Fort Wayne is a boring, dumpy city. Warning! Heavy Midwestern Hillbilly Inflection Approaching: 'Dis here triple-river-city just dont seem ta hav'da right genes to be anythang udder'dan downright virulent. The city's (county's) road infrastructure is of the worst quality (design and condition), which I believe, is the second greatest man-made problem currently infecting the area (first being, of course, the local citizen terrorists- I mean- gubmint). But, even with a proper government and careful planning, we still must factor in geographical location, climate, and corn. Yeah, we were destined to fail from the beginning. For fun, one's options, consist of either eating yourself into a temporary diabetic coma, or drinkin' yourself into a stooper. But, unfortunately, food eventually digests, and hang-overs eventually recede. In the end, Fort Wayne's blighted existance (and my residence here) remains. "So," the reader may ask, "is there anything good in that horribly plain, unfun, cornhole-city of yours?"
*ChiRho begins to grin. But it is no ordinary grin, it is the type of grin that one would see on the face of an eight year-old boy. And no ordinary eight year-old boy, but the type of boy who has just returned from a glorious Narnian adventure, and now must try to convince the perplexed skeptic, of the secret that lay beyond the tattered, moth-filled, and very plain wardrobe.*
Within these city walls, we have the greatest thing any town could dream of (if a city could collectively dream, which it cannot, and since "dreaming" is a human characteristic, it also, would probably dream as humans do, which is generally about the wrong thing...like a casino or something like that; anyway...) To put it in a more succinct manner...we have Church. Imagine hearing this on Sunday morning:
2005-07-31
Trinity 10
Luke 19:41-48
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
America's prisons are full of delusions and the vain insistence of innocence. But more than that, they are full of regret. All prisoners wish things were different. They all daydream about of how things might have been. If only the attorney had been better, the judge more fair. If only I'd kept my mouth shut or not run away or not answered the phone. If only I could live my life over again, how much different it would be.
But only if is not only the domain of those locked in cages and separated from their family and friends. There are plenty of prisons without bars. Who doesn't regret past sins and indiscretion? Who doesn't wish he could get back the money that he wasted? Or take back the words he said in pride or drunkenness? Who doesn't wonder how different things would have been, how much better they would have been, only if . . . ?
My poor children! You make such bad decisions. Your flesh is weak. You follow your stomach or your groin. If only you knew what made for peace! If only you'd allow the Father to mother you, the Son to gather you in like a hen gathers her chicks, the Spirit to comfort you. If you look back at your life and think, What an idiot I was how much more obvious has it been to God all along. He has watched it unfold, stupidity upon stupidity, destructive behavior and bad decisions fueled by selfishness, greed, and lust. Repent.
Do not think that He can't see you in the dark. Do not think that if you push Him out of your mind He does not notice, or is not there. Jesus has wept over you and your ineptitude. He has wept for you, sweated and bled for you. In the economy of man God's love always seems reckless and wasteful, like throwing good money after bad, like vineyard owners paying laborers for work they have not done, or farmers sowing seeds on trodden paths and weedy, rocky patches. Repent. But do not despair. For Jesus Christ has not abandoned nor forgotten you. He still wants you.
Jerusalem, the city of peace, was bent on war. But the Prince of Peace did not flinch. For even while they, and we, did not not know, would not know, willfully refused the things that make for peace, He knew. He knew we would reject Him for a murderer, that we would fall asleep and pretend to forget the vows we made. He knew we would betray Him for the pleasures of the flesh and strut around in false righteousness. He knew the evil glee, the mocking and ridicule, the scourging and torture, the pain and sorrow that He would face at our hands. But He went anyway. For even if we did not know what made for peace, He knew.
And your peace was worth it to Him. You needed His Blood to be free. That was the cost of guilt, the demand of Justice: the Life of God. And so He gave it. So He gives it. He sweated it out in the garden. He bled it on the pavement and on the place of the skull. He drained the cup of wrath that could not be removed so that Jerusalem, so that you, would have peace. And surely this is the Son of God, a righteous, selfless Man! Surely, He has atoned for your sins and loved you despite yourself. Surely He has known and won the peace that passes all understanding for you and bestows it upon you without cost or price. Surely there are no bars, no prisons left that can hold you. Hell is empty. The grave's victory is but an illusion. Death has no sting.
Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. Let go of your regrets. Jesus is Lord. He loves you. He bears no grudge, no ill will, no regrets. He was glad to pay the price to make you His. You are worth it to Him, worth every last lash, every drop of blood, every moment of agony. And still He wants you. Still He desires you. He would gather you this day in that same Blood, given and shed for you, and feed you this life-giving elixir from His side. For He is alive, out of death, the Victor over Hell and all its spawn. He declares you righteous and free, free of guilt, shame, and regret, free of past. He lays open the future before you and it is full of joy and peace. Thus He gives to you the faith of the fathers, the hope of consolation and the resurrection to come. For He is risen and He is love.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev'd David H. Petersen
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Pastor David Petersen
Yeah, I got it made.
*ChiRho begins to grin again, as he puts his feet up on the broken lawn chair, outside of the trailer he lives in. He smiles even bigger, when the familiar stench of sewage hits his olfactory nerves and he thinks to himself, "what a perfect place to live!"*
Added bonus (My apologies, dial-uppers!): Peterson Audio
Second Helping!
*ChiRho begins to grin. But it is no ordinary grin, it is the type of grin that one would see on the face of an eight year-old boy. And no ordinary eight year-old boy, but the type of boy who has just returned from a glorious Narnian adventure, and now must try to convince the perplexed skeptic, of the secret that lay beyond the tattered, moth-filled, and very plain wardrobe.*
Within these city walls, we have the greatest thing any town could dream of (if a city could collectively dream, which it cannot, and since "dreaming" is a human characteristic, it also, would probably dream as humans do, which is generally about the wrong thing...like a casino or something like that; anyway...) To put it in a more succinct manner...we have Church. Imagine hearing this on Sunday morning:
2005-07-31
Trinity 10
Luke 19:41-48
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
America's prisons are full of delusions and the vain insistence of innocence. But more than that, they are full of regret. All prisoners wish things were different. They all daydream about of how things might have been. If only the attorney had been better, the judge more fair. If only I'd kept my mouth shut or not run away or not answered the phone. If only I could live my life over again, how much different it would be.
But only if is not only the domain of those locked in cages and separated from their family and friends. There are plenty of prisons without bars. Who doesn't regret past sins and indiscretion? Who doesn't wish he could get back the money that he wasted? Or take back the words he said in pride or drunkenness? Who doesn't wonder how different things would have been, how much better they would have been, only if . . . ?
My poor children! You make such bad decisions. Your flesh is weak. You follow your stomach or your groin. If only you knew what made for peace! If only you'd allow the Father to mother you, the Son to gather you in like a hen gathers her chicks, the Spirit to comfort you. If you look back at your life and think, What an idiot I was how much more obvious has it been to God all along. He has watched it unfold, stupidity upon stupidity, destructive behavior and bad decisions fueled by selfishness, greed, and lust. Repent.
Do not think that He can't see you in the dark. Do not think that if you push Him out of your mind He does not notice, or is not there. Jesus has wept over you and your ineptitude. He has wept for you, sweated and bled for you. In the economy of man God's love always seems reckless and wasteful, like throwing good money after bad, like vineyard owners paying laborers for work they have not done, or farmers sowing seeds on trodden paths and weedy, rocky patches. Repent. But do not despair. For Jesus Christ has not abandoned nor forgotten you. He still wants you.
Jerusalem, the city of peace, was bent on war. But the Prince of Peace did not flinch. For even while they, and we, did not not know, would not know, willfully refused the things that make for peace, He knew. He knew we would reject Him for a murderer, that we would fall asleep and pretend to forget the vows we made. He knew we would betray Him for the pleasures of the flesh and strut around in false righteousness. He knew the evil glee, the mocking and ridicule, the scourging and torture, the pain and sorrow that He would face at our hands. But He went anyway. For even if we did not know what made for peace, He knew.
And your peace was worth it to Him. You needed His Blood to be free. That was the cost of guilt, the demand of Justice: the Life of God. And so He gave it. So He gives it. He sweated it out in the garden. He bled it on the pavement and on the place of the skull. He drained the cup of wrath that could not be removed so that Jerusalem, so that you, would have peace. And surely this is the Son of God, a righteous, selfless Man! Surely, He has atoned for your sins and loved you despite yourself. Surely He has known and won the peace that passes all understanding for you and bestows it upon you without cost or price. Surely there are no bars, no prisons left that can hold you. Hell is empty. The grave's victory is but an illusion. Death has no sting.
Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. Let go of your regrets. Jesus is Lord. He loves you. He bears no grudge, no ill will, no regrets. He was glad to pay the price to make you His. You are worth it to Him, worth every last lash, every drop of blood, every moment of agony. And still He wants you. Still He desires you. He would gather you this day in that same Blood, given and shed for you, and feed you this life-giving elixir from His side. For He is alive, out of death, the Victor over Hell and all its spawn. He declares you righteous and free, free of guilt, shame, and regret, free of past. He lays open the future before you and it is full of joy and peace. Thus He gives to you the faith of the fathers, the hope of consolation and the resurrection to come. For He is risen and He is love.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev'd David H. Petersen
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Pastor David Petersen
Yeah, I got it made.
*ChiRho begins to grin again, as he puts his feet up on the broken lawn chair, outside of the trailer he lives in. He smiles even bigger, when the familiar stench of sewage hits his olfactory nerves and he thinks to himself, "what a perfect place to live!"*
Added bonus (My apologies, dial-uppers!): Peterson Audio
Second Helping!
