Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Lake of the Isles Church, I have been sharing stories that may have been forgotten or overlooked in the written history.  The Lutheran congregation was not formed until 1936, but the foundation was laid a decade earlier.  Today I would like to continue with the 1945 Banquet of the Synod of the Northwest.

In October 1935, Dr. Richard H. Gerberding, the President of the Synod of the Northwest chose Lake of the Isles Church to host the induction ceremony for the new President of the Northwestern Seminary, Rev Paul H. Roth. According to the records, 450 people attended the ceremony. Frankly, I am not sure how that many people could have been seated comfortably in the sanctuary. Under today’s Minnesota Fire Code only 250 people would be allowed.  To the participants, the empty sanctuary must have seemed like a peculiar venue.  The church had been abandoned for three years and there was no regular congregation. Neither were there any signs that the church was particularly Lutheran.  After all there was no altar nor cross. The occasion enabled many to learn something first-hand of the Gerberding’s missionary undertaking at Lake of the Isles. Still there were critics who thought that any attempt to establish a Lutheran congregation in this neighborhood was a foolhardy undertaking, merely to “salvage of pile of stone.”

Ten years later, however, on May 15^th, 1945, many of these same men including the skeptics returned to Lake of the Isles Church, to discover how much had changed.  It was no longer a story about the carved stone and the picturesque setting.  The church was now alive and thriving. In his written history of the congregation, Pastor William Passavant Christy recorded, “It is not possible to give adequate account of what the women have done through the years with ready hands and devoted hearts. Church coverings for a make-shift altar, and seasonable vestments for chancel furniture were provided. Perhaps the biggest undertaking of its kind in which our women took the leading part was the hospitality and entertainment of the synod which met in our church in 1945. At this convention, a banquet where more than four hundred were simultaneously seated and served.”  That is the image pictured in the bulletin. I think it is a wonderful portrait of the men and women who established this church and are a part of that heavenly band.  They chose to live by faith alone, by Gods’s grace alone, through God’s word alone, by Christ alone, and by giving all glory to God alone. By God’s grace the church was brought to life.

I know that story personally. 33 years ago, on Reformation Sunday, Janna and I opened the doors the Church in St. Saviour in Riga, Latvia to a new generation of believers.  There was nothing particularly beautiful or inspiring about the church building that was in such disrepair.  All the former religious ornamentation and decoration had been removed.  The walls had been painted dark purple, which suited the sanctuary’s then present use as the Anglican Discothèque. The majority of the stained glassed windows had been blown out during the bombing of WW II and were replaced with abstract designs. The organ, pulpit and altar were all gone. There was only one thing that remained tangible in the place- the memory that nearly 50 years earlier, faithful men and women had worshiped in that space. It was a joyful celebration that Reformation Sunday, two archbishops, several ambassadors, the university men’s chorus and scores of curious seekers. They were all present for that first service, but Janna and I knew that the real challenge would be the following Sunday. Would there be ten followers to begin the work of the church?  To our relief, there were eleven.  33 years later, the church is still alive and thriving and is home to three congregations.

For many today, it may be surprising to discover that the Protestant Reformation was never about Martin Luther and church authority.  For Luther, the Reformation was actually about all the saints who were unnoticed by the world, but were in the steady embrace of God’s forgiving grace. The Reformation was about the faithful men and women who placed their trust in Christ, yet they did not hear the word of hope and promise from their priests and bishops. The Church of that age instead warned them that they could never do enough to please God. Painfully Luther recognized that every day believers were never told that they had found peace with God through Jesus. That was the liberating word he wanted to proclaim to all the saints so that they could enjoy life and walk closely with God. The gospel of Jesus Christ was intended to free the saints to do the work of God’s kingdom. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  That is what Jesus proclaimed in his age, and that is what Christians across Europe began to rediscover at the time of the Reformation.

My friends, the good news of the gospel is clear, you needn’t fear death in the throes of an angry God.  A loving God is waiting to welcome you into his eternal kingdom. That was the gospel, Luther proclaimed, and just as importantly, you can walk in the joy and blessedness of God’s love in Jesus Christ through his word -even now.

This was the promise and hope of the saints who laid the cornerstone for this church at Lake of the Isles.  In spite of the possibility of failure, they faithfully did their work to spread the good news of Jesus Christ for the next generation.  It was true of the tiny handful who re-established the church in Riga, Latvia, and it is true of the saints we celebrate this morning in our worship who have been a part of our lives. They have now found their seats at a banquet, larger and greater than the one held in our church basement.  They are seated now at the Lord’s table with Jesus as their host. What a glorious day that will be when we join them by their side at that banqueting table. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.