Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Letter to God - Struggling to Find Meaning in Pete Stellpflug's Death

Dear God,

When I stopped by the bank yesterday I received the terrible news that Pete Stellpflug died yesterday morning when his tractor rolled on top of him.  I still have a hard time believing it.  I worked with Pete on the Eyota Days Committee and marveled at his passion and energy for the City of Eyota.  Pete served as the banker for Shannon’s business and always made sure she was taken care of.  Every time I’d stop into the bank I’d feel compelled to poke my head into Pete’s office to give him grief.  He had a great sense of humor. 

Lord, how can things like this happen?  How can a good, caring, man of faith have his life so quickly snuffed out?  He had family and friends that loved him and depended on him.  It doesn’t seem right. 

Are YOU the kind of God who causes these tragedies?  As people try to find meaning in this mess it can be easy to lay the blame at YOUR feet. 

·         Everything happens for a reason” – Really?? What reason could possibly justify such pain?

·         It was part of God’s plan” – Seriously?? YOU planned to cause a family to experience this kind of grief?? 

·         God needed Pete in heaven” – I think his family needed him down here!

·         God needed another flower in God’s garden” – I’d think that YOU could grow your garden without causing so much pain!

God, if any of these remarks are true then YOU caused Pete’s death, which makes YOU into a God who enjoys seeing people suffer.   That doesn’t sound like YOU at all!  YOU are the God who came to earth in Jesus to DEFEAT suffering and death...not to CAUSE it! 

But God, if YOU didn’t cause this tragedy, does that mean that YOU didn’t have enough power to prevent it?   If YOU don’t have the power to stop a tractor from rolling over then YOU can’t be trusted to have power over greater things.  YOU reveal YOURSELF in scripture as the God who created all things…who works in all things…who conquers sin and death.  That’s a lot of power!  If the words of the Bible have ANY meaning for us at all, then we must reject any notion that YOU are powerless to act.

If YOU didn’t cause the tractor to tip over on Pete…and if YOU have power to prevent it but didn’t…then that must mean that you chose to allow it to happen.  We obviously live in a world where bad things occur.  Pete’s death hits close to home, but we’re not the only ones suffering today.  Tragedies like this happen every day.   We live in a world of pain and death.  My feeble attempts to find explanations or deep meaning leave me empty. 

God, I’ll be honest.  I don’t understand how YOU could allow such suffering in the world!  The one thing that I DO know is that YOU came in Jesus to conquer sin and death forever.  I am simply left with this promise for Pete…and for me:

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5)

I cling to this promise with my entire being!

Your Child,

Pastor Pete

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Discernment is Easier in Hindsight!

November 1st will mark my 8 year anniversary here at Peace.  I arrived in 2003, excited about what God had planned for this congregation.  It’s interesting to look back on the ways that God has worked among us.  I found this newsletter article from September, 2004:


In the past week, Peace Lutheran Church received perhaps the most significant letter in its brief history.  In a letter from David Groth, Dover-Eyota superintendent, he wrote, “It is the expectation of the school district that, by the end of the 2004-05 school year, you will no longer be renting our facilities for your Sunday church services.”  Without knowing it, Mr. Groth may have been speaking God’s word to this congregation!

Many people at Peace have discussed and debated the merits of building on our land for some time.  Some have wanted to charge forward, others have wanted to hold back and wait. At the beginning of 2004, the church council agreed to table all discussion of building until 2005 to allow the congregation to grow strong and vibrant.  We thought we had some control over when the building would go up.  Perhaps God had other ideas.
In the next few weeks the church council will begin discussing our options.  The way that I see it, Peace can do several things:

1)    Build a church building

2)   Find another place to worship

3)   Try to negotiate with the School Board to be able to stay longer

At this point, every conversation that I’ve had has focused on building.  But instead of just thinking about this among ourselves, we need to keep God in the process.  WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS!  God will lead us in the right direction.
It’s an exciting time at Peace.  Our worship in August saw the biggest crowds since 2001, and the second biggest ever!  Our youth ministry is about to explode with great things.  New members are coming aboard. 
We believe in a God of great surprises!  This is what makes the ministry so fun!  Let’s see what God has in mind for the next year!

We were SO ready to build back in 2004, but it didn’t happen.  When we attempted to move forward with a building program, we were told in no uncertain terms, “Build a congregation, not a building!”  God worked through Mr. Groth’s letter to shift our focus.  God worked to build the awesome congregation that we have today.

