From the Pastor's Desk

Pastor's PictureDear Friends of Living Word Lutheran Church:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). The shocking reality of a love that would go that far is too much for any of us to fully comprehend. Jesus took my place on the cross, and yes, he took your place. Over the years, I have conducted committal services at several of our national cemeteries. The first time I conducted such a service at Arlington Cemetery, I was overcome with the thousands upon thousands of grave markers. Such a place is more than a final resting spot for fallen veterans, it is hallowed ground. Who was I to walk among the graves of men and women who had given their very lives for our country? Elvina Hall sat in her usual spot in the choir loft and looked over the congregation on a Sunday morning in 1865. The United States had survived the bitter years of Civil War, but the enormity of the cost of that war was difficult to absorb. So many men and boys had left her home town and would never return to sit in those pews. It dawned on her that those empty pews represented lives given in sacrifice to her country. The men had died in her place. The more that Elvina pondered the sacrifice of the soldiers, the more she began to understand one of the greatest spiritual truths. Yes, Jesus had sacrificed his life and paid for her sins, when he died on the cross. Then she did the unthinkable. Right during the pastor’s prayer, she began to rather impolitely write with her pencil in a church hymnal. Her poem, “Jesus Paid It All” was set music by the choir director and the hymn by that name soon became one of the most beloved songs of the church. We think of romantic love with Valentine’s Day, yet, I would encourage you to think of a love far greater—it is the love God has for you. The love of God was made known when Jesus came to take your place. The price for sin is paid in full. In the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, may we be like Elvina Hall and be overwhelmed with the thought: “Jesus paid it all, All to him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

Jesus died my soul to save,

 

Pastor Tim Skramstad