Rev. Dr. Jonathan Blanke, Senior Pastor
Pastor’s Corner for May 12-18, 2024
A New Way to Look at a Church Directory
(Ephesians 1:15-23)
I heard of something this past week that made me think of our Epistle reading for this Sunday.
Ever seen the statue of Jesus standing with hands outstretched in blessing, over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil? It is called “Cristo Redentor” (“Christ the Redeemer”). Believe it or not, it is not the largest statue of Christ in the world. I’ve never been to Brazil, so I’ve only seen photographs. But even pictures of the statue communicate its massive size and impressive posture of benediction, so meaningful to Christians the world over. What I never knew about the statue was that to protect its reinforced concrete exterior thousands of triangular-shaped soapstone tiles, prepared by local women, were attached to it. As the story goes, many of these women wrote the names of loved ones before pressing the shiny stone triangles onto their mesh backing. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of names are included as a part of the body of that statue, though we will never know just how many are up there.
On this weekend of our Lord’s Ascension, our attention turns from the visible body of the risen Lord Jesus to the image of the Body of Christ, the Church. St. Paul writes: “God put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (1:23). Did you ever look at the names in a church directory and think of it as representing “the fullness of Christ”? According to St. Paul, it truly does! Whether a dear friend in Christ recently called home to heaven, one of RLC’s newly confirmed youth, a quiet woman who comes each week talking to as few people as possible, or a guy who stays at church so long the pastor must lovingly remind him he is locking the door… these are the names that make up the Body. To all of us who believe, all of us who make up that Body by God’s grace, “belong[s] God’s immeasurable great might that God worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (1:20-21).
What happens when that body, the Body of the Ascended Christ, flexes its muscles? What happens when that body, the Body of the Ascended Christ, brings the blessing of Jesus to those who are poor in spirit? Immeasurably more than all we may ask or imagine!
Let’s be at work again this week in service to the world!
Easter peace and joy,
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.