In August 2003, thieves broke into the Church of the Holy Cross in New York City twice. During the first break-in, the thieves took the metal money box that sat next to the votive candle rack, a pretty logical thing to steal. But three weeks later they made off with something much more valuable. They unbolted a four-foot-high two-hundred-pound plaster Jesus from a meditation room. They took the statue of Christ, but they left the wooden cross up on the wall. 
 
The caretaker of the church was bewildered by that. He said that it didn’t make sense to take Jesus without the cross. “I figure if you want the crucifix, you take the whole crucifix.” In other words, if I may paraphrase this for our use here:  If you want Jesus, you take Jesus, but you also take the cross.
 
But you and I understand that choice, on a spiritual level, don’t we? Oh, we’ll take Jesus, yes! Jesus the compassionate one, Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Good Shepherd, Jesus the Good Physician, Jesus my best Friend, Jesus who gives me forgiveness and mercy and grace and peace and comfort and more blessings than I can possibly even begin to count. We’ll take Jesus…but the cross? Hardships that come our way because we follow him? And the difficulties, that come into our lives, because, we follow him? I’m not talking about hangnails, or dead batteries, or broken bones, or clogged plumbing.  Those things come to everybody!
 
The cross means persecution, maybe overt, maybe subtle, perhaps ridicule. It means strained relationships, maybe relationships that simply cannot work anymore. Don’t work anymore because you follow Jesus. That’s what the cross means. The cross means that it will not be an easy road. The cross means that we serve, rather than be served.  The cross means deny yourself, even though everyone around you is indulging self. 
 
What is the key to taking up the cross and confessing Christ clearly? Well, you’re doing it right now.  Focus on the solid rock of the Word of God. Fix your eyes on the one who has his eye on you, and who holds you in the palm of his hand. This isn’t always planned, fun, and easy. I’m not saying it can’t be, but it isn’t always. It is the way of faith! It is the way of life! It is the way of true and lasting joy in Jesus.  And, this is the One Thing that nothing, and no one, can ever take away.
 
Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24,25  EHV)
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

For many, the current economic climate means it’s time to hold back, time to cut back on frivolous spending and non-essential giving. Not a bad idea – everyone could use a financial tune-up.
 
But is it time to hold back from the Lord, to cut back on gifts to our Savior of time, talents, and treasure?
 
Not if we believe that everything we have and are comes from Him! Not if we believe that gospel ministry matters – for time and for eternity! Not a chance – now is the time to ramp up the use of our gifts for his service. Now is the time for grace-driven stewardship of all of our assets: treasure and time and talents.
 
Why now? Why not? If not now, when? Is there a “perfect” time to ramp up our personal efforts to serve the Lord in all the ways he provides? Is there a “perfect” time to ramp up our collective efforts to serve the ways through our Trinity Lutheran Church and School family?
 
As always, consider how God gives to us. Does he ever say, “Sorry, I really don’t have time for you right now…Sorry, I don’t have the resources to keep you moving forward…Sorry, I’m really stressed out; I’m trying to keep the universe from spinning out of control...Sorry, it’s just not a good time right now.”
 
Nope.
 
Instead he says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. I forgive you. I love you unconditionally. I will always be with you.” Quoting Isaiah 49:8, the Lord says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” (1 Corinthians 6:2a) Responding to this, the apostle Paul urges, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (v. 2b)
 
Psalm 92 is one of many wonderful Psalms of praise. I especially enjoy reading through a portion of a Psalm in the early morning. Here are words that inspired me early Monday morning:
 
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to make music to your name, O Most High,
2 to proclaim your mercy in the morning
and your faithfulness every night…
4 Yes, you make me glad by your work, O Lord.
I sing loudly at the works of your hands.
5 How great are your works, O Lord.
Your thoughts are very deep!
 
12 The righteous will shoot up like a palm tree.
They will grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Planted in the house of the Lord,
they will shoot up in the courtyards of our God.
14 They will still produce fruit in old age.
They will stay fresh and green.
15 Yes, they can proclaim, “The Lord is upright.
He is my Rock, and he does no wrong.”
 
To God alone be the glory!
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Back in the early 90s when I lived in Spooner, WI, I attended a time management seminar in Duluth hosted by the Franklin Planner people. I’ve used their daily planners for more than 30 years now. The leader of the event suggested that the first few moments of the day are key to getting off to a good start and you want to direct your thoughts to positive, uplifting sentiments.
 
So, I’ll ask you – What’s your first thought when you wake up in the morning? When that alarm goes off, are you thinking about violence – “I hate that thing, I want to throw it against the wall” or are you thinking despair/helplessness – “Oh, I can’t do this anymore”? The speaker suggested that we write down three thoughts/truths that we could train ourselves to say to get each day started in the right frame of mind.
 
