Rehydrate spiritually – How long can you push your body to go without water, especially in the summer? Without it, headaches and illness set in pretty quickly. Water is essential. How long can the soul go without the spiritual refreshment of the Word? A day? A week? A month? All summer? Don’t try to go without! “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1,2a NIV)
 
Relight and rekindle the faith you show the world. “Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, EHV)
 
Re-sharpen your focus in your daily walk of faith – “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, EHV)
 
Relax – Summer is supposedly a time to relax (wink, wink), however, not much relaxing actually gets done. Remaining in the Word reminds us that we can find true relaxation because we are blessed by the Father’s care, by the Son’s grace, and by the Spirit’s peace. (See the Blessing in Numbers 6:22-27)
 
Rejoice! “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!” (Psalm 122:1, EHV)
 
Respond with praise to God for all his works and ways. Got blessings? More than we realize! “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 150:6 EHV)
 
Reorder your priorities! “What will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, EHV)
 
Need more reasons? Refuel. Revitalize. Refresh. Renew. Review. Relate the Word to others after you’ve been encouraged.
 
These are just a few reasons why summer worship is a good idea. Are you able to come up with one legitimate reason not to go? Just one?
                                                            
See you soon! See you often!
 
God be with you,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

If statistics tell us anything, they tell us we are a nation in deep need of counseling, and in large part willing to do anything to get it.  America spends some 280 billion dollars each year on psychiatric counseling, hospitalization, and treatment.  A three-year study in a large US corporation revealed that 60% of employee absences were due to mental illness.  50 to 70% of visits to a primary care physician (family doctor) were for medical complaints that stemmed from psychological factors.  In 2020,  depression alone cost an estimated 44 billion dollars in lost workdays.  Although it is more difficult to track, some studies indicate that minor depression (perhaps we’d call this the “blues,” or having an “off day”) accounts for 51% more lost workdays than major depression!  In any one month, nearly 8 million Americans suffer from depression.  Some studies estimate that 15-18% of Americans, including 14 million children, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. 

Depressed yet?    

Along with the crisis of mental health problems in America, there has come a bewildering boom in counseling types.  Do you want Psychoanalytical or Freudian; Psychodynamic; Rogerian or Client-Centered; Cognitive; Behavioral; Family Systems; Adlerian or STEP therapy; 12-Step (like Alcoholics Anonymous); the Medical Model (a belief that all emotional problems are organic in nature, therefore medication is the primary treatment); Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (often used with trauma victims), or Solution-Focused Therapy.  Many counselors today are eclectic in approach, blending several of the disciplines I’ve mentioned.

There’s another practical consideration involved in choosing a counselor.  Has the counselor ever dealt with someone who has the same problem you do?  If so, did that counselor help them? 

Just picking a counselor is a daunting process!  But. . . what if I told you that each one of us already has 24/7 access to our very own personal counselor?  And this counselor comes ompletely free of charge!  And this counselor has helped countless individuals with the same, deep-rooted issues that each of us struggles with!  Are you interested?

What if I added that this counselor comes to us with the highest references possible!  It is our Savior, Jesus Christ who promised us, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I told you.”  (John 14:26) 

How will the Holy Spirit help us?  He won’t insist that we lie on a couch as he does his work in us.  Nor will he be probing us with questions about our past, slowly peeling back layers of our pain in hopes of us finding our answers deep within.  Instead, the Spirit, our perfect Counselor employs a counseling approach that is Scriptural, Sacramental, Christ-centered.  His goal is to “teach (us) all things,” so our Counselor uses God’s law like a mirror to show us our sin.  Our brokenness.  Our emptiness. Our helplessness.  (Romans 3:19-20)

Then our Counselor rushes in with word and sacrament to “remind (us) of everything” that Jesus has told us!  Again, and again, and again—for as long as it takes.  Life-long.  This Counselor will never limit his work in us to an hour-long session.  Instead, our Counselor will always stand beside us and work in us.  How can I be so sure of that?  Because when Jesus promised us this “Counselor,” our Savior used the Greek word, “Paraclete.”  That word is often heard on Pentecost—the festival of the Holy Spirit.

That title “Paraclete” is best defined with this picture.  Your best friend is walking beside you on a quiet wooded path.  His arm is around you.  As you weep and pour out your heart, he listens.  He watches ever-so-closely and reads your body language like an open book.  (Romans 8:26-27) 

Then your Paraclete speaks through the Word of God.  And his message?  Christ!

Your Paraclete gives through the sacraments.  And his gift?  Christ!

