The Light Shines in the Darkness

As I reflect on the current state of our world, I find myself overcome by moments of sadness and anger. And I imagine many if not all of you who read this can relate in some way. The level of people’s stress, uncertainty, fear, worry, and anxiety are elevated to unhealthy levels and daily I hear from people at a loss about what to do or where to turn for comfort much less find any answers how to make things better. 

And even though I’m skilled and experienced in dealing with difficult, stressful, and traumatic circumstances I too need to be careful not to allow these things to overwhelm me. From lost jobs, failed relationships, and difficult diagnoses, to parade tragedies, mass shootings in schools and churches, senseless global wars, political division, environmental destruction, and a global pandemic that just won’t go away, it seems there are plenty of reasons for fear, worry and sadness and sometimes it all feels like a lot to take in.

So, what are we to do then? Where will we find rest or relief from these things that pull us further away from the abundant life that God promises? I know that many of you are exhausted and discouraged, and wonder what’s the use in trying, but I urge you not to give up – don’t lose hope – even if you can’t see the light right now. You are not alone in your suffering, and I don’t mean this to be grim or discouraging, instead I want to remind you that you are not alone – that you do not bear your struggles, grief, fear, sadness, or any of it alone.

In this, I hope you will find encouragement to keep moving forward, keep believing in the possibility of a different reality, keep working toward changing and improving – yourself, your family, your workplace, your church, your neighborhood, community, country, and world. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) God is reminding us that the darkness in our lives can never extinguish the light, there is always hope, there is always possibility. “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

My friends, I pray that you will trust in God’s promise, presence, and strength to be with you and carry you through this and every difficult season of life. Even as I struggle alongside you, please know that I am grateful to be on the journey alongside you holding you and our world in prayer, confident that God is working in all things to bring us the peace, joy, and abundant future God is preparing for us. And I hope that each of us will see the worship, community, and ministries here at Ascension as a beacon of God’s light in the darkness and as we do may we each know God’s peace that passes all understanding.

Pastor Tony

May Flowers

The old saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” has always reminded me about hope. With all the rain we’ve been receiving lately it has me wondering if we can expect the flowers of May to bloom even more beautiful than normal this year.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

At times it feels like the showers of April can represent the many challenges we encounter in life – strangely enough, they never conveniently hit us only one month of the year.  These challenges could be health issues, financial struggles, relationship problems, stress at work or at school, tension within the family, or any number of other things. And while everyone is certain to go through some difficult times in life because no one is exempt from living “real life” – when you’re the one facing those “real life” issues, it’s easy to wonder what good can come from them.  

God’s Word reminds us that the difficulties of life can actually lead us to “hope.” Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

Did you notice the progression? First there are faith, peace and grace. Those are important to have when the problems of life come. Then Paul states that when suffering does come, it can produce perseverance, character, and finally hope. And it’s all made possible because of God’s love which is poured out on us.

We had plenty of showers in April (and most definitely over the past two years), so I invite each of us as we move through the seasons of our lives to pay closer attention for the hope-filled flowers in life that are certain to bloom in May and beyond. And if you are going through a difficult time right now, my hope is that you will continue to believe and trust in God’s promise that God is with you and desires to help you through it and ultimately fill your heart with hope!

Here is one of those “May flowers” I was talking about. Last week I received a thank you letter from the chairman of the Harvest of Hope Fund in response to the recent $2000 donation check we sent them – the result of YOUR generosity through BLAST collections, noisy offerings and an amazing matching donation. Hope filled signs of resurrection and God’s glory all around us.

“Thank you so much for your gift of $2000. I was having a very stressed week wondering if we were going to get through to the next milk check. It truly was a ray of hope.”

“Thank you for the generous gift we received. We appreciate the gift immensely. The funds will be used to pay our farm bills (vet bills, machinery repair, medical bills). We are truly thankful for this program and that it helps farm families. May God bless you and all your efforts.”

“A heartfelt thank you goes out to all who made it possible at Harvest of Hope to provide my family assistance during this trying and stressful time. The funds are very gratefully appreciated and will be put towards keeping our farm in operation. The generosity of others shows there is still good in the world. Hoping you, your committee and families are safe and healthy. Thank you again!”

Dear friends, as the seasons of our lives change, I pray that the April showers in your life will subside to reveal beautiful May flowers of hope and peace and joy immersed in God’s love throughout your life. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

Care Ministries

Christmas time is a time of hope, peace and joy. It is important to recognize that much of what we love about the Christmas season are the ways we have found to make love manifest. Gifts given, treats baked, visits made, and trips taken not only to show how full of love we feel for our friends and family but also for strangers who will benefit from our gift of time, talents and treasures.

