We stand in shock and horror at the beginning of this week as yet another Minnesotan was shot and killed by an ICE agent over the weekend.

Lord, have mercy.

Each of the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary this week scream in protest to tyranny, oppression, and evil. Micah is speaking to a nation whose leaders have been oppressing the poor and overtaxing the people and now their kingdom is crumbling. The antidote is humility, mercy, and justice. The Psalmist describes the heart of a true leader; one who is humble and speaks no slander. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the cross is foolishness to the wisdom of the Greeks and weakness to those who consider themselves strong. Jesus proclaims the message of the Kingdom of Heaven in his preamble to the sermon on the mount. Blessed are all the people whom the Empire looks down on as dispensable, worthless, and a threat.

Disciples of Jesus, we are called to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. We are called to stand with Jesus among the poor, the downtrodden, the outcast, the marginalized, the forgotten. We are called not to repay evil with evil, but to do the foolish thing. The theology of the cross reminds us that it is only in humility, love, and truth in justice that the world will ever change.

Pray for us here in Minnesota that we would resist tyranny with humility and steadfastness. Pray for our political leaders that they would let go of pride and power and seek the good of all people, before more people die.

Lord, have mercy.

Student-Led Worship this Wednesday

Pray for our students this week who are planning and leading our service of Holy Communion on Wednesday. Rachel Wyffels, senior M.Div. student, is preaching. You can attend in person in the Chapel of the Incarnation, or watch the livestream on YouTube.

We begin this week with swirling emotions. We are so thankful for a wonderful RFS last week. It is always good to see our distributed learners on campus. We are thankful for the successful experiment of holding RFS 2 at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and are grateful that all are safe.

We also have heavy hearts as the tensions on our streets continue to mount. We pray for our neighbors who are living in fear and sheltering in place. On this day when we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. we are reminded how much we need his message of non-violent action.

We pray for our city, our nation, and our world. We pray that evil would be exposed, that truth-in-love would be the standard, that justice and shalom would engulf us. May we, as disciples of Jesus, walk in the way of Christ in the midst of it all.

Back to Our Weekly Rhythm

This week marks the beginning of our regular rhythm of communal spiritual practices for the Winter term. Mark your calendars for 11:00am Monday-Thursday each week (not Monday this week for MLK).

Tuesday | Contemplative Practice. Hybrid in Meditation Chapel and on Zoom.

Wednesday | Service of Holy Communion and Chapel Cafe. Hybrid in Chapel and on YouTube.

Pastor Emily Rova-Hegener will lead us this week as she preaches about Jesus’ ministry beginning and how we are called to break bread together. She will continue the communion table with her Brake Bread practice in the Narthex immediately following the service. This practice is designed to gather us in community and remember the work that God has done and is doing in the physical space of the Chapel of the Incarnation. She is doing this practice as a way to help us begin the transition of saying goodbye to this campus and being open to a new thing that God is doing.

Thursday | Lunch Church. Dining Room. In-Person

Join us this week as Suresh Salam, M.A. Student, shares his “Why Jesus?” testimony.

A Reflection on the Good News

The Revised Common Lectionary readings this week set the stage for Jesus’ ministry as he begins in Galilee. They also fit really well with the state of the world today. Our twin cities and our state have been the focus of attention for the past couple weeks as ICE agents roam our streets. Renee Good was shot and killed, another man was shot. Thousands of people have been dragged from their homes and detained, many of them U.S. Citizens. Protestors are marching in the streets, tear gas and rubber bullets are flying. The Spanish-speaking population and Somali community are sheltering in place, cut off from supplies. Our international students are afraid to leave campus to go to church. The tensions are mounting.

The nation, and the church, is divided over this news and how to interpret it.

The readings remind us that Jesus lived in a similar time and the church has always been embroiled in tension and divided by factions. Isaiah 9 is quoted in the first part of the Gospel reading and reminds us that Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, not in Jerusalem. This was a political statement. The people of Israel had spent centuries living under the occupation of one Empire after another. The Romans ruled the land during Jesus’ life. The puppet Kings of Herod’s dynasty colluded with the Empire and terrorized the Jewish people with exorbitant taxes and unjust governance. Jesus set up his headquarters far from Jerusalem and at the base of the fishing industry in Capernaum.

