Saint Luke's Lutheran Church

Even though summer really begins in June, Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer. Witness for example, the start of our summer worship schedule here at Saint Luke's. It runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 

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 Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have gone before us - especially our honored war dead. While on vacation I read about a number of unusual events. There was the eight-man crew of H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine. This Confederate sub disappeared during the American Civil War. It was not discovered until the year 2000 and raised in 2001after 130 years. The crew's mortal remains were finally laid to rest on April 17 of this year; 140 years after the Hunley failed to make home port. The long dead shipmates were given full military honors and with Civil War re-enactors present for the burial. The Hunley and her crew of eight men serve as a symbol of submariners who were lost and continue to be lost. 

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Five operations in 2004 will seek to recover remains of United States servicemen who are among the more than 8,100 soldiers MIA from the Korean war, which was ended over 50 years ago. When you add in WWII, the cold war, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, the number of Americans MIA grows to a staggering 88,000. This weekend marks the dedication of the long awaited Washington Memorial to those who served during World War II. ALL these things call us to REMEMBER! Remember that "Freedom is not free." It's a gift from those who served - some of whom who "paid the ultimate price" and others who can never again be what they were, when they left for war. This is our Memorial Day weekend.

IT'S ALSO PENTECOST - a time to REMEMBER the Holy Spirit. How much do you remember about the Holy Spirit? If you were asked to name 5 things about the Father, you might find that to be an easy assignment. "He is the Creator of everything." "He loves all people." "He is the Father of Jesus Christ." "He is the One to Whom we address our prayers," and "we become His children by faith in Christ." Can you name five things about the Son of God? "That's easy," you might say, "I could name ten." I believe you. You probably could. Can you name 3 things about the Holy Spirit? "Let me see. He's mentioned 3rd in the great creeds of the church, and He brings people to faith." Without some thought many people would find it difficult to recall 3 things about the H.S. He comes off as the pale member of the Holy Trinity. How unfortunate!!! Martin Luther calls us to remember that the Holy Spirit not only calls people to faith. He also gathers us into the church. He enlightens our understanding of God in X. He leads us into God-pleasing lives.

PENTECOST CALLS US TO remember GOD'S UNGOING ACTIVITIES IN THE WORLD THROUGH HIS CHURCH. Pentecost calls us to REMEMBER our relationship to God as our Father. THAT's the work of the H.S. Not only does He bring us to faith in Christ. He also forms our vision of what the church can become. God promises, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophecy." "Your menservants and maidservants shall also prophesy." No distinctions are made here on the basis of gender or station in life. God wills to speak through sons and daughters, men & women ------ALL of us. God calls his faithful children to His service. ------- Do you discuss your children's or grandchildren's future vocations with them? What do you say to them? Have you urged them to consider the plans God might have for their lives? Charles Spurgeon - minister of a past generation once said, "I would be disappointed, had God intended my son to be a missionary and he became only a king." -----What's your vision of your children's future? Have you heard what their vision might be?

GOD'S VISION CAN INVOLVE A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS. Disneyworld in Florida, for example, has an exhibit that traces the development of the park from dream to reality. Photographs show the area, as it was, when Walt Disney first saw it. There were orange groves, palm trees & small lakes. Many would stand there and see only orange groves, palm trees & small lakes. Walt Disney saw Main Street USA, Cinderella's castle, Space Mountain and many other delights. ANY great achievement begins where Disney began. It begins with a dream or a vision of what can be. Robert F Kennedy once said, "Some men look at things as they are and they ask, 'WHY?' I look at things as they never have been, and I ask, "Why NOT?" The United States began with a dream of what thirteen colonies could become, if they united. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream of a land free from racial oppression, a land in which children would be judged by their character and not by the color of their skin." Jesus envisioned a world in which everyone would be subject to the Heavenly Father, and the law of love would prevail.

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Spirit given and directed vision is God's way of getting us to center our lives on what God would have us to do.

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THE SPIRIT OF GOD HELPS US REMEMBER that Christ "died for all that we might live no longer for ourselves." We live for HIM who died for us and rose again. A Man Who is also God died in our stead. He arose from the dead. He's alive. Our desire is to let God have ALL of us - our entire beings - to be used for His purposes. What's your vision of the church? Is it a museum for the display of the perfect, and do you come away from that vision disappointed? Or is the church a hospital for the cure of those who are ill? Is the church a place where the Spirit of God lives and where He speaks to us through His Word and Sacrament - through the mutual conversation and consolation of those who believe in X? How do you see the church? Is it a group of forgiven sinners? Is it also a group of forgiven forgivers? Jesus put us into the business of forgiveness, when He said, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven." We forgive each other from the heart, because God in Christ has forgiven us. God forgives, and He calls us to reflect His family values. We need to encourage each other to be people who forgive from the heart. We do that, when we gather to praise God rather than to celebrate our own real or imagined goodness.

ALWAYS REMEMBER THE SPIRIT'S ROLE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH. He calls, gathers, enlightens and keeps us together in the one true faith. He also empowers us to reach out to one another and to the people in the world. Amen.