The Christmas season during the pandemic challenges many of us to focus on simplicity. As we remember, millions of people around the world will miss more than simple traditions. They will miss the loved ones they’ve lost, the jobs they no longer hold, the health they can no longer count on. So for many people this may be a sad and lonely holiday. As Christians, Jesus is our hope for peace and joy during this pandemic time. So perhaps let us find new ways to show his love if we have to change our normal ways of tradition. Drop off cookies at doorsteps, use generous takeout orders to support local businesses, shop small businesses who may be struggling, share devotions and call those in our congregation who would love to connect with an Ascension member. We can all make a difference in our Christian lives to make this a holiday full of love.

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Grateful Hearts

Thank you for your generous donations for the Be the Village Ministry’s ToyPalooza Drive for Chosen. Many new toys were collected to distribute to foster children. Thank you for making a difference in our community!

Thank you to CRASH and JOLT for your generous service work for Chosen. Thanks to Be the Village Ministry for setting up all of the materials so that the kids could finish 30 tie blankets for foster teens in Waukesha! Great job!

Thank you to everyone that supported Chosen in Love’s Gala in November. It was a great evening for a great cause!

Got Advent?

I have a friend who argues with me about the start of the season of Christmas. He is convinced that November 1st is the true start date of the Christmas season. (Mainly, because he wants to decorate the house, put on his elf shoes, and blast the Christmas music continuously through December 25th).

Every year, on November 1st, he announces that the Christmas season has begun and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” begins to be heard by his neighbors on both sides of his house. I argue that December 15th is as early as I can possibly go! You see, I need the season of Advent. It brings me hope. Lingering days of darkness call me to my knees praying to the One who promises that the light will shine in the darkness.

 

I need the season of Advent to fill me with anticipation for what is coming.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that God promises peace to a violent world.
I need the season of Advent to quiet my own heart for the noise around me.
I need the season of Advent to call me to love at the manger of my Savior.
I need the season of Advent to lift up my head bowed down in prayer for the brokenhearted.
I need the season of Advent to calm my restless soul from its distractions.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that God’s love has no end.
I need the season of Advent to share the joy of the shepherds.
I need the season of Advent to answer the darkness with light.
I need the season of Advent to shock me out of my complacency.
I need the season of Advent to remind me that we are Bethlehem-bound.
I need the season of Advent. It brings me hope. And hope does not disappoint!

So the season of Advent comes to us.

How will you welcome God’s gift of the season? A flurry of shopping, spending, wrapping, worrying, and willing to do Advent differently next year? Or might you take one moment from your day to acknowledge that God has gifted you a season to prepare for the birth of a Savior? To light a candle to chase away the darkness and simply pray the prayer, “Thank you God,” might be all you need to re-center your Advent days into days and nights of peaceful wanderings toward a manger full of joy. I wonder…

Do you need the season of Advent?

I do.

Thank you God.
Rev. Chris Marien

*This article was originally published in Ascension’s December 2017 Newsletter.

Instead of the End – the Beginning

The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Elizabeth Eaton offers these words:

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. So begins the Easter story in the Gospel according to Matthew. The women had lived through the pain of Friday and the emptiness of Saturday and were expecting death. All of their hope had come to a dead end. And just then, as the first day of the week was dawning, hope was restored. The angel said, “Do not be afraid; I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: for he has been raised, as he said.”
 
Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.
 
On Easter, we will have glorious celebrations in our congregations and worshiping communities. There will be rejoicing and music and flowers and alleluias. And that’s a good thing. But when the flowers fade and the pressures of life seem so heavy, when the brokenness of this world breaks our spirits, when we have come to a dead end … rejoice. Because it is exactly there where the risen Christ meets us. It is precisely there where we are given resurrection life. It is at that point that we say, “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah.”

The cries of resurrection can still be heard on the mountaintops. Thanks be to God! From the mountaintops we travel to the upper room where the disciples have hidden themselves out of fear. There, Jesus appears. A week later, disciples are still in the upper room. There, Jesus appears. It will be on the beach, where a campfire is tended, that Jesus will appear to his disciples and feed them breakfast. There around the warmth and light of the fire, the light of the world, will ignite a flame in the disciples that will inspire the world.

Instead of death – life. Instead of the end – the beginning.

