September
For the newsletter this month, I am putting down to paper the sermon I preached August 30th for the feast of the martyrdom of John the Baptist. We also celebrated the baptism of little Collins. I figured it was a good opportunity to teach at length on baptism.
There are many excellent reasons for preaching and teaching on baptism, what it is, and why we baptize infants and young children as Lutherans. First, baptism is something every Christian should understand, as it is one of the practices instituted and mandated by Christ himself. “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do all that I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19–20). Second, as we used a new (old) baptismal rite for the baptism of Collins, it is important to explain why in relation to what baptism is. Third, in any context Lutherans will find themselves surrounded by Christians who have been instructed and trained not to baptize their young children and infants. It is important for Lutherans, then, to understand their own position, that it is thoroughly biblical, and be able to give a biblically founded defense to anyone who asks the reason for our practice. Fourth and finally, baptism is part of the gospel itself. Instruction about baptism and the invitation to be baptized is evangelism. This is clear from the Acts of the Apostles chapter 8, in which Philip evangelizes the Ethiopian court official, and his response is to seek baptism. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35–36). Thus, to understand baptism rightly from Scripture is to understand the gospel itself. Evangelism should have as its aim, not that people would receive the abridged version of the gospel, but the full thing, “all that I have commanded you,” as Christ himself declared.
The biblical teaching surrounding baptism could be entitled “A Tale of Two Births.” The teaching begins with our first, natural birth and our deep need for the rebirth of Holy Baptism. The Scriptures teach that all men are conceived and born sinful, under the power the devil, and deserving nothing but everlasting wrath and punishment. It is quite the dismal picture. Each of these three aspects of our first birth can be proven from the Scriptures.
No one has trouble accepting that all people are sinners, but many do struggle with the idea that young children, infants and even the unborn are sinful. Looking at a tiny infant, says, one to five months old, it is difficult to believe that this little life could be enslaved to sin already. But the Scriptures teach us to see realities that are not always apparent to reason and observation. So in Psalm 51:5, David confesses, “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity; in sin did my mother conceive me.” In the Spirit, David confessed that he was a sinner not only from birth, but from the moment of conception. It is through procreation that sin is passed from generation to generation. Psalm 58:3 corroborates the point: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.” There are some really bad types out there. We see them in the news every day. If we were to ask, “Where did they start going wrong?” the Scriptures would tell us to trace it back to the womb! The Scriptures teach that all men are conceived and born sinful.
They also teach that we are all conceived and born under the power of the devil. This is the root cause of our being enslaved by sin, as it was Eve in the beginning who gave her ear to the devil and dragged the whole human race under his poisonous influence. So widespread is Satan’s influence that John can write quite plainly, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). That is, the followers of Christ are not in the devil’s s power, but the multitude of unbelievers (the world) is. Paul speaks to Christians in his letters of how, formerly, when we were not Christians we were living under Satan’s power. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1–2). Once again, many have difficulty accepting that children or infants could be under demonic power. People want to imagine a time of innocence that simply does not exist. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record how Jesus cast out a demon from a boy who had been possessed “since childhood” (Mark 9:21). The Scriptures teach that all men are conceived and born sinful and also under the power of the devil.
Finally, they also teach that all men are conceived and born deserving nothing but eternal punishment. Many of those who do not baptize infants or young children falsely teach that there is a period of innocence, that up to a certain age children are somehow protected and can be saved without baptism. While God can save anyone he chooses (like the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43), outside of the evangelical mandate to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 16:31–33), there can be no certainty of salvation. The unborn, infants and young children all are sinful. Sin earns wrath. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18). That means that all people, young and old, who are conceived and born in the natural way, can expect to receive everlasting punishment. “You were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:3). Scripture is clear that because human nature has been corrupted, every human being is, by nature, a child of wrath, or can expect to receive wrath.
The first birth of mankind can be summarized then in one, dismal sentence. “The Word of God teaches us that all men are conceived and born sinful, under the power of the devil, and justly deserving of everlasting punishment.” This is from the baptismal rite we used for Collins’ baptism. But the sentence continues: “…but the Father of all mercy sent his Son Jesus Christ, to atone for the sin of the whole world, and to deliver us from sin and death.” This brings us to the second birth.
Baptism is a second birth, one that brings a person into a new life, a life no longer lived under the oppression of sin or the power of the devil, a life no longer lived in the fear of repercussion for sin but lived in the joyful expectation of our heavenly Father’s eternal good favor. “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). The first birth is of blood, of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man. The second birth is of God, or “from above” (John 3:3). The first birth is natural. The second birth is divine.
This second birth reverses the curse and destroys the power of sin and the devil over believers. “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18). This verse does not put pressure on believers but states a matter-of-fact reality, that Christians who have been baptized lead a different life than nonbelievers. Paul says the same thing: “How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:2–3) “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). Now, the oppression of sin and the power of the devil are closely related. It was through the influence of the devil and by Eve’s submission to his deceptive words that plunged humanity into captivity to sin.
The baptismal rite includes a renunciation of the devil to allow those to be baptized to confess their intention to leave behind the counsels, works and ways of the deceiver that would lead to sin, and instead to follow the voice of Jesus. The new believer first renounces the devil, then confesses his faith in the Triune name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In various places throughout his letters, Paul describes the old life lived under the devil’s power which the Christian renounces. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1–3). “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). Herod and Herodias exemplify this kind of life. They are captives to sin, servants of their minds’ and bodies’ desires, and their captivity to the devil’s power results in the death by beheading of an innocent man (Mark 6:14–29). The new Christian renounces such ways and works and submits herself to the Lordship of Christ.
Historically, the baptismal rite has also included a prayer of exorcism, which signals the change from the first birth to the second birth. No longer shall this human being be subject to the devil’s power and influence. Now his body will host the Holy Spirit, and “the evil one shall not touch him” (1 John 5:18).
In baptism we become children of God, and in a way, we renounce being children of the devil. Jesus called the unbelieving Jews children of the devil. “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning…” (John 8:44) No doubt Jesus had in mind the fact that they would have him crucified. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; like father, like son. In the same way, God calls those who imitate his love his children. “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12–13). Christians believe that this new life imitating God is true freedom. Thus, baptism raises our prospects in this present life. From slavish misery, we enter into the freedom of being children of God. From “hating and being hated” we enter into a life of loving and being loved.
