East Coast centric Lutheran Historical Timeline

 1748—The Ministerium of Pennsylvania founded by Henry Muhlenberg

1789—Frederick Muhlenberg (Henry and Anna’s son) elected first Speaker of the House

1817—Norwegian Pietists, led by Hans Neilson Hauge, elevate Sara Oust as lay preacher

1820—The General Synod founded

1826—The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg founded

1832—Jehu Jones, an enslaved man who purchased his own freedom, was ordained as the first African American Lutheran Pastor

1839—The Franchean Synod formed in support of the abolition of slavery

1847—Die Deutsche Evangelisch-Lutherische Synode von Missouri, Ohio und andern Staaten founded. Eventually becomes the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

1861—Spruce Run Lutheran hosts the first convention of the Ministerium of New Jersey/New Jersey Synod

1862—The General Synod condemns slavery and supports the Union.

1862—The General Synod of the Evangelical Lutehran Church in the Confederate States of America formed.

June of 1863—Spruce Run Lutheran imprisons Pastor F. A. Strobel and attempts to try him for treason. The Synod intervenes.

1865—Students and faculty leave Gettysburg seminary to found the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

1888—The Common Service Book published

1892—Lutherans begin missionary work in Japan

1904—Slocum Ferry catches fire with a good portion of Lutherans living on the Lower East Side in attendance; over 1,000 people died that day.

1918—The United Lutheran Church formed, bridging divisions from the Civil War

1922—Lutherans and Anglicans first enter into eucharistic fellowship

1925—Lutherans organize the Universal Christian Confence on Life and Work which leads to the World Council of Churches

1929—Jantine Auguste Haumersen ordained in the Netherlands, the first woman ordained in a Lutheran Church.

1934—Confessing Church formed in opposition to the Nazi seizure of the German Church.

1945—Dietrich Bonhoeffer martyred by Adolf Hitler

1847—The Founding of the Lutheran World Federation

1958—Service Book and Hymnal Published

1960—The American Lutheran Church formed

1962—The Lutheran Church in America formed

1970—Barbara Andrews and Elizabeth Platz became first American Lutheran women ordained.

1974—The LCMS suspends the Seminary President of Concordia, which leads to a walk out by students. Eventually 200 LCMS churches leave and form the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

1977—Lutherans declares resisting apartheid a matter of status confessionis

1978—The Lutheran Book of Worship published

1978—Herluf M. Jensen elected Bishop of the New Jersey Synod

1988—ELCA founded as a merger of the LCA, ALC, and AELC

1989—Roy Riley elected Bishop of the New Jersey Synod

1989—100s of Lutherans gather at St. Nicholas in Leipzig for prayer, they are beaten by police. 70,000 people return a month later, 120,000 the next week, 320,000 the next week. The head of East German resigns the next week, the berlin wall falls

1999—Lutherans and Catholics sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

2006—Evangelical Lutheran Worship published

2013—Tracie Bartholomew elected Bishop of the New Jersey Synod

2017—500^th Anniversary of Luther posting the 95 theses

2017—Gettysburg and Philadelphia Seminaries merge, United Lutheran Seminary founded

2020—All Creation Sings published

2025—Christa Compton elected Bishop of the New Jersey Synod

Life is Fragile: A Reflection on Moving Quickly and Breaking Things

 Chesterton’s Fence

              G. K. Chesterton famously described good reform as a long period of reflection prior to action. If you come to a fence that is of no use to you, don’t break it down, instead figure out why it is there in the first place, and only then make a decision about whether it should be torn down or not.

              A pretty simple concept, but one that is the backstop for most conservativism. “Conserve the fence, you fast paced and foolish liberals! Understand the fence’s function, before you start doing something new with it. Make sure you know the root of the thing before you root it out.”

              Chesterton’s idea is why I would encourage any pastor at a new call to listen for about a year, before making substantial changes to how the congregation functions. Write down every “new” idea you have for the community but go a full liturgical year and see if that new thing is done in some other way, so that you don’t accidently replace a good and functional thing with a half thought out change. Your mere presence as the new pastor will likely be enough change for the congregation without imposing a bunch of new stuff right out of the gate.

              I bring all this up, because it seems like in our political life today, the traditionally conservative party is not taking a beat, in order to see how our country’s fences function; they are not being conservative.

 

The Fence is Already Trampled

              Now, to be fair to the so-called conservatives, they maintain that the fence has already been trampled down, and they have to do radical atypical things to right the ship. Essentially, in a crisis actions, not reflection, is the priority.

              So, to use the pastor new to a congregation example again. A global health crisis occurred as I became the pastor at my current call. That meant I had to move fast and make decisions without the level of reflection or deference to history that I would have sans crisis. The fence was already toppled by external pressures, and I simply did what I could to restore and maintain some sort of equilibrium.