Jesus came to proclaim a different kind of kingdom. He called fisherman to be his disciples and to reimagine the purpose of their work. He demonstrated to the world that God’s Kingdom was not about dominance and oppression, but about healing and restoration of people who live on the margins. He came to bring the kin-dom—the beloved community—of God for the Shalom of the world.

And it cost him his life.

Psalm 27 reminds us that we are often surrounded by violence, but even in the midst of it we can seek beauty in the house of the LORD. Paul critiques the Corinthians for having petty factions among themselves. He reminds them that the Good News of the cross is foolishness to the systems of the world, but it is the power of salvation for those who follow it.

This week we are reminded that the life of discipleship is an invitation to walk into a world that is fraught with violence and show people a different way. The way of Jesus is the way of healing. It is a way that “shines a great light into the darkness.” We are invited to follow Jesus as he “went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).”

Let us be the Good News this week.

I write this post on a Monday morning in the midst of RFS 1. 150 students have been on campus all weekend and it has been wonderful, and it has been challenging. Many students were asked by friends and family, “Do you really want to go to Minneapolis right now?”

Our city has been engulfed in a tumultuous situation. We all stood in shock as we received the news that Renee Nicole Good had been shot and killed by an ICE agent. Many of our streets have been filled with protestors. Conflicting narratives have been swirling through our various media channels and communication networks. Anxiety is high.

It is a challenging time and difficult to know how to be a Christian Public Leader.

Let us take a deep breath together…

…

This morning, in Chapel, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. We will feel the water of baptism rain onto our skin. We will be reminded that we are anchored deeply in the waters of God’s Grace. We are reminded in Psalm 29 that God is in the storm. We are reminded in the story of Jesus’ baptism that he is the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. He is the one anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is the one to whom and about whom the voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to him.”

We are reminded that Jesus came into a world riddled with fear and oppression. His people lived under the tyranny of an oppressive Empire. They lived in the shadow of a corrupt King who colluded with the Empire, slaughtered his own people and family to protect his power, and distorted the Temple of God.

Jesus showed us the way. He showed us how to lean into our identity as a child of God, to love our neighbor as ourself. To stand strong in the face of oppression and be agents of God’s love, grace, and salvation.

We are reminded that Jesus did not overcome evil with evil or violence with violence. Jesus took the violence into himself on the cross. He overcame the violence with love, with forgiveness, with truth, justice, peace, and resurrection.

This is my prayer for us this week at Luther Seminary. May we be grounded in our baptismal identity. May we be reminded that God looks upon us and says, “You are my beloved child.” May we be people who do not give in to fear, but stand with those who are vulnerable, speak truth in love, and, in the name of Jesus, proclaim Good News as we seek to embody Shalom in all that we say and do.

Lord, have mercy.

Welcome Back!

We begin the Winter term this week with syllabus day, prep week, and RFS 1 (Residential Focus Session)! Prayers for all of you who will be traveling to St. Paul this week. For those of you coming from warmer regions, dress warm!

Our first official event for Chapel and Spiritual Life will take place on Saturday at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Incarnation. This is our Super Simple Saturday Service to greet all the RFS students to campus and start things off with scripture, prayer, and singing. It will be in-person only.

Then, on Monday, we have a special treat for Chapel…

First, we welcome Dr. William P. Brown as our guest preacher.

Second, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus during this service. We will begin the service with a Thanksgiving for Baptism and the practice of aperges, or the sprinkling of water, to renew our baptismal identity.

It should be a great service. Join on YouTube if you are not local.

We’ll begin the normal rhythm of Communal Spiritual Practices on Tuesday, January 20. Be sure to subscribe to the Luther Community Calendar to keep in the loop.

A Meditation on Jesus’ Baptism

We begin the journey through the Epiphany season by observing Jesus’ baptism. The term epiphany comes from the Greek word that means “to manifest, display, show off; come suddenly into view.” It is the season where Jesus shows up in the public scene and starts to change the world.

