Lutherans-Lattes-Luther Seminary

Old Muskego Church (1844) on Luther's campus

This past Tuesday, about 12 of us from the Lutherans and Lattes group took a field trip to Luther Seminary.  We started our tour at the new coffee shop in the remodeled Olson Campus Center.  Then, with lattes in hand (Americano for me), we began our trek around the campus.  We saw a ton of art – we saw a ton of people (it was the second day of a new semester) – we saw some really old books (they gave us the VIP treatment and showed us the Rare Book Room – 1478 was the oldest piece of the collection) – and we saw a really old church (Old Muskego c. 1844).  We also participated in a chapel service in which Rick Foss, Director of Contextual Learning (which includes the internship program), preached about a confusing text from Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 9:16-23).

Foss spoke about the text and said that he was generally confused by it (look it up – Paul may have even been confused himself when he wrote it).  He then talked about life and ministry.  For Foss, living out and leading others in this walk of faith, just like trying to understand Paul’s words, has not been easy – it’s messy, it’s confusing – even for a man who has over 30 years of parish ministry and more than 10 as bishop of the Eastern North Dakota region.  But the call to “preach the gospel” remains.

It is the same here at Como Park Lutheran – we don’t understand it all, we don’t have all the answers, things don’t always go as planned – yet, we continue to “preach the gospel” in word and action.  Why?  Because, as Foss reminded us in chapel that morning, even amidst the messiness of life God loves us, forgive us, and heals us.  Our God is a God of steadfast love and faithfulness no matter what the mess.  And so, with our partner in ministry, Luther Seminary, we at Como Park Lutheran continue to “preach the gospel” through our daily lives to the messy world that we are a part of – and we can preach it boldly because God is love, and God is forever faithful.