Greetings from Pastor - February 2008
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"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

---Proverbs 22:6

Lent is upon us once again; that season that many seem to confuse with New Year’s. Lent is seen as a second chance to make good on their new year’s resolution. You know, to lose weight by giving up some part of their diet. Or perhaps drink less coffee or smoke fewer cigarettes and then place the money saved in a can to be used for the summer’s vacation. These may be virtuous goals, but what do they have to do with Lent? The idea of giving up something for Lent originates with sacrifice and a taming of our desires. It is not about losing an inch from our waistline. It is about disciplining ourselves to foster spiritual growth.

It can be fun to give something up for Lent and the feeling of accomplishment when we succeed can be exhilarating. I pray that you do so, so that God can be glorified and that you give Him the credit when you succeed. Since the roots of this tradition are to foster spiritual growth, I want to encourage you to add something as well during Lent this year. I encourage you to set aside a portion of your day to pray, or to read Scripture, or to praise and give thanks to God in a greater measure than you already do. Our training in faith is always ongoing. Some of us perhaps had better training than others when we were young, but each of us continues our training in righteousness even into our old age.

I want to share an article with you this month from Dr. Hempelmann, who just retired as the executive director of the Board for Pastoral Education of our Synod. His article explains well the benefits of disciplined formation in faith that Lent is supposed to foster.

The Lord bless you and grant you faith beyond measure.

Spiritual Formation: Shaped in the home, congregations, schools

You hear people speak of their high school reunions, but when it’s yours, it especially gets your attention if it’s the 50th. Can you imagine? It happened to me! The fiftieth – which looks better when written in a word than a number! It brought us back to the campus from whence we graduated – St. Paul’s High School in Concordia, MO.

A surprising number of alumni returned to visit for the weekend, and what we discovered to our surprise, is that our spiritual life was firmly established and nurtured while we studied there. It has continued today.

One of our professors was there with us. I asked whether the faculty in those years discussed or made plans for our spiritual growth. He said as far as he could remember the topic never came up.

Our weekend discussion highlighted that we were first nurtured in our homes, by our parents, together with the pastor of our congregation. My parents had family devotions every night at nine o’clock in our farmhouse. My sister, the oldest child, actually had to return home for devotion if she was on a date. She could leave again, but this was what it meant to have our feet under our father’s table.

There were three steps to devotion: a Bible reading, a Portals of Prayer reading, and a prayer read from the black CPH prayer book that literally had the pages falling out. Devotions, spiritual conversation in the field while working or doing chores at night, going to church and school – all of these built the foundation of our spiritual formation.

The Christian day school also contributed mightily to our spiritual growth. We were taught the faith. We worshipped every day. We lived what we believed. And when we didn’t, the practice of confession and absolution was in place. Confirmation class was a real plus – memorizing Bible verses, the catechism, and answering questions. And what was begun in grade school was continued in our Synod high school, college, and seminary.

All four levels of school contributed in specific ways to our spiritual growth. I remember teachers, their examples, their stories, and their encouraging words. Spiritual growth was happening, and we often didn’t even know it.

What we learned continued to be applied to life as we entered our life’s vocation. We read the Word regularly. We were nourished by those who supplied devotional material, vibrant worship, and classrooms that reverberated with spiritual conversations. Finally, now, we came to realize at our reunion what a wonderful gift of spiritual heritage our church gave us. Thanks to The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod! Thanks be to God!

Spiritual formation commences in the home, continues in the local congregation, and culminates in centers of higher education. As a church, we need to provide guidance to parents by showing them how to live in this era with spiritually upright lifestyles. Each congregation needs to continue to take seriously the charge to all baptized members to pray for others, to offer instruction in the faith, to provide for the preaching and teaching of the Word, and to see that the sacraments are offered and received.

Congregation members are to be examples to one another of the holy life of faith in Christ and love one another even as Christ has loved us. My confirmation verse reminds me of why our schools are crucial to help our brothers and sisters in Christ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

And when we talk about pastors in preparation and their spiritual formation, it surely can be seen that the home, congregations, pastors, and the church’s schools all help to form a pastoral character in candidates – one’s who pray, believe, and confess Christ and the cross – and to shape attitudes that lead them to see people as God’s precious ones. The church seeks men whose faith in Jesus Christ is nourished regularly by the Word and sacraments in public worship and by a disciplined devotional life.

God’s PEACE to you!
Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann