Commemorating the Reformation, a sermon

          Back in 2017, 

at the 500^th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, 
the watch-word going forward for Lutherans 
was that we ought to switch from celebrating the Reformation 
to commemorating it. 
This allowed us to more easily see ourselves as part 
of the Body of Christ, 
but not the whole thing, 
and keeps us from getting stuck in the 1500s, 
because ours is a living faith!

         This means considering how the Reformation 
-was in continuity with earlier Christians, 
-the crisis of the Reformation period, 
-and the continued relevance of the Lutheran Reformation.

 

Prayer

         It must be stated clearly, 
The Lutheran Reformation was Necessary. 
After all there was much at stake:

         -The practice of selling indulgences 
shook peoples’ trust in God’s saving works for them. 

         -Questions of authority, 
both secular and religious, 
were up in the air.

         -The purpose and point of worship 
had become lost on many.

         -The identity of our Lord Jesus Christ 
had become hidden 
by heady words 
and arrogant pomp.

 

         And so, Luther and his cohort called the Church to repentance. 
-They pointed back to faithful ways of being Christian from earlier ages, 
-called out dead ends in Christian thought and action, 
-and innovated to see what the Spirit was now doing. 

 

         In fact, the Lutheran Reformation continues to be Necessary.

-The ideas the Reformers lived and died for still light our way.
-The Church is always reforming.
-The Gospel the Reformers confessed is still central to life itself.

 

1       Four centuries before Luther’s time, 
the Theologian Abelard had introduced the idea of Limbo, 
as a logical category between Heaven and Hell, 
to pastorally account for the death of unbaptized babies
—but in the centuries that followed 
the idea had grown into a money making scheme
—pay Rome 
to get your relative out of the cosmic waiting room… 
         That was the stock and trade of 
indulgence salesmen like Tetzel.

         And it terrified people... 
made them question their salvation, 
slaughtered souls.

 

         So Luther pointed back to St. Augustine, 
who affirmed that we are saved by Grace… 
Our Salvation, 
our Justification, 
our being made Right, 
comes from God alone, 
-we simply trust it to be true, 
-live lives leaning into the trustworthiness of God.

         

         And there are still terrified people out there
—people caught in an If/Then paradigm
—if I do this that or the other, 
then I am deserving, worthy, safe… 
         The Religious will toss Tetzel’s shtick at you, “Are you REALLY saved?” 
         The Secular world will insist you must be a Human Doing
—always on the move, 
always striving, 
always coming up short…

         But, ours is a Because/Therefore God
—Because God is Trustworthy and Kind, 
Therefore, we are loved and accepted. 
You are saved for Christ’s sake! 
You are a human being, 
made in the likeness of your beloved parent.

 

2       In the year 1054 Eastern and Western Christianity split
—ostensibly over doctrine surrounding the Holy Spirit, 
and just six decades before Luther’s birth 
there were not 1, not 2, but 3 popes in the West… 
all this, a crisis of Authority… 

         The likes of Wycliffe in England 
and Huss in what is now the Czech Republic,
urged local neutrality in these battles over authority 
and searched for other sources of authority
—ways to discern who rightly upheld the faith.

 

         Luther too searched 
for a Mighty Fortress as a buttress for the faith, 
and found Scripture as such a foundation. 
Scripture experienced as Law and Gospel
—pointing out Injustice and Sin, 
and assuring us of God’s unfailing love. 
Scripture Alone rang with authority, 
as nothing else in his age did.

 

         Since those days, 
Scripture has been co-opted in many ways
—everything from The Fundamentals written in 1910, 
insisting the Bible to be a science textbook, 
to Dispensationalists from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1948,
using it to predict the end of the world, 
to all kinds of grave misuses, 
upholding kooky conspiracy theories 
and treating the Bible 
the way a Pagan might treat a Spellbook
—all this, instead of simply letting Scripture be Scripture, 
attesting to God’s faithfulness.

 

3       So often the Church dabbles with power 
and finds itself poorer for it… 
         Some call Constantine’s elevation of the Church 
to the status of Roman State Religion, 
using it as the glue to hold together his empire, 
they call it, the Church’s original sin. 
         Later, just as Constantine 
inserted the State into the business of the Church, 
Pope Gregory the Great returned the favor, 
amassing secular power around the Papacy, 
the Kingdoms of Europe.

 

         Luther, on his good days, 
clung to St. Augustine’s enormous work “The City of God” 
where he tried to untangle the mess Constantine made
—Augustine tried to differentiate between 
being a Roman Citizen 
and being a Christian. 
Luther described this distinction as the Two Kingdoms, 
the Secular focused on Law
—restraining evil and encouraging the good, 
the Sacred—the Church, 
a messenger always delivering that love letter from God
—the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

         Yet try as Luther might, 
his ideas on this, 
were skewed by the political realities of his day
the sacred authorities trying to assassinate him, 
while the secular authorities kept him alive.

 

         Over the ensuing centuries 
those questions concerning Politics and the Church 
keep coming up.

         It is for the American Church’s benefit 
that the Two Kingdoms-like compromise 
of the Wall of Separation between Church and State, exists. 
         We can look to Lutherans in Germany in the 1930s, 
accepting Nazi control of the Church, 
as a cautionary tale.
         When partisans ask Pastors 
to preach politics from the pulpit, 
when they say Churches ought to close up for a Sunday 
and instead rally to Make America a Christian Nation
—we ought to remember St. Augustine’s Holy City, 
and Luther’s Kingdoms
and Lord Acton famous maxim: 
“Power Corrupts, 
and Absolute Power 
corrupts absolutely.”

 

4       There was a long history of standardizing worship
—especially by my favorite boogiemen 
Pope Gregory and his henchman Boniface. 
They squelched the indigenous Christianities 
of Ireland and Germany. 
Ignoring the simple description of worship by Justin Martyr some 5 centuries before: 
We Gather, 
Read Scripture, 
Partake in the Sacraments, 
and are Sent to serve our Neighbor.

 

         Lutherans one generation after Luther 
were also beset by imposed standardization of worship; 
Lutheran Pastors were being martyred over refusing to comply, 
and, before there weren’t any Lutheran Pastors left alive, 
they asked the question: 
What are things central to the Gospel 
and what are indifferent things
—to use the Greek, 
what is Adiaphora?

 

         And today, 
the Church is spread across the globe 
and embraced by so many different cultures. 
As such, worship questions go well beyond 
“What translation of the Lord’s Prayer ought we use?” 
or “What music is catchy?” 
or “Green Book/Red Book?”

         So, we do well to return to the font 
dug long ago by Justin Martyr
—Gather, Word, Sacrament, Sending. 
The Central Things that transcend indifferent things, 
and we know always illuminate the Gospel.

 

5.      Finally, the church regularly chases after certainty
—proof, not faith, 
to understand God, 
instead of stand under the cross 
and see God as God is. 

         This was the case with Anselm, 
who rolled out proof of God’s existence, 
and Aquinas 
who embraced a certain type of Greek Logic 
as a road into the heart of God.

         But there was another route
—St. Francis rebuilt the Church, 
then tamed and tainted in so many ways, 
by finding God in the least of these
—monks who lived in genuine poverty
—closer to God 
than all the academics and politicians.

 

         Luther too, was pushed 
by those enraptured by certainty
—people he called Theologians of Glory
—pushed to the margins, like Francis, 
and he was transformed 
into a Theologian of the Cross. 
He found God revealed only there
—in the person of Jesus Christ, 
God crucified among us and by us.

 

         And today, 
there are still plenty of Theologians of Glory, 
pointing to financial prosperity as the key to God’s heart, 

and anchoring the faith in all kinds of assumptions 
that have nothing to do with what God is really like.

         Because, 
when God shows up, 
it is on the Cross.

         If someone tells you that 
“Jesus wants you to have a new car,” 
or if they insist “God wants you to be ostentatiously religious,” 
or if certainty or success is the name of their game, 
you are dealing with a Theologian of Glory, 
not a Theologian of the Cross.

 

         As we commemorate the Lutheran Reformation let us:
-affirm its necessity,
-remember it as a return to the Church at its best,
 and consider its ongoing message to the Church today.

Amen.

Ten Theses on the Lutheran Reformation

Intro: After 500^th year, we ought to commemorate instead of celebrate the Lutheran Reformation. This means considering how the reformation was in continuity with the Church, the crisis of the Reformation period, and the continued relevance of the Lutheran reformation.

 

The Lutheran Reformation was Necessary.

-Salvation, Authority, Worship, and Christ were all on the table in Luther’s day.

The Lutheran Reformation was a call for the Church to Repent.

-Repentance is a return.

-Repentance is to rethink.

-Repentance is to reform.

The Lutheran Reformation continues to be Necessary.

-The watchwords of the Reformation are good interpretative lenses.

-The Church still needs reforming.

-The World still needs to hear the Gospel.

The Image of God

             In many religious traditions, 

including our own, 
there is a profound tension 
between God’s transcendence and God’s imminence. 

            Transcendent… 
God as holy and with that wholly Other, 
different to such an extreme 
that there is an impermeable barrier 
between God and humanity
—Creator and Creature. 
Luther in fact uses the language of 
“The Alien Works of God,” and “The Alien God” 
to describe this 
indescribable, strange, 
God of ours.

            Imminent… 
God as close as breath, 
a heartbeat, 
the hairs on our head
—God our Sibling we wrestle with 
and God the Parent of us all. 
God in intimate conversation with us. 
At an extreme, Creation as an outworking of the Creator.

            And in today’s story of Moses 
bathed in God’s radiant afterglow, 
and the story of Jesus 
pointing to humanity as an image of God… 
we come face to face with that tension anew. 
God as Other 
and God as Brother.

Prayer

 

            Moses, that fascinating mediator between God 
and the throng of escaped slaves 
who become something more
—become a people…

Moses regularly pushes the envelope with God… 
at the burning bush 
he button-holes God 
and pushes God beyond command, 
to a name… 
“Who should I tell them sends me to free them? 
Who is our liberator? 
What is your name!”

            Names have power
—Just say someone’s full name, including middle names, loudly 
and see if they revert to childhood 
or notice how people react to their old nick-names 
when at a high school reunion.

            So, Moses’ ask is a big ask
—and surprisingly 
he gets what he asks for, 
“I AM that I AM” and 
“The God of your ancestors.” 
Now Moses pushes further still, 
to see God’s face.

 

            I was on a Zoom call this last week 
and met a Pastor face-to-face
—virtually
—who I’d only known by name 
through his writing and common friends
—I finally got to put a face to the name… 
so too Moses
—he wants to put a face to the name “I AM.”

 

            God responds
—I’m not going with you, 
I’m not following you into the Promised Land, 
because my presence, 
my Holiness, 
my complete otherness, 
will consume you like fire… 
after all:
-you all created a Golden Calf, 
-you rebelled in the desert, 
-I’ve rushed among you 
-and the earth responded by swallowing you up…

 

            This is a Raiders of the Lost Ark kind of theology
—God’s terrible glory 
is face-melting
is fire, 
is thunder and lightning, 
is clouded darkness, 
leaves behind volcanic lava-flow.

            But Moses pushes
—and God accommodates his request… 
Moses gets to see God indirectly, 
-through the cleft in a rock, 
-shielded by the hand of God, 
-and only from the backside.

 

            It’s like watching an eclipse 
by poking a hole in a piece of paper 
and watching the shadow.

            Or like looking at a gorilla
—the only way you can do so 
without them getting aggressive 
is by giving them the side-eye.

 

            Even bathed in God’s radiant afterglow, 
there is still that distance
—God is still very much transcendent, 
still a God who is Alien, 
who is Other.

 

            Jesus takes a different tact, 
when he walks into this step-up, 
springing this trap.

            The Pharisees and Herodians
—two Jewish groups who agree on almost nothing, 
their central sticking-point being how to relate to Rome
—they set Jesus up starting with flattery, 
then going for the jugular, 
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor?” 
This is a no-win question, 
either he is 
-a traitor to his people 
or 
-an enemy of the state. 
He has to declare himself a rival to Rome 
or a quisling to empire.

