Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV).  Paul really sums up so much of life under the cross with those words. So much of our lives are really about cheating death.  Makeup, diets, slimming clothes, bigger or better muscles.  We have medicines to make us happy, to mask pain and hurts, or to numb everything.  Our daughters put on makeup at younger and younger ages, and we put makeup on those who have passed away, to keep them looking good as long as possible.  We have cars to make us feel younger, gadgets to keep us on top of the latest trends, and memories to keep the dreams alive.  We long for the so-called glory days which pass us by all too quickly, as Springsteen once sang.*

But death is no dream.  It is very, very real.  And while we relish the release of pain and suffering, death itself is still the last, great enemy. A family struggles with the question: when do you “pull the plug,” as some say so crassly.  It is so hard to let go, and it seems wrong not to do everything in your power to keep the one you love alive.  Where is the line between letting someone die and killing them?  What is right?   How do I know?  You feel guilty whether you zig or zag.  The pain and sorrow and grief are no less with all of our science and medical technology.  In some ways, it is worse.  We live longer than our parents and grandparents, but that doesn’t mean we live better.  So when do you say goodbye, and how do you know?  How many times can you say goodbye?  I’m sure some of you have struggled with those heart wrenching moments.  Maybe you are struggling with it now.

The women knew this grief and sorrow, as they came to anoint their dead Lord and found Him gone.  Talk about insult added to injury!  You don’t mess with a grave.  Never.  It is just not done.  But there it is.  He is gone.  Not just dead.  Gone.  Peter sees, rushes in, saw the empty tomb and the linens folded up all nice in the corner, and went off.

Mary Magdalene is left to mourn, alone. Two angels come to comfort her.  They ask why she is weeping.  Why am I weeping, she in effect says to them.  I’m weeping because Jesus is dead and now they’ve stolen Him from me!  There is no body.  Everything is gone.  I have no place to mourn.  Even the place of my grief has been taken away! Suddenly the gardener appears, or is it Jesus?  He, too, wanted to know why she wept so.  She replies, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away” (John 20:15 ESV).

All she wanted was to mourn in peace.  The thought that things were better than they ever imagined, well, it never even occurred to her.  Grief has that way about it.  It sucks us in, as Satan tries to pry our faith from us. But life interrupts death.  Jesus is alive, and says her name, Mary.  In the blink of an eye, everything, everything is different.  Now, the mourning doesn’t seem to fit quite the same.  Now, Mary can see that when Jesus raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead, that was just the beginning.  When Life conquered Death in that strange and dreadful strife, everything that we thought we understood about the world was turned upside down and inside out.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the story of our lives, that we forget we know the ending.  It reminds me of one of my favorite movie scenes is from the cult classic, The Princess Bride.  In the movie a grandfather reads a story to his sick grandson.  The son reluctantly agrees.  As the story of death and mayhem and romance goes on, the young boy gets further and further engrossed into the movie.  At one point the grandfather has to stop the story and remind the boy “she doesn’t get eaten by the eels at this time.”

I know, it sounds silly.  But it is important as we journey in joy and sorrows and romance and grief to remember that we don’t get eaten by the eels, so to speak.

In the world, death is the end.  There is no more story.  We either seek to defeat death by taking life on our own terms (e.g. Euthanasia, abortion, suicide, and the like), OR we try to defeat it at all costs by covering it up, extending life no matter what, and masking its reality.  But Jesus’ resurrection means that death is not in charge.  St. Paul wrote, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him” (Romans 6:9 ESV). Death is not your master.  Our living Lord, Jesus Christ, has died and risen again, so that your dying will always mean life in the end.  St. Paul wrote again, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8 ESV).

For thousands of years Christians have faced death with a remarkable grace and confidence.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t afraid to die.  Of course, death is still scary, and none of us long for the unknown like that.  But at the same time, because of that empty tomb and living Lord, you are free to live or die.  It is all the same. Eternal life is your inheritance.  Jesus has conquered it all.

Easter morning, Christ is risen. Come behold the empty grave.
We deserved the fiery prison.  Hear the pardon which He gave.
Be refreshed, renewed my people, Stooped and beaten since the Fall
You, in Him are more than conquerers: Cruel Death is killed for all.*

Be at peace, dear children of God.  Christ has done it!  You know the end of the story.  Sing with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven!  Nothing can defeat you in Him.  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  Everything else, even death itself, pales by comparison.  Rejoice, Oh Redeemed, for your Redeemer bids you feast on Him and live forever.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the strong name of Jesus.  Amen.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows us that music plays a pretty major role in the Peperkorn household.  Kathryn and I basically met in choir in college.  Our son, Richard, is named after our two favorite choir directors (Richard Resch and Edmund Martens).  Music plays a central role in our lives at both church and at our academy and with opera.  However, there is simply no replacing singing in a great choir.

