Dear friends and members of Big Canoe and Highland Lutheran Churches,

•  In the ancient classical world of Greece and Rome, the gods were understood to be “apathetic,” that is, they had “apatheia.” Ancient Greeks and Romans thought that the gods were “incapable of feeling.” The Stoics, for example, held that if a person can feel either sorrow or joy, it meant that someone else could bring sorrow or joy to that person. It meant that someone else could affect him. Now, if someone else can affect a person, can alter that person’s feelings, it means that another person has control over that person (or at least over how he could be made to feel). Consequently, for the Stoics, if the gods could feel sorrow or joy at anything that happens to humans, it would mean that humans could affect the gods, that humans would have a kind of power over the gods. “But that can’t be!” thought the ancient Greeks and Romans. “No human could have power over the gods!” Therefore, they concluded that the gods must have no feelings. They must be “apathetic,” literally “incapable of feeling,” incapable of “passion,” incapable of suffering. Not surprising, the Stoics argued that humans, too, should not care about others, that they should strive to become like the gods, and to have apatheia.
•             How different the Christian message and life are! Central to the Christian “good news” is the announcement that God mercifully cares about humans! God is deeply moved with compassion. Indeed, the apostles teach, “God is love.” He is merciful, full of compassion, and is long-suffering toward us.
•             The strongest Greek word for this deep feeling of compassion is a ten-cent term: splagchnidzomai.” That’s a mouthful! (If you want to try to pronounce it, this is how it sounds in English: splonk-nids-oh-my.) This word is used several times in the New Testament to describe God’s deep compassion for people. It’s the word that describes the father’s compassion when he welcomed home his wayward son (Luke 15). In that story, the father is a symbol for God the Father. It’s the word that is used to describe the Samaritan’s pity and sympathy when he helped the wounded traveler on the side of the road (Luke 10). Those parables are all about God’s profound love for sinners like us. But this Greek word, splagchnizomai, which means “to be moved with deep compassion,” is also used to describe how Jesus felt when he saw the crowd, who were like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9). Jesus was moved with deep compassion when he saw people’s hunger and need, e.g., when 5000+ needed to be fed. Jesus showed compassion on other occasions, too, for lepers, for blind people, for a widow who was going to bury her only son.
•             The God in whom we believe is a God of deep compassion for people, so much so that he sent his only Son into the world to forgive us our sins and be our Savior. God in Jesus is deeply moved by the spiritual lostness and aloneness of human beings, so much so that he seeks them out like a Good Shepherd looking for lost sheep. Jesus feels pity for sinners, merciful pity, and he seeks to bring them home to the Father’s loving embrace. The God in whom we believe is deeply moved by the hunger and pain of people. God never regards a person as a nuisance, but always as a person whom God loves and must help.
•             We think it commonplace that God is love, and that the life of the Christian is to love others. We would do well to remember that we would not know God is love apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ, of who it is so often and so amazingly said in the New Testament that he was “moved with compassion.”     
•             See you in church!
•             Pastor Becker
•             7-9-2025
• 
  
