Sermon: It’s me! It’s you!

            This week the whole world spent some time looking at a chimney—waiting for white smoke.

Looking at a balcony—waiting to catch a glimpse of the new Pope.

Wondering:
-When will they decide?
-Who will it be?
-Where will he come from?
-Who will lead the billion strong Roman Catholic Church?
-Who will set the pace and stage for religious discussion across the globe?

            These were questions that captured our imagination and called forth crowds.

            And our readings from both John’s Gospel and the Book of Revelation, ask similar questions, and have similar consequences.

            There, at the Portico of Solomon, were gathered quite a group,
gripped with the most important question they could ask:
“Come on now, quit holding us in suspense, aren’t you going to tell us? Are you the Messiah? Speak plainly Jesus!”

            Similarly, those people in John the Revelator’s vision…
individuals from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the lamb, waving palm branches,
the Elder asks, and John echoes the question, “Who are they? Where do they come from?”

            Are you the Messiah? Who are they?

Prayer

 

            “Are you the Messiah?” A question bluntly asked at the height of a religious festival—the Feast of Dedication—aka Hanukah…

            By asking this question, “are you the messiah?” at this time, Hanukah, the crowd is making a series of assumptions,
both about Hanukah, and also about Messiah.
Their telling the Hanukah story starts and ends with the Maccabees overcoming the Pagan ruler and undoing the evil desecration of the temple.

            “Are you the Messiah who will overcome Rome and return right religion to the people?” Are you the new prince? Will you shepherd us through a war with Rome?

 

            To this Jesus responds, “I have told you, and you do not believe.”
The story you’re telling about Hanukah,
and the story you are telling about our future with God
—is bunk!
It is nonsense!

Hanukah is the celebration of the miracle of sufficiency
—enough oil for the Holy Lamps in the temple.

Also, Hanukah is the celebration of light!
The darkness shall not overcome the light!

Didn’t you see how my actions witness to who I am, and who God is?

When I fed the 5,000,
when the purity barrels at the wedding in Cana were transformed into vats of the finest wine
—an excess of the best wine when you least expect it!
every time I offer you enough and more to spare
—that testifies to God’s abundance,
that points to God’s grace!
Sufficiency, enough!

Likewise, when I found the blind man,
unbelieved and exiled,
put down and abandoned,
and I gave him sight,
when he himself witnessed, saying, “I was blind, but now I see.”
That’s how God is at work in the world!
That’s the light that shall enlighten the whole earth!

The one who shepherds you,
-he will not let you go,
-he will clutch you tight like a lamb,
-kept safe from every danger!

“You want to know what God is up to in the world
—it’s going to be light and abundance!
You want to know what God is doing in this very moment,
look right here, the Father and I are one!”

 

“Who are they?” the Elder quizzes the Revelator.

“How should I know?”
After all,
-poor John is caught up in this strange dream.
-John is captive on the Island of Patmos.
-John is locked up for the treasonous confession that “Jesus is Lord”
a confession accompanied by an echo, “And Caesar is not.”
-John who is testifying with his whole life
—his words and his blood,
the only things he’s able to offer up as a sacrifice of thanksgiving and honor to Jesus.

What would John know about these joyous multitudes waving palm branches and singing of salvation?

Oh what could he know?

 

Have you ever stayed at a friend’s and found yourself wandered the hallway at night and been scared almost to death, when a figure pops out of nowhere,
only to realize it is you
—it was your reflection in a mirror you didn’t realize was there.

That’s what just happened to John!

“Who are they?”

They are those who testify with their whole lives
—the persecuted
—the homeless, hungry, thirsting, mourning.”

Those around the throne, the exulted crowd you see, John
—this beatific vision,
those are the beaten down…
the beatitudes people
—beloved by Jesus!

They are you!
They are the persecuted church,
and all those wronged for the sake of righteousness.

This world of ours,
looked at from the strange eyes of eternity that only seers like John get to glimpse,
is startling!
Look, it is the heavenly glory of our present suffering
—sing out because:
you are sheltered,
provided food and drink,
covered and cooled,
guided and comforted
—that’s the blessing of the Lamb who is the Shepherd!
All those churches John is writing to,
all those suffering churches
—they are also those who sing out at the base of the Throne of God!

