Author: Rev. Peters
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” —Psalm 23:1
Dear Friends at St. Thomas,
This month I want to write to you to let you know about all the things that have been going through my mind lately with regard to St. Thomas and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
First, and foremost, I want you all to know that you are in my prayers constantly. As the pandemic continues, not a day goes by when I don’t think about St. Thomas and how best to serve God’s people there. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not easy, and in this ever-changing situation I often find myself paralyzed by indecision. With the most recent updates from both the Ohio and the Indiana governors, the path forward does seem a bit more clear, at least in the short-term.
Ohio and Indiana are beginning to open up again, but very slowly. It will still be some time before things are anywhere close to what we’ve always known as normal. Although things will be opening a little at a time, people who are considered “at risk” are still going to be encouraged to stay safe at home as much as possible. Unfortunately, this group includes the large majority of our members at St. Thomas. This is something Pastor Sims mentions in his sermon for the first Sunday in May. Indiana says that houses of worship can begin to hold in-person services again starting on May 8th, but those who are “at risk” are encouraged to continue to stay home.
Given the current state of affairs, and in light of the most recent guidelines, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea for us to come together face-to-face again for another few weeks at least.
So what’s the current plan?
Right now, I plan to continue to broadcast a service every Sunday, live at 9:00am. You can watch live if you like by visiting the St. Thomas Facebook page. The web address is facebook.com/StThomasLCMS. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can still watch live without signing up. You can also watch the service at any time after it is over by visiting the same page. If you don’t want to watch at 9:00am, you can watch it whenever you like.
After the service is over, I will also keep posting the video to the new St. Thomas website so that you can find it there as well. The web address is StThomasLCMS.com. Look for the “Posts” link to see the embedded videos and other content.
Speaking of that other content, I also plan to write short posts as often as possible which will be posted on the website. My hope is that these can help you to continue to receive God’s Word and stay connected to St. Thomas throughout the week.
When it finally seems safe to start holding services in person again, I hope you will all be ready to come back to church and hear God’s word and receive the body and blood of Christ which we need now, it seems, more than ever. And I’ll be sure to let you all know when that happens. Until then, pray for each other, and stay safe.
I think this is also a good time to share with you some good news, although you have probably already heard it by now: During the combined Vicarage and Call service, it was announced that Daniel Gray, our fieldworker, will be able to continue as our Vicar for the next year. We thank God for this wonderful blessing. Daniel will continue to bless St. Thomas with his service, and he will be blessed by us with this opportunity to gain valuable experience in his pastoral formation. This is certainly reason to rejoice in this time.
I also want to encourage you to contact me for any prayer requests or other needs, or if you have any feedback on what we’re doing. Since I’m at the seminary library during the week still, evenings are usually best, but I’m always happy to talk.
As I said, you are all in my prayers constantly. I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd will bless you and keep you in His mercy and grace until we come together again.
God’s peace be with you,
Pastor Peters
Our reading from Acts begins with a very powerful statement by Peter and the apostles: “We must obey God rather than men.” What was the occasion for such a bold statement by the followers of Jesus? Well, just prior to this, the apostles had been arrested by the high priest and the Sadducees for preaching and teaching about Jesus. They had put them in jail, but that night they were set free by an angel of the Lord who told them to go and speak “the words of this Life” (that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ) to all the people. The next day, when they didn’t find the apostles in prison, they found them in the temple and brought them before the council and charged them strictly not to preach about Jesus.
The command not to preach and to teach about Jesus was impossible for the disciples to follow. They had been sent to do exactly that by Jesus himself, and to disobey Jesus was to disobey God. And so they answered, “We must obey God rather than man.” They even teach about Jesus to the council by telling them about Jesus’ resurrection!
Now notice, why should anyone listen to the apostles? Well it says right there in Acts 5:32, “And we are witness to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” The testimony of the apostles is trustworthy because they were witnesses. They were there. They saw Jesus with their own eyes! The whole Church is founded on the testimony of these eyewitnesses and their teaching.
This is what we discussed this week with St. Thomas. He and the other apostles were all given the gift of seeing Jesus resurrected before his ascent into heaven. And they saw Jesus raised from the dead so that they could then go and tell others about it. But what does Jesus say? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We believe because of the testimony of the eyewitnesses, and we receive the Holy Spirit who gives us faith, and that is our blessing!
But there is more to it than that. A wise man of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, pointed out all the other people who claimed to be something special. Yet all those others died, and after they died their followers dispersed. But not Jesus! Jesus’ followers continued to preach and teach his message after his death, because he rose from the dead! And so Gamaliel says, somewhat prophetically, “if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38–39)
Indeed, no one was able to overthrow the teaching of the apostles. It still continues to this day. It continues with all of us. Their undertaking was not of man, but it was from God, and God has preserved his church through the teaching of the apostles. Even as the years passed and nearly all the apostles were killed because of their faith, their witness and their teaching lived on. God has established his church, and he preserves his church.
So today, we know that Jesus has been raised from the dead because of the testimony of the apostles who witnessed it. And believing in Jesus, we have received the Holy Spirit. We have life in His name! We thank God, therefore, for the gift of the apostles and their testimony which points us to the Son, which gives us the word of life.