The ELCA developed worship resources for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As expected, right from the start, the ELCA made this observance into something negative. It introduced these resources as ones that “both celebrate and lament our nation’s history.” HERE is a link to the resources.
Certainly there are many things in our nation’s history that were done wrong. Racism is wrong. Slavery followed by decades of racial discrimination were wrong. The way that indigenous people were treated was wrong. Any form of oppression of the weak and vulnerable is wrong. But why can we not just give thanks for this great country that we have been privileged to live in as we re-commit ourselves to continuing to work for “liberty and justice for all”?
What would it be like if my wife and I were celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary and she were to tell me all the things I have done wrong during our years of married life? Before I retired I served as pastor of the same congregation for forty years. What would it have been like if on my final Sunday there I had told the congregation all the things that they had done wrong and all the ways I had been treated badly? And what if the congregation were to invite me to return some Sunday and I were to repeat the same list of grievances? Would I be invited again? And yet that is what the ELCA consistently does. It has even made worship resources for the 250th birthday of our nation into a time of criticism of our country and “white-dominant Christianity.”
And then the next thing I want to talk about is the order of confession and forgiveness in the proposed worship service. The order of confession is as follows –
“God of all mercy, we have sinned against you, our neighbors, and your creation. Within ourselves and our communities, our desire to do what is good is at war with the evil that dwells in us. We lament the evil that holds us captive. We repent of the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf. Rescue us, forgive us, and restore us for lives of compassion and courage through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”
What word is used four times? Evil. Evil that dwells in us, evil that holds us captive, evil that we have done, and evil that has been done on our behalf. Evil is a very strong word. Is evil the word that most accurately describes how we have lived and how our country has been for the past 250 years?
In contrast to the wording of the confession, compare the wording of the absolution –
“All-merciful, Almighty God forgive you all your sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit’s power strengthen you in doing what is good. Amen.”
If evil is the primary word that describes my and our country’s spiritual condition, then I need far more than just forgiveness and strength to do what is good. I need someone to deliver me from and break the power of evil.
In the Second Reading for July 5 from Romans 7 the apostle Paul talks about the struggle taking place within himself. He does use the word evil twice. But then what he calls out for is not just forgiveness and strength to do good. He begs for deliverance. “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7: 24-25)
But I am not convinced that the ELCA really wants us to be rescued from “this body of death.” Rather it seems to want to continually be able to call on us to grovel and repent of the same things – racism, sexism, patriarchalism, white supremacy, male dominance, and so on. I am not convinced that the ELCA really wants there to be forgiveness and really wants Someone to break the power of evil because then the ELCA would have no authority and right to continually call on me to grovel over and repent of the same things if they have been forgiven and the power of evil were to be broken. There is real power in claiming to be in a position to continually call on others to grovel and repent, just as there is real power in claiming to be one who has been victimized and oppressed. If I were to forgive, then I lose my power over the one whom I claim has offended me. If the power of evil were to be broken, then I would lose my power over and my vindication for putting my foot on the neck of the one whom I claim has victimized and oppressed me.
The words of the third verse of the hymn, “When Peace, Like a River,” are as follows –
“He lives – oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
That is a gift that I am not convinced that the ELCA actually wants people and our nation to have. Because if our sins truly were nailed to the cross and we bear them no more, then the ELCA would have no right and authority to keep on calling on us to grovel over and repent of the same things.
Finally, I would like to say a few words about the article that comes after the sample worship service. It is written by an ELCA pastor and is entitled, “Preaching the Lectionary on the Occasion of the US Semiquincentennial.” Because it is included with these resources, I take it to be an accurate reflection of the position of the ELCA.
The first thing I notice is that it is overwhelmingly negative. Right from the start it talks about all the awful things that were happening in our country during the time leading up to our nation’s Bicentennial. Then it makes these comments –
“On this day, Lutheran preachers in particular are called to reject outright the temptations and claims of Christian nationalism. At this moment in the United States, we are faced with a political movement that has married Christianity with an embrace of hardline authoritarianism and glorification of violent masculinity, casting Jesus in the role of a warrior. We have seen a political Christian movement that has attempted to demonize empathy and love of neighbor, recasting ‘neighbors’ as only those who share the same ethnicity and cultural background.”
“In today’s gospel (from Matthew 11), we hear. . . . the call to repentance for a church that has celebrated America without acknowledging the role its dominant (white Christian) culture has played in enslavement, abuse, and terrorization of non-white, non-Christian Americans, and all are (sic) who are most vulnerable, including women, children, and the poor.”
White supremacy, violent male dominance, and Christian nationalism are all wrong. The United States is a great place to live, but it is not the Kingdom of God on earth. And yet are the bad things rejected in this article actually concerns and values held by the typical ELCA member of a typical ELCA congregation? Rather I believe they are issues raised by a certain group because it makes them feel powerful and better to do so. At the heart of much extreme left political activism is an intense sense of self-righteousness.
The introduction to these resources says that they are intended to “unite the diverse body of Christ for the life of the world.” With their negative, inflammatory language they do just the opposite.
by Dennis D. Nelson