            But wow, Jesus’ question in response 
causes these Herodians to tell on themselves.

            They dig into their pockets 
and pull out a day’s worth of pay like it is nothing
—in the temple… 
they pull out a forbidden coin 
in the temple
—they are pulling out what is considered a graven image, 
in the courtyard of God’s house.

 

            It is sort of like that controversy on Twitter, 
back when it was Twitter. 
Someone created a hashtag 
about hypocritical pastors wearing $1,000 shoes 
and getting rich off poor people, 
and Prosperity Gospel preachers misunderstood the point.

            They started using the hashtag 
to brag about how expressive their footwear was… 
they told on themselves! 

 

            But Jesus doesn’t stop 
at unmasking the unkind intention 
behind these questions, 
he then points to the image and the title of God
—that all the way back in Genesis 
we humans were declared to be God’s image
—we belong to God, 
we are worthy of dignity and respect,

AND—the part of Genesis we often miss, 
we’re image bearers who point 
to God’s ultimate possession 
of the creation
—that we are, in a meaningful way, 
stewards of this creation, 
caretakers and keepers of it.

            God is found in 
our being and our doing
—God as imminent 
as a coin in a pocket, 
as our very self….

 

            God is transcendent
—distant from who and what humans are, 
because of our inhumanity, 
-we give ourselves over to Caesar, 
-we mar the image of God in our neighbors
—we make war on each other, 
-we cheat each other, 
-we abuse and dispose of each other

            Not only that, 
we often forsake our duties 
as stewards of God’s world…
We have the power 
to co-create with God 
or destroy God’s world, 
and so often we choose the latter…

            God is imminent, 
imparting dignity to our being 
and meaning to our doings
—We are God’s Sibling and Stewards…

Look to your neighbor
—you look upon the image of God.
Think about your roles, relationships, and responsibilities
—that is how God is made known.

 

            There is an ecstasy in that, 
Literally it throws us out of ourselves!
a Divinity in that. 
Even as 
the mystical flow of 
-living out our vocation
and the experience of 
-existing as signs of Gods’ love,

are always ephemeral
—they gush away 
whenever we try to grasp onto them
—for God is still Transcendent…

 

            And between the two, the cross. 

            There we meet God being flayed 
by every idolatry and temptation, 
humanity’s inhumanity toward humanity 
on full display.

 

            There too, God a sibling
—a sign of costly, caring, love 
for the whole cosmos.
A Human life lived, 
letting us know that we’re not crazy, 
those ephemeral experiences of utter goodness
—true, real goodness,
have echoes in the life of God.

On the cross, God Transcendent, God Imminent.
Thanks be to God.

Amen.

The Practice of a Lifetime

 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…”

            Can you imagine the Apostle Paul, 
and the community in Philippi, 
holding fast to that idea in times of struggle?

            Paul, after all, 
was writing to his people from prison. 
His parishioners were experiencing the harsh effects of holding onto their belief
—their trust in Jesus as Lord.

            Now, the 23^rd Psalm is often know as the Psalm of Comfort. 

Like all good poetry, it is multivalent
—it describes multiple experiences simultaneously.
-The Poet sees sheep with their shepherd, 
-and pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem 
-and makes a series of blessed connection between the two, 
-and then takes a third step, 
-recognizing Pilgrimage as an apt metaphor for our life… 
-our life accompanied and led and guided 
by God the Shepherd, our shepherd.

            And sometimes we just need those words, 
“The Lord is my shepherd”
those words of comfort.

            Other times its worth having a practice in place 
to hold that experience of the Poet in our soul.

            I think that is part of what Paul is offering to the Philippians today. 
A series of: 
communal, prayerful, and lifelong practices 
to center our hearts in God
—our Shepherd
—even when the going gets rough.

            It is series of practices that can anchor and uphold us 
even in times storm and quake. 
Even in those times when we are overwhelmed, 
we can experience those word 
“The Lord is my shepherd.”

Prayer

 

            While imprisoned, how can Paul experience 
“the Lord is my shepherd”? 
How can he pass such a thing on to the Philippians?

            Paul has just affirmed to the Philippians 
that God’s kingdom will come, 
and here he is encouraging them to stand firm in that. 
That it might be true for them.

            This is something Luther mirrors in his small catechism 
when he describes the Lord’s Prayer: 
“God’s kingdom comes on its own, but together we pray it comes for us as well.”

            Paul is giving some practical commands 
for experiencing the Kingdom, 
to be shepherded 
even in the midst of calamity and hardship.

 

            He begins by naming this experience as a communal one. 
We are not alone, 
we are part of a flock… 
a clutch of pilgrims traveling up that Holy Hill.

            It’s like that African proverb says, 
“If you want to go fast, go alone, 
but if you want to go far, go together.”

 

            As such, reconciliation ought to be the name of the game. 
In Philippi two women are at loggerheads, 
and Paul encourages the community 
to help these women 
to resolve their disagreement.

            Imagine two people desiring the same goal, 
working for the same cause, 
yet causing one another distress, 
until their relationship is destroyed…

            Paul points them back to that singular calling, 
struggling for, 
working for, 
the good news.

 

            Celebrating too, the good news!
Paul then announces, 
“Rejoice always! Again! Rejoice!”

            It is good to come together, 
to worship together. 
To celebrate with one another.

            Celebration shifts relationships
—when you are overjoyed on behalf of someone else, 
it throws you out of yourself,
it shifts relationships,
strengthens them,
fills them with meaning.

 

            Paul also encourages this community to be gentle
—if two or three gathering together, 
is the presence of Jesus
—then there ought to be gentleness there, right? 
After all, when Jesus is present: 
-the least, last, and lost are welcomed and honored,

-children are lovingly embraced,
-justice comes without breaking a brittle reed or blowing out a tiny candle.
- he is called the “Prince of Peace” for a reason.

            Imagine where we’d be, 
if Christians were universally known 
for our kindness and gentleness.

 

            Paul directs the Philippians to prayer practices 
that help them to experience God 
as provider of plenty and comforter of our souls.

            He encourages them to pray about anything! 
Not just the big stuff, 
but every little detail… 
pray about anything that is giving you anxiety… 
God’ll listen! 
As Luther writes, and I’m paraphrasing here, 
“Pray even if it feels like you’re overflowing and manhandling God’s ears.”

            

            The other side of prayer is equally important
—giving thanks for all that you have!

            It’s easy to miss that which is good
—we’re hardwired for tracking threats 
and fixating on our misgivings… 
            And if that wasn’t bad enough, 
we’re bombarded with messages of scarcity and failure, 
you’re not enough, because you don’t have… 
this that or the other thing… 
counting your blessings is a counter-cultural act.

            If you dig around in the Greek a little bit, Paul is telling the Philippians to make a list 
-of what’s important, 
-what is good, 
-what you are thankful for.

            The physical act of recording 
pulls it out of the abstract 
and onto a sheet of paper… it’s real! 
There it is, 
the providence of God.

 

            Finally, Paul encourages the Philippians 
to be led along right paths… 
To live out their faith in the world.

            He particularly points them to his teachings, 
and his way of life.

            That’s gusty, if you ask me. 
I’d be very hesitant to tell you all to emulate all that I do… 
I’m a sinner, like we all are, 
I fall short in all kinds of ways… 
yet Paul is getting at something here… 
            The Methodists talk about this kind of thing better than we do, 
the idea that there is a Method to the faith, 
and people further along on that journey, 
this pilgrimage, 
are able to point out safe steps and pitfalls 
to the person behind them.

            It’s discipleship
—following after… 
just as the Disciples follow after Jesus,
and Paul likely follows after Matthew in particular,
so too we follow after them.

            A great pilgrim train, 
trailing toward the house of the Lord.

 

            How can you recite,
“The Lord is my shepherd,” 
while imprisoned? 
How can you pass such a sentiment on 
to other folk in similar dire straits?

            Practice
—practice in community, 
the practice of prayer, 
and the practice of a lifetime.

Amen!

Funding and Accountability

So, not a long post, but something that came up when I asked folk what they’d like me to write about. Two things that came up that I think are interrelated, Accountability and Stewardship. This is going to lean more heavily on the latter, but don’t worry I’ll bop out a post on accountability at a later date.