Being children of God also places us into a relationship in which we can pray to our heavenly Father. “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). When your little son or daughter get hurt, they want you to hold them in your arms; they want to put their head on your shoulder. Such an embrace tells the child that everything is going to be okay, that Mom or Dad are going to take care of things. Such is the case with prayer. We come to our heavenly father with our disappointments, our fears, our anxieties, and our hopes. In prayer, we place ourselves into his arms, trusting that he will take care of things. And so the result of prayer is not that we get what we ask for. Rather, the result of prayer is peace in our hearts. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7). The second sentence in that verse is often separated from prayer and has become simply a sentiment to attach at the end of a sermon. It should be reattached to prayer as Paul has it. Prayer culminates not in getting what we want (as if we were writing a letter to Santa) but in receiving the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. We close our prayer confident that he knows our needs, our fears, our joys, and will provide and care for us. Those who are baptized, then, have access to divine, wonderful peace.
Not only does baptism change brighten our prospects for this life, but also for the life to come. Those who only have received the first, natural birth can expect nothing but punishment for eternity. Even unbelievers are haunted by this reality that one day all of their wrongdoing will be prosecuted and punished. I suspect that this fear of judgment drives much of politics and the news cycles. Placing the focus on the faults and failings of others puts peoples’ mind at ease with the comfort (paltry comfort though it is) that “those people over there are worse than me.” Baptism does away with the fear of impending doom. Baptism makes people heirs of heaven. “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5–7). Because Christians are heirs of the kingdom of heaven, it is an ancient practice to anoint the newly-baptized with oil, just as kings and priests were anointed in ancient times. Such an act acknowledges the wonderful change that has taken place, from a child of wrath to a child of heaven.
In conclusion, we now have enough of a biblical understanding of baptism to make an informed argument for the baptism of infants and young children. First, if God gives “the right to become children of God” to all who receive Jesus (John 1:12), then young children who confess their love for Jesus should certainly not be prevented from claiming this right. Second, if “one cannot enter the kingdom of God” “unless one is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), and if Jesus commanded that his disciples “let the little children come, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:14), then we should be certain that Jesus would be displeased with us if we held back this great gift from little children. Third, if infants and small children are sinful, then we should allow them access to the forgiveness of sins where Christ promised to disburse it. Fourth, if infants and small children, like all mankind before baptism, are under the power of Satan, we should bring them to the font as quickly as possible so that they can be under such malign power no longer. Fifth, if we want our children to be able to pray “Our Father…” we should bring them to be baptized so that they can be God’s children and own the benefit of prayer.
Many object to infant baptism because they think infants cannot have faith. The church should never baptize someone who publicly rejects faith in Christ. However, infants are incapable of rejecting faith in Christ. Moreover, the Scriptures teach about infant faith in various places (Psalm 22:9–10; Psalm 71:5–6; Matthew 21:16; Luke 1:13–17 and 39–45; Luke 10:21). Jesus gave two ingredients for the making of disciples: baptizing and teaching. For infants and children, we baptize first and then teach. They will learn to confess the faith they received as a gift. They will learn to confess their sins and renounce the devil’s works and ways. But baptism should not be denied to those who cannot express their faith in words, and this includes those with disabilities as well as the very young.
To sum it all up, the Scriptures are clear that baptism is something God does to a person. Just as you did not give birth to yourself but your mother gave birth to you, so also God gives birth to his children through the waters of baptism. God makes people into his children. That is what it means to be “born of God,” or “born again” or “born from above” or “born of water and the Spirit.” God comes to us dead in our trespasses and sins, helpless in the power of Satan, he pulls us out of death, and gives us a new life. He regenerates us. We go from dying a little more each day, to progressively living more and more each day through Christ. To teach that baptism is merely our commitment to God empties this gift of its power. So remember your baptism every day and the life God has given you through it. Remember that you are dead to sin, but alive to God through Christ. Remember that you are his child and should cast yourself into his arms in every situation. Remember that there is forgiveness for your sins. Remember that you are not running from your past anymore. You are walking confidently, head held high, toward the heavenly reward that awaits all the saints. Thanks be to God for his grace, which he poured out richly on us through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Joy,
Pastor Vanderhyde
August, 2026
“Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).
This is one of the guiding principles for Lutheran worship. It’s why we baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus told us to. The most non-negotiable elements of our liturgy are those with clear direction from Christ himself or from his apostles.
Prayer is one such element. Jesus commanded his disciples to pray numerous times.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44).
“When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites … But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matt 6:5–6).
“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven …” (Matt 6:9–13).
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7, Luke 11:9).
“Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt 9:38, Luke 10:2).
“Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation” (Matt 26:41)
We could go on, but it should be clear by now: Jesus commanded prayer.
Now, Jesus didn’t command prayer like a school teacher who loads students with homework just to keep them busy. He gave his disciples the gift of prayer. He could see what a good and precious thing prayer was. Jesus never said, “Pray … or else.” He laid out all the wonderful promises connected with prayer. His command to pray is more like a mother calling her children to the table. Who would refuse? So in our corporate worship together, we seek to do what Jesus tells us. Why? Because we love him and we believe what he says.
Our Sunday liturgy is full of prayers. The most extensive is what we call the “Prayer of the Church.” I remember being tired out by this prayer as a child. Why such a long prayer? The short answer is that here is where we seek to fulfill the commands to pray from all over the teachings of Jesus and his apostles. We ask, what has Christ commanded us to pray for? And that forms the structure of our prayers. Here is a rough sketch:
We give thanks to God for his gifts — “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).
We pray for all the saints (the whole Church) and for the leaders of the Church who guide and teach — “keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me (Paul), that words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:18–19).
We pray for God to send out more pastors and servants of the church — Matthew 9:38
We pray for our civil leaders — “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).
We pray for our enemies — Matthew 5:44. (Enemies especially need our prayers: Who will pray for them if we don’t?)
We pray for the good things we need for life and for protection against the bad — Matthew 6:9–13 (This all belongs to the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “give us this day our daily bread”)
We pray for the sick and weak — This also falls under the Lord’s Prayer (“deliver us from evil,” and “give us this day our daily bread”), but another text is this: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14–15).
As we pour out this collective “Prayer of the Church,” we are simply responding to Christ’s commands and invitations all throughout the Scriptures. It shouldn’t be about covering all of our bases, but rather taking full advantage of Christ’s gracious invitation. We have the ear of God Almighty, and the certain promise that he hears and answers prayer!
One last thought from Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the corporate prayer of the church. “The first condition, which makes it possible for an individual to pray for the group, is the intercession of all the others for him and for his prayer. How could one person pray the prayer of the fellowship without being steadied and upheld in prayer by the fellowship itself? At this very point, every word of criticism must be transformed into fervent intercession and brotherly help. Otherwise, how easily might a fellowship be broken asunder right here!” (Life Together, 63) What a lovely thought! The congregation intercedes for the pastor while the pastor prays on their behalf. The congregation prays that the pastor would be able to lead them in answering Christ’s invitations to pray. Together, pastor and congregation call on the Lord’s help to “do whatever he tells them.”