I read this reflection before the great celebration of Easter. It has carried me forward since we began the celebration of these great 50 days of resurrection. It is entitled Setting Out Once Again by Kelly Hall and Phuc Luu:

Out of the stale darkness, he rises into the light, bright rays of sun split the tops of trees, and clouds depart and blue fills the sky – the smell of angels lingers in the air – his hair feels the cool breeze again. This was not the garden, but a new world made from the eruption of hope and a life that could not be held down. We were witnesses to the life that rose from the dead. God’s relentless love, who comes close to us moving stones from tombs opening the heart to another possibility, death no longer stands. My heart races in my chest as I step forward to face the future, my future, that I grasp with open hands with new naiveté, a child toward a mother to be held and lifted up, and cradled with care. At times, I hesitate and I grasp onto memories of what once was but I know that I am not alone in my apprehension. I feel the hands of others holding me. These are my sisters, my brothers, who are not strangers to my fears and frailties, who have also confronted a hope that frightens them – who can feel their own scars, both fresh and old, they step in pace with me – the weeping women at the gravesite, the scared disciples waiting in the upper room.
 
This is our future, where we walk together toward our new home built by the hands of a wounded king – the new Zion, forsaking the kingdoms marked by borders and divides where all our settlements are only temporary shelters, sanctuaries of rest for the wounded and weary. Then the Christ returns to visit us, as Galilee’s boats pull to shore, these places seem familiar – the lapping water and the sand, but we are not to return to these lands, not those dreams – but become pilgrims, to set our belongings in another home, to wash our sandy feet in some other place, to lay down our tired souls on a distant promise, quilted from both the today and the tomorrow.
 
And we dine as a day sees another setting sun sitting across from each other once again – seeing each sweet face laughing deeply feeling whole once more. And we see the Savior’s smile, he knows our journey’s end and pours us another cup full of his own love and this time, our eyes tell him that we understand.

Thanks be to God!  See you in church,
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article is taken from Ascension’s May 2017 newsletter).

Welcome to Lent

Welcome to the season of Lent!

Wednesday, March 1, is Ash Wednesday. We will worship God with the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion at both our 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. services. Our hope is that you will take time, not find time, to let the world know that for just a moment on Wednesday night, March 1, you will come before your God and bow down and worship and praise to honor the One who has given you life in this world and promises you eternal life in the world to come.

I am always grateful to God for the change in rhythms during the season of Lent. Wednesday night gatherings for soup suppers and worship are a gift to my heart. God provides an opportunity to share in this journey of faith in different ways from Sunday mornings at  Ascension. On Wednesday nights, I have more time to simply sit and enjoy conversation with friends in the congregation. Worship is intended to be brief but meaningful. Music orients our focus to the worship of God. Sermons are exchanged for brief meditations. In the dark of night – the candles shine brighter. There is a beautiful quiet that hovers in the sanctuary even with the joyous sounds of children squealing with delight over the little things in their lives that we so often miss. On Wednesday nights in Lent, this year, Pastor Angela, Tony, and I will all be taking different aspects of our worship. Children’s messages will be a part of each Wednesday night and music will guide our steps in worship into the way of peace. I hope you will consider joining us for a time of refreshment…one night a week – you can skip cooking and the dishes (unless you sign up for either one at church). What a wonderful gift to come share in the joy of gathering together to the glory of God.

We will gather for soup suppers at 6 p.m. on March 8, March 15, March 22, March 29, and April 5.  March 8 will be hosted by JOLT; March 15 will be hosted by our Tuesday Morning Bible Studies; and April 5 will be hosted by CRASH. Congregational sign-ups will be available to help with soup and bread for both March 15 and March 29. Check the narthex/lobby for the posters. We need about 18 soups each week to provide for the 100-150 who attend. Our Wednesday night gatherings will center on some wonderful reflections offered to provide us with directions to wander while we find ourselves in the wilderness of Lent.

Wednesday Worship Themes
March 8
Discovering the Spirit
March 15
Renewing My Mind
March 22
Redeeming My Time
March 29
Deepening My Relationships
April 5
Transforming My Experience

I am grateful to the psalmist who wrote these words for us, “How very good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Come and join us on the journey. I wonder – how could your life be different if you made the conscious decision to gather with fellow believers for fellowship and worship on the Wednesday nights in Lent? What would change in your life? Would you be happier? More content? Would you discover new things about God? Would you find your mind renewed? Would you find your time better spent? Would your relationship with God and other believers go deeper? Would you find your life transformed? My guess is that your answer would be yes!  I know, for me, year after year, my answer is always, always…yes!
Peace be with you. See you in church.
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article was first published in the March 2017 newsletter).

A Star Shining in the Night

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ~ John 1:9

Merry Christmas! Still in these first days of this new year we hear the words Merry Christmas as the church celebrates the season of Christmas through January 6 when the feast of Epiphany arrives and the Magi arrive at the manger.

