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

•             One of my favorite films is A Night to Remember, which premiered in 1958. It is a drama about the HMS Titanic, which sank on April 15, 1912. While not as technologically innovative as the more recent film Titanic, by James Cameron, it is nevertheless quite good. It focuses more on what happened—and didn’t happen—that fateful night, and it stresses the common humanity of all those involved. In my opinion, some scenes are better than any in the later film.
•             One such scene that I think is particularly memorable is the first glimpse one gets of the iceberg that will eventually sink the “unsinkable.” All of a sudden, the daunting ice mass comes into view. It is a kind of white mountain where one least expects to find it—mysterious, yet majestic, fascinating, and yet terrifying. The first time you see that iceberg, you can’t help but be filled with a sense of dread. You might even shudder a bit. I suppose it is not unlike the first time one witnesses “the white whale” in Moby Dick, a figure that many readers of Melville’s novel have likened to God. We, the reader or film viewer, know that the white object, whether iceberg or whale, is going to doom people, to bring them under the cold water. Are we not overcome by awe and wonder, by dread and fear?
•             The Scriptures also point to this experience when they make reference to the almighty and holy God, whose ways are mysterious and “hidden” from the reasoning and control of human beings. Martin Luther referred to this experience as “the God who is hidden” in his majesty and unfathomable power. This is the God who creates “weal and woe,” who creates fear in human hearts, who fills them with dread at his own inscrutable judgments, who suddenly comes upon human beings when they least expect. This is God as he is experienced in his wrath and anger, who is jealous that we have no other gods but he alone, whose ways are not our ways. This experience of the hidden God occurs both as God’s numinous, tremendous presence that confronts the sinner (how God is a consuming, devouring, raging fire that makes of us dust and ashes) and as God’s absence (how God seems distant, cold, uncaring, identical to “fate”). The almighty and holy God alone is God, and we are not. This is why Luther interpreted the First Commandment to mean, “We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.”
•             The hidden God, “who dwells in unapproachable light,” is only approachable through his promising word of mercy, the Word that became flesh in Jesus. Here, in Jesus Christ, the Holy One is pure goodness and compassion. Here, in Jesus, God’s infinite majesty has condescended to us in love, has become familiar, intimate, and most importantly, merciful and forgiving. Here, in Jesus Christ, is God’s promise that he forgives and loves all who repent of their sins, that such a mortal sinner has been given salvation and eternal life with God, that death itself has been swallowed up in victory. Put to death in the waters of holy baptism and raised anew in Christ, the sinner now trusts that sin, death, and hell itself cannot separate himself or herself from the love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
•             Thus, the gospel or “good message” is always and only a promise of divine mercy and forgiveness for mortal sinners, for the sake of the crucified and risen Christ, with no visible support in the world of sense experience. The intended aim of the promise is “faith,” since faith alone can receive the promise. We live by faith, not by sight, since there is much that contradicts the message of the gospel in the world of appearances. Against appearances and doubts, one trusts that the divine promise will be fulfilled in the end.
•             Both “fear” and “trust” mark the Christian’s life, but ultimately it is faith, trust, that overcomes our fear. God’s perfect love “casts out our fear,” and by trusting in that gracious, loving promise, our faith overcomes our fear. The Christian today joins the apostle Paul in confessing, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
•             See you in church!
•             Pastor Becker
•             5-20-2025

Upcoming Events:

• Fri, May 23 through Fri, May 30: Pastor Becker will be in Oregon, visiting his mom for her birthday
• Sun, May 25 (8:45am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland (Pastor Gies)
• Sun, May 25 (10 am): Service of the Word (Highland) – Sixth Sunday of Easter (white) (Pastor Gies)
• Mon, May 26 (7:30 am): Memorial Day Remembrance (Highland Cemetery)
• Mon, May 26: Memorial Day lunch (11:00 am -1:00 pm) at Big Canoe and service (3 pm) at the Big Canoe Cemetery
• Sun, June 1 (8:45 am): Bible class (on the Book of Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, June 1 (10 am): Service w/Holy Communion (Big Canoe) – Seventh Sunday of Easter (white)
• Sun, June 1 (in the worship service): Recognition of Brayden Thompson who has graduated from H.S.
• Thurs, June 5 (noon): Pastor Becker teaches the Nigerian seminarians and pastors (Zoom)
• Fri, June 6 – Sat, June 7: ELCA NEI Synod Assembly in Cedar Falls
• Sun, June 8 (8:45 am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland
• Sun, June 8 (10 am): Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) – Pentecost Sunday (red)
• Sun, June 8 (after worship): Lucas Stoen’s graduation party (Highland)
• Thurs, June 12 (noon): Pastor Becker teaches the Nigerian seminarians and pastors (Zoom)
• Sun, June 15 (8:45 am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Big Canoe
• Sun, June 15 (10 am): Trinity Sunday (w/Communion & baptism of Nelly M. Young) (Big Canoe) (white)
• Thurs, June 19 (noon): Pastor Becker teaches the Nigerian seminarians and pastors (Zoom)
• Sat, June 21 (10 am-1 pm): Annual church retreat for Highland and Big Canoe churches (Big Canoe)
• Sun, June 22 (8:45 am): Bible class (on Revelation) meets in the fellowship hall at Highland
• Sun, June 22 (10 am): Service of the Word (Highland) (green)
• Wed, June 25 (2:30 pm): Pastor Becker leads the worship service (w/Holy Communion) at Aase Haugen
• Thurs, June 26 (noon): Pastor Becker teaches the final Zoom class for the Nigerian Lutherans (until Sep)
• Sun, June 29 (8:45 am): Final Bible class on Revelation meets in the fellowship hall at Highland
• Sun, June 29 (10 am): Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) (red, for Saints Peter and Paul)
• Sun, June 29 (after worship at Highland): Joint council meeting for Big Canoe and Highland (Highland)
• Sun, July 6 (10 am): Service w/Holy Communion (Big Canoe) – Fourth Sun. a. Pentecost (green)
• Sun, July 13 – Fri, July 25: Pastor Becker will be doing research at three universities in Germany
• Sun, July 13 (10 am): Service w/Holy Communion (Highland) – Fifth Sun. a. Pentecost (green) (Pr. Gies)
• Sun, July 20 (10 am): Service of the Word (Big Canoe) – Sixth Sun. a. Pentecost (green) (Pastor Gies)
• Sun, July 20 (11 am-1 pm): Ice Cream Social at Highland
• Sun, July 27: Shared Ministry Joint Worship Service, Potluck, and Fun Day (Highlandville School)
  

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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