Falling Temples

Pentecost 25

Mark 13:1-8

Church buildings can be a real problem.  All too often, I have seen them get in the way of mission.  Now, I am not opposed to church buildings.  Over the years, I have been involved in a number of capital campaigns to restore, refurbish, repair and expand them.  I think having a concrete, visible place (with clear signage and a welcoming design) for a faith community to gather can provide a ministry with a certain level of recognition and identity in the larger community and provide a tool to be used for mission and ministry.  It certainly can make the ministry easier to find.  But, buildings can also become idols.  They can become more important to us than the ministry they were built to house.  The building can come to define the ministry more than the ministry itself.  Mortgages, leaky roofs, maintenance costs and other building expenses can cripple a congregation financially.  When maintaining the building becomes a higher priority than maintaining the ministry…  church buildings can be a real problem.

Then, Jesus asked, “Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”  (v. 2)

No religious tradition has ever been more defined by a building than ancient Judaism and its Temple.  And yet, after it was razed to the ground by Titus in 70 AD, Judaism not only persisted, but flourished.  When our church building burned to the ground in Wayne, NE in 1994 AD, we discovered an identity as a faith community that went much deeper than the charred bricks and mortar.  Some of the fastest growing congregations I have visited in Tanzania gather for worship under the trees.

1 Peter 2:5 puts it this way, “…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…”  and again, in 2:6,  “For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’”  As a church, we need to get past the idea that the goal of being a church is to fill our buildings so we can maintain them, and build bigger ones.  The goal of being a church is to build disciples upon the cornerstone, which is Christ, and then to send them out into the world to live their daily lives in service and in witness to God’s love and compassion.  If the building gets in the way of doing that…  then, as hard as that may be, perhaps it is time to let it go.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

For Widows’ Sake

Pentecost 24

November 7, 2015

Mark 12:38-44

In his earthly ministry, Jesus frequently talked about issues of wealth and poverty.  It is, in fact, a common theme throughout the bible.  In this week’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus observes a widow putting two small coins in the Temple treasury.  An offering, Jesus says, that represents “all she had to live on.”  Often times, we lift up this widow as an example of the kind of sacrificial giving that God expects of us as Christians.  But, I don’t think that’s what Jesus was doing.  In the paragraph just before this one, Jesus criticizes scribes who “devour widow’s houses” among other things.  Actions which, Jesus implies, are self-focused and self-serving.  I think the contrast here is intentional.   Those who give out of their abundance, but ignore and even take advantage of poor widows and others in need, have completely missed the point of their offering and God’s intent for the use of their wealth.  Amos and other Old Testament writers offer a similar critique of the people of their own times (Amos 8:4-6).   Like Jesus, they call upon God’s people to use what we have for the sake of widows, orphans, the poor and the powerless of the world.   

These days, in every corner of the church, I hear people talking about a lack of funds to do the ministries we are called to do.  This is true in congregations, in the synod and churchwide offices, in seminaries and colleges and other institutions and ministries where I serve on boards.  The problem today is not so much a misuse of our abundance, but the paralysis of our perceived scarcity.  Many, it seems, feel the best response is to cling tightly to what we have.  To take care of ourselves first.  But, by doing so, don’t we fall into the same trap as the scribes?  Don’t we wind up self-focused and self-serving in the use of what we have?   The scriptures call us to a different, almost counter-intuitive way of thinking about these things.  Paul, writing to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 9-10) encourages people to give from a sense of gratitude for God’s blessings, rather than that of fear.   He acknowledges that not everyone has the ability to give a lot, but he believes everyone has the ability to give something.   If, with grateful hearts, we all give in proportion to what we have received, combining our resources for the sake of Christ’s work, then widows won’t be forced to offer up “all they have to live on” and God’s work will still be done in our congregations, in our synod, in our church and around the  world.

In Gratitude,

Bishop Mike     

Death is NOT the End

All Saints Day

Revelation 21:1-6a

Christians believes two things about life in this world.  First, that it can be a real struggle.  As Christians, we acknowledge that the world is a broken place.  Conflict is real.  Violence, pain, fear and terror are real.  Death is real. Relationships are often frayed and shattered.  People are hurt, and hurt others in a million ways every day. The thing is, the world has always been that way.  Second, Christians believe that death is not the end.  We believe that destruction, brokenness, conflict, pain and hurt never have the last word.  These two central truths about human life play themselves out in a powerful way in the cross and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus was nailed to a cross by a world that could not tolerate his message of God’s love and grace for everyone (no exceptions); a sacrifice to the brokenness and violence of our world and our human propensity to demand blood when we feel wronged or slighted or hurt.  Jesus’ resurrection is a clear demonstration that God’s love and grace is more powerful than all the brokenness and violence the world can muster; more powerful even than death itself – even the horrors of a death on the cross.

But, the Good News that death is not the end is not just a panacea to help us tolerate the pain and suffering of the present tumultuous times.  Instead, the Good News that death is not the end frees us to live boldly and joyfully in the midst of an often difficult present.  Because we no longer have to worry about death, we can focus on nurturing life.   Because we know that the fullness of life, not the emptiness of death, lies in our future, we can join hands and work toward that future in the here and now.   Because we know that God, in Christ, has reconciled the world to God, we can join in that reconciling work.

The book of Revelation paints harrowing and horrible pictures of the great battle that is being waged between the forces of Good and Evil that seem to be swirling around us all the time.  People in every age since John of Patmos shared his vision have been able to see themselves and their times in his images.  That’s because the world has always been a broken and often fearful place to dwell.  But, the point of Revelation is not to terrify, but to give hope.  The punchline comes at the end – in the vision of the ultimate victory of God over all the world’s brokenness, evil, violence and death.  A victory won in Christ who died, defeated death and showed us the way to eternal life, and how to live in the here and now.    

The saints that the Church celebrates each year on the first of November are not people who were perfect, or more holy or in some way better than the rest of us.  No.  The saints of the Church are those people who understood and experienced the reality of a broken world and, with God’s help, managed to live in love and hope and joy anyway.  People who were very much like you and me:  imperfect and broken and, most of all, loved by God. 

Peace,

Bishop Mike

We've Always Done It That Way

Reformation Sunday

October 25, 2015

John 8:31-36

Last January, I had the privilege of visiting Wittenberg, Germany, “birthplace” of the Lutheran Reformation.   It was fascinating to see the City Church, where Martin Luther preached, and the Castle Church upon whose door it is said he posted the 95 Thesis which touched off the Reformation.  I was struck by the fact that you can walk from one to the other in less than ten minutes.  That got me thinking.  I can imagine what happened the first Sunday Dr. Luther announced at the City Church that, on the next Sunday, the congregation would begin worshipping in German.   In my mind’s eye, I can see a couple, probably toward the back, leaning over to one another and whispering, “Humph!  If that’s what he’s going to do…  then…  next week, we’re going to the Castle Church!  After all, if Latin was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for us!”*

Of course, the above story is completely fanciful.  But, I think there is a lot of truth in it.  Embracing change, especially significant change, can be difficult, even for a church that celebrates the “Reformation” (i.e. “Change”) each year.  Anyone who knows me, or reads my musings regularly, knows that I believe that change in the church is both inevitable and absolutely necessary if we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ effectively in our contemporary world.   The question whether the church should change or not is, in my opinion, a nonsensical question.  Change happens.   The only real question for the church is this:  “do we passively accept the change that leads to decay and death or do we do what we can to foster the change that leads to growth and new life?”

Though I believe strongly that significant change and reformation are absolutely necessary in our churches today if we are to turn around the obvious decay and experience growth and new life, I believe just as strongly that there is a Truth at the center of our faith that does not change (something of a paradox, I know).  The Truth of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is the taproot of the Church that bears his name.  It MUST be at the heart of the church, or we stop being the Church.  The story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is the “truth that will make us free” to make the necessary changes that will release us to proclaim God’s Reign and serve our neighbors in new and life-giving ways.  Sure, the story has been interpreted and re-interpreted, applied and re-applied in many and different ways down through the centuries, and across the breadth of the church today, but the story itself forms our sacred center. Reconnecting the church to that sacred center in new ways was what Luther’s Reformation was all about.  Whatever change we embrace,  it is what we need to be about too.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

*As far as we know, Jesus actually spoke Aramaic as his first language.