Playing By The Rules

Luke 13:10-17

When I began my ministry as the bishop of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod,  I was a little surprised to discover that, in my new role, I was expected to interpret, apply and sometimes even enforce the constitutions, policies and practices of the ELCA.  In other words, to help people “play by the rules.”  The truth is, as a child, “lawyer” was never on the list of the many things I thought about being when I grew up.   This aspect of my work continues to be a challenge, and I am grateful for the actual lawyers and other wise ones who regularly advise me in this interpretive task.  Over the past five years, I have come to appreciate and value the governing documents of our church.  Frequently, they give me helpful guidance and direction as I work with individuals, congregations and ministries in the Synod.  

I believe that, for the most part, our governing documents reflect our theology, our understanding of what it means to be the Church, and contribute to carrying out our mission as the Body of Christ.  For the most part.  The governing documents of our church are, after all, human documents that are subject to all the imperfections and limited vision that comes with being human.   That’s why they are always being updated, revised and changed as the world around us changes, and as we consider different or better ways of being church together.   At the recent Churchwide Assembly, we approved a whole range changes to our governing documents.   Hopefully, those decisions will make our governing documents stronger and our ministry more faithful to the Gospel that must – must – always stand at the center of who and what we are as a church.  And that’s the key, isn’t it?  If it is not, then we cease to be the church.   When the rules we play by do not reflect the Gospel we live by, they can become destructive rather than life-giving. 

I think that was what was going on in the synagogue in this week’s text from Luke.   There, as in other places, Jesus is challenged for breaking the rules regarding the observance of the Sabbath.   But, Jesus is really challenging the “governing documents” that had grown up around the Torah, not the Torah itself. He challenges the rules because they no longer reflected the life-giving, steadfast love of God.  Jesus does not reject Torah, but, through his ministry, fulfills its loving intent to establish justice and compassion in our human relationships with God and with one another. (See Matthew 5:17)  That ministry ultimately took him to the cross.

Our conversations about how we live out the Gospel as a church are always ongoing and need to be.   Our governing documents will always be a work in progress.  Through the Holy Spirit, God is always helping us see our imperfections, always reforming us, and always challenging us to play by the rules of Christ’s way of love, compassion and justice.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

Thanks for reading!