Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke, Senior Pastor
Pastor’s Corner for November 2-8, 2025
A Song of Victory
(Revelation 7:9-17)
As I think about the swirl of events that occurred that February 11 years ago when my Dad was called to glory — the phone call in the night… the trip from Southern Maryland to Richmond, Virginia… the meeting with the funeral director… all the things that went into the planning and organizing of the funeral and burial — I remember feeling… defeated. Every funeral and burial, since it coincides with a death, appears at times as a defeat. The experience of my father’s burial seemed especially so. The weather forecast that day was snow. What we actually got that morning in a city not known for expert snow removal seemed more like a blizzard! The pastor made arrangements for a simple yet beautiful graveside service, but the roads were so bad many cars couldn’t get through. My sister and sister-in-law, though they left early in the morning, weren’t able to make it to the cemetery in time. Those of us who could make it said our goodbyes to Dad and left the cemetery freezing cold, wet, and shivering. It all seemed so short, so final, and so oddly rushed that even though our lips confessed our everlasting hope in the resurrection, our hearts were left feeling overwhelmed. Defeated.
But you know what? As I was thinking this week about the Revelation text we will once again hear on this All Saints’ weekend, I relived my experience that day. And I couldn’t help recalling with a smile what happened AFTER the graveside ceremony. I couldn’t help remembering how ALL of us, even those who had missed the burial, gathered at a restaurant we liked for a meal together. And I remembered how, inside that empty restaurant, we all went around the table, sharing a personal story about Dad that was a testimony to the “hymn” to God his life had been. I remembered how some of those stories had been funny and made us laugh and how others had been serious and brought tears to our eyes. But no matter the story or the person who told it, we all knew how profoundly God had touched our hearts through the lives of this saint: one who one day would be clothed in white, because his robe had been washed in the blood of the Lamb (7:14)! And so, as I read this wonderful Revelation text this week it directs my attention, as I know it does yours, to the Last Day when we will be reunited in heaven around the throne of God, basking in the victory of the Lord of Life! Indeed, through Christ Jesus, God has given his saints — you and me, both saints AND sinners here below — VICTORY over sin and death! The ordinary defeats — especially the biggest defeat of all, death itself — are, for now, a part of life. But God has given us a victory. He has given us all a song to sing! And it’s an everlasting song. Even as we remember those we love who have died in Christ… we sing it today!
This weekend, I invite you to never stop holding that beloved father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister, friend or neighbor in your heart, but to consider even more the victorious Lord of Life who gives us all that song to sing together.
Former Resurrection Lutheran Church Pastor Marv Schedler (August 19, 1932 – October 22, 2025) Called to Glory
As you remember the communion of saints this weekend, please say a prayer of thanksgiving for Pastor Marv Schedler, whose photograph you will find above our Fellowship Hall door. Pastor Schedler was called as Associate Pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Raleigh in 1978 to serve the (at that time) “Mission Congregation” of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cary. He served in that capacity until his tenure with North Carolina state government where he held positions with the Gov. Morehead School for the Blind and the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and other Drug Abuse. Pastor Schedler’s obituary, which includes information about services of Visitation and a Memorial over November 7–8 and the YouTube link where the service may be viewed remotely can be found here. We keep his family and friends in our prayers.
A very blessed All Saints’ Sunday everyone!
Pastor Jonathan
Pastor Jonathan Blanke grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He received his Bachelor's degree from College of William and Mary in Virginia and attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned a Masters of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biblical Studies, Book of John. He served as a Vicar at Messiah Lutheran Church in Richardson, Texas.
The Blanke family lived in Japan while he served as pastor and missionary to Okinawa Lutheran Church and taught Biblical Studies at Japan Lutheran College in Tokyo.
Pastor Jonathan lived in southern Maryland from January 2014 to November 2019 and was thankful to have served as the Sole Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington Park, Maryland.
He and his wife, Juli, have two grown children. In his free time, Jonathan likes to travel, "play around" on the piano, and enjoy the outdoors.
Click HERE to view a brief video from Pastor Jonathan.