The stuff of a thing must match its purpose. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12) If I set out to bake your child a birthday cake, I wouldn’t use beet mash and kippers. I’d use flour, water, sugar, eggs—the things that make for a blessed moment of contentment in a room full of reveling toddlers. Sweetness for sweet moments, or something like that. So also the Father, in seeking to make the world righteous, did not send us a sinner, but an innocent, to make us what we were not.

Would we expect the church to operate differently?

Fewer people speak of church unity these days (or so it seems to me), but the subject nearly dominated my time at seminary. During my first year at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, 1996-1997, the campus was roiled by the ELCA’s impending full communion agreement with Reformed churches, the “Formula of Agreement.” Professors lectured on it, and students chewed on it over lunch. In time, Bishop William Lazareth of the Metropolitan New York Synod came to debate the subject with the seminary’s president, Dr. David Tiede. Tiede stood for the agreement, and Lazareth against it.  

Each man seemed to take on the flesh of his argument. Tiede, arguing for the careful, academic formulas of a decades-long process, stood straighter and with a more polished, fresh-faced poise than the energetic, nobby-nosed Lazareth, the latter all in clerical black, his eyebrows as thick as his confessional objections. They started with the issues at hand (the Holy Supper, predestination, the lifting of confessional condemnations), but they soon hit on the question of the Church and its unity.

Like any good ecumenist, Tiede invoked the words of Jesus in John 17:21: our Lord Himself prayed for his disciples “that they may all be one.” Why would we not be open to the fulfillment of that prayer among us?  Those words animated Lazareth like no other point in the debate, leading to what would become its most memorable moment for me. Leaping to his feet, his eyebrows arching sharply, Lazareth stuck both of his meaty index fingers in the air and declared, “That they may all be one—that the world may believe!”

Purpose

Belief in the truth of Jesus: here is the purpose of the Church’s unity. Therefore, the stuff of that unity must match its purpose. It must be a unity in and of the truth, even if it means ending fellowship with falsehood.  So Lazareth argued, convincingly for me. Lutherans could not and should not overlook their serious objections to the Reformed teaching of Communion and predestination, thinking that the mere form of unity (the human will to be one, with all of its social achievements) was itself instrumental to the faith God creates. Only the unity comprised of truth could lead others to truth. Only sweetness leads to sweetness; only the Son’s innocence makes us innocent; only a unity conceived by the truth can beget faith in the truth.

This view, formed so clearly by Articles VII and VIII of the Augsburg Confession, continues to have implications not only for those remaining in the ELCA but also for those who have left it. By rooting the unity of the Church in the truth of the Word, it locates the possibility and assurance of unity, not in constitutional arrangement, but in the teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. As the Church speaks its proper message and sets forth the Lord’s true Supper and Baptism, it is revealed to be the una sancta, the one, holy catholic and apostolic gathering of believers that midwifes new believers into the world.

And if the unity of the Church resides in its preaching and ministering, then so do its limits. Votes and constitutions have their place, as signposts and jingle bells for keeping every cow in its field. But they provide no lasting or certain refuge, nor do they fulfill the call of Jeremiah: “Go out from the midst of her, my people!” (51:45) In as much as the Church experiences its unity in the doing of the ministry, it is there, too, that it must experience its division from the world and from heresy.

As Lazareth saw in regards to the Formula of Agreement, closed pulpits and closed altars are part of church renewal. The degree to which “closed is closed,” I will not pose in this article. But suffice it to say, renewal seeks faith in the truth. Publicizing false confession in the pulpit or at the altar will not result in that faith, and thus, it will not result in that renewal. I understand that I may stand in the minority on this issue among my own ilk. But I also understand that the mere will to be one (or better, the mere will to be distinct), with all its social achievements will not herald the renewal of the Church.

That renewal takes place in local ministry. Denominational constitutions are the highways that plow across states and regions to move people along in mad efficiency. We need them, but they flatten the landscape in brute fashion. Local ministry is the footpath worn in response to the particular contours of a place, with care for the critters found in every burrow and den. It is there, as the congregation of believers both looses and binds, both admits and restrains, that the Church rises up from the ashes, its wings on fire—yes, it is there that faith is born.

Gateway

Those confessors remaining in the ELCA may therefore wish to pause and question to what extent their denomination’s manifold constitutions remain the gateway to their pulpit and altar—they may wish to review how open is open, and how closed is closed, in their local ministry. To start there, rather than in the baseline acceptance of a brokered political settlement, may prove illuminating and even reforming, if also excruciating. Similar illumination and crosses may await those who have left the ELCA, as they ponder the spiritual demand that faces them daily in Jeremiah’s call, quoted above.  

The Church is a creature of the Spirit of truth. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13) He knows how sweetness leads to sweetness, and innocence to innocence, and truth to truth. With this Father, if you ask for an egg, you get an egg. As we ask for the Church’s renewal, we ask also for its unity, and to that end, we pray fervently for truth.