There is some confusion about how the ELCA is funded, and it is related to our church being three expressions. Some folk assume we’re funded in a top down model—there is a collective pot of money that the National Church doles out to Synods and congregations. That’s not how the ELCA works. There are other denominations and other expressions of Lutheranism that do this kind of thing, but currently that isn’t the ELCA’s model.

Instead, our ideal looks like this:

-Parishioners give a portion of their income to their congregation. The ideal is a “tithe”, which is 10%.

-Then every congregation sends 10% of that on as a gift to the Synod.

-The Synod then in turn sends 50% of what they receive from congregations on to the Churchwide expression of this church.

What does this have to do with accountability, you may ask. One of the pet peeves of a certain segment of clergy is that from time-to-time Churchwide solicits donations from individual congregants (I’ve participated in this without giving it a second thought). Decoupling funding streams from the relationships between expressions can make the expressions of the church less accountable to one another. 

For example, if Chris Halverson loves Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) and sends money to Churchwide for that ministry, that bypasses congregations and synods voicing what they see as important. At an extreme, the national church could become a subsidiary of YAGM, while congregations and Synods cry out, “we need to take care of the elderly,” and it just doesn’t get done.

The Renewed Lutheran Church, if it shifts the number or duties of expressions of the church, might also have to shift how ministries are funded and how the various expressions of the church relate financially. Additionally, if it does so, what those shifts do to communication and accountability between expressions needs to be considered carefully.

The 10 Commandments: Freedom and Community

            Picture it, a people enslaved for a generation, now freed. 

Their bodies and souls stretch, 
experiencing expansive empowered joy 
after the cramped constraints of every decision being made by another. 
They are autonomous, 
they can make choices, 
determine their own fate, for both good and ill… 
they are free… 
and, and there is a whole community of ‘em. 
They weren’t freed alone, but as a people, 
a people who will have to travel together, 
make decisions together, 
and live together.

            That’s where these folk find themselves, and I would maintain, 
every time we reflect upon the 10 Commandments, 
that’s where we find ourselves as well… 
the great tension between freedom and community. 
That great Lutheran maxim, 
that we are “Slaves to none, and servants of all,” 
is central to a decent understanding of these commands. 
They explain to a whole community, 
our community even, 
what we are freed from, 
and what we are freed for.

Prayer.

 

            You shall have no other gods before me.

            We are freed from every idol, every false God. 
Consider what things you fear, love, or trust
—do you give them more honor or worth than they deserve?
if so, those might be your idols.

            Freed from any small-if/then-god
—anything or anyone saying, 
“If you do this that or the other, 
then you will find freedom, 
you will have dignity and self-worth, 
you will matter.

 

            We are freed for relationship with our Liberator
—the Because/Therefor God
Because I am God all by myself, 
I AM that I AM
Therefor, you all are my people
You are made in my image
You are my Children.

            Yes, freed to worship the God who is God.

 

            You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

            We are freed from the dangers of the finite speaking of the infinite
—freed from speaking false gods into existence. 

Freed from the abuse of religion.
Freed from superstition. 
Freed from clouding our words and world with pieties, 
to hide evil intentions.

 

            We are freed for good and gentle God talk. 
Prayer, praise, thanksgiving
—cascading from our lips, 
and seen in our lives.

 

            Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.

            We are freed from hard labor and ceaseless production; 
the impossibility of more, more, more, 
until we are all no more. 

Freed from restless hearts and bodies, 
enslaved, purchased and parched.

Freed from the false worship of those small gods I mentioned before. 
Transactional If/Then worship of all sorts.

            We are freed for rest, liberation, and worship
—braided together these three 
are the single sacred strand that is Sabbath.

            Freed for a day good… for nothing
—the world will keep spinning without you!

            Freed for acts of kindness and justice.

            Freed for worship
—that experience of the restless heart resting in God.

 

            Honor your father and mother.

            We are freed from authority figures fashioned in the likeness of idols. 

            Freed from dishonorable family entanglements 
and threats of abandonment.

            Freed from the harsh wallop of absolute freedom
—a Lord of the Flies 
feral version of being human.

 

            We are freed for honoring all authorities that reflects God’s authority
—leading with humility and vulnerability.

            Freed for care in old age, 
a hard thing even today, 
but terrifying in the ancient world.

            Freed for learning trustworthiness and life lessons 
from good mentors and parents.

 

            You shall not kill.

            We are freed from the fear of violence, 
the normalization of maiming the image of God through murder, 
even anger and curses, 
are challenged by God’s liberation.

 

            We are freed for what Luther calls the work of a lifetime, 
being a life-giving community.

            Freed to help and to honor our neighbors, 
especially when they are in need.

 

            You shall not commit adultery

            We are freed from second guessing 
and never knowing where you stand, 
from sneaking around and STDs.

            Freed from abuse, exploitation, and unhealthy relationships of all sorts.

 

            We are freed for relationships that 
uphold trust, 
build up both partners, 
and strengthen sexual integrity.

            Freed for honoring and helping 
those who struggle to love and trust one another for their whole life long, 
through ups and downs and everything in between.

 

            You shall not steal.

            We are freed from every type of theft 
and the ways they warp individuals and communities.

            Free from loving things and using people. 

            Free from the ceaseless acquiring of things, 
after all that country song isn’t wrong: 
“I never seen a Herse with a trailer hitch.”

 

            We are freed for protecting our neighbor’s property 
and working to better their livelihood.

            Free for loving people and using things.

 

            You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

            We are freed from lies 
and the exhaustion of having to keep track of them.

            Freed from walking back what we didn’t mean 
or leaning into an untruth forever.

            Freed from words wielded like weapons
—defamation and dishonor, 
libel and perjury. 

 

            We are freed for truth, 
defense of neighbor, 
and interpreting actions in the best possible light.

 

            You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or household

            We are freed from covetousness resentment, strife, and jealousy.

            Freed from commandments broken in our hearts
—the insidious festering of wounds hidden from view 
but eating away at you… 
freed from the last cough of self-righteousness.

 

            We are freed for contentment and harmony.

            Freed for assisting neighbors in keeping what is theirs.

            Freed for gratefulness and thanksgiving.

 

            The 10 commandments carry within them 
a memory of slavery, 
in the boundaries they set out. 
They contain as well, 
a community’s hopes and dreams
—the why of freedom. 
What we’re freed from and freed for.

 

            Take a moment and look around the sanctuary at one another, 
this community gathered today…

            We are slaves to no one, but servants of all.

Hold in tension freedom and community.

            A high calling
—this Christian Freedom Luther bequeaths to us.

            God has liberated us
—love each other.

Amen.

Pieces of the Reconstitution Puzzle

 

Back in June I wrote an initial post about the denomination I am a member of and which I serve as a Pastor, the ELCA, preparing to reconstitute itself. I started off thinking about what had changed since the ELCA was founded three and a half decades ago, namely developments around Synodically Authorized Worshipping Communities (SAWCs) and Deacons. I noted that that Synodically Authorized Worshipping Communities are sometimes treated as communities struggling to become congregations and wondered what it would be like if we flipped that on its head and re-imagined every congregation as some sort of Authorized Worshipping Community. I also wondered if a secondary type of ministry community could grow up around Deacons, Authorized Service Communities. Then I offered a few models as alternatives to our current Three Expressions One Church way of being a Denomination.

I thought that was a one off post, but I was moved by the possibility of the ELCA, after 35 years of saying we’ll grow into our new identity, taking some time to ask fundamental questions about the nature and task of Church, Worship, Ordination, etc, look at the world as it is and understand the world we minister to and are church in, and reconstitute ourselves to be faithful going forward. These lines of thought have spawned more than a few posts, and will likely spawn a few more before I’m done.

 

What is the Church?

Know thyself, so that changes you make are done in an intentional kind of way. Having looked at the question from a few different angles in a previous post, I landed on the following definition:

The Church is a body of diverse and fallible people who are stewards of God’s grace.

That grace is found most completely in the person of Jesus Christ, who is our crucified Lord, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

Our acts of stewardship consist of proclaiming the good news of Jesus as both crucified and Lord in word and deed, and worshipping together in ways that allow us to continue to trust in Jesus.

