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New Hope Lutheran, 819 Elm Street, Blanco, TX (2026)

08/21/2024

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life.'" --John 6:35a

I promised you there would be bread, and here is bread. Jesus says he is the bread of life, the food that gives life.

I don’t know of anything I love to smell more than fresh baked bread. If there were a perfume that smelled like fresh baked bread, I'd buy it. But maybe if I wore it, I'd have people following me! A lot of folks love fresh baked bread, too!

For about 10 years, I baked bread regularly. Almost all our bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, pizza dough, came from the dough I mixed, kneaded, and baked. It took all day, but it wasn't ALL day--between the mixing and kneading, there's the rising and the waiting. Bread, the kind I grew up eating and then baking, is patient and needs time to rise. Once the dough was kneaded and oiled or buttered, it went in my big crock bowl, and set in the unheated oven. But in the winter I'd set another bowl with hot water in it, to give the dough the warmth it needed to rise. An hour later, I'd punch it down, and return it to the oven to rise again. So, after about 1 1/2 hours, I'd take the bowl of risen dough out, shape it into loaves, and stick it back in the oven for the final rise. Then, remove the puffed up loaves, heat the oven up, and when it reached about 400° F, back in they'd go. Now is when the famous baking bread odor began.

There is nothing better than coming into a warm kitchen on a cold day, and smelling fresh homemade bread!

That's what I think when I read Jesus declare that he is the Bread! Jesus is warm and nourishing and delightful!

And he's not saying this lightly, he has fed thousands just before this with bread and fish multiplied from a tuna sandwich that a kid had in his lunch pail. Bread isn't just any symbol. It's basic. It's daily, as in "give us today our daily bread."

It ties in with Holy Communion, the meal we share during worship. I imagine people in Palestine, in the first century, having experienced a massive unplanned lunch in a wilderness, the HEB was closed, I guess, they've chased Jesus to his next stop. He and the disciples are trying to get some R&R, but the crowd has other ideas. They want to make Jesus KING. Huh.

So, the bread became a problem. The folks got hungry again, that happens, you know, and they got up in his face to give them what they wanted, which was for them to have a BREAD KING.

And when he doesn't comply, the story continues with another Teaching/Controversy section. Instead of Jesus, a relationship with the Creator of the Bread, the Source, the Living Bread, they want just the bread. They want what they want. And it's not a liberating relationship, it's a full belly with no buy-in. They haven't been listening, it seems.

God is the source of life, God gave manna in the wilderness, but when the wilderness time ended, they had to figure out how to get food in the way humans always have. They had to learn how to be in community, how to bake and grow, teach and heal, listen and prosper together. The BREAD OF LIFE isn't a pass to a life without effort, a life of no direction. The bread that God gives is everything that gives us life-our relationships that include us belonging, identity, fullness. Not just our bellies. But them, too. But more, so much more.

And we have work to do!
--Pastor Wina Baethge

07/24/2024

Food for Thought by Pastor Edwina

New Hope Lutheran Blanco July 2024
During the summer, we have several Sundays in a row that preachers call "bread Sundays." They take the gospel texts from John 6, which follows the feeding of the crowds. Jesus self-identifies as "bread of life." He is the origin of life, hence, the BREAD OF LIFE.

The multiple Sundays that deal with bread are challenging to preach separate sermons about BREAD and Jesus' connections to that. God's connections to bread, Jesus' connection to God, rinse, repeat. When a concept like bread gets multiple presentations in the Revised Common Lectionary, you know it's important!

Most preachers do not like to repeat themselves, and they strive to say something new and fresh to their congregations each Sunday. So, this theme's repetition presents a particular problem of how to keep saying something new about bread for several consecutive Sundays. I don't even try. I figured out a while back that the bread identity is too important for one or two sermons; I'll preach BREAD until the idea has lost its meaning! (LOL) Obviously, the idea of bread is more than the literal meaning of food to eat. It has resonance with all that supports life in the good world that God creates! Bread can mean lots of things, symbolically: bread is symbolic of money, for starters, and in the Lord's Prayer, we ask for Daily Bread, which Luther in the Catechism says is everything we need to live: homes, families, work, good weather, all that and more! So then we can see that what we need to live, to live in community, in health, in liberation, in wisdom, is much much more than simple bread!

I do not mind repeating myself, or the sermon, either. I can talk and relate to bread for a very very long time! So, be prepared when those Bread Sundays show up. Keep good notes and tell me when I've said the same thing, twice. I promise you all, I will do that. Without apology. It is too important. God made us for abundant life. That includes the food we eat, and the money we make and spend, the neighbors who help us, and we help, our families, our plans, our plans and dreams, even. All these keep us alive, in a deeply meaningful sense. Without bread, without the bread of life, Jesus, we die.

And we've got good hard work to do together!
--Pastor Wina

01/22/2023

Our Medical Supply Mission has been helping many in the community! We are now low on shower chairs. If anyone in or near Blanco has a shower chair that they don't need, please consider donating it to us. It will be used for the community's needs. Thank you! ✝️❤️🙏

07/26/2022

Sunday, July 24, 2022
Introduction
Persistence in prayer is encouraged by Jesus and wins the attention of God when Abraham intercedes for S***m. The life of the baptized—to be rooted and built up in Christ Jesus—is to be nurtured with prayer. God hears and answers prayer and so strengthens God’s own. “When I called, you answered me; you increased my strength within me.”

Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and you gladly give more than we either desire or deserve. Pour upon us your abundant mercy. Forgive us those things that weigh on our conscience, and give us those good things that come only through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32
In today’s reading, Abraham undertakes the role of a mediator between God and sinful humanity. Appealing to God’s justice, Abraham boldly asks for mercy for the city of S***m for the sake of the few righteous people there, including Abraham’s nephew, Lot. The reading begins:
20Then the LORD said, “How great is the outcry against S***m and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.”
22So the men turned from there, and went toward S***m, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26And the LORD said, “If I find at S***m fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Psalm: Psalm 138
Your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the works of your hands. (Ps. 138:8)
1I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I will sing your praise.
2I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name, because of your steadfast love and faithfulness;
for you have glorified your name and your word above all things.
3When I called, you answered me;
you increased my strength within me.
4All the rulers of the earth will praise you, O LORD,
when they have heard the words of your mouth.
5They will sing of the ways of the LORD,
that great is the glory of the LORD.
6The LORD is high, yet cares for the lowly,
perceiving the haughty from afar. R
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe;
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me.
8You will make good your purpose for me;
O LORD, your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the works of your hands.

Second Reading: Colossians 2:6-15 [16-19]
The writer of this letter warns the congregation in Colossae about “the empty lure” of philosophies and traditions that compromise faith. Through the gift of faith, the church is mystically connected with Christ in his death and resurrection which is enacted in baptism. The reading begins:
6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. [
16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]

Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
Introduction: In teaching his disciples this prayer, Jesus also reminds them to focus on God’s coming reign, God’s mercy, and the strengthening of the community. Jesus encourages his disciples to childlike trust and persistence in prayer. The reading begins:
1[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”2He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
5And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

SERMON for July 24, 2022 --Pastor Edwina Baethge
For New Hope Lutheran, Blanco

Luke 11:1-13 Lord Teach Us

I have an active imagination. I find that it helps me a lot! I will ask questions and notice things that others are not curious about. For instance - when the Genie pops out of the lamp, the usual format is that the genie tells the one who summoned him: "you have three wishes." And the summoner makes the three wishes known. "Give me riches." "Give me a house." " Give me a vacation." A very smart observer thinks - "I'd ask for more wishes!" That's pretty smart, pretty clever.

I wanted to know this Genie person better -- it's not every day somebody pops out of a lamp and grants wishes! Who is he/her? Where are they from? Why did they live in a lamp? Are there other genies in there, too? How can you get food in a lamp, and where is your bathroom?

AND -- a big one -- what the heck is a genie, anyway? Even in a story, I am very curious to know MORE!

The story we hear today is a familiar one, if you grew up Christian. The twelve friends traveling with Jesus have heard his teachings, seen him interact with people, argue with big important ones, people with no reputation, children even. He's cured sick people, listened to everybody -- moms, dads, daughters, sister, brothers, children, workers, lawyers, priests, outcasts, beggars, everybody. This Galilean Rabbi never misses an opportunity to interact with people, he sees and hears it all, and he responds. He has time for all these interruptions! His plans are flexible, it seems.

Now his friends want to know more about God, about Jesus's way to approach God. He talks and teaches all this God-talk, God stories, Scripture and God's character. He keeps contact with God, even calls on God when he heals and instructs, corrects and questions people. How does Jesus get in touch with the mighty ruler of the universe? Can we learn how we can too? Teach us, Lord Jesus, to pray?

The practice of prayer is central to the faith of Jews, and Jesus prayed often. After the visit to Martha's house, Jesus "prays in a certain place," and when he's finished, one of his disciples asks him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." So, he said to them "when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."

This version of the prayer, the model for praying, that Jesus taught them, is shorter and doesn't have so many words as Matthew's version of the same model. This version sounds to my ears like this: "father, your reputation is holy. You are the power beyond all other power. Keep providing for us. And release us from what we owe you for all you provide for life: we owe you everything! We can't ever pay you back what we owe you! We know how to remove debts from the account books, God. And don't ask us to go through hard times; we'll fail that test."

To illustrate what prayer is like, Jesus tells them a story about a friend who has a great need for bread to give for another to eat. She goes to his neighbor's house and bangs on the door until the neighbor gets up, and gives her the needed loaves for the visitor to eat and keep life going! I think the story is so memorable because the situation is so human -- a friend bothers and interrupts another to feed a third friend! All the interruptions! All the noise in the middle of the night! All the answers in a request fulfilled!

Like a genie, the provisions are supplied, the friend is fed, and everyone can go back to sleep, satisfied. Ask, Search, Knock, says Jesus. What do you want? Ask god for it.
What are you expecting? Keep looking for it to show up. Where are you asking, and where are you looking for the answer? Keep this up, even to the point of interrupting God -- because the God who provides does so, not because we've earned it, but even more because we learn that God is the source of all we need for life! This is who a good God is. Like a good mother, God gives to the child what they need. God does not play tricks on his kids, ever. God gives life, healing, hope, life. The real deal, no games, no tricks. God gives. We receive. We ask with confidence, knowing that God is listening, God hears us. All the time, God is Good; God is Good, All the time.

And we've got good work to do, Amen!

THE LORD’S PRAYER from Matthew 6:9-13
(9 After this manner therefore pray ye:)
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever (and ever). Amen.

Prayers of Intercession
Trusting in God’s extraordinary love, let us come near to the Holy One in prayer:

Rooted and built up in Christ, we pray for the church. Embolden church leaders to take risks for the sake of the gospel, and equip the baptized to proclaim your extravagant love for the whole world. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Rejoicing in the works of your hands, we pray for the natural world. Make rivers and lakes, oceans and all waterways, sparkle with your radiance. Protect water sources (local water sources may be named) and strengthen those who defend them. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Interceding on behalf of the vulnerable, we pray for the peoples of the world. Inspire all rulers and governing authorities with your justice. Guide the work of legislators and public officials, that they advocate for the well-being of those they serve. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Persistent in prayer, we pray for our neighbors in need. To all who have hunger, give daily bread. To all who have bread, give hunger for justice. Open us to the cries of those who suffer (especially). Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Abounding in thanksgiving, we pray for this congregation. Bless the prayer and fellowship ministries in this place. Call us together in times of praise and blessing, trouble and sorrow, in your holy name. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
Buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him to new life, we give thanks for your saints who rest in your eternal presence. Join our voices with theirs as we sing of your great glory. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Receive the prayers of your children, merciful God, and hold us forever in your steadfast love; through Jesus Christ, our holy Wisdom.
Amen.

Blessing
The God of peace,
Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you, comfort you,
and show you the path of life
this day and always.
Amen.

