The Word

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God…” (Romans 12: 2)

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22: 36-38)
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Kyle’s Story

I turned 18 in the summer of 2008, as the race for the presidency echoed on every newsstand and network. That fall, on one rainy September afternoon, Obama’s calls for hope & change rang across my small college campus, where 26,000 gathered to watch him speak. Street corners burst with signage for national and local political leaders. I spent hours watching debates, reading articles and having conversations with my classmates, all in preparation to cast my first ballot.

As is the case with many young people, most of my voting has been done by absentee ballot as my schedule often finds me away from home on Election Day. I still feel a surge of pride when I drop my ballot in the mailbox. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself. However, voting in person provides a visceral connection to this imperative responsibility of being a citizen. We walk or drive or bike through our neighborhoods on the way to the polls, passing those affected by the policies that we elect individuals to uphold or reform. Scripture tells us that whatever we do unto the least of these, we do unto Christ himself. In this way of seeing, we immerse ourselves in a community where Christ is our neighbor. We must not look away.

Called to Renew Our Minds

We are called in faith to be active, informed participants in the communities of our lives – our churches, our neighborhoods, our country and our world. When Jesus charges his disciples to love their neighbors as themselves, he asks us to consider the neighbors that don’t look like us, or speak like us, or attend the same churches as us. The gospels constantly remind us that the community, the KINdom of God, is vaster than we allow ourselves to imagine. We are called to constantly be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”. To me, this renewing looks like a call to pray & discern, to do our research, to become informed about the issues that impact our neighbors here and abroad.

Luke, a former Lutheran Outdoor Ministries staff member and LVC volunteer, participates with Kyle and #elcayoungadults in #elcavotes by answering the question “Remember the first time you voted?”

Sarah, a YAGM alum and ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow, participates with Kyle and #elcayoungadults in #elcavotes by answering the question “Remember the first time you voted?”

Lifting Our Voices, Lifting Our Votes

The privilege to vote is one of the most active ways we as people of faith can take our hopes and prayers for the world outside the church walls. When we open our eyes to the concerns of our communities, listen to those whose voices are marginalized by political systems and consider the way our government impacts individuals, we are striving to be the type of neighbor Jesus describes in Matthew’s Gospel. Repeatedly throughout the gospels, Jesus challenges assumptions about the disciples’ roles in community, calling to their attention the ways they can step outside their personal circles to be better servants in the world. Still today, Jesus challenges our assumptions and calls us out into the world every day.

Study, listen, pray, discern, lift your voice, and lift your vote – the world needs it.

Discussion Questions:
1. Have you taken time to listen for the Holy Spirit in your life lately?

2. How are you making space for the Holy in your daily life?

3. How are you actively engaged in your community, locally & nationally? How is your church or ministry engaged in the community outside its walls?

4. How do you understand the relationship between your faith and your vote? Why?

5. Do you have a voting plan? Make time this week to read up on your midterm ballot initiatives and candidates.

Kyle Lefler serves as the Program Coordinator at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Lakeside, MT. Her work at FLBC includes overseeing year round retreat programming, onsite summer camp operations & making sure all the ice cream in the canteen is fit to sell, among other things. Kyle is passionate about working with young people in God’s Creation and striving to create intentional community spaces where they are unconditionally loved & accepted, empowered & advocated for. She loves early morning lake swims, handwritten letters & the Avett Brothers.

The Word

Isaiah 55: 1-5

Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

A Place for You

I have to constantly remind myself, “There is a place for you within the Church.” A few years back I was entering a suburban Lutheran church for worship. I had never attended that church before.  I didn’t know anyone, and I did little to no research. I only knew that close to where I was staying there was a Lutheran Church and service started at 9 am. As I made my trek in this seemly normal Sunday I was confronted with why I have the reminder: “There is a place for me.” As I arrived at the threshold a congregant informed me that this wasn’t the Baptist Church, and the Baptist Church was not located far away. I assume my dark melanin skin warranted this halt and questioning of my place within their space.  I kindly informed the person I was aware that this was a Lutheran Church and I was indeed there for service. I took the bulletin and sat down repeating the mantra I learned to grasp close in times of adversity, “There is a place for you.”

While our experiences vary, feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, trepidation, and unwelcomeness hit us all at points when we cross the threshold or sit in the pew. I am here to tell you, “There is a place for you within the folds of the Church.”  The Church is not a set of independent buildings, but an assembly of ALL Gods People. The Church is a place for the people on the margins peering in.  The Church is a place for the people whose identities don’t necessarily coincide with what is “normal”.  The Church is a home for everyone with a fire and desire to walk through the doors.

A Place for All

The 55^th chapter of Isaiah boldly invites everyone who is thirsty, hungry, and poor not only into the Church but to the waters of abundant life. This inclusive invitation is given to seemly normal people who come from all walks of life, whose hunger is deeper than the pits of their stomach, whose thirst cannot be quenched with mere water, and whose lack of riches is not monetary but spiritual. This invitation is extended to people regardless their color, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status and political preference. The chapter is the covenant made between Christ and us.  It is a display of God’s unyielding grace and compassion.

Jesus’s arms are outstretched for all who are weary, discouraged, broken, thirsty or in need of something more. There is a place for you even when we don’t think there is. The Church is made on the pillars of sinners, saints, believers, skeptics, and everyone in between. “There is a place for you,” because Christ is the place. Christ invites a shell of a person with their stuff, their baggage, and their brokenness. We are then called to carry our stuff to God and unload because then we are forgiven. Regardless of where we are in life, who we are, what we do, and how we act there is a place for you. You are perfectly imperfect and you are a child of God.

An Open Invitation

So, the next time you are confronted with difficulty, uneasiness, and doubt I want you to know that you do not stand alone. Behind you stands the Assembly of the Church, a kaleidoscope of hues and shapes that are the People of God. I want you to know that the doubt will pass with the waves of life and calm will prevail. I want you to know that nestled in the book of Isaiah there is an open invitation to come to worship God as you are. I want you to know that “There is a place for you.” Just as I found my place in that pew unapologetically so many years ago, I hope you find yours.

Discussion Questions

1. What time have you felt that you did not belong? How did you handle it? Did you leave the situation?
2. Where is God amidst this trial and tribulation?
3. Where do you see your place within the Church?
4. How can you tell others they are needed in the Church?

Blog author Ralen Robinson is a Seminary student at United Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia seeking a call to be an ordained minister. She is currently interning at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion and offering chaplaincy at major hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Ralen believes faith and a good pair of heels can take you a long way.