By: Dcn. Mitzi Budde

On January 6, 2021, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church will celebrate twenty years of full communion. Full communion was established between the churches in the ecumenical agreement, Called to Common Mission, and inaugurated in 2001 at the Washington National Cathedral with a festival Epiphany Lutheran-Episcopal joint Eucharist. Called to Common Mission was the culmination of over thirty years of ecumenical dialogue leading to agreements on theology, Scripture, sacraments, and church polity.

What has this full communion agreement meant for our churches over these twenty years? We’ve worshipped together in joint celebrations and shared liturgies and developed a deep familiarity and appreciation for each other’s liturgies and confession of the faith. We’ve come to know the richness of our common foundation in the sacramental life of baptism and the Eucharist (even – or perhaps especially – in this season of COVID fasting from in-person worship and sacraments).

We have established full recognition of one another’s ordained ministries and the office of bishop. Episcopal priests are serving in ELCA congregations, and ELCA pastors are serving in Episcopal parishes. The permanent diaconate has found convergence and renewal in both churches.

Our bishops participate in each other’s installations/consecrations and confer with one another in local synods/dioceses. The Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri and the Central States Synod of the ELCA moved into shared offices in Kansas City, Missouri last year, the proximity creating new possibilities for partnership and collaboration. In the future, Episcopalians and ELCA Lutherans might build upon this model and establish diocesan/synodical partnerships with shared staff.

The Episcopal Church and the ELCA have established many joint ministry sites, as seen on the Lutheran-Episcopal Asset Map. Currently there are at least 73 Lutheran-Episcopal shared parishes across the country, such as Epiphany Lutheran-Episcopal in Valdez, Alaska which has been a joint congregation since 1978, pre-dating the full communion partnership by two decades. Our two churches are planting mission congregations together, such as Christ’s Beloved Community / Comunidad Amada De Cristo, an intercultural, bi-denominational, bilingual church start on the southside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We now have over 30 joint Lutheran-Episcopal campus ministries at colleges and universities and nearly 40 other forms of shared ministries, such as a summer camp and conference center, two social advocacy ministries, a school, and a border ministry.

Cruzando Fronteras was established in 2019 as a “new vision for border ministry” along the Arizona/Mexico border, sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona and the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA. Their mission includes prayer and relational action along the border, advocacy for migrants and detainees, promotion of immigration reform, and Latino/Hispanic congregational development.

In Washington, D.C., ELCA Lutherans and Episcopalians work collaboratively on advocacy issues on Capitol Hill. Our two churches are working side-by-side to advocate on issues such as racial justice, immigration rights, environmental justice, and the abolition of human trafficking. The two churches jointly hosted an online faith-based advocacy training course, “Advocacy Tools for Loving Your Neighbor” in July 2020, where Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, together with advocacy leaders, explored issues needing the church’s advocacy and methods for making our collective voices heard.

Annually, the four presiding bishops in full communion in the U.S. and Canada prepare a shared devotional series for the four churches. The theme changes every year. For 2020, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (TEC), Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton (ELCA), Bishop Susan C. Johnson (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada), and Archbishop Linda Nicholls (the Anglican Church of Canada) prepared a series of devotional bulletin inserts for the Season of Creation. These inserts invite our members to live out their vocation as stewards of creation through Scripture, hymns, advocacy and action. For the four churches, this is also an opportunity to strengthen relationships with one another. Together, they have claimed the name “Churches Beyond Borders” as they leverage the strength of bilateral partnerships that have come to serve as full communion partnerships among the four churches.

Having close ecumenical relationships already established means that the structures are in place to work together when the unexpected happens. The ELCA and the Episcopal Church have worked jointly on disaster relief for years in many parts of the country. When COVID-19 hit our nation, the two churches worked together with other ecumenical partners to craft ecumenical COVID guidelines for reopening parishes. The statement, Resuming Care-Filled Worship and Sacramental Life during a Pandemic, was developed by the Ecumenical Consultation on Protocols for Worship, Fellowship, and Sacraments, which was an interdisciplinary group of theologians, scientists, physicians, pastors, bishops, and practitioners from United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, Episcopal, Pan-Methodist, and Roman Catholic traditions, with the assistance of the Center for Disease Control.

A national Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee is charged with helping the two churches implement the full communion agreement and integrate it into our denominational mission and ministries. The Coordinating Committee’s charter defines its work as a ministry of encouragement: encouraging trust, cooperation, and mission; encouraging new and ongoing cooperative ministry work; encouraging communication of common mission work; encouraging prayer in support of full communion; encouraging communication of the work of this committee; and encouraging processes of decision-making. The Coordinating Committee’s current co-chairs are ELCA Bishop Donald Kreiss and Episcopal Bishop Douglas Sparks. Currently, the Coordinating Committee is currently updating the guidelines for clergy exchanges. The coordinating committee will also explore possibilities for establishing diaconal exchangeability.

Prayer for the church of Jesus Christ in its various expressions and for the members and ministries of the churches is the core call of ecumenical relationships. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry modelled this commitment of mutual prayer by inviting congregations and individuals to pray together through the COVID season, starting at Pentecost 2020.  A Prayer for the Power of the Spirit Among the People of God was crafted by a team of Lutheran and Episcopal prayer leaders in light of the pandemic. This is a call to pray for and with one another, seeking spiritual renewal in these challenging times and revival for the common mission we share.

A Prayer for the Power of the Spirit among the People of God
God of all power and love, we give thanks for your unfailing presence and the hope you provide in times of uncertainty and loss.
Send your Holy Spirit to enkindle in us your holy fire.
Revive us to live as Christ’s body in the world:
a people who pray, worship, learn, break bread, share life, heal neighbors, bear good news, seek justice, rest and grow in the Spirit.
Wherever and however we gather,
unite us in common prayer and send us in common mission,
that we and the whole creation might be restored and renewed,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

As ELCA Lutherans and Episcopalians celebrate 20 years of this flourishing full communion ecumenical relationship, may the Spirit inspire and empower us for many new creative partnerships in mission and ministry together in the years to come!

Dcn. Mitzi Budde, D.Min, is Head Librarian and the Arthur Carl Lichtenberger Chair for Theological Research at Virginia Theological Seminary. She is an ELCA deacon and has served as an ELCA representative on the Lutheran Episcopal Coordinating Committee since 2008.

By the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, ELCA Advocacy Director

ELCA Lutherans have taken to heart “that energetic civic engagement is part of their baptismal vocation, both as individuals and through the church’s corporate witness” (ELCA social message on “Government and Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy,” pg. 14). Enthusiasm and responsibility for voting were relayed in the 2020 election, as in this social media post from Christopher Vergara of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod:

“Guess who voted in their first presidential election!?!? we were reminded throughout the whole experience – especially on this Día de los Muertos – of all those who have gone before, those who have fought for a long time and those who keep fighting, keep inspiring, keep kicking… We were going up the stairs to the voting area, when this older woman was barreling down the stairs. Her aide was chasing after her telling her to slow down. She said ‘I just voted, I feel so good my knees don’t even hurt!!!’”

Americans turned out to vote in record numbers last week, reaching the highest voting rate in 120 years. About 160 million people, 67% of eligible voters, participated despite long lines and extensive misinformation campaigns about when, where and how to vote. This extraordinary election took place under the health and safety challenges posed by a pandemic, calls for long overdue racial equity and the sometimes-disturbing discourse of a deeply polarized public.

GRATITUDES AND CONCERNS

There is much for which we can be grateful. Threats of targeted violence and extensive intimidation did not materialize. Americans stepped up to serve as election officials, poll workers, get-out-the-vote organizers and election monitors. We experienced exuberant and robust participation that exemplifies what the social message describes, that “U.S. Lutherans have learned that their neighbors are best served by a government in which supreme earthly power is held publicly by the people (a democracy) and they are governed by representatives chosen in fair elections in which each person is assured of their vote (a republic)” (pg. 9).

There are worries, too. President Donald Trump continues to assert, without providing evidence, allegations of widespread voter fraud. Although the Department of Homeland Security has called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history,” the president has not yet conceded, raising concerns for an orderly transfer of power with worrisome implications for national security and pandemic response. Election season continues in Georgia, with two runoff elections that will determine the composition of the Senate. As a nation, the post-election result is that we are still fractured by divisions that must be addressed.

RAMPING UP OUR WITNESS

It is time for Lutherans to claim as a vocation in daily life their identity as disciples in a democracy. ELCAvotes has been a well-received initiative providing resources and community for Lutherans to be involved during the run up to elections and in voting rights work. The 2020 election shows us why seasonal engagement is not enough. “The ELCA holds to the biblical idea that God calls God’s people to be active citizens and to ensure that everyone benefits from the good of government” (pg. 14). Elections are not the end but a beginning. On Nov. 4, Vergara posted:

“I was reminded repeatedly yesterday how precious democracy is, and that protecting and engaging in it is not something to just take on every 4 years or, worse yet, outsource to others, but a solemn responsibility we as citizens must undertake individually, collectively, and continuously.”

Serving God and neighbor through civic engagement means our witness in society ramps up after an election to ensure that the values expressed, promises made and communal discernment undertaken continue and bear fruit. We now have the opportunity to build on the energy emerging from this election and push for meaningful reforms in the next Congress. This includes making our democracy work better, addressing distortions in power and access based on our national history of racial and economic exclusion, and implementing reforms that will ensure all voices are heard and have equal access to power structures.

LAME DUCK SESSION OPPORTUNITIES

As election results are finalized, there are several notable to-do items in the “lame duck” session that need our advocacy. Congress will have to pass a budget by Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown, and ELCA Advocacy is actively speaking to the appropriations bills now before the Senate. Our advocacy is needed in COVID-19 relief [use the Action Alert now to contribute your voice emphasizing urgent, just and compassionate response], for a robust package to serve as a bulwark against additional economic and health hardships for vulnerable and hungry populations. We are braced for a federal evictions moratorium that ends on December 30, and advocate for its renewal [use the Action Alert now for background and to spotlight the need for policy action]. God’s work continues through our hands and our voices.

If you haven’t already signed up, consider being part of the ELCA Advocacy Network through ELCA.org/advocacy/signup to receive Action Alerts at impactful moments and monthly advocacy updates.

We are inspired and encouraged by singing together. Not being able to do so has made this pandemic time immensely challenging and grief-filled. We long to join our voices as one in our sung praise and prayer. With All Creation Sings soon to be released amid such challenges, worship leaders rightly wonder how best to use the resource when we are not yet able to sing together in worship.

One feature of ACS is the inclusion of many short songs; they make up nearly one-fourth of the collection. In recent decades, the church has witnessed greater interest in “paperless singing,” that is, singing together without printed or projected words or music for worshipers. While a more recent practice in many worshiping communities, the oral tradition of music-making precedes our singing from published materials. It may seem odd, then, to include them in a printed collection, yet their presentation in a bound volume allows the church to know about these songs, even if best sung without singing directly from the book itself.

This time of pandemic presents some unique opportunities around such short, “paperless” songs.

Home Use
Incorporate these short songs in home worship. Since many songs are a single melody line, keyboard skills are not a necessity; any instrument or the voice alone would suffice. We read in Deuteronomy, “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them…when you lie down and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7). Short scripture songs such as “What does the Lord require of you” (from Micah 6), “Though the earth shall change” (based on Psalm 46), and “If we live, we live to the Lord” (based on Rom. 14:8) provide ways to surround our days with God’s word. They can be sung as part of bedtime prayers, family worship, around the dinner table, and at other times.

Outdoor settings
Transporting instruments and sound systems outside can be challenging. While many communities incorporate instruments aided by amplification in successful ways, the short songs in ACS require sparse, if any, accompaniment. Like singing in outdoor camp settings, these songs can be led in a call and response format. Even if the whole assembly could not yet join in, two or more soloists could model the call and response. Invite the assembly to accompany the songs with movement. Songs that would work especially well are “May God bless us / Bwana awabaraki,” “Guide my feet,” and “Come, bring your burdens to God / Woza nomthwalo wakho,” among others.

Online gatherings
Those who have been planning and experiencing music in an online format know well the difficulties this format presents. When it’s not possible to sing synchronously, a leader may sing lines of a short song and then pause for silence while those at home sing back (even if they can’t be heard by the leader). Or such short songs could be sung in an online choir gathering. Their brevity would allow different singers to sing a line rather than having the whole group sing together. For more about how short songs might be experienced virtually, see recent blogs and webinars offered by Music that Makes Community.

During this time we are apart, the words and melodies in All Creation Sings can be imprinted in our ears, minds, and hearts so we’ll be ready to participate more fully when we can sing together. Consider this a time of discovery along the way. In addition, the prayers and songs in ACS can enrich individual prayer and reflection.

As we approach Advent, we pray fervently for Christ’s peace to come among us.

Let your peace rain upon us,
O living God of peace.
Let your peace rain upon us,
Lord, fill our hearts with your peace. (ACS 989)

Let Your Peace Rain Upon Us / Yarabba ssalami.
Text: Palestinian traditional; tr. Mark Swanson, b. 1955 and Mark Sedio, b. 1954
Music: Palestinian traditional
English text © 2020 Augsburg Fortress
Permission required for further use by contacting Augsburg Fortress or reporting to One License.

Angie Larson, Alexandria, MN

Warm-up Question

How old should you be  to start your own business? What kind of business would you start?

Business-Wise

Hundreds of people have used their time during the pandemic to start a new business. Feyi Raimi-Abraham has used the time to start the Black Dementia Company (BDC).  BDC creates  items such as adult coloring books, puzzles, and calendars featuring Afro-Carribean scenes. Paula Grady applied for over 500 jobs after a pandemic layoff, which led her to start a scented candle business in her own home studio called Osme Candles. Kim Brookes started a luxury scented jewelry company which features jewelry carrying essential oil fragrances for the wearer. 

When asked how they went beyond rejections from hundreds of companies and personal discrimination from those who told them they couldn’t be successful, these women cited their previous life experience. They are 52, 57, and 59 years old. Paula says, “I don’t understand why experience isn’t valued more; companies need people who have been around the block and have encountered situations before. You have life experience and working examples to draw on.”

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think companies rejected Feyi, Paula, and Kim’s endeavors?
• How would age affect someone’s ability to use their talents to start a business?
• What emotions would you feel if you were rejected because of your age?

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This passage is frequently called the parable of the talents. A master, going on an extended trip, delegates responsibility to his employees. He entrusts each of his servants with a great deal of money (a talent is considered more than 15 years salary).  The first invests wisely and makes an equal amount in return. The second receives two talents and returns two more in profit. The third servant plays it safe.  He hides the money so he can return it to the master in the same state as it was given to him. This makes the master angry.

This story is often misused.  It is interpreted to say that if you give yourself out to the world through your gifts, talents, treasures, prayers, you’ll get an equal amount in return. Yet, God isn’t some cosmic vending machine into which you put something and you get something equal back. The truth of this parable is that we’re given gifts to use, not to hide away in fear.  We put them out there with boldness, knowing that they come from God. Our insecurities, our fear of rejection, and our concern about other people’s judgements often get in the way of using what God has given us. When Christ came, he freed us with his love.  We will never be rejected by God and we will always be loved. We can be brave in this freedom!

Discussion Questions

• How would you feel if you gave someone a really cool present to use and they never used it?
• What are some of the things that get in the way of us sharing our gifts, talents, and time?
• Are there ways in which we sometimes expect God to be like a cosmic vending machine? When have you done that? 

Activity Suggestions

Do a mini-talent show. Ask members of your group to show off their talents; this can work if you’re meeting virtually as well. For example, can they touch their tongue to their nose? Lip sync to a song? Drum a beat using pencils? Perform a sock puppet show? Share your talents.

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, We thank you that you gave your whole life for us so that we can be free to help our neighbors with the talents you have given us. Help us to see ways to bring your kingdom to earth in service of our neighbors. Forgive us when we err and guide us to care for the least, the lost, the lowest, and the lonely in our communities. Direct us to use our resources for others. In your name we pray, amen.

Today’s post is written by Bruce Burnside and Mitzi J. Budde. Burnside is a contributing writer to Hear My Voice and Budde served as contributing writer and co-editor.

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them. (Hebrews 13:3)

It was a privilege to be one of the contributing writers for Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book. As a person in prison, it has been a joyful satisfaction to see how valuable and much appreciated the book is among the incarcerated men I have come to know. Ronell reads from it every morning with a yellow marker, highlighting passages: “I especially like the part about waiting, it’s exactly right, I think I needed to hear that,” he told me. Jeffrey wrote, after receiving the book, “Thank you…I’ve read 50 pages already, it is beautiful and a perfect size, the cover is like leather which makes it feel important and the colored pictures are a nice touch. I’ll use it every day while I’m here.” Logan said: “In prison I feel like no one hears me. This book tells me that is not true and gives me a kind of hope. Thank you for getting it for me.” Aaron said, “I like the prayers for ordinary days. Last night I had a bad encounter with the sergeant. Afterwards I went to my cell and read the prayers for corrections officers.”  

Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book can be a marvelous Christmas gift not only for persons in prison, but also for their families and loved ones and friends. “The book really understands what it is like for us,” Nick told me. “My wife has a copy too.”  Give it as a gift, yourself, and why not encourage your congregation to give copies too? Statistics reveal that half of all U.S. adults have an immediate family member currently or previously in prison. You know a person in prison or jail or a detention center. As we read in the book of Hebrews, “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.”

Bruce Burnside
Former ELCA bishop serving a prison sentence in Wisconsin 

In this COVID-time, our opportunities to volunteer and visit with those who are incarcerated in our local prisons and jails are at a standstill. But the prison ministries of our congregations do not need to stop. The ELCA has published a prayer book for God’s people in prison: Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book. By sending copies to the prisons, jails, halfway houses, and detention centers in our communities, we can offer this expression of the love of Christ to God’s people who are living in these institutions at this very difficult time. Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book would be an excellent gift in this COVID Christmas season. It’s available from Amazon and Augsburg Fortress.  

How do you get the book to incarcerated individuals and to groups in the prison system? If you know someone who is incarcerated, have it shipped directly to them as a gift. If you or your congregation would like to provide copies to your local jail or prison, contact the chaplain, librarian, volunteer coordinator or warden there and find out how you might send copies. For more information, see Suggestions for Distribution and Use of Hear My Voice from Augsburg Fortress. 

Do you know someone who is isolated and alone in this coronavirus season? Many seniors are finding themselves imprisoned in their homes in this extended time of isolation. Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book could be a welcome Christmas gift for them as well, with its themes of waiting and hope and listening for God. The assurance of God’s presence in the midst of difficult situations is a universal message of grace that we all need to hear this Christmas. 

Mitzi J. Budde
Contributing writer and co-editor,
Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book  

Image by Robyn Sand Anderson
Copyright Robyn Sand Anderson

ELCA World Hunger is excited to announce the addition of two new staff members, Angela Galbraith and Nick Gaines. Read more about them below! 

Angela Galbraith

Hello! I’m Angela Galbraith and I am very excited to join ELCA World Hunger as the Program Associate for the Domestic Hunger Strategy Team. My passion for ELCA World Hunger began in my very first year of Sunday School, while we were participating in ELCA Good Gifts’ Global Barnyard. I had found a $1 bill and was extremely happy because it was enough to provide someone with a chicken! I have a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minors in Music, German, and Justice, Law & Public Policy from Wittenberg University. Most recently, I served with the Peace Corps as an HIV/AIDS and Adolescent Health Educator in Lesotho until operations were suspended globally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I fostered my passion for anti-hunger work and global health justice work through many different opportunities. Currently, I serve on the Board of a non-profit, Lesotho Nutrition Initiative, which is a Wittenberg student-run organization addressing food insecurity and chronic malnutrition. Previously, I held the positions of student body president, student body vice president, community engagement coordinator, and warehouse manager. I also was the marketing and communications intern for Second Harvest Food Bank in Springfield, Ohio, where I educated our partners and community.

I am from Pittsburgh, PA where my parents are both ELCA pastors in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod. I grew up attending synod assemblies and served on our synod council, along with my twin brother. I also was a committed summer camper, until being able to volunteer and serve on summer staff. At Camp Lutherlyn, I have been a Unit Leader, Counselor, and Kitchen Staff over the time of 7 summers.  I have been grateful to learn and grow in these communities while discerning my vocation.

In my free time, I can be found hiking, backpacking, kayaking, sharing music with friends, or watching sunrises and sunsets. Though it is not quite the same as the mountaintop views in Lesotho, I continue to find great joy in watching and reflecting on the beauty of the beginning and end of each day. I am honored to be a part of this team and look forward to working alongside you toward a just world where all are fed!

Nick Gaines

Hi everyone, my name is Nick Gaines, and I will be working on the ELCA World Hunger Team as a Temporary Assistant. I am excited to be a part of a group that works tirelessly towards a just world where all are fed. In the summer of 2018, I interned for AMMPARO, a team located in the ELCA’s Global Mission Unit. I am so excited to be involved with the ELCA once again! After graduating from Wheaton College with a degree in International Relations in May of 2019, I left for Sierra Leone as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is where I had been for the past year until being evacuated because of COVID-19. In Sierra Leone, I taught English and mathematics at an all-girls middle school.

With my position mainly being a support role, it has allowed me to assist in many different aspects of ELCA World Hunger’s work. This has been both enlightening and rewarding. As I continue to learn about myself and where my passions lie, working with the Domestic Hunger Strategy Team has been extremely valuable towards my own growth and self-development.

When I am not in the office, I can often be found playing or watching soccer, watching a documentary, hiking, or planning my next trip. After being evacuated from Sierra Leone quite unexpectedly, I am hoping to make my way back there in the near future.

Mary Ellen Helms, Loveland, OH

Warm-up Question

Imagine a world where commerce stopped immediately and you couldn’t just go to the store or order items which you need online.  What is the number one item you’d like to have on hand in large quantities?

Be Prepared

Have you ever known a “prepper”? Preppers are people who prepare for emergencies or disasters by storing large quantities of items they might need. With some stockpiling dehydrated food, water, flashlights, extra batteries, and even ammunition, prepping has become a growing industry in the United States during the past few years.  It has seen an enormous uptick during the Covid-19 Pandemic. In lots of ways, this makes sense.  At the onset of the virus, there were shortages of everyday items such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and PPE (personal protection equipment). Fortunately, many of the supply chains have caught up to the extreme demand placed on them earlier this year. 

While we might laugh at the idea of having lots of astronaut ice cream or beef jerky on hand (my favorite prepper snack!), people who prepare for disasters often weather the storm better than those who make no plans. “Be Prepared” is a motto often attributed to the Boy Scouts, but many other groups  prepare us for emergencies and disasters. Check out https://www.ready.gov/kids/teens to learn about some of the ways teenagers can be helpful during the event of an emergency.

Being prepared is an important life skill all can develop. It goes beyond having what you need and extends to planning the response you’ll make when something unexpected happens.

Discussion Questions

• What are some ways that you and your family prepare for disasters?
• What unexpected events have happened in your life? How was your family prepared or not prepared for these occasions?
• How does talking about situations like preparedness increase or decrease your worry? Why might it be important to be prepared for disasters?

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 5:18-24

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

 Jesus uses parables to teach us and so we can approach the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids by asking, “What is Jesus trying to tell us?” We can’t tie a pretty bow on this parable.  This one leaves us struggling.  

Ten bridesmaids gather, waiting for the bridegroom. Five prepare with all they will need; five do not have the necessary oil for lamps. When the unprepared bridesmaids ask those with oil to share, the prepared ones answer, “No, go get some from the dealers!”  The usual Sunday School answer would be,  “We’ll share!”  So, this seemingly selfish attitude tells us something more is going on here than a teaching on generosity. While the unprepared bridesmaids are gone, the door shuts and they lose their opportunity to share the feast . 

This story is not one about sharing resources with the marginalized or outcasts – there are plenty of places where that value is clearly evident in scripture. This parable talks to us about being patient and prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Part of our responsibility is to be ready for the Messiah. 

However, this parable says we can’t be perfectly prepared. “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” While we can seek to be as prepared as possible, another important message  is to be patient and comfortable with the unknown. The mystery of faith (including the return of the Messiah) is alive!

Discussion Questions

• How would you have felt if you were one of the prepared bridesmaids? How would you have felt if you were one of the unprepared?
• What are some ways you are keeping watch for the coming of Jesus? How do our lives look when we are prepared and patient?
• What about this story leaves you wondering?

Activity Suggestions

• Using this link, work to make an emergency plan for your family or youth group. Talk about the materials you should have on hand, the important information you’d need, and how you would survive.
• Invite a speaker over Zoom or in life to talk about emergency preparedness. This could be someone from the Red Cross, an EMT, or someone else who works in disaster response.

Closing Prayer

God, we wait, but God, we can’t wait for you! We give you thanks for your Word which inspires us.  Help us to live in a way that is both prepared and patient. We ask that you would point us to signs of your kingdom and help us light the way for others. In your holy name we pray. Amen.

“Fear not, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God.” Many of us rehearse these words from Isaiah not only for their instruction, but because we need to remind ourselves of God’s presence and peace to push against contrary voices setting off anxiety. Anxiety is aroused around this election. The agitation is rational: pandemic realities and opportunistic impulses in electoral mechanisms, white supremacy and Christian nationalism stepping out of shadows, election results potentially unclear or contested and threats of violence.

“The political polarization in this country is making the temperature ripe for possible election violence,” says Christine Mangale, ELCA Program Director with the Lutheran Office for World Community. “This is the time for ELCA members to draw lessons from the ecumenical movement, in particular the Lutheran churches worldwide that have been promoting peace and working to prevent conflict for more than six decades. As churches, we have always been inspired by the rich tradition of peace, love, reconciliation and justice.”

FACED BY ZIMBABWEANS

On July 30, 2018, Zimbabwe held its first free elections after the almost 30-year rule of Robert Mugabe, prime minister then president of that nation. Until election results were announced on August 3, 2018, protests flared, including the death of six people in violent clashes on August 1. The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Mtata, General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe, said then, “What is really required in the long-run, if we going to have a deep cohesion among Zimbabweans, is to address the deep-seated anger, frustration and dissatisfaction on our land, which get an opportunity to manifest in such violence whenever there is an opportunity.”

In a letter of solidarity, the Rev. Dr. Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, wrote of the hope for a country flourishing “with the contribution of each member of the society, regardless of political identity.”

SUPPLIES STOCKPILED BY THE CHURCH

The ELCA social message “Community Violence” conveys a practical appreciation of what many are feeling in 2020. “Violence breeds more violence. Incidents of violence stir up anger and a craving for vengeance. Fear festers an attitude of ‘we’re not going to take it anymore.’ Increasingly, our national mood has been described as one of ‘getting mad and getting even’” (pg. 2). But this response should not be indulged by Christians. The message continues: “The Holy Spirit works among us to wrench us from violence, hate, greed, and fear, and transforms us into people who are called to trust God and live in community with one another. In doing so, we need to confront the violent tendencies within ourselves and our society, and find ways to cultivate the practice of nonviolence” (pg. 2).

While evidence suggests toilet paper is again being stockpiled and security checks for gun purchases are on the rise, churches can position themselves to declare God’s peace, marked by relationships that are just, harmonious and free from violence. “The Church as a community for peace is also to be a deliberating presence in society. As a community of moral deliberation the Church is a setting of freedom and respect where believers with different perspectives may learn from one another in the unity of faith,” says the For Peace in God’s World social statement (pg. 5). “We also advocate an early peace that provides security from violence and aggression, seeks just order in place of tyranny or anarchy, checks unrestrained power, and defends and enhances the life of people who are poor and powerless” (pg. 7).

MOVING TOWARD HEALING

Whether violence mars this election or not, we are a nation in need of healing. One model for local congregation leadership in this healing is available in “With Malice Towards None,” a program of Braver Angels that increases capacity for working together to address our common challenges. After the election has been decided, the initiative suggests healing through organized online or in-person gatherings where “red and blue Americans consider how they want to regard their fellow citizens who voted differently and begin building the capacity of We the People to forge ‘a more perfect union’ moving into 2021.”

As the global ecumenical communion urges us, our Christian community can hold forth a light in anxious times and not be subsumed by fear. In Zimbabwe, Junge wrote of the church’s strong commitment “to walk with… all the people of Zimbabwe in prayers for peace and stability in the country in order for all to enjoy the fruits of their land.” Spurred by the God of peace, we can address the deep-seated anger, frustration and dissatisfaction in our land and tend to our divisions by coming together to encounter, listen and learn about one another across differences.

Today’s post is written by Anita Smallin, Youth Family Ministry Director at Trinity Lutheran Church, North Bethesda, Maryland and Rev. Lisa Heffernan, Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Chamberlain, South Dakota.

When we come before God in worship, we bring our whole selves. What does that actually mean? For many people in the ELCA it means coming to worship with the assistance of a mobility, audio, visual, or sensory device. Unfortunately, in many of our churches or places of worship, it is our siblings in Christ who have disabilities and need such devices who feel the least welcome at the table. Why? A lack of ramps, elevators, or braille or large print worship resources are not the only or first obstacle encountered. Many times it is the language used when talking about or concerning disability that is problematic or unwelcoming to many.  

Talking about disability can feel awkward sometimes. The language doesn’t feel right. We often don’t know what to say or how to speak publicly in our liturgy, sermons, and prayers. At times we will fall into the trap of affirming who a person is “despite” their disability, rather than simply honoring who they are: A beloved child of God. Whole, complete. Just as they are. What needs to change in our approach? Where do hospitality and authentic welcome to worship begin?

Using person-first language is a great place to start. This language is meant to acknowledge that a person is not their diagnosis or disability in a negative way. It reminds us that someone is a person first and foremost, whose identity is rooted in being a child of God. Also, in person-first language, we avoid language that talks about suffering, or that victimizes or infantilizes the person. For example: a wheelchair bound person vs. a person who uses a wheelchair.  

Disability Ministries has prepared a document that can help us think about how to use person-first language in worship, and in the whole of our lives together. The document helps us understand what person-first language is and provides examples for how it can be used in worship. It also serves as a reminder to us that language around disability is constantly evolving and is often contextual.  

Disability vs. varied ability vs. differently abled
“For myself (Lisa Heffernan), terms like varied ability and differently abled wrap up disability into too nice of a little bow. This language feels condescending to me.  I have a disability. I own it. I’m okay with it. This is how I was made. Yes, we all have varied and different abilities. I am a paraplegic. I use a wheelchair. Saying I have a disability does not take away my identity or sense of self and who God made me to be. “Varied” and “Differently abled” don’t own that part of who I am enough for me. I am not “disabled”; my wheelchair and spina bifida do not hinder my life. They, largely, make it the gift it is. I have a disability, and that’s ok. The self I bring to worship has a disability, but is not broken or ‘less than’ because of it.”  

We hope this document is a starting point or a conversation starter as we work toward making our worship and the language we use in it more inclusive and barrier–free. Our language isn’t perfect, but we serve a God who guides us as we come together as the whole body of Christ where all are truly welcome.

Images: from The tAble 2018; ELCA Churchwide Assembly 2019 

As many of you may already know, Rev. George Johnson, one of the foundational leaders of ELCA World Hunger has died. For seven years (1980-1987) George served as Director of the World Hunger Program for the former American Lutheran Church (now ELCA). Pr. Johnson rooted the then American Lutheran Church’s Hunger program, which would grow into ELCA World Hunger, on a foundation of justice. The ELCA World Hunger staff give thanks to God for his life and his service to the church.

George taught that a sustained life-long commitment to justice must start with one’s worship life. While this may not sound radical at first read, it was a bold statement in his time and is worth taking the time to explore what it means for life in 2020. It can be easy to relegate the work we do towards a just world where all are fed to something that is done outside of Sunday service. It is easy to look at our soup kitchens, meal packing programs, community gardens, job training programs, advocacy work, and more as standalone ministries, not as the central work of the church that flows from the shared songs and prayers of Sunday worship.

For George, creating a just world where all are fed started not with the chopping of vegetables for a soup supper or picking up the phone to call your congressperson, it stated with the songs, teaching, and prayers shared in worship. George’s work and life serve as a reminder of what it means to live into that Sunday promise of justice and carry it out into the world.

So, it is fitting that George’s final work from his very long and prolific life explores various theological understandings of justice that people can use to ground their personal and communal lives of worship in the justice that Christ preached. To celebrate Pr. Johnson’s life and service to ELCA World Hunger, here is an excerpt from the preface to his final book, No Time for Silence:

I HAVE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. Nothing to brag about, nothing to be ashamed about, and I see no reason to be silent about it. My brain served me well for eighty-five years, but now it has more and more difficulty remembering things.  I decided not to spend the remaining days of my life dwelling on what I have lost. Instead, I want to give people resources that will help them think and act critically in an age of confusion and conflicting voices. While I come from a Christian background, the points in this book pertain to people of all faiths, cultures, races, and genders.  The main premises of Silence Is Not the Answer are for all people to read and act on. I have read widely these past years about theology, politics, and suffering and its root causes. I cannot recall all that I have learned, but I can refer you to authors and spiritual leaders who I believe will challenge your preconceptions and give you hope for the future. One of my favorite authors and theologians at this stage in my life is Marcus J. Borg. His book Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary is a masterful portrayal of the historical Jesus and emerging Christianity. He explores the way Jesus resisted the domination system of the Roman empire power of his day. For Borg, both the personal and the political dimensions of Jesus’s message are important for understanding the revolutionary aspects of his life and teaching. I highly recommend Borg’s book if you want to understand who Jesus is for Christians today.

Another theologian I find inspiring is Leonardo Boff, a Roman Catholic priest from Brazil whose speaking out about the suffering of the poor and the death of millions in Latin America made head-line news. Despite attempts by the church to silence Boff because his speech was offensive to the establishment, his message made a difference. Boff’s book When Theology Listens to the Poor is a call for the modern church to create a better option for the poor. He points out how Mark 26:11, “The poor you will always have with you,” is used to support the status quo and creates an attitude of fatalism, pessimism, and cynicism that destroys any hope that things could be different.  However, Boff argues that the true meaning of this verse is that the opportunity to help is always there. Boff reminds us that when Jesus offered a better option for the poor, he was making it clear that God acts to free people from the bondage of poverty and oppression. It is the prophetic task of the church to do the same. Some people may say, “I don’t remember George espousing such progressive positions in his previous writings. Has he changed his mind?” In the past, I sometimes felt that I didn’t have enough information about an issue, that others had good points too, that I  should wait to see what happened and that my voice wouldn’t make a  difference.  But these excuses allowed bad choices to be made that cause suffering for our brothers and sisters.  As Brian McLaren says in his book The Great Spiritual Migration, we are all in the process of development. Sometimes new wine needs new wineskins, as Larry Rasmussen says. I have a certain perspective. My education and life experience have shaped my thinking and analyses. Others will see things differently. I respect that. But as Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says, “What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander.”

We need to read and listen attentively and then speak out for causes that we think are important. John the Baptist is described in the Gospels as “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” He calls us to “repent,” wake up and change.  Silence Is Not the Answer is a collection of prophetic voices urging us to wake up, notice what is happening, and take a stand. Our world today is filled with fear, conflict, war, and confusion. I encourage you to read the writers in this book with an open mind and think about their urgent cry. Some points will be made more than once.  Some truths are worth repeating. When I say to my wife, “I love you,” I am glad that Vivian does not say, “George, you already told me that. “When I began putting this book together, my wife said, “With your diminished hearing and eyesight and your memory problems, are you able to tackle another book?” Maybe not, but some things need to be said as we move toward the 2020 elections and beyond. So, with the help of Vivian and a professional editor, I collected some pieces written by myself and others to let our voices be heard and break the silence. If we remain silent, then our leaders and fellow citizens will not wake up and change course.  We must speak up and act now before our society is beyond saving