• Upcoming Events:
• Fri, July 11 (9:30am): Gather Bible study (Highland)
• Sat, July 12 – Fri, July 25: Pastor Becker will be doing research at three universities in Germany
• Sun, July 13 (8:45am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland (Pr. Gies)
• Sun, July 13 (10am): Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) – Fifth Sun. a. Pentecost (green) (Pr. Gies)
• Sun, July 20 (8:45am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe (Pr. Gies)
• Sun, July 20 (10am): Service of the Word (Big Canoe) – Sixth Sun. a. Pentecost (green) (Pr. Gies)
• Sun, July 20 (11:30am-1pm): Ice Cream Social at Highland
• July 24-26: Decorah Nordic Fest
• Sat, July 26 (7am): Decoration of the Big Canoe Float for the Nordic Fest Parade (Matt/Shelley Bigler’s)
• Sat, July 26 (meet at Fairgrounds at 8:30am): Big Canoe Float in the Nordic Fest Parade
• Sun, July 27 (10am): Shared Ministry Worship Service, Potluck, and Fun Day (Highlandville School)
• July 28-Aug 2: Churchwide assembly of the ELCA (Phoenix, Arizona)
• Sun, Aug 3 (8:45am): Final Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, Aug 3 (10am): Service w/Communion/baptism of Hazel Folstad (Big Canoe) – 8th Sun. a. P. (green)
• Sun, Aug 3 (after worship): Highland WELCA meet to plan for bazaar and thank-offering (Big Canoe)
• Sun, Aug 3 (after worship) to Fri, Aug 8: Pastor Becker will be moving Detra to Iowa
• Fri, Aug 8 (9:30am): Gather Bible study (Highland)
• Fri, Aug 8 (10am): Pr. Becker leads the worship service at Green Lea Manor (Mabel)
• Sun, Aug 10 (10am) Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) – Ninth Sunday a. Pentecost (green)
• Sun, Aug 17 (10am): Service of the Word (Big Canoe) – Tenth Sunday a. Pentecost (green)
• Sun, Aug 24 (10am): Service of the Word (Highland) – St. Bartholomew (red)
• Sun, Aug 31 (10am): Service w/Holy Communion (Big Canoe) – Twelfth Sun. after Pentecost (green)
• Sun, Sep 7 (8:45am): Bible class (on the Nicene Creed) meets in the nave at Big Canoe
• Sun, Sep 7 (9am): Sunday school resumes in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, Sep 7 (10am): Service w/Holy Communion (Big Canoe) – Thirteenth Sun. a. P. (green)
• Fri, Sep 12 (10am): Pr. Becker leads the worship service at Green Lea Manor (Mabel)
• Sat, Sep 13: Mitch Nordheim and Brooklyn Larsen wedding (Big Canoe)
• Sun, Sep 14 (8:45am): Bible class (on the Nicene Creed) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland
• Sun, Sep 14 (10am): Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) – Holy Cross Day (red)
• Sun, Sep 14 (after worship) until Mon, Sep 22: Pastor and Detra will be on vacation
• Sun, Sep 21 (8:45am): Bible class meets in the nave at Big Canoe (Pr. Brackett)
• Sun, Sep 21 (9am): Sunday school meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, Sep 21 (10am): Service of the Word (Big Canoe) – Matthew, Apostle (red) (Pr. Brackett)
• Sun, Sep 21 (11:15am): Helms Funeral Home luncheon/presentation in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Mon, Sep 23-Wed, Sep 25: Pastor Becker will be attending a pastors’ retreat in Chicago
• Sun, Sep 28 (8:45am): Bible class (on the Nicene Creed) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland
• Sun, Sep 28 (10am): Service of the Word (Highland) – Sixteenth Sun. a. Pentecost (green)
• Sun, Sep 28 to Tues, Sep 30: Pastor Becker will be attending the Tri-synodical fall theological conference
• Sun, Oct 5 (8:45am): Bible class (on the Nicene Creed) meets in the nave at Big Canoe
• Sun, Oct 5 (9am): Sunday school meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, Oct 5 (10am): Service w/Holy Communion (Big Canoe) – Seventeenth Sun. a. P. (green)
• Sun, Oct 5 (11am – 1pm): WELCA Meatball Dinner at Big Canoe Fellowship Hall
• Fri, Oct 10 (10am): Pastor Becker leads the worship service at Green Lea Manor (Mabel)
• Nov 10-Nov 12: Pastor Becker will be giving three lectures at a pastors’ retreat at Creighton University
• Jan 29 – Feb 2, 2026: Pr. Becker will be giving a keynote address at a conference in Newport Beach, CA
• Apr 21 – May 5, 2026: Pr. Becker will be in Nigeria, Africa (ordaining 20 pastors)

Matthew L. Becker, STS, B.A., M.Div., M.A., Ph.D.
Pastor, Big Canoe and Highland Lutheran Churches, Decorah, IA

Treasurer, Lutheran Quarterly

Senior Research Professor of Theology Valparaiso University
College of Arts & Sciences Room 314
1400 Chapel Drive
Valparaiso, IN 46383
Phone:  219-916-8535
E-mail: matthew.becker@valpo.edu

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