They are on the other side of it all,
washed in the blood of the Lamb.

They are on the other side of this great ordeal,
all the suffering of the present moment…

There is another side, John!
There will be a time when this calamity will become music,
We will come out of this!

 

Are you the Messiah?
Who are they?
These questions, answered:
with John’s Shepherd calls us and holds us tight,
and the Shepherd-Lamb of Revelation overcovers and cares for us.

 

Are you the Messiah?
Hear his voice, follow!
They will not tear eternity from his hands
You will know that God is making all things right,
when his face shines with Abundance and Light.

 

Who are they?
Isn’t it strange,
heaven a mirror
revealing they are us,
Praises to the Lamb-Shepherd
is sung continuous.

Amen and Alleluia!

The Kind of Bishop We Need

 

              Since our Bishop announced that she would not be seeking re-election, I’ve been reflecting and praying on that call, both what kind of leader the Synod needs next, and if I might be that leader. I’ve explored my internal sense of call, checked with close friends if they sense an external call upon my life, and reflected on the needs of our Synod. I’ve also paid serious attention to Bishop Bartholomew’s words about the office as she has practiced it and taken some time with the questions in the discernment tool from the Synod as well.

I don’t think it is me. As a leader I am still too reactive, I personalize too much, and default to reflection instead of action; in general, I still have plenty of room to grow and rough edges to tame.

              I do worry that the timing of my growth as a leader and the uncertainties surrounding my heart condition may interact in a way that the office of Bishop will never be my calling. There is certainly a sense of loss in that—I’m a pretty with-it pastor, and believe I could lead well in the church I love—but there is something freeing as well; I’m not Strider or Gandalf, I’m Tom Bombadil or Radagast. Most likely the only thing I’ll ever be the bishop of is whimsy.

              So, freed of all ambition and desiring only the gentle upbuilding of the Kingdom of God and the flourishing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, here is what I believe our Synod needs to look for in a Bishop.

 

They Have a Plan

              As the child of two free spirits and a student of Clausewitz, I know that everything in life is ad libbed and that “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.” That said, having no plan is planning for the status quo and “without vision the people perish.”

              Our next Bishop needs to have a sense of what they would do as Bishop. If their plan begins and ends with “won’t I be a good Bishop” that is a red flag to me. They need to cast a vision and name where they think the Holy Spirit is leading us. Additionally, there will be many congregations closing in the next 6 years; the next Bishop needs to articulate a plan for that!

Here is the vision I developed in my time of discernment; it might be a useful conversation partner for anyone in discernment about the role.

 

They are Sinners and Know the Cross

              Did you know the original quote was not, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” but instead, “The road to hell is paved with the skulls of Bishops.” The office of Word and Sacrament, and the office of the Bishop still more, is a position of leadership where you have to make decisions while publicly struggling against Sin, Death, and the Devil; you make mistakes, and you have to find a way to keep moving. You sin, you fall short in this vocation (and yes, in every other one as well) and cling to God, the God revealed on the cross—no scent of success no pleasant features, only trustworthiness.

              One of the things our current bishop returns to from time to time, and you can tell there are both wounds and scars there, is dealing with misconduct and representing the Synod in court. Having done versions of both within the context of pastoral ministry, I can affirm they lead to sleepless nights and exact a heavy toll. And it is not just your own conscience that assails you, but every naysayer and second guesser comes out of the woodwork and watches and waits to pay you their two cents. There is Anfechtung and tentatio embedded in both of these tasks.

              When I was ordained, Bishop Riley’s sermon included an insistence that part of ministry is finding a way to get to sleep at night; there is always one more task, there is always one more failure that won’t stop bothering you. For me, I keep on keeping on by praying every morning that God would make me faithful and thanking God every evening that Christ is faithful.

              So, what does this mean practically, as we choose a new Bishop? Anyone who peddles and promises success upon success or can’t answer the question: “Name a time in ministry when you’ve failed, and what you did next?” Anyone who lacks a firm faith rooted in the forgiveness found every time we return to the font, or blames someone else when criticism comes their way, is not fit for the office.