God didn’t work on our time schedule.  For a decade we thought we were ‘two to three years away’ from building.    At LONG last, the time has come.  The office is a jumble of boxes.  Deliveries of new furniture come daily.  So much is going on!  Only a few weeks to go now!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Together Before God's Throne

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  Revelation 7:9-10

Last Wednesday night I got to be part of a counter cultural activity. 

The middle school youth from Peace meet at Arbor Gardens (Eyota’s senior living apartment building) for their youth ministry activities.  Every week we take some time to enjoy some activities with the residents of the apartments.  We often play games, but last Wednesday I decided that it could be fun to have some ‘reminiscing’ time.  Instead of just DOING things together, what would it be like to TALK with each other? 

We spent the time answering questions like “What is the most interesting place you’ve ever visited,” “What is your favorite parade,” and “What is the favorite gift that you have ever received?”  I was nervous as we started.  Talking sounded like a great idea in theory, but what if everyone felt too uncomfortable to get into it?  What if the youth found the whole exercise to be ‘stupid’?  What if the seniors got annoyed by the squirreliness of 6th grade girls?  What if the two age groups didn’t know what to do with each other?  I prepared for disaster. 

To my amazement, both groups, young and old, thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.  The kids enthusiastically answered the questions (and had to be encouraged to pipe down a bit) and seemed to enjoy the senior’s answers (they were VERY intrigued by the woman who had travelled to many places in the world).  The seniors had fun pondering the questions…and smiled at the energy that the kids brought.

When you think about it, how often does something like this happen?  We live in a culture that divides us based on age, race, political preference, income level, or profession.  We watch news shows that agree with our perspective on the world.  We surround ourselves with people like us…people who agree with us…people with similar life experiences as us.   We worship with people who look like us…who worship like us…who live like us.  We don’t often experience the diversity of God’s creation.

As Revelation reminds us, as we stand before God’s throne we don’t simply join with people just like us.  We join with young and old.  We join with people who speak English, Spanish, German, French, Mandarin, and Dinka.  We join with people with light skin…and with people of all shades of brown.  We join with people who live in large houses and people who live in mud huts.  We join a diverse family of faith in praising God!

Last Wednesday’s youth event at Arbor Gardens was just a taste of what God has in store for us.   I felt blessed to watch as 8th grade boys and 75 year old women shared their very different life experiences.  Each came with different perspectives on life…perspectives that are important to hear.

The church is one of the last places where generations still meet together.  In that diversity, God gives us glimpses of that final day as we all join before God’s holy throne, praising God!

How can we all learn to step out of our comfort zones to encounter people of vastly different ages, cultures, languages, or colors?  We’ll find that if we take the ’risk’ we will be blessed to get to know some wonderfully different people.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Frustrated by Football!

What a lousy weekend!

·         On Friday night, Dover-Eyota had a 3rd quarter lead over Lewiston, but let it slip away and ended up losing by 10.  Frustrating!

·         On Saturday, my Northwestern Wildcats had an 18 point lead over Illinois, only to let Illinois come racing back to take the lead with 6 minutes left.  I had a ray of hope with 3 minutes left when Illinois fumbled, setting up Northwestern’s  go-ahead touchdown with a minute left!  I literally danced around the family room…until Illinois miraculously scored with only a few second left, giving me a crushing defeat.  At least the Wildcats were close (unlike the Gophers!).

·         On Sunday, the Vikings continued their pathetic ways.  They couldn’t even beat a Kansas City team that had been HORRIBLE all season.   It was pretty hard to watch.

Each loss left me down in the dumps…angry that my teams had chances but wasted them.   Needless to say, I wasn’t a lot of fun to be around.

I love football…but did I really need to let it ruin my weekend?  Perhaps, instead of focusing on the negativity of football, I could have looked around to see the blessings God brought my way:

·         The weather was just glorious

·         I got to be a part of one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever been to...with AMAZING food (and I love to eat!).  Congratulations Jim & Dana!

·         I had some time to quietly putter in the yard

·         I got to be a part of one of the last church services in the gym!

·         I actually had a chance to catch up on sleep (a rarity in my life)

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying football (or any sport, for that matter).  The problem comes when I allow it to dominate my life…when I can’t be happy when my team is losing. 

God works in my life in many ways.  May I learn to focus on the blessings God brings my way…and not on the frustrations that the world abounds in.