I freely admit my trepidation at joining CAS.  As a husband of Kathryn and father of four children, a pastor, and all around nerdy busyperson, the time commitment is somewhat crazy.  Add to that the fact that I have a pretty difficult time not diving into things 116% or more.  I have a tendency to get into something, go bananas with it, and then burn myself out.

But I think this is different.  I don’t remember a fall when I have been more relaxed and less depressed.  We are just as busy as usual, and there are plenty of causes for stress.  But there is something about being able to spend one evening a week singing some of the greatest music ever written that revives the soul.

As a pastor who suffers from depression, I am very cognizant of the need to find outlets that are not church related, relaxing, and that will help to refresh and reengage.  For me, this seems the perfect fit.

So thank you, Maestro Schatzman, for playing an important part in our lives.  It’s insane, but that’s how musicians roll.

-P

Event Details

Our congregation has been a polling station for several years now.  It is a good thing to encourage citizens to vote and to support our government and its regular processes.  One of the many blessings of our nation is the relatively peaceful process by which we handle elections.  Community and civic centers around the country serve as polling stations.  Our congregation is one of those stations.

Last week I asked my “sign guy,” Mr. Bill Dissen to put the above sign up in front of our church.  I wanted a sign that clearly was conscious of the upcoming election, but that exhorted parishioners (and others) to do something that was not endorsing a candidate or party.  Thus the sign: “Want change? Pray to end abortion.”

This morning our city clerk informed us that the sign needed to be taken down or it would be covered.  Apparently it might influence voters on how to vote.

We took the sign down.

But it has raised some very interesting questions for me as a pastor.  We are given an opportunity to confess the faith in the midst of an unbelieving world.  We can do so in a way that is not bitter or vitriolic.  But is it moral for a Church to agree to be used for what is a good, left-hand kingdom purpose (polling station) if it then limits the ability of that same church to be a prophetic voice in the world?

I am supportive of our government and its system.  I’m not sure about the wisdom of churches as polling stations, because it may limit the ability of the church to be church in the world.

What do you think?  Was the city clerk right or wrong?  Should churches agree to be polling stations, if they are told they cannot say certain things?

]]> http://www.lutheranlogomaniac.com/2008/11/the-sign-we-were-told-to-take-down/feed/ 27 http://www.lutheranlogomaniac.com/2008/08/the-opera-summer/ http://www.lutheranlogomaniac.com/2008/08/the-opera-summer/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:04:13 +0000 ToddPeperkorn http://lutheranlogomaniac.com/?p=141 This has been a very different summer for me. For many of my summers over the past ten years, I spent it with Higher Things, either preparing for or recovering from our liturgical youth conferences.

But this summer was dedicated to my wife’s endeavors.

Opera ala Carte finished it’s fourth season this past weekend. I will be posting a bunch of pictures here shortly, but I wanted to reflect on it a little bit before doing so. I had a fairly minor role in one of the operas (Alcindoro in La Boheme), so I got to see all of this from the inside. That has really given me a different perspective on the whole matter. I’ve always been involved with OAC in one fashion or another, but this summer was a much greater level of involvement.

It was a special treat for me to be able to see my wife in action, doing one of the things she does best.  Now I am bias.  I freely admit it.  But my wife is truly amazing.  She put on basically five operas in two weekends.  Yes, it’s more than a little crazy.  But it was GREAT!  There were about 70 performers involved between the elementary and high school/college components, and I can’t even begin to count how many people involving in costumes, sets, programs, marketing, and heaven knows how much more that I can’t even begin to count.

I think what has struck me the most about all of this is the level of commitment that the students and young people have to doing this well.  Opera is hardly mainstream anymore.  It is viewed as elitist music that is out of touch with contemporary culture.  Bah.  What do they know?  Opera is rich music, an incredible discipline that teaches singing, acting, and I don’t even know what else.  So to see this group of young people (some of them as young as 7th grade), committing to this, well, it’s just a great thing.

I will comment on individual shows in the posts to come.

This one is outside our garage. you can see the downed cable line.

Backyard

You can almost see the church in the background….

So it’s crazy snow. We’ll see how bad the roads and stuff are soon.

-Lutheran Logomaniac