             

They Understand the Challenge

              George Orwell famously wrote, “To see what’s right in front of your eyes takes a constant struggle.” I hope and pray our next Bishop will be in that struggle, seeing the challenges of today clearly. Ours is a time of crisis, and has been for years. Our next Bishop needs an existential understanding of the day-to-day challenges of parish ministry, both the mundane and the profound. Our next Bishop needs to be able to focus on that which matters most and navigate the waters in which we do ministry.

              At least for me, my conceptual framework, the 4Ds, do that. There is both the single needful thing—our ability to trust in God at all, and the context in which we do that, one that is dispersed, diverse, and disestablished. We don’t need a 4D Bishop, but we do need one who equips the Synod to navigate the world as it is, and one who never loses sight of our work, the proclamation of the Gospel.

 

They Feel the Oddness of Syn-od

              There is an often unspoken tension within one of our Synod’s core values, interdependence. So too a tension in the very nature of Synod (the etymology of which is odd people next to each other, right?… oh no, sorry, it’s accompanying along the way…). I hope that the next bishop has a heart torn with that tension, the tension of the ELCA’s three expressions. In fact, I hope the whole Bishop’s office publicly wrestles with their role as the bridge between the local and national church, while still being their own unique expression.

              Having seen that tension up close on Synod Council, as a District Dean, Cluster Counselor, and Vice Pastor, I hope a new balance can be struck; I hope the Bishop will woo local congregations near and far from the Synod office into a posture of deeper relationship and responsibility toward the larger church. I hope she or he brings the best of Churchwide to the congregational level, and that their Assistants foster fresh collaboration among congregations and Synod. I hope we can continue to walk together meeting Jesus along the way, the Synod office equipping congregations as only they can, while caring for the whole, upbuilding and bringing together for the sake of the ministry.

              So much of this will only occur if the whole Synod, both office and congregations, are committed to doing the work that makes for healthy, functioning, congregations. There are so many tasks, so many good tasks, required of us, but if we aren’t equipping congregations to do the basics that are foundational to doing complex ministries, we will become a few endowed and flagship congregations attached to a middle judicatory, which is not the same as a Synod. This sort of work is not inspirational, but it is necessary.

 

They Reflect and they Act

              Finally, the next bishop needs to both act and reflect, and then act again. They need to regularly enter into the Hermeneutical Circle in which ideas become concrete, and then those concrete actions lead to deeper thoughts, which in turn lead to new creative acts. They can neither be captured by ideas to the point of immobility, nor can they rely on the manic heat of hyperactivity to “flood the zone” or be a substitute for well thought through actions. We need someone who is comfortable both on the dance floor and the balcony above seeing the big picture.

They need to be a questioner—asking second and third level question… “What then? What then? What then?” Following, like a bloodhound, the logical likely outcomes, and consequences, always aware of the probabilities that they have missed something along the way.

In short, we need the amalgamation of a monk and a scientist, someone who will model for all of us, the whole Synod, a method for becoming something new.

 

Conclusion:

              In conclusion, I hope that our next bishop: has a plan, is comfortable with failure and clear eyed about the challenges of ministry today, is infectiously collaborative and can seed an attitude of experimentation throughout the Synod. Come Holy Spirit Come!

A six-year vision for the Synod

 

                  I believe the most faithful way to be the Church these days is to take the 4Ds seriously by leaning into any ministry that: creates partnerships, encourages nimble action, reflects authentic diversity, and re-enchants the Church. In fact, as we prepare to elect a Bishop of the New Jersey Synod, I see that as an opportunity for a 6-year experiment for the sake of the wider church; it would be six years intentionally wrestling, taming, and coming to terms with: Disestablishment, Decentralization, Demographic Shift, and Disenchantment.

Closures:

                  One of the places the Synod can make a big difference, and encourage nimble behaviors, is at the point of a congregation’s closure. The Synod would encourage closing congregations to designate a local tithe and a vision tithe to the Synod.

The local tithe would stay within the Cluster or District to encourage grass root ministry exploration. This “walking around money” would empower Cluster Counselors to lead new mission. As it stands, when clusters meet to decide who will be the new Counselor it is a game of “not it!”. If there was some economic power behind the office, the more missional and innovative clergy would rise to the challenge, the title would no longer elicit the gag reflex, but instead a hunger to share the Gospel.

The Vision Tithe would be money that would leave the local context and empower the larger whole. It would be spent based on the Synod Council’s top-down vision.

Staffing:

                  There is a tension in staffing between geography and specialization. As I envision things, when it comes to congregational care staffing would be geographic, but when it comes to specialization Bishop’s Assistants would focus on one of the 4Ds.

                  There would be a Bishop’s Assistant caring for Northeast Jersey, one for Southwest Jersey, and one for the Jersey Core (Yes, Virginia, Central Jersey does exist). District Deans and Cluster Counselors would regularly meet with said staff members to coordinate, plot, and plan—a nimbleness that can make for good trouble.

                  At the same time, these Assistants would also have specializations. I envision these specializations as acts of caring.

The Assistant to the Bishop focused on Demographic Shift would be the A2B who Cares for Our Diversity, the Advocate for our Edges. They would shepherd intergenerational and Multicultural ministries. They would be a collector of Best Practices—not only contemporary but also remembering what came before, both to honor the past and notice when present situations rhyme with the historical.

The Assistant to the Bishop focused on Decentralization would be the A2B who Cares for Relationships, the Experiment Encourager. They would guide the internet ministries of the Synod and assist congregations with their web presence. They would host regular Dinner Churches around the Synod, as well as our fellowship events.

                  The Assistant to the Bishop focused on Disestablishment would be the A2B who Cares for our Partnerships, the Partner Liaison. They would be the Liaison for the Synod with Partners for Sacred Places (or the developer of a similar organization in the state). They would organize Synod wide service events, and be in charge of stewardship grants.

                  The Bishop would focus on Disenchantment. They would care for souls, and shepherd the 4D vision, so it doesn’t get lost in the administrative conflagrations that is: putting out fires, slurries of meetings, and untold amounts of travel. They would organize and lead Bible Study and Prayer meetings throughout the Synod. Additionally, they would listen to hear the indigenous wisdom of this Synod. This would include doing extensive group retirement interviews to glean wisdom from retiring pastors, and in so doing short circuit some retired-pastor bad behavior that often has the flavor of Ecclesiastes sprinkled on it.

                  Speaking of administrative conflagrations, the final piece of the puzzle as I see it is a staff person, or persons, focused on Care of Institutions. A Master Organizer watching over pulpit supply, candidacy, and first call theological education.

 

Synod Wide Focuses for Each Year:

                  Each year the Synod Office would encourage every congregation to take one step together. The steps might seem fairly small, but there is a powerful intentionality behind each one. Each step is either a step that is reflective and internal or an action that is focused on the external. Actions inform reflection and reflection in turn informs future actions. A clear sense of congregational identity allows for healthy cooperation and connection making in the neighborhood and community, which in turn reshapes the congregational identity.

This type of intentional work would, in six years, remake the identity of every congregation in the New Jersey Synod, and just as all the parts and players are different, so too the Synod itself.

 

The Six Years

Year 1 (Reflection):

                  The Bishop would lead the year one step; this would increase their exposure to the less Synod aware members. The Synod would encourage and equip every congregation to clean their rolls and hold internal conversations about the faith.

Year 2 (Action):

                  The Assistant to the Bishop for Our Edges would lead the year two step. The Synod would encourage and equip every congregation to have 135 God Conversations with their neighbors.

Year 3 (Reflection):

                  The Assistant to the Bishop for Partnership would lead the year three step. The Synod would encourage and equip every congregation to write, renew or review their mission statement.

Year 4 (Action):

                  The Assistant to the Bishop for Experimentation would lead the year four step. The Synod would encourage and equip every congregation to perform one Holy Experiment.

Year 5 (Reflection):

                  The Bishop would lead the year five step. The Synod would encourage and equip every congregation to look back on their last five years and share and celebrate the highlights with each other, their community, and the Synod.

Year 6 (Action):

                  The entire Bishop’s staff would work on its final year—it would be an all hands on deck year. The staff would comb through congregational highlights and help to seed and share, repeat and reproduce success stories throughout the Synod.

Roving Synod Events:

                  With the assumption that decentralized gatherings ought to be encouraged, the Synod would regularly host Fellowship Gatherings, Dinner Church, Prayer Gatherings, Bible Studies, and Service Events throughout the state. There would also be a yearly remembrance of Ordination vows.