Flipping the Switch

Life on the Pasture

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but just about an hour before our Thursday evening worship service last week a switch flipped inside of my brain and I went from "This is the day the Lord has made so I will rejoice and be glad in it" mode to "I'm completely cynical about life" mode. Almost like Elijah in 1 Kings 19 who while sitting under a broom bush cried out, “I have had enough, Lord,” (1 Kings 19:4, NIV) I started questioning why was I was bothering doing what I've been doing. How do I know if people are actually worshiping online? Why is there so much talk about all the ways someone can get sick at church, but seemingly little concern about the terminal disease of sin? Then the worship service started, and afterwards there were some who remained for small group Communion. Not surprisingly, with the Lord and His gifts being the center of things, I returned to "This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it" mode.

It didn't last. The "I'm cynical at the world" mode came back with a vengeance. Again, I couldn't pinpoint what brought it back, but it was there. As I shared my feelings, I was often told, "You need a vacation." I don't think that is the case in the sense that I was feeling that I didn't need to just get away for a time, but needed to sell all of my earthly possessions and find a remote cabin by a lake where we could relocate, preferably with the ability to produce online worship services and Bible studies which I'm not sure would be watched anyway. (I know, it didn't make sense.) Again, I felt like Elijah in the cave on Mt. Horeb. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

The Lord said to him...., “I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:13-14,18, NIV) And so the Lord spoke to me on Sunday morning through all gathered to worship. There are still many who have not given up on the faith and walked away from our Lord. The prayers of the faithful continue to rise.

Here's the reality: Pastors need their people as much as their people might need their Pastors. Which is why the evil one constantly uses what he can to keep God's people apart, but why God's people continue to in some countries risks their lives to continue to meet together. And as they gather, it is with Christ in their midst.

I am not saying that the pandemic was a mastermind plot of the evil one to ruin church. Nor am I questioning why some in at-risk categories have not yet come to public worship. I am saying that there is only so long Christians can be by themselves. We need each other for support, encouragement, prayer, and to give and receive our Lord's amazing gift of His love.

Thank you to all in my first congregation (Zion Lutheran in Ridgeville Corners, OH, now faithfully served by Pastor Carl Rockrohr) and current congregation (Beautiful Savior, Waukesha) for being such an amazing support system for me throughout the years. As the Psalmist says: I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1, NIV)

– Pastor Schmidt