Hello Friends:

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This has been a horrific week and weekend in our state and in our nation. The assassinations of Melissa and Mark Hortman and the injuring of John and Yvette Hoffman have shaken us to the core. The alleged gunman has been apprehended, but it leaves us with very little relief, knowing that the rhetoric that enflamed him continues on full display on the airwaves and from the mouths of political and even religious leaders. 

 

This comes on the heels of the awful announcement late last week that humanitarian parole for Nicaraguans, Haitians, Venezuelans, and Cubans has been brutally ended forcing these half a million people to lose their work permits. They are being offered a bribe to self-deport or face the consequences.  

 

And yet, several million people took to the streets on Saturday to protest the cruelty of the present administration. Will that be a blip on the radar or a mass movement to change course in our country? I hope it’s the latter. And I hope and pray that people of good will continue to get creative, bold, and brave. Lives are in the balance.

 

This Sunday the grab bag sermon will be on disability justice. Luke 5:17-26 tells the story of an unnamed paralytic who wanted to see Jesus, but the room in which Jesus was sitting was not accessible—either by design or by people barring his way. So, the story goes that the man’s friends climbed up on the roof, hauled up their friend, ripped the roof off and lowered the paralytic down. You’d think that during the commotion, someone might have gotten out of the way and carried him in through the front door. But no. Jesus witnessed the scene, looked at the hard work of the paralytic’s friends and healed the man because of THEIR faith. I think this is where Jesus applauds activists who expose the brutality of the system. And it is THEIR faith that brings healing. I think representative Hartmann was one of those wall-climbing, roof-removing friends who advocated for people’s health care. Are you a gate-keeper, an admirer of Jesus’ healing, or are you an activist who takes matters into your own hands and helps steer even leaders in a better direction? Jean Lubke and Kevin Branting will be at the keyboards on Sunday and Paula Moyer will be the worship leader.

 

Check the schedule below for more of what’s happening this week.

 

​Blessings and Peace,

 

Doug Donley