Go & Tell the Story

 By Bishop Brian Maas We have now formally kicked off the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Nebraska Synod. We’ll spend the next year reflecting on our shared history and inviting each congregation to reflect on its own history as well. We do this not to rediscover some glorious past to which we might return (we won’t—we can’t); rather, we study our histories because they remind us of our stories. Our story reaches back not only 150 years, but millennia, to the very origins of God’s people. The Bible is our story, every bit as much as our local histories. We reflect on that story so that we might continue to live that story; to see what chapters are yet to be written. This is the why behind the reflection and the history-telling; to remind ourselves of all of those times when God was present in spite of what seemed to be happening in the world—to see God at work in the joys and celebrations we’ve known, and to recognize God’s presence with us in the sorrow...

 By Bishop Brian Maas September marks the 150th anniversary of the formal founding of an entity known as the Nebraska Synod. The committee working to help commemorate that milestone has chosen as its theme, “Built on a Rock,” having in mind especially Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone upon whom, with the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ’s church is built.  Had the Nebraska Synod been built on anything but this solid rock, this chief cornerstone, I’m convinced it wouldn’t still be around. Only Jesus Christ, through the constant presence of his Spirit, speaking through the Word, becoming flesh again both through the sacrament and through the living members of his body the church, could support and sustain this powerful, dynamic, faithful and committed entity. Certainly those descriptors didn’t all fit the fledgling body at its outset. The first gathering of the Nebraska Synod—its first assembly, if you will—was comprised of a small handful of people, from tin...

 By Bishop Brian Maas 2 Corinthians 5:17--So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! Paul proclaims good news that is doubly good.  On the one hand, Paul is calling us to look at our fellow believers (those who are “in Christ”) not according to the world’s measure, standard or expectations, but rather to see them as new creations, whose primary identity is Child of God. That’s great news for the others with whom we live, though it can prove challenging for us. I have no problem seeing everyone in the sanctuary on Sunday as a Child of God. But if one of them happens to cut me off on the way out of the parking lot, “Child of God” isn’t usually part of what pops out of my mouth. It’s hard to sustain a view of others as new creations, especially when we know so much of their old behaviors, old patterns, old ways of being—their history in relationship with us.  But Paul says we’re to see past that, to see...

 By Bishop Brian Maas “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” It’s the very last night of his life, and Jesus knows what lies ahead—but Jesus prays for his disciples; prays for us. What is it that he prays? Among other things, he prays for God to protect us, and he prays that we may be ONE--one as he is one with the Father (and the Holy Spirit).  Based on the polarizing division all around, I’d say we don’t have a prayer of experiencing that kind of unity. Except we do—we have this prayer, His prayer. And I believe that while God alone can complete it, we all have a role to play in achieving it. I think the heavy lifting in Jesus’ prayer is in that clause, “as we are one.” We all confess that we are part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We confess that there is one Body of Christ over the whole world, and that we’re all part of it. But we certainly don’t look like One the way God looks like one. T...

 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...

 By Bishop Brian Maas But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. (Isa 40:31 NIV) I don’t know about you, but I could use some renewed strength right about now. This month marks the one-year anniversary of the first of the pandemic lockdowns. Do you remember the panic-buying of groceries and toilet paper? The apocalyptic predictions regarding our infrastructure and our economy? How we first thought it would only be for a couple of weeks? Even though the intensity of the pandemic’s consequences hasn’t been as severe as many first thought, the sheer, seemingly endless duration of it has more than made up the difference. Like everybody else, I’m ready for this to be done. I’m ready to be out and about, and with people, and maskless again. This has gone on long enough! Yet it’s not done; we have a way to go. It’s awful, isn’t it?  Still, let’s be honest. Every generation thinks it’s special; that our suffering is nearly incomparable. But others have had it worse. Tak...

 By Bishop Brian Maas “Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. And the greatest of these is love.” I’m confident it would be far easier to tally the number of weddings I’ve presided over or attended that didn’t include this passage than it would be to tally those that did. It is of course a beautiful and powerful passage, even though it’s targeted not at a couple’s relationship but at an entire people living in community. While that’s the passage that immediately pops to mind, it’s not the first time Paul lifted up this trio of virtues, and certainly not the only. Already in the opening of 1 Thessalonians, the earliest of his letters, Paul writes that he keeps the Thessalonians in prayer constantly, remembering “your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.” These are clearly three essential marks of the Christian’s life, as far as Paul is concerned. It’s nothing new to note that faith is a matter rooted in the witness (and our experience) of the past, that ...

 By Bishop Brian Maas This month’s theme will be read by some as an invitation to reflection on vocation—‘what is God calling you to become?’—while others will read an invitation to visioning—‘what future is God calling you to enter?’ While I have no particular faculty for seeing the future, it’s that latter reading I’m responding to. God is calling me into 2021; into an immediate future I pray is an improvement over the immediate past. But that’s nothing unique—God is calling all of us into 2021; or at least the calendar is dragging us there. My sense is that God is calling me, and those of us who are willing to follow, into something far more intense than just a new year. God is calling me, calling us, into the future of the church—the future of God’s church. This is a daunting calling, that fills me with abundant trepidation. But also more than a little bit of excitement. God is calling us to share a future as God’s “mouth-house,” as Luther called the church; as the body gifted ...

 By Bishop Brian Maas I love Advent. I love it for the clean slate it represents as the start of the liturgical year, I love it for its theme of growing light in a time of increasing darkness, I love the memories of our children lighting Advent candles every evening while singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”—the first hymn they learned by heart—I love our scorch-scarred Advent log, with one candle for every day of Advent, I love the peace of Advent in a time of cultural commercial craziness; I even love the blue of the paraments. This year, Advent is harder for me. My experience of the season, like everything else, is shaded, tainted, tempered by the reality of pandemic—and of the cultural divisions it only magnifies. There is less anticipation in my Advent, and more simple, ordinary waiting. The hope that always bubbles up is this year more heavily reliant on faith—on simple, stripped-down trust. The theme for this month is “Where do you see God?” This year, most days—especially as o...

 By Bishop Brian Maas I know—officially, it’s the other way around. “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Has become an effective tag line for our ELCA. Theologically speaking, the ‘official’ sequence is correct. For disciples, all things start with God. But every now and then, theologians are permitted to upend things to invite new—or renewed—perspective. So often, I perceive people thinking along the lines of, “God’s got work to do, and we’re volunteering to do it.” Nothing wrong with that, except that it sort of ends up sounding like we’re doing God a favor. In fact, God is doing us the favor—which is why I think it’s good to turn the phrase around every now and then. And because doing so renews attention to our reality, and to its roots in the story of God’s people. Our Hands. God’s Work. Take a look at your hands for a moment. Seriously. Do it! What do you see there? Soft, clean, flawless skin? Callouses? Arthritically-bent knuckles? Scars? Interesting intersecting patterns of lines? Now ...

  By Bishop Brian Maas   “…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”       --Matthew 11:5-6   “Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” That’s a pretty low bar, isn’t it? That if the idea of being blessed—being holy, happy, content, pleased—appeals to us, all we need to do is take no offense at Jesus. How can one take offense at Jesus? What could possibly be offensive about the Good Shepherd of easy yoke and light burden? Well…maybe that’s not the part that Jesus thought would be offensive. Jesus’ words in Matthew are intended for John the Baptist, who wants to know if Jesus is the Real Deal, or if the long-awaited Messiah is someone else. Jesus invites John to consider the evidence: all kinds of slaves are being set free. Slaves to sightlessness, to injury, to illness, to the despai...

By Bishop Brian Maas "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."  Isaiah 40:31 Doesn’t renewed strength sound fantastic right about now? I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. I’m tired of managing the nonstop flood of information that’s been flowing for weeks. I’m tired of Zoom meetings (SO tired of Zoom meetings!). I’m tired of trying to keep track of my face mask and maintaining physical distance and washing my hands and using sanitizer and remembering not to shake hands or hug people I’m so glad to see. I’m tired of not knowing what’s coming next or what counsel to give or what sources of information are right or how best to balance competing needs and wants or how forceful to be or how ignorant I feel in the face of the unknown … I’m tired. And I’m guessing you can relate. Then I remember those to whom Isaiah’s words were first addressed 2500 years ago. “Tired” doesn’t begin to describe what they were experiencing. They had been in ...

By Bishop Brian Maas Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” –Mark 14:36 When this text was chosen months ago as the theme for April’s Tell the Story blog theme, we were thinking primarily of Holy Week. We had no idea how fitting it might be instead for the experience we all share of living in a time of pandemic. With Jesus, we pray to the God in whom we know all things are possible, that the cup of suffering known as COVID-19 might pass from us. In faith, we also pray, “not what I want, but what you want.” Our understanding and our experience of God is that it is not our suffering that God seeks. Contrary to what some preach, I am utterly confident that—I stake my life on the certainty that—this virus is not God’s weapon to punish us or to teach us a lesson. It is simply one consequence of a world broken by sin, a world in which things do not yet function as they will when all creation is made new and perfe...

By Bishop Brian Maas “ the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 2:22-23) I have to confess that my day to day “laboring in the harvest,” as Jesus refers to the life of discipleship—especially as the current cultural climate of polarization, reactivity, and fear expresses itself as heightened anxiety and open conflict in congregations—too often has me paying attention to, and complaining about, the weeds and thorns that I encounter among the harvest. It’s so easy to be distracted by the minor annoyances and petty behavior (or to dwell too long on the question, “is this really how we treat each other for Jesus’ sake?”). I need regular reminders that no one is sent into the harvest to worry about the weeds. That’s the point of daily spiritual practices—prayer, devotional reading, contemplation, even just taking a few moments of quiet to breathe and be mindful. That helps provid...

By Bishop Brian Maas “return to me with all your heart…” This phrase will be familiar to many as a portion of the Ash Wednesday worship text from the book of the prophet Joel. The prophet warns of disaster already befalling God’s people, but of the possibility that “even now,” in the very face of utter destruction, God is waiting for the people to turn around from all the wrong-headed, selfish, unjust pursuits they’ve been engaged in, so that God can save them, comfort them, bless them anew. Of course this is an appropriate text for Ash Wednesday, when many of us begin to prepare for the drama of Holy Week and the power of Easter by changing our behaviors—giving up unhealthy habits, or adding in healthy ones, or both. But it’s a phrase I’m beginning to think we should post over the doorways of our sanctuaries and at the top of every church council agenda and newsletter calendar in our church. We all need to return, to turn around, literally to repent. ...