Editor’s Note: Jacob Moorman is 22 years old and hails from Mt. Airy, MD. Jacob is finishing a business management degree and plans to attend seminary. He is a member of the NALC’s River’s Edge Ministries pastored by K. Craig Moorman. We are delighted that one of our future seminarians is thinking and writing so passionately. We are honored to publish his reflections, and look forward to his faithful leadership in the Church for many years to come.

Just after the protesting and rioting began after the death of George Floyd, my father asked me, “Jacob, if you were to preach tomorrow, what would you say?” This is how I answered:

I would preach the Gospel. I would preach that we, apart from Christ, are indeed dead in sin. I would say Christ’s scandalous, unfathomable, incredible love is most evident when shown in situations like this. With death, riots, looting, violence, anger, and vehement hate; the only response we should have is that which Christ had. For Christ says ‘… love thine enemies. Pray for them.’ On the cross, His love was magnified as He said, ‘Forgive them for they know not what they do.’ He died for us while we were yet sinners. He died for us while we were His enemies. There’s talk of race war. There’s talk of division. It is a lie, or it ought to be [revealed as such] in the Church. It is a demonic onslaught meant to divide and divert from the true Gospel. We, as the Church, are bound up in Christ. We are One in and by His Spirit. We should pray for our enemies. We should love our enemies. But, above all else, we should preach the Good News unashamedly, boldly, unwaveringly, and continuously. The only division from God is the division of Good and evil, Light and dark. His word pierces as a sword through sinew. It cuts deeply and definitively. It separates. For God alone brings division – the division is a choice to die with Him or to die apart from Him. The difference between the two is the one who dies apart dies for good. The one who dies with Him rises with him. Seek first the Kingdom

Jacob Moorman

Challenge

More recently I felt prompted to challenge the church in its response to this crisis, especially the leaders in the church: 

Our nation is in deep trouble. I fear we are ready to abandon Christ. We are a tattered flag only threads away from being loosed from our foundation, Jesus, the Living God. 

“Unity!” shout church leaders. “Stand together for the greater good.” What good is it to stand apart from Christ? We cannot shout for justice without holding the Word of God in its rightful place—Above all things.

We are living in the most dangerous time this country has ever seen, and potentially the world. The Lord is, and always will be, our only hope. Unity without Christ is folly. Justice without The Righteous Judge is futile. Peace without The Prince of Peace is chaos. Life without Christ is death. 

There is a ripe harvest. People are hurting. There is never a wrong time to preach the Gospel, and there is never a better time to preach the Gospel than now. (Matt. 9:35-38)

Political Stand

But I’ve seen more church leaders take a political stand than one that stands on the Word and proclaims the Gospel. A Gospel that calls out sin. One that calls for repentance. One that glorifies God.

We must not do what men desire us to do. (Gal. 1:10) Our reason, our motive matters. If we are seeking to be honored and applauded by men and women, we ought to fear the Living God and seek repentance. If we are seeking to honor our Heavenly Father, we have no need to fear. (1 Thess. 2:4) (Col. 3:23, 24)

No doubt racism is wicked. No doubt needless death is horrendous. At the same time, the burning of buildings is terrible. And killing more people is wrong. We cannot justify or condone or stand with these heinous acts. Evil cannot be answered by evil. (Romans 12:17) For that we cannot stand silent. We must address the sin behind these matters—any other response will be fruitless!

We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. Again, we cannot come together in unity without Jesus Christ at the center.

There is great evil shouting from the rooftops. Anger. Fear. Racism. Hate. Murder. Riots. Looting. There is a greater mind (Satan) behind this pandemic, this murder, this so-called race war, and the many responses thereafter. We must expose the darkness. Bring it to the Light … for everything brought to the Light is no longer darkness but light. (Eph. 5:11-14)

This push for “unity” is indeed demonic. It is one that pushes peace yet incites violence. One that says speak-up yet silences any alternative view. It is a move to push for unity without Christ. A destructive and dangerous plan by the enemy that I fear a lot of church leaders are falling in line with. They are deceived by the call for this false unity and fail to see or expose the evil behind it.

We must call out evil when we see it. We must count the cost of what it means to be a follower of Christ. We must be willing to take up our cross. We must be willing to die for Christ. We must be willing to speak the Gospel even if opposed and unpopular. We must give up all things to receive the one thing that matters … Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Jesus came so that we may have life. (John 10:10) We can be set free from sin! Lust, hate, sexual immorality, violence, anger, bitterness, licentiousness, debauchery, drunkenness—none of these have a place in the Kingdom. (Gal. 5:21) They were nailed to the cross and are dead in the grave for those alive in Christ. (Gal. 5:24)

When we die with Christ, we are dead to sin, wholly. No one who practices such as these will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Praise God He made a way. He is merciful and He is gracious. He is a loving Father. He died my death to give me life. He did the same for you. 