              The Republicans are making the same claim: there is a crisis that require action without reflection to restore and maintain an equilibrium. My concern about this is two-fold: 1. What is the actual crisis? 2. What is the equilibrium we are shooting for?

Multitudinous crises:

For some the crisis is abortion; Roe v. Wade has normalized a “genocide state” and extreme measures are required to end the slaughter of the unborn, even if it means a bunch of women will be denied healthcare—abortion and not—and some of them will die or become disabled by childbirth.

For others the crisis is immigration; illegal immigration is too high, asylum laws are too loose, and the countries of origin of legal immigrants are "undesirable." Often times, attached to this are worries about the flow of illegal drugs.

For still others, the crisis is DEI; in some ways, concerns about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are parallel to the first two crises. Women having full bodily autonomy, including access to abortion, and immigrants coming from non-European countries, shifts culture; it changes how things get done in our country. For some Republicans that shift is a grave threat, instead of a vitalizing dynamic; cultural discomfort is an existential threat.

For others, the crisis is one of lost dynamism; America has lost “The Hop.” We don’t manufacture things here and a country centered around service and government jobs stifles adaptation and innovation. Red tape makes building new houses complicated and unaffordable, and there are fewer paths for working class folk to get ahead.

What is the preferred equilibrium? When is “Again”?

              The big unanswered question of Trumpism is when is the “Again” in “Make America Great Again.” Personally, I think that’s the point, it is open ended. It is a Rorschach test of the same caliber as Obama’s progressive, “Yes We Can” … can what? The “Again” is the spot we project all our hopes and dreams.

              Now, my own “Again” would be the immediate post-Cold War period up until 9-11. It was the time when the whole world celebrated the triumph of capitalism, and every culture and idea was welcome to join the marketplace of ideas. It was a period of time when anything was possible, the entire world could address major problems without the fracturing ideological lens of the Cold War, likewise, America could make geopolitical decisions that were right, instead of decisions that would simply counter communist activity… America was great then: we defeated and redeemed the Evil Empire through culturally adept soft power and Saddam through technologically sophisticated hard power, the president played a saxophone, we took concrete steps to protect the environment, the personal computer and internet were popularized, the stock market did nothing but go up, and even Russia wanted to join Nato!

To be clear, this is my incredibly rose-colored glasses version of the 90s and early 2000s, but that’s the vibes I’d project onto Trump’s “Again” if my politics was primarily backwards looking instead of forward looking.

              So, I wonder, what is the equilibrium point Trump voters are hoping for? Perhaps…
-For the anti-abortionists it is the Pre-Roe 1970s?
-Or for the anti-immigration folks the pre-Immigration and Nationality Act 1960s?
-Or the people who miss “The Hop” the post-World War 2 boom times of the 1950s?
-Or judging by the tariffs and a policy of annexing Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal, the 1890s?

              That said, I’ve heard some pretty out there and ahistorical “Agains” from my fellow millennials, not to mention people younger than me:
-We’re going back to the 1050s, before the great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity; an Evangelical-Russian Orthodox cultural alliance will return us to greatness, that’s why we are siding with Putin!
-We’re going back to the 1450s, before the fall of Constantinople and along with it the “Roman” cultural ideal: hierarchy, agrarianism, and family!
-We’re going back to the 1550s, say the “Theo-bros” who hope to restore that brief period when John Calvin set up a Theocracy in Geneva.

              For that matter, and in the most extreme, you have folks like Steve Bannon, looking to a Europe oriented toward a traditionalist Vatican and a “Christian” Emperor. Bannon is publicly feuding with another end of the "conservative" spectrum, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, who hope to build a “techno-feudalist” future. And then we have Richard Spencer of Unite the Right who, in his podcasts, cite Far Future Science Fiction as his “Again,” particularly the tabletop game Warhammer 40K and the Dune books, both of which are centered around a “God-Emperor.”

The Fences we’ve Destroyed

And all of this brings me to the fences being trampled. There are, of course, all the big ones making headlines: the Department of Education and USAID shoved in a corner to be ignored, intentionally cruel mass firings of federal employees, overturning world trade without a plan, attacks on judges and the rule of law, non-profits being insulted, defunded, and undermined, and hairdressers and students being snatched up off the streets, bound for God help them. But those might seem a little abstract, and a little too far off. So, here are three examples I’ve personally come across recently that highlight how fragile life is, and how tearing down fences have real consequences and costs to them.

I have peers doing the squish generation thing—caring for both their kids and their elderly parents—who have lost their jobs as part of the firing of federal employees. This isn’t just devastating for them, but for their extended family! Sure, they will likely get their job back in 6 months to a year, along with backpay, once everything works its way through the courts, but you can’t pay mortgages or medical expenses with IOUs!

              Due to severe cuts in funding of the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, as well as the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, our local pantry will lose access to low-cost meats and cheeses, and in a few months’ time fresh produce as well. We make sure 30 families, 25+ kids, a little over 100 people all told, make it to the end of the month without going hungry. These cuts make our mission all the harder, and our offerings all the more meager.

              I have a colleague who had discerned it was time to retire. He’d put in his paperwork and he and his wife were starting to make plans for their next phase of life. Then the stock market bottomed out. He’s back in and plans to stick things out for the foreseeable future.

              Life is fragile enough without someone taking a metaphorical baseball bat to it.
It is hard enough to discern that God is calling you to a retired life, having that taken away…
Being food insecure, and then having your source of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and cheese for your kids, reduced or eliminated…
Being simultaneously pulled and sandwiched by your parents and your child, and faithfully making it all work, then to lose your ability to provide for any of them…

 

Ends and Means

              I wonder, if the goal is ending abortion, why is the administration going out of their way to attack Lutheran and Catholic institutions that care for orphans and walk families through adoptions? I wonder, if the goal is tightly regulating immigration, why did candidate Trump and then Senator Marco Rubio torpedo bi-partisan immigration reform over and over again, since at least 2013?

I wonder if we really want to go back to the 1960s? As much as corporate DEI stuff can be ham fisted, wasn’t segregation and women not being allowed to have credit cards of their own legitimately awful in retrospect? I wonder, wasn’t the CHIPS Act and the Infrastructure Bill an attempt to re-create the manufacturing dynamism of the 1950s for the 2020s?

My worry is that we’re not asking retirees to suffer for a bit, so that the traditional family can flourish. My worry is that we’re not hurting federal employees and their families, so that we secure our border and limit DEI. My worry is that we’re not asking the poor to tighten their belts even more, so that good jobs and plenty are on the way.

              My worry is that the odder “Agains”: theocracy or techno feudalism, God Emperors or European style monarchy, are the ends for which this fence breaking is occurring. We’re hurting people in the name of speculative fiction! The passing fancies of the rich and the violent are being masked with more mundane concerns.

My worry is that we’re hurting people as an end unto itself. We’re hurting people to assert power.

My worry, ultimately, is that singularly beautiful and fragile lives are being damaged for no good reason, and we’re justifying means for mean ends.

That fence is someone’s golden years, that fence makes a family whole, that fence keeps poor folks fed. Take a moment to consider the fence, it is worthy of our time and our care.

Millennials Meeting the Moment

 

              So, I’m watching the Foundation TV show on Apple+, and it has got me thinking a bit about historical forces, and particularly Generational Theory. I’m one of those people who read Strauss and Howe’s giant Generational Theory book back when it was in vogue. These two studied every generation of Americans from colonization to the present. They noticed a pattern of four generations that seemed to reoccur over and over again. This theory has been adopted by Church Growth folk, Political Consultants, and undergirds much of the language we use to talk about generational shifts and strife.

-One generation meets and defeats a crisis. Their ways of doing so shape how they re-set society after the crisis.

-Then the next generation who were too young to participate as adults in the crisis, take the previous generation’s reshaped society and improves it, often times softening its edges to do more than meet a crisis, but have a life.

-Then the next generation, who never knew the crisis and have experienced the boon of the new society, reacts to it, usually with a spiritual fury. Think the Great Awakenings and/or “Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out”.

-Finally, the fourth generation takes that spiritual energy and turns it into the physical and social work of dismantling the society set up by the first generation. This in turn prepares the way for the next generation to meet and defeat the next American crisis.

              Obviously there is a lot more to it than that, but that’s the broad stokes of the idea. You can see where the current living generations fit into Howe and Strauss’ system in my little chart above.

              According to Strauss and Howe there was only one break to this pattern, the Civil War. Their explanation was that the crisis broke out too soon, the generation who should have met and defeated the crisis weren’t adults when the crisis hit, as such there was an awful and bleak period in American life that almost ended our country and way of life.

              Now, since September 12^th 2001, most of the Strauss-Howe people have been announcing that my generation, the Millennials, were too young when the crisis hit. We could only be foot soldiers in the War on Terror, so the Baby Boomers grasped onto the national agenda and did the changing for us. Then, when the Great Recession hit, the Strauss-Howe folk again said, “Shoot, the Millennials are too young to lead us out of this great crisis.”

              I think, the War on Terror and the Great Recession weren’t the crisis points that Millennials are fixing and rebuilding society in reaction to. Instead, I think the Crisis my generation are meeting and will meet, are the Pandemic and the Climate Crisis. It seems like the post-COVID re-set that is currently happening in society is the Millennials reshaping American norms and values to meet those twin challenges. I’m shooting from the hip on this, but just something I thought was worth sharing.

