Bethlehem Lutheran Church – Aloha, OR

BY JEFF SHEARIER

Imagine the prophet Habakkuk, watching change happening right before his eyes.  He can see the campfires of the approaching Babylonian army on the hillsides around Jerusalem.  He chooses to have a word or two with God.

His first word with God is one that questions God.  Does God see what is happening?  Why does it seem that God is letting the Babylonians win—over against the people whom the LORD has said are precious in His sight?  What is God’s plan to work His good even in this mess?

The LORD answers Habakkuk. By the way, it’s good to note that when God answers Habakkuk, He doesn’t say, “Who are you to question me?”  It’s okay to ask God questions—serious questions.  I recall the advice the pastor who supervised my internship told me:  It’s good to ask questions…just don’t stop asking them until you find yourself at the foot of the cross.”

In a way, the LORD takes Habakkuk to the foot of the cross in Habakkuk 2.  The LORD assures Habakkuk that He has a plan for a future time, but not a plan that can’t be known.  As that plan unfolds, the one who trusts in the LORD—the one who believes His promises—will live.  John would say it later, “…will have life in His (Jesus’) name.”  Trust Me, the LORD says.  I have a plan.

While the retirement of a pastor is really not comparable to the Babylonians camped on the hillsides, Habakkuk’s question—or ones like his question—might be on your mind right now.  What is the LORD up to?  Does He know what we need?  These initial questions are inward-looking, but other questions like, “What is the LORD wanting us to do next,” might also be on your heart.  The LORD’s answer is the same as the one to Habakkuk:  Trust Me, I have a plan.  In fact, the LORD already has Bethlehem’s next pastor in His sight.

Like Habakkuk, we live trusting the LORD as we walk through the unfolding of His plan.

There is a process the church—our church and the churches of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod—follows.  As you become more familiar with that process, you might wonder how it can possibly work.  The process seems counter-intuitive to the way that the business world looks for leaders.  The “call process” has yielded pastors and other church workers that  have been blessings to the churches they served for a couple of centuries.  The process and those involved in it trust the Holy Spirit to lead.  Remember the LORD’s promise to Habakkuk:  Trust Me, I have a plan.

That process began in earnest on January 21, when some of Bethlehem’s leaders and members met.  We began by asking what the strengths of ministry at Bethlehem are—and also confronting the weaknesses—to seek what the opportunities lie ahead as we seek both the pastor and direction for the Lord’s work in this place.  That discussion gave us an opportunity to remember Samuel’s words from 1 Samuel 7: “Up to here the LORD has helped us.”

The next step will be the selection and election of the Call Committee.  This step will be taken in March at a Voters’ Meeting.  If you have questions about this, please speak with Heather Cammack or Pastor Jeff.  The days ahead might be a bit unsettling and they will be exciting as Bethlehem waits to see whom the LORD has in mind.  Please keep all of this in prayer.  Remember the LORD’s promise:  Trust Me.  I have a plan.

Joy in the journey,

Pastor Jeff Shearier

I think that I was in the fifth grade.

In our family, Halloween had been a big deal.  We had certain costumes that you “grew into.”  A person had to be Frankenstein until either my older brother got tired of trick-and-treating or out-grew the “hobo” costume.  The “hobo” costume was the sign that you had left childish things behind.  My fifth-grade year was going to be that year.  My older brother had decided he was not going to be going out with us that Halloween.  He’d been invited to a party.

So, it was my year to be the “hobo.”  I was very excited.  I really didn’t pay attention to the news reports in the fifth grade.  I did have my very own transistor radio.  Having that radio was one of those milestones of maturity as well.  I could listen to my radio as the Orioles beat the Dodgers in the World Series that year.  But I missed the news that there was something going on in Milwaukee that had all the adults in an uproar.  I don’t recall what that “something” was, but it meant that we had to “trick-or-treat” in the daylight.  I think that’s what took the magic out of Halloween for me.  You could see all the reality.  Being the “hobo” didn’t mean I was some mysterious traveler just passing through—I was just Jeff in old clothes and a floppy hat.  The pretending was over.

Christmas is just the opposite for me.  I love the reality.  I like the straw in the manger scene.  I like babies crying in church as we sing “Silent Night” and light our candles.  I like “living nativities.”  No plastic figurines on the lawn for me.  I imagine Bethlehem that first Christmas was filled with very real people.  Crowded with very real people with very real needs—even a need they didn’t even know.  However, not knowing you have a need doesn’t mean you don’t really have it. 

But there, in the middle of all that reality, all that busy-ness, all that messy-ness, Luke tells us what happened so very simply:  a pregnant woman gave birth to her First-born, a Son.  Luke, who in so many other places gives us so much detail—shepherds in their fields, the glory of Lord shining all over the place into the darkness—keeps the reality of Jesus’ birth simple.  To me, Luke makes the story real by not embellishing it with details.  Luke will use the economy of words when he describes Jesus’ crucifixion. 

This Advent and Christmas season, we will use the theme, “Be born in us today.”  The line is obviously taken from “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”  That Bethlehem to our Bethlehem, praying that the reality of Jesus’ birth would continue to be real in our lives.  There are—just as there were then—distractions.  Did you know that Herod had a fortress not too far from Bethlehem?  On that dark night, how could his guards have missed the angelic host?  Apparently, they did miss it.

Back in El Paso, years ago a teen-ager told me he didn’t come to church any longer since it was always the same story.  We celebrate that same story because it speaks the same good news to our same need for a Savior.  We are real people ruined by our self-centeredness who really need a Savior.  Join us this Advent and Christmas as we celebrate again the news that we REALLY have one!

Pastor Jeff Shearier