Holy Discontent

What is Holy Discontent? Well, for one, it is the title I have chosen for a sermon series that will take us through the next 7 weeks of our fall worship cycle. But what am I intending to convey with these words, you might wonder?

“Holy Discontent” as I am hoping to define it, is a feeling of unease about the injustices we see in the world. In scripture it is, among other examples, the moment Jesus stops on his way to the Holy City, and cries out “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together…” (Matthew 23:27). Holy Discontent is Jeremiah, the likely writer of the book of Lamentations, who cries out to God in poetic lament upon the destruction and overthrow of Jerusalem, and the many sufferings of the people, at the hand of the Babylonian invaders.

And for us, Holy Discontent is a desire to seek Jesus and live faithfully as his disciples, while seeking justice for a broken world. We too have become disheartened and discouraged by the suffering we see in the world. When gun violence and mass shootings take the lives of innocents, we cry out to God. When destructive storms and floods wreak havoc, leaving scores of lives in pieces, we seek God’s help. When the vulnerable are trampled, forgotten, or ignored, we long for God’s better way. Each of these are examples of Holy Discontent.

We should note at the outset that Holy Discontent is not complaining to God about our lives. It is not whining, or leaving matters only to others, when we might act and make a difference. But, as Soong-Chan Rah writes in his commentary on Lamentations:

True reconciliation, justice and shalom require a remembering of suffering, an unearthing of a shameful history and a willingness to enter into Lament. Lament calls for an authentic encounter with the truth and challenges privilege, because privilege would hid the truth that creates discomfort.
— Prophetic Lament, pg. 58

We have all been feeling the weight of an unendingly hopeless news cycle, of tragedies of various sorts, and of harsh forms of injustice in the world. This Holy Discontent series is not an invitation to wallow in self-pity, but it is an opportunity to seek God’s help in a Biblical way, calling out that which is bad and evil in the world, turning to God instead of despair, and finding reasons for joy and hope in the midst of all this, because Jesus is greater still.

~Pastor Mike

Join us starting on Sept. 8th for a new sermon series “Holy Discontent” as we consider what it means to be disciples of Jesus desiring God’s justice for a broken world. Check our RESOURCES page for previous sermons from this series and other past Sundays.

+++ Daniel Maxfield +++

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of long-time Calvary member Dan Maxfield. Dan entered eternal glory on Sunday evening at home, surrounded by family. We give thanks that God blessed Dan with 90 years, and that he was able to celebrate this milestone birthday earlier this summer with friends and family.

We lift up Alice Maxfield and the entire Maxfield family in our prayers, that God would provide peace and comfort during these days, as well as the joy found in the promise of new life, and of the memories that they now hold close. Dan was a servant to his family, his country, his community through his vocation, and to his church, and we thank God for Dan’s example of faith and dedication.

A funeral service is scheduled for 11:00am at Calvary Lutheran Church on Saturday, August 24. A closed-casket viewing will take place before the service beginning at 9:30am in the Calvary Chapel. A repast luncheon will follow the funeral service in the Fellowship Hall. Interment to take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Somewhere It Hides a Well

Sometimes I sleep with all the lights on. It helps me to appreciate the night.
 – Pat Green, Texas Country Artist, Singer / Songwriter

“The desert is beautiful,” the little prince added.

And that was true. I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams . . .

“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well . . .”

I was astonished by a sudden understanding of that mysterious radiation of the sands. When I was a little boy I lived in an old house, and legend told us that a treasure was buried there. To be sure, no one had ever known how to find it; perhaps no one had ever even looked for it. But it cast an enchantment over that house. My home was hiding a secret in the depths of its heart . . .

“Yes,” I said to the little prince. “The house, the stars, the desert–what gives them their beauty is something that is invisible!”
  – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Salvation can only truly be understood by those who once walked heavy laden.

Joy is most profound in those good gifts of God that are born through trial.

And let us not seek to escape the quiet, for it is there, in stillness, that God may speak the loudest.

~Pastor Mike Middaugh

Prayers for Our Nation

We meet on democracy’s front porch. A good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended. And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads.

Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: “Use power to help people.” For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us remember, Lord. Amen.
 – Inaugural Address of George H. W. Bush, January 20, 1989

 Lord, we pray that the ropes that bind our nation together, though frayed, will never break; that the greatest of our natural resources – the love of our people – will abound, flowing even beyond our shores; that our flinty determination will cause sparks of innovation to fly but never set wildfires of anger that we are not big enough to extinguish. And most of all, that you will be with us, as you have always been. Amen.
  – Joshua Dubois, The President’s Devotional, entry for July 4

O God, our help in ages past, today, our nation is not unified, our voices do not speak together, and our hearts are torn as well. Our country, and the world, face many obstacles. Suffering, need, and injustice, seem ever present. Even creation groans with the weight of human burdens. In the face of these challenges we ask you to grant mercy to us your people, to be present in a new way, and to reveal the path of truth. Grant discernment and wisdom to those who lead our country, the President and those who advise him, and all our elected officials.

We pray that a new day of hope and understanding would begin with us, with our work, our words, and our actions; that we would be patient and compassionate as we deal with one another. And that you would bring unity to our nation, teaching us to walk alongside one another, rather than apart. Finally, Lord, teach us to seek your will and justice as we go. Amen. 

~Pastor Mike Middaugh