Let Justice Flow Like Streams

The danger of putting a particularly meaningful hymn (ELW 717) during communion is that not enough people sing it!  I thought this hymn did a superb job of capturing the theme of engagement.  Not only does the imagery match perfectly with my latest "Make Joyful Noise" theme of the sounds of nature, but the text also brings to mind themes of the civil rights movement.  It's a reminder that the ideals of justice, righteousness, respect, and peace should pervade all political and social dialogue.

Among the things I value about the ELCA is our emphasis on reasoned debate and respectful dialogue.  Last summer's Churchwide Assembly may have had its share of contentious issues, but we had first taken years to pray and study and consider those issues from a variety of perspectives.  In this election year, I wish more people of faith were driven to collect facts and quietly reflect on motives and implications before rushing to judgment.

Rather than rambling on with my own opinions, I simply offer the full text of this hymn:

Let justice flow like streams of sparkling water, pure,
Enabling growth, refreshing life, abundant, cleansing, sure.

Let righteousness roll on as others' cares we heed,
An everflowing stream of faith translated into deed.

So may God's plumb line, straight, define our measure true,
And justice, right, and peace pervade this world our whole life through.

Sermon from Iowa

One of the great things about Assembly is that it puts us in contact with other ELCA churches from across the country. In the digital age, that also means connecting online through Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. One of my favorite discoveries is a blog by an ELCA pastor named Joelle in Roland, Iowa.

Her sermon this past Sunday was a thoughtful meditation on the ELCA as a family, so similar to Pastor's message from our own bishop's newsletter. I encourage you to check out her blog entry at this link.

From the NY Times article on Assembly

The Rev. Katrina Foster, a pastor in the Metropolitan New York Synod, pointed out that the church has ordained woman and divorced people in violation of a literal interpretation of scripture.

''We can learn not to define ourselves by negation,'' Foster said. ''By not only saying what we are against, which always seems to be the same -- against gay people. We should be against poverty. I wish we were as zealous about that.''

Similarly, Kevin Roose in his book Unlikely Disciple discussed the problem of Jerry Falwell preaching not just religion but an entire slate of political and social views that must be accepted as the 100% literal, inspired truth. The Lutheran church has voted for acceptance and inclusion, a recognition that the Holy Spirit can speak through anyone. Now, let's follow where the Spirit leads us all together, recognizing that we can disagree but serve together in community.

The latest assembly results

All four sub-parts of the ministry policies recommendations passed. You can read more about it in this LA Times link or at the ELCA site. Among the most prominent online comments (whether pro or con) is a general agreement that Bishop Hanson is a wonderful leader for our church. You can see his comments here, and I'm told the ELCA website will continue to be updated with discussion and interpretation materials in coming days.

A youth minister and one of the voting delegates in the minority of the final decision posted these thoughts on his blog. I think he eloquently points out that the church should work to retain communion and unity in the coming days:

"Some, both individuals and churches, will leave the the ELCA over this assembly’s actions, and I think that is unfortunate. On Twitter, someone said that, “The true Church is neither constituted or destroyed because of a vote. Where Christ is – there is the Church.” And I agree. With the vote today, there was no ontological change in the church catholic or the ELCA. This vote simply turned into “official” church policy that which was already taking place within the ELCA. Yes, there will be practical implications of this decision today. But Hope Lutheran Church, where I serve, can continue to preach with conviction our interpretation of scripture, to feed the hungry, to worship God, to minister to and with our youth, and every other good work of mission and ministry that we are already doing. At this point, we are not being asked to act contrary to our deeply held convictions, and I believe we should stay within this national church body."

"Martin Luther himself remained within the Roman Catholic church until it was clear to him that his ability to proclaim the gospel was being hindered by remaining within that body. I would admonish those in the ELCA who are now on the side of the minority on this issue to do the same."

Full communion with UMC

Despite the obvious divisive issues, the Assembly has managed to spend the bulk of this week on issues that the delegates could agree on and smile about. Following malaria and braille/audio editions of worship materials, today the vote for full communion with UMC passed overwhemlingly today.

Of course, our musical heritage has always acknowledged the influence of John and Charles Wesley. The ELW includes 10 hymns with text written or at least translated by Charles, including "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."

When I read verse 5 of "Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" I had to wonder what took us so long to reach full communion. What could be more Lutheran than this text?

Look unto him, your savior own,
O fallen human race!
Look and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace!

It's fantastic to recognize shared aspects of faith. Let us hope that the delegates and the church at large can carry that attitude forward through the rest of the week and beyond.

Hymns of unity

There has been much talk of schism and conflict within the ELCA and in the media portrayal of our church this week. Other people have claimed that the center will hold, that our common confession, creed, and community will keep us together through disagreement. Only time will tell what actually occurs, but I do know that the ELW is filled with hymns of unity, not hymns of division.

We sang several of those hymns this past Sunday, including "The Church's One Foundation" whose third verse could not be more appropriate:

Though with a scornful wonder this world sees her oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up: "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

Foundational hymns of faith of that quality can stir optimism even in the darkest of times.

Assembly humor

I saw that earlier today the live closed captioning included a quote from Dietrich Bon Whoever. I love humorous typos, but I also wonder how many people in the world could tell you who they were quoting? Luckily, I think it would include most of the attendees at the Assembly. So far, debate has been both informed and cordial on all issues, which I hope is a good sign for unity no matter what decisions are made.

Today, they discussed the malaria initiative, among other things. One issue may be dominating the headlines, but the church is doing so much more, so many things that we can all support. We can only pray that the Holy Spirit is guiding us to do God's work while facing the challenges of modern life. Bonhoeffer certainly understood the forces of evil in the 20th century, but he wrote this hymn while in the concentration camp where he died:

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
And confidently waiting come what may,
We know that God is with us night and morning,
And never fails to greet us each new day.
...
And when this cup You give is filled to brimming
With bitter suffering, hard to understand,
We take it thankfully and without trembling,
Out of so good and so beloved a hand.

One holy, catholic, and apostolic church

That phrase is getting thrown around a lot at the Assembly. People on all sides of all issues want to say that they represent the will of God and the true message of unity from scripture. I don't presume to know all of that, but I can't help noticing that the Creed is being used as a point of debate (or even attack). It's to be ready for such serious debates that we must study scripture and apologetics. We must be firm in our own faith, fully grounded in scripture and understanding. We may have different understandings, but at least we should be arguing from an informed and open-minded position that would make John Stuart Mill proud.

One blogger whom I respect (but disagree with) is Pastor Zip. Check out his take on Assembly issues at this link.

You might also be interested in Mark Hansen's Monday afternoon sermon. It's generally non-controversial, but just as I think it's important to hear multiple musical styles from multiple sources, it's good for the soul to hear or read different sermons and perspectives. The Assembly should feature some of the best preaching around, so keep checking back for more examples.

Churchwide Assembly!

It's assembly time in Minneapolis. I wish I could be there; the news from MN makes me just a bit homesick and nostalgic for the years I lived in Minneapolis and attended Central Lutheran. My favorite factoid of the day that I read online was that nearly 20% of the country's Lutherans are in Minnesota. I guess growing up in that part of the country must be part of the reason I'm such a liturgi-geek!

I've become quite addicted to the Twitter feed from the convention center. The church has done a pretty good job of making news available. It's a great example of the use of technology to link the world together. You can get up-to-the-minute reports and commentary, rather than waiting for the traditional media to report on it.

For anyone else who is interested, here are some of my favorites tonight:
Churchwide Assembly blog - This is being updated by upstate New York voting members
Official ELCA blog - This seems to be the "official" ELCA blog
ELCA multimedia - This site has audio, video, pictures, etc from Minneapolis

Last, but best, is the Twitter feed. Tonight was the first time I had followed a Twitter feed, and I am completely addicted. I encourage you to check it out #CWA09