In Christ,
Pastor Vanderhyde
This article is Part Two of a series on worship that will come out periodically in the Rock
July, 2026
Why do we use a processional cross every Sunday?
The short, silly answer I like to give is “because it’s fun.” There’s value to this answer, silly as it is. A service that stimulates the senses, where there is movement, sights, sounds, even smells—a stimulating service is fun. Children are drawn to such elements that add depth, solemnity, and wonder to worship. And, we’re all children at heart. We yearn for a worship service that draws us into the mystery of God.
One possible objection could go like this: “As Lutherans, we believe that the word of God is the main thing in worship. Aiming for stimulating worship is going to distract from the word of God. We don’t need more stimulating worship. We don’t need to see more things. We just need to hear God’s word.” There’s important truth to this objection. And many churches, seeking a stimulating worship experience have drifted away and drawn attention away from God’s word. Rock bands set up in the altar area, upbeat music, speakers who move about freely in the chancel area or stage, impressive light and sound systems, bright screens—all of this stems from an over-emphasis on a stimulating worship experience. And, no doubt, the movement toward this kind of worship was a deliberate response to worship viewed as stale, boring, and downright dismal.
The cost of stimulation in mainstream Christian worship in America has been the watering-down of the word of God. The traditional liturgy is rich with Scripture. From start to finish, we pray the Scriptures, confess the Scriptures to God, hear the Scriptures read, sing the Scriptures. God’s word helps us understand ourselves, God, and God’s gifts of grace to us. But in mainstream Christianity, this focus on Scripture has been jettisoned for a focus on the experience of the worshiper. This focus on the experience is hazardous because Christians are trained to place their trust in their own feelings rather than on the objective word of God that comes from outside of us. So there’s truth to the objection that what we need is Scripture and not stimulation.
At the same, truth is stimulating. God is stimulating. Truth is engaging. God is the greatest mystery, the wonder above all wonders! If our worship makes God seem dull, stale and boring, rather than glorifying him, that’s a problem. So how do we give glory to God with awe-inspiring worship without overdoing it, without distracting from Scripture?
The answer is to incorporate ritual elements into our worship that support and draw attention to what the Scriptures teach.
Take candles for example. Candles support and draw attention to John chapter one. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. …The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” A single candle lit in a darkened church accomplishes something truly profound and wondrous. It visually represents Christ entering a dark world and shining forth. Then, as we do in some services, the light is spread until the whole congregation is holding candles in a dark church. Now, the candles represent the saints carrying Christ into a dark world. Pragmatists might point to the inconvenience of refilling candles with oil or cleaning up wax. Extreme pragmatists might even observe that the electric light has been around for over a century and, therefore, candles are unnecessary. In spite of these objections, we keep the ritual. Why? Because it’s fun, because it stimulates the senses, because it creates wonder, because it supports the teachings of Scripture, because it places glory around what we cherish most on this earth: God, God’s word, God’s gifts of grace.
There’s more that could be said on candles, but I’ll save it for another day. Back to the original question, but with a little more nuance: How does the processional cross support and draw attention to what God’s word teaches us?
The processional cross is the focal point of the procession, which is simply an entrance. What the entrance communicates is that God is entering the congregation of faithful believers to bless them with his presence. He promises to be present to us in his word, and Jesus promises to be present for us bodily in the bread and wine of communion. Plain and simple, then, the procession supports and draws attention to what we believe from Scripture: God is present in a special, gracious way among his holy people when they gather to hear his word, receive his gifts, praise him and give thanks to him.
There are three parts to the procession: the cross (or crucifix), the candle, and the pastor. The cross comes first and communicates the WHO and the HOW of God’s presence in the congregation. God is present among us not as a destroyer, a vengeful judge, or a good luck charm. God is present among us through his Son who was crucified for us. “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). God’s presence is a gracious presence. He relates to us through the goodness of Christ. He sees in us Christ’s righteousness. Instead of looking at our blemishes, weaknesses, faults, quirks or failings (the way humans look at each other), He sees us covered by the strengths, virtues, goodness, flawlessness, and perfections of Christ.
In the same way, when we look at the cross, we are reminded that we also relate to one another in the church through Christ, never apart from Christ. We too, must learn to look at one another and at ourselves as purchased by the blood of Christ, redeemed from the power of Satan, covered in Christ’s righteousness.
The processional cross provides the cue for the candle. We understand that God’s gracious presence among us through the cross of Christ banishes the darkness of our hearts. We understand that Christ, present in our hearts through faith, will illuminate the world wherever we go, if we let our light shine.
The cross also helps us understand the pastor’s role in all of this. The cross goes first, not the pastor. The pastor also relates to the church through the cross of Christ and not apart from it. He does not enter the church to win a following for himself with his charismatic leadership. He enters the church as a servant of Christ. He steps into the chancel to be the mouthpiece of God. He steps into the pulpit to point the congregation to Christ crucified. “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1–2).
Many refer to ritual elements like the processional cross as “high church.” I prefer to call it “fun church.” It’s not about trying to appear holier or better than other churches. It’s about drawing all of our focus and attention on what is happening here and now in the congregation of believers. God is present to bless us. That’s what the cross is saying. God is present to bless us.
Joy in Christ,
Pastor Vanderhyde
This article is Part One of a series on worship that will come our periodically in the Rock
June, 2026
There is this story about Sundays in Little House in the Big Woods. Pa tells Mary and Laura about Sundays when his father was a young boy with his brothers. Sundays were a day of rest, where no work could be done, not even hitching up the horses to go to church. No, they walked to church. And play was forbidden as well. The day was devoted completely to prayer and Scripture and catechesis. The day began Saturday at sundown and lasted until Sunday at sundown. All that time was devoted to God, with no playing, working, or frivolous talk or laughter.
Now, Pa’s father and his brothers had been working on a new sled for a long time. They had finished it right before sundown on Saturday, so there was no time to try it out. All Sunday, the sled was all they could think about. Sitting in church for two hours, they thought about the sled. At home, sitting on benches in the dining room after dinner, they were supposed to be reading their catechism, but they were thinking about the sled.
At last, they heard a snore from their father, who had been reading the bible. He was asleep! This was their chance. They quietly slipped out of the room, out to the barn, and up the hill. They would just take the sled for one ride to try it out, just one. As the sled got going and picked up speed, the three boys had to keep silent, even though they wanted to whoop and holler. Then, suddenly, as they sped past the house, a black hog stepped out in front of them and they scooped it up! The hog squealed and squealed and didn’t stop until the sled stopped. And they saw their father looking at them from the door. They trooped back to the house and resumed their seats, and later, after sundown, their father “tanned their hides.”