Time is growing short. Judgment will come when the Ancient of Days calls for the trumpets to sound. We will all answer to the one true Judge on that great and terrible and holy and marvelous day. But there is still time to proclaim the Gospel and heed the Good Shepherd’s call. The one who is marked by the blood of the Lamb will stand before him, guiltless. But the one who is marked by any other name, but that of Christ, will be cast out from His presence.

Yet, He is still loving. He is still gracious. He is mighty to save. He is the soon-coming King who is already on the throne. There is still time to proclaim the Gospel and heed the Good Shepherd’s call. God, the Holy One of Israel, came in the flesh and died so that we may walk in purity; that we may walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control … that we may walk by the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16, 25)

Now I must ask, if we as His people walk in such things, how can we stand in unity with sin and movements that condone and encourage sin? The only true unity that can come is that of and in the body of Christ. We cannot walk in unity with Christ and sin. We, the Church, cannot walk in unity with the world. We are in the world but not of it. Unity is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. We should not be hoping for tomorrow on earth, we should be hoping for eternity in heaven. Our hope is in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and His coming again. Praise be to the One. Praise be the great I Am. All honor and glory belong to God the Father, Maker of heaven and earth. He will ever be glorified. May His peace be upon you.

One in Christ

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:25-28)

The Annual Inter-Lutheran Encuentro (Encounter) for Hispanic Latino ministries, co-sponsored by Lutheran CORE, is planned for the weekend of October 17-18, 2020 (schedule to be announced). Church leaders serving in bilingual contexts and those considering entry into Hispanic-Latino ministry will find the Encuentro to be especially beneficial.

Due to the pandemic, the event may need to be presented virtually. This year’s theme: “The Enfleshed Word … El Verbo Encarnado,” will explore and celebrate the Advent – Christmas – Epiphany worship cycle. Accents will be placed on Advent traditions including December saints days, Las Posadas, Feast of the Epiphany / Tres Reyes, liturgies & hymns for the seasons.

The 30th anniversary of the Bilingual Ministry Resource Center (BMRC) will be celebrated with a presentation on the ministry, resources and hymn translations of the +Reverend Dimas Planas-Belfort (1934-1992), publisher with Editorial Avance Luterano and a co-founder of the BMRC in 1990.

A Resource Fair will offer ministry materials and fairly traded, handcrafted items.

For more information please contact Pastor Keith Forni, STS, Encuentro Convener, at keithlforni@gmail.com, 815 722 4800 or by mail c/o:

First and Santa Cruz
The Joliet City Center Lutheran Parish 55 West Benton Street 
Joliet IL 60432.

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Thank you for your generous response to our appeal for $15,000 so that we will be able to sponsor one week of NEXUS for high schoolers at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. As of April 30, 2020, $8,081 has been given towards our goal of $15,000. We are 54% of the way there!

NEXUS is designed to give high school students a chance to engage in the study of the Bible and Lutheran theology, be involved in service, and discern whether God has gifted them and is calling them to full-time Christian ministry and/or leadership in the church. In the past three years, over one hundred high schoolers have gone through NEXUS. In addition, many college-aged mentors who have participated in the program have gone on to seminary and/or full-time church work.

The cost to host one week of NEXUS for twenty-four high school students, which includes college-age mentors, teachers, activities, room and board, and materials, is $30,000. Lutheran CORE has committed half of the amount for one week – $15,000. The funds from Lutheran CORE will be matched by Lilly Endowment to cover a full-week’s cost of $30,000. The funds from Lutheran CORE will be used for a week during the summer of 2021.

If you have not already done so, please consider giving a gift to Lutheran CORE – over and above your current giving – to help fund the commitment that we have made. Please be sure to designate NEXUS on the memo line of your check.

My wife and I decided to give the amount of the financial stimulus check that we will be receiving from the federal government to five different Christian charitable causes, including NEXUS. We would like to challenge and encourage you to do the same.

Editor’s Note: Mona Fuerstenau’s conviction that all people are “wonderfully made” began in high school while working with children with learning disabilities. That led her to study Speech Pathology, Gerontology and Psychology. She worked in those fields before becoming a parent of two diverse learners; they were her post graduate education in celebrating difference, inspiring advocacy, and challenging the status quo. Her position as ministry consultant at Bethesda has led to many speaking opportunities such as the 2019 NALC Life conference. Bethesda is a nationwide 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to “enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through services that share the good news of Jesus Christ.”  Her passion is for all people marginalized by difference to find refuge and a place of belonging in the life of the church.

Psalm 139:13-16 “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” [emphasis added]

These verses profess the sanctity of every life. Bethesda has a joint initiative with Lutherans for Life and it is a natural fit. We are all about life, in all its ages and stages and abilities. No one is “less than another” to God. God calls everyone to minister in His Kingdom. Abilities and experiences uniquely equip each of us. Our witness to and with and from people with disabilities, or suicide survivors, or post abortion, or at end of life is woven throughout and has its foundation in these words.