Intended Unintended Consequences of War

               When I was a Freshman History major at the University of Oregon, I took an introductory course on the History of War. This was during the lead up to the US invasion of Iraq, so I heard everything the professor said in light of the upcoming conflict. One of the main lessons I remember from this course was that wars have unintended consequences, and often lead to radicalization of goals and national identities.

              An example of unintended consequences: The Napoleonic Wars led to the creation of Germany as a unified state. When France invaded and captured territory of the Holy Roman Empire they consolidated the tiny little principalities into larger administrative states (many of them that still exist to this day). This made it much easier for Prussia to consolidate them all into a single country.

              An example of radicalized goals: At the outset of the American Civil War the Union’s goal was its preservation, returning the Southern states to the Union. As the war drug on, battlefield choices were made regarding freeing slaves to undermine the war fighting capacity of the Confederacy, and frankly the average Union soldier saw slavery up close instead of through the eyes of newspapers and Southern songs. In a variety of ways this strengthened the hand of the abolitionist cause, and eventually moved Lincoln to shift the goal of the war from the moderate goal of returning slave states to the Union, to the radical goal of the eradication of slavery on the continent.

              Another thing I remember is the professor saying that there are people whose job it is to game out possible unintended consequences of war. In other words, to discover unintended consequences of an action and make them intended consequences. This brings me to the current war in Ukraine. I wonder what unintended intended consequences and radicalization might be hoped for by people whose job it is to think about these things.

              I imagine Russia chose to escalate the war in Ukraine (because they’d been in a proxy war there for some time) as they did, with the hope of destabilizing the post-Cold War world order. They invaded so that “the West” would make choices that undermined their place on the world stage and bolstered that of BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Additionally, they likely hoped to draw BRIC nations closer together, at this point their main commonalities are rising economies, not alliances. I have noticed India is rather muted in their criticisms of Russia’s choice to go to war, and both they and China are buying Russian oil now that Europe and America have lessened their purchases.

              On the other side of the coin, Europe has responded more forcefully than expected. Russia may have singlehandedly re-armed Europe. Russia’s choice to invade may have prompted the European Union to seek a policy of knocking out their potential rival in the East out of contention as a regional player on the world stage as we move to being an increasingly multipolar world. Traditionally neutral-ish countries like Sweden and Finland are formally joining NATO, Ukraine might join the EU. There are reports that Russia has depleted its stock of some types of missiles, even as Germany is gearing up to create more such weapons as a deterrent.

              There is also a radicalization going on within Ukraine. From reports I’ve read, even the most pro-Russian mayors and governors are sounding like Churchill: they’ll fight Russia on the beaches, they’ll fight them in the forest, they will never surrender! If Russia’s assessment that Ukraine wasn’t a real state that they weren’t a real people, was true, their choice to go to war has radicalized “the” Ukraine, and it is now and forever only Ukraine. If they believed there were a bunch of Russians next door to them, who just happened to be living in a geographic region known as “The” Ukraine, now they have no choice but to acknowledge that their neighbors are Ukrainians.

Review of "What Are We Doing Here?" by Marilynne Robinson

What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to give this book 5 stars--it is well worth reading, full stop... but it is mainly a series of lectures, and as such it becomes repetitive (I read most of the book in 2 sittings on an airplane).
What follows are the major themes that are continually touched on an weaved together is beautiful ways.
-We choose not to know much about Puritans, who shaped our world in incredibly important ways that we ought to investigate.
-We ignore the connections between the American Revolution and the reign of Oliver Cromwell at our peril (in fact O.C. may explain the red state blue state divide).
-The gaps in knowledge in modern America is like the gap between matter and dark matter.
-Conservative Christianity violates many of the tenets of Christianity.
-Aesthetic is a valuable ethical norm.
-When science is reductionist it debases humanity, especially when popular science is an excuse for obliterating the idea of conscience.


View all my reviews

A Reading of the Apostle Paul

Pre-Damascus Paul: “I have everything figured out. There is an answer to any question under the sun within my rigorous version of the Jewish tradition—it is all found in the Law of God. This certainty is worth defending, even with torture, violence, and murder. 

For example, these so called “Followers of the Way” believe Jesus to be the Messiah, the blessed one of God. That can’t be true, for it is written in Deuteronomy 21:23: “All who die upon a tree are cursed.” (Deut. 21:23) So Jesus can’t be God’s Blessed One, for he died accursed. The Way must be destroyed by all means necessary!”

Post-Damascus Paul: “The risen Jesus revealed himself to me… he is the Blessed One of God! I misread the Law… I got it wrong… What if the Law itself got it wrong? In light of Jesus, can the Law be a meaningful category, does it have any power? 

My God… this is a whole new world—none of the categories work… this Jesus stuff is God’s invasion of the world… a new age… the start of God making all things new… what does this mean?”

