Not those saints.....

Just finished reading an article in today's Washington Post on Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of a NY Times bestseller Pastrix: the Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint. go to sinner and saint, ***


Nadia, as she is affectionately called by thousands of followers, is an unusual representative of the clergy and at first will strike many as terribly 'out there'.  In fact, she is about as 'in here' as one can get: a solid explicator of both Jesus and Luther's perspective on the faith.  I think it's the tattoos and possibly her "vocabulary" that throw folks off.

Which leads me to the title of this short reflection.  There are many who believe that the grace of Jesus is open only to those who, once having found Jesus, start to look like the rest of us.  We want to protect Jesus from those saints if in fact anyone would call them saints.

I suspect that middle class white church members maintain an underlying desire for those folks to clean up their act and be useful to the church.  In truth, just like you and me, they are being called by Jesus to be a part of God's mission on the earth.  We are called to be on God's mission team: a mission of grace and forgiveness and resurrection for the entire creation.  I would pray that this is our congregation's mission as well - to bring resurrection and radical love into the lives of others.

***BTW we are gathering folks who would like to read Nadia's book Pastrix and talk about it over coffee, etc.  Interested?  Let the office know at 458-1481.

The Spirit at work. Acts 2 again?

"When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.  Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of the.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."  Acts 2.1-4

Yesterday the members of the ELCA when gathered in assembly called the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton to lead us for the next 6 years as Presiding Bishop.  Many are calling it the work of the Spirit....much like the first Pentecost.

Oh, Lord, we pray that it is so....even though we have no idea what it would look like if the Spirit poured out upon this church.  Let's be clear, I don't mean the administration, nor the organization, but on the people, gathered in worship and working together in the world.  I can guess: we would feel the fire of the Spirit in our bones, moving us in our lives to share Jesus' story with others, invite them into a relationship with the source of all life, and caring for others as we see the need.

But I'd also guess that we'll be called to walk in directions and along paths that will create anxiety and often feel like dead ends.  We will be asked to leave behind stuff we consider absolutely essential and to trust that the Lord will provide.  Like that first day of Pentecostal Spirit we will need to radically embrace diversity - encouraging and supporting a wide variety of worship styles, leadership models, music and language.  We might need to give up our dependence on Pastors!

We as the ELCA have traveled along some perilous paths in these last 10 years.....and I pray that Bishop Elizabeth Eaton is open to the Spirit's leading, for that is where we truly want to go: where the Living Lord is leading us....even if we will be 100% uncomfortable with the outcomes.

Welcome Bishop Eaton.  Come, Holy Spirit, come!

belonging.....

It is what we want most, ahead of money or status.  Belonging.  Community.  Or to quote Cheers, 'a place where everybody knows your name.'

We want to experience being a part of it - and this includes our spiritual longings as well.  What a religious community says is secondary to how it 'is' with and for one another.  When I look at the group here gathered, do I want to be one of them?  Do I want to grow into one of them?  Do I want to live my life as they live theirs?  Do I experience good in this group so that I see it at work and trust what I see?  Is this where I could belong?

For those who gather around the Christian cross, the question then becomes, 'Who am I when I belong to Christ?'  This question marks the beginning of a rich and vibrant spiritual life - for the individual and for the community at large.  You can translate that into: How have I experienced Christ?  How has Christ changed my experience of the world, and the world's experience of me?  What might it look like if Christ was in, with and under each of my words, thoughts and deeds? We might ask as a community:  How do we reflect the life we have experienced in Jesus to the world?  How does it change how we act and what we decide to do as a community? 

In fact, our life of faith together should go beyond community (which could easily define Buffalo Bills fans) to communion - a set of relationships that both reflects our passions and shapes them at the same time.*  That is, we belong because of who they are.  We are who we are because of where we belong.

All too complicated for you? I get it.  It comes down to this: folks who are spiritually seeking are looking for a community where those who belong reflect the very values they espouse.  They have seen something they want to imitate. 

They aren't seeking answers to questions; they are seeking a place where they can belong.  They expect that the answers to complicated questions are to be discovered way down the road.  First they want to trust the folks with whom they are making the journey.

Be attentive to your own imitation of Christ.  Invite others to walk with you as you grow and learn.  Don't feel pressed to have the big answers.  Belong and invite others to belong as well.

That's what Jesus did. 

*Once again, I acknowledge the writing and wisdom of Diana Butler Bass in her book, Christianity after Religion, from which I took inspiration and a quote or two.  Do read it.