Luke 17:11-19 highlighted one out of 10 lepers thanked Jesus after being healed by Him from the skin disease.  The lepers said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  The term “Master” is fascinating because it represents ‘commander.’  They recognized Jesus as having authority.  When they sought for mercy, that is the cry of sinful man to God.  It represents the same thing in our liturgy when we sing, “Lord, have mercy upon us.” They were in an ordeal, and they sought help, and they needed Jesus for relief in their desperation.

The first lesson was Jesus did not state anything about mercy as he just told them to go and show themselves to the priests.  Jesus rendered them tasks that did not necessarily make a lot of sense at the time, and He didn’t promise healing.   Jesus often places us in stances that we should do, but other ways of doing things and other things we can do may be more inviting.  The lepers had faith that Jesus could heal, so they obeyed His command.  Trust God, His goodness, trust His good will toward you, and trust that He can make the difference you need.  Even when things seem odd, this Gospel would encourage us to live each moment in cheerful dependence on God and His good will toward us.

Interestingly, that one was a Samaritan, the hated Gentile who said “Thank You” to Jesus.  We could analyze at the proportion, one out of ten.  Is that realistic?  The main idea is that thanksgiving is far less common than no thanksgiving.  Some people come to church by “duty” rather than out of the delight in the Lord.  Some of us are among of the nine, and some of us have come to gracefully give thanks and praise for the profusion of blessings that Jesus has provided to each of us.  Forgetting is even a sin.
 
This forgiveness, life, and salvation doesn't require of us a specific code of conduct, although there are always those who want to tell us that it does, such as that we must walk the Christian walk in order to be saved.  But Jesus placed us free from our sin by His own.  We are liberated and forgiven from the Law into the glorious liberty of the grace of God. 

Jesus said, “Rise, and go your way; your faith has saved you.”  We obtain all the good that we receive from God by grace through faith.  Your faith, not your church attendance, or your good works, or your good thoughts, but your faith has saved you.  Your Bibles may say, “Your faith has made you well,” but the original term of Jesus indicates literally, “Your faith has saved you.”

This tenth man obtained something more, because he believed something more, and acted on His faith.  He acknowledged Jesus for who He is, and when he returned, he rendered thanks and praise to Jesus.  He believed more than just the healing, but the salvation he received by grace through faith, just like we do.

Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you.”  That faith should guide us to holy life.  It should lead us to heartfelt thanksgiving.  It should guide us to trust Jesus for more than just heaven and so guide us to do what Jesus has placed before us to do. 
Happy Thanksgiving!

 ~~Pastor Andy

We will be having a major midterm political election.  As a Lutheran pastor, I cannot instruct you to vote which party.  However, I advise you to elect ones who are aligned to God’s will according to the Bible instead of emotional thinking.  The most important is to keep the moral value up and fiscal responsibility in America. 

An article, Lutheran Voter Information Guide, provides excellent guidance in voting.  You should investigate political candidates related to various issues.   You may ask them (from the Guide):

1. Are you willing to support changes to school funding that will honor the educational choices of all parents equally, including the choice of religious schools?
2. Do you believe that Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, should continue to receive either state or federal funds?
3. Do you think it is proper for the government, at any level, to pressure its citizens into accepting a view of human sexuality that denies God’s good design in the social world by normalizing transgenderism and gender fluidity?
4. Do you fully support the 1993 (Federal) Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) which currently protects people of faith from having the exercise of their faith unnecessarily restricted by the government?

For further information, please visit:
https://lcrlfreedom.org/images/pdf/2020LutheranVoter-InformationGuide.pdf

~~ Pastor Andy

Recently our men in prison have been studying the life of King David.  The Bible describes David as “a man after God’s own heart.”  Yet the Bible also clearly shows many of David’s stupid mistakes and his dark, ugly sins – including adultery and murder. 

 As we read David’s prayers (the Psalms), we see that David clearly understood his own sinfulness.  He often begged for God’s mercy and he prayed for God to make him a better person. Where we see David most in sync with God’s heart was when David was quick to admit his guilt.  And in times of great need, David looked to God for guidance and help.

Another important lesson we learn from David is that, even though God forgave David for his wrong-doing, God also allowed David to experience full consequences for his hurtful actions.  One student observed: “We can choose our sins, but we can’t choose our consequences.”  So true!

