Thursday:
My day today started at 6:00. After breakfast at 7, Paul, Andrew, and I took the campus connector bus over to the concert hall for chapel. Matins was at 9:00, as usual; and Rev. Cwirla preached the sermon.
After Matins, we proceeded to Breakaway D. I went to “He Descended into Hell,” by Rev. Glen Gutz. Paul and Andrew went to different sectionals. Rev. Gutz’s sectional was excellent. Matins ran later than it should have, so Rev. Gutz didn’t have as much time to speak as he should have had. I had been taught about the descent into hell several years before the conference, but time had washed it out of my memory. Rev. Gutz’s class reminded me that Christ’s descent into hell was not a part of His suffering, but rather a proclamation of His victory over Satan. Rev. Gutz also discussed some of the misconceptions about Christ’s descent into hell that have been taught throughout the years.
Next, it was time for Plenary 4, taught once again by Rev. Cwirla, who discussed how salvation is delivered to us through baptism. Next, it was time for lunch; followed by Vespers. Rev. Stiegemeyer’s sermon contained what became the sermon simile of the week: “Sin is like manure on a baloney sandwich. It doesn’t matter if you only get a little bit on the corner; the whole thing is contaminated.”
We then proceeded to the third and last class of our in-depth sectional. Rev. Stiegemeyer gave a fascinating and informative talk on Wicca. He said that Wiccans are typically used to being rejected, so take them seriously if you talk to them about religion. Don’t stereotype, since there is very little uniformity among Wiccans. Things that are true of one Wicca group may not be true of another. Pr. Stiegemeyer ended his first two classes with a “Celebration of Knowledge” (AKA, a quiz); but he didn’t have a celebration of knowledge for us today.
After our in-depth ended, we had about an hour of free time, during which most of the MHers managed to find each other and hang out together in Middlebrook. We then took buses to Midway Stadium, where we had a catered BBQ dinner. The baseball game we were going to see was supposed to start at 7:00, but was pushed back to 7:30 because of rain. The movie “Angels in the Outfield” was shown on the scoreboard, and all the MHers had plenty of time to socialize, since we all sat near each other during the game.
Partway through the game, we all got up and went behind the stands to stretch our legs. We ended up staying down there and playing various camp games, of which Alex had a seemingly endless supply. As soon as the ballgame was over, we proceeded to the central part of the stadium for evening prayer. Yes, we had evening prayer in a baseball stadium. Instead of an organ, there was a flute, and instead of a choir, there was a soloist. Pr. Borghardt preached the sermon, and we were then bused back to our dorms to once again sleep the sweet sleep of the conference attendee.
While we were having evening prayer, the stadium grounds crew was performing its post-game duties. I wonder what they were thinking as they listened to 1200 Lutheran youth and their chaperones sing the liturgy. They probably didn’t think much of us as we descended upon the stadium before the ballgame, all of us wearing our red T-shirts. We were probably just another group to them. Sure, there were some of us who would applaud every time a pastor walked by, but there are wackos in every group.
But then we started Evening Prayer. That had to have been something they had never seen or heard before. 1200 of us crazy, tired Lutherans coherently singing the Liturgy, listening to Pr. Borghardt’s sermon, and singing “O Blessed Light, O Trinity.” What they thought of us, I will probably never know. But, just as with the U of M ushers, I hope and pray that what those groundsmen saw and heard that night inspired them to find a Lutheran pastor, perhaps Pr. Kind, and find out what on earth we were doing, and why we were doing it despite the fact that the ballgame had ended later than it should have. Why didn’t we call the whole thing off and go back to the U of M to get some sleep? Why did we persist in having this service? Those are questions that I hope are asked by those who saw and heard us, and I hope those questions lead their askers to faith in Christ Jesus.