Everything the Paraclete does for you and me is wrapped up in Christ.   (John 15:26)   Again and again and again he works to turn the eyes of our heart away from the brokenness of sin that’s all around us and inside us, and to rivet our attention instead on Christ! (Ephesians 1:17-23) 

“But the Paraclete (Counselor), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I told you.”   In this season of Pentecost, you and I celebrate the Paraclete and his priceless gift:  Christ:  our Comfort, our Center, our Calm in all the storms of life.
​ 
Privileged to Serve, 
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

It’s a day I’ll never forget. Ten years ago this Spring, while living in Phoenix, a shooting took place near our home. Less than a mile from where we lived, a murder-suicide took place in front of a house at mid-day. A 15 year old boy shot and killed his 16 year old ex-girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself.
 
I knew about it before it even made the local news because I had a child who attended the same public high school that the deceased had attended.  Word travels quickly in the era of digital, social media (even ten years ago).
 
There were witnesses, but before anything could be done to triage or patch the wounds, it was determined to be too late.
 
But much spiritual and emotional triage work remained, beginning in my own home. My children didn’t know these two personally, but they knew many who did. And among that peer set (and their parents) there was considerable upset.
 
There were so many questions. Why? How? Didn’t anyone know? Couldn’t anyone have done anything to stop this? So many fears. So much anger over the unfairness to the female victim. Hatred directed toward the shooter. Many vented openly in conversations and through social media. Others quietly brooded over questions that have no answers and allow for no closure. Some coped by attending vigils and raising funds. Others sought guidance from counselors and teachers and clergy.
 
The best “coping mechanism?” It’s a paraphrase of Jesus’ encouragement to his disciples, “Watch and pray.” Here, “Patch and pray.” Stop the spiritual and emotional bleeding with the comfort of God’s Word. Healing will not be instantaneous. Unseen wounds and scars will remain. But faith finds strength and comfort and purpose and healing only in the loving arms of Jesus. Patch and pray, and continue to apply God’s Word. Point people to what God has done for them in Holy Baptism. Direct them to the tangible assurance offered through Holy Communion. Point them to the endless personal promises God makes in his Word.
 
This doesn’t sound like much. In fact, it’s all that can be done at such a time. But it’s all that needs to be done. And it must be done, for the sake of precious souls who are hurting, and need healing.
 
King David knew this well, and we find comfort in his words:
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
 Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.”
                           (Psalm 62:5-8  EHV))
 
Look to him, and only to him, in times of trauma and trouble.
 
God keep you safe in his care,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

“Thank you, Jesus!  Oh, thank you so much!  Thank you, thank you, Jesus!”  The words come bubbling up from my heart and tumble from my lips.  Then in the very next second, my mind whisks me back to my seminary days.   I’m sitting in the classroom of Dr. Siegbert Becker-a gifted theologian.  I hear his distinctive voice as he shares insights on Psalm 91:11. “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

“Notice that the Psalmist says “in all thy ways.”  God’s guardian angels don’t just take care of us when we’re being good.  They also take care of us when we’re doing something stupid.”

Back to the present.  I had just done something super stupid. What was it?  Permit me to rewind and explain.

It was Wednesday morning two weeks ago. I had a communion visit scheduled for the morning, then Wednesday Bible Class at church.  Shortly before I needed to leave, I looked out the window.  There was a dead spruce tree, perfectly placed across my drive way.  “The Lord has a sense of humor,” I thought.”  “I couldn’t drop it better to block the driveway if I wanted to!”  I needed to get on the road so I checked my mother-in-law’s part of our circle driveway.  “Yep, the Lord is definitely pranking me.”  Grandma’s driveway was blocked by a far bigger spruce.  That would need a chain-saw to clean it up.  So I wrangled the smaller spruce off to the edge of my driveway and got to my visit and Bible class on time.

Right after Bible class, I returned home.  It was a miserable day.  A light, cold rain came pelting down.  But I figured the trees wouldn’t move themselves, so I got out my ATV, cart, and my chain saw.  I started in on the spruce blocking my mother-in-law’s driveway.  Before you know it, I had the tree cut up and the driveway opened.  “This is going really well!” I thought.

Then it was on to my driveway.  I cut up the little spruce I had shoved off to the side earlier that morning.  Even in the miserable rain, my saw was humming along beautifully.  “Boy, this is going well!”  I said to myself.  Then my gaze turned to my mound system just north of my driveway.  That mound is precious to me because it’s a vital component for something we all love--indoor plumbing.  But that same mound has proven to be a constant target of—you guessed it—standing dead spruce trees.  Two of them had toppled over onto the mound system the night before.  So I limbed them out and cut them up.  Again I thought, “I can’t believe how well this is going!”

It was then that stupid started to fog over my brain.  I looked up at the huge standing dead spruce tree, right on the north edge of my precious mound system.  The same dead spruce I had wanted the excavators to take out when they installed the mound.  But they hadn’t.  So ever since, that massive dead spruce stood there, taunting me. Menacing my mound.  I could see it toppling over in the next wind storm and snapping off one of the pipes on the mound system.