I encourage you to think about how your congregation, as a life affirming place, can begin to see people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as also in need of that life affirmation.

There is a wonderful word picture in 1^st Corinthians 12 of the body of Christ. It talks about the place and work of each part of the body. And then we get to verse 22.

“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

Different translations say necessary, vital, without which the total is incomplete. These are the people whom we champion. Those who are marginalized because of our perceptions. But God gives them critical status, without which the body is incomplete. Without whom none of our congregations can be complete.

The world of disability is deficit based. Even the word means “without ability”. But we as Christians have our value in being a child of God. That is our foundation. We all have gifts and talents and experiences to bring that enrich the whole. Sometimes it takes work to see beyond the differences. It takes work. But it is critical work to show the world God’s love by being Jesus’ hands and feet.

In 1 Peter 4:10 we read: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” There are no qualifiers in this verse. It says each of you. Every one. Everyone is and has gifts to bring to the whole.

Creating a Sanctuary

So, if we are going to welcome all these gifts into our congregations, we first must make it a safe place. How do we create a space of sanctuary?

Some key components we have found in our work include:

• Unconditional welcome, favorable reception,
• Communicating an authentic desire to know the hopes, dreams and needs of each person,
• Seeing everyone as not “just” a person or a family with _________,
• Identifying individual gifts, talents, and experiences to share,
• Affirming all are a necessary part of God’s family.

When we do this our congregations become richer with lived experiences. And what if the Gospel message lived out and shared by all people, not “in spite of” but “because of” their lived experiences, somehow makes that message more accessible to people who will not otherwise hear it as being for them?

Resources

Bethesda has numerous resources for creating a place of belonging for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A good place to start is with disability awareness materials for all ages. Visit our website www.BethesdaLC.org and search for faith resources. We have 5 complete series and the most recent release is called Face 2 Face.

We have also partnered with Lutheran Hour Ministries to create a four-session course by the same name. Face2Face, Building Relationships with People with Disabilities. This course can be found at www.lhm.org/learn.  

Our Wonderfully Made pamphlet series are also a great place to begin to understand ways to become a more inclusive and welcoming congregation. They celebrate and share ideas for communicating and easily adapting things you are currently doing. These can be ordered along with all our resources housed through Concordia Publishing House www.cph.org/Bethesda  We are currently giving away a free copy of Unit 1 of our Building on the Rock curriculum. Just use the coupon code BUILD.

While you are on our Bethesda website check out our Home Activity Center. It’s full of ideas to do together as a family during this time of sheltering in place. And our Volunteer tab details multiple ways you can engage with the people we support and staff across the country. If you have questions about Bethesda please don’t hesitate to ask. I can be reached at Mona.Fuerstenau@BethesdaLC.org

Our teachers have been falsely accused of forbidding good works. AC, Article XX[1]

One of the charges that is often made against traditional Lutherans is that they are opposed to efforts on the part of Christians to work for peace and justice. This charge is made because traditional Lutherans criticize the emphasis on political advocacy in the ELCA. This is inaccurate. We no more forbid our fellow Christians from working for peace and justice than the Lutheran reformers forbid the doing of good works. Rather, like the reformers, we are concerned about the blurring of the distinction between Law and Gospel, Faith and Works, Justification and Vocation, and the like.

One way to get at this distinction is to focus on the concept of Vocation. The Augsburg Confession says,

It is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call. (Article XIV)[2]

What does this mean? It means that although we believe that all Christians are equal in Christ, that in Holy Baptism all are filled with the Holy Spirit, and that all are called to bear witness to Christ through word and deed, no one has the right to take it upon himself to walk into the pulpit and begin preaching. No one has the right to take it upon herself to walk up to the table and preside at the Lord’s Supper. That is reserved for the person who has been called and ordained into the Office of Ministry.

Called by God

What is not as well known is that Lutherans believe there are other offices to which people are called by God. Those other offices include mother, father, husband, wife, son, daughter, sister, brother, and neighbor. These center around the home. In regard to the workplace, people are called into the office of employer and employee, buyer and seller, merchant and customer. People are called into various professions. As Christians, we believe that each office we hold represents an opportunity for faith to be active in love through service to our neighbor. This is what Lutherans call the doctrine of Vocation. (From the Latin word for “calling”.)

The doctrine of Vocation helps clear up the confusion that often arises around the concept of the Priesthood of All Believers. The Priesthood of All Believers does not mean that at any moment a Christian may assume any office he or she chooses. It does not mean that anyone can walk into the pulpit and preach. It doesn’t mean that anyone who feels moved at the moment can preside at the Lord’s Supper. That is reserved for persons called into the proper office.

