Holy Trinity Lutheran Church - Ankeny, IA

  • Home
    • Church Calendar
    • Mission Partners
    • Council
    • Staff
    • Governing Documents
    • Building Use
    • Employment
    • Mobile App
    • Realm Tips
  • Worship
    • Worship
    • Welcome Card
    • Devotions
    • Music Ministries >
      • Adult Choir Schedule & Resources
    • Baptism
    • Weddings
    • Prayer Requests
    • Flowers
    • Serve
  • Learn
    • Children's Ministry
    • Middle School Ministry
    • High School Ministry
    • Adult Learning
    • Grace Notes
  • GIVE
    • Give
    • Capital Campaign
    • Memorials
  • Participate
    • Sign Up
    • Small Groups
    • Calendar
    • Email News
  • WELCOME
    • Welcome
    • I want to Join
    • Our Mission
    • How We Worship
    • What to Expect
    • Contact Us
  • Food Pantry
  • Home
    • Church Calendar
    • Mission Partners
    • Council
    • Staff
    • Governing Documents
    • Building Use
    • Employment
    • Mobile App
    • Realm Tips
  • Worship
    • Worship
    • Welcome Card
    • Devotions
    • Music Ministries >
      • Adult Choir Schedule & Resources
    • Baptism
    • Weddings
    • Prayer Requests
    • Flowers
    • Serve
  • Learn
    • Children's Ministry
    • Middle School Ministry
    • High School Ministry
    • Adult Learning
    • Grace Notes
  • GIVE
    • Give
    • Capital Campaign
    • Memorials
  • Participate
    • Sign Up
    • Small Groups
    • Calendar
    • Email News
  • WELCOME
    • Welcome
    • I want to Join
    • Our Mission
    • How We Worship
    • What to Expect
    • Contact Us
  • Food Pantry

DIVINE DISCONTENT

12/2/2021

0 Comments

 
​Discontent is part of the fabric of our lives. A life centered on the acquisition of “things” is driven by discontent because appealing to our desires is more fun than thinking of our basic needs. Diamonds capture the imagination in a way that chicken soup does not. Having a roof over our heads is not nearly so inspiring as acquiring the home that inhabits our dreams. This is especially true in this most hallowed season in the marketplace.
​Soon, the commercial from a luxury car company will tell me that if indeed I was a really loving husband, I would buy my wife a new Lexus and place monstrous bow on the roof. The catalogs and online advertisements have appeared with a frequency that blinds us to all the wonderful things that tells us happiness is available with one small purchase. They imply that life will be just a bit sadder without the newest phone, the latest jewelry, or the new cookware to prepare the feast.
When the meal turns out less than hoped for or the Amazon truck doesn’t make it in time, like Clark Griswold not getting his holiday bonus to pay for the pool he so desires, we will be discontent. This is an unholy discontent, driven by our own wants and hawked by those who covet our credit card numbers.
There is another kind of discontent that arises in this season of waiting called Advent. It is a divine discontent that blossoms from the presence of God in our lives. It is a discontent with the way the world is, knowing that God has no intention of leaving it this way forever. It is a holy discontent that drives us to transcend our material desires and love.
I have to say that the news of four more school children shot dead by another child while we, once again, debate the right to bear arms, leaves me terribly discontent. This is not a product of my politics, or my ideology. It is born of a God who will one day hold us all accountable for accepting the unacceptable. 
I have to say that knowing 1.4 billion pounds of food ends up in the garbage each year (an amount that is growing) while men, women, and children starve causes me considerable discontent. Again, it’s not my politics or ideology, but the presence of a Lord who commands over and over that we feed the hungry that drives my discontent. How shall we answer for this?
Divine discontent is not a helpless, throw-up-your-hands deal where we just complain about the world. When we give into unholy discontent and decide to make our wants come to pass (even though they only satisfy for a moment) we get busy. We save, we spend, we work. The same is true of Divine or holy discontent. We can act, we can participate in the changes that need to happen to the extent we can and bring the Kingdom of God a little closer. On top of that, these efforts have eternal meaning and are fueled by divine love. 
The bottom line is that in the reign of God, kids don’t get shot nor do they go hungry. God will, without doubt, end this suffering. The question is, are you as grieved by the suffering as God? Will you leave the solutions to God alone, or will you rise up and act? 
Pax Christi, 
Tim Olson – Lead Pastor
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    ​Categories

    All
    Learning
    Outreach
    Spiritual Transformation
    Stewardship
    Worship

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019

    RSS Feed

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
A congregation of the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
517 SW Des Moines St.
Ankeny, IA 50023
Phone: 515-964-4348
Office hours: M-Th 9:00 am-3:00 pm

Worship Schedule:
Sundays at 8:30 and 10:00 am
Livestream on Sundays at 10:00 am on YouTube

Picture
Picture
Privacy Terms

Subscribe to News
Realm
download our app
Calendar