Pa told Mary and Laura this story to encourage them to be thankful that being good wasn’t as hard in their day as it was way back when.
I relate the story because looking back on what we came from helps us understand where we are. Another pastor and I were discussing Sunday morning bible study together, and I asked the question, “why do we have it?” Many places don’t do it. Where did it come from? And if fewer and fewer people are interested in attending, why go to the trouble?
We come from a culture that used to hold Sundays as far more sacred than it is held today. People distinguished Sundays from other days. It was part of the weekly rhythm of life. It’s not that way anymore. Now, attending church is one more chore, one more obligation, one of the many that crowd our scattered lives.
Sundays will either become less sacred for us or they will become more sacred. There is no middle ground. It’s a future that we must determine for ourselves. I’m not in favor of making Sundays as boring as possible for children. I’m not in favor of outlawing cooking on Sundays. (Pa’s grandpa ate a cold breakfast and a cold dinner, both cooked the day before.) For Christians it is not about just obedience (although that’s still part of it), it’s primarily a celebration. Christ is risen! Evil is retreating! Satan is crushed! Rejoice! This is why every Sunday is a feast day in the Christian tradition. And if you fast during Lent, you break that fast on the Sundays during Lent because as Jesus put it, “How can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” (Matthew 9:15)
So while I don’t believe in making Sundays oppressive and strict, I do wholeheartedly believe in setting them apart for prayer, the study of God’s word and for being together as God’s people. As Christians we should talk together about how to turn this ship around. If we set out to make Sundays more sacred than they are now, what would that look like?
Sunday School and Adult Bible study exist to help accomplish that. It’s the Lord’s day; we want to devote the day to the Lord. So we open his word and learn. We open our catechism and learn. That’s what we’re about Sundays after church.
Pentecost Blessings,
Pastor V
May, 2026
This broken world is never without war, but it seems like we had a good several years in which war was not regularly in the major headlines. Then we experienced Covid, then Ukraine, then Israel, then Gaza, now Iran. War is a daily headline now, not a rumor anymore. How are we to respond?
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6) Jesus taught that wars and rumors of wars were signs of the end, when he would return to raise the dead and judge the world. For that reason, Jesus commands his followers not to be alarmed.
The fact that war “must take place” does not mean that war is good or is to be embraced. Jesus said in another place that “blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). He commanded his disciples to “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” (Matthew 7:12) and to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). A Christian’s duty is to seek peace, to combat strife with forgiveness and compassion, to take hits in order to preserve peace. This is how God’s kingdom reaches to the ends of the earth. Christians are never pro-war. Jesus does not want us to be cold and callous when it comes to warfare, but to grieve the harm, danger and loss it causes to all people involved. “Do not be alarmed” does not eliminate our responsibility to pray for everyone involved in the conflict, friend and foe alike. It does not eliminate our responsibility to elect godly leaders and advocate for the vulnerable, innocent and oppressed.
What does Jesus want us to do then?
He wants us not to become poisoned and debilitated by dejection. War, like many aspects of contemporary life, hardens hearts and deadens hope. We are tempted to despair at the futility of human history, given the seeming inevitability of war. We are tempted to shrug our shoulders and say, “well, I guess that’s just the way it is.” Instead, Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25–28). War is terrible, but it reminds us that we are strangers and sojourners in this world, as if it were a foreign land. War has no place in the kingdom of heaven. This world is dead set on hurling itself into utter destruction and chaos by rejecting God. From that perspective, war is inevitable. But existing in a world full of warfare is not, because Jesus is going to make all things new. And he will do it soon.
Jesus commands his followers to “straighten up and raise your heads,” when they see the signs of the end, such as warfare. Christians live in persistent hopefulness, confident that the God who made them will set all things to rights. We don’t simply get used to a new normal, life a little more bleak, a little less safe, a little less affordable, and a little less peaceful. Christians don’t settle for the less and less that life seems to offer. Instead, we live in the “not yet” that is also “now.” Heaven breaks into the present in God’s word and Sacraments. God endows us with confidence that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and has come to us already. We are on the brink of glory, the last dark before the dawn and then the full sun of paradise.
Satan, the world, and our sinful flesh want to drag us down to despair and dejection. Jesus says, “Don’t be alarmed!” “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” This hopefulness is, in fact, what will fuel our peacemaking efforts. We don’t seek peace in our town, nation and world out of a frantic despairing attempt to stave off evil (as if this world were all there is). We are peacemakers because we want everyone for whom Jesus died to know what heaven is about, to know the love of Jesus, a love that one day will have free course among men.
Easter Joy,
Pastor V
April, 2026
The word “Easter” is relatively new to Christianity. It’s an English word with an Anglo-Saxon heritage. The word’s meaning has to do with the dawn and new growth, and it came out of the Anglo-Saxon name for April, Eosturmōnaþ. The dawn and new growth are both excellent pictures of the resurrection of Christ, thoroughly biblical.
The dawn is the turning point, when night dissolves into day. So the Resurrection is the turning point from death to life, not only for Christ but for all believers. All through the Scriptures, God is referred to metaphorically as the sun and Christ’s coming as the dawn. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14). “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). What better than the rising of the sun to communicate the relief, the hopefulness, the beauty, the wonder, of Christ’s coming? Night is dark, often cold, long (especially in winter), isolating, colorless, oppressive. The dawn brings light, warmth, renewed hope, color, and the prospect of a new day for work, play and community. In his word, God wants us to understand that Christ’s coming, and his resurrection, is necessary for our life, sustains us, and renews our hope. We’ve all basked in the glory and warmth of a new day. To be a Christian is to bask in the new day of redemption brought to you by Christ, especially in his body and blood present for you at the altar every Sunday.
New growth is, obviously, not unrelated to the dawn. Night is infertile. Plants need the light of the sun to flourish (just as humans do, though not quite in the same way). As winter gives way to spring, all kinds of shoots and sprouts and buds suddenly appear, the first signs of the lushness of summer and the bounty of harvest. Scripture also uses this metaphor to describe Christ’s resurrection. Jesus explained the need for his death in agricultural terms. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24–25). Christ didn’t cling to his life but allowed it to be laid down in the earth in death. And his resurrection produced fruit in abundance, because everyone who believes in him is made alive in that Resurrection. Paul puts it this way: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). In his word, God wants us to understand that Christ’s resurrection gives new life. We have confidence that when we plant a believer in the ground in death, they will not stay in the earth but will rise again, following Christ their Lord.
