August 22, 2009
Dear Friends in Christ,
Perhaps
by now you have heard that the E.L.C.A., meeting in
Assembly in Minneapolis, has voted to allow people in
publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender
relationships to serve as rostered clergy in this
church. You may be aware that this is a change for
which I have advocated and worked, both as a parish
pastor and as bishop.
In
the moments that followed yesterday's vote, I began
to feel the weight of the implications of living into
this new reality for all of us in the Sierra Pacific
Synod. For some it will mean challenge, for
others, it will be a celebration. Many others
probably don't yet know what to think about these
votes.
Just at that moment, Bishop Hanson spoke to us
with words that echoed deeply in my heart. His
first sentence, below, summed up perfectly what I was
feeling in that moment; when I realized I would need
time with this decision to understand its implications
for our life together as synod. I need time to
pray, to talk with you, to hear what you think this
decision means for you and your ministry. That
time will come. For now, I invite you to consider
the elegant and faithful words Bishop Hanson shared with
us:
"I want more time to think about words
from one you have called to serve as pastor of this
church. I have been standing here thinking about my 23
years as a parish pastor and how differently I would go
into a context if I was gathering with a family or a
group of people that had just experienced loss, or
perhaps were wondering if they still belonged, or in
fact felt deeply that ones to whom they belong had been
severed from them. That would be a very different
pastoral conversation. And I would probably turn to
words such as Romans 8:
"Who is to condemn? It is
Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who was at
the right hand of God, who intercedes for us. Who will
separate us from the love of Christ? I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus."
But then I thought,
"What if I were going into a family or a group, a
community that had always wondered if they belonged and
suddenly had now received a clear affirmation that they
belonged?" All of the wondering about the dividing
walls, the feelings of separation seem to have dropped
away. That would be a very different conversation. I
would probably read to them out of Ephesians [chapter
2]:
"But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been
brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and
has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the
hostility between us. In him the whole structure is
joined together and grows into a holy temple in the
Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually
into a dwelling place for God."
But
then I thought, what if those two groups were together,
but also in their midst were those who had not
experienced loss or the feeling of the dividing wall of
separation coming down, but were wondering and worried
if all that had occurred might sever the unity that is
ours in Christ and might wonder if their actions might
have contributed to reconciliation or separation? If all
those people were together in a room, I would read from
Colossians [chapter 3]:
"As
God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and
patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a
complaint against another, forgive each other; just as
the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony. And let the
peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you
were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish
one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your
hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him."
That passage gives invitation and
expectation that those deeply disappointed today will
have in this church the expectation and the freedom to
continue to admonish and to teach. And so, too, those
that have experienced reconciliation today, you are
called to humility. You are called to clothe yourselves
with love. But we're all called to let the peace of
Christ rule in our hearts, remembering again and again
that we are called in the one body. I will invite you
tomorrow afternoon into important, thoughtful, prayerful
conversations about what all of this means for our life
together. But what is absolutely important for me is
that that's a conversation we have
together.
I ended my oral report with these words:
"We meet one another finally, not in our agreements or
our disagreements, but at the foot of the cross - where
God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and
where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in
Christ."
Let us
pray. O God, gracious and holy, mysterious and merciful,
we meet this day at the foot of the cross and there we
kneel in gratitude and awe that you have loved us so
much that you would give the life of your Son so that we
might have life in his name. Send your spirit this
night, the spirit of the Risen Christ that has been
breathed into us. May it calm us. May your Spirit unite
us. May it continue to gather us. In Jesus'
name. Amen."
Please
note the text and video of Bishop Hanson's remarks, as
well as all information about the actions of the
Churchwide Assembly are available at the ELCA
website: www.elca.org/assembly
. Pastors Nelson, Blomberg and I will be
praying and talking with you as we continue to walk and
work together to fulfill the mission God has given us -
to be a people who have been marked with the cross of
Christ, called to do God's work with our hands.
God's Peace,
Bp.
Mark