At the same time, however, it does not mean that I as a pastor can walk into your home and assume the role of father. I cannot walk into your place of business and assume the role of owner or manager. I cannot decide that today I want to practice law and that tomorrow I want to practice medicine. My call is not yours, but in the same way your call is not mine. You serve as priest in your home, office, or place of work.

Confusion and Politics

This confusion of priesthood and vocation is most evident today in the realm of politics. When a person becomes a member of a congregation through Affirmation of Baptism, they promise among other things to “strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” Indeed, the Lutheran Church affirms that striving for justice and peace is the calling of every Christian in baptism. The confusion arises when we think that it is the calling of the pastor or congregation to do this for the individual Christian.

Christians in the United States hold many offices that pertain to justice and peace. The most important office in this regard is the office of citizen. As a citizen, you vote for those who will hold public office and have the power to set policy and administer and enforce laws. The office of citizen is one to which you have been called and for which you are accountable to God. Other offices include elected official, civil servant, judge, juror, police officer, etc.… As Christians, we are to work for peace and justice in every office to which we have been called.

Presuming to Speak

Is the Church called to strive for justice and peace? Yes. It does so through the various vocations that its members have. The problem arises when the ELCA believes that it is the primary work of the Church to do this for its members. More and more, it seems that the ELCA believes the work of justice and peace must be done by synod and churchwide office and assemblies, and through congregations led by their pastors. In effect the church has attempted to usurp the offices and callings of its members, by presuming to speak for them and by using their contributions to fund that effort.

Meanwhile, the proper office of the ministry and the congregation is neglected. While the church attempts to promulgate and administer laws, it forgets to proclaim God’s Word and administer the Sacraments. Rather than being a place of reconciliation, where people with honest disagreements about public policy are united as forgiven sinners at the Lord’s Table, the Church becomes a place of political strife, judgment, and condemnation.

The irony of this is that no one cares what I, as an ELCA pastor, have to say about public policy. I can ascend the pulpit Sunday after Sunday to lecture the governor and president, state and federal legislators, judges, and juries about how things ought to be done, but it will have little effect. They don’t really care about what I think.

Things only get worse if I lack expertise on a subject but presume to give policy speeches anyway. The teachers in my congregation know more than I do about education. The doctors and nurses in my congregation know more than me about medicine.  Engineers know more about engineering. The active and retired military people know more than I do about national defense and foreign policy.  They don’t come to worship to hear my opinion on matters about which they know more.

Called to Be Their Pastor

Instead, they expect me to use my theological education and parish experience to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments. I have been called to be their pastor. They want to hear the Law that convicts them of sin, and the Gospel that sets them free. They want to receive the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. They want me to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit so that they, their children, and their grandchildren may receive the salvation that God has promised. That is my office. They expect me to fulfill that calling to the best of my ability with God’s help. The ELCA is in danger of neglecting the one thing that only the Church can do, namely, preaching the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. We run the risk of being ashamed of the Gospel, thinking that our political advocacy will accomplish more. That would be a fatal error. As Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” (Romans 1:16, NRSV)

[1] Theodore G. Tappert. Augsburg Confession (Kindle Location 141). Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid, (Kindle Location 109).

Life Was Not All It Could Be

“Well, I do watch a lot of YouTube videos.” The twenty-something young man sitting in my office said it to me with an air of pride — even conceit. We had spent the last two hours playing question and answer. He had asked me to make time in my day to talk with him personally after he had been away from the church since his confirmation, and I was only too happy to do it; pastors don’t typically get into this line of work because we have a burning passion for paperwork. It was clear from his slouched demeanor, unkempt dress, and his father’s concern for his persistent depression and “failure to launch,” which had prompted him to call me, that life was not all it could be for him.

I was concerned for him. I was happy to answer his questions, but it had become apparent after two hours of doing so that he was not genuinely seeking answers; for when I gave them or offered resources that might help him think through a question, he immediately moved on to ask a different question, seeming to hope that this would be the one that forced me to affirm without reservation the ideas he had gleaned from that modern day Oracle of Delphi, Google. He didn’t come seeking wisdom or even new data; he came seeking a reason to not change the very points of view that were giving birth to the misery that had prompted him to call me in the first place.

I began life as a youth minister. Four of the best years of my life were spent ministering to and with the youth of Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I not only loved that time in my life, but I continue to have such an abiding passion for youth that even when I was the senior pastor of a church and could partially define my own job description, I chose to make work with our high school students one of my primary responsibilities. Youth is a time when we make choices whose consequences shape our future in ways we can only guess at, but equally, it is a time when we can shift our convictions more easily than in later life, when we have so much more invested in the trajectory we are already on.

So momentous are the choices we make in our youth, we cannot guess at the significance we will attribute to them in later life. Whether and who we should date and/or marry, what kind of work will make up the bulk of our waking hours, how we will spend our time, money and effort, and what kind of mark we will make on the world — at least, our little corner of it — are all things that properly consume our energy and attention at this time of life.