Dismissal
Go in peace. Love your neighbor.
Thanks be to God.

Worshiping God, Serving Others,
New Hope were all are welcome.

05/10/2022

Food for Thought by Pastor Edwina

There's a question I've been asking for 40 years: What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you today?

I get answers that mostly say, "It means I'll go to heaven when I die." And I then ask again, what does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you today?

And the answers are mostly a repeat of "I'll go to heaven when I die."

So, I try a third time: but what does it mean to you TODAY? (Emphasis on TODAY)

And the person, fed up with my persistence, often walks away, or otherwise lets me know I’m too pushy. I get it. It is pushy.

But I truly want to know what the resurrection of Jesus means in the life of a believer.
"God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only IN THIS AGE BUT ALSO IN THE AGE TO COME." Ephesians 1:20-21, emphasis mine.

They seem to have got the "age to come" part, but not the "in THIS age." Today, is the time I'm trying to get at. What, exactly, does the Resurrection of Jesus have to do with our lives TODAY?

I've had only 2 answers that "get" that "today" part of my question. They centered around: The resurrection of Jesus means I live a life different from the way I used to--self-centered, striving for perfection, anxious to be seen as "good." I call that the Forgiven Life. God has validated Jesus, the slaughtered Messiah, the Lamb of God, by resurrecting him, totally, humanly, and all humans and creation, to New Life! Here and Now! Of course in heaven, after this life ends, but more directly, the resurrection means New Life here and now! No longer afraid of my sin, our sin, my brokenness, our brokenness! Forgiven! It means I live, we live, in a new creation in Christ, NOW!

In the time after Easter Sunday, in the year 2022, after three years of Damndemic, social challenge, storms, droughts, confusion, it's more and more real to me that today is the day the Lord has made, and we are resurrected today in order to live and learn and work in this new reality of Resurrection. It's a mystery that keeps unfolding, but its goal is abundant life in Christ, not the same-old same-old until we die and fly off to heaven. Heaven is there, but we are already IN it, through Christ's resurrection.

What's the resurrection mean to you today?

--Pastor Edwina
May 2, 2022

05/09/2022

Ascension Day is Thursday, May 26th.

Ascension Sunday is May 29th.

The Bible clearly states that after His resurrection Jesus repeatedly appeared to His disciples over a period of 40 days, and then Miraculously ascended into the presence
of God.

Acts 1:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version):
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Ascension of Jesus
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

04/01/2022

From our April Newsletter -

As the season of Lent continues...

Remembering the Hope of the Cross… a prayer to share
Father, we praise You for sending Your Son to abide with us and be with us. Life can feel lonely, but the fact is, we are never alone. That is a truth we can cling to during the ugliest breakdowns. Thank you for giving us the grace to release our failed efforts and bottled-up emotions to You, free of judgment and full of healing love.
Forgive us for walking through life without the joy that Jesus died to fill our hearts with. Help us to find You in the hard moments of life, and remember the comfort and truth of Your promises during seasons of suffering.
Jesus, You never leave us, and always guide us. Who we are becoming is no secret to You, You who formed us in our mother’s womb. You came down to earth to save us, love us, and show us how to live. May we chase after You all of our days, and experience the rich and irreplaceable peace that allows us to overcome, to walk victorious, and to hold onto hope. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
— Meg Bucher

'FOOD FOR THOUGHT' by Pastor Edwina

The Lenten season is coming to the end, in Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Our emphasis on Praying, Fasting and Giving will turn toward Praising and Celebrating Christ's Resurrection. We are grateful for our time to reflect on God's willingness to encourage us through the Path to Jerusalem, to the arrest, torture and lynching of God in that holy city.
We linger in the shadow of the cross of Jesus, we look at those who traveled with him, those who, like us, recoil from the suffering and pain of his death.
Contemplation of the Christ on the Cross is an ancient form of worship. To dwell with that horror without turning away takes the Spirit's power. I suggest we do that contemplative gazing with much prayer. If your life experience right now is too full of darkness and pain, I counsel you to be loving toward yourself, and practice another form of contemplation. The world is full of art and music and videos that may suit you. Please be loving to yourself.