Paul after reflecting upon all these things for a while: “It seems that the old world that is dying away was filled with duality and division. All categories and powers both Jewish and Pagan (wait… those two categories even no longer work! Holy Cow!) are being pulled apart and put together again in a new way! Free/Slave, Jew/Greek, Man/Woman, Flesh/Body… even my beloved Lawful/Unlawful those are old and passing away! 

All the categories were infected with the parasite Sin and Death… even my beloved Law was infected—a good thing used to a bad end… all people signed themselves over to Sin as slaves. 

But now Sin and Death are defeated by Christ. The slave contract is only valid with living people, but people died with Christ, and are resurrected into a new contract—adoption papers into God’s household. 

As for all the powers and categories of the world—they are being filled with Spirit instead of Sin… The Spirit of God replaces and scrambles all those other categories; Spirit of Christ/Spirit of the Old Age is really the only question we have to ask. Jew/Greek, who cares, the question is Spirit of Christ/Spirit of the Old Age? I have to spread this news by all means necessary! We’ll form communities to live reconciled lives together in the Spirit and that will help reform the Powers of the old age for when God brings about the Age of Christ. It is here and it is coming soon!

Paul having to deal with people: 

“Jewish Christians are insisting male Gentile Christians need to cut off the tip of their penises? Those who say that might as well cut the whole thing off.” (Galatians 5)

“Gentile Christians think a new age means they no longer need to honor the marriages they had in the Old Age and are marrying their mothers? That’s not what I meant at all!” (1 Corinthians 5)

“At communion rich Christians are eating fine food while the poor eat a little wafer and go hungry? How does that reflect the Spirit of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 11)

              “A Free Christian owns a slave who converted to Christianity… I’ll use Greek Rhetoric to shame him into freeing him… there is no way later Christians could misinterpret what I’m saying and justify slavery... I mean the New Age of Christ will be here any minute.” (Philemon)

              “Everyone is getting so caught up in Spirit that you are interrupting one another and women are speaking… this is disgraceful.” (1 Corinthians 14)

The invasion of Iraq / the 4th of July / Patriots and Protestors

The British released their report about the invasion of Iraq, and Tony Blair is defiant about his choice to invade. For that matter, the partisan divide here in America feels to me like we're back in 2003.
So, I thought I'd let 19 year old Chris speak, just so I can remember where we were 13 years ago:

"It seems we have lost. I’ve seen America’s government deciding to be an invader for the first time in history and, after initial doubts, the American people supported it. I’ve seen those of us who marched against war relegated to “focus groups.” Like a scene out of the Third Reich, people who would seem to be sane individuals, burn Dixie Chicks’ CDs in the streets; “Freedom fries” reign supreme. 
At the presentation of our flag at the 4th of July fireworks display here in Cheyenne Wyoming, my hometown, the presenter mentioned that there are too many Americans who, “don’t respect the flag.” He separated the sheep from the goats, the patriots from the protesters.  
To say the least, this marcher for peace felt down in the dumps. Then something happened to strengthen my resolve. The fireworks display began with a reading of the names and ages of each American soldier killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. With each name read, a single white firework was shot into the air, rose up through the solemn night sky, began to descend back down, and fizzled out. Robert M. Rodriguez ptttwp, a white light, a falling star, then darkness again. It was as if we were sending our national heroes up into heaven. 
As I sat there between my parents, my father looking a little bored, my mother’s eyes glistening with tears, I got to thinking about those names of soldiers, so many about my age (19). Each firework retort was also the retort of an Iraqi rifle, a miss-lobbed grenade, the crash of a helicopter. Bam Frederick E. Pokorney Jr dead. It was the light of Lori Ann Piestewa’s life, acceding through existence, then fizzling out, descending to the dead. 
This is why I marched. I didn’t march for the United Nations. I didn’t march for a certain political ideology. I marched for peace. I marched for the life of Brendon C. Reiss. 
The patriots holler and shout at the explosions while Toby Keith sings about putting “a boot in your ass” The protesters realize “an eye for an eye makes the world go blind,” and anger against anger makes a graveyard. The patriots smile and cheer about the troops we sent off to die. The protester sit somber, eyes glistening, knowing America chose this war, America chose to be the aggressor, America chose to let those soldiers die.
Don’t be embarrassed that you strove for peace. Don’t be embarrassed that you want to know about the legitimacy of the documents used to justify our war. Don’t be embarrassed that you want to know where the weapons of mass destruction are. Don’t be embarrassed; our cause is just, our motives virtuous, our actions commendable. 
We protesters may not wrap ourselves in the American flag, but rest assured we did not protest as traitors to our country, but as a people standing against needless death."

