UNIMAGINABLE, AMAZING GRACE
by Dennis D. Nelson
I had heard that the musical “Hamilton,” based upon the life of Alexander Hamilton, was good. Until I went to see a movie version of it on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of its opening on Broadway, I did not know how good. The staging was stunning, the singing was energetic, the lyrics are brilliant, and the man who played King George was an absolute hoot.
For me the most powerful part of the play was the song, “It’s Quiet Uptown,” in the latter part of the Second Act. Alexander and his wife Eliza have moved to a quiet part of town as they seek to rebuild their lives after the severe double trauma of the death of their son Philip and Alexander’s marital infidelity. Philip was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr as he tried to defend his father’s honor.
UNIMAGINABLE GRIEF
Angelica, the older sister of Hamilton’s wife Eliza, begins the song with these words –
“There are moments that the words don’t reach.
There is suffering too terrible to name.
You hold your child as tight as you can
And push away the unimaginable.”
Parents who have lost a child through death say that that pain is the absolutely worst possible.
The Ensemble then join with Angelica in noting that the Hamiltons have moved up town – to the quiet part of town – as they “learn to live with the unimaginable.”
Hamilton, who had been very active in the founding and early days of our country, describes what life is like for him now in the quiet part of town as he seeks to come to terms with what he has done and the loss he and his wife have suffered.
“I spend hours in the garden.
I walk alone to the store and it’s quiet uptown.
I never liked the quiet before.
I take the children to church on Sunday.
A sign of the cross at the door and I pray.
That never used to happen before.”
I think of people I have known who surround themselves with constant busyness and noise so they do not have to deal with the painful parts of their lives. They would never want to live in the quiet part of town.
UNIMAGINABLE GUILT
But Alexander is suffering not only from the unimaginable grief that he shares with his wife over the death of their son. He is also suffering from unimaginable guilt over his marital infidelity. He continues –
“Look at where we are. Look at where we started.
I know I don’t deserve you, Eliza, but hear me out.
That would be enough.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the musical and who plays the part of Hamilton, sings these words with a suffering and pain that tears your heart apart.
“If I could spare his life
If I could trade his life for mine
He’d be standing here right now
And you would smile, and that would be enough.
I don’t pretend to know the challenges we’re facing.
I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost.
And you need time.”
First the company sing, “He is trying to do the unimaginable.”
Then they sing, “They are trying to do the unimaginable.”
UNIMAGINABLE GRACE
We come to the turning point when Angelica, Eliza’s sister, repeats the same words as at the beginning of the song – “There are moments that the words don’t reach.” But this time, instead of continuing with “There is suffering too terrible to name,” she sings, “There is a grace too powerful to name.”
“They are standing in the garden
Alexander by Eliza’s side.
She takes his hand.”
That is the turning point. She takes his hand. In spite of all her unimaginable grief and Alexander’s unimaginable guilt, she offers him unimaginable grace. She takes his hand. What made her able to do that? What made her able to offer what the company then sings about?
“Forgiveness. Can you imagine?
Forgiveness. Can you imagine?”
Every time I hear that song my heart is rung out and I have a deeply moving spiritual experience.
This is not easy, cheap grace – as Dietrich Bonhoeffer described. This is no, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Now it should be all over, so why are you still upset, mad at me, and do not trust me?” Rather this is an unimaginable forgiveness – an unimaginable grace – given by someone who has suffered unimaginable grief to someone who has fully accepted the seriousness and consequences and felt the pain of his unimaginable guilt.
What made her able to do that? What made Hamilton think that he might have a chance? The answer can be found in Hamilton’s words –
“I’m not afraid.
I know who I married.
Just let me stay here by your side.
That would be enough.”
Alexander knew his wife. He knew whom he had married. He knew that his only chance lay not in the depth of his confession and/or in the amount of his sorrow but in the depth of her love, expressed in unimaginable grace.
Reminds me of the words of the song that is based on 2 Timothy 1: 12 –
“I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own.
But ‘I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.’”
It also reminds me of the story of King David, who along with Bathsheba experienced unimaginable grief. David bore an unimaginable guilt, but, as undeserving as he was, experienced God’s unimaginable mercy and grace. David is a prime example of the truth of the statement that is attributed to Ravi Zecharias, American evangelical minister and Christian apologist who learned the full meaning of these words from his own life –
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
The Psalm for Ash Wednesday is Psalm 51. In this Psalm David confesses his unimaginable guilt. He knows that his only chance is to throw himself completely upon the mercy and grace of God. The prophet Nathan, who had confronted him with his sin, tells him that – because of his confession – he will not die, but the child that will be born to Bathsheba will die and the sword will never depart from his house (2 Samuel 12: 10-14).
David is guilty of an unimaginable guilt. He has taken the wife of another man (who happened to be not a stranger but a close comrade) and arranged for the death of that man. David’s confession did not bring Uriah back to life. The consequences of his sin remained, just as the consequences of our sin remain. Uriah was still dead.
David and Bathsheba are suffering an unimaginable grief. Their first child died. Son Amnon will rape his sister Tamar. Son Absalom will kill his brother Amnon. Son Absalom will be killed after leading a rebellion against the King and taking over the throne. What the prophet Nathan said did come true. The sword never departed from David’s house.
But David also received unimaginable forgiveness, unimaginable mercy, and unimaginable grace. From David and Bathsheba Solomon was born, whose descendants eventually included our Lord Jesus Christ. Even when we humans are at our worst, God can still bring about His best.
This Lenten season, as once again we bring all our sins and sorrows to the cross, may we again put our full trust in and receive the full blessings of God’s unimaginable, amazing grace.
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PASTORAL CARE, POWER, AND THE PROPER WORK OF THE CHURCH
Many thanks to Paul Fleming for writing a theological analysis of the Consultation that Bishop Hagmeier of the ELCA’s South Dakota Synod had with the leaders and members of First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. This consultation was held on September 21 prior to their first vote on whether to disaffiliate from the ELCA.
Paul is a retired intelligence officer and confessional Lutheran layman who is currently working toward a Master’s degree in Lutheran Theology. His work reflects a deep concern for pastoral integrity, congregational life, and the centrality of the Gospel in the Church.
My analysis was written more from a governance perspective. His is from a theological perspective. A link to my analysis can be found HERE.
The Bishop’s Consultation was held one week prior to the first vote on September 28. For that vote 360 out of the 530 ballots (67.9%) voted to terminate the church’s affiliation with the ELCA and 170 ballots voted to stay with the ELCA. A two-thirds vote on two separate occasions is required to disaffiliate. The second vote was held on January 25. There was a total of 661 votes, so 441 were needed to disaffiliate. The total votes were: Yes to disaffiliate: 434 (65.66%)
– No to disaffiliate: 227. So the vote failed. Please join with me in prayer for the pastors, lay leaders, and congregation of First Lutheran Church.
Paul writes –
Inspired by and written in response to Pastor Dennis D. Nelson’s Lutheran CORE article,
“An Analysis of a Bishop’s Consultation.”
In recent years, many Lutheran congregations have experienced deep strain—not primarily from external persecution, but from internal processes intended to bring “clarity,” “truth,” or “renewal.” Pastor Dennis D. Nelson’s careful and documented article, An Analysis of a Bishop’s Consultation, names this reality with sobriety and pastoral concern. His work provides an important occasion to reflect more broadly on the nature of pastoral care, ecclesial authority, and the proper work of the Church according to the Lutheran confession.
The concern raised is not simply the size or composition of synodical consultations, resource teams, or institutional delegations. Rather, the deeper issue lies in the spiritual logic that governs these encounters. When gatherings described as pastoral immediately introduce loss-based leverage—threats involving funding, scholarships, institutional standing, or reputational harm—the Church risks substituting fear for faith. At that point, consciences are no longer being addressed solely by God’s Word, but are being pressed by consequences.
The Lutheran Confessions speak clearly here. The Church has been given a specific and limited mandate: to proclaim Christ crucified for sinners and to distribute His gifts through Word and Sacrament. Pastors are not authorized to manage outcomes, secure compliance, or curate narratives. They are called to bind and loose consciences only by the Word of God (Augsburg Confession XXVIII). When pressure or strategic silence enters the process, the pastoral office is quietly transformed into an instrument of control rather than care.
