This past Friday Monica and I began our annual two-week hiatus at the cottage. Sunday afternoon our two granddaughters joined us. Then, Tuesday night, the middle generation came on board. I think it’s tomorrow that two more will arrive. Thus it is without apologies that I tell you that I am in full “Vaca Mode”.
However, rather than skipping a couple weeks or taking the time to ramble on about family, I have decided to tell you briefly about the books I am reading. Tuesday I finished “How the Light Shines (Resilient Witness in Dark Times)” by Chad Lakies (CPH, 2024) a Lutheran Hour Ministries staff member. Yesterday’s completion was “Who is Government? (The Untold Story of Public Service)” edited by Michael Lewis (Riverhead Books, 2025). And now I am reading some light fiction – “The Orchard” by Beverly Lewis (Bethany House, 2022) – telling the story of an Old Order Amish family during the Vietnam War.
Lewis’ book is a series of 8 articles telling stories from different government departments. “The government is a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone. … The vivid profiles in Who Is Government? Blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. They show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.” (book jacket)
And then a couple quotes from the first book:
Today, we live after Christendom. Some define our era as post-Christian. While there are good things about the decoupling of church and state – a separation and recognition that the church and state operate as two unique kingdoms with distinct tasks given by God is one of Martin Luther’s great contributions to Western Christianity – there are also lamentable changes. Primarily, as society no longer identifies closely with religion, Christianity has become merely one option among many others. Religious influence and the voices of religious leaders in the lives of citizens are but a whisper and thus easily ignorable. The effects of consumer capitalism subtly distract us from religion, such that Christianity is caught in a clash of competing allegiances, each vying for attention and commitment. The comfort of an affluent society makes people less concerned about spiritual things, spurring a growing sense of apathy about faith (and many other religious sensibilities). (p. 4)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer called Jesus Christ “the man for others.” Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2.20) If Jesus is the man for others and His disciples are those in whom the many for others lives, then that makes us – the church – a people for others. The church, then, Bonhoeffer said, is “Christ existing as church-community.” Or, as he put it elsewhere, “The church is nothing but the piece of humanity where Christ really has taken form.” If the community called the church is the very means by which God has chosen to make Himself known in the world, then the world will meet Jesus in us. This requires us to trust in God, build trust with others, rely on the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts, and winsomely spread the seeds of the Gospel on good soil, beginning with people we know, one by one. There is nothing fancy, innovative, or flashy about any of this. This is how it has always been. While the world around us has changed, everything I’ve written here is meant to help the church accomplish its original goals (Acts 1.8; Matthew 28.18-20) in a manner that is sensitive to today’s cultural context. (p. 12-13)
I believe I have mentioned this book previously. I likely will refer to it again down the road – it’s a book I think everyone should read. But, since I’m in “Vaca Mode” that’s all for today
Vaca Mode
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