Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
I was pleased to have served you as your vacancy pastor during the early 1990s. I was then also a fulltime student at the University of Chicago and a part-time assistant pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran in Dundee, Ill. Those were busy days, but good ones, full of many blessings. Not only did your kind remuneration help to put food on my table but, more importantly, your sharing in the gospel and your faithful service in rather uncertain times were a great inspiration to me. That remains the case today.
My wife, Detra, and I will always remember with great fondness how you rented a bus so that you could attend our wedding in Dundee. Your participation in that event truly made the whole day more joyful and memorable for us. I still laugh when I think of how I told you a few months later that Detra was sick that Sunday morning and could not join us for worship. Almost immediately several of you started giggling and whispering among yourselves, "She must be suffering from morning sickness ... " While your suspicion that day turned out to be incorrect, since the Lord did not bless us with a child until a few years later, that occasion was a clear example to me of how you all enjoy a good laugh from time to time! (BTW, our son, Jacob, is now 9 years old.)
I am also grateful for the work of ministry that friends Andrew Wiesner, Steve Knapp, and Bob Burke have provided you through the years. These pastors are great blessings to the Lord's church. I know that today you join me in expressing a heartfelt "thanks" to them, these good and faithful servants!
And now what of your future? We are, each one of us, like the thief on the cross. Every day we can only exclaim, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Thankfully, that future kingdom is greater than any earthly building or piece of turf. That divine and certain future is inclusive of all the saints who have gone before us and who will come after us. The Lord knows and remembers his own. He does not forget anyone who calls on his name. Indeed, the only things the Lord promises to forget are our sins! Thus, I am confident that the one who has begun a good work in you on the south side of Chicago will bring it to completion on the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. We all share in his grace through our holy baptism. Despite our physical separation from one another, he keeps us united in his body, the church, and through his holy communion he nourishes and feeds us with that which will last for all eternity. No matter what the immediate, earthly future might bring each of you, the Lord promises to guide you and keep you forever.
Detra and I wish we could be with you today, to help you remember and celebrate Immanuel's past and also to offer a word of encouragement and hope. Alas, we must stay here in Germany. Nevertheless, please know that you will remain in our prayers. We are praying that your love may overflow more and more for one another and that the Holy Spirit will guide you in the weeks to come. The grace of Christ be with you!
In his name,
Matt Becker
Matt, Detra & Jacob Becker
Munich, Spring 2008
Matt Becker,
with bust of Martin Luther
Erfurt, Germany | Fall 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment