Holy Week at CtK

It's Holy Week - the week many Christians spend way more time in worship and prayer than they do the rest of the year - as we hear again of Jesus' love and sacrifice for the whole human family, and indeed all of creation.
We began the week with Palm Sunday, a celebration of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then heard the passion account in the Gospel according to Luke.
We backtrack a bit during the week, to look and reflect more closely on the events of Jesus' last days. Worship will be at 7pm each night for Maundy Thursday (3/28), Good Friday (3/29) and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday (3/30).
Have you ever wondered about Holy Week and what all those services are about? Here's a great video from Busted Halo that describes them all, and in only a couple of minutes. The explanations come from a Roman Catholic perspective, but are still quite helpful.
See you in worship!

The Poor Will Always Be With You, and Deuteronomy 15

While preaching last Sunday on the day's Gospel reading from John 12 (verses 1-8), I said I'd write a post about Jesus' response to Judas' complaint about Mary of Bethany's use of some REALLY expensive perfume to anoint Jesus' feet. This is it.

Jesus told Judas, and everyone else within earshot, "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me" (John 12:8).

What did he mean by that?

Many of the commentaries I read in preparation for preaching focused mostly on the first half of the sentence. Few spent much time discussing the fact that Jesus was only six days away from crucifixion here. Perhaps Jesus intended to draw attention to the fact that his death really was imminent. After all, he said that Mary "bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial." Here, on the day the lambs for sacrifice at Passover would have been selected, Mary's actions make it obvious that Jesus has been selected for sacrifice, as well. His days are numbered and tending to him is appropriate and right.

So, what about the poor? Does Jesus mean we're off that hook? In some times and places, some Christians have said, yes.

Carol Howard Merritt wrote at The Hardest Question last week about conversations and experiences she's had, in which people dismiss opportunities to help the poor, because "the poor will always be with us."

In my mind, he had twisted the words of Jesus to let me know that there was no use trying to work for the greater good of people, we might as well turn our back on the plight of the poor, because some people will just be victims of fateful poverty.

I heard the words when our church planned to spend millions of dollars to rearrange the furniture in the sanctuary. When people questioned spending so much money on cosmetic updates while so many homeless people needed to be fed in our neighborhood, I heard, “The poor will always be with us.”

In our country, as the middle class dwindles and the rich hoard more in their off-shore accounts than the GDP of many countries, I hate these words. And so the hardest question for me becomes, how do we preach the love of Christ, who fed and healed people, in the light of Jesus saying, “The poor will always be with us?”

(You can read her whole post here).

Yet Jesus didn't speak these words, nor did John record them, in a vacuum. If you flip to the Old Testament, you find that Jesus wasn't the first to say this. Deuteronomy 15:11: "...there will never cease to be some in need on the earth..." Ah. Right.

But wait a second, back up a bit more and read those words in context. Deuteronomy 15 is all about releasing the poor from debts. God's people were not to create a permanent underclass with borrowing that never saw an end or way out. Deut 15:1: "Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts." Radical? Yes.

Go grab your Bible and turn to Deuteronomy 15. Verses 4 and 5 say, "There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the LORD is sure to bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the LORD your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today."  It seems like that could be true, if everyone's debts are forgiven every 7 years.

But then check out verse 7: "If there is among you anyone in need..."

And then verse 11: "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'"

That's a big move in just a few verses, from no one in need to no end of people in need. The command, though, is clear: be generous.

Mary was generous to Jesus. Jesus has been generous to us. Now we can be generous to all those in need.

What do YOU think? Comments welcome!

It's our turn to serve

On Sunday, March 3rd Christ the King is scheduled to serve dinner at the Bozeman Community Café from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We need seven caring adults (over the age of 18) who can greet hungry people, make them feel welcomed, serve them a hot meal, and bless them with Christian hospitality.
If you are interested in serving, please contact Pastor Grant at 406.451.4249.

The power of song

Gather Us In                ELW 532



Here in this place, new light is streaming

now is the darkness vanished away.

See, in this space, our fears and our dreamings,

brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in - the lost and forsaken,

gather us in - the blind and the lame.

Call to us now, and we shall awaken,

we shall arise at the sound of our name
Twenty years ago, I served United Lutheran Church in Eugene, OR as their tenth intern.
The first verse of the hymn “Gather Us In” will always be a part of my memory of internship because of the line “Gather us in, the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame” During the singing of the hymn, members of United Lutheran marched into the worship space, including a man who was blind and a woman who was lame.

It dawned on me as I sang the hymn, here is a vision of God’s kingdom here on earth today, fulfilled in my midst.

Tears rolled down my cheek as I sought to compose myself for the beginning of the worship service, struck by the emotion of the moment. “How in the world did a church hymn strike deep into my heart and give me a vision of God’s kingdom?”
“Here in this place, new light is streaming

Now is the darkness vanished away

See in this space, our fears and our dreamings

Brought here to you in the light of this day.”
May the music we sing and play during worship bring us each a glimpse of God’s kingdom breaking in among us.

Hungry people don't care about a football game in February

On Sunday, January 6th a group of six volunteers from Christ the King served dinner to forty-five people at Bozeman Community Café, a cooperative hunger program run by Gallatin Valley Food Bank and area churches.
The café is located in the old Frontier Pies Restaurant at 302 North 7th in Bozeman. Customers are greeted at the door by a host. Once seated they are greeted by a server, who takes their beverage order and informs them of the meal choices available that evening. Once the order was taken by the server, the “scoopers” promptly plated the meal requested. The six volunteers, after all the customers were served, cleaned the restaurant in preparation for service the following day.
One of our strongest social outreach ministries is hunger relief. As a congregation we actively support the food bank and the ELCA World Hunger Appeal through a monthly offering. We also collect canned soup and boxed cereal for the food bank throughout the year.

Helping to staff Community Café as it serves hungry residents of Gallatin County is a natural fit to what we already do.


Christ the King is scheduled to serve at Bozeman Community Café on Sunday, February 3rd from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. We already have three caring adult volunteers. We need four more people to help serve. If you are interested in volunteering, please see Pastor Grant

What is Baptism?

Here's a great post from Dave Lose, who teaches preaching at Luther Seminary:

Do you remember anything about your baptism?


If you’re like me – that is, if you were baptized as a baby – the answer is probably “no.”

A second question: do you remember any stories about your baptism that your parents or others present have told you over the years. The two details of the day that I was told about were 1) that my baptism fell on Palm Sunday (1965 – yikes!) and 2) that my grandfather, a Lutheran pastor and missionary, performed the baptism.

I ask and tell all of this in response to one of the keen and vexing contradictions of our present life together in the church, a contradiction made up of two equally true elements. First truth: We confess that baptism is the pivotal event in the life of a Christian. Second truth: Most of us have no memory of our baptism, no clear idea of what it means or why it’s important, and no active sense of how it might shape our daily lives. In fact, I’d be willing to go so far as to say that most of us almost never think about baptism with the exception, perhaps, of when we see a baptism at church or one of our family members or close friends is having a child baptized.

So where do we go from here?  read more...

A Great Class in a Great Place

The Northern Rockies Institute of Theology, a ministry of the Montana Synod of the ELCA, offers a Midwinter Theological Conference each year, at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, near Glacier Park. This year, the title of the conference, to be held February 4th-6th, is "Being Lutheran in a Multi-Faith World," taught by Dr. Michael Trice. Here's a synopsis:

As Lutherans, we live in a country and world filled with a plurality of religions and perspectives. Conflicting voices contend for their place in church life and in the public square. What does it mean to be Lutheran in the midst of the challenges and opportunities within this changing landscape? In the whirlwind of pluralism and change, what does it mean to be a Lutheran, a Christian, a citizen and even a human being in our current age? Join us for presentations, and conversation. The retreat also includes time for worship, recreation and relaxation.


The registration deadline is January 7th. Check out the NRIT website for more information. And let us know if you plan to go!