Many of our men struggle with this truth every day.  “If God has forgiven me, then why is He still making me serve time in prison?  Why doesn’t He allow the Parole Board see that I have changed?” That is a question for which I have no answer, except to never stop trusting that, no matter our circumstances, our lives are in God’s hands.

I believe that God has a good plan for each of our lives.  But often our own stupid ways mess up that plan.  When we embrace the consequences that come as result, God gives us opportunities to minister His love to others through those consequences.

~~ Pastor Ron

Fifty Things That Shaped Deaf Culture:
Deaf History Month
1972 - 2022

This year, 2022, both the deaf communities and the library communities celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Deaf History Month!   
 
The first such event was held in November 1972.  John A. Love, Governor of Colorado proclaimed the week. The Colorado Association of the Deaf was behind this success with two Deaf movers and shakers, David Anthony and Jerome Moers, members.  The next such event was held during the first week of  December 1974 when the DC Public Library announced the purchase of TTY (Teletypewriter/phone for the Deaf).

American Originals 
In 2016, Time Books, an imprint of Time Inc. Books published a softback  (96 pages) called 100 American Originals: The Things That Shaped Our Culture.

 I checked it for originals relating to deaf culture such as the first-ever American public school for the Deaf, founded in 1817. This idea was about using government funds that two educators Horace Mann had later for the “normal” school and Samuel Howe for the “blind” school in the 1830s.  

The only two Originals related to the Deaf I found are No 46:  The Telephone (mentioning Alexander Graham Bell, a teacher of the deaf), and No. 47  the Lightbulb (mentioning Thomas A. Edison but with no word about his deafness).
 
American Originals: Deaf Culture: 1972-2022
1. The State proclamation  (Colorado) (1972)  
2. The Phone Access DC (1974) 
3. The Deaf of Organizational Culture THE RED NOTEBOOK (1976)  
4. Library Friends  groups (1986) 
5.  ASL Access  Read ASL (1997) 
6. The Maryland Law - Deaf Culture Digital Library (2014)
7.  The Ohio Law Deaf History Month  (2017), and others 
 
BOOKS!  Authors!  Future Writers! Support Your Local Public Library 
Library Friends for Deaf Action,
Please encourage your local or state organizations to ask the local public library about using their meeting room for presenting a deaf cultural program during Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3 - 10, 2022. If the date is too close, then plan for March 13 - April 15, 2023.

If you can, please email your program announcement by November 14, 2022, to FOLDA via ahagemeyer@gmail.com

A. Proclamations by the US Presidents
The President of the United States annually proclaims a day, week, or month, as annual events, and calls upon all Americans to observe them.
Libraries, service agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and others have been sponsoring whichever events that apply to them.

Awareness – Day Week, or Month
E.g., Alzheimer’s Diseases, Autism, Breast Cancer, Childhood’s Obesity, Disability Employment, Domestic Violence, Helen Keller Deaf-Blindness, Mental Health, Stalking, and other appropriate cultures.

What about Deaf Awareness? This term originated in 1972 by the State of Colorado when its Governor proclaimed a week in November as Deaf Awareness Week. Such a week, which was never proclaimed by the US President, has become obsolete after a few years due to the successful interaction of the deaf and the hearing.

Heritage – Day, Week, or Month
E.g., Asian American & Pacific Islander, Caribbean American, German American, Hispanic, Irish American, Jewish American, Native Americans, and other appropriate cultures.

What about Deaf Heritage? Never proclaimed by the US President, but the deaf community may use the name whenever their social organization, a school for the deaf, and museum sponsor festivals and the related. Things such as works of arts, cultural achievements, and folklore that have passed on from earlier deaf generations to the present deaf generation!
 
History – Day, Week, or Month
E.g., African American, Black, Women, and other appropriate cultures.
History refers to an account of events that have happened in the past. What about Deaf History? Not yet proclaimed by the US President, but the public may go ahead to observe it. Such an annual event helps expose the knowledge of deaf history. Organizations Serving the Deaf (OSD) and library service to the public, especially the American Deaf Community.

Specialty – Day, Week, or Month
E.g., Adoption, American Red Cross, Education and Sharing, Family Caretakers, Farm Safety and Health, Foster Care, Grandparents, Great Outdoors, Mentoring, Older Americans, Parks, Public Service Recognition, Small Business, Volunteer, United Nations, and other appropriate cultures.