I know many of you are up before sunrise getting started on work. I hope as the sun rises, you ponder the wonder of Christ’s coming and his resurrection. And many of you get to wait excitedly as millions of little sprouts shoot up into the air. I hope the miracle of new life is never lost on you. And I hope that new growth always reminds you that your own life is a miracle; your own faith is a miracle, created when Christ burst forth from the ground.
Easter Joy,
Pastor V
March, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Lenten greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ!
I want to tell you about an exciting opportunity coming up in April. I (Pastor) will be travelling to Nepal with another LCMS pastor to teach the catechism and Christian worship. This will be now the third journey overseas from Calvary in just a few months! Makia Adler departed for the Dominican Republic (en route to Belize) in December, our mission team travelled to Thailand in January, and now I’ll be in Nepal in April.
There has been a surge of evangelism in Nepal in recent years, and there are many newly-begun churches with a zeal for Christ. The Holy Spirit is growing the Church on earth. And He can use me and others to help strengthen the church by providing sound teaching that helps root budding faith in something deeper than emotions and feelings. In Nepal, I will seek to show Christians by my life and words the foundation we have in Christ and his word. Our faith is begun and nourished and strengthened and made steadfast by the power of Christ, a power we take into ourselves when we are taught the word, when we live out our baptism and when we receive Christ’s body and blood. I’m looking forward to helping people understand the ways in which Christ makes us “rooted and established in love” (Eph 3:17) in the Church.
I serve as secretary for a small mission organization called South Asia Lutheran Mission (SALM). The non-profit was started by a missionary who we served with in Sri Lanka, Pastor Edward Naumann, and it is with him that I’ll be travelling to Nepal this April. SALM exists to fund theological education and produce theological resources throughout the world, but especially in countries in South Asia.
If you are looking for ways to give during Lent (or in general), consider supporting SALM financially (see below). Funding supports (1) educators: for example, in 2025 SALM funded over a dozen locally-taught educational camps in Nepal and India on the Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession. Funding supports (2) translation work: all translations are made publicly available on the SALM website for free, and we currently host translations in Nepali, Tamil, Hindi, Sinhala, Punjabi, Kannada, Urdu and English. Funding also supports (3) the publication of new resources in English (for subsequent translation).
I’m looking forward to this trip, and I pray God will use me as his instrument. I especially hope to encourage and support the faith of our hosts, Tika and Rabindradas. (Please pray for them.) In a quickly growing church, having no seminaries or bible colleges, these men travel and train laypersons as well as pastors in the Christian faith. May our time together with these men strengthen both us and them! “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:11–12).
I give thanks every day for the mutual support and encouragement we are allowed to give to each other as Christ’s body in Wray. May he bless our life together and strengthen us that we may be a blessing to many others!
Lenten Joy!
Pastor V
Check out SALM: SouthAsiaLutheranMission.com
Give by check: South Asia Lutheran Mission, 782 15th St, Oakmont, PA 15139
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Give online: SouthAsiaLutheranMission.com/support
February, 2026
Dear Friends in Christ,
On the first Sunday in February many churches celebrate the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the temple. In Levitical law, Women were required to show themselves to the priest 40 days after childbirth to be declared ritually pure. The details for these rules can be found in Leviticus chapter 12. So this church feast day occurs roughly 40 days after the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas.
While many churches probably take this as an occasion to place focus on Mary, as Lutherans we rightly keep the focus always on Jesus. In fact, it is quite remarkable that even though Mary bore the innocent Son of God, who never knew sin, still Mary needed to be purified from childbirth. Mary gets no special dispensation for conceiving miraculously or for giving birth to a truly perfect child.
From the perspective of Jesus, we see God’s concern for the human race. Jesus does not enter the world as God’s Son in a pristine, sanitized environment. He enters all of the messiness of our world: he is born to a young woman who was probably suspected of marital infidelity (due to the unique circumstances of his conception by the Holy Spirit), he is born as a human being in the usual messy mode that humans enter this life, his mother needs to be purified after giving birth to him (though he came to make all things pure), he himself as Mary’s firstborn must be redeemed at the temple (though he came to redeem all the human race). Here in the first 40 days of Jesus’ life on earth we see God’s intention to save the human race thoroughly and completely. God’s loving purpose is carried out as Jesus enters our race to truly become one of us in order to raise us back to God.
Jesus comes to purify the human race. Meditate on this theme with me for the remainder of this letter.
Impurity is a threat. Impurities in building materials can undermine the integrity of a structure. Impurities in the air of a surgical operating room can lead to dangerous infection. Impurity in food can lead to sickness. These visible, physical realities serve as analogies for invisible, spiritual realities. Think of the church as a body (Eph 4:1–16). Now if one member of the body becomes impure, it negatively impacts the entire body. “If one member suffers; all suffer together” (1 Cor 12:26). So, for example, if one member allows bitterness towards another member to live and grow and fester, the hurt from that impurity of heart will eventually be felt by all the members.
Christ’s church is composed entirely of sinners: this is true. God forbid Christians ever view the church as a place only for holy or pure people. Many have this perception of Christians and for that reason they avoid the church. No, the church is a community of sinners. But it’s a community of people who confess their sins, admitting their brokenness, receiving God’s forgiveness, and extending that forgiveness and reconciliation to all.
The impurity of heart that can seriously harm the church, then, is an attitude that rejects the forgiveness of Christ. A grudge held against someone else is a continual rejection of what Christ says about that person. In other words, Jesus says, “So-and-so is precious and valuable to me enough to die for her,” but I say, “No she isn’t; look at this thing she did, etc.” Jesus says, “She is covered by my blood, forgiven,” whereas I keep holding up the ways she’s disappointed me.
So the church functions properly as a body if everyone believes in reconciliation through the blood of Christ, forgiveness, and unconditional love. Anything that fights against this (whether an unwillingness to forgive or an unwillingness to turn away from sin that’s been forgiven) introduces impurity and infection into the community of the faithful. Impurity is dangerous, threatening the life of the church. And, as each one of us is born and raised in sin, we each of us carry within us the seed of sin, which, if allowed to sprout and grow and flourish, will produce the fruit of spiritual death not only for ourselves but for those around us.
So as Christians, we gather around the body and blood of Christ which make purification for sin as they enter into our being. We have to recognize the danger we are in personally, and the danger we place our family and fellow Christians into, if we are not consistently inoculated against impurity of heart by the body and blood of Christ, the medicine of immortality.