His public ministry begins with a humble act of submitting to John the Baptist’s invitation to repent and be baptized. The word repent means to change your perspective or the way your think about things. Jesus had spent the first thirty years of his life in obscurity. Now, it was time for him to change his mind and step into action to fulfill his calling as the Messiah.

Two important things happen at Jesus’ baptism. First, a voice from the heavens claimed Jesus as a beloved and pleasing son. Second, the Holy Spirit rested upon him in the form of a dove.

The dove-spirit shows us two important aspects of who Jesus was and what he was called to do. First, he is the anointed one. That is the literal definition of the word Messiah. The Holy Spirit of God came upon all the leaders of Israel. Now it is Jesus’ time to lead the people. Second, the dove is a symbol of peace. This Messiah was not leading the people into war, he was leading them into Shalom.

May we, as Christian Public Leaders, follow Jesus’ example. May we walk humbly, accept our vocation as leaders, know that we are beloved, and lead our people into Shalom.

Congratulations to all our students who completed the Fall term! Well done.

The Chapel is taking a break for Christmas and New Year. We will resume our regular communal spiritual practices after the January RFS, beginning on Tuesday, January 20. Check the Luther Community Calendar for details.

God is With Us | A Devo for Advent 4

What does God’s love look like? It is summed up in one word: Immanuel. This is a compound Hebrew word combining the word im-anu, which means “with us” with the word el, which means “God.” It only appears twice in the Hebrew scripture, both times in Isaiah 7.

Isaiah was a prophet who was called to confront Ahaz, the corrupt King of Judah. Isaiah’s wife was going to have a child. The child’s life was going to serve like a time piece. Ahaz’s plans would be laid to waste by the time this child gets old enough to eat solid food on his own. The child was to be named Immanuel. Isaiah’s child was a sign to the people that, no matter how bad it might seem, God is with us.

Fast forward six centuries. Joseph is engaged to Mary. She is pregnant and he knows it is not his. He is distraught as Mary is cast in the shadow of disgrace. A messenger from God visits Joseph in a dream and tells him not to be afraid. Name the child Jesus, the messenger says, because that name means “God saves.” This child will grow up to save his people.

Matthew, the author of the Gospel, interprets this dream for us by quoting Isaiah 7:14. Matthew tells us that Jesus is God-with-us. Our reading from Romans shows us that the Apostle Paul fully believed that this baby born to Mary did grow up to be the savior. Through the crucified and resurrected Son of God we have received grace.

As we light the candle of love this week, may you remember that God is with us. No matter how dark it may seem outside, the light of God’s love lights the way.

This week we celebrate the third week of Advent, light the candle of Joy, and welcome Dr. Mary Hess to guide us in a sermon on Mary’s Song. This will be our final week of Communal Spiritual Practices for 2025. We will resume these practices in January during RFS.

Daily Spiritual Practices

Join us each day at 11:00am CT. Monday Text Study. Tuesday Contemplative Practice. Wednesday Holy Communion. Thursday Lunch Church. 11:00am every day. Use the Zoom link for Monday and Tuesday and YouTube for Wednesday.

Joy in the Darkness | A Meditation on Advent 3

Have you ever felt like John the Baptist in Matthew 11? He dedicated his life to preaching and preparing the way for the Messiah. He thought it was Jesus. Now he sits in prison and Jesus does not seem to be delivering the people from the hands of the Romans. Did he get it wrong? Is Jesus really the savior?

Perhaps you find yourself discouraged today. You know you are supposed to light the candle of Joy this week. Yet, you look around at the violence and hatred in the world and think, “Rejoice, really? Where is the joy of the LORD?”

It helps me to remember that the scriptures were written by people who were experiencing great suffering and oppression. The Hebrew prophets spoke in the face of invasion, the destruction of their temple, and the deportation and exile of their people. The disciples of Jesus lived in the shadow of two forms of persecution. The first was the Roman Empire, the violent war spirit between it and Judea, and the ultimate destruction of the second temple. The second was the tension they felt by their Jewish siblings who felt betrayed by their allegiance to Jesus as the Christ and their openness to Gentiles.

Perhaps John the Baptist was placing his hope for Joy in the wrong place. Notice how Jesus replied to John’s inquiry. He quotes the prophets. He says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. (Matthew 11:4-6)”

Jesus ministry did not happen in epic battles of clashing power structures. He did not lead a political coup against the oppressor. Instead, he loved every person he encountered and set them free, one person at a time. He spread the love and joy of the LORD everywhere he went, and that joy became the infectious hope that carried the people through their darkest times.

This week, may we find the joy of the LORD in the simplest acts of kindness. May we feel the flowing waters of the Spirit quenching the dry soul of the lonely and despairing. Let us rejoice in the fact that God loves us and is with us, no matter how dark it may seem.

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break and Happy December! We have two weeks of Chapel left for this term. That means we will celebrate a condensed version of Advent on Wednesdays.

Two big things are happening this Wednesday, December 4:

1. We celebrate Advent 2. This week we are pleased to welcome Dr.Jennifer Wojciechowski, Assistant Professor of Church History, to preach about the ministry of John the Baptist and the candle of peace.
2. We celebrate our Fall Graduates. If you have finished your course work this fall we invite you to come to the Chapel of the Incarnation in person, or tune in to the livestream on YouTube. President Steinke and Dean Elton will honor you and offer a blessing.

Daily Spiritual Practices

All of our daily communal practices are back in session this week. Monday Text Study. Tuesday Contemplative Practice. Wednesday Holy Communion. Thursday Lunch Church. 11:00am every day. Use the Zoom link for Monday and Tuesday and YouTube for Wednesday.

Life from a Dead Stump | A Devo for Advent 2

This week we light the candle of peace and long for a day when it becomes reality. Three of our four readings use a metaphor to describe the state of the world and the hope for a preferred and promised future. It is the image of a stump. It is a tree or a vine that has been cut down by an axe. This may appear like death. Nothing is visible on the surface. Yet, a stump is still deeply rooted in the ground. Life finds a way. A little bud will pop out on the side of the stump and grow into a new branch that will eventually become a new tree or vine.

A stump is not the evidence of an execution. It is the evidence of an extreme pruning. This week we meet John the Baptizer who serves as the last of the Hebrew prophets who declared the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah and Jeremiah, centuries earlier, had warned that Assyria and Babylon were the axe that would cut down the vine of Israel in an act of extreme pruning. In John’s day many people thought that King Herod and his magnificent temple were the resurrection of Israel. John warned them that the axe was coming again. The true shoot from the stump of Jesse (the name of King David’s father) was still coming into the world to be the true king.

All of our readings describe what the true King will be like. This is a King and a kingdom of peace, of Shalom. This kingdom is one in which justice, righteousness, and equity for all people is the way of things. It is a place where the poor and the weak are restored, where the predator and prey play together and we are all led by the innocence of children. It is a place where the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on them, in wisdom and understanding, and the presence of Shalom shall weave us all together in harmonious diversity.

We trust that Jesus is the prince of peace. We are invited to strive for this Kingdom in the holy tension of already and not yet. We engage in active anticipation. May we be a light of peace this week that shines in a world of strife.

Join me for an Advent Contemplative Art Experience. learn more at artpastor.com/advent

We experience a glorious break this week. Prayers for safe travels and good interactions with family and friends. Allow me to offer a devotional thought on the texts for this week.

The texts from the Revised Common Lectionary for this week:

Isaiah 2:1–5 – the mountain of the LORD’s house. no more war.

Psalm 122 – pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Romans 13:11–14 – wake up and walk in the light

Matthew 24:36–44 – stay awake for the Son of Man is coming

Happy New Year! This week marks the beginning of the new liturgical year. We cycle back to Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary. That means we will be anchoring our Gospel readings in Matthew all year (with a healthy sprinkling of John, of course).

The new year begins with the season of Advent. These four weeks invite us into a season of waiting. We look to the horizon in anticipation of the coming Messiah. Our longing takes on many layers. First, we look back to the days of the Hebrew prophets who stood in the time of the Exile and restoration of Jerusalem. They had experienced the great darkness of the Babylonian oppression and were longing for the coming Messiah who would establish the city of peace–Jerusalem–and draw all nations together. Second, as Christians, we stand in our present moment, acknowledging that the Messiah has come in Jesus Christ, and yet the reign of peace has not been fully realized.

Advent 1 begins the journey with the words of both Paul and Jesus to “wake up and stay awake.” It is easy to become weary in a world that does not seem to match the vision of God’s preferred and promised future. We look to the light on the horizon. We look to the day when the words of Isaiah will come true and the nations shall not learn war any more.

We are also reminded that our waiting is not passivity. We are invited to participate in the work of bringing this peace into being. Paul invites us to walk in the light. Jesus’ disciples are called to be peacemakers by embodying the love of God as Jesus modeled it for us.

Don’t lose hope. Stay awake. Walk in the light of the coming dawn.

Find everything at artpastor.com/advent.

The livestream sessions will be multicast to Facebook and YouTube.

Also, don’t forget to download your FREE Virtual Advent Wreath. May this FREE gifthelp you be filled with hope this Advent season.

Have a great week everyone!

We celebrate Christ the King/Reign of Christ this week. Dr. Alan Padgett, Professor of Systematic Theology and The Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary Chair of Theology, will preach in chapel on Wednesday and guide us in this important theme and climactic end to the liturgical year. Join us in the chapel of the Incarnation for Holy Communion or join on YouTube.

Here is my meditation on the text and theme for this week.

Christ the King Sunday can be a difficult topic to preach, especially for Citizens of the United States. It is baked into our Revolutionary DNA to distrust a king! 

Human kingdoms are built on the idea that one man has all the power. Whatever the king says is law. The reign of the king’s power reaches to every border of his kingdom. If you disagree with the King, you die.

That’s a lot of power for one human being. Most human kings don’t hold that power well and a lot of people suffer under the hands of a tyrant who seeks wealth, power, and control.

Praise God, we do not have a king like that! Jesus never claimed himself to be the King. He proclaimed that the basilea ton ouranon—Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Heavens, the Divine Reign, the Divine Commonwealth–-was at hand! Change your perspective and trust it! (Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:17) read more here and here. In our Gospel this week Jesus simply tells the thief, “today you will be with me in paradise.” That is the word used to name the Garden of Delight in Genesis 2. Jesus has come to restore shalom.

Jesus points us to a God who rules, not as a tyrant, but as a Loving Parent–whom Jesus called “Abba”–seeking justice and righteousness for all of creation. Jesus sits at the right hand of God as the lamb who was slain.

This is an upside down kin-dom of love. The Way of Jesus will always be counter-cultural to any human system that worships/feeds power, money, greed, self-exaltation, and the abuse of another human being.

I offer you this post where John Cobb talks about the Divine Commonwealth. Enjoy!

Greetings Beloved Luther Seminary Community.

This week we have the amazing opportunity to gather together in worship on Wednesday in a chapel service planned and led by our residential students. The students who live on campus represent multiple countries and cultures, so this will be a truly multicultural worship experience. Pastors Daniel Dinaga and Joyce Ngandango will lead worship. Senior M.Div. student, Sarah Yotter, will preach. Come with an open heart and mind, ready to worship God in many languages and cultural expressions.

Join us each day at 11:00am for communal spiritual practices:

Monday – Text Study

Join on Zoom to look at the texts from Revised Common Lectionary for this week.

Tuesday – Contemplative Practice

This is a hybrid event. Gather in the OCC Meditation Chapel or on Zoom to spend 15 minutes of silence in community. You are invited to practice either centering prayer or contemplative sketching. Art supplies are provided.

Wednesday – Contemplative Liturgy with Holy Communion

Remember that there is always the Chapel Cafe immediately following the service where we get to enjoy Emily’s amazing freshly baked treats.

Thursday – Lunch Church

Caleb Rollins, our archivist, is leading Lunch Church this week. He has a special practice planned that will honor the great cloud of witnesses that has come before us.