May God Grant You Holy Discontent


By Rev. Dave deFreese, Vice President of Church Relations and International Programming at Mosaic
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."  --Joel 2:12



Never grow comfortable with cruelty.

Our personal sin is not God’s sole (soul) concern.  Often the prophets called God’s people to repentance for the systematic sins of their community living; inequality, injustice, and the lack of hospitality.  With dire warning, the prophet Joel calls the people to a fervent discontent with the way they were treating each other and the stranger.

Passionately oppose every bit of inhumanity you recognize.

Joel implores us, “Blow the trumpet…sound the alarm.”  God cares how we attend the needs of one another.

Work for justice and be outraged when it is denied.

To have holy discontent is to see harm and to respond with hope.  Holy discontent awakens us to be fully alert to the struggles around us and to be motivated to make a change that is for the good.  Holy discontent is the catalyst against prejudice and inequity.

Holy discontent gave birth to Mosaic one hundred and seven years ago. Pastor K.G. William Dahl had a dear friend Gustav, who had epilepsy.  Gustav had a seizure in public and was immediately incarcerated.  Pastor Dahl went to see his friend and was heart broken to see him naked, in a cell, and humiliated.  Out of that wrenching experience, Pastor Dahl said no one should be treated so, and Mosaic was begun.  A community of acceptance for those who struggled to fit in society.  Think of the lives touched and changed by that holy discontent.

Holy discontent stirred Susan Crawford to design Rejoicing Spirits, a nationwide out-reach ministry.  Sitting in worship on a Sabbath, she noticed the lack of persons living with obvious disabilities as a part of the faithful gathered.  Knowing this was not natural nor a picture of the community in which she lived, she sought to offer an opportunity for people of all abilities to worship and grow together.  Rejoicing Spirits was born, and its impact for enhancing the Church has been profound. Valued voices have been invited to share, and the Church has become more whole.

These are days of increasing apathy, of unprecedented complacency that has given rise to a dangerous mean-spiritedness in our society.   The Church is not immune.  A recent study by the National Survey of Children’s Health found that “American churches are failing to meet the needs of children with cognitive disorders.”  Researcher Andrew Whitehead concluded: “This population is unseen because when they show up, they have a negative experience and never return.”  Author and mother of two children with Down Syndrome, Heather Avis writes: “I’ve met countless other parents who have stopped going to church once they have a child with a different ability.  The environment was just too difficult for their child to navigate and they did not feel welcomed anymore.  Christian churches must do a better job.” 

Holy discontent compels our God-given gravitational pull toward goodness to long for a more loving response.  These positive yearnings in the midst of negative circumstances unleash compassion.  We hunger for something to right all that feels so wrong.  In a time when disconnection seems epidemic, we seek connectedness.  When people seem increasingly immune to others’ pain, holy discontent drives God’s people to generate powerful ripples of compassion, acceptance, and joy.


Thank you for your efforts to express hope and care, to invite others in, and to be the Church for the sake of the world.  May God grant you the gift of holy discontent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Lutheran of Lincoln - a Bit of History

Image
  First Lutheran Church of Lincoln began its life in 1870 as Swedish settlers founded a church in the newly established capital of Nebraska. Though we often assume early founders were heroic pastors, First was mostly a lay movement in its first 30 years, served by a shifting array of preachers who travelled among congregations struggling to establish themselves on the prairie. First Lutheran Swedish Church consisted mostly of new immigrants, many of them young Swedish women brought over as domestics to serve in the houses of the growing town. This early open outreach and service remained a mark of First's ministry, situated as it was in a small structure at 13th and K Street near the heart of the growing town. However, the development of First Lutheran didn't really accelerate until the turn to a new century, when a larger building with a pipe organ was established; the focus on the pipe organ in the expense of building a new structure reveals another long term orientation of t
Read more

Stories from Across the Synod

Image
 Three Rural Churches Doing Worship in a New Way   In response to the pandemic, the three congregations of Sonrise Parish (St. John’s, Eustis; American, Cozad; and St. John’s, Cozad) moved to video-only worship beginning on March 18, 2020.  Three months later, as warmer weather had arrived, the churches decided to do outdoor Word and Sacrament at each site on a weekly rotating basis, beginning at Eustis on June 14.  A weekly virtual brief worship recording was also continued!  The city street, parking lots, and grassy areas became the places to gather in lawn chairs or in cars in a physically-distanced manner.  A low-power FM transmitter broadcasted to those who wanted to stay in their vehicles.   A music group with percussion, guitar, horns, vocalists (and sometimes keyboard) led the services.  For sixteen weeks through the end of September the outdoor services continued, with attendance ranging from 50-60 to as high as over 100.  Two confirmations and one baptism were also done outdo
Read more

Proclaim the Good News

Image
 By Bishop Brian Maas When Jesus sent out the twelve, the first task they were given was to “proclaim the good news.” He gave many other instructions, including advice to “shake off the dust from your feet” if a community wouldn’t receive it. Not everybody will hear the good news as a good thing. The kingdom of heaven is disruptive. Throughout the pandemic, the church has done a pretty good job of going out to proclaim the good news—or at least going out beyond the building’s walls, livestreaming worship and other events, literally to the ends of the earth. Now things are beginning to change. Congregations are beginning to gather again in person, and they’re noticing something. The numbers in the pews now are smaller than they were before pandemic. And there’s a bit of anxiety and a lot of uncertainty about it.  That makes it all the more likely we’ll hear objection to the good news or its proclamation. We’ll hear calls to end online outreach and to ensure an appealing message. History
Read more