But in addition to this warning, we should also realize the greatness of God’s invitation when the Lord’s Supper is offered to us. Here, 40 days after his birth, Jesus is presented in the temple for the first time in his earthly life. Now, the temple was covered with depictions of palm trees (paradise) and cherubim and seraphim (heaven). Christ Jesus is presented in the temple—God’s presence— in Luke chapter 2 so that you might be presented in His body in God’s presence in heaven.
If the president of the United States personally invited you to have dinner at the White House, you would probably be very excited, regardless of your political persuasion. But here the creator of the universe, the fountain and source of all goodness, invites you to dine with Him every Sunday. He who occupies the center of everything that we call good wants you near Him every Sunday. How exciting! Amazing how easy it is to think so little of such a tremendous offer.
God’s peace and joy be yours in this Epiphany Season as we grow up more and more into the love of Christ.
In the name of Jesus,
Pastor Vanderhyde
January, 2026
Happy New Year!
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? I haven’t committed to any yet (which is probably a bad sign). It’s not a bad idea. It’s a new year; you have a clean slate, as it were. It’s nice to start fresh whenever you can. We heard this at Calvary’s New Year’s Eve service: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Christians especially understand the blessing of being given a fresh start. We understand that we don’t deserve another year. We’ve bungled the last year badly enough, and the year before that, and the year before that. When we say on Sundays — “We justly deserve Your temporal and eternal punishment” — what we mean is that if God ended our lives and ended the world at any given moment, He would be entirely justified in doing so.
When it goes wonky and the perfect circle breaks, the artisan balls up the clay and starts over again. Unlike clay, we are given a choice by God: the choice to love or to hate, to give or to take, to forgive or to hold a grudge, to live meekly or to embrace anger, to be generous or to be miserly. And each of us has gone wonky. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—each of us—to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Each one of us this past year has chosen the bad and neglected the good. Each one of us has bungled it. So we don’t deserve a new year. We don’t deserve a new day. We don’t deserve a fresh start.
This should be the focus of your meditation as you enter the new year. We’re used to thinking about resolutions this time of year, and this isn’t wrong. But we should first and foremost be thinking about God’s mercy, because he has given us something we have never earned for ourselves: another year, another day, another breath, another chance to choose the good and reject the bad.
As for a fresh start, though, we’re much too cynical about our human nature than to think that the change in calendar year will change us into entirely different people. Our New Year’s resolutions are surface level. “I’m going to run five miles every week.” “I’m going to cut out chocolate.” “I’m going to read a book a week.” No one ever made a New Year’s resolution like this: “I’m going to stop choosing evil.” And no one could keep it if they did. So the new year and the new day and the new breath are all gifts from God’s merciful goodness, but they’re not in and of themselves the fresh start we need.
The long, slow, difficult process of straightening us out begins with us being joined to Christ. “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). Christ joined himself to our human race in the mystery of Christmas, and we are joined to him in the mysteries (or sacraments) of the Church. Within this ordinary water, this ordinary bread and wine, these ordinary words, Christ binds himself to us.
Without Christ our resolutions will lack resolve. Without Christ we won’t have the strength to keep any resolutions that are worth keeping. But joined to Christ, we receive the precious gift of resolve. In Christ, God sets us on a path towards a heavenly way of life where we always choose good and always turn away from evil. So Christ is the fresh start. Christ is the “new day.”
Could you imagine all of the resolutions it would take to cover each and every one of your imperfections? We’re complex beings, which means getting corrected and healed and perfected is a complex thing. It would be overwhelming to take on as a DIY. But thanks be to God the instructions for this new way of life are simple: remain in Christ. Follow Christ. Be where Christ is. Let Him do the heavy lifting. Being in Christ, we have great confidence that all will turn out right. Being in Christ, we are certain that we are not condemned to an eternity of bungling it, of going wonky at every turn. Being in Christ, we are heaven-bound with Him, forever rejoicing in the Year of the Lord’s Favor.
God Bless you this 2026 and forevermore.
Pastor V
December, 2025
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
That’s how I feel whenever Advent and Christmas roll around. There’s nothing better. Think with me for a minute. There’s something lovely about this holiday season. There’s something pure about it. We hope for snow (at least I do) around this time of year, and snow makes everything look white and clean and covers over the dead ground. The decorations and the lights are bright and cheery, they lift your spirits. They kind of warm you up inside. The music is hopeful, celebratory. Strange, though, isn’t it? It’s the coldest, darkest time of year.
“Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely…think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). As pure and as lovely as the holiday season is, “Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer” (Beautiful Savior, LSB 537). Jesus came to the darkest place ever, to the ugliest situation, and he brought light and purity. He came to our cold, loveless world and brought the warmth of divine love. What we experience during the holiday season is like a tiny glimpse of the heart-warming, uplifting, cleansing work that Jesus brings to you and me.
The joy and happiness of the holiday season never last. And unfortunately, winter does. It usually carries on for another few months. The darkness and the cold and the dead ground outlive the burst of holiday cheer.
A Christian doesn’t need to bury the Christmas lights and get rid of the tree, just because Christmas has become commercialized. What a Christian gets to do is what our commercialized holiday season cannot do and never has done: make it last all year. Christ doesn’t just banish our darkness at Christmas. He does it for a Christian every time he hears God’s word, every time he receives Christ’s body and blood. Christians walk in the perpetual brightness of Christ’s word and holiness. The purity of Christ covers the Christian’s ugliness and brokenness, her faults and her failings, every time she hears the words of Christ her Lord saying, “I forgive you all your sins”—better than a blanket of fresh fallen snow.
“Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,” and every Sunday is a Christmas. This is, in fact, why we sing a Christmas song every Sunday. “Glory be to God on high, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.” We sing the angels’ song every Sunday, because every Sunday is a Christmas. Every time we hear God’s word, every time Christ is present to us, every time we are cheered by being with Christ who lives in our brother or sister—it’s the most wonderful time.
So, Happy Holidays! And Merry Christmas! And may Christ, who comes to live in your heart, produce in you that Christmas cheer all year.
Pastor Vanderhyde
November, 2025
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to you name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1). “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his mercy endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1–3).
It is quite common around this time of year to hear people saying things like, “I’m grateful because…” or “I’m thankful for….” Being “thankful” in this way is easy. We are “thankful” when things go well for us, when the sun is shining, when we have what we wanted. But to live a life of Thanksgiving, this is entirely different.
More than a once-per-year holiday, Thanksgiving is a way of life, a way of being. It is a willingness to allow our perspective on life to be challenged and upended by God’s perspective, with the call to believe that the will of God is always best. The evidence which daily life presents us with (through our experience with others and our interactions with the media) so easily leaves us with a bleak outlook. But God invites us to join the faithful, and see the world with the eyes of Christ.
Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, gave thanks. All evidence to the contrary (he was to be tortured and killed within 24 hours), Jesus gave thanks as he instituted the Thanksgiving Meal, the Eucharist, as it has been called ever since. Here in Jesus’s Thanksgiving, we find the source for a divine calm in the midst of life’s storms. Here, we find the remedy for bitterness, resentment and anger. Here at this meal, Jesus invites us to walk on the Way of Life with him, to be brought from an earthly to a heavenly perspective. He invites us gradually to let go of our notions of the sort of life we are entitled to. He invites us to let go of our designs on our own life, and instead to receive God’s design for our life as a heavenly gift.
Thanksgiving makes life into an adventure. Each new step, each bend in the road becomes an opportunity to seek God’s face. With an unshakable confidence in God’s goodness to us, nourished by the body and blood of Christ, life’s uncertainties drive us again and again to prayer, entreaty, lament, repentance and thanksgiving.
“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:11). “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart” (Psalm 138:1). “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!” (Psalm 105:1) “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for you name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds (Psalm 75:1).
October, 2025
Fall was always my favorite time of year, growing up. For me the season was (and still is) full of anticipation. I looked forward to school starting, to Halloween, to Thanksgiving, and to Christmas. I still love the onset of winter, as the days become crisp and the nights call for a fire in the stove and extra blankets.
Since it’s October, this newsletter is all about Halloween and the Christian holiday that lies behind it.
What’s the Origin of Halloween (All Saints’ Day and All Saints’ Eve)?
The name Halloween comes from two words: hallow (that is, holy, as in “Hallowed be thy name”) and “een” which is a shortening of “evening.” The name comes from a less well-known Christian holiday called All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day. The saints are the “holy” ones, or the “hallowed” ones, because Christ is in them making them holy. The word “saint” comes from the verb to “be sanctified,” that is, “be made holy”. All Saints’ Day, or All Hallows’ Day, is a celebration of those who have died in the faith, who were made holy by Christ’s Spirit living in them. All Saints’ Eve or All Hallows’ Eve is simply the night before All Saints Day. Bear in mind, Christmas Eve isn’t the only “eve” Christians celebrate. This past April we celebrated Easter Eve with a wonderful worship service, also called Easter Vigil or Holy Saturday.
By the 4th century A. D., Christians in various places were following an established tradition for celebrating all Christian martyrs on a particular day, generally near Easter or Pentecost. The proximity to these two significant days in the Church Year, Easter and Pentecost, can hardly be coincidental. It was their confident confession of the resurrection of the faithful that led these brave men and women to offer their lives for the name of Christ. Their faith, their obedience to Christ, their joy and their hope—all of these were fruits of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on the church at Pentecost.
In the city of Edessa (modern-day Turkey), interestingly enough, the festival of martyrs was held annually on May 13. Historians have suggested that this date was intentional. The Roman festival of Lemuria culminated on May 13th every year. Lemuria, an old pagan festival, was about warding off and satisfying vengeful spirits. People would walk through their house at midnight chanting prayers of exorcism and offering black beans to propitiate the ghosts that haunted them. So, choosing May 13 as the date for a celebration of Christian martyrs would have made a clear counter-confession in a superstitious culture. Christians would have stood out from the crowd in confessing their confidence that those faithful who have gone before us do not haunt the earth but rather enjoy the Father’s embrace.
Holding a feast day on November 1st for all departed saints had become popular in Europe by the 800s. And by the 12th century, the idea of celebrating All Saints on May 13th had all but disappeared. In the year 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Saint Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, on October 31st (All Saints’ Eve), which is why Lutherans also celebrate Reformation Day at this time.
What Does Celebrating All Saints Look Like?
Celebrating All Saints Day can include many things. Historically and globally, the festival can include:
—Receiving the Lord’s Supper in a worship service on November 1st (whether or not this day falls on a Sunday). This is probably the most essential aspect of the festival, since in Communion, we actually join with “all the company of heaven” to “laud and magnify God’s glorious name.” In the Lord’s Supper we are united with Christ’s body of all times and all places.
—Commemorating those who faithfully departed life during the previous year by reading their names aloud along with the tolling of a bell or the lighting of a candle.
—Visiting the grave of the faithful departed to pray, eat food, and decorate the gravesite.
—Holding a vigil the night before. Graves could be visited during the vigil. A vigil often includes fasting, prayer and the burning of incense. The vigil of All Saints Day is called All Saints (or “Hallows”) Eve, which is where the word Hallow-een comes from.
So What?
Halloween is remarkable among American holidays in that it has entirely shifted from being a Christian holiday to a pagan one. Christmas and Easter still maintain their sanctity in the church, but All Saints Day is unrecognizable. And All Saints Eve? Might as well forget it. Rather than praying and fasting on the eve of the Christian festival, or visiting the graves of the faithful departed to pray and celebrate the resurrection of the dead, Christians take to the streets. They party into the night and gorge themselves on sweets. Nothing remains of the Christian holiday but the remnant of a name whose meaning is now mostly forgotten.
This is not meant to be judgmental. I’d be the first to admit that I grew up on trick-or-treating and there would be quite an uproar in my home if I decided to put my foot down and eliminate this enjoyable tradition from our family playbook. The challenge I want to pose is this: shouldn’t we, as Christians, feel an obligation to ask ourselves whether we shouldn’t be doing something else on October 31st?
Perhaps my goal here is simply to invite you to question your obligation to participate in the festivities. After all, it is a sense of obligation more than anything that prompts you. You don’t want your kids to miss out. You don’t want your neighbors to think you’re a spoilsport. Perhaps you’ve enjoyed the Halloween party with the same friends for decades.
But just think for a moment about the radical contrast between the Christian holiday of All Saints/All Saints Eve and the pagan holiday Halloween. The purpose of the one is to:
—commemorate those who have departed in the faith.
—hold up their faith as an example for our imitation.
—meditate on our own mortality (which fasting helps with).
—deny ourselves and take up our crosses with fasting and prayer.
—strengthen our weak knees as we anticipate our own death.
—be reminded of the power of the resurrection.
The purpose of the other is to:
—have fun.
—dress up in costumes that may or may not glorify death, ghosts, demons, etc., (without any reference to the resurrection in Jesus).
—outdo our neighbors with outlandish costumes (i. e., spend lots of money).
—outdo our neighbors with outlandish lawn decorations (i. e., spend lots of money).
—consume more than appropriate amounts of candy, alcohol or both.