All those aspects of life — and many more — are areas about which our convictions about ultimate things have something to say. They are things about which the Bible in general has a great deal to say and Jesus, in particular, has even more. During my conversation with the young man I mentioned above, he made rudimentary mistakes about the very Biblical stories about which he was questioning me, and his mistakes in reasoning were even worse; yet clearly, he considered himself something of a great thinker — the intellectual equivalent of the classic self-made-man.

Enough to Be Dangerous

Now, the truth is, I deeply respect such people when they are people of genuine skill and achievement. They often bring a necessary outsider’s insight to intractable problems in their field and are catalysts for true change. But Google and its internet ilk can give us the impression that we have achieved such status when, in fact, we have simply acquired just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

The sources of information on the internet are provided to you free of cost simply because the advertisers on the pages you frequent pick up the tab. They pay for a presence on these pages, not because they hope that you will be someone interested in their product in the same way as a billboard advertiser, whose advertising is equally available to people of every persuasion in the cars that pass their location, but rather because your search history has indicated that you are likely — perhaps very likely — to be interested in their product. You are what salespeople called a “qualified prospect.”

Sold

Your search history will also direct you toward resources that are “themed” along the lines of inquiry you are already pursuing and unlikely to challenge your established convictions. Why? Because you will likely linger longer on those pages and be exposed to the advertising that drives the monetary engine of the internet. To put it bluntly, the advertisers are not simply trying to sell you a product, the pages you visit are selling you — your eyes — to the advertisers. You are the product being sold on the internet.

Serious Research

What all this means is that the internet is a lousy tool for doing serious research into an important topic. You will not be exposed to the best contrarian arguments on any topic, and your natural human propensity toward confirmation bias (our tendency to not question data that affirms our current beliefs and discount data that would challenge them) will not be healthfully challenged, for that might interrupt the predictable flow of money.

By its very structure, the internet is antithetical to a serious search for the truth… and since the most important matters of our life are at stake in our choice of faith (and its attendant worldview), let alone potentially something as significant as eternal life, we can and should take the quest for religious truth seriously.

One recent trend on the internet has been celebrity “faith deconstructions.” In these personal pieces, public personalities share their often profoundly touching reasons for leaving the Christian faith in which they were raised. Many of these include somewhat detailed recounting of their intellectual journeys out of the faith, quoting scholars and/or former pastors and Christian leaders like Bart Ehrman, Rob Bell, and Bart Campolo. The problem is that they don’t often seem familiar with the most intelligent responses to and questions of their positions, and those watching their testimonies will not be helped to find them by the internet. Besides, despite the historic use of personal, emotional testimony by some Christian groups, our sympathetic response to a charismatic person is not a reliable means of evaluating truth.

Do This

You deserve better, and you couldn’t have more motivation to provide yourself with better. Seek wise counsel, read good, substantive books, take the quest for truth — and yourself — seriously, and finally, do one more thing: spend time talking to God in worship. The late Tom Hopko, Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary and priest for 50+ years, reflected on the inestimable importance of the question of God and religious truth, saying, “If you’re not sure, you stand in worship, listen, think, and address your prayers, ‘to Whom it may concern, if you’re there.’” He had recently been informed that his grandson, named for him, had at seventeen years old declared himself an atheist.

His Truth Will Make a Difference

As a young person, you live in a world dominated by memes and internet trends. It is unlikely that you will live your life without a serious challenge to the faith that the people around you have worked so hard to pass on to you and which I hope you have embraced deeply. When that challenge happens, or even better, now, before the challenge comes, take yourself — and more importantly, Jesus — seriously. He said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and His truth will make a difference in the way you live your life.

As I sit here, under Oregon’s version of quarantine, I have been reflecting on the extraordinary challenges facing American society in general, but also local churches in particular. Even with the uncertainties of how the current pandemic will be playing out over the next six to eighteen months, there are a few predictions I think we can make with a relatively high degree of confidence.

Predictions

First, no matter how quickly and efficiently local and state governments suspend legal restrictions to allow businesses, schools, and churches to reopen, this will not result in an immediate return to the life we knew before this last January. And it’s not just cruise lines and airlines who will discover that it might take one to two years to return to “business as usual”; this will also be true for small, local businesses and, I dare say, many churches. My oldest son, Jason, is CEO of the non-profit Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association. As you can imagine, the business owners he serves have seen a virtual collapse of their industry. And for many of them their restaurants and hotels will never reopen. So besides trying to help his members access limited federal and state loans to survive in the short-term, Jason is now, with his staff, wrestling with how he can advise his members when it comes to the challenge of motivating their customers to return once business restrictions are lifted. Many pastors and church leaders will be facing a similar challenge in the months ahead.

Second, until we have an effective and available vaccine, there will be on-going anxiety and uncertainty in many if not most American communities. Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, put it well when quoted in the April 22^nd issue of The Washington Post. “As a country, we’re unprepared not just logistically but mentally for this next phase.” He expressed, in this article, that most Americans do not grasp the difficult months ahead and the likelihood of repeated surges of the virus. “For a while, people were told all we need is to get past the peak. Then, they started hearing all we need is testing…The way you prepare people for a sprint and marathon are very different. As a country, we are utterly unprepared for the marathon ahead.” I anticipate that while most of the country begins “opening up”, the national media will be quick to highlight news stories of those communities which will occasionally be dealing with local outbreaks. This will result in increased anxiety in the rest of the country; even to some degree in communities that have no covid-19 patients in their local hospital. And I suspect this anxiety will be especially prevalent among older adults concerned about their own personal vulnerabilities to this virus. Because of this, pastors and lay leaders need to factor in the median age of their members when trying to anticipate the ministry challenges ahead.

The above predictions have profound implications for local congregations. And they will impact, in particular, four areas of congregational life: community service, worship ministries, member care, and financial giving.

1. Community Service Outreach It is essential, given the scope of the financial damage our nation has incurred in just the last couple of months, that Christian congregations be proactive in reaching out to those in need, especially in their local communities. Our economy is already in a new, major recession. Millions are suddenly out of work, and food banks across the country have been inundated by unprecedented numbers of people in need of emergency assistance. The local church needs to step up, for two reasons:  First, because it has always been our scriptural mandate. And second, because each of our congregations will likely be judged, by many of the unchurched and dechurched members of our communities, based on how we respond to those in need during this national crisis. Virtually every community now has significant numbers of residents who are poor, unemployed, and struggling to address their most basic financial needs. In addition, there are many people who are struggling with the social isolation that has become the by-product of this pandemic.

2. Worship Ministries  A little historical perspective: This is the first time in U.S. history that there has been a nation-wide, mass closure of churches. Not even during the 1918 influenza epidemic did so high a percentage of churches have to close. So needless to say, these are “uncharted waters.” Recently the American Enterprise Institute published, in the March 29^th issue of The New York Times, a detailed plan for what restrictions should be maintained in local communities before our return to some kind of “normal”. One particular recommendation caught my attention: That assemblies of more than fifty people be prohibited until there is an available and effective vaccine. So, let’s imagine that this becomes the norm. What would the consequences be for local churches? Well, that depends, to a large degree, on congregational size. For mid-sized and larger churches this will mean depending on a quality, on-going, weekly online worship ministry; maybe through 2021! For smaller churches, it will mean limiting the size of their worship gatherings; possibly offering two weekly services instead of one in order that neither service exceed 50 worshipers. One idea, before regular services resume, is to survey your members regarding what kind of precautions they would prefer in order to give them “peace of mind” regarding public assembly.

3. Member Care  I think it’s imperative that every congregation be even more vigilant than usual in monitoring the well-being of their members. I’m concerned that this might not be taking place in mid-sized and larger churches where it’s more difficult, even in “normal times”, to provide for the emotional and spiritual needs of individual members. And there is nothing “normal” about these current “times”! This might be a good time to organize a team of volunteers to take the lead on guaranteeing that every member is being cared for. After all, the social isolation alone is making this an incredibly difficult time for many of our people. And don’t forget your members who are health care workers and first responders. Many of them are dealing with extraordinary and unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety.

4. Finally, the challenge of Financial Giving. My guess is that a great many churches will be closing their doors over the next couple of years. The combination of pandemic anxiety, cancelled worship services, and the new economic crisis will require very proactive stewardship strategies in the months ahead. This is the time for pastors and congregational leaders to prayerfully discuss ways to encourage members to continue in the faithful stewardship of their financial resources.

Something I find very encouraging are the plans for reopening our lives, including our churches. Typically those plans include three or four steps, a delineation of the conditions that would need to exist in order to go to the next step, a warning that it would be easy to have to go back to a previous step, and a concern for the elderly, those with prior conditions, and others who are among the most vulnerable. Typically, the steps basically go in this order – from severe social distancing protocols to moderate social distancing protocols to limited social distancing protocols.

Thinking through the well-known account in John 20 of Jesus’ appearing to His disciples on Easter Sunday evening, when Thomas was not with them, and then a week later, when Thomas was with them, I find the early disciples going through very similar steps.

STEP ONE

John starts out by telling us that on Easter Sunday evening “the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.” (verse 19) Like we have been, so the disciples were under strict self-quarantine. They were inside, not because of a virus, but because of their fear of the Jewish leaders who might do to them what they had done to Jesus. And the doors were not only shut, they were locked.

What did Jesus give to them to help them move from step one to step two? Six things, and Jesus wants to and can give the same six things to us.

First, His presence. Verse 19 says, “Jesus came and stood among them.” Nothing about their circumstances – neither their fears nor the walls nor the locked doors – were able to keep Him out. And nothing about our present circumstances – including all of our fears – need keep Him away.

