 You can feel it, even when no one says it.
Some topics make the room feel tense. Certain words make people shift in their seats. We don’t always talk about politics in church, but that doesn’t mean politics aren’t shaping the room.
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 I have a confession of sorts to make. I am a M*A*S*H junkie. I have watched every episode of this old TV series, set in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H) during the Korean War, repeatedly. One of my favorite characters, as you might guess, is Father Mulcahy, the unit chaplain.
 As a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), what takes place at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly every three years is important. Last week the faithful voting members from across the country gathered to do the important work of the Church. (They had to be faithful. It was in Phoenix in August!). One of those voting members was Ellen Rothweiler, our Minister for Learning. We give thanks to God for her service.
 You just wanted to check the news. Maybe glance at your feed. See what’s happening out there. But five minutes later, your jaw is tight. Your heart’s racing. You’re angry. Again. And not just abstractly angry, but specific-person-in-your-head, real-words-you-want-to-say angry.
Why does this keep happening? Because it works. Because rage pays off.  Joseph Sittler, the brilliant American Lutheran theologian, tells the story of a woman in his parish who told him that she worked at a hospital in Chicago and prayed everyday for a favorable parking spot when she arrived at that busy place. She testified that God always delivered on her desire. Sittler was sure this was not an example of faithful prayer and bordered on blasphemy. He said that it was “wrong to use prayer as a lubricant for the satisfaction of our desires.”
 The week after July 4th always carries a strange kind of energy.
The fireworks are over. The grill has cooled off. The flags are still hanging on porches and in front yards, but they don’t catch your eye the way they did a few days ago. The big celebration is past, and most of us are easing back into the usual rhythm of life. It’s the kind of moment that invites a little reflection. What exactly are we celebrating when we talk about freedom? What kind of freedom do we actually want?  Last week 26 kids and more than 30 teen and adult volunteers gathered each evening from 5:00-7:30 pm for “Operation Restoration-Mending God’s World." Each day centered around a theme, a way that we can mend God’s world; Feed, Heal, Forgive, Pray, and Rest.
 Over the last few months as my wife and I have faced some serious health concerns, people – lots of people – have assured us that they are praying for us. We deeply appreciate and treasure every prayer offered. I am not always sure what the content of the prayers might be. I assume they are prayers for healing, strength, and hope among other things. It really does not matter because the expressions of care and compassion are genuine and are gifts of grace. Even when someone says, “I’m praying for you,” without a clue as to what to say or out of the desperation of feeling helpless, the impulse to pray is itself a prayer. As Paul says, “… the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)
 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” —Matthew 11:28
Summer has a strange way of speeding up just when we imagine it will slow down. We start the season dreaming of open calendars, lazy afternoons, and backyard evenings. But somehow, the pace picks up—filled with vacations, kids’ activities, family obligations, projects we’ve saved “for when there’s time.”  Of the 78 million Lutherans around the world, 31 million are in Africa. 8.6 million of the Lutherans in Africa are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), which is the second largest Lutheran Church on the planet (The largest is the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Ethiopia). By contrast, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (of which we are a congregation) has about 2.8 million members. While congregations shrink and denominations struggle here, the African church is growing and becoming more vital.
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