B. Deaf Events
1. February 11 – Inventors’ Day
A US presidential proclamation by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Birth date of Thomas A. Edison.
To recognize the enormous contribution inventors, make to the nation and the world.
Edison said that his deafness was an asset! It allowed him to work with less distraction and to sleep deeply, undisturbed by outside sounds.
https://www.edn.com/us-inventors-day-is-established-february-11-1983

2. March 6 – National Deaf Youth Day
Since 2017. Formed during the term of National Association of the Deaf President Christopher Wagner (2012-2016). To recognize and bring together deaf youth from schools for the deaf, mainstream programs, and academic institutions. Contact via Email:  nad.info@nad.org.
https://youth.nad.org/ndyd
 
3. March 13 – April 15 – Deaf History Month
Since 1997. Endorsed in 2006 by the American Library Association and the National Association of the Deaf. To commemorate the three most important deaf milestones in American history.

• March 13, 1988: The first Deaf Civil Rights Victory which led to the passage of the American with Disabilities (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990.
• April 8, 1864: Charter signed by the US President Abraham Lincoln, authorizing the Board of Directors of the Columbia Institution (now Gallaudet University) to grant college degree to deaf students. The first and only liberal arts college in the world was founded for the deaf in America.
• April 15, 1817: the first public school for the Deaf in America, known as the American School for the Deaf, opened in Hartford, CT.

4. April – Last Sunday – Mother Father Deaf Day
Since 1964. A private organization maintained and governed by CODA International members founded by Children of Deaf Adults. To give members the opportunity to honor their deaf parents and to recognize the gifts of culture and language they received.
https://www.coda-international.org

5. May – Better Hearing and Speech Month.
Founded in 1927 by American Speech and Hearing Association, a national membership professional organization with a purpose to make effective communication, a human right, accessible and achievable for all.
https://www.asha.org/bhsm
https://www.asha.org/about/history

6. June – the full week that includes June 27
National Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week.
A US Presidential proclamation in 1984. To observe the birth anniversary of Helen Keller, who was born on June 27th in 1880, and in recognition of the achievements of people who are DeafBlind.
https://www.helenkeller.org/hknc

7. September – the full week from Monday to last Sunday of the month
International Week of the Deaf
(IWDeaf), formed by the World Federation of the Deaf in 2009. September 23 is the International Day of Sign Languages as proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2018.
http://wfdeaf.org/get-involved/wfd-events/international-week-deaf
https://www.un.org/en/observances/sign-languages-day

8. December 3 – 10 is Clerc-Gallaudet Week
Launched December 1-7, 1974, by the DC Public Library in cooperation with the National Association of the Deaf and the DC community. It was then called Deaf Awareness Week followed by Deaf Action Week and Deaf Heritage Week. International: Proclamation from the General Assembly of the United Nations.

• Dec. 3 - International Day of People with Disabilities since 1992 and
• Dec 10 – Human Rights Day since 1948.

During the week, the public honor Laurent Clerc and  Thomas H. Gallaudet, two visionary leaders in the field of American Deaf Education, whose birthday would be celebrated during the month Clerc (Dec 26)  and Gallaudet (Dec.10). The week is now planned to go globally. Canada, France, and other countries are welcome to join us. The International Federation of Library  Associations and Institutions (IFLA), may be encouraged to work with all counties. IFLA is the leading international body representing the interests of people who rely on libraries and information professionals.
https://www.ifla.org

A biblical verse James 2.1 clearly explains that without good works, faith is dead.  If we have genuine faith, we will do good works through Him afterward, even though we still sin.  If you sin purposely without fear and don’t change your lifestyle, your faith is dead as James 2.17 states.  Similarly, good trees create good fruit, but good fruit don’t create good trees.

Faith given by God enables you to do good works being credited by God.  The Gospel rescues us from the Law’s grueling requirements for good living.  The Gospel provides us power to do good works.  Good works glorify God and help our neighbors.  Good works that He does through us are His work, not ours.   Christ saved people who did good works, not because they did good works, but because of they were blessed by God.

A Christian life is based on a growing relationship with the holy God.  If God has promised you will be a pianist in the future.  If you believe God’s promise, do you plan to watch television all the time with the promise that you are destined to become a pianist?  No way!  Being a Christian means having a relationship with Christ.  God wants to make Jesus’ character in us.

Also please review previous Mustard Seed articles that touch on this question:
        February 2006 - Ask Pastor
        April 2007 - Editorial
        March 2008 - Ask Pastor

~~ Pastor Andy