It was an awfully full schedule: travel arrangements to Bethlehem, lost hotel reservations, a stay in a manger, a birthing room without medical insurance or assistance, and early visitors smelling of sheep. Then, just as we expect Mary and Joseph to take time to rest, the Magi knock on the door. “More visitors,” shouts Joseph. Mary pulls herself together one more time and pastes on a plastic smile to greet the visitors from the East. The Magi come bearing gifts, but more importantly, they arrive with stories of a star that appeared around the time of the birth of Mary’s son – a star that shines brighter than the rest and calls the Magi to follow. It is the same star that calls us to follow.

Once again, we have followed the star to the manger. Once again, we pray for the hope of God to overwhelm us. Epiphany is the season of light.  And after 2016, I am in desperate need for the light of God’s promise to continue to call us and the rest of the world – first, to the manger and then to go into the world to tell the story of God’s love and promise. As the star shines in the sky, may the light of Christ shine in us and through us. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!”
Peace be with you,
Rev. Christian Marien

(This article first appeared in the January 2017 newsletter).

Come, Lord Jesus

Dear People of God,
“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.” The familiar table grace many of us learned as children is also an Advent prayer full of hope and longing. In Advent, although we are preparing for the annual Christmas celebration of Jesus’ birth long ago in Bethlehem, we are also keenly aware of the need for Jesus to come again, bringing the fullness of peace and justice with his promised reign. The story we tell begins with the God of Israel, who saw the suffering of the people enslaved by Pharaoh and came down to deliver them. This same God sees the suffering of people today and will come again bringing freedom from death and sin. The coming of Jesus promises life to all creation and assures victory over all God’s enemies.  

The challenge we face as Christians is to tell the Advent story and be heard when we are surrounded by a multitude of competing stories distracting and confusing us. The Jesus whose coming we proclaim in Advent is the “joy of heaven,” God’s love sent to earth for the sake of all creation.

The words of author Blair Meeks: “We are entering into the new church year under the banner of Advent. God has heard the cries of God’s people. John the Baptist will call us from the river Jordan. Mary, the mother of Jesus, will sing to the glory of God. A star will light the sky on fire and stop to rest over a stable.” Come, Lord Jesus. I am ready for all of these moments. I am hungry to hear the stories, renewed in my own ears, of God’s tending of our lives once again. Come, Lord Jesus.

I wonder – are you hungry? Do you hunger for peace? Do you hunger for joy? Do you hunger for hope? This is the time of God’s choosing. Are you ready?

Poet Ann Weems writes these words:


Our God is the One who comes to us in a burning bush,
In an angel song, in a newborn child.
Our God is the One who cannot be found locked in the church,
Not even in the sanctuary.
Our God will be where God will be with no constraints, no predictability.
Our God lives where our God lives,
and destruction has no power and even death cannot stop the living.
Our God will be born where God will be born,
But there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready God will come even to a godforsaken place
Like a stable in Bethlehem.
Watch…for you know not when God comes.
Watch, that you might be found whenever, wherever, God comes.


My prayer for each of you is to let your hunger for God call you to new life in this season of Advent. As we move toward Christmas, you are invited to join us on Sunday morning for an Advent Bible Study on Dec. 4 to help you get more through the season of Advent. Advent Concert Worship services happen on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. Children’s Christmas Pageant Worship services happen on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 8:30 and 10:45a.m. Christmas Eve worship services, at 2:30, 4:00, 5:00, and 11:00 p.m., will arrive with candlelight, communion, and carols to give glory to God. Join us in one of these moments or in every one of these moments.

Watch, that you might be found whenever, wherever, God comes.

Peace and joy be yours in these days of Advent,
Pastor Chris Marien

(This article was first published in Ascension’s December 2016 newsletter).

Autumn Rituals

Dear People of God,

Already the winds of autumn have brought us to the gates of November. How quickly the days of summer have given way to falling leaves and crisp morning breezes. November 6 will gather us to the celebration of All Saints Sunday. We will once again read the names of those, connected to our community, who have died during the past year and light candles in remembrance of all who have gone before us and now rest from their labors. This year we will give thanks for:

Fabricio Aparicio John Gresl

Lorraine Birner Susan Krist

Judy Ewell Elmer Norris

Andrew Frey Barbara Wendorf

We live within the communion of saints. We trust the promise of God that the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ holds true for each of us – as it has for the generations that have come before us—as it will for the countless generations that will come after us. Often times in our world we find the power of God’s promises overshadowed by the darkness of the cross in our lives. Where Easter joy should reign over us we find ourselves overwhelmed with pain, death, and grief. All Saints Day gathers us with the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth.

