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ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH
OWEGO, NY
687-1205
November 2014
Reading Scripture is different from hearing Scripture. Sure, we need to read Scripture in order to hear it, but there are many
who are just reading Scripture. They go through the motions, treating Scripture more like a tool than the Living Word of the
Living God. So many approach Scripture with the notion of what they can “get out of it.” It’s mechanical for them. Have a
problem with patience? Go to this verse! Have difficulty with your children? Look up that verse! The Bible is reduced to a
self-help book offering tips on living, enlightening insights, formulas enabling you to get along better in a difficult world, sayings to uplift your spirit. No more coming to Scripture with our own expectations of what we’re going to get out of it! It’s
time to start listening to the Living Word of the Living God. How do we make the move from reading to listening? God
makes that move for us. He gives us ears to hear Him, listening to His voice, trusting Him, responding in humble obedience,
gladly doing His will.
A brilliantly conceived metaphor in Psalm 40:6 helps us understand God’s role in making the move from our reading Scripture as words on a page to listening to God speak personally to us. The Hebrew in Psalm 40:6 literally reads: Ears thou hast
dug for me. Most, if not all, translations completely scrap the metaphor by paraphrasing the Hebrew. Here’s Psalm 40:6 in the
English Standard Version: In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering
and sin offering you have not required [Psalm 40:6]. How sad! The Hebrew verb is “to dig,” like in digging a well, but the
English translations completely leave the Hebrew verb in the dust, scraping it! This image of God digging holes in our heads
shouldn’t be lost. Time to reclaim it!
Imagine a human head with no ears! A blockhead. Eyes, nose, and mouth, but no ears. Where ears are usually found there
is only a smooth, impenetrable surface, granitic bone. God speaks. No response. The metaphor in Psalm 40:6 occurs in the
context of a bustling religious activity deaf to the voice of God: “In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted…burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.” How did these people know about these offerings and how to make them?
They had read the prescriptions in Exodus and Leviticus and followed instructions. They read the Scriptures mechanically,
following the rules step by step. They had become religious, going through the motions! Their eyes read the words on the
page. They had read the Scripture words accurately and gotten the ritual right. How did it happen that they had missed the
message “not required”? There must be something more involved than following directions for unblemished animals, a stone
altar, and a sacrificial fire. There is: God is speaking and we must listen! But what good is a speaking God without listening
ears? So God gets a pick and shovel and digs through the cranial granite, opening a passage that will give access to the interior depths, into the mind and heart, involving the whole being. Or—maybe we’re not to imagine a smooth expanse of skull but
something like wells that have been stopped up with refuse: culture noise, throw-away gossip, garbage chatter, talk show advice. Our ears are so clogged that we cannot hear God speak. God must get His pick and shovel to remove the audio junk filling our ears!
The result is a restoration of Scripture: eyes turn into ears. After all, we live by faith, that is, hearing, and not by sight! The
Hebrew sacrificial ritual included reading from a book, but his reading had degenerated into something done and watched.
The business with the scroll was just part of the show, a verbal ingredient thrown into the ritual pot because the recipe called
for it. Now with ears newly dug in the head of this person, a voice is heard calling, inviting. The hearer responds: Then I said,
“Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my
heart” [Psalm 40:7-8]. The act of reading has become an act of listening, doing. The book is discovered to have a voice in it
directed to the reader-become-listener: “it is written of me.” The words on the page that were read with the eye are now heard
with the ear and invade the heart: “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” God’s word (“your
will”), which had been objectified in a written word (“your law”), now is personalized in an answering and worshiping word
(“my heart”). The Word creates a listening, doing believer! The Word works! The act of reading becomes an act of listening.
What was written down is put on the lips of the hearer: I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD [Psalm 40:9]. No longer is God’s word merely written; it’s voiced,
spoken, proclaimed! The ear takes over from the eye and involves the heart, the whole person! Listening is back because God
has dug through his thick skull and opened a passage for hearing. The ear hears the living voice of the Living God, following
Him, doing His will! What joy! What a miracle!
(cont. on next page)
The Lutheran Confessions on Sale NOW: Concordia Publishing House is selling The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader's Edition at a great price...$19.99. The
list price is $35. If we have four or more people order
a copy, we'll get free shipping. Sign up in the Narthex.
We'll take orders through November! Listen to C. F.
W. Walther, the founding President of the Lutheran
IMPORTANT DATES
Church-Missouri Synod, on why you should have one:
"The Book of Concord should be in every Lutheran
November 2—Open Gym @6:00pm
home. If a person isn't familiar with this book, he'll
think, 'That old book is just for pastors. I don't have to
November 4—PTL Meeting @5:30pm
preach. After working all day, I can't sit down and
November 5-7—School Closed study in the evening. If I read my morning and evenTeachers/Pastor Attend Conference
ing devotions, that's enough.' No, that is not enough!
@Lancaster
The Lord doesn't want us to remain children, blown to
and fro by every wind of doctrine; instead of that, He
November 6—Elder’s Meeting @7pm
November 11—School Closed Veteran’s wants us to grow in knowledge so that we can teach
others."
Day
November 13—BCE Mtg. @6:30pm
FLOWERS FOR THE ALTAR FOR
November 16—Book Fair for Congrega- NOVEMBER
November 2—Hallett Family
tion
November 18—Pie and Prayer @3:00pm November 9—
November 16—
November 20—Council Meeting @7pm
November 23—
November 21—Community Meal 4:30-7
November 30November 25—Thanksgiving Meal
USHERS FOR NOVEMBER
@11:30am
November 2—Peter and Heather Roseboom
November 26—Thanksgiving Eve
November 9—Don Heckathorn/Roger Drew
Service @7pm
November 16—John and Pam Krause
November 26-28—School Closed for
November 23—Randy and Joan Kellogg
November 30—Brian and Jackie Schendel
Thanksgiving
ALTAR OF THE MONTH:
Joyce Ingersoll
ELDER OF THE MONTH:
Curt Schobert
(continued from front page)
Listening to Scripture, of course, presupposes reading
Scripture. We have to read before we can listen. But
we can read without going on to listen. We need God
to dig out ears for us, giving us ears to hear! Jesus
says “Ephathah” (“Be opened”), and we hear Him!
Each and every day our Lord opens our ears so that
we can hear His voice, following Him, interpreting
everything from His point of view, understanding
what He’s doing in our lives, guiding us in the way we
should go, His way, the only way to live. He who has
ears to hear, let him hear.
Students Away From Zion: On the table in the narthex, pick up the list of students away at school and
their contact information to keep in touch with them.
They need our prayers and support.
MEN'S CONFERENCE: The men's group of Our
Saviour Lutheran Church has invited the men of
Zion to a Men's Conference at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Endwell on November 8, 2014 at 10
AM. Featured speaker will be Dr. Dino Pedrone ,
president of Davis College, who will speak on the
topic " Is FAITH important to you ?". The cost is
$15.00, which includes a luncheon .....male high
school and college students are free. Tickets are
available from Deb at the church office, or from
Brian Schendel (687-5373). If you are planning to
attend, please purchase your tickets by November
2nd - seating is limited. See details on the poster in
the Narthex - this event is being partially funded
with a grant from Thrivent Financial.
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/
zionowego. There you will find an even larger selection of interesting and educational books!
Sue and Cliff Bays will once again also be bringing
Refreshing Words materials with some wonderful
books, fantastic felts, super stickers, and much
more. Sue and Cliff also have catalogues with additional materials that you can browse through—
which is great with Christmas coming up! If you
have any questions, please give the school a call.
