As a parent of four children of color, I feel I must comment on Barack Obama's historic victory yesterday. Forty years ago, George Wallace was a third party candidate who ran on a segregationist platform: "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," he once said. And he actually won 5 states, receiving 46 electoral votes. Now, 40 years later, America has elected an African American as it's next president. Conservative and Liberal politics aside, I am amazed at how far our nation has progressed in my lifetime. And as a parent of four Ethiopian-born children, it is a joy to be able to concretely show them that in America, skin color doesn't disqualify you from anything -- even the highest office in the land. As John McCain said in his eloquent concession speech: "we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nations reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of citizenship." God bless America as we seek to emerge from these challenging times and allow those struggling now to once again share in this nation's many rich blessings.
Who is Worthy to Receive Communion?!!
Today is our third week on the Lord’s Supper/Communion. So far, we have discovered that this is God’s meal, not the result of human actions or work. Also, we discussed last week the importance of our faith that the bread and wine actually become Christ’s body and blood. Today, we focus on the question of who is worthy to receive the gifts of communion. This is a topic of special interest to Luther. He is especially interested in the idea that one could be too sinful to receive this gift. For Luther, it is easy to look at your sins and shortcomings and decide you are not worthy to receive such a gift. God’s goodness contrasts so sharply with our sinfulness, “then because of this, such people will not go to the sacrament and wait until they are prepared, until one week passes into another and one half-year into yet another. If you choose to fix your eye on how good and pure you are, to wait until nothing torments you, you will never go” (...
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