Charlottesville - A Pastoral Letter

August 15, 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The events that took place in Charlottesville last weekend are a haunting reminder to us that the world in which we live is not only broken, but infected with the worse kind of disease there is:  Hatred.  The following prayer excerpt was offered by the ELCA Council of Bishops prior to last Saturday’s event.

“Just and merciful God, we give you thanks for our sisters and brothers – bishops, pastors, deacons, people of God – who this Saturday walk the way of the cross in Charlottesville, Va. On this day and in that place, they join other courageous and faithful people across time and space to stand against bigotry, hatred and violence; to stand with those who are intended victims; and to stand for justice and mercy, peace and equality for all people…By your might, break the bondage that bigotry, hatred and violence impose on their victims and their perpetrators. May your Kingdom come on earth as in heaven.  And, we pray, empower us in our own communities to follow their lead as fellow servants to your dream of a community in which all people and their gifts are welcomed and honored, cherished and celebrated as beloved children of a just, merciful and loving God; through Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world.”

No one, including myself, imagined that innocent lives would be lost that day.  Hundreds of torch bearing, white privileged “nationalists” many of whom bearing Nazi Swastikas and dressed in riot gear, beat and intimidated anyone who dared oppose their protest message of hate and destruction.  Make no mistake about it:  This was not a protest for equality.  It was a protest for supremacy.

We in the Lutheran Church have a tragic legacy of quietism when it comes to hate-filled crowds promoting themselves as a superior race and desiring the elimination of “inferior” ones.  With the exception of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany, who refused to be silent in the face of human extermination, the Lutheran State Church of the 30s and 40s said and did nothing; even when forced to display swastikas as altar paraments. 

It would be easy for us to turn off the television and pretend that nothing is wrong; to claim the media is making mountains out of mole hills; to turn and look the other way when we hear stories of violence perpetrated against persons of different ethnicities and immigrants.  It would be easy for us to look away saying, “that’s just the way the world is” without asking what or who has unleashed and given voice to the hatred.

As followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who reached across all boundaries and divides, advocating love and justice for the least of these, we know what we have to do.  We cannot and we must not remain silent.  We, like the psalmist, have voices that “sing to the Lord a new song”. A song that anticipates the lion and the lamb  coexisting in peace; A song that proclaims justice rolling down like an everflowing stream; A song that emboldens us to love recklessly as Christ on the cross first recklessly loved us; A song that declares love of God and love of neighbor are all that matter.

Let us raise our counter-cultural songs together as we engage in both conversation and action in the weeks to come. Let us not be fearful in the face of hatred.  Let us not remain silent in the face of racial atrocities.  For the world is now too dangerous for anything but Truth, and too small for anything but love.

Walking with you in Christ,

Pastor Doug

Sermon Reflections for August 6th: Food for Thought

As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick...Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied (Matthew 14).

As I look ahead to the task of preaching on Sunday, I am struck at the scandalous, counter-cultural message of this story.  I don't think this is a tame story that can or should be watered down.  In fact, if we're doing diligence with this or any of the gospel stories, we cannot escape the cosmic transformational message of a God who has come to turn our world and our priorities upside down.

This is not a harmless story where some sick folks are healed and some hungry folks are fed. This is nothing less than a story of radical hospitality devoid of counting costs.  In the midst of collective brokenness, notice what Jesus does not do.

For starters when sick people are brought to him, he doesn't ask for insurance cards.  Nor does Jesus inquire as to any pre-existing medical conditions.  All we are told is that he sees the brokenness, has compassion, and heals.  By the way that word "compassion" in the Greek implies "gut wrenching".  Jesus' gut is literally turned upside down to the point of nausea as he lovingly yearns for the crowd's healing.

It's one thing for Jesus to heal the sick, but feed the hungry too?  Jesus' followers can't begin to imagine how five loaves of bread and two fish will feed thousands.  They know what empty pews on Sunday morning look like.  In their "numbers-crunching" ledger, it is clear to them that there are way too many people to feed for the amount of food they have.  "Send them away" they tell Jesus. "Let someone else feed them.  We can't be expected to feed everyone can we?"

You and I know that they stand in the presence of Jesus; the embodiment of the God of abundance, so their talk of scarcity seems ludicrous.  It's a no brainer for us to see that in Jesus' presence all will get fed.  But I guess the question for me is this:  Do we see that same Jesus in our presence today?  And if so, do we trust that all will be fed and that God will use us to do the feeding?  Do we trust the call to throw caution to the wind, feeding and healing at whatever the cost?

Again, notice what Jesus does not do here.  He doesn't force the hungry to sit down and have a Bible study before they can be fed.  He doesn't check their communion cards to see if they are "in" or "out".  He doesn't make them join the Jesus on the Hillside Church.  He doesn't make them pass a theology litmus test.  He simply commands his followers to feed everyone.  Did you get that?  He commands.  Jesus doesn't make a polite suggestion of something nice to do.  If you are going to follow this guy, you better get your feeding hands ready, because there's actually work to do.

I'm not totally sure where my sermon will end up on Sunday, but these are at least a few thoughts that have been guiding me this week in my prayers and preparations.

Oh and in case you need some reinforcement of the idea that where Jesus is, food will be there also, join us this Sunday morning for Breakfast Church at 9:30 in the downstairs auditorium where worship and breakfast will be combined.

Let the journey begin,
Pastor Doug