In Celtic Christian spirituality the place where heaven and earth meet—the moments where God enters into our world—are called “thin places.” An idea that offers a thinning of the veil between life and death, between human and divine, between ordinary and miraculous. For most of us, these places are what we crave for in our lives of faith. “Give me a sign, Lord.”  Ever heard yourself speaking those words? I have. Usually in the most despairing moments—the moments when no answer seems best—that is when I hear myself telling God to get on with it. Tell me which way so I can move on, step up, go forward, put something behind me. Once in awhile I really feel that God nudges in one direction or another—most of the time, I pray and I hope and I cross my fingers—not the sign of the cross mind you—just that hopeful kind of lucky wish and jump. Sometimes God blesses and other times God somehow puts me back at the beginning and lets me start over. The path is not always easy but I hold on to the hope and I trust that God is there in the midst.  

November 13 will call us to gather for the annual meeting of the congregation. In our church governance, it is the congregation that approves a yearly budget, elects new church council members, and approves a slate of candidates to attend our regional assembly of congregations next June. The meeting will begin at noon and will be a potluck. We invite you to join us to hear about Ascension and the mission and ministry of the congregation as well the continued work on our Ascension Arise our 2025 Vision.  

November 6, in-between services at 9:45, you will have the opportunity to ask review the budget for 2017 and ask questions in a smaller setting before the annual meeting happens the following week. Our community continues to renew itself as God guides and shapes the ministries entrusted to us in this time and place. I give thanks to God for the power and presence of God and God’s people as we walk together to the glory of God.

~ Pastor Chris Marien

New Beginnings

There is a story told of a young boy who lived with his parents in a cottage on a hillside, overlooking a wide valley. His greatest joy was to sit on the doorstep on summer evenings, and gaze across the valley to a house miles away on the opposite hillside, for, just as the sun was sinking in the west, the windows of that house would burst into flame, shining dazzlingly with golden light. How perfectly happy the people must be who live there, he thought! One day he packed sandwiches and set off to find the house with the golden windows, but it was farther off than he expected, and it was already towards sunset as he climbed steeply uphill. To his disappointment the house was a plain cottage after all, and the windows ordinary windows. The good people there offered him supper, and made up a bed in the kitchen, for it was too late now for him to return. That night, in his dream, he asked directions of a girl about his age. ‘The house with the golden windows? Yes, I’ve seen it.’ And she pointed. He woke to the early song of the birds. Drawing the curtain aside he looked out. There far across the valley, was his house – and, wonder of wonders, its windows flashed with gold in the brightness of the morning sun.

T.S. Elliot wrote these words, “And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” September is always a month of homecomings and moments of beginning again. At Ascension, we find ourselves ready to enter into the new possibilities of growing our relationship with God. September always brings excitement. I am excited to renew relationships with those that have been away for the summer; I am excited for the introduction of new liturgies and songs in our worship life; I am excited to see the growth in our ministries with children and youth; I am excited to see what is unfolding in our care ministries and small group ministries; I am excited for new mission opportunities as we seek to expand our vision to walk in our global neighborhood and the neighborhood around our church; I am excited for new opportunities for Bible study and reflection. There is much that is offered inside our walls and outside our walls – where will you find a place to rest and renew?

On Sunday, Sept. 11, we return to our Sunday morning worship schedule of 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. with Children’s Ministry (BLAST) and Adult Education from 9:45-10:35 a.m. I also want to invite you to consider another possibility beginning Sept. 14, from 7-8 p.m. and continuing throughout the 2016-2017 school year. I will be leading a Bible study entitled Through the New Testament or TNT for short. Early on in my ministry, I offered this opportunity and found it to be an awe inspiring introduction to the deep, deep love of God for each of us. The idea is that you read seven chapters of the New Testament a week…that is one chapter a day…and then answer four or five questions about what you read. Some questions are specific to the reading – some questions are reflections on your own faith life. You can join us as your schedule allows – but I need to have enough copies of the book in order to provide for everyone. Beginning Aug. 28, you can sign up at the Welcome Center. The cost of the copied book will be $5. We will run from Sept. 14 through May 31. Consider the possibility of reading the entire New Testament with a group of believers. The possibilities are endless. The best part is if you don’t have time in a particular week to read every chapter, someone else will have done the reading, so you can come regardless and share in the conversation. If you have questions, send me an email (pc@ascensionelca.org) or call me. All levels of Bible knowledge and those without any Bible knowledge are welcome. It can be a great introduction or a great continuation of the building of relationships with each other and with the living Word of God.

I am excited for what is ahead. Come and see for yourself! Peace be with you. See you in church.

~ Pastor Chris

(This article was first published in the September 2016 newsletter).