ON BEING A CHRISTIAN Confirmation Sunday Easter 5C April 28, 2013
The title for today’s sermon was inspired by the title for the devotional on the back of the bulletin this Sunday “On Being a Christian.” How appropriate for a confirmation service. The outline for today’s sermon was inspired by the personal confirmation verses chosen by the six confirmands this morning. Each verse speaks to one aspect of being a Christian today.
We begin with the love of God. Joel chose as his personal confirmation verse John 3:16 which Martin Luther once said is the gospel in a nutshell – a concise and complete statement of the gospel in one verse. And it all begins with the love of God for us. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” As this verse says by its grammatical structure, the basis of everything we are doing today is God’s love for us, a love that he had for us long before we ever thought of him or ever sought after him. As 1st John 4:10 says so well, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.”
This is a love that is wholly undeserved, and in many ways, unexpected. Once we have experienced the love of God in the giving of his son, we understand that we have no claim on God at all, but that he has claimed us as his own. As we look around, and examine our own lives with honest eyes, we know that we sinners do not deserve the love that a holy God has lavished upon us. As Martin Luther said in the catechism in the section of the Lord’s Prayer on “forgive us our trespasses” “for we sin every day and deserve nothing but punishment.” And so we do not claim to deserve anything, but receive everything by faith in Jesus Christ. Tori chose Ephesians 2:8 which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest anyone should boast.” Today as we go through the Rite of Confirmation we are not asking if these young people are good enough to be confirmed, although they are good young men and women. What I will be asking is if they believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. Today the families of our confirmands are rightly proud of their children, and the young adults they are becoming. But as 2nd Corinthians 10:17 says, “let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” because it is the Lord who gives salvation, forgives sins, and sends the Holy Spirit to form us into what we should be.
When we have been baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, put our faith and trust in him, and been confirmed, then we can face the future with confidence and hope. We know that the Lord, the creator of the universe, loves us and has our best interests at heart. This is said so well by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, well known for his somber prophecies, who nevertheless quoted the Lord himself as saying, “For surely I know the plans I have for you…. plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” That was Bennett’s chosen verse. That last phrase is especially meaningful, “to give you a future with hope.” The God who sent his Son to be our Savior and who has invited us to believe in him for our salvation, is certainly not going to leave us to our own devices entirely. He has plans for us, plans in which we prosper and flourish, in which we grow into the best possible person we can be. We all know it is not going to be one triumph after another. There will be stumbles and falling and a few wrong turns along the way. We may even have to stop, back up, and start over, but God has plans for us – for our welfare – so that we can face the future with hope.
We can also face the future with courage. It is certainly true that a lot of people live in fear these days. People fear the dangers that surround us, such as the terrorists who attacked the Boston marathon, or industrial accidents such as shook West, Texas, not to mention the fear of serious illness – or even more personally - the fear of failing. But with the Lord beside us, we need not fear. Taylor chose as her verse Psalm 27:1 which says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” The answer, of course, is nothing. As it says in Psalm 46 says, “The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear….” I heard once of a man who taped this quote on his bathroom mirror so he would see it at the beginning of each and every day: “Lord, help me remember that nothing will happen today that you and I cannot handle together.”
Along those same lines is that verse from the Sermon on the Mount that Sierra chose as her personal confirmation verse. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” For those of us who are worriers, this verse is a great antidote. It comes after Jesus has encouraged his disciples to look up to the birds of the air. He says that they do not plant or harvest or store in barns, and yet, he says, your heavenly Father feeds them. He begins his discussion by saying, “do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or about your body, what you shall wear” and he ends the discussion by saying, “but seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” When we know that our future is secure, and that we are destined to spend eternity in that new heaven and new earth that our second reading today from Revelation 21 mentions, then we can face each new day with confidence. We can fully embrace the challenges, the joys, and even the disappointments of each and every day. Now please don’t think that this is promoting waiting until the night before the big test in school to cram for it. Far from it. Thinking and planning ahead is very important. But worrying is not good for us. I have found that most of the things I worry the about never happen. So make the most of today. As Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
And finally, we go back to the word with which we began: love. In today’s gospel reading Jesus said, “a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you….” If we were to sum up what being a Christian is all about it is this: to be loved by God and to love one another. First and foremost always is the love God has for us in Christ Jesus. Our response is to love one another. Jesus says, “by this will people know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We will not bully or demean those who are different. We will not pass by on the other side when we someone in need along the road. We will not seek revenge on those who have harmed us. And so Shalynn chose that capstone verse of 1st Corinthians 13: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” Today we have talked about faith. We have talked about hope. But we began and end with love. We walk by faith. We live in hope. And we both are loved and love another. That’s being a Christian. AMEN.