Second, His peace. Twice – in verse 19 and then again in verse 21 – Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” Peace is also what we need. The peace that passes understanding. The peace that the world cannot give. The peace that only God can give.

Third, unmistakable evidence of His resurrection. Verse 20 – “He showed them His hands and His side.” We also need unmistakable evidence that Jesus is alive. We need the reliable, eyewitness accounts of those who were there. We need that sure and certain hope that comes from knowing that God has defeated our greatest enemies – sin, death, and the power of the devil – even the impact of the corona virus – through the resurrection.

Fourth, a purpose and a calling. Verse 21 – “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” I know that for me – as I seek to cope with these “stay at home” days – it has been so extremely helpful to have a purpose and a calling. It has been so helpful for me to be able to be involved in ministry that I value very much. To be able to teach a Bible study that is recorded and then posted on the websites and Facebook pages of two congregations. And to be able to do my work as executive director of Lutheran CORE.

Fifth, verse 22 – “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” We do not want or need either Jesus or us to have to wear a facial mask. We are not afraid of getting the corona virus from His breathing on us. Rather we need the Holy Spirit, whom we will receive through His breathing on us.

Sixth, authority. In verse 23 Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The one who just before His ascension said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18), has shared with us His authority. We do not need to go out timid, afraid, uncertain, and insecure. Rather we are going and we are speaking in the name of and with the authority of the one who has all authority.

STEP TWO

All of that must have helped the disciples move from Step One to Step Two, because verse 26 tells us that a week later the disciples were again in the house. This time Thomas was with them. And even though verse 26 tells us that the doors were shut, it does not say that they were locked. The disciples had moved from step one to step two.

Again Jesus comes and stands among them. Again He says, “Peace be with you.” The disciples, including Thomas, are now ready to move on to step three.

STEP THREE

Jesus invites Thomas to do what Thomas had said he would need to do in order to be able to believe that Jesus is alive – “see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side.” (verse 25) But it does not say that Thomas actually did what he had said he would need to do in order to believe. Rather in verse 28 Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas became the first disciple to be recorded as actually calling Jesus God.

Thomas Was All In

I believe that Thomas (so called Doubting Thomas) has been given a bum rap. I believe that Thomas wanted to believe. With all his heart he wanted to believe. But death seemed final. The grave seemed irreversible. What the disciples were saying – “We have seen the Lord” (verse 25) – was just too good to be true. So, he could not believe.

But when he did come to believe, he went all the way. He was all in. He became the first disciple to be recorded as calling Jesus God. Other disciples had called Jesus many other things during the previous three years – Rabbi, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. But Thomas was the first disciple to call Jesus God.

And Thomas did not relapse from Step Three back to Steps One or Two. Early Christian writings say that Thomas brought the Gospel to India. The Christian church in Pakistan and India traces itself back to the evangelistic work of Thomas.

The congregation I was pastor of in southern California before I retired included a large Pakistani community. They were all related by blood or by marriage. A relative of theirs at the time was presiding bishop of the United Church of Pakistan. In February 2011 I accepted his invitation to visit the Christians and churches in Pakistan and found them to be incredible examples for us of courage, commitment, and faithfulness to Christ even in the midst of a very hostile environment.

In John 11: 16, when Jesus told His disciples that He would be going to Bethany, where Lazarus had recently died, Thomas told his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Thomas is a tremendous example for us not of doubt but of courage and strength of conviction. Christians today who trace their church back to Thomas are tremendous examples for us of courage and strength of conviction. May we face all the challenges of today with the same kind and level of courage and strength of conviction. May we, like Thomas, be all in.  

Many of you are probably already aware that the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau’s (ALPB’s) board is reprinting its daily prayer book, “For All the Saints.” 

• The ALPB board approved the reprint of Volume One and it is now available for purchase, either by itself or in the set. 
• The board felt it didn’t have any choice but to reprint, since these books have been such a blessing to many people’s spiritual life. 
• This set of 4 pocket-sized, beautifully bound volumes is designed to be used for daily prayer and Bible reading by Christians everywhere. 
• Based on the two-year daily lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer and the Lutheran Book of Worship, the volumes cover a 2-year period. 
• Each volume measures 4″ by 6″ with a gold-stamped, leather-like cover, durable sewn binding, ribbon markers, and over 1300 pages printed on high quality lightweight Bible paper.   
• Please go to our website at www.alpb.org and find out more about these wonderful books.  Then if you are still interested, please feel free to purchase them right on our website (under “Shop”, eighth book down) or contact Donna Roche at the address below.   
• While you are browsing our website, check out our newer books like Robert Benne’s “Thanks Be To God” and Carl Braaten’s “My Ecumenical Journey.”  

Donna K. Roche, Office Manager
American Lutheran Publicity Bureau
P.O. Box 327
Delhi, NY  13753-0327
(607) 746-7511
www.alpb.org