Abundance or Scarcity?

“O God beyond all praising, we worship you today and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay; for we can only wonder at ev’ry gift you send, at blessings without number and mercies without end:  we lift our hearts before you and wait upon your word, we honor and adore you, our great and mighty Lord” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #880).

These words set to the tune of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” begin to piece together a stunning tapestry of what our life in Christ is all about:  A life of immeasurable giftedness woven with the thread of unending gratitude.  Imagine for a moment the abundance implied by the claim that God’s blessings are without number and God’s mercies are without end.  Can we even imagine what that kind of abundance looks like?  Do we dare acknowledge that such abundance even exists?

If we believe for a moment that abundance is not some illusory pipe dream, but is in fact a reality of the “God beyond all praising” then how we respond to this God and to the world which this God loves matters.  If God truly gives in abundance, can our response be anything less?

Back in June, we gathered together at our Annual Meeting to reflect upon where God led us this past year, and to discern through a mission budget where God might take us in the coming year.  Though the numbers contained in the mission budget may not feel particularly flashy from year to year, what they represent is nothing less than our response to a “great and mighty Lord” whose abundant love for us knows no boundaries.

So what shall our response be to this God, who according to the hymn writer, cannot be praised enough?  In a world which finds itself all too often adrift in a sea of scarcity, is it possible that the God of abundant blessings is calling each of us to be an ark of abundant blessing?  If what the hymn writer confesses is true and God’s blessings cannot even begin to be counted, does scarcity even exist?

I believe the challenge for us in the coming year will be to overcome the perception of scarcity, both in our personal lives as well as our life together in this community of faith called Incarnate Word.  Whether we feel like it or not, there is much to be done here in this place and in the world to which we are called to serve.

“Then hear O Gracious Savior, accept the love we bring, that we who know your favor may serve you as our King; and whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill, we’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship #880).

Peace and Love in abundance,

Pastor Doug

Many years ago (more than I care to remember), I had the privilege of working as a staffer on Capitol Hill.  Though I was perhaps the lowest on the seniority totem pole at the time, I, along with all the other staffers had a television in my office, allowing me to keep up with the Senate proceedings as they were happening in the chamber. 

Whenever our Senator "had" the chamber floor, our office would become hushed.  For us nerdy policy "wonks", our guy, along with a few other U.S. Senators had rock star status.   If I had had a Bic lighter - yup I would have been swaying with it.

So imagine my amazement when during one such speech, I heard my words come from this rock star's mouth.  Hundreds of non-descript talking points I had written, and here was one of them being spoken on that hallowed Senate chamber floor.  Talk about feeling connected to something bigger than yourself. From my non-descript cubicle deep within the belly of the Hart Senate Office building, I was connected to one of the most influential legislative bodies in the world.

Here I am in the church, twenty-five years later and just this past week felt the same giddiness of being connected to something significant beyond myself.  I'm talking about our Churchwide Assembly held in Pittsburgh last week.  While none of my words were spoken on the floor of that hallowed gathering, there was still a connection as I witnessed the larger expression of our church doing ministry in "real" time.

If you walked by my office at all last week, you heard the Churchwide Assembly playing on my computer.  You might have even heard me cheering and occasionally grumbling at my poor little computer: Hearkening back to the days on Capitol Hill when I could be heard uttering occasional cheers and jeers at what was happening on that screen.

Though there were many things to cheer about at this year's Assembly, let me tell you about just a couple of them.

I cheered when the Churchwide Assembly overwhelmingly passed the proposed social statement on Criminal Justice acknowledging that a system of justice cannot be "just" when it is overwhelmed on all levels and calling this church to hear the cries of those who find themselves trapped in that system:  From victim to offender and everyone in between.  Among other things, this statement forces us to ask the questions of why our incarceration levels are one of the highest in the world and why one race of people is overwhelmingly represented in those levels.  Not easy questions to ask, but faithful ones.

I cheered when the Churchwide Assembly elected our first female presiding bishop.  Don't get me wrong, Bishop Mark Hanson is one of the most faithful pastors and bishops I have ever known and I am deeply grateful for where he has shepherded this denomination over the past twelve years and I am profoundly proud to call myself an ordained pastor in this denomination because of him.

But the time is right for someone new to lead us with pastoral and prophetic vision.  The time may also be right for that sheperd to be a woman.  I'm not big into making gender distinctions, but let's face it:  The church is one of the last bastions of the "good ol' boy" system.  Though more than half of seminary graduates are women, and have been for almost two decades now, there are still fewer women than men serving our congregations.  What's up with that?  Sadly echoing the larger society, women still tend to serve smaller churches and are paid less than men for the same job.

Though women have broken through other good ol' boy systems such as the legal and medical professions, as Nadia Bolz-Weber points out there are no hospitals where women are not allowed to practice medicine and there are no courts of law where women are not allowed to practice law.  There are still churches however where women are not only denied the opportunity to serve as pastor, but many where women are forbidden from holding any position of leadership or from talking in the gathered assembly at all.

So will the election of the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton further drive a wedge between our denomination and other church bodies who place severe limits on women? Probably.  Will the election of Bishop Eaton alienate some within our own denomination unmasking our own tendencies toward gender discrimination?  Perhaps.  But was it the right thing to do?  The Holy Spirit gathered with, in, through and under the voting members of last week's Assembly seemed to think so.  And if it's good enough for God.....

"As many of you as were baptized in Christ have clothed yourself with Christ, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus"  ~ Galatians 3:27-8).

ELCA passes Criminal Justice Social Statement

Voting members of the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries” — a social statement on criminal justice — Aug. 16 with an 882 to 25 vote. The social statement was formally introduced to the 952 voting members Aug. 13.

The assembly made two amendments to the statement — the first was to substitue a paragraph that now begins: “Confession is one ‘mark of the church’”, and the second amendment was designed to provide an editorial comment.  

The call for a statement on criminal justice emerged from concern among ELCA members over the “massive levels of incarceration in the United States,” said Cynthia Osbourne, chair of the ELCA task force charged with leading this church in a study about criminal justice and the development of a proposed social statement. She introduced the social statement to the assembly earlier this week.

While commending positive aspects of the system, the statement conveys dissatisfaction with many areas about the criminal justice system that urgently need reform.

The statement affirms the fundamental principles of the U.S. criminal justice system, such as due process of law and the presumption of legal innocence, and it also recognizes serious deficiencies — overly harsh sentencing and persistent inequalities based on race and class. It calls ELCA members to ministry and compassion through some practices: hearing the cries of those affected, accompaniment, hospitality and advocacy. It asks members of this church to recommit themselves to visiting the prisoner; correct the flawed criminal justice system; participate in God’s work with hands and hearts and to hear the cries of people affected.

New Presiding Bishop

Today has been a whirlwind of a day.  When I awoke this morning and began my usual routine of taking the dogs out for their "constitutional" followed by a brisk five mile walk at the gym, I had no idea that by the end of the day Mark Hanson would not be re-elected as presiding bishop of our denomination.

Though I am thankful for the prayer and discernment that took place these past few days among 950 voting members at our Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburgh, and I believe that Elizabeth Eaton will serve God's people with faithfulness and passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that she is who the Holy Spirit is calling at this time to lead us, I cannot help but wonder what Mark is doing this evening, on the back side of not being re-elected.

There were no scandals, no "black marks" on his ministry.  Mark Hanson was a faithful bishop with the heart of a pastor whose love and patience gently guided our denomination through turbulent yet courageous waters of breaking down the barriers of race, gender, socio-economic class and sexual orientation.

When following the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, hundreds of ELCA congregations left our denomination, Mark's voice could be heard reaching out to those who were leaving, assuring them that there is a place at the table for all of us and that our unity at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ far surpasses the issues of human sexuality that divide us.   Mark Hanson's passion to include all at the table of God's grace has profoundly inspired my love for this church and for the people whose lives this church touches each and every day.

I am deeply thankful that twelve years ago, Mark answered God's call to step out in front and lead this denomination called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Twelve years ago when Mark was called to the office of presiding Bishop, my ministry was in a very different place than it is today.  My faith was  teetering.  I was directionless.  I was having a hard time seeing Jesus in the church.  Was I just a weekly dispenser of safe Jesus jargon?  Was I just an entertainer having to worry about losing people's attention if my sermons ran too long?  Was the church even relevant in the world anymore?

Then along came Mark Hanson, whose passion for justice and mercy in the world, opened my eyes to a different view of the church:  A public church.  In the style of the prophet Amos, Mark stood with other church leaders forming a "circle of protection" around the poor and the hungry, when those we elected to public office were trampling the needy and exploiting the poor.  Mark courageously reminded those in power that the God he served was the God whose son was born in poverty and who lived for a while as an illegal alien.

Over these past 12 years, I have seen the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America come alive even as we have grown smaller in number.  Though growth in the ELCA has not been wide, it has run deep.  Jesus didn't say go out and make numbers.  He said go out and make disciples.  Followers of the One whose love knows no boundaries.

Thank you Bishop Hanson for embodying that reality.  You have led this church to a good place.  On November 1, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will pick up where you have left off, leading us in the same direction but in new ways of loving God and loving our neighbor.

Thanks be to God!