A Note From Pastor Martin's Desk...
March 17, 2026
We Have Met the Enemy, and They are Us
And so we are at war again. In spite of our dismal history in the middle east, surely we will get it right this time, right? It is so easy to get into a war: a decision made, an order given, a trigger pulled, and voila! But getting out of a war … ah, there’s the rub. Of course it’s helpful if the enemy gives up and lays down their arms, like back in the Good-Ol’-Wars. Now the enemy is more like Monty Python’s Black Knight: no matter how many pieces we chop off, they’ll never admit they’re beaten, because the fact is they’re not – not as long as they refuse to say “uncle.” Once again, the avowed purpose (among many currently being run up the flagpole) is to bring peace to the region. Peace through war – it has a certain ring to it. But frankly, I prefer peace through peace, because the other kind never seems to last very long. The losers always seem to come back around looking for a rematch. History is filled with ex-Great Empires who learned this the hard way. There is more than a little irony in that we have started this war during Lent, in which we prepare once again to bear witness to Jesus marching off to battle against evil and death, only he will do so without benefit of bombs and missiles, without army or angels. He goes armed only with his loving determination to embrace all people, even his enemies, even his friends, even the vast majority who couldn’t care less, as members of one family, one tribe, one nation. He won’t win; he doesn’t have a chance in hell – well, actually, that’s the one place he does have a chance. Because having lost in every imaginable way, he will sink down into the darkness to join with all the other losers, there to tip them off to the good news that there is no such thing as winners and losers; there is only us. And once we get that through our thick heads, we too will become winners – all for one and one for all. You see, there are no winners or losers when we are all on the same team, there are no strangers when we are all part of the same family. “Freedom isn’t free,” a slogan often cited as justification for war. But neither is peace. It requires forbearance, self-control, gentleness, kindness, and other stuff St. Paul refers to as “fruits of the Spirit.” And sometimes it requires recognizing that not everything is about winning or losing, dominating or being dominated. Sometimes it requires blood, sweat, and tears. Jesus can teach us a thing or two about that.
God bless you all!
Pastor Martin
February 17, 2026
Beautiful
Ruth and I took advantage of our last snowfall to hike through Dawes in near isolation. The flakes settled on the pinecones and accented the twisted trunks. It revealed hidden nests and blanketed everything in silence. Every few steps my gaze would be drawn to another still-life of branches and snow. And they were all beautiful. I have yet to see a tree grow ill-proportioned or a flower bloom awkwardly. Each leaf unfolds in perfect proportion to its task, each color finds its perfect niche in the woodland palate. Ugliness is not found in nature. What ugliness there is we make ourselves. When our grasp exceeds our need, or we act in ignorance of our interconnectedness with all manner of life, we scar the earth and each other. Nature’s beauty comes from its creator. The Apostle Paul tells us that God’s Spirit, moving through all creation, reveals to us the true nature of God, and it is beautiful. In the same breath, however, Paul says that so too the human spirit reveals our true nature, which is sometimes beautiful, but sometimes twisted and distorted. The beginning of scripture opens on a scene of peace and sufficiency. However, our desire for more corrupts that peace and sets us on an ugly course of destruction and alienation. The end of scripture is a scene of jubilant healing and restoration around the throne of Christ. You and I live between these two scenes, struggling with both the consequences of our oversized appetites, and our longing for that future restoration. Shortly before my father died, he advised us, his progeny, to do three things every day: give thanks, pray, and look for beauty. Today I found this beautiful snow draped landscape, and for this I give thanks. Renewed by such revelation, I pray that I – we – might take one more small step toward that promised restoration where once again we will find our place in God’s beautiful creation.
Bless you all!
Pastor Martin
December 16, 2025
A God for Here and Now
Is Jesus one with the Father, of the same substance as the Father, or subordinate to the Father? Was Jesus made, born, or emanated? Is the trinity co-equal or hierarchical? Is heaven a place or a condition? All contentious debates in the history of the church.
And we are still getting worked up about such hypothetical questions. Is God against gender transition? Is it Okay to pray to Mary? Should everyone be allowed to take communion? Such questions are, to quote Paul Simon, “questions for the angels.” We may learn the answers someday in heaven (will we go to heaven?) but what about now? A God futzing in heaven over the mysteries of the universe doesn’t do us mortals much good. We are flesh and bone pilgrims wandering through a dusty world. We need a god who concerns him/her/it-self with this place and this time.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. More importantly, it celebrates the incarnation. God becomes one of us. God is born. God laughs, weeps, hungers and thirsts. God rejoices, grows weary, despairs, suffers, and dies like us. But it is not enough that God becomes human. God becomes human for humans. Jesus feeds those around him who are hungry now; heals those who are sick now, reaches out to the scarred and battered and lonely and despairing, not in some glorious future, but in the cold, confused, and conflicted now. This is not some hypothetical or transcendent god. This is the God of our hear and now. This is the God we need. This is our God.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Pastor Martin
November 28, 2025
My Brother’s Keeper
For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:10-11) “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen … Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (Isaiah 58:67)
Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you. (Leviticus 25:35) But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? (1 John 3:17)
Clearly, keeping open hearts and open hands towards those in need is a consistent theme in scripture and a core tenant of our faith. It reflects God’s will and God’s love for all people, regardless of circumstance. The homeless population in Newark is growing due to the increasing cost of living and political actions taken that now make it even harder for the poor to afford food, health care, and shelter. For years, Trinity Lutheran on Main Street has been offering a daytime DropIn Center where unsheltered individuals and families can find food, rest, clothing, and companionship, as well as other services provided by partnering organizations. In addition, they offer a Warming Center where the unsheltered can find overnight shelter when the temperature drops to dangerous levels. However, the increased need for these ministries has quickly outstripped their available space. We have an opportunity to partner with Trinity Lutheran in these ministries.
We are in conversation regarding hosting the Drop-In and Warming Centers here at St. Paul’s. Our location and large amount of unused space could provide just what they need to grow along with the increasing need. In early January we will have a vote to determine whether to move ahead with this partnership.
Please contact Pastor Martin, Jerry Young, one of our council members, or one of our members currently volunteering with these ministries with your questions or comments.
God bless you all!
Pastor Martin