For the Sake of...
By Rev. Megan Morrow, Assistant to the Bishop
- A
building, a congregation in one place, a congregation with multiple campuses,
an online or electronic media ministry, a denomination here in the U.S. or one
in another country, or one that stretches around the world, all Christians
everywhere, etc.
We’ve explored that question a lot over the last three years
in the Nebraska Synod with our yearly themes on Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s
emphases: We are Church, We are Lutheran, We are Church Together. Though we
might have differing opinions on many things, these are things that are at the
core of our identity in the ELCA and the Nebraska Synod:
1) We are the Body of Christ,
Christ’s Body (Church),
2) We are called, gathered,
enlightened, and sanctified by the Spirit around Word & Sacrament, fed,
forgiven, and freed by God’s grace through being joined to Christ’s death and
resurrection in Baptism, and in Christ’s own Body and Blood given and shed (Lutheran),
and
3) We are part of Christ’s Body,
the Church, Together with people in our congregations, with other
congregations across the Synod, throughout the ELCA, with Lutheran
denominations worldwide, but also with our siblings in Christ in other
denominations in the whole Christian Church around the world!
This year we’re focusing on the 4th emphasis: We
are Church for the Sake of the World. Based on what we’ve learned so far, you
could flesh that out as “We are the Body of Christ (Church), wearing Lutheran
glasses (Grace, Word & Sacrament), walking in partnership, Together with
each other and the whole Christian Church (Ecumenical), for the Sake of the
World.”
So, what’s Church for? Better yet, WHO is Church for? At our
recent theological conference in Kearney, TheoCon 2019, Rev. Dr. Mercedes
Garcia Bachmann, an Old Testament scholar of the United Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Argentina/Uruguay, one of our Companion Synods, pointed us to the
words, “for the sake of.” She helped us ponder stories throughout scripture
looking at examples of what happens when people of faith made choices “for the
sake of” themselves vs “for the sake of” God, the earth, and others.
God continually calls us to look beyond ourselves, to love
and to live our lives “for the sake of” the world that God created and loves so
deeply, and for whom God sent God’s only Son. You are part of that world. You
are loved that you might love.
So, WHO is your church for? WHO is St. Someone Lutheran
Church of Some Place Nebraska for? Who is the world in your corner of it,
around the state, the country, the globe? How are you now the Body of Christ,
wearing Lutheran glasses, walking in partnership, Together with others, for the
Sake of the World? How is God calling you to be Church for the Sake of the World?
Blessings as you ponder that call!
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