THANKSGIVING DINNER FOR ALL
Tuesday, November 25, at 11:30am, Zion Lutheran
School will be having its annual Thanksgiving
“dinner” for the students. This year we are once
Greetings from Zion’s Sunday School
again inviting school parents and congregation
As you read in the October 2014 newsletter we
members to join us. If you are unable to join us for
have learned quite a bit about Abram/Abraham this the meal, but still want to help, please consider
month. In November we will learn about Abrasigning up to send in an already prepared meal
ham’s visitors from heaven and about Abraham
item. Please keep in mind that we can warm items
and Isaac. The third Sunday we will move on to
up, but will not be able to prepare them.
learn about Jacob and Esau and, then, on the fourth
Sunday we will hear about Jacob’s dream — and
The sign-up sheet will be in the entryway soon.
what a dream that was! Remember, please, that all Each prepared item should be enough to feed a
children are welcome and that, while the children
classroom, or about 10 people. For instance, if you
attend Sunday School, adults can join either of the sign up for bread, you should send in enough rolls
Adult Classes. Any questions? Feel free to call
and butter for 10 children. PLEASE PUT YOUR
Joan Schobert at 760-2913 or 648-3862.
NAME ON EACH DISH OR CONTAINER you
send to school so that we can return it to its proper
BOOK FAIR & MEAL COMING
owner. Each year someone loses a favorite dish!
The Book Fair is coming on Thursday, November Help us prevent your loss. Thank you!
13. It will continue on Friday, November 14, and
Sunday, November 16. The fair will be up during We need volunteers to set up (10:15am), serve
the day and throughout the evening during Parent
(11:30am), and clean up (12:00noon). We need
& Teacher Conferences (9:00am—6:00pm Thurs- enough people to volunteer for all of these areas to
day; 9:00am-6:00pm Friday; after service on Sun- make the meal a success. The turkey for our deliday, 12:00-1:00pm-ish).
cious “dinner” will be provided and prepared by
Sharon Ludwig. Thank you Sharon! If you enjoy
Please consider signing up to be cashier for an hour preparing those special holiday side dishes—this is
or two on these days. As teachers, we can fill in
your time to step forward. The children so enjoy
some hours after school (if we have no conferall the tasty sides and desserts prepared each year.
ences), but can’t during the school day. The largest Please consider how you can help.
need will be during drop off times (8:30-9:30am)
If you have any questions, please
in the morning, and pick up times (11:00give us a call. Thank you!
12:00noon and 2:00pm-3:00pm). Please talk to
Miss Pawlak if you can help, or sign up on the
form posted in the entry way (soon!).
Can’t make it to the book fair, but still want to purchase some books? Go to the online Book Fair at
COOKS NEEDED!
Can you cook soup and sandwiches for about 1015 children and adults? Perhaps you prefer to put
together tacos and fruit—or you have another idea
you’d like to share. If you can do this, the children at Zion would love to have you prepare and
serve lunch. All of the food is purchased, and all
the necessary pots and pans are in Zion’s kitchen.
All you need to do is “cook, serve, and clean up”
for about 10-15 people. If you can help once a
week, once a month, or just once a year—please
call the office (687-6376) and let us know. We’d
all love to sample your cooking! Thank you.
YEARBOOK COMMITTEE—MEMBERS
NEEDED
Miss Jen Schendel, Zion’s preschool teacher, has
put our school’s fantastic yearbooks together for
the last several years—but she needs your help.
This year more help is needed to make it a success. Will you help make a difference for your
child’s yearbook? Please talk to Miss Schendel if
you can be a part of the Yearbook Committee this
year. Thank you!
BOXTOPS
We are still collecting box tops for a school goal.
Instead of having a classroom context we are having an overall school contest..
OUTSIDE MONITORS NEEDED
Please consider volunteering for one thirty minute
period each week (11:30-12:00pm) to monitor the
children at recess. There will be at least one staff
member with you at all times—so have no fear!
The children love to have family and friends volunteer to help at school—and recess is one of their
favorite “subjects.”
A monitor is only needed in good weather. During
inclement weather (rain, temperature below 20
degrees) the children stay inside and the classroom
teachers take over. If you enjoy children, you will
have a great time as a monitor. Please drop in and
let us know if you can help out as a recess monitor. Hope to hear from you soon!
2014-15 Teacher’s Wish List
Pre-K Wish List
Buttons
Play Dough
Scrapbook paper
Party/holiday plates and napkins
Baby Wipes
Mini hot glue sticks (multi temp)
Second/Third Grade
Dry Erase markers and erasers
Baby Wipes
Blue sticky tack
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth
New desks
Updated world globe – about $170