A word too little used

Members of our congregation have gotten used to hearing me talk about cowboys.

I can't help it.  

I grew up watching TV westerns with my dad and I have always loved movies of the same kind.  It was my imagined life.

Fondness for the cowboy life is a family trait.
  
My grandfather was a fan of western novels.  He had dozens of books stacked up by his reading chair from authors like Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and many others.  His favorites were worn and torn from re-reading.
  
Likewise, I'll watch reruns of my favorite western movies over and over again.

Lately I've also been attracted to cowboy poetry, like this example written by Bruce Kiskaddon, who lived from 1878 until 1950.  

I hope you will read it through to the end.

A COWBOY FUNERAL

There once was a cow boy funeral

that I many times recall,

a bad hoss killed a feller

on a beef work late one fall.

'Twas a bleak day in November

when the air was cold and raw.

The clouds looked gray and ugly,

and the wind blew down the draw.

There was no automobiles then,

and we was far from trains

in that rugged piece of country

where the canyons break the plains.

We had to make a buryin' 

to finish the affair,

well, the best time was the present,

and the closest place was there.

We hadn't any coffin,

and there was no bell to toll.

We went up on a hill side 

and we dug a narrow hole.

We wrapped him up inside his bed

and laid him in the shale;

his saddle onderneath his head,

to ride the last long trail.

We had no book where we could look

and read of from its pages.

No one was there to say a prayer,

or sing "The Rock of Ages."

I recollect nobody spoke.

We didn't care to talk.

We filled the hole and took a smoke,

and raised a pile of rock.

And when the thing was over,

it was soter like a dream,

how we helped the cook and wrangler

while they harnessed up the team.

We got the day herd movin'

and departed on our way.

And left that cow boy there to sleep,

till resurrection day.

Now to my point, the final sentence of the poem.

Did you hear its eloquence? Did you feel its certainty?

We don't speak about resurrection as often as we should.  That's too bad.

The cowboy did not "die and go to heaven" - the way many Christians incompletely describe a believer's death today.

No, he lay at rest - his body in the grave and his soul in the presence of Christ and His glory, awaiting the day his body and soul will be reunited in the resurrection of the dead.

The same is true for you and me.

For those who trust in the redemption provided to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the day of Christ's return and our resurrection from the dead will be one of unsurpassed and everlasting joy.

As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also." (1 Corinthians 6:14)

What is the new, resurrected life Paul talks about?

It is life as God intended it to be from the beginning, when sin no longer separates us from our almighty and merciful Father and the world is restored to the goodness in which it was created.

For us cowboys? A herd of the best cows to look after, grazing the lushest pastures on God's earth.

A real attention grabber

It was a gorgeous evening to be outside and a throng of Cedar Rapidians took advantage by gathering at Brucemore, a 19th century mansion that is now a historic site.

The event is known as a balloon glow, and it is part of the city’s annual Freedom Festival.

If you have never seen one of these, there really isn’t much to it.

Colorful hot air balloons are inflated and internally lit. They look a bit like giant Tiffany lamps.

People “oooh!” and “aaah!” at their beauty.

That’s it.

Thousands of people attend the balloon glow each year. A few days from now many of the same people and thousands more will gather for the annual fireworks display.

It seems nearly everyone is attracted to the beauty of light shining in darkness.

Balloon glows and fireworks shed new light (no pun intended) on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

In John’s Gospel Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

But Jesus also said to his disciples, “YOU are the light of the world…to give light to everyone.” (Matthew 5:14)

We who have been redeemed and called into Christ’s family have received the light of Christ to guide us. Now, we are like walking, talking Tiffany lamps displaying the light of Jesus to others.

That’s something to really “oooh” and “aaah” about!

Here’s a picture of the balloon glow, courtesy of Brucemore.

Pastor Balvanz

Jesus versus the religious vigilante

Because I enjoy the Western movie genre, I’ve seen a lot of stories about vigilantes.

A drunken cowboy from out of town gets into an argument in a saloon with a local drunken cowboy. Pistols are drawn and the local fellow is killed.

Soon his friends form a “committee” to track down and string up the stranger. Then, just in the nick of time, the heroic marshal steps in to save the killer from the vigilante mob.