This tension becomes especially acute when former pastors are drawn into congregational conflicts. Even where policies permit such involvement, the pastoral office is not a political role that can be redeployed to influence internal governance disputes. Former shepherds retain spiritual authority in the eyes of the congregation. When they are positioned—intentionally or not—to shape outcomes, the appearance—and often the reality—of manipulation is difficult to avoid. For congregations already carrying heavy burdens, this compounds confusion and deepens wounds.
Lutheran theology insists that Christ alone governs His Church through His appointed means. The Church is not renewed by stronger management structures, clearer messaging, or enforced alignment. She is renewed when sinners are forgiven, consciences are comforted, and faith is created and sustained by the Gospel. Any process, however well intentioned, that displaces this center risks turning the Church inward upon herself.
This danger becomes particularly visible when institutional programs or compliance frameworks assume organizing authority over the Church’s life. When ideological accountability or mandated initiatives become functionally central, the Church subtly shifts from proclamation to performance. Good works, justice, and love of neighbor matter deeply—but they must remain the fruit of faith, not a new law that becomes the Church’s operating gospel. As Luther repeatedly warned, even well-intended law always accuses.
Unity in the Church cannot be coerced. Trust cannot be engineered. Renewal cannot be managed. These are gifts of the Holy Spirit, given through the Gospel. When leaders substitute institutional righteousness for sacramental life, they may achieve short-term compliance, but they inevitably lose credibility. Congregations recognize when truth is being managed rather than spoken plainly, and when pastoral language is used to serve non-pastoral ends.
None of this is written with joy in separation. Faithful Lutherans rightly grieve division. The recent vote outcome at First Lutheran, Sioux Falls, only underscores the pastoral weight of these matters and the continued need for prayerful, confessional clarity. Yet coercion must not be baptized as care, nor narrative control labeled “truth.” When leaders refuse to speak plainly or to respect congregational integrity, trust collapses, and consciences seek refuge elsewhere.
The way forward is neither reactionary nor despairing. It is confessional. The Church must return again and again to her true center: Christ crucified for sinners, given freely in Word and Sacrament. Where this center is preserved, even painful disagreement can be borne with patience and hope. Where it is displaced, no amount of institutional effort will suffice.
Faithful Lutherans are not called to win battles, but to confess Christ clearly, soberly, and without fear—entrusting the Church to her true Lord, who sustains His people not by pressure, but by grace.
In Christ,
Paul Flemming
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VIDEO MINISTRIES
HERE is a link to our YouTube channel, which contains 66 videos on books and topics of interest and importance. This month we would like to feature two videos. First, to continue the themes of guilt, grief, and grace in the opening article in this letter, we have a video review by Daniel Ostercamp of Philip Yancey’s book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” And then Cathy Ammlung continues her series of helpful information for worship planners, particularly in churches where there is no regular called pastor.
“WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?”
by Philip Yancey
A review by Daniel Ostercamp
Many thanks to LCMC pastor Daniel Ostercamp for his video review of Philip Yancey’s book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” HERE is a link to his review. Daniel writes –
Philip Yancey calls his readers to trust deeply in grace and to proclaim it as powerfully in their lives as in their words. Grace is the specifically Christian treasure that needs to be shared recklessly with the people who judge themselves solely by their successes and failures within this broken world.
First published in 1997, the book would eventually sell more than two million copies. The more recent edition includes a preface with reflections about how our world thirsts for grace even more today. We are not people of reward, retribution or karma, but receivers and givers of love and mercy.
We walk as best as we can in this life, hoping that our Lord Jesus can use us to form nourishing families, congregations and communities of grace. The thoughtful writing of Philip Yancey can help you in that endeavor.
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TOOLKIT FOR WORSHIP PLANNING – PART THREE
by Cathy Ammlung
Many thanks to NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung for this third in a series of videos intended to provide congregations – especially those with temporary and/or longer-term pastoral vacancies – with some tools for worship planning. A link to her video can be found HERE. A link to the full manuscript of her presentation can be found HERE.
In this video, Cathy covers the lectionary: What is it? Where is it? Why is it? Why are there more than one? How do you use the lectionary in worship planning? What are some pitfalls, and what are the most important things to know about lectionaries as a worship planning tool?
In her first video in this series (LINK) Cathy discussed the whole issue of why worship planning is important. In her second video (LINK) Cathy talked about the church year, including festivals.
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May the Lord draw you closer to Himself and the Cross as you begin your Lenten journey.
In Christ,
Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE
