht

Humility is for Losers!

Unappreciated Humility 

A recent study by the most respected Christian church social science researcher George Barna asked practicing Christians what qualities do they think are essential for Christian leaders to have.(you can find the article here) I was surprised to find out that humility was only mentioned by 7 percent of the respondents.

You would think that the church whose head humiliated himself to the point of going to the cross for our sins would look upon humility more favorably and value it more highly as a quality for Christian leaders than we apparently do. But alas, it seems that no one values humility anymore. We value things like assertiveness, independence, strength, and power. It beguiles me how so many can miss the importance of this central quality of Christian leadership. To be sure integrity scored highly, but I do not know how one can have integrity without being humble. For younger people authenticity seems to be highly valued, but how can one be truly authentic if one is not humble first?

Humility Defined 

According to the survey, the definition of humility is a willingness to give credit to others. This makes its lack of respect by those who attend evangelical and mainline churches even more surprising. How can one be truly Christian leader if one does not give credit to God and others? Humility according to this definition is the central characteristic to help us live out the great commandment to love God with one's heart, soul and mind and to love one's neighbor as oneself.

Perhaps the decline being witnessed in Christian communities across the board has something to do with the lack of appreciation of the concept of humility. If one pays attention to the various contemporary media outlets, one will see whether one is liberal, or conservative, hip or intellectual, that self promotion is the current modus operandi of our culture. There is apparently no such thing as bad publicity. To give credit to others according to a common worldly understanding is to throw away a valuable resource. Why do it if I do not get the credit? Asks the world.

Biblical Humility

However by living this way and ignoring the contributions of God and others in our relentless search for credit, we damage the relationships necessary for us to live a life of peace and wholeness as God intended. The Biblical definition of humility has a different nuance than that we have seen so far. We can see the Biblical view of humility in Peter's words "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time." 1 Peter 5:6 (NRSV) To humble oneself is to allow God to work within you. If one does not live humbly one therefore does not live for or with God.

Perhaps when Christians ignore humility we are really just revealing our attitude of wanting to go it alone. In the end, if we go it alone all the time our lives will be less full than they could be. We see this wisdom written in Ecclesiastes " Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NRSV) Humility is essential to facilitate community and build relationships.

The Humble One 

This is the exact reason why God sent his Son Jesus in humble fashion; he wanted to create a community of people in relationship to him. God does not want us to go it alone. Paul wrote the Christians in Philippi "he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross." Philippians 2:8 (NRSV) I gave this posting a provocative title because this is how the world views the humble these days. However there is often truth in satire, Jesus himself reminded us that world will always view the humble as those who lose, but that when one loses that which is temporary one gains the eternal. "For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." Matthew 16:25 (NRSV)

In the Bible sometimes losing is winning, especially when one is giving up that which keeps him or her removed from The Lord of Heaven and Earth. In the eyes of his Roman executioners the humble Jesus was a loser because he did not challenge their political dominance. Yet this same empire would itself be conquered by the followers of Jesus who used humility to defeat injustice and evil. To be humble is to appreciate life as it actually is. So consider the humble, you may just see the stuff of life in them.

Keep the Faith,

Pastor Knecht

What is your Misson?

Mission Matters 

Everyone has a mission in life. Every community has something it is called to do. We each have a purpose appointed to us by God as individuals, families, and churches. The word mission originally came from the Latin word to hurl, throw, or send. So in simple terms, the question of what is your mission is a rephrasing of the question of where is God sending you? (or maybe even where is God throwing you?) There is a basic pattern of God's activity that goes like this: God calls, God restores, God sends. While all three aspects are important, the sending is the culmination of one's faith process. It is in following one's mission that one finds one's true purpose in this life.

Sometimes we cling to our old selves and do not see the entire process through. While we may be thankful that we are called by God's grace into a new relationship with God and the world, some may not yet grasp the fact that we may need to follow where God is truly sending us to be the people we were created to be. Others may at times find healing in the arms of God but never trust him enough to follow where he leads. A truly holistic faith as presented multiple times in scripture will always have all the component aspects present. Perhaps the lack of vitality we experience in our individual and communal faith life is because we only focus on a particular part of our faith rather than the whole. So it is impossible to think about your faith in Jesus Christ without dealing with the question “what is my mission?”

Mission as Thanksgiving

 In order for mission to be truly authentic to ourselves and give glory to God it must be born of thankfulness. In Luke 10 where we see the nature of Christian mission explored in detail, we see Jesus attempting to engender this type of thinking in the disciples: For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”Luke 10:24 NRSV It is appreciation that helps us keep proper humility and guards against trumpeting ourselves rather than God. Without thankfulness mission can devolve into some self improvement or aggrandizement scheme where we check boxes and pump out our chests to justify ourselves rather than understanding it is God who restores and forgives us.

Active vs. Passive 

 Mission which flows from our gratitude toward God will always lead to an encounter with another person. The best mission is always a relational one. It is where stories of God’s power and love are shared and received with joy. No truly spiritual mission is an island, it always leads one into actions with others as part of a community. This means that a genuine Christian mission must be active mission. While donating to “missions” is a time honored way of supporting those who engage in the more intensive aspects of mission like spreading the gospel in a faraway land, working with those dealing with calamity or poverty, fighting hunger or disease, what I am advocating is something more hands on for each individual. I am encouraging us all that we find ways of helping others that lead to new relationships grounded in the Holy Spirit. A simple test of whether a mission is an active on or not are to ask questions like: did I hear a personal story from the person directly while doing it?

Mission as Hobby vs. Mission as a Life 

 As I write this is it “mission trip season”; groups from around the world will move out to where God is leading to help with concrete projects and build relationships. I have participated in such activities in my life and they have been life changing and transformative. I do however want you to consider something a bit more demanding, and that is to view mission more as a way of life than an activity to engage in for a specific period of time. The most important missions that God calls us to are those we work on day to day and week to week. If you have children, part of your mission is being a good parent. If you have a sense of your own salvation in Christ, part of your mission is to share that Good News with those around you. A large portion of what we are about as a community at Holy Cross is to help you find out where you can serve as God is calling you to.

Beginning on the first weekend of July, we will explore some of the different aspects of Christian mission by examining texts from the Gospel of Luke. It is my prayer that together we can discern how and where God is sending us. As we move into the fall, I am hoping that at least some of you will hear God’s call to help build community, pass on faith to our children, serve the struggling in our community through the ministries we provide. It is also my hope that this will be grace for you and that it will help lead you to a more joyous life of faith in relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Keep the Faith,


Pastor Knecht