If the crucifixion is a contemplation you want, there are works of art and music and poetry. I checked You Tube, and there are compilations of the crucifixion, and other scenes of Holy Week.

When we gather and celebrate the Holy Eucharist each Sunday, we again hear those words, "on the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread....he took the cup..." Our celebration includes the passion story. The most profound presence of Christ is lifted up from the deepest darkness into the blazing light from the empty tomb: we do "remember the Lord's death until he comes!"

May our worship and praise always be rooted and centered in the cross and the abundant life of Christ, shared for the feeding of all! Welcome to the Lord's Feast of Blessing!

Amen
--Pastor Wina
3/30/2022

Our Sunday Worship is @ 9:30 am

Pastor Schedule

April 3rd -
Pastor Edwina

April 10th, Palm Sunday
Pastor Ann

April 17th, EASTER
Pastor Edwina

April 24th –
Pastor Ann

A combined service for Maundy Thursday/Good Friday will be on Friday, April 15th @ 6:00pm - Pastor Ann

We invite you to join in our services.
(Our attire is casual)

God's blessings to you 🙏

03/21/2022

WORSHIPPING GOD, SERVING OTHERS. NEW HOPE, WHERE ALL ARE WELCOME!

The March 2022 New Hope Newsletter

Sunday Worship
9:30 am

Pastor Schedule

Mar 6 – Pastor Edwina

Mar 13 – Pastor Ann

Mar 20 – Pastor Edwina

Mar 27 – Pastor Ann

UPCOMING –

Lenten Lunch for New Hope will be on Thursday, March 10th, at 12:00. New Hope is providing salad and drinks. Pastor Edwina is writing the homily, which will be read by Pastor Ann, who is conducting the service.
===============
Daylight Savings
Sun, Mar 13th
(Move clocks forward one hour on Saturday night)
===============
Spring this year begins on Sunday, March 20th.
===============
Holy Week begins on April 10th as Palm Sunday
===============
Maundy Thursday is April 14th.
===============
Easter is April 17th.

----------------------------------------------------------------
THE SEASON OF LENT, begins with Ash Wednesday,
which is on March 2nd.
Ash Wednesday service will be held at 5:00pm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

FOOD FOR THOUGHT by Pastor Edwina

Here's a paragraph on my pondering the way we deliver the "Good News."

"You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you."

--Psalm 88:8-10 NRSV

We can add a war to our prayer list. Damndemic (pandemic), Public Conflict, Economies Failing, Climate Disaster, and now War.

A good friend asked me, "Wina, are you still on that Lament kick?" Well, yes, Sherlock, I am. Lament still seems the response I long for. The troubles seem to multiply. I put down my phone, disgusted and tired. And I have heard that If I Were A Good Pastor, I would not be so negative. People want to hear Good News! Don't be so gloomy! God will make it all turn out alright! And I wonder what Bible they've been studying? It was not all pink clouds and puppy dogs in the Old and Newer Testaments. Fully 1/3 of the Psalms are Laments- most individual, but at least 14 are Communal Laments- the Community laments Together! Where in all this watered-down, lukewarm Gospel of Niceness is the GOOD NEWS? Does the exile in Babylon sound like good news? What about the ex*****on of Jesus? More happiness? Don't even start.

The title, Straight No Chaser, refers to a bar order for a shot of liquor, straight, no water "chaser" to dilute it. The Psalm 88 quotes are bleak and straight, no chaser: whoever is saying this to God is saying directly and without apology exactly what is in her heart: "I am alone. I am desperate. Help!"

I want to be around people who know lamentable situations when they see them. Who don't water down the Good News - the mystery of God's grace to sinners - and tell it straight. I want to live as a child of God who knows she has seen me and has let me be disturbed, upset, grieving, hopeless. I want to be in community with that God. And I want you to join with me, in worship and service in community, plain and honest.

We've got work to do.

--Pastor Edwina Baethge

New Hope Lutheran

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