The presenter was a Mormon, as much of the Franklin/Covey company was back then – and still might be today. Early on, we’d gone around the room and identified ourselves and what we do. She didn’t seem to like the fact that I was a Lutheran pastor, and she seemed to stifle any spiritual/Christian-type talk.
 
So I know she didn’t like my volunteering to share my three first thoughts for each day. But she called on me. Here they were (and still are):
1)I am a baptized child of God.
2)I am husband to my dear wife Heidi (this was before kids; I added the fact that I’m a father when they came along).
3)I am an undershepherd to the Good Shepherd, blessed to be a pastor of precious souls.
    
I still remember these every morning. The pastor one is #4, after the kids. It can even drop to #5 for the day if I know I’m going fishing that day.  But #1 still is “I am a baptized child of God.” That’s true for you too, and the rush of comfort and strength that knowledge/fact provides is not to be missed. Every time you and I remember this, every time we see a baptismal font, every time we witness a baptism, or when we simply remember the fact of our own baptism – it’s like punching in your password/pin number and gaining access to the riches of God’s forgiveness. It’s ours, for sure, for free.
 
“We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:4  EHV)
 
You are a child of God! By way of your Baptism, it’s a fact and not a feeling subject to the ups and downs of your day. Facts of the truth of God’s Word always supersede whatever feelings we may have at the moment, whatever circumstances we may be enduring at present.
 
Someone, or Satan, may hassle us with, “Who do you think you are?” or try to scare us, “God won’t accept you. You’re not good enough.” Or we may just not feel saved. Erase those doubts and calm those fears by remembering, “Wait! I’m still in God’s family. At my baptism, God made me his own child.”
 
Do this with your first thought of the day. Think of this fact throughout the day. Remember this precious truth as you slip into sleep at night. “I am a baptized child of God!”
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

​I warned you not to read this…but if you insist, please read on.
 
We spend so much of life thinking: I can’t wait until…I graduate/get my license/get married/get a job/get promoted/have children/the children leave home/ I retire/ the weekend. It’s hard for us to enjoy the stage of life we’re in at the moment. I, for example, am experiencing “old age.” At least that’s what my kids tell me. I am experiencing the “old age” of youth as I approach the upper 50s, which would mean that I’m about to enter the youth of old age (?).  Is this middle age, then? Is this the time in life when a person hears two voices – one saying, “Why not?” and the other, “Why bother?”
 
Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon declares, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2  all references are from the NIV84) Life under the sun, life from this world’s point of view is meaningless, unfulfilling, a chasing after the wind. Education, obsession over work and pleasure, reflection, expectations, and possessions – all of these, Solomon says, are chasing after the wind. All of these fail to deliver lasting happiness, meaning, fulfillment.
    
He speaks especially of the limitations of aging and old age. Again, you do not have to read on; you can stop right now and I won’t take it personally. You have been warned! But if you insist, please read on…
 
Old age is often called the winter of life. It can be a time of sadness, one setback after another, reflected in these words (all from Ecclesiastes 12) – “The sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain.” Solomon speaks of old age with vivid imagery, using the analogy of an aging, dilapidated, broken-down house to picture an aging body. Arms, legs, knees, feet and teeth are affected by aging –“The keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few.” Eyesight fails – “Those looking through the windows grow dim.” Hearing fades – “The doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades.” Sleep becomes more difficult -  “Men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint.” Age renders us a bit less reckless and a bit more fearful: “When men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets.” Hair turns white/gray – “The almond tree blossoms” Age removes the spring in our step and replaces it with stiffness and limping –“The grasshopper drags himself along.” The longer we live, the closer the end comes, the less pleasure we experience – “Desire no longer is stirred.” In the original language it’s unclear if this refers to the pleasure of taste and eating or to sexual desire – both certainly apply. Then the end comes. “Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.”
 
I did warn you. Now you must continue to read! Solomon continues, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”... Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (12:1, 6-7)
 
If you go through life without God in your life, without acknowledging your Creator, your life will come to an unhappy, meaningless, frustrating end…and eternity. But Solomon does have a message of hope sprinkled throughout this largely pessimistic missive known as the book of Ecclesiastes. Take it to heart. “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This…is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? (2:24,25) “When God gives any man wealth and possessions and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.” (4:19,20)
 
Remember, dear friends, Jesus experienced all the limitations of humanity (and more!) that we might one day live without limitations: free of sin, free of death, free of the effects of aging, able to live forever at his side!
 
Praise God!
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand