Ms. Ritu Rishidev (shown in the picture above), 18, a +2 student from the Rishidev community in Arjundhara Rural Municipality-7, Bangari Rishidev Tole, Jhapa, Nepal, is emerging as a young community activist and a passionate advocate for the rights of the Musahar community. Living in a society where domestic violence, gender-based violence (SGBV), discrimination, and child protection issues are prevalent, Ritu has faced numerous socio-economic challenges. Despite these obstacles, she is determined to stand up for her community and work towards ending gender-based violence, domestic abuse, and social inequality.

Recently, Ritu had the opportunity to participate in a two-day orientation on “UPR & CEDAW Reporting Process, ESCR, Climate Justice Rights, Evidence-Based Policy Advocacy, and Disability Inclusion.” The orientation, organized by the Lutheran Community Welfare Society (LCWS) in partnership with the Lutheran World Federation Nepal and funded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was a transformative experience for her. It marked the first time Ritu was introduced to national and international human rights laws, including those protecting the rights of women and children.

During the orientation, Ritu learned about the foundational concepts of UPR and CEDAW—two crucial international mechanisms for safeguarding human rights. She also gained valuable knowledge on advocacy techniques and tools to push for social justice. Armed with this new understanding, Ritu has become an active voice in her community, committed to raising awareness and advocating for change, particularly in combatting domestic violence and child protection issues.

Reflecting on her experience, Ritu shared, “This is the first time I’ve had the chance to learn about UPR and CEDAW. Wherever I go in the future, I am committed to working for my community.”

While Ritu’s ultimate goal is to become a soldier—a symbol of her desire to protect her country—she also envisions herself as a protector of her community’s rights. With her newfound knowledge and determination, Ritu Rishidev is a rising force for justice, aiming to uplift the Rishidev community and eradicate all forms of social discrimination and violence.

[Musahar = classified within the Madheshi Dalit group, it is one of the most marginalized and impoverished ethnic groups in the country. They face significant challenges in areas like education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.]

 

 

In the quiet hamlet of Sua, Saibi Samukop village, Mentawai Islands, Ibu Dewi is a humble farmer, tending to her family’s small plot of land. For years, she followed traditional farming methods, without realizing the potential her land held. Everything changed when she joined an organic farming training program organized by the Indonesian National Committee of the LWF (KNLWF). The program opened her eyes to a new technique that not only promised a healthier harvest, but also a sustainable way of life. With dedication, Ibu Dewi transformed her land into a thriving organic farm, producing bountiful harvests and making a real impact in her community.

As her farm grew, so did her confidence. Ibu Dewi is a living example of what organic farming programs can achieve, inspiring others in Sua. Her success did not go unnoticed, and when an opportunity arose for a cross-village agricultural training program, Ibu Dewi was selected as a trainer. This was a pivotal moment for her-she had gone from being a farmer eager to learn, to a leader ready to share her knowledge.

The prospect of teaching others is both exciting and daunting, but Ibu Dewi is determined to give back to the community that has supported her journey.

The cross-hamlet training program brought together farmers from several hamlets in Saibi Samukop Village, each arriving with their own unique challenges and aspirations. Ibu Dewi embraced her new role with humility and enthusiasm, sharing not only the techniques she had mastered but also the wisdom she had gained through experience. She taught her peers about composting, pest management, and crop rotation, but more importantly, she imparted the spirit of resilience and hope that had carried her through her own transformation. The training sessions became more than just an educational experience; they became a space for community building, exchanging stories, and fostering a sense of mutual support.

Through this experience, Ibu Dewi’s life was enriched in ways she had never imagined. The program not only empowered her with skills but also gave her a platform to lift others. “Seeing my farm transform with organic methods gave me hope. Now, teaching others and watching their farms flourish is the greatest reward,” she said.

And now, as she watches the farmers from other hamlets implement the techniques she had taught them, she feels a profound sense of fulfillment. Her journey from a struggling farmer to a community leader had come full circle, and she knew that the seeds of knowledge she had planted would continue to grow, bringing new hope and prosperity to the Mentawai Islands. Ibu Dewi’s story became a source of inspiration, showing that with the right support and a desire to learn, even small beginnings can lead to remarkable changes.

The ELCA Building Resilient Communities (BRC) team invites nominations of adult leaders, ages 18-and-older, to participate in the inaugural Building Resilient Leadership (BRL) cohort.

Over twelve months, BRL participants will grow their public leadership skills while they develop a justice-oriented project in their community, build relationships with a peer mentoring group, and participate in community-organizing skills workshops.

BRL seeks to work with leaders who already demonstrate leadership in their communities on an everyday basis and seek to further develop their ability to accompany their community as it continues to flourish.

If there are any adult leaders in your life who you think would be a good fit for this program, please send them the link to this page. If they indicate a desire and capacity to apply, please nominate them using this form.

Nominations will be accepted through June 16th (please note the expanded deadline). Nominees will then be asked to officially apply, with a due date of July 7^th for that application.

Who is the Building Resilient Communities team?

BRC is the office of the ELCA that represents the three direct service, intersectional justice ministries of the church: ELCA World Hunger, AMMPARO, and Lutheran Disaster Response. We meet human need and enhance human dignity, work to overturn oppression and injustice, and engage members and constituents collaboratively toward the flourishing of human community.

Program Highlights

• Participants will create a project in, with, and for their community. BRL’s goal is to support leaders whose work throughout the program prioritize the stories of their community, is open to people from any identity or background, and increases their community’s power. The project might be a single event or seek to have longevity beyond the 12-month program. Some potential projects might be (but are not limited to):
  • Community-based mutual aid groups
  • Local community spaces (physical or virtual)
  • Safe spaces for marginalized people in a community (physical or virtual)
  • Regular resiliency training for community members
  • Local advocacy dedicated to building power for marginalized members of a community
  • First steps toward creation of local food-hub
  • Most importantly: participants do not need to have a project in mind before they start the BRL program.
• Peer mentoring. In peer mentoring sessions participants will develop their project relationally, alongside other BRL leaders and an assigned mentor. Through reflection and open discussion, colleagues will hold one another accountable for the growth of their project and their leadership skills.
• Participants will attend a monthly workshop series that will inform the growth of their project. Each workshop will feature experts from the ELCA ecosystem, focusing on different aspects of leadership development and community organizing.

BRL leaders benefit from the following:

• Up to $1,000 in seed money to develop a community project.
• Connection to the national, intergenerational network of ELCA justice ministries: ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Response, and AMMPARO.
• Tangible, transferrable skills for leadership in career, volunteering, and recreation.
• Deepened relationships with people in their communities.
• New connections with peers passionate about many of the same justice issues as themselves.
• A prestigious addition to their resume.
• The opportunity to shape a growing leadership development program from the ground-up, through participation in this inaugural cohort.

Participants’ Time Commitment:

• Participation at a two-day, in-person orientation at the ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering in Columbus, Ohio in September.
• 5 hours/month to attend and prepare for workshops and peer mentoring sessions.
• Any time spent on their community-based justice project. This is up to the participant and depends on the extent of the project. Intensive work on projects will begin around November and continue into the following summer.
• A final celebration and presentation of projects in August.

If you would like to nominate any adults in your life, please do the following:

• First, let them know! When you do be sure to acknowledge and celebrate their leadership. Then, make sure the program is something they can commit to. Their participation in all elements of this program is required. Feel free to send the potential candidate the link to this page. They should also know there is a brief application process for nominees.
• Once you have confirmation that one or more leaders in your life are interested and able to apply, please fill out this form.
• Self-nominations are also welcome.

Questions?

Email Peter McLellan (ELCA Program Director, Hunger Education) at peter.mclellan@elca.org.

 

(This message was written by Pr. Jamie Gallagher, Pastor of First Lutheran Church, Monmouth, IL.  The Northern Illinois Synod held its annual Congregational Resourcing Event (CRE) on March 22, 2025.)

Since the announcement was right before Lunch, I started by asking who was hungry — with a lot of hands going up, I simply said, there are millions of people who are asked that question and there is not a table of lunch sitting right there waiting for them.  I then reminded the gathering that it was 50 years ago when Lutherans just like us gathered in a room just like this had someone raise their hand to ask “Can’t we do something about the hunger crisis” and all the other hands went up and said, “yes we can”.  Today, ELCA world Hunger is a ministry worth over $21 million dollars, but that money doesn’t come from thin air, it comes because we Lutherans still raise our hand and say, “Yes we can”.

I then spoke about the giving challenge, and how it is the generosity of a donor from our synod that is going to match up to $100,000.  And I don’t really remember how else I said everything, I didn’t have anything written down. I just went up there and spoke about it.  I also shared the story of how my congregation is giving toward this, and how as of that morning I was anticipating over $1,200 to go toward ELCA World Hunger.

What I didn’t know Saturday but what I do know today is that my congregation is at $1,698 and I have one more week to collect for ELCA World Hunger.  This has been the largest single month collection for what our church calls “vision and purpose giving” our monthly outward benevolence offering collection.  And it isn’t even close.  I think for St. Jude’s we once raised $650.  For LDR last month, we raised $515, but that is the best we have done before. So, I am excited for the enthusiasm my congregation is pouring into this, and I am looking forward to our synod having that same enthusiasm.

The workshop I led had 10 participants.  I used the take home version of the Generation Zero activity from the 2024 Youth Gathering.  They were assuming family roles and playing them well – they were counting candies in the jar and guessing way off but having fun.  They played with playdough and made goats, some good, some not so good, but all in good fun, and they learned what some of the root causes of hunger are and what ELCA World Hunger is doing amid those causes.

It was a great time.  We also collected a bunch of new ideas we will be sharing on our synod website for fundraising ideas for ELCA World Hunger as they all had great ideas.

So, it was a great day to announce the challenge and present the workshop.

This is a guest post from Rev. Elazar Atticus Schoch Zavaletta of Good Trouble Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

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The mainstream expression of many ELCA Lutheran Churches is defined by being a white, middle-class witness to Christ.  With hearts open to and appreciative of the saving grace of God through Christ, and often with generosity in serving the Lord locally and globally, nevertheless, few Lutheran churches truly know or understand the struggle of other peoples as they navigate a society defined by white supremacy and systemic oppression. Many of those on the margins of our churches struggle daily with homelessness, poverty, racism, and frustrating battles with bureaucracies to achieve the medical, financial and housing assistance they need to live and thrive.

Good Trouble Church, an ELCA congregation in Baltimore, Md, lives deeply and personally in that world of struggle.  Led by its pastor, The Rev. Elazar Zavaletta, and by numerous empowered members and community folks, most who personally understand the struggle for survival in urban Baltimore, Good Trouble has become a “A Way Out of No Way.”  It has become a safe home where friendship, non-judgmental caring and acceptance, trusted resources and hope can be found.

Good Trouble’s leaders, while understanding firsthand the exploitation, trauma and uncaring reality of those experiencing poverty, address together the systemic issues that purport to block them from health, safety and hope for the future.  Their work includes (1) Resilience based organizing- directly impacted leaders engaging in their own style of gospel-centered resilience-based organizing – naturally calling into question the powers that be through the way they organize their community and change their neighborhood – living into the world as it should be; (2) A Farm to Stoop Free Market- where fresh farm foods, meals, and clothing are distributed in a joyful time of community connection and mutual aid, along with social service agencies can meet people in a trusted arena, such as health clinics, etc; (3) Family Life- community creating a rich liturgy, inspired through Afro-Indigenous wisdom and symbol and inspiring a unique “theology of the block”; (4) Leadership and Liberation Workshops utilizing problem-posing pedagogy; (5) Social Work Support and Drop-In assistance; (6) Safe space housing for a few persons via its harm reduction-based Red Shed Village; (7) Good Trouble Guardians – who develop local leadership to help to de-escalate conflicts, keep people safer while avoiding police intervention, provide overdose response and connect persons to resources, etc.

Good Trouble Church is supported financially by its own funds, grants from the ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran churches in the Delaware-Maryland Synod, among others.  There are numerous community and city partners that share the same vision as Good Trouble to work toward love and liberation those who have been made most vulnerable and face food and housing insecurity.

Good Trouble Church–love and freedom, leadership and liberation, community care and sacred ceremony–God showing A Way Out of No Way!

No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. (Micah 6:8)

This is a re-post of an article by Rev. Taryn Montgomery, originally published in the Northeast Minnesota Synod Enews, covering the October 12th “Walking Together” celebration of ELCA World Hunger’s 50th anniversary. Note: this article was written on October 29th, before the November 5th election, which Rev. Montgomery references in the piece as an upcoming event.

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“For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” -Matthew 26:11

“Pastor Taryn, why are we gathering again?” asked the 13 year-old usher, as we prepared for worship at the Walking Together event earlier this month.

“Because we’re marking the 50th anniversary of world hunger and how we as a church have been able to help those who experience food scarcity,” I responded.

“Um, I’m pretty sure world hunger has been around longer than 50 years,” she said deadpan.

Touché.

I left out the ELCA part of World Hunger when responding to Lila that morning, but she is right. Jesus was right. People have been hungry for centuries upon centuries. The poor have been among us from the very beginning. And let’s be clear, “the poor” is not a “them”. It can be our neighbor, our family, even ourselves.

It’s in this spirit that we gathered on Saturday, October 12th at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa to straddle the line between celebrating a ministry milestone and being inspired to “keep on” in our work of ending hunger. Both/and.

And it was a great event! We gathered in worship, confronting a scripture that both challenged and stirred us. We experienced a poverty simulation, walking through a month in the life of a family trying to make ends meet. We learned how hunger interacts with issues of climate change, racism, and conflicts in the Middle East. We wore party hats and blew noise makers, and we gathered in silence for the people of Gaza. We enjoyed a delicious Caribbean lunch, and we remembered those who went without a meal. We made art together, bid on baskets together, and rallied around a common mission together – to give thanks for the past 50 years and to keep working long into the future.

One week from today our polls will open. Some of you have already filled out your ballot. As a nation we will cast our vote, a kind of faith statement. A statement of what we believe, what we value, what we hope for. We won’t all vote the same way and that’s okay. But may we vote in the spirit of reaching across the table, of extending the table. In the spirit of invitation for the hungry, the poor, and those on the margins – those we will always have with us. May we cast our vote recognizing the both/and experience of our faith.

Lila was right, world hunger has been around far longer than 50 years, and it doesn’t have to be that way in the future. It might be – history has shown that to be true. But it doesn’t have to be. Because we are people of faith, followers of Jesus. And, if there’s one thing we’re really good at, it’s hoping for things as yet unseen.

This is a re-post of a piece from the St. Paul Area Synod blog, by Vernita Kennen of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Shoreview, MN. The original blog post can be found here.

 

People who care about hunger issues from the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Area Synods gathered in March to talk about how we might work together. We acknowledged needing renewed efforts within our congregations, communities and our synods. Some of us came from congregations, some from specific hunger ministries, some from synod and churchwide staffs but all came with a heart for those who live with hunger. Some had years of experience working on hunger issues and others had less, but everyone came with a passion somehow connected to hunger.

Conversation about programs and policies, local and global efforts, immediate aid and sustainable efforts abounded. Networking was raised as a need as was acknowledging monetary contributions, advocacy, and hands-on efforts. We see the need to talk about “on ramps” to engage others in hunger ministry. Our hope is that we can work towards something that supports the current hunger ministries across the synods as well as moves to more education and learning for all of our congregations.

Additional voices, experience, and questions are valuable and welcome! Please contact or Justin Grimm (Saint Paul Area Synod) at justin.grimm@spas-elca.org or Bob Hulteen (Minneapolis Area Synod) at: b.hulteen@mpls-synod.org if you are interested in joining future planning.

Vernita Kennen
Incarnation, Shoreview

The following is taken from the 2024 ELCA World Hunger Lent Study. The full resource can be ordered as a hardcopy or downloaded as a PDF in English or Spanish at the link here.

Week 5 — Resurrection

•••

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33

 

“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard.” —Hebrews 5:7

Thus far in our Lenten journey, we have considered what it means to encounter God in experiences of reconciliation, transfiguration, crucifixion and restoration. In this last session, coming just before the season ends and Holy Week begins, we look ahead to our encounter with God in the experience of resurrection, when God brings life out of death.

We have a long way to go before we get to that joyous event on Easter Sunday, though. As Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar reminds us, we cannot move too quickly from the crucifixion to the resurrection. We need to hang in that space between. That space between is where hunger ministry finds its identity and meaning.

At a recent ELCA World Hunger meeting, someone lamented that the images and stories the ministry routinely shares are too “happy.” People are always smiling and easygoing, and the projects supported always work out the way they were intended. No challenge is too difficult to overcome. We know, though, that the reality of ministry in the world is sometimes far from easy. Not all projects work out the way a community hopes. Costs can increase suddenly, disasters can wipe away progress, or, as we witnessed a few years ago, a pandemic can put the brakes on work that had been progressing steadily.

As we learned in the session on crucifixion in Week 3 of this study, authentic ministry is honest ministry. It doesn’t allow us to hide ourselves from the realities of hunger or injustice or to move too quickly to the hope and joy of the resurrection. Ministry in response to hunger is ministry in response to some of our deepest pain and longing. It is ministry with and among Indigenous communities confronting systemic injustices that have continued for generations (Week 1). It is ministry with and among migrant children as they face abuse at borders (Week 2). It is ministry with and among people struggling to feed themselves and their families (Week 3). It is ministry with and among orphans and families ostracized because of their health status (Week 4). It is ministry that embodies the tension between the crucifixion and the resurrection.

The readings for this week remind us of this tension. In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes how a grain of wheat must fall into the earth and die before it can bear fruit (12:24). Yet this is no simplistic aphorism about all life involving death. There is a tension between the way Jesus describes death and the way he describes life (in this reading, “the cross” and “the glory”). Jesus doesn’t ignore death. As the writer of Hebrews describes, Jesus prayed with “loud cries and tears” (5:7). The Gospel of John softens this at times, but still Jesus says, “My soul is troubled” (12:27).

In many church services the presider will invite the congregation to pray “as Jesus taught us” before beginning the rather formal convention of the Lord’s Prayer. Certainly that is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. But to pray “as Jesus taught us” in the readings for this week is to pray with a troubled soul, with “loud cries and tears” in mourning for our own pain and for the distance our world must travel to the future God has promised.

To grieve with Ahmed as he encounters abuse at the border (Week 2), to protest with kilombolas seeking full justice (Week 1), to cry out with every hungry person who has ever been told they don’t belong or haven’t worked hard enough, to grit our teeth in anger as political leaders and pundits manipulate statistics to justify budget cuts to anti-hunger or anti-poverty programs — these are prayers, too, the prayers of troubled souls that shout in “loud cries and tears.” These are Lenten prayers appropriate for this season of repentance, grief and memory. And they are prayers in which Christ joins us.

The readings also remind us that our encounter with God does not end here. God responds to Jesus’ prayers not by rescuing him from the cross but by conquering it in the resurrection. The resurrection reveals that death and pain will not have the final word, that God is even now moving us toward a time when new life will spring forth. That doesn’t let us ignore the crucifixion. The cries and tears of our prayers are not forgotten, nor are they ended yet.

To encounter God in resurrection is to live in that tension between grief and hope, between holy anger and peace. As much as we are called to cross-shaped ministry (Week 3), so too are we called to resurrection ministry. In doing ministry in the world, ministering to one another and accepting the ministry of our neighbors, we bear witness to the resurrection hope inspired by the Holy Spirit moving within us.

Perhaps the pictures are too happy. Perhaps the stories are too clean and simple. Or perhaps the pictures, the stories and the projects they represent are exactly what they are called to be — testaments to resurrection hope birthed out of the tension between life and death. Perhaps that is what our ministry and our lives are called to be — investments in the future we know is coming and protests against the present we know falls short.

To encounter God in experiences of resurrection is to see new life springing forth amid death and longing. It is to live in that holy tension between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, knowing in our very hearts, where God has written a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:33), that it is possible to both grieve and celebrate, to both look around us with honesty and look forward with hope.

As this season comes to a close, let us pray that God will give each of us the courage, honesty and faith to live more fully in that tension. That’s where authentic ministry happens, and that’s where we are called to be.

Reflection Questions

How do you long for your community? What experiences within your community inspire your prayers of “loud cries and tears”?

What does it mean to live in the tension between crucifixion and resurrection?

How might your ministry change if it were viewed as a witness to resurrection?

What tension in your life do you wish the church would “live into” with you?

 

 

Semana 5 — Resurrección

•••

Jeremías 31:31-34; Salmo 51:1-12; Hebreos 5:5-10; Juan 12:20-33

“En los días de su vida mortal, Jesús ofreció oraciones y súplicas con fuerte clamor y lágrimas al que podía salvarlo de la muerte y fue escuchado por su temor reverente”. —Hebreos 5:7

Hasta ahora en nuestra jornada cuaresmal hemos considerado lo que significa encontrar a Dios en experiencias de reconciliación, transfiguración, crucifixión y restauración. En esta última sesión, justo antes de que termine la temporada y comience la Semana Santa, miramos hacia nuestro encuentro con Dios en la experiencia de la resurrección, cuando Dios saca vida de la muerte.

Sin embargo, tenemos un largo camino por recorrer antes de llegar a ese feliz evento del Domingo de Pascua. Como nos recuerda el teólogo católico Hans Urs von Balthasar, no podemos pasar demasiado rápido de la crucifixión a la resurrección. Tenemos que quedarnos en ese espacio intermedio.

Ese espacio intermedio es donde el ministerio del hambre encuentra su identidad y significado.

En una reciente reunión de ELCA World Hunger, alguien se quejó de que las imágenes e historias que el ministerio comparte rutinariamente son demasiado “felices”. La gente siempre está sonriente y tranquila, y los proyectos respaldados siempre funcionan de la manera en que fueron concebidos. Ningún reto es demasiado difícil de superar. Sin embargo, sabemos que la realidad del ministerio en el mundo a veces está lejos de ser fácil. No todos los proyectos funcionan de la manera que una comunidad espera. Los costos pueden aumentar repentinamente, los desastres pueden acabar con el progreso o, como vimos en los últimos años, una pandemia puede frenar el trabajo que había estado progresando de manera constante.

Como aprendimos en la sesión sobre la crucifixión en la Semana 3 de este estudio, el ministerio auténtico es un ministerio honesto. No nos permite escondernos de las realidades del hambre o la injusticia, ni movernos demasiado rápido hacia la esperanza y el gozo de la resurrección. El ministerio en respuesta al hambre es el ministerio en respuesta a algunos de nuestros más profundos dolores y anhelos. Es el ministerio con y entre las comunidades indígenas que se enfrentan a injusticias sistémicas que han continuado durante generaciones (Semana 1). Es un ministerio con y entre los niños migrantes mientras son objeto de abuso en las fronteras (Semana 2). Es un ministerio con y entre las personas que luchan por alimentarse a sí mismas y a sus familias (Semana 3). Es un ministerio con y entre huérfanos y familias condenadas al ostracismo debido a su estado de salud (Semana 4). Es el ministerio el que encarna la tensión entre la crucifixión y la resurrección.

Las lecturas de esta semana nos recuerdan esta tensión. En el Evangelio de Juan, Jesús explica que un grano de trigo debe caer en la tierra y morir antes de que pueda dar fruto (12:24). Sin embargo, esto no es un aforismo simplista de que toda vida implica la muerte. Hay una tensión entre la forma en que Jesús describe la muerte y la forma en que describe la vida (en esta lectura, “la cruz” y “la gloria”). Jesús no ignora la muerte. Como dice el escritor de Hebreos, Jesús oró con “fuerte clamor y lágrimas” (5:7). El Evangelio de Juan atenúa esto en ocasiones, pero aun así Jesús dice: “Mi alma está angustiada” (12:27).

En muchos servicios de la iglesia, el que preside invita a la congregación a orar “como Jesús nos enseñó” antes de comenzar la convención bastante formal del Padre Nuestro. Ciertamente, esa es la oración que Jesús enseñó a sus discípulos. Pero orar “como Jesús nos enseñó” en las lecturas de esta semana es orar con un alma atribulada, con “fuerte clamor y lágrimas” en duelo por nuestro propio dolor y por la distancia que nuestro mundo debe recorrer hacia el futuro que Dios ha prometido.

Llorar con Ahmed cuando enfrenta abusos en la frontera (Semana 2), protestar con los quilombolas que buscan justicia completa (Semana 1), gritar con cada persona hambrienta a la que alguna vez le han dicho que no pertenece o que no ha trabajado lo suficiente, apretar los dientes con ira mientras los líderes políticos y las autoridades manipulan las estadísticas para justificar los recortes presupuestarios a los programas contra el hambre o la pobreza — estas también son oraciones, las oraciones de las almas atribuladas que gritan con “fuerte clamor y lágrimas”. Estas son oraciones de Cuaresma apropiadas para esta temporada de arrepentimiento, dolor y memoria. Y son oraciones en las que Cristo se une a nosotros.

Las lecturas también nos recuerdan que nuestro encuentro con Dios no termina aquí. Dios responde a las oraciones de Jesús, no por rescatarlo de la cruz, sino por vencer la cruz en la resurrección. La resurrección revela que la muerte y el dolor no tendrán la última palabra, que Dios nos está moviendo hacia un tiempo en el que brotará una nueva vida. Esto no nos permite ignorar la crucifixión. El clamor y las lágrimas de nuestras oraciones no son olvidados ni han terminado todavía.

Encontrar a Dios en la resurrección es vivir en esa tensión entre el dolor y la esperanza, entre la ira santa y la paz. Así como somos llamados al ministerio en forma de cruz (Semana 3), también somos llamados al ministerio de resurrección. Al ministrar en el mundo, ministrándonos unos a otros y aceptando el ministerio de nuestro prójimo, damos testimonio de la esperanza de la resurrección inspirada por el Espíritu Santo que se mueve dentro de nosotros.

Quizás las fotos son demasiado felices. Quizás las historias son demasiado limpias y simples. O tal vez las imágenes, las historias y los proyectos que representan son exactamente lo que están llamados a ser: testimonios de la esperanza de la resurrección nacida de la tensión entre la vida y la muerte. Tal vez eso es lo que nuestro ministerio y nuestras vidas están llamados a ser: inversiones en el futuro que sabemos que viene y protestas contra el presente que sabemos que se queda corto.

Encontrar a Dios en experiencias de resurrección es ver brotar una nueva vida en medio de la muerte y el anhelo. Es vivir en esa tensión santa entre el Viernes Santo y el Domingo de Pascua, sabiendo en nuestros propios corazones, donde Dios ha escrito un nuevo pacto (Jeremías 31:33), que es posible tanto llorar como celebrar, mirar a nuestro alrededor con honestidad y mirar hacia adelante con esperanza.

Ahora que esta temporada llega a su fin, oremos para que Dios nos dé a cada uno de nosotros el valor, la honestidad y la fe para vivir más plenamente en esa tensión. Ahí es donde ocurre el ministerio auténtico, y ahí es donde estamos llamados a estar.

 

Preguntas de reflexión

¿Cómo anhela su comunidad? ¿Qué experiencias dentro de su comunidad inspiran sus oraciones con “fuerte clamor y lágrimas”?

¿Qué significa vivir en la tensión entre la crucifixión y la resurrección?

¿Cómo cambiaría su ministerio si fuera visto como un testimonio de la resurrección?

¿En qué tensión de su vida le gustaría que la iglesia “viviera” con usted?

The following is taken from the 2024 ELCA World Hunger Lent Study. The full resource can be ordered as a hardcopy or downloaded as a PDF in English or Spanish at the link here.