“Everything is going so well,” I thought again.  “But it’s raining,” my common sense argued back.”  “You should have help with this tree.”  “But there’s no wind today, none at all.”  “But you should at least take a break. You need to hydrate!  Remember what the doctor says.” 

“But everything is going so well.”  And that’s when stupid won.  I climbed across to the north edge of my mound system.  I sized up the spruce, and put the v-shaped notch into the side of the tree where I wanted it to fall. “Wow, this is going so well,” I thought yet again.  Then it was time for the back cut.  I started in.  But the dead spruce started to lean ever so slightly—the wrong way.  My saw was jammed.  Badly.  “Why didn’t I bring a wedge!” 

Now I’m running back to the ATV for my wedges, and a short-handled sledge.  But the spruce was leaning a smidgeon more.  There was no gap for a wedge anymore!

“Why didn’t I put a rope on this tree!”  Now the spruce was leaning a bit more—right towards my precious mound system and one of the pipes! 

That’s when my earnest prayers started.  “Oh, Jesus, please, please keep the tree standing so I can put a rope on it.”  I run to my shed.  Grab a come-along.  Then I rush back to my ATV, where I grab 3 heavy-duty tow straps.  I hustle back to the spruce with them. 

“You idiot! You forgot the ladder.”  So it’s back to the shed for the ladder.  With every passing second, I can see the spruce tipping a bit more, a bit more, in the wrong direction.

“Oh, please, please, Jesus!  Keep the tree standing a little bit longer!”

“Why, Glenn, why, oh why, didn’t you wait!” I moan in desperation.  I get a tow strap around the spruce, but it’s only about 9 feet off the ground.  “That’s not going to be high enough to do any good!  But it’s all I can manage right now,” I mutter to myself as the cold rain continues to pelt me. 

“Oh, please, please, Jesus keep this tree standing.”  I link the tow straps, one to another, through a tangle of brush.  I put another short strap around a hemlock that will serve as my anchor.  I attach the come-along to the straps and start to release it.  It’s jammed!  (Some idiot had put it away in that condition.) 
It’s still raining.  Now I’m miserable.  Exhausted.  Worried.  Defeated.  I run back to the shed for the smaller come-along.  It works. 

“Please, please, Jesus, keep the tree standing just a little longer.”  As I finally start to ratchet the come-along, the tow straps begin to tighten.  “They’re too low.  This won’t do a bit of good!” I mutter again.   But finally the slack is gone.  And I start pulling on that massive spruce.

“Oh, please, please Jesus, let this work.”   And it does!  With each ratchet of the come-along, I see the big spruce starting to tip away from my mound system!  Until it falls.  Exactly where I wanted it, or perhaps I should say precisely where the Lord’s angel wanted it.  And my chain saw?  It toppled to the ground as the tree fell.  The bar wasn’t even bent.

“Thank you, Jesus!  Oh, thank you so much!  Thank you, thank you, Jesus!” 

And that, dear friends, is when my mind whisked me back to Seminary, Dr. Becker, and Psalm 91.  “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
 
Privileged to Serve, Protected by angels, even when I’m being particularly stupid,  
​Rev. Glenn Schwanke

Seriously, slow down. Stop scrolling. Resist the urge to go on to the next thing as quickly as you can. Just stop. Slow. Down.
 
Let’s begin with prayer - Luther’s Morning Prayer: I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger. Keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please you. Into your hands I commend my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.
 
On the first day of each month I share a text with our Trinity staff (pastors, teachers, secretary). Here’s what I sent early this morning (5/1):
________________________
 
“Freudigkeit im Amt” - German for “joy in office.” Lutheran pastors of previous generations (before ours!) spoke of this. The work of caring for souls in the preaching and teaching ministry brings joy.
 
Where God’s love is at work, there is joy even in the midst of sorrow. Your ministry/service is God’s love at work. What a privilege!
 
Are we always “smiley-face” happy in ministry? Please. Nope. But why settle for mere momentary happiness (think: gift card or someone “likes” your social media post) when you can have deep, lasting, overflowing joy instead? Joy in Jesus.
 
The night before his death Jesus said, “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” (John 16:22)
 
Teachers, it’s the home stretch! God give you strength and patience and faithfulness and…joy! in these final weeks of the school year. God’s precious lambs entrusted to your care need Jesus…and his joy.
 
Thank you, Jesus, for faithful workers and for filling them with zeal and love! Thank you, brothers and sisters in Christ, for faithful service!
__________________________
 
And to the wider audience that reads through these thoughts: Thank you for your support of faithful Christian ministry at Trinity and everywhere Word and Sacrament are proclaimed!
 
Be sure to slow down and find...joy in Jesus.
 
Grateful with you for joy in Jesus,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand