Love Builds Up

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  1 Corinthains 8:1

In a recent conversation with one of the pastors of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod we were discussing the need for a renewal of individual faith practices like prayer, worship and the reading of scripture among Lutherans.  In the course of our conversation, the pastor mentioned Nikolaus von Zinzendorf’s “Order of the Mustard Seed.”  Zinzendorf was a Moravian reformer from the 18^th century who worked passionately for the renewal of the church of his day.  Those in Zinzendorf’s Order made a simple (and not so simple) commitment to one another to (1) be true to Christ, (2) be kind to all people and (3) to take the Gospel into the world.  That’s an Order I think I could join and a commitment that I think is sorely needed in today’s divisive and hurting world. 

Paul’s discussion about eating meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8, I think, is reflected in the core commitments of the Order of the Mustard Seed and more generally in the practice of the Christian faith.   Being true to Christ does not allow us to believe whatever seems to work for us without any regard for it’s impact on others.  Being true to Christ is never, ultimately about ME.  Like the prophets of old, Jesus regularly challenged unhealthy and unholy faith practices that injured, judged and marginalized people.  He demonstrated kindness toward all…  even those who nailed him to a cross.  Now, kindness does not mean ignoring injustice or being nice all the time.  It means engaging the world around us with compassion, with a deep regard for the other’s common status as a creation of a loving God, and, as Luther says in his explanation of the 8^th commandment, to “come to [a neighbor’s] defense, speak well of them and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.”  It means that if eating food offered to idols is going to, in some way, distract, mislead, confuse or hurt another person, we shouldn’t do it.  (Maybe this was the origin of “political correctness”?)  As we live the good news of the Gospel in the world through service, witness, advocacy and invitation, we go with this kind of humility and compassion for all those we meet.  We take the Good News of God’s love, grace, forgiveness and mercy in Jesus Christ into the world to build up our neighbor in love, and to discover together how God’s love is already at work in both our lives.  Paul reminds us that our neighbor is someone for whom Christ died…  just like us…  and because of that, we need to do all we can to value them as much as Christ values us. 

Faith is not primarily about what we know.  It is about how we live – day in and day out – reflecting the love we first received as a gift through Jesus Christ.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

Thanks for reading!

Following the Call

Mark 1:14-20

And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  –Mark 1:18

I have spent the last week or so doing “one on one” visits with some of the rostered leaders of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod.   While I have visited individually with our pastors and deacons in the past, this is the first time we (myself and our Director of Evangelical Mission) are intentionally attempting to visit with every rostered leader serving in a congregation or other ministry in the synod.  What a delightful week or so it has been!   While I feel I know the folks I have been visiting, I have learned a lot about them that I didn’t know.  I have heard stories about the significant ministry they are doing and the joys and challenges of leadership in the church today.  But mostly, I have heard stories about peoples’ passion for the Gospel, about people who, like those first disciples, left their nets and followed Jesus in some cases to the far corners of the globe…  including Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Once again, I have been reminded that this is holy work that we are about in partnership with the people the Holy Spirit has called us to serve.  For that, I can only say, “praise God!”

As the baptized people of God, we are all called upon to participate in Jesus’ work of proclaiming the Good News of God and declaring that the Reign of God has come near.  Like disciples before us, we are called to call people to turn to God and believe the good news that God loves them enough to die for them on a cross.  We are called to love God, love one another and love our neighbors as ourselves in Jesus’ name.  This is not meant to be pushy or judgmental or “holier than thou.”  It’s meant to be done with humility, compassion, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and care modeled after the way of Jesus.

Church work can be a fishy business.  But it is also a blessed one.  Churches are far from perfect.  In fact, they are always populated with sinners…  from the person in the pulpit to the newcomer sitting alone in the back row.  But churches, when they are at their best, and sometimes in spite of themselves, can also be conduits for God’s grace. Places where people hear and experience God’s call to follow Jesus out into the world where God is already and always at work loving the very people the Church is called to serve in Jesus’ name.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

I invite you to join me in a prayer of thanksgiving for all those who are called to serve others in Christ’s name.  Thanks for reading!

Speak Lord

1 Samuel 3:1-20

“Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”  -1 Samuel 3:9

Those who know me, even a little, know that I am a person of words.  I love to talk.  I am “verbal processor,” meaning I tend to think things through by talking them out.  I love to write.  I love to read.  So, those who don’t know me so well, might be surprised to find out that my favorite form of prayer is to sit in silence…  listening.  My interest in contemplative prayer began during a “guided imagery” retreat I attended when I was an intern pastor over thirty years ago.  More recently, I have been practicing what is called “Centering Prayer,” a form of contemplative prayer developed by Fr. Thomas Keating in the 20^th century, but rooted in prayer practices that go back centuries.   For me, listening prayer balances the wordy world I inhabit most of the time. 

Sometimes I think that listening for God is a lost art in a world filled with so much noise and so many words.  We are, so often, quick to speak and slow to listen.  God can feel distant, and sometimes belief is hard, not because God is absent, but because we’re simply not paying attention.  We do not see God at work in the world around us because our constant busy-ness has dulled our spirits and weakened our senses.   We fail to grasp what God is saying and doing in our lives because we so often divorce ourselves from the stories of faith found in scripture, the regular practice of worship and the communities of faith who can help us interpret, understand and live into the presence of God’s love for us.   

The story of the elder Eli and the young Samuel has long been one of my favorite stories from the Hebrew Scriptures.  In a secular society and culture like ours, where so many seem to practice a vague, generic “spirituality,” I resonate with the introduction to the story, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.”  (3:1)   Even Eli, an old priest who should have known God’s voice, takes a while to figure it out when God calls to the boy under his tutelage.  But, when he finally does, he gives Samuel sage advice:  “Listen.” 

Samuel follows his master’s direction.  “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”  The young prophet says when God calls to him.   It is not an easy word he hears from God.  But that, I have discovered, is often the case.   God’s call challenges.  God’s call often pushes us in directions and pulls us to places we never thought we would or could go.  God’s call can be uncomfortable.   But listening for God’s still small voice in the midst of a noisy, wordy world also opens us to the depth of grace that is ours even before we listen, to a relationship of abiding love that is ours even before we ask for it, and to a presence and power that never abandons us, even on those days when our spirits are dull with doubt, our senses are weak with uncertainty and our ability to listen clouded by troubled hearts and minds.

Peace,

Bishop Mike.

Thanks for reading. 

Look

Mark 1:9-11

"You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased."  -- Mark 1:11

What do you see when you look at this picture?  Snow-dusted mountains?  Water?  A few wispy clouds?  Do you see a ship, industry, human occupation?  Do you see creation’s grandeur?  Signs of climate change?  The presence of God?  What we see depends a great deal on how we look at it, the filters we consciously and unconsciously employ and the perspectives and experiences we bring to whateve we are considering.

Tomorrow, January 6, is Epiphany, the day when the Western Churches celebrate the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem to pay homage to the baby Jesus, bringing their gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.  In Eastern Christianity, it is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Son of God.  Sunday, in many congregations, we will celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  In all of the events we celebrate and remember over these few days in the Christian calendar, what you see depends upon how you look and what you believe.  The Magi looked at the baby in Mary’s arms and saw a king.  Herod heard about the baby’s birth and saw a threat.  The innkeeper saw a pregnant woman in need of shelter and let her and her husband stay in the barn.  The Shepherds, believing the angels who appeared on their hillside, saw the Messiah.  The people along the Jordan saw another pilgrim, John the Baptist saw the one whose sandals he was not worthy to untie.

In today’s reading, the voice from heaven tells us who the one baptized by John is:  God’s beloved Son.  But can we see it?  And, seeing it, do we believe it?  And believing it, what do we do about it?  How does the revelation of God’s love, grace and mercy in Jesus impact, shape and guide our lives? 

Questions, I think, worth looking at as we head into 2018.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

I took this picture last week in Vancouver, BC where I was attending a conference with the Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada learning and thinking together about our ministry with indigenous peoples.  Thanks for reading.