Week 4 — Restoration

•••

Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21

 

The first reading for this fourth week of Lent is from the book of Numbers. The Israelites have been on their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land for years, and the goal is nigh. They have received the law from God through Moses at Sinai and are now on the final leg of their journey. Yet rather than being hopeful and eager, they “became discouraged” (Numbers 21:4), complaining about Moses’ leadership and even their “miserable food” (21:5). God’s response is inventive, if not entirely gracious: “poisonous serpents” sent by God “bit the people, so that many Israelites died” (21:6). The people repent, Moses prays, and God grants Moses a staff that will heal all who are bitten.

It’s not the kindest of stories. Nor is it the easiest story to explore as we continue our study of encounters with God. What exactly is being encountered here, besides a seemingly devious and vengeful God who sends venomous serpents to kill people, then rescues them?

The psalmist gives the story a different spin, omitting any mention of the venomous snakes and lifting up the healing of God, who heard the cries of the people and “saved them from their distress” (107:19).

Despite the psalmist’s sanitized take, this pattern can be found throughout the story of the exodus. God rescues the people, the people turn on God, God punishes them, they repent, God shows mercy. Over and over and over.

These biblical narratives are often used to extol the merciful nature of God, who repeatedly forgives the people despite their sin. Truly, God does show mercy. But this might be cold comfort to the Israelites killed by snakebites. “Mercy” may not be the only lesson implicit in the people’s journey with God.

The exodus begins in Egypt, where God’s people are enslaved and oppressed. God seeks out Moses to lead the people, lays low the unjust Pharaoh and accompanies the people across the wilderness for generations, providing food, water and safety along the way. The people are often ungrateful and at times even spiteful, turning to idolatry in their frustration and despair. Yet God continues to lead and provide. Why?

Simply put, God is invested in this community. God has a vested interest in its future, and this faithfulness to the people the Israelites will become supplies the theme for this week’s study. Despite the violence of the story as recorded in Numbers, there is a lesson here about what it means to encounter God in the restoration of relationships.

The covenant between God and the people leaves both parties vulnerable to the other. By leading them from Egypt and forging a covenant with them, God has tied their futures together. God has a plan and has invested much to ensure that the people will be part of it. This people, this nation, is God’s future. The provisions God grants are not mere merciful gifts but further investments toward a future shared by God and the people who will become Israel.

Of course, the church is not God; we are spiritual descendants of the wandering Hebrews, dependent still on God’s promise of this future. Yet there may be something we can learn here about what it means to pursue a promise of hope and restoration.

Often we see the virtues of mercy and grace in the church’s work to end hunger. Food, clothing, shelter and cash donations are often interpreted as mercies showered on suffering people or as gifts offered to neighbors in need. But in reality our response to hunger surpasses a desire to meet immediate needs. In our Lutheran faith, meeting others’ needs is a response to the grace we have received from God, the grace that restores our relationship with our Creator. We are set free from worrying about our relationship with God, from feeling as if we aren’t good enough or loved enough. The grace of Jesus Christ sets us free from focusing on ourselves so that we can freely focus on others. In other words, God restores our relationship with God so that we can restore our right relationships with one another.

Yet, in true Lutheran fashion, we aren’t really the ones doing the restoring; God is working within and through us, restoring our relationships with each other and all creation. That’s what makes grace so complex. Grace is the “stuff” that restores our relationships with God or our neighbors.

Serving the neighbor is one step toward that restoration. In its most authentic form, service is a foretaste of the full restoration we will experience when the promise of God is fulfilled. Today we dine together as neighbors at the table of a community meal. Tomorrow we shall dine together as the beloved of God at the banquet.

There is something to be learned here about the shape service ought to take. When we understand serving our neighbor as an obligation commanded by God or as something we do because it is “right,” we miss what service is really about. Responding to hunger is not about fulfilling God’s law (as Lutherans, we know we can’t do that anyway). Responding to hunger is about restoring our community and world.

It is as much about the future God is building through us as it is about the present needs we are meeting through each other today.

At just 14, Lalistu knows the importance of restoring community. Lalistu’s family was one of the poorest in their town in Ethiopia. Both her parents are HIV-positive, and the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS isolated Lalistu’s family from their community and kept them from earning enough money to feed themselves. The Central Synod Development Department of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) provided food for the family and school supplies for Lalistu and her brother. Funded in part by ELCA World Hunger, the project supports 80 orphans and vulnerable children in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, providing them with school supplies, food, clothing and other basic needs for survival. In addition, the project leaders work with communities to help them better understand the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS.

With this support Lalistu and her brother have excelled in school. Their mother has found work selling and trading goods, and the family has gotten support to start building their own home. Instead of relying on relatives for their survival, Lalistu and her family can look ahead to a time when they will have access to the things they need. The program has not only inspired their hope for a brighter economic and educational future; it has helped to change the perceptions and attitudes of people in their community. Instead of feeling isolated, Lalistu and her family now feel accepted by their neighbors.

This restoration of community relationships is critically important. The stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, like the stigma that often accompanies hunger and poverty, can create huge obstacles for those who are stigmatized. They may be less likely to seek medical treatment or acquire nutritional support, and more likely to face hunger or poverty in the future. We experience this over and over again, whether it is the stigma faced by Lalistu’s parents and other people living with HIV in countries around the world or the stigma experienced by the clients of food pantries. Feeding someone or helping them find work can go only so far if the community in which they are fed or employed continually excludes, marginalizes or discriminates against them.

Simply put, we cannot end hunger if our communities remain places of exclusion, fear or stigma. If the ministries we support and participate in are to be meaningful and authentic, they must be what God calls them to be: sites where God is encountered through the experience of restoration. Ministry in response to hunger is ministry in response to the promise that God is drawing us all together toward a reconciled and restored future. Every meal served, every neighbor heard and every new relationship built in the context of service gives us a foretaste of the fullness of life to which God will restore us and our world. When this happens, our service will change. We will change. And our communities will change.

God makes that ongoing restoration possible by investing in a future when hunger will be no more. How might our work as church together change when we see it as not merely a “good thing” but also an investment in this shared future?

Reflection Questions

How might stigma or exclusion make it more difficult for a family such as Lalistu’s to overcome hunger and poverty?

What does it mean to believe that God is invested in our future?

How might our understanding of hunger ministries change when we view them as a restoration of community?

How are people experiencing hunger or poverty stigmatized in your community? What has the church done or what could it do to change this?

 

Semana 4 — Restauración

•••

Números 21:4-9; Salmo 107:1-3, 17-22; Efesios 2:1-10; Juan 3:14-21

La primera lectura de esta cuarta semana de Cuaresma es del libro de Números. Los israelitas han estado en su éxodo de Egipto hacia la Tierra Prometida durante años, y la meta está cerca. Han recibido la ley de Dios a través de Moisés en el Sinaí y ahora están en el tramo final de su jornada. Sin embargo, en lugar de sentirse esperanzados y entusiasmados, “se impacientaron” (Números 21:4) y se quejaron del liderazgo de Moisés y aun de su “pésima comida” (21:5). La respuesta de Dios es inventiva, si no del todo misericordiosa: “serpientes venenosas” enviadas por Dios “los mordier[o]n, y muchos israelitas murieron” (21:6). El pueblo se arrepiente, Moisés ora, y Dios le da a Moisés un asta que sana a todos los que son mordidos.

Esta no es la más benévola de las historias. Tampoco es la historia más fácil de analizar en la continuación de nuestro estudio de los encuentros con Dios. ¿Qué es exactamente lo que se está encontrando aquí, además de un Dios aparentemente inescrupuloso y vengativo que envía serpientes venenosas para matar a las personas y luego rescatarlas?

El salmista le da un giro diferente a la historia, pues omite toda mención de las serpientes venenosas y exalta la sanación de Dios, quien escuchó los clamores del pueblo y “los salvó de sus aflicciones” (107:19).

A pesar de la versión expurgada del salmista, en toda la historia del éxodo se puede encontrar este patrón. Dios rescata al pueblo, el pueblo se vuelve contra Dios, Dios los castiga, se arrepienten, Dios muestra misericordia. Una y otra vez.

Estas narraciones bíblicas se utilizan a menudo para ensalzar el carácter misericordioso de Dios, que perdona repetidamente a las personas a pesar de su pecado. Verdaderamente, Dios muestra misericordia. Pero esto no les serviría de consuelo a los israelitas que habían muerto por mordeduras de serpientes. Es posible que la “misericordia” no sea la única lección implícita en la jornada del pueblo con Dios.

El éxodo comienza en Egipto, donde el pueblo de Dios es esclavizado y oprimido. Dios busca a Moisés para guiar al pueblo, humilla al injusto faraón, y acompaña al pueblo a través del desierto durante generaciones, dándoles comida, agua y seguridad a lo largo del camino. El pueblo a menudo se muestra ingrato y a veces incluso rencoroso, pues en su frustración y desesperación recurren a la idolatría. Sin embargo, Dios sigue guiando y proveyendo. ¿Por qué?

En pocas palabras, Dios ha invertido en esta comunidad. Dios tiene un interés personal en su futuro, y esta fidelidad al pueblo en el cual los israelitas se convertirán nos da el tema del estudio de esta semana. A pesar de la violencia de la historia según es registrada en Números, aquí hay una lección sobre lo que significa encontrar a Dios en la restauración de las relaciones.

El pacto entre Dios y el pueblo deja a ambas partes vulnerables la una a la otra. Al sacarlos de Egipto y forjar un pacto con ellos, Dios ha unido sus futuros. Dios tiene un plan y ha invertido mucho para asegurarse de que el pueblo sea parte de este. Este pueblo, esta nación, es el futuro de Dios. Las provisiones que Dios concede no son meros regalos misericordiosos, sino inversiones adicionales hacia un futuro compartido por Dios y el pueblo en el cual Israel se convertirá.

Por supuesto, la iglesia no es Dios; somos descendientes espirituales de los hebreos errantes, dependientes todavía de la promesa de Dios de este futuro. Sin embargo, es posible que aquí haya algo que podemos aprender acerca de lo que significa perseguir una promesa de esperanza y restauración.

Con frecuencia vemos las virtudes de la misericordia y la gracia en el trabajo que hace la iglesia para acabar con el hambre. Las donaciones de alimentos, ropa, refugio y dinero en efectivo a menudo se interpretan como misericordias derramadas sobre personas que sufren o como regalos ofrecidos a vecinos necesitados. Pero en realidad nuestra respuesta al hambre va más allá del deseo de satisfacer las necesidades inmediatas. En nuestra fe luterana, satisfacer las necesidades de los demás es una respuesta a la gracia que hemos recibido de Dios, la gracia que restaura nuestra relación con nuestro Creador. Somos liberados de preocuparnos por nuestra relación con Dios, de sentir que no somos lo suficientemente buenos o amados. La gracia de Jesucristo nos libera de centrar nuestra atención en nosotros mismos para que podamos concentrarnos libremente en los demás. En otras palabras, Dios restaura nuestra relación con Dios para que podamos restaurar nuestras relaciones adecuadas entre nosotros.

Sin embargo, al más puro estilo luterano, no somos realmente nosotros los que hacemos la restauración; Dios está obrando dentro y a través de nosotros, restaurando nuestras relaciones entre nosotros y con toda la creación. Eso es lo que hace que la gracia sea tan compleja. La gracia es la “cosa” que restaura nuestras relaciones con Dios o con nuestro prójimo.

Servir al prójimo es un paso hacia esa restauración. En su forma más auténtica, el servicio es un anticipo de la restauración completa que experimentaremos cuando se cumpla la promesa de Dios. Hoy cenamos juntos como vecinos en la mesa de una comida comunitaria. Mañana cenaremos juntos como los amados de Dios en el banquete.

Aquí hay algo que aprender sobre la forma que el servicio debe tomar. Cuando vemos el servicio al prójimo como una obligación ordenada por Dios o como algo que hacemos porque es “lo correcto”, perdemos de vista de qué se trata el servicio realmente. Responder al hambre no se trata de cumplir la ley de Dios (como luteranos, sabemos que no podemos hacerlo de todos modos). Responder al hambre se trata de restaurar nuestra comunidad y el mundo. Se trata tanto del futuro que Dios está construyendo a través de nosotros como de las necesidades presentes que estamos satisfaciendo a través de los unos con los otros hoy.

Con tan solo 14 años, Lalistu sabe la importancia de restaurar la comunidad. La familia de Lalistu era una de las más pobres de su pueblo en Etiopía. Sus padres son seropositivos, y el estigma en torno al VIH y al SIDA aisló a la familia de Lalistu de su comunidad y les impidió ganar suficiente dinero para alimentarse. El Central Synod Development Department [Departamento de Desarrollo del Sínodo Central] de la Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) [Iglesia Evangélica Etíope Mekane Yesus] proporcionó alimentos para la familia y útiles escolares para Lalistu y su hermano. Financiado en parte por ELCA World Hunger, el proyecto apoya a 80 huérfanos y niños vulnerables de la región de Oromia en Etiopía, proporcionándoles útiles escolares, alimentos, ropa y otras necesidades básicas para la supervivencia. Además, los líderes del proyecto trabajan con las comunidades para ayudarlas a comprender mejor las necesidades de las personas que viven con el VIH y el SIDA.

Con este apoyo, Lalistu y su hermano se han destacado en la escuela. Su madre ha encontrado trabajo vendiendo e intercambiando bienes, y la familia ha recibido apoyo para comenzar a construir su propia casa. En lugar de depender de sus parientes para su supervivencia, Lalistu y su familia pueden mirar hacia el futuro para tener acceso a las cosas que necesitan. El programa no solo ha inspirado su esperanza de un futuro económico y educativo más brillante; también ha ayudado a cambiar las percepciones y actitudes de las personas de su comunidad. En lugar de sentirse aislados, ahora Lalistu y su familia se sienten aceptados por sus vecinos.

Esta restauración de las relaciones comunitarias es de vital importancia. El estigma que hay en torno al VIH y el SIDA, al igual que el estigma que a menudo acompaña al hambre y la pobreza, pueden crear enormes obstáculos para quienes son estigmatizados. Es menos probable que busquen tratamiento médico o reciban apoyo nutricional, y es más probable que se enfrenten al hambre o la pobreza en el futuro. Experimentamos esto una y otra vez, ya sea por el estigma que enfrentan los padres de Lalistu y otras personas que viven con el VIH en países de todo el mundo, o el estigma que experimentan los clientes de las despensas de alimentos. Alimentar a alguien o ayudarlo a encontrar trabajo solo puede llegar hasta cierto punto si la comunidad en la que se alimenta o emplea lo excluye, margina o discrimina continuamente.

En pocas palabras, no podemos acabar con el hambre si nuestras comunidades siguen siendo lugares de exclusión, miedo o estigma. Si los ministerios que apoyamos y en los que participamos han de ser significativos y auténticos, deben ser lo que Dios los llama a ser: lugares en los que uno se encuentra con Dios a través de la experiencia de la restauración. El ministerio en respuesta al hambre es el ministerio en respuesta a la promesa de que Dios nos está uniendo a todos hacia un futuro reconciliado y restaurado. Cada comida servida, cada prójimo escuchado y cada nueva relación formada en el contexto del servicio nos da un anticipo de la plenitud de la vida a la que Dios nos restaurará a nosotros y a nuestro mundo. Cuando esto ocurra, cambiará nuestro servicio, cambiaremos nosotros, y cambiarán nuestras comunidades.

Dios hace posible esa restauración continua al invertir en un futuro en el que ya no existirá el hambre. ¿Cómo podría cambiar nuestro trabajo como iglesia cuando lo vemos no solo como algo “bueno” sino también como una inversión en este futuro compartido?

Preguntas de reflexión

¿De qué manera el estigma o la exclusión pueden dificultar que una familia como la de Lalistu supere el hambre y la pobreza?

¿Qué significa creer que Dios ha invertido en nuestro futuro?

¿Cómo podría cambiar nuestra comprensión de los ministerios del hambre cuando los vemos como una restauración de la comunidad?

¿Cómo se estigmatiza a las personas que padecen hambre o pobreza en su comunidad? ¿Qué ha hecho la iglesia o qué podría hacer para cambiar esto?

The following is taken from the 2024 ELCA World Hunger Lent Study. The full resource can be ordered as a hardcopy or downloaded as a PDF in English or Spanish at the link here.

Week 3 — Crucifixion Exodus

•••

Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

 

“We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

 —1 Corinthians 1:23

In this week of Lent, having reflected on encountering God in reconciliation and in transfiguration, we turn toward Paul’s message of “Christ crucified” and reflect on what it means to encounter God in crucifixion, to be confronted with our own participation in systemic oppression.

Founded in 1888, Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, La., is the oldest historically Black ELCA congregation in the continental United States. The church has a long legacy of responding to the needs of its members and neighbors. One way Bethlehem carries on that legacy is through the Community Table, a feeding ministry that provides free, no-questions-asked gourmet meals every week. This ministry, which is supported by ELCA World Hunger, helps to meet the need for food in Central City. The median household income in Bethlehem’s ZIP code is slightly more than $26,189, less than one-third of the median household income in the United States ($69,021 at the time of writing). More than 15% of the people in Orleans Parish are food-insecure.

With so many workers relying on the city’s tourism and hospitality industry, Bethlehem Lutheran saw a rapid increase in the number of people needing food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with partners, the Community Table was able to expand, and by this spring it was providing a free lunch four times a week, serving over 600 meals weekly. As the need has increased, Bethlehem Lutheran has been able to meet it.

A key leader in helping the Community Table and Bethlehem respond during and after the pandemic was Chef De, who planned, coordinated, supervised, cooked and served hundreds of meals for people who came to the Table. “I don’t think Bethlehem would have made it through the pandemic if it were not for Chef De,” says the Rev. Ben Groth, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran. “And I also believe it to be true that many of our neighbors would not have made it without her, too.”

As noted by Mike Scott, a writer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Central City neighborhood has a long, rich history: it is home to New Zion Baptist Church, where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formally incorporated. Yet, as Scott also writes, by the early 2000s, Central City had become “defined [by some people] by its crime rate” and its “crushing poverty.”[1]

Some people might easily let the community’s present challenges define its future. We see this often when cities are dealing with statistically high rates of poverty, food insecurity or crime. Outsiders looking in dismiss such neighborhoods as nothing more than their statistics or decide they must be “saved” by the decisive action of political leaders.

Journeying together through Lent, we are invited to consider what it means for us today that God’s son was crucified 2,000 years ago. Lent has often been a season for us to take stock of our own sinfulness and need for repentance. In many ways the cross is a mirror, reflecting back to us our entanglement in sin. Yet the cross is also a lens, a way of perceiving and apprehending the world. All too frequently during Lent, we lose sight of the latter aspect.

As a lens, the cross shapes how we understand ourselves, our world and our communities. It reminds us that God is present in Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. This doesn’t mean that suffering or death are God’s work or that there is something redemptive in suffering or death. Quite the contrary: a cross-shaped (cruciform) lens compels us to recognize suffering for what it is, to name it and confront it.

This is the foolishness Paul describes in his letter to the Corinthians. Who would ever recognize God in the broken, pierced and dying body of Christ? Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, upon seeing a painting of a dead Christ, is reported to have remarked to his wife that such a painting could cause one to lose their faith. This is what Paul means, in part, by the “foolishness” of the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18). To preach the message of Christ crucified is foolishness to those who cannot fathom the presence of divinity within frailty or weakness, who cannot comprehend God as both actor and victim.

Yet that is precisely what the cross demands of us. To preach Christ crucified, to journey through Lent to the cross, is to bind ourselves to honesty, to the sort of truth-telling that names suffering and injustice for what they are yet still affirms the presence of God. For Central City and Bethlehem Lutheran Church, the message of Christ crucified affirms that stories of poverty or hunger aren’t the only stories being written or told in the community. It may be foolishness to those on the outside looking in, but it is gospel truth for those who encounter God at a community table where neighbors prepare, provide and share meals.

To encounter God within the crucifixion is to be reminded that we cannot ignore the truth of suffering, hunger, poverty, violence, death and injustice in a world still waiting for the fullness of the reign of God. But to encounter God in this event is to be radically open to God’s presence in this same as-yet-incomplete world. It is to seek God within our communities and one another, even as the world declares this seeking to be “foolishness.” It is to affirm with faithful certainty that in the stories of our neighbors and neighborhoods, God is being revealed to us in sometimes new and surprising ways.

 

Reflection Questions

What do you think Paul means by “foolishness”?

How does your perception of Central City or your own community change when you look at them through a cross-shaped lens?

In what new or unexpected ways have you encountered God, especially as you faced your own “crosses”?

What might it mean to “bind ourselves to honesty, to the sort of truth-telling that names suffering and injustice for what they are yet still affirms the presence of God”?

 

 

Semana 3 — Crucifixión

•••

Éxodo 20:1-17

Salmo 19

1 Corintios 1:18-25

Juan 2:13-22

“Mientras que nosotros predicamos a Cristo crucificado. Este mensaje es motivo de tropiezo para los judíos y es locura para los no judíos”. —1 Corintios 1:23

En esta semana de Cuaresma, después de haber reflexionado sobre el encuentro con Dios en la reconciliación y en la transfiguración, nos dirigimos hacia el mensaje de Pablo de “Cristo crucificado” y reflexionamos sobre lo que significa encontrar a Dios en la crucifixión, para ser confrontados con nuestra propia participación en la opresión sistémica.

Fundada en 1888, Bethlehem Lutheran Church [Iglesia Luterana Belén] en el vecindario de Central City de Nueva Orleans, Luisiana, es la congregación históricamente negra de la ELCA más antigua de los Estados Unidos continentales. La iglesia tiene un largo legado de responder a las necesidades de sus miembros y vecinos. Una de las formas en que Bethlehem continúa con ese legado es a través de Community Table [Mesa Comunitaria], un ministerio de alimentación que todas las semanas ofrece comidas gourmet gratuitas y sin hacer preguntas. Este ministerio, que cuenta con el respaldo de ELCA World Hunger, ayuda a satisfacer la necesidad de comida en Central City. El ingreso familiar promedio en el código postal de Bethlehem es un poco más de $ 26,189, menos de un tercio del ingreso familiar promedio en los Estados Unidos ($ 69,021 en el momento de escribir este artículo). Más del 15% de las personas en Orleans Parish sufren inseguridad alimentaria.

Con tantos trabajadores que dependen de la industria del turismo y la hospitalidad de la ciudad, Bethlehem Lutheran vio un rápido aumento en el número de personas que necesitaban comida durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Al trabajar con socios, Community Table pudo expandirse, y para esta primavera estaba dando un almuerzo gratis cuatro veces a la semana, sirviendo más de 600 comidas semanales. A medida que la necesidad ha aumentado, Bethlehem Lutheran ha sido capaz de satisfacerla.

Una líder clave que ayudó a Community Table y a Bethlehem a responder durante y después de la pandemia fue la chef De, quien planificó, coordinó, supervisó, cocinó y sirvió cientos de comidas para las personas que vinieron a la mesa. “No creo que Bethlehem hubiera sobrevivido a la pandemia si no fuera por la chef De”, dice el reverendo Ben Groth, pastor de Bethlehem Lutheran. “Y también creo que es cierto que muchos de nuestros vecinos no lo habrían logrado sin ella.

Como señaló Mike Scott, escritor de New Orleans Times-Picayune, el vecindario de Central City tiene una larga y rica historia: es el hogar de la Iglesia Bautista New Zion [Nueva Sión], donde se incorporó formalmente la Southern Christian Leadership Conference [Conferencia de Liderazgo Cristiano del Sur]. Sin embargo, como también escribe Scott, a principios de la década de 2000, Central City había llegado a ser “definida [por algunas personas] por su tasa de criminalidad” y su “pobreza aplastante”.[1]

Algunas personas podrían dejar que los desafíos actuales de la comunidad definan su futuro. A menudo vemos esto cuando las ciudades se enfrentan a tasas estadísticamente altas de pobreza, inseguridad alimentaria o delincuencia. Las personas externas que miran hacia adentro desestiman esos barrios como nada más que sus estadísticas o deciden que deben ser “salvados” por la acción decisiva de los líderes políticos.

En nuestra jornada juntos durante la Cuaresma se nos invita a considerar lo que significa para nosotros hoy que el hijo de Dios fue crucificado hace 2,000 años. La Cuaresma ha sido a menudo una temporada para que hagamos un balance de nuestra propia pecaminosidad y necesidad de arrepentimiento. En muchos sentidos, la cruz es un espejo que nos refleja nuestra participación en el pecado. Sin embargo, la cruz es también una lente, una forma de percibir y aprehender el mundo. Con demasiada frecuencia, durante la Cuaresma perdemos de vista este último aspecto.

Como lente, la cruz moldea la forma en que nos entendemos a nosotros mismos, a nuestro mundo y a nuestras comunidades. Nos recuerda que Dios está presente en el sufrimiento y la muerte de Jesús en la cruz. Esto no significa que el sufrimiento o la muerte sean obra de Dios o que haya un elemento redentor en el sufrimiento o la muerte. Todo lo contrario; una lente en forma de cruz (cruciforme) nos obliga a reconocer el sufrimiento por lo que es, a nombrarlo y enfrentarlo.

Esta es la locura que Pablo describe en su carta a los Corintios. ¿Quién reconocería a Dios en el cuerpo quebrantado, traspasado y moribundo de Cristo? Se dice que el novelista ruso Fiódor Dostoievski, al ver una pintura de Cristo muerto, le comentó a su esposa que tal pintura podría hacer que uno perdiera la fe. Esto es lo que Pablo quiere decir, en parte, con la “locura” del mensaje de la cruz (1 Corintios 1:18). Predicar el mensaje de Cristo crucificado es una locura para aquellos que no pueden comprender la presencia de la divinidad dentro de la fragilidad o la debilidad; que no pueden comprender a Dios como actor y víctima.

Sin embargo, eso es precisamente lo que la cruz exige de nosotros. Predicar a Cristo crucificado, caminar a través de la Cuaresma hasta la cruz, es comprometerse con la honestidad, con el tipo de verdad que llama el sufrimiento y la injusticia por lo que son, pero que aun así afirma la presencia de Dios. Para Central City y Bethlehem Lutheran Church, el mensaje de Cristo crucificado afirma que las historias de pobreza o hambre no son las únicas historias que se escriben o cuentan en la comunidad. Para las personas externas que miran hacia adentro puede ser una tontería, pero es la verdad del evangelio para aquellos que se encuentran con Dios en una mesa comunitaria donde los vecinos preparan, proveen y comparten comidas.

Encontrar a Dios en la crucifixión es recordar que no podemos ignorar la verdad del sufrimiento, el hambre, la pobreza, la violencia, la muerte y la injusticia en un mundo que todavía espera la plenitud del reino de Dios. Pero encontrar a Dios en este evento es estar radicalmente abierto a la presencia de Dios en este mismo mundo aún incompleto. Es buscar a Dios dentro de nuestras comunidades y entre nosotros, incluso cuando el mundo declara que esta búsqueda es una “locura”. Es afirmar con fiel certeza que, en las historias de nuestros vecinos y vecindarios, Dios se nos está revelando de maneras a veces nuevas y sorprendentes.

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[1] Mike Scott, “A Brief History of Central City, the Forsaken Heart of New Orleans,” Nola.com, July 12, 2019, tinyurl.com/mpks2x8m.

[1] Mike Scott, “A Brief History of Central City, the Forsaken Heart of New Orleans” [Breve historia de Central City, el corazón abandonado de Nueva Orleans] Nola. com, 12 de julio de 2019, tinyurl.com/mpks2x8m