Peter began to say to
him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say
to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a
hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But
many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Mark 10:28-31
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we consider calls, we pray that
God would give us clarity. This time around we certainly had clarity. It came
the week before the call was issued while VBS was happening. The forty-four
kids blew us away and we couldn’t be more thankful. God blessed us incredibly
during VBS.
Then the Sunday the call was issued
we finished the capital campaign for the church roof. We blew away our goal of
raising half the money, and nearly raised all of it. God blessed us by showing
us the joy of giving. I don’t know how many people came up to me over the
course of that drive and said, “Isn’t it amazing to see the money coming in?”
We completed the drive without any preaching on stewardship or giving.
This only continued as we held
Cross Camp and the Outdoor Movie Night. The people who helped, the kids and
families who came made those events go over so well. God blessed these things
just as He did so many other things.
There were things at Messiah,
Carlyle that are exciting. Messiah is a wonderful congregation with wonderful
people and thrilling opportunities. But when I think about where I’m most eager
to serve, it is definitely here at Holy Cross, Emma. This is why I am declining
the call to Messiah Lutheran Church, Carlyle, Illinois.
Yes, this call was very close to my
parents and much closer to Julia’s parents. You might be surprised to know that
this wasn’t a factor in our decision for several reasons. First, we don’t know
how long our parents will be in Illinois. Even though Dad hasn’t taken a call
in thirty years, it could still happen. We don’t know if Julia’s parents will
retire in Illinois or somewhere else. We wouldn’t want to move to Illinois only
to have our parents move right away. Second, both Dad and I agree it would be
really weird to be in our circuit pastor’s conferences together.
Third, and most importantly, we
have found Jesus’ words in the passage above to be absolutely true. We never
expected to go back home. We don’t feel the need to be close to our parents. In
the grand scheme of things 4-6 hours is way closer than many people are to
their families. We are thankful to live in a state that just boarders Illinois!
And by the way, both of our parents have greatly enjoyed getting to know you
all and are thankful that we are staying.
As Jesus promises, we have received
what Jesus promises here. You have provided a wonderful house for our family.
We have fields for our kids to play in around the church property. We have even
received you as our family as you have welcomed us into yours. This is even
better because we didn’t have to give up our own families—God just blessed us
even more!
There may be troubles in our work
together (that’s why Jesus mentions persecutions) but we know that we also get
to share eternal life together. Isn’t God so wonderful? Not only does He bless
us in this life, but He sent Jesus to suffer and die for us. Our sins are
forgiven because He rose from the dead and we have eternal life!
Thank you all for your prayers and
your kind words. Thank you for being willing to support, attending, contribute
time or money, and care for other people around you. You made the difference in
keeping us here.
May God continue to bless you all.
Pastor Jacob T. Mueller