If you’re still reading this, I would guess you probably enjoy Halloween with temperance and moderation. So I’m not trying to accuse anyone. I am just trying to describe Halloween as I’ve observed it celebrated from my own experience and from TV, media, etc.
My conclusion is that America’s Halloween flips Christianity’s All Hallows Eve completely on its head. It glorifies death rather than resurrection, self-indulgence rather than self-denial, unrestrained fun rather than sober-mindedness, a love of self rather than a love of the saints, looking forward to candy rather than looking forward to the return of Christ. If it was just a fun cultural tradition, this comparison would seem unfair. But the fact that the pagan tradition has taken the place of the Christian one obligates Christians, I think, to take a step back and consider.
Perhaps now is the time to follow the counter-cultural example of the Christians of Edessa, who established a Christian festival on the exact same night as the pagan one. Only in our case, if we decided as a church to celebrate Reformation or All Saints Eve on the night of October 31st, we would simply be reclaiming a holiday that was stolen away. What would this communicate? That there is another Way of being in the world, one that puts God and not myself at the center. Those who walk in this Way are in the world, but not of the world. They help and serve their neighbors. They work alongside unbelievers. They love them dearly. They even know how to have a good time. But they are not carried along with the world in the same flood of wickedness (see 1 Peter 4:3–5). They uphold life as a precious gift to be received with joy, but they also offer their lives willingly, confident that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so will they be.
Our Lord does not call us to withdraw from the world. We carry the light in us that will enlighten those who live in the darkness. We carry Christ. We cannot leave our neighbors without Christ. But our Lord does call us to be the church in the world. And this means making choices every day to walk in the Way of life rather than in the Way of death. And it means making these choices in community with one another. No one walks the Way of Christ alone. We do it together as the household of God, as the body of Christ.
“For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. 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. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7–9).
In Christ,
Pastor Vanderhyde
September, 2025
This past Sunday we had church at the park. What a blessing to have such cool weather with an abundance of shade and no wind—it was a perfect day.
For education hour, I told the story of Jonah from Scripture, and in this newsletter I want to share some insights I gleaned from meditating on the book of Jonah.
We approach Jonah from a New Testament perspective. This means we come to the person of Jonah already expecting him to point us to Jesus. This is because Jesus himself says in the Gospel that, just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so the Son of Man will be in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights. But when we read the book of Jonah, we don’t actually find much that reflects a Christlike attitude or way of living.
At the beginning of the story, Jonah flat-out refuses to obey the word of God. Rather than humbling himself and acting as a servant should, Jonah makes himself the master of his own destiny. He flees in the opposite direction of Nineveh, where God had called him to go. It takes a great storm from the hand of the Lord, a trip to the bottom of the ocean, and three days in the belly of a giant fish to show Jonah that God was going to have his way. After Jonah’s adventure at sea, he does go to Nineveh, and he does proclaim the message that God gave him. But his obedience stops there—and it seems that it was obedience not of the heart, but merely of outward action. Jonah’s heart, we discover, is not with the Lord. The Lord wants to save Nineveh, but Jonah just wants to see it burn. Jonah becomes very angry when God relents of the disaster he had threatened. Jonah says that he would rather die than see these people forgiven. And this is where the book leaves Jonah: wallowing in a vengeful mire of selfish bitterness. Hardly a Christlike figure.
In fact, Jonah is so far from being in sync with God’s heart that he gives the very opposite message from what God wants mankind to hear. Jonah says that he would rather die than see men’s sins forgiven. But God’s message in Christ to the world is that God would rather die than hold man’s sins against them. Jonah’s mindset and his actions are all over the place. Jonah’s life is a chaotic mess because his heart is out of sync with God’s heart. Just as the storm rages out of control, so Jonah’s heart is a tempest of fear, anxiety, anger, and vengefulness. But there is one moment in the story of Jonah when the storm calms down—when Jonah’s heart comes into sync with God’s heart. Jonah’s life becomes harmonious rather than chaotic, and in this moment Jonah points us to Christ.
Jonah points us to Christ by his humility. For most of the story, Jonah sets himself up over and against God’s word and God’s will. He exalts his own view of what should be done with Nineveh and rejects God’s purpose of forgiveness through repentance. This kind of sinful pride pretends to exalt the sinner, and the sinner thinks in his pride that he is getting the upper hand. But pride is in fact a fall. This was how Adam and Eve fell from paradise in the garden—through pride, thinking they could be like God. So too, in the story of Jonah, there is a great fall. Rather than rising and going to Nineveh, Jonah goes down to Joppa. Then Jonah goes down into a ship headed for Tarshish. Then Jonah goes down into the inner part of the ship to sleep. Then Jonah is cast into the water, and he sinks down—to the point where Jonah says that weeds were wrapped around his head at the roots of the mountains. Jonah reaches the bottom of the bottom, the lowest of the low. He is confronted with death, and the terror of his sin rushes on him in a moment. And from under the sea he calls out to the Lord. In this moment Jonah’s life comes into harmony. God saves Jonah with a fish, which carries him alive for three days and three nights. And Jonah prays this beautiful prayer from the belly of the fish. It’s a song, meant to be sung, meant to show us that Jonah’s heart had finally come into harmony with God’s heart.
There, at the bottom of everything, Jonah remembered the Lord. He wasn’t exalting himself anymore, or looking down on the Lord’s will or word. He had only one direction to look, and that was up.
And this is where Christ comes in—Christ, who identified with us in our loneliness, in our sin, in our humble estate, as Mary his mother put it. God’s will took Jesus to the lowest of the low: “scorned by mankind and despised by the people.” Jesus didn’t exalt himself over God’s will. He entrusted himself into God’s hands even as death closed in around him. But his death proved to be the victory according to God’s plan of salvation from the beginning of creation. And after three days, Jesus rose. The grave spit him out—and so the grave will do for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.
The story of Jonah teaches us what Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount: the blessed life is the life of the one who is poor in spirit, the one who is meek, the one who is a peacemaker. Life becomes harmonious when we are small in our own eyes and God is big—when “my will be done” turns into “Thy will be done.” And this kind of shift happens every time we enter the church and confess our sins, receive God’s forgiveness, and partake of Christ’s body and blood. This kind of shift happens when we humble ourselves and apologize to a friend, a loved one, or a neighbor. When we exercise our Christian faith, we meet Jesus in the low places. There he encourages us, feeds us, comforts us, gives us hope, gives us purpose, gives us meaning, and gives us joy. Because when we are weak, then we are strong. When we despair of our own strength, when we despair of the strength that the world has to offer, when we are brought low, then we remember to look up:
“And my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to false idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But with the voice of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
In Christ,
Pastor Vanderhyde
