Atom“Saint Orpha”
“Therefore, since we are surrounded so great a cloud of witnesses…let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us...” Hebrews 12:1
It is not often that I miss an opportunity to share a cup of coffee with family and friends, but I missed this one. While I was in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Holly’s (my wife’s) family gathered for the funeral of her Aunt Orpha. Actually, I can’t prove that there was coffee at the funeral luncheon, but given that the funeral was at Maple Bay Lutheran Church east of Fertile and that Orpha Nordheim was about as Norwegian American as one can get, I can say with about 110% certainty that coffee was served as family and friends gathered to celebrate 86 years of life and faithfulness and to trust her to our resurrection hope. I can also assure you that there were many stories told and much laughter and much thankfulness for this saint of God…and that Aunt Orpha would have been uncomfortable having me call her a “saint.” Lutherans do not often think of themselves as saints, you see, even though St. Paul in his letter to the motley group of Christians in that rough seaport town of Corinth refers to “believers in Christ’ as saints. So even though she might have shook her head and pursed her lips at such a thought, saint she was and saints we are – in Christ.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about that missed coffee and Saint Orpha as we approach All Saints Day. I’ve been thinking of her with thankfulness and appreciation, because even though I probably never said it clearly to her (we Scandinavian Lutherans aren’t so good at saying what we feel), she has been one of the “great cloud of witnesses” that has encouraged me in my journey through life. Aunt Orpha and Uncle Ivan (Holly’s Dad’s older brother) were those salt of the earth folks who I believe Martin Luther was referring to when he said, “People who quietly do their jobs, tend their children, run their farms, fix shoes, cut hair and teach the children are the glue that holds the world together.” Luther was pointing to everyday labor and care for family as “holy” and as worthy of praise as the calling to “professional church work.”
Aunt Orpha and Uncle Ivan quietly did their jobs, farmed their fields, milked their cows, and – given that they had no children of their own – tended to others children, to their nieces and nephews and their families, and to the children of their congregation. They were the quiet smiling presence at family baptisms and confirmations and weddings and funerals….Orpha with a casserole or jello salad or pie and Ivan with a twinkle in his eye and a contagious laugh and a funny story or two. They embraced and hugged us…if not with their arms…with their presence and quiet wit and love of Jesus. (Norwegian Lutherans are not given to a lot of hugging, but that does not mean that they do not love you.) And what I will always remember is the cards and letters. Aunt Orpha remembered every birthday and every holiday and sent a card and sometimes a gift and always a personal note about life was on the farm and in the church and how Ivan was doing and the cows, and at the end always signed it “with love, Ivan and Orpha.” And you knew she meant it and that more than that with the card was the unspoken promise that she was not only remembering you, but also praying for you when she did her daily devotions. And that is a gift that cannot be measured. I will miss Aunt Orpha. Family gatherings will not be the same without her, but I have been blessed in having her in my life and in her have met Jesus.
I share this story with you this month, friends, because I am quite sure that you also have or have had an “Aunt Orpha” in your life – one who is not your parent, but who is a member of your extended family or a friend like family – one whom God has sent your way to stand with you and to encourage you, and to surround you with love and letters and prayers. Most of us would not get so far down the road of life and faith were it not for these “saints” God surrounds us with. So, on All Saints Day (November 1) give thanks for them – and if they are yet living, drop them a note or pick up the phone and say, “thank-you.” And then…take the next step…ask the Lord to help you to be an Aunt Orpha or an Uncle Ivan to someone in your life – to a niece or nephew, to a neighbor’s child, to a student or employee, to someone whom the Lord has placed in your life who needs just a bit of encouragement – a smile, a note of praise…or a pie – and be Jesus to them.
Thanking God with you,
Pastor Wade
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