Easter 5c - Palm 148

Psalm 148

I was at Baylor All Saints this morning with a Calvary member who was waiting for a medical procedure. The woman at the admissions noticed I was pastored up (aka wearing a clerical collar) and the conversation eventually turned to church. She’d never been to a Lutheran church and asked about us. She didn’t ask about doctrine or theology or liturgy or practice. She just wanted to know if we were loud, which I assumed meant do you shout Praise the Lord and jump around. I told her we were not as loud as Pentecostals but not as quiet as Roman Catholics. It may be our German and Scandinavian heritage but we don’t like to draw a lot of attention to ourselves, except on Easter when Lutherans have been known to enthusiastically shout Alleluia! (Lent is over!) Even in our serving we don’t like to make a fuss. It is true for the hundreds of people who make all the things at Calvary happen without much ado. And in the wider church “We’re #1 is just not our style You can look up the statistics but Lutheran Disaster Response and Lutheran World Relief do more than any other single relief agencies in the world to respond to suffering and hunger. In the Psalm 148 praising the Lord list the angels sing, stars shine, heavens thunder, waters roar, hail and snow fall, wild animals growl etc. etc. but if the people the Lord has raised up happen to be Lutherans they praise by serving quietly and without much fuss. Praise the Lord!