I invite you now to sing a song based on the whole of 1st Corinthians 13, #644.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Sermon "The Lamb(s) of God"
The third Sunday of Easter: Revelation 5:11-14 and John 21:15-19
The heavenly scene described in Revelation 4 is focused on one sitting on a throne – surrounded by the heavenly hosts, spirits, and animals. The scene is fantastic. Verse 4 says, “Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.” Verses 6-7 say, “And round the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth a flying eagle.” And verse 11 says they were singing “Worthy are you, Our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you did create all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” It is a fantastic scene of power and glory and endless worship.
Chapter 5 introduces something else. Verse 1 says “And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” Many scholars have interpreted this scroll to contain the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation. Breaking the seal would initiate its culmination. And then there is this in verse 4, “and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.” All of a sudden this scene of glory and honor and power is overcast by a sense of helplessness. What will happen next?
In verse 6 it says that a lamb appeared. And suddenly they were singing a new song in that heavenly realm. It is addressed to the Lamb and goes like this, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and tongue its seals, for you were slain and by your blood did ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and has made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth.”
After that is where our second reading begins. Myriad of myriads, thousands of thousands are saying “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And now you know who that mysterious lamb is. It is Christ the lamb who was slain. Each Easter season we sing, “worthy is Christ the lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, blessing, and glory are his.” Seven things, just as in the song in the Book of Revelation.
The image of the lamb was rich in meaning for the people of Israel. For generations they had offered sacrifices of a lamb for their sins. At the time of the exodus, they were instructed to take a lamb without spot or blemish and put its blood on the door posts and lintel of their home so that the angel of death would “pass over” them when the tenth and final plague hit Egypt. The blood of the lamb offered them protection and life. When the people of Israel entered the promised land and King David had conquered Jerusalem a temple was built on Mount Zion by King Solomon, and there they would sacrifice a lamb without spot or blemish as an offering to God. Deuteronomy 15 & 16 tell of how this lamb must be pure and perfect. Deuteronomy 15:21 says of the lamb, “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” And so they had observed the Passover for generations, right up to the time of the New Testament.
Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is that pure and holy one, whose blood was not on the upright doorposts and cross beam lintel of a home on the night of the Passover, but was on the upright beam on Mount Calvary and on the horizontal beam that made it a cross. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God whom we worship these fifty days of Easter for the sacrifice he made for the sins of the world, and not just for the sins of the world, but for the sins that you and I have committed this very week. Along with the hosts of heaven we join in the song of Revelation 5:13 “….To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” And then there is a resounding “Amen!”
One thing we should remember as we read of some of these fantastic visions of the Lamb in the glory of heaven: this lamb is worthy because he was slain. This Christ is honored for the sacrifice he made for others. This Jesus is exalted because he went to the cross. There is no Easter without Good Friday. And there is no place for us in heaven if not for the hellish scene on Golgotha where the spotless Lamb of God was slain.
Some days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee early in the morning. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing. They were tired and frustrated. Jesus was on the shore tending charcoal fire and preparing a Galilean breakfast of fish and bread. After breakfast, Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Peter, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter replied, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus then said, “feed my lambs.” Three times Jesus asked this question, and three times Peter answered that he loved the Lord, and Jesus said, “feed my lambs” or “tend my sheep” or “feed my sheep.”
Here we have another use of the word “lamb.” In this case it refers to those who have come to the Good Shepherd for salvation. By that I mean, they have come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, been baptized in the name of the Triune God, and desire to follow in what he said and did and taught. In other words, in the context here of John 21, the phrase “lamb of God” might refer to us, who are people with plenty of spots and blemishes, some of us lame and others of us blind to what is the right thing to do, but nevertheless forgiven, redeemed, and saved by the blood of Jesus.
Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 95 “For [the Lord] is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who identify with the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd in Luke 15 where Jesus asked, “what man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of the, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he find it?” And again, in John 10:14 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
So Peter is told to feed those lambs and tend those sheep for whom Jesus laid down his life. And what that means he is to care for them tenderly, watch over them faithfully, and be of service to them humbly. So Jesus said back in the year 33 A.D. in words we should heed today.
Last month in the year of our Lord 2013 the whole world watched the election of a man who the Church of Rome says is the 266th successor to St. Peter. Let us set aside the debates about the truth of that claim for a moment. Let’s set all that aside, for I think something very important was said on the day of his inauguration that we should heed today.
But first let us set the scene. It was a bright sunny day in Rome, as beautiful as you will ever see. The setting is fantastic: St. Peter’s Basilica, some of the greatest art work in the world, the glory of the Renaissance world. And reports were of 150,000 people filling the plaza in front of the basilica. Talk about your myriads of myriads and the thousands of thousands.
I have to confess that I got up early that morning and watched this event live on TV. And I listened carefully to the sermon as one who preaches sermons himself. The sermon that morning hit just the right note of humble service that is at the core of Christ’s charge to all his people including the bishop of Rome. Again, think what you may of the claims about the relationship of Pope Francis to St. Peter, of the papacy to Lutherans such as us, and listen to the point being made here.
"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" [quoted from official text issued by the Vatican]
If there is one phrase that stands out it is this: “authentic power is service.” The Lamb who sits upon the throne has authentic power because of his service. Those who are given the charge “feed my lambs” find spiritual power in service to mankind. That is certainly what Jesus meant when he says to those who love him, “feed my lambs.” AMEN.
Now let us sing a hymn by Twila Paris "Lamb of God" (ELW#336) that in the first verse says, "Your only Son no sin to hide, but you have sent him from your side to walk upon this guilty sod and to be called the Lamb of God." and in the final verse says, "I was so lost I should have died but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod and to be called a lamb of God."
The heavenly scene described in Revelation 4 is focused on one sitting on a throne – surrounded by the heavenly hosts, spirits, and animals. The scene is fantastic. Verse 4 says, “Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.” Verses 6-7 say, “And round the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth a flying eagle.” And verse 11 says they were singing “Worthy are you, Our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you did create all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” It is a fantastic scene of power and glory and endless worship.
Chapter 5 introduces something else. Verse 1 says “And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” Many scholars have interpreted this scroll to contain the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation. Breaking the seal would initiate its culmination. And then there is this in verse 4, “and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.” All of a sudden this scene of glory and honor and power is overcast by a sense of helplessness. What will happen next?
In verse 6 it says that a lamb appeared. And suddenly they were singing a new song in that heavenly realm. It is addressed to the Lamb and goes like this, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and tongue its seals, for you were slain and by your blood did ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and has made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth.”
After that is where our second reading begins. Myriad of myriads, thousands of thousands are saying “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And now you know who that mysterious lamb is. It is Christ the lamb who was slain. Each Easter season we sing, “worthy is Christ the lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, blessing, and glory are his.” Seven things, just as in the song in the Book of Revelation.
The image of the lamb was rich in meaning for the people of Israel. For generations they had offered sacrifices of a lamb for their sins. At the time of the exodus, they were instructed to take a lamb without spot or blemish and put its blood on the door posts and lintel of their home so that the angel of death would “pass over” them when the tenth and final plague hit Egypt. The blood of the lamb offered them protection and life. When the people of Israel entered the promised land and King David had conquered Jerusalem a temple was built on Mount Zion by King Solomon, and there they would sacrifice a lamb without spot or blemish as an offering to God. Deuteronomy 15 & 16 tell of how this lamb must be pure and perfect. Deuteronomy 15:21 says of the lamb, “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” And so they had observed the Passover for generations, right up to the time of the New Testament.
Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is that pure and holy one, whose blood was not on the upright doorposts and cross beam lintel of a home on the night of the Passover, but was on the upright beam on Mount Calvary and on the horizontal beam that made it a cross. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God whom we worship these fifty days of Easter for the sacrifice he made for the sins of the world, and not just for the sins of the world, but for the sins that you and I have committed this very week. Along with the hosts of heaven we join in the song of Revelation 5:13 “….To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” And then there is a resounding “Amen!”
One thing we should remember as we read of some of these fantastic visions of the Lamb in the glory of heaven: this lamb is worthy because he was slain. This Christ is honored for the sacrifice he made for others. This Jesus is exalted because he went to the cross. There is no Easter without Good Friday. And there is no place for us in heaven if not for the hellish scene on Golgotha where the spotless Lamb of God was slain.
Some days after the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee early in the morning. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing. They were tired and frustrated. Jesus was on the shore tending charcoal fire and preparing a Galilean breakfast of fish and bread. After breakfast, Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Peter, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter replied, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus then said, “feed my lambs.” Three times Jesus asked this question, and three times Peter answered that he loved the Lord, and Jesus said, “feed my lambs” or “tend my sheep” or “feed my sheep.”
Here we have another use of the word “lamb.” In this case it refers to those who have come to the Good Shepherd for salvation. By that I mean, they have come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, been baptized in the name of the Triune God, and desire to follow in what he said and did and taught. In other words, in the context here of John 21, the phrase “lamb of God” might refer to us, who are people with plenty of spots and blemishes, some of us lame and others of us blind to what is the right thing to do, but nevertheless forgiven, redeemed, and saved by the blood of Jesus.
Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 23 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who say in Psalm 95 “For [the Lord] is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Those whom Peter is told to feed are those who identify with the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd in Luke 15 where Jesus asked, “what man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of the, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he find it?” And again, in John 10:14 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
So Peter is told to feed those lambs and tend those sheep for whom Jesus laid down his life. And what that means he is to care for them tenderly, watch over them faithfully, and be of service to them humbly. So Jesus said back in the year 33 A.D. in words we should heed today.
Last month in the year of our Lord 2013 the whole world watched the election of a man who the Church of Rome says is the 266th successor to St. Peter. Let us set aside the debates about the truth of that claim for a moment. Let’s set all that aside, for I think something very important was said on the day of his inauguration that we should heed today.
But first let us set the scene. It was a bright sunny day in Rome, as beautiful as you will ever see. The setting is fantastic: St. Peter’s Basilica, some of the greatest art work in the world, the glory of the Renaissance world. And reports were of 150,000 people filling the plaza in front of the basilica. Talk about your myriads of myriads and the thousands of thousands.
I have to confess that I got up early that morning and watched this event live on TV. And I listened carefully to the sermon as one who preaches sermons himself. The sermon that morning hit just the right note of humble service that is at the core of Christ’s charge to all his people including the bishop of Rome. Again, think what you may of the claims about the relationship of Pope Francis to St. Peter, of the papacy to Lutherans such as us, and listen to the point being made here.
"Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!" [quoted from official text issued by the Vatican]
If there is one phrase that stands out it is this: “authentic power is service.” The Lamb who sits upon the throne has authentic power because of his service. Those who are given the charge “feed my lambs” find spiritual power in service to mankind. That is certainly what Jesus meant when he says to those who love him, “feed my lambs.” AMEN.
Now let us sing a hymn by Twila Paris "Lamb of God" (ELW#336) that in the first verse says, "Your only Son no sin to hide, but you have sent him from your side to walk upon this guilty sod and to be called the Lamb of God." and in the final verse says, "I was so lost I should have died but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod and to be called a lamb of God."
Monday, April 1, 2013
Newsletter April 2013
The 25th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is also the 25th anniversary of Conference One (LaRoKi) of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod. Conference One is composed of all the congregations of the ELCA that are in Kittson, Roseau, and Lake of the Woods counties except for a couple that are part of a parish where the largest congregation is in another conference. Those two are Sjeberg Lutheran Church in the southwestern corner of Kittson County and Gustav Adolph Lutheran Church in south central Roseau County.
When the ELCA was formed in 1987 there was a great deal of discussion about conferences. The Northwestern Minnesota Synod decided to have ten conferences that generally follow county lines. The three counties that comprise our conference are lightly populated which resulted in our conference being one of the smallest in congregation members and clergy. There was concern about this in the beginning, but our conference has turned out to be one of the more cohesive and better organized conferences in the synod. Perhaps our remote location and light population have led us to pull together more.
Our “claim to fame” is that our conference includes the northernmost land in the lower 48 states of the United States. That’s the northwest angle of Minnesota, a little bit of land that is not Canadian because the land had not been explored or surveyed by the Americans or the British at the end of the Revolutionary War when the boundary between the U.S. and Canada was negotiated. They simply made a mistake which gives the map of Minnesota a little smokestack on the top. The 2010 census lists only 119 permanent residents of Angle Township of Roseau County. Of course there are many more in the summer when people come to camp and fish or visit Oak Island. Unfortunately there are no Lutheran congregations in the angle, but we can still argue that we have the northernmost ELCA congregation in the lower 48 at Pine Creek in Roseau County. That tiny congregation is nestled right against the border. But then again, there may be others like it out in North Dakota and Montana. I’m not spending any time researching that bit of trivia.
We are called Conference One because the synod decided to number conferences from north to south in the same way Minnesota numbers legislative districts from northwest to southeast. I enjoy telling people “we’re number one” when referring to our conference or our state senate district. For the Minnesota House district it is even better: “1A.” Sounds like a winner, eh?
Back in 1987 each conference was given the option of choosing another name for itself which resulted in a hodgepodge of names, many of which do not distinctively identify the conference. This replaced the sensible old system in the American Lutheran Church which named conferences for the largest city in the conference. Thus we used to have the Thief River Falls Conference and the Crookston Conference. We knew just where they were. It is not so with the Pine to Prairie Conference or the Agassiz Conference today. If memory serves me, our name was proposed by our own Jim Sollund of Karlstad following the local tradition of combining county names. Do you remember “Mar-Kit” and KaMaR”? “LaRoKi” is composed of the first two letters of each county going from east to west.
After the congregation, the conference is the level of church organization closest to us. It includes our nearest neighbors, people who not only share our faith but share our community or county. Sometimes people think of the Church (with a capital “C”) or the ELCA (all capital letters!) as a big organization far from us with little understanding of us. But the Church is the people just down the road who are also part of the Body of Christ, and the ELCA is those people down the road who also subscribe to the Augsburg Confession..
Twenty five years ago I had many questions about the direction the brand new ELCA was going to take. I have to admit that I did not always trust those liberal big city Lutherans or those East Coast Lutherans with a 300 year old tradition. But I came to appreciate the 1987 merger when I focused on our union with a congregation in the next township over or on the other side of the county seat. They were the ones with whom we were merging, and they are the ones I appreciate to this day. When I was tempted to complain about the merger I thought about them.
When I was considering the call to First and Eidsvold in the spring of 1990, Art Rimmereid, who was assistant to the bishop back then, said to me, “one thing you will like up there is the conference.” It was true then. It is true today.
When the ELCA was formed in 1987 there was a great deal of discussion about conferences. The Northwestern Minnesota Synod decided to have ten conferences that generally follow county lines. The three counties that comprise our conference are lightly populated which resulted in our conference being one of the smallest in congregation members and clergy. There was concern about this in the beginning, but our conference has turned out to be one of the more cohesive and better organized conferences in the synod. Perhaps our remote location and light population have led us to pull together more.
Our “claim to fame” is that our conference includes the northernmost land in the lower 48 states of the United States. That’s the northwest angle of Minnesota, a little bit of land that is not Canadian because the land had not been explored or surveyed by the Americans or the British at the end of the Revolutionary War when the boundary between the U.S. and Canada was negotiated. They simply made a mistake which gives the map of Minnesota a little smokestack on the top. The 2010 census lists only 119 permanent residents of Angle Township of Roseau County. Of course there are many more in the summer when people come to camp and fish or visit Oak Island. Unfortunately there are no Lutheran congregations in the angle, but we can still argue that we have the northernmost ELCA congregation in the lower 48 at Pine Creek in Roseau County. That tiny congregation is nestled right against the border. But then again, there may be others like it out in North Dakota and Montana. I’m not spending any time researching that bit of trivia.
We are called Conference One because the synod decided to number conferences from north to south in the same way Minnesota numbers legislative districts from northwest to southeast. I enjoy telling people “we’re number one” when referring to our conference or our state senate district. For the Minnesota House district it is even better: “1A.” Sounds like a winner, eh?
Back in 1987 each conference was given the option of choosing another name for itself which resulted in a hodgepodge of names, many of which do not distinctively identify the conference. This replaced the sensible old system in the American Lutheran Church which named conferences for the largest city in the conference. Thus we used to have the Thief River Falls Conference and the Crookston Conference. We knew just where they were. It is not so with the Pine to Prairie Conference or the Agassiz Conference today. If memory serves me, our name was proposed by our own Jim Sollund of Karlstad following the local tradition of combining county names. Do you remember “Mar-Kit” and KaMaR”? “LaRoKi” is composed of the first two letters of each county going from east to west.
After the congregation, the conference is the level of church organization closest to us. It includes our nearest neighbors, people who not only share our faith but share our community or county. Sometimes people think of the Church (with a capital “C”) or the ELCA (all capital letters!) as a big organization far from us with little understanding of us. But the Church is the people just down the road who are also part of the Body of Christ, and the ELCA is those people down the road who also subscribe to the Augsburg Confession..
Twenty five years ago I had many questions about the direction the brand new ELCA was going to take. I have to admit that I did not always trust those liberal big city Lutherans or those East Coast Lutherans with a 300 year old tradition. But I came to appreciate the 1987 merger when I focused on our union with a congregation in the next township over or on the other side of the county seat. They were the ones with whom we were merging, and they are the ones I appreciate to this day. When I was tempted to complain about the merger I thought about them.
When I was considering the call to First and Eidsvold in the spring of 1990, Art Rimmereid, who was assistant to the bishop back then, said to me, “one thing you will like up there is the conference.” It was true then. It is true today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)