He must hang legally, in the hands of the proper authorities, the marshal says, and not at the hands of ruffians.

If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a hundred times.

That’s a good way to think about what Jesus told his disciples.

“Judge not, that you not be judged,” Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7 verse 1.

He goes on to say that one who judges without authority will himself be judged according to the same standard he used against others. Ouch!

After all, God has already pronounced his judgement against our sins. That’s the whole reason Jesus died on the cross. It’s why Christians have hope.

So when we see someone’s life spinning out of control it’s no time for us to play God and claim his authority for ourselves.

At those times we have a choice: be a religious vigilante anxious to pronounce sentence and string them up or come to their aid with the Gospel and imitate Jesus who seeks repentance and forgiveness for everyone.

By the way, here’s a picture of my Matt Dillion, U.S. Marshal badge that I’ve had since I was a kid.

Pastor Balvanz

Something Amazon can't deliver

Yesterday, while working on Sunday's sermon, I was forced to contemplate the incredible breadth and depth of the petitions offered to God that comprise the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

Each request is important.  Each could be a sermon subject on its own.  But I was especially drawn to the final petition - "but deliver us from evil" or "deliver us from the evil one."  Both are correct interpretations.

In this petition we tend to focus on the evil from which we seek deliverance.  However, the request is more interesting when we direct our attention to what is meant in the word "deliver."

Here is an example.  If I order a book online from Amazon I must first identify the item to be purchased, then make the item mine by purchasing it.  But the deal isn't done until possession of the book is transferred from Amazon's hands into mine.

"Deliver us from evil" is both a plea and a reminder that God rescued us from the hands of the evil one and brought us into his own care and protection.  We belong to him.

Here is how he delivered you to himself.  (Notice how God did all the work.)

He identified you as one of his own by giving you his name when you were  baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He purchased you with the blood of his only Son, Jesus, who died and rose again to make you presentable to God.  And through the Gospel he caused faith to arise in you, placing his Spirit in you so you would trust his promise of unending life with him.

Delivery complete!  A delivery Amazon can't match.

If the Amazon example fell short, here is a video of a water rescue that helps visualize one's delivery from the hands of the evil one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voU0ayp2KRI

Pastorich

Our true address

If you wonder why this blog is called the Kings Way Chronicle, here is the answer.

The mailing address for King of Kings Lutheran Church is North Center Point Road, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The address was assigned to us by the postal authorities in 2011 when the church was constructed, even though we are located within the boundaries of the city of Robins, Iowa.

Here is another interesting twist.  To enter the church parking lot one must first turn onto Kings Way, a street named by Robins city officials. There is no entrance from North Center Point Road.

Satellite view of King of Kings Lutheran Church on Kings Way, Robins, IA

A housing development is in the works across the street.  So, at some unknown time in the future, our temporary North Center Point Road address will likely be replaced with a permanent Kings Way designation.

I could have named the blog the North Center Point Road Chronicle, but I felt it was better to anticipate what is already known to lie ahead. It's that simple.

This Sunday I am preaching on the Beatitudes as we study Matthew together.  They emphasize the happiness (blessedness) that is already ours today as members of Christ's kingdom in addition to the joy to come in the fulfillment of the kingdom of God when Christ returns in glory.

We have the joy of already living on Kings Way, even though our temporary address is North Center Point Road.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."  2 Corinthians 5:1

Pastorich

God's healing

I've been sick for a few days.  Not deathly ill, but uncomfortably so.

With a life-long inclination toward allergy-triggered sinus problems I am afflicted by occasional upper respiratory infections.

Until recently doctors routinely prescribed antibiotics as treatment and within a few days the problem was gone.  

Not anymore.

Overuse of antibiotics has made them less effective, so doctors now tell people like me to drink lots of fluids, use a decongestant, get plenty of rest and allow our bodies to heal themselves naturally.

The Bible tells us that human disease, illness and death are the result of the sin that infects the world.  (Thanks for nothing, Satan.)

Healing comes from the one who has overcome sin and death through his own resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ.

God never intended that we would get sick and suffer.  And he certainly did not intend for us to die.  After all, human life was created from God's perfection.

I like to think that our body's ability to heal itself, even without antibiotics, is God's reminder of his desire that we live with Him forever.

And because of Jesus, we can.

Pastorich