 

The Tasks of the Laity

While an outmoded amount of time gets paid to ordained folk, especially those ordained to word and sacrament, our first calling is always that of our baptism, and for that matter layfolk make up the vast majority of the denomination. As such, having a good sense of what a communal baptized life looks like is incredibly important. Below is my articulation of that life:

Gather in community around Word and Sacraments.

Cultivate hearts of forgiveness, thanksgiving, and generosity.

Go out in Christ’s name to witness, do justice, and serve your neighbor.

 

Ordained Being and Doing

This post was maybe a little more personal; it is the combination of an old post I’d written for friends who had just entered seminary and wanted to know concretely what the tasks of ministry looked like, and a much more recent set of reflections prompted by several ministry and life milestones all happening at the same time. From that I created 10 aspects of pastoral ministry that I think most every pastor has to grapple and come to terms with. Unfortunately, I titled the post 10 “rules” for Pastors, which came off as unsolicited advice, aka criticism, instead of the distillation of my heartfelt experience of ministry. So, in my reflection on the ordained life I've named 10 tasks that Pastors should wrap thier head and heart around:

Be a Person of Faith, Know your Calling and be Grounded in It, Have a System for Ordering Your Ministry, You are the Most Responsible Person in your Ministry Context, Care for God’s People, Protect the vulnerable, Be Present Throughout your Parish, Play Well with Others, Think Globally and Act Locally, Be involved with the Wider Church

 

A Way to Describe the Liturgy

These days many faith traditions describe the effects of their practice upon a person; Buddhist mindfulness, Hindu Yoga, etc. Now that about 15% of our neighbors have never experienced Christian worship, it might be worth describing what we’re up to when we say we “worship” on a Sunday morning. Not only that, but what it does to you. As such, this is what I have experienced Christian worship to do to me.

            Because of Christian worship I:

value and can navigate community,

have an increased sense of self-worth,

have tools to get over slights and make sense of life,

and am more content, generous, and gentle.

 

Centralized and Decentralized Church

In these two posts I lay out a few ideas of what a more Centralized ELCA might look like, and push back a little on the idea that centralization is the only way to organize people that is anti-racist, progressive, and non-coercive.

 

Issues facing the Church

Finally, I wrote a little bit about an Atlantic article about the emptying of the Church that was getting some buzz. At base, when the church is meaningful and a community, people are more likely to stay.

 

So, that’s where we’ve been in this blog regarding the Reconstitution of the ELCA. I’m going to be re-reading Trexler’s book on the creation of the ELCA as well as a few other books on the subject that folk recommended to me. I think I’ll also do a post on Deacons, Racism and Diversity in the ELCA, and the Purpose Statements of all three expressions of the Church.

What other topics should be I thinking and writing about regarding the Renewed Lutheran Church?

A Centralized ELCA

I’ve made no secret that I am inclined toward decentralization in most things, including reimagining the ELCA. But let’s give the other end of things a try, a more Centralized ELCA. What might that look like? 1, 7, 9, 22.

One: The complete disassembling of Synods, and the ELCA would function as one church, two expressions. I imagine in this model Candidacy and Directors of Evangelical Mission would become part of the nation church’s prevue and most other ministries of the Synodical expression would either disappear or be reconstituted using the parish option in congregational constitutions, depending on local situations.

Seven: This model would consolidate synods around seminaries. As I said in one of my other iterations of this line of thought, this could make some cool connections between Professors, Seminarians and the wider church, it could also give a focus to each Region/Seminary. Of the options of centralizing the ELCA this seems most promising to me. A danger, I suppose, is the culture of academia could overly influence the culture of the Synod.

Nine: Alternatively, the nine regions of the ELCA, geographic boundaries already in place, could become the middle expression of the ELCA.

Twenty Two: We could consolidate approximately every three Synods into one. For example, my New Jersey Synod could become part of the Ben Franklin Synod. Franklin famously said the state was a keg tapped on two sides, NYC and Philly. What if we lean into that assessment and merge the New Jersey, Southeast PA and Metro New York Synods?