Gold Medals

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:15-18  

The world watches hopefully as their athletes go for the gold medals at the Olympics. This got me thinking about who the Gold Medal winners would be in our religious history. There are many recorded in the Bible and during the reformation. There are people involved in the Civil Rights Movement and Mother Theresa who dedicated her life to service to the outcasts. But Jesus taught us that the woman who washed his feet also deserved the gold medal. Likewise, I think about the Lincoln woman who has crocheted 5,000 pairs of mittens for the hands of cold children. I was in awe of the dedication of the chaplains in our Lincoln hospitals who stayed with the dying during the COVID epidemic when their families were not allowed to visit. Then there's the people in our own congregation. The person who reminds us regularly of our commitment to support missions, the people who prepare the communion sacraments before worship, the dedicated choir members who practice weekly and ring and sing to praise God, the elders who commit their time and talents to guide our church when it's easy and when it's hard, the Bible study leaders who share their faith openly, and the people who mentor our youth in learning about Christ and the church. There are the people who regularly pray for others and the caregivers who care for the loved one with dementia or other illnesses and those who serve at the Gathering Place, plus the Trustees who volunteer to do jobs around the church that no one knows about. Our pastors and other church staff give of themselves for the benefit of our church and its members. There are the volunteers who help with the food pantry and the gardeners who plant the flower and vegetable gardens beside the church. There are so many gold medal winners, I can't count them all.

My family history would also include 2 gold medalists. My great grandfather, Jens Guy Kirkegaard - a lay minister, and his brother, Reverend Martin Luther Kirkegaard, who both lived in the sandhills of Nebraska in the 1890s. They were immigrants from Denmark. Jens was a farmer and he and his wife had 13 children, ten who survived into adulthood. Jens would visit small pioneer communities and talk about the importance of a Christian community and starting a church in their town. He would begin with visiting individuals and gathering interested persons and when he had at least 12, his brother Martin, an evangelical Lutheran minister and a circuit rider, would come and officially make them a church. Together they started at least 6 churches, one of which has survived to this day. These churches offered Christian fellowship to isolated people with church services, women's and children's programs, and mentoring in farming for beginning farmers in the midst of a financial depression and a drought in the sandhills. Jens was able to baptize babies (especially those who were dying), marry couples (especially those who needed to get married in a hurry), celebrate communion, conduct funerals, and preach at worship services. He was very sincere in feeling that these services to his neighbors were some of the most gratifying times of his life. Martin as a circuit rider (by then he rode trains instead of on horseback) and had a huge pioneering territory that he covered with about 30 churches. He visited each church every 3-6 months. He baptized, married couples, served communion and preached at worship services. Later in his life, he was a professor of religion at Blair College in Nebraska. He and his wife had 6 children, losing two children to "the plague" in the 1890s. I can only imagine their lives as missionaries to so many people that were starting new lives in the barren desert of the sandhills. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the multitudes of gold medalists who played a historical part in contributing to our Christian churches today. Thank you that they made commitments to serve all people, rich and poor, young and old, well established in communities and new immigrants. Thank you for your message of love through all times, the alpha and the omega. Amen.

Nancy Hall