A History of the Samaritans: A Reflection on the attack on Emanuel AME Church

A History of the Samaritans: A Reflection on the attack on Emanuel AME Church

(Please understand this is written in the same vein as “Paul’s Letter to American Christians”)

This morning I woke up, and found a first century non-sectarian scroll entitled, “A History of the Samaritans” on my kitchen table. This is the translation. If it sounds more Halversonian than Hebraic, I am to blame. The brackets are portions of the text that are missing and I have restored.

A History of the Samaritans

            After today’s [at]tack on the Samaritan Temple, it’s worth considering their history and our own.

            [Th]ey did not come here escaping Phar[aoh]—seeking a promised land. In fact, their journey here is quite the reverse. They came from the nations of the East, drug here in chains by the Assyrians after their own cities were conquered, just as the 10 northern tribes were conquered and dispersed. On that journey from there to here, that MiddlePassage, many of them died, all of them were devastated. They were placed on foreign soil so they would be away from their gods and their land, familiesspit up, nothing familiar, rendered helpless so that they might be used in the fields.

            [They soon] converted to a form of Judaism. They did this for their safety; lions were eating them and they believed these attacks were the work of the god of this land. So they called upon him in their distress and were saved. For this conversion under pressure, we called them “Lion Jews,” those Samaritans. We claim their priests are deficient, their traditions insufficient, their religion suspect. But, I wonder, if we do so out of jealousy. Essene, Sadducee, and Pharisee all agree that they are more pious than us. They lack the history and tradition going way back (though some say they too were monotheists, some even go so far as to say they too were Jewish, like us. They claim we simply didn’t listen to them when they arrived, that their otherness began with our rejection of them—rejection of our siblings of the faith), but the Spirit is with them in ways that it seems we can only pick up second hand. Perhaps many of us lack the existential level of trust in the LORD that comes from being saved from Lions and finding temple as the last safe space in a world that is rarely safe.

            [The thi]ngs we did to them in the Maccabean period, LORD, have mercy. The slightest interaction between Jew andSamaritan brought torture and death. Accusations of rape led to so many of them hanging on trees, accu[rsed.] Their temples attacked, worshippers attacked.

            [These days w]e say those strugglesare done. These days we say with Rome’s boot upon our necks, those differences are secondary. We say these things until radicals push us. Radicals like that the Pharisee, Jesus, who told stories about Samaritans, saying they and we are neighbors, and spent time with them. Then again there are rumors he and hisfollowers were Samaritans, he was from Galilee after all. They all have at least one drop of Samaritan in them, and for most that’s still enough.

            [For that] matter, we say it’s “all good” between Jew and Samaritan, but the things they say about Herod the Half Jew, our leader. The ways the Zealots talk about “taking our country back.” It’s not “all good.”

            Again, I think about the attack of yesterday. This man, flesh of my flesh, of the same faith as I, did this thing—killing those 9 Samaritans. It’s not an event that materialized out of thin air.

            Think of it. That particular templehad been attacked in the Macc[abean] period too. There is a long history of violence on our part against the Samaritans. He accused them of rape—pointing back to the Judas Maccabeus and his band. He talked of taking his country back. If you stand on any street corner in Jerusalem you can hear someone saying it “take our country back.” It’s a watchword, so common we don’t even hear it, even when it comes out of our own mouths.

            Even if the man who did this deed was possessed by a demon, that demon fed on our past and present, which we refuse to acknowledge or address.

            Over these things I weep,

            My eyes gush with tears upon tears.

            My soul and my belly and my bones,

            All cry out with sorrow.

            Oh Comforter, be not far from the mourners

            Oh Merciful LORD, draw near those in deepest need.

            Look not on our iniquities

            Make us look upon them

            Turn us in our tears

            Turn us from our sins

            They are many and great

            As the stars are many

            As the deep is great

            So is the depths of all of this

            Cleanse us with the most hyssop

            Allow us to rebuild the walls

            That all may be inside

            Comfort O Comfort my people

            He is Defender of the lowly

            Our LORD, Caretaker of the widow and orphan

            My soul fails

            My heart is distressed

            All people groan

            All cry for mercy

            All cry “Lord, how long?”

Sermon: The Self-Binding God

        In light of the recent beheading of 21 Coptic Christians and the rumors of organ harvesting coming out of the region controlled by Daesh, commonly called ISIS here in the states.

         In light of the attacks on cartoonists and Jews now in two different countries, France and Denmark.

         In light of Daesh burning a Jordanian pilot alive.

         In light of the thousands slaughtered in Iraq and Syria.

         In light of the attempted Genocide of the Yazidi.

         In light of the beheading of Journalists and other foreigners.

         In light of the kidnapping of the two Bishops from Aleppo, now nearly 2 years ago.

          In light of all that, it’s worth considering again how these kind of things can be done in the name of God.

         Let us pray.

