The Cross at the Center

Luke 23:33-43

As I read this week’s Gospel text, I am struck by all the activity that swirls around the cross of Christ.  Front and center in the picture painted by Luke are the two criminals crucified with Jesus.  They draw our attention.  One joins those who are taunting Jesus, challenging him to save himself and prove he is their kind of messiah.  The other acknowledges Jesus’ innocence and asks Jesus to remember him.  But if we step back, we see others standing there too.  There are those who have nailed Jesus to the cross.  Roman soldiers still holding their hammers.  There are the ones casting lots for his clothing.   Others are mocking him and offering him sour wine.  These are the instruments of oppressive power and authority in that Judean world.   If we step back a bit more (and beyond Luke’s painting) we see the women who had followed him weeping, and the religious leaders looking on with smug satisfaction on their faces.  But, at the center of it all stands the cross.  At the center of it all hangs the Lord of Life.   In the midst of all that pain and suffering and yes, evil, God Reigns.

That’s exactly where we find Jesus today.  

We find the cross of the Lord of Life at the center of the divisiveness, the turmoil, and the oppressive powers and principalities of the world.  Jesus stands between the mocking crowds and those who cry out to be remembered.  God still Reigns.

That’s exactly where the Church which bears Christ’s name need to be too.

In our worship space at the Luther Center at the University of South Dakota there was an amazingly powerful piece of art.  It was done with stain on wooden slats.  Kind of like a vertical wood floor.  The cross was at the center, Christ’s arms outstretched.  Surrounding the cross were depictions of the suffering, the hurting and the disenfranchised of our world.  A prisoner.  Murdered children.  An elderly woman leaning in a rocking chair, her back to the viewer.  Some students found it disturbing.  Others found it to be a powerful reminder of what it means to follow a crucified Lord. 

In life and death, Christ could always be found among the poor and powerless and oppressed of the world.  As people who place our faith in a crucified Lord, we need to stand with him.  We need to stand with all those who are living out his compassion, mercy, life and healing in a world that is filled with mocking, death and brokenness.   My prayer these days is not only “Jesus, remember us when you come into your kingdom,”  but even more, “Jesus, help us to remember you.”

Peace,

Bishop Mike.

Thank you for reading.  Bishop Mike will be on vacation next week, so won’t be writing an “On the Way.”  Have a blessed Thanksgiving!  See you in Advent!

What Now? - Part 2

In Friday's “On The Way” reflection I wrote:

“In our time, as in all previous tumultuous times, the Church of Jesus Christ is called to do what it has always done:  proclaim the Good News of God’s love and grace for all people in Jesus Christ, walk with the poor, the powerless, the lost and the forsaken, work for healing and shalom among the broken and the suffering, and pray for the words and the wisdom we need to be the Body of  Christ in the world.  The promises of Jesus give us the hope and the courage to carry out this mission.”

I believe that.  But, because I understand that others may read this call to return to what is central in different ways, I want to expand on what I think this means for the Church in this tumultuous time. 

The Church is called to proclaim the Good News of God’s love and grace to all people…   but, especially to those on the margins, not just those who think and believe like we do.  That means LGBTQ people, and undocumented immigrants, and people of all races, cultures and creeds.  Loving all people does not mean “convert” them.  It means “love them.”  It means to see others as beloved children of God.  It means seeing the image of God in their faces.  It means treating them with compassion and respect.  It means expecting God to teach us something in the midst of our relationships with people who are different than we are.

…walk with the poor, the powerless, the lost and the forsaken…   As a person of privilege and power, I admit that can never fully understand the pain and suffering that those on the margins of our society experience.  But that doesn’t mean we cannot walk together.  I struggle with how to do that (see my reflection from a week ago).  Instead of vilifying people, putting them down, and rejecting them – which seems to happen with all too much frequency these days – we need to listen.   Can we who are privileged hear, really hear, the cries of African Americans, immigrants and the LGBTQ community?   Can we hear the pain and fear  that drives those who protest?  Can we hear the stories of women who have been abused without blaming the victim?  Do we even try to know our Muslim neighbors, or do we simply accept the stereotypes that cast every Muslim in the worst possible light?   We have a lot of work to do here.

…work for healing and shalom among the broken and the suffering…  The issues that confront our nation and our world are as complex as they are divisive.  The solutions cannot be found in thirty-second sound bites, and venom filled diatribes.  People of faith need to bring a voice of reconciliation and hope into the midst of those who are trying to find positive, life-giving paths forward.  We need to facilitate bringing diverse people to the table to thoughtfully search for solutions.   We need to respond through acts of kindness, and mercy for those in need, and advocate for systemic changes that reflect the intent of our loving Creator who cared enough for us (as messed up as we humans can be) to live among us and die for us.  That, in my opinion, is what it means to “build bridges of justice, hope and peace in a tumultuous world.”

Peace,

Bishop Mike

What Now?

Luke 21:5-19

On Wednesday morning, half the population of our country woke up shocked and horrified at the election of Donald Trump as the 45^th president of the United States.  The other half woke up elated and joyful.   This week’s election and the reaction in the days since have revealed, in striking terms, the real divisions at work in our nation.  The results of the election have caused many people, on all sides of the divides, from pundits to passers-by, to ask, “So, what now?”   I have heard the same question from friends and colleagues within the church.  “So, what now?”

Tumultuous and uncertain times are really nothing new.  In this week’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is with his disciples in Jerusalem.  It is Holy Week.  He is just a few days away from dying on a cross.  While the people around him are infatuated with the ancient structures surrounding them, Jesus sees tumultuous days ahead.  By the time Luke wrote his Gospel, the tumult Jesus described was happening in real time.  It would be easy to get caught up in Jesus’ description of the tumult:  false teachers, wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes.  We often do.  But focusing on the promises Jesus gives in the midst of his hair-raising predictions is more important.  In the midst of the uncertainty of the times, Jesus promises to give us the words and the wisdom we need.  In the midst of the tumult, he promises protection and life.  These are not empty words.  Three days after dying on the cross he rises again to prove the power of God’s love and life is greater than the tumult, the uncertainty and even death itself.   Fifty days later, the promised Holy Spirit blows like a mighty wind giving the apostles the words and wisdom they need to take Christ’s message of hope and promise into an often hostile world.

So, whether you were shocked or elated on Wednesday morning, maybe Jesus’ promise is the best answer people of faith can give to the question, “So, what now?” 

In our time, as in all previous tumultuous times, the Church of Jesus Christ is called to do what it has always done:  proclaim the Good News of God’s love and grace for all people in Jesus Christ, walk with the poor, the powerless, the lost and the forsaken, work for healing and shalom among the broken and the suffering, and pray for the words and the wisdom we need to be the Body of  Christ in the world.  The promises of Jesus give us the hope and the courage to carry out this mission.

As I reflected on the results of Tuesdays election as Wednesday dawned, Paul’s words to the Corinthians bubbled up in my meditations:

“So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…”  (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

Reconciliation.  Building bridges of justice, hope and peace in a divided and tumultuous world.  Christ’s work. 

As people of faith, that’s what we always need to be about…   no matter who is occupying the Oval Office. 

Peace,

Bishop Mike.

Thank you for reading.  Please join me in praying for our nation and for our world.