Bethlehem Lutheran Church – Aloha, OR

“I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers…” 

I felt it was appropriate that I should quote Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:16 from the version of the Scriptures that I first read completely, Genesis through Revelation.  Do you remember, “Good News for Modern Man?”  That was the “trendy” name for what is now known as the Contemporary English Version—although, I don’t really know how contemporary the English is, since it was first published in 1966.  My pastor suggested that, since I was considering the seminary, I should have read the Bible before I got there.

Since my “career” in the ministry sort of began in the CEV, I thought I would let it conclude there as well.  Ephesus was a special place for Paul.  He was there for two years and three months.  That’s longer than he was in Corinth or Philippi.  Ephesus had such an important place in Paul’s heart that, as he was taking the collection for the believers in Jerusalem to Jerusalem, he risked his own safety to visit the Ephesians elders nearby.

As I consider what words to say to you, dear Bethlehem family, Paul’s words speak better than my own.  Since I first spoke with Mark Temme in 2012 about your call list and asked where Aloha was, I have not stopped remembering you in my prayers or giving thanks to God for you.

I felt, in 2012, that our Lord was preparing my heart for a change.  My heart investigated several possibilities but did not find rest in them.  I have felt that my ministry skills are set to help congregations discover “what’s next” for them, so when your call came to me by the Holy Spirit, my heart was confident this was the change our Lord had in mind for us.

These eleven years have been such a blessing for Anne and me.  We have loved your “mission heart” as you continue to work with Love, INC and began to work with Family Promise and the

different programs that supported school children.  We have appreciated your warm welcome into the family of God in this place. Most importantly, we have enjoyed partnering with you around the Gospel and looking for ways to be pointed and point others to Jesus.  And now, our time together ends in Aloha.

We will not forget where Aloha is.  Every time we remember you, we give thanks to God for you.

Now, you are ready for “what’s next.”  What that will look like, I don’t know—but it will, and should, be different than these last eleven years.  I will continue to pray for you—that the Lord will continue to hold you close to Himself in His Word; that the Lord will lead you to that shepherd who will lead this flock into “what’s next;” and that the Lord will continue to keep you in His favor and give you His peace.

Pastor Jeff and Anne Shearier

Why does it seem that I wait until I face big changes to make the small ones?

Are you like that, too?  What I mean is this:  we’re facing a big change.  We’re going to move in October to Colorado and retire.  We’re going to put our house on the market.  So all of those small maintenance things that I was going to get to “eventually” have to be done now.

One of those is caring for our yard.  Sure, I mow.  I’ve even been known to trim the trees and the bushes.  With enough encouragement, I’ve even been known to rake the leaves.  However, things like de-thatching the yard were not even envisioned.

Thatch is that stuff between the good soil and green, growing grass that inhibits the grass from doing its best and keeps the soil from really retaining the moisture from the rains.  Thatch is a little bit of this and that little bit of that—moss, dead grass, decaying stuff—not good stuff.  It needs to be gone.  So you get a de-thatcher and let it do what it was made for.

I seem to see a sermon illustration in everything, so not surprisingly, de-thatching connected with living out faith.  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes in Chapter 12:  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  The author talks about de-thatching our lives.

We have this new life in Jesus.  This life is His gift to us.  On His cross, Jesus paid what we owed for our sin and set us free from the power of death.  Easter means that a big change has happened.  Jesus is alive!

This Easter season, as we continue to be amazed at this new life, ask the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to help you see the thatch in your life.  Maybe, there’s some stuff that is keeping you from growing in your faith or celebrating the love that has been poured into your heart and life.  Maybe, there’s some stuff that’s keeping you from keeping your eyes on Jesus.  Is it time to de-thatch?

Joy in the journey,

Pastor Jeff Shearier