         When I first was reading the Bible on my own as a young kid, before I was firmly connected with a Church community or tradition, at night when I was supposed to be asleep, I would just randomly open up the Bible and read—this is how I rebelled against my parents as a 8 year old.

         Often times I ran into cool stories, Jesus getting the best of some Religious stick in the mud, or I ran into a cool proverbs that really made me think—it was great fun…

but sometimes I ran into some totally creepy stuff—The Book of Revelation, rules about menstrual blood, descriptions of situations when it is advisable to stone a person to death

—and the one that gave me nightmares for a good long time, was about the practice of Haram, the act of sacred destruction. When you conquer a village, take everything in it, both things and people, and put them to the flame.

Now, I would have read right past it, except it goes on and gives an example of when a soldier took some things and didn’t utterly destroy them. God gets mad at the people until the soldier is punished by joining the objects in the flames.

         And, if we get past the cute children’s story version of events we have about Noah—you know all those children’s arks with cute little Giraffes and Elephants and smiling Noah and family

—if you get past all that, the flood story is another one of those stories that could give a kid nightmares.

         Angels are boinking humans, humans are killing one another left, right, and center, so God flushes the whole experiment down the toilet.

         It must be stated that the first 12 chapters of Genesis are written as pre-history—essentially, “you’ve heard all these explanations of the world from other peoples, here’s a faithful reading of them, in light of the God we know.”

So, for example, “you’ve heard it said the god Marduke created earth by tearing apart a chaos dragon, well I say to you God isn’t a fighting God, God creates simply with his words.”

Likewise, as in today’s reading, “You’ve heard it said in the Epic of Gilgemesh, and elsewhere, that the gods were grumpy because humans are loud, so they tried to drown us all, and it was only because a human seduced a goddess that humans survived, but I say to you, the wickedness of humans brought about a just response, yet God was merciful and started again with a new covenant, a new relationship, with humans and the earth—God doesn’t give up on us.”

         So, when you read vast swaths of scripture it’s worth noting what they’re being written in response to… None the less, it’s gruesome, “all flesh cut off,” the deadly bow of God.

         And as you all know there are plenty of times when the faithful have not put down the bow.

         Because I believe it might be a useful analogy to help us understand what’s currently going on in the Middle East, I would like us to think back for a few moments to the period during, and immediately after, Luther’s Reformation.

         Before Luther, Jan Hus was burnt at the stake for offering his parishioners both bread and wine at communion.

         If Luther hadn’t been taken into hiding after his famous declaration at his trial, “Here, I stand, I can do no other, God help me. Amen,” that would have been his fate as well. Some early Lutherans were in fact killed in just such a fashion.

         John Calvin, the founder of Presbyterianism, burnt Michael Servetus alive for not believing in the Trinity or in child baptism.

         Lutherans carried out the persecution of Mennonites.

         In general, Christians of all sorts took up the Sacred Bow against one another,

The Faithful were used by secular governments to further national ends,

and likewise, the religious used secular governments to further their religious ends.

         From 1555, when the Peace of Augsburg claimed to settle the question of religious persecution, until 1648 at the Peace of Westphalia, almost 100 years—inter-religious war depopulated Germany, and killed, by some estimates, 12 million Europeans.

All in the name of God.

         For that matter, it wasn’t for another 200 years that, at the 1^st Vatican Council in 1870, the Pope gave up his claim to secular power.

        

         Now this is just me talking, but it seems like one of the big questions for “The West” and all those governing authorities in our country, since the Iranian Revolution in ‘79, or perhaps the Lockerbie Bombing ‘88, or maybe the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, is this:

         “How do you navigate, and/or contain, the Islamic equivalent of the European Wars of Religion, in an Era of Globalization, Mass Immigration, the Internet, and Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

         Obviously I do not have a set of answers for you all, it’s way above my pay grade…

This is why we pray for those who govern nations, especially our own; they have an unenviable job.

         All of these acts of violence and destruction in the name of God, ought to be Anathema—denounced, condemned, and cursed.

         Because God puts down the bow. God binds God’s-self with a vow, that never again will God destroy the world, never again will God take up that bow.

Think of that, God limiting God’s self!

         This is the true story of the faith, it is the hope always on the lips of those who preach the Gospel

—that God favors mercy over justice. God limit’s God’s self, for our sake.

         During the season of Lent we’ll see this again and again in the readings from the Hebrew Scriptures. God will say:

“Okay, I renewed all of creation after the flood… and that didn’t work for you all, so I’ll work through Abraham and his family.”

“Okay, you guys screwed that up too… I’ll lay down 10 basic rules for you all.”

“Okay, you’re still complaining in the wilderness… I’ll create a batch of miracles to save you from yourselves.”

“Okay, this still isn’t working… I’ll jam my covenant into your hearts, so you can’t find it to break it.”

And even then, it continues, until God sends Jesus, his son, who continually forgives us.

Even then, we kill him.

And even then, God provides for us, taking the death of Jesus as payment for all of our sins!

         And surely that would be enough, but God continues this trajectory of mercy over justice, as we read in that weird bit in 1^st Peter.

         Christ descends to hell, preaching even to the Spirits bound in chains there! Jesus ripping apart hell itself! That’s the power of the Word of God.

         Think of it. If God tries to convert Djinns and Demons in the depths of hell, surely we can pray for the redemption of Daesh.

         In fact, a good place to start, might be to remind them, and us, of Noah’s words, as recorded in the Quran, the 71^st chapter: “Ask forgiveness of your LORD. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver.”

        

         Yes, there is much violence done in the name of God.

Violence committed because God’s mercy is being ignored.

Yet truly, for the faithful, this is an impossible thing they do—to ignore God’s mercy,

Because God’s merciful acts are the linchpin of the entire story of Scripture.

God, merciful to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah.

God’s mercy shown in total, in Jesus’ righteous actions and words.

Jesus’ death, the ultimate act of self-limiting on God’s part.

Jesus’ descent to the dead to Harrow Hell and pull from the pit a people imprisoned.

And of course, that amazing act of God we prepare for, this Lenten season

—the Resurrection, which is God’s ultimate promise of mercy to us. Amen.

Valentine's Day: Make Love not War

So, as legend has it Valentines Day is in fact an anti-war, anti-imperial holiday. During the reign of Claudius an edict went out throughout the land—men were not allowed to marry, because marriage causes a man to think about things other than serving the god-like forces of Empire as a soldier. You see, to the emperor the only worth of a person is as a tool to oppress and conquer others.
But one man stood against the madness of war, tyranny, and death—a priest named Valentine. He would meet young men and women who wish to tie the knot, and in a radical act of civil disobedience marry them!
Soon enough his illicit underground actions caught the attention of the authorities. He was arrested and brought before Claudius himself.
Claudius decided to be magnanimous—he would allow this foolish rebel-priest to convert to emperor worship.
As Claudius began to present the case for worship of the greatest power the world had ever known—the Emperor of Rome—Valentine looked up and said, “Have you heard of a man named Jesus.”
And with that Claudius ordered Valentine to be executed.
The night of the 13th of February, before the execution, the priest threw out one last bomb-shell for love and against war. He wrote a letter to the one he loved and signed it, “From your Valentine.”
So tomorrow—as you woo the one you love remember that love can be a radical act. Love can coincide with Christ’s calling to beat swords into plowshares and tanks into tractors.

Jesus and the multi-verse… or “Varieties of Jesus versus the Consistency of God”

So right now I’m a mentor for TEY (Theological Education with Youth) a really cool program of the ELCA that engages young adults on a high theological level. The event I’m mentoring is “Summer Academy” where our scholars (the young adults) study college level courses for two weeks at Susquehanna University. The mentors get to sit in on the classes!
One of the classes deals with science and religion. We’ve been dealing with quantum mechanics and “Multiverse theories.” One of these theories posits there are a near infinite number of universes based upon the idea that (I may be botching this—I’m a mere bible student after all) we can only know the probability that an electron is in any one space at any one time and therefore it is possible that electrons are in all these probable places at once, just in different universes.
The implication of multiple universes, at least within some of these theories, is that near identical versions of us are doing near identical, yet perhaps different, things in these alternate universes (think “Sliders”). Some of these differences are small, maybe even non-existent, others are large—think super-intelligent grasshoppers.
So my question related to all of this is whether slightly different Jesuses could still save the world (worlds?). Could there be a world in which Jesus is fallen? CS Lewis posits a soteriology in which a Narnia world is saved by a Lion version of Jesus—Aslan. In another work he wonders if our world alone experienced “The Fall.” Yet it still bothers me—what of a world in which Jesus was beat by Joseph as a child and goes all Alexander the Great on us? A world where Mary was never born? A world where Judas never betrays Jesus?
If there are near-infinite variations of universes for electrons to be reside in within the bell-curve of possible electron movement, which leads to a near-infinite histories/lives it is possible Jesus the man would be “passed over” (I know this isn’t orthdox language—in fact it is rather adoptionist, but dealing with this type of speculation I think it is appropriate) as Child of God? Would God come in another form or person? Save in a different way? As Judas or Paul, Buddha or Muhammad, Joan of Arc or Steve Jobs? (on a side note I’d feel more comfortable with an Aslan or even a grasshopper savior than a non-Jesus human… I imagine that speaks to my own biases in some way)
Or, do we assume that the once-for-all-ness of Christ’s atonement in our universe is cross-universal? That seems rather like navel-gazing—imperialist even—but I’m not sure.