“3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”
Dear Friends in Christ,
I’m writing this column in Minneapolis, having just finished my first ELCA Church Council meeting as the Region 1 liaison bishop. As when I sit with the pastors and deacons of our synod at Bishop’s Fall Convocation or during a NWIM Synod Council Meeting, or when I visit any of our ministry sites, I felt the Romans 12 passage came off the page because of the variety of gifts present in the room.
This afternoon, the ELCA will came together for the installation of Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry. I was honored to be here representing our synod (along with ELCA Church Council member Rev. Barb Rossing from Faith, Leavenworth), each of you and each ministry, for this historic celebration. The sanctuary of Central Lutheran can fit 1200 we were told during the Church Council, and every seat was filled. We had a number of ecumenical guests, but I am sure so many people present were ELCA Lutherans, and I thought again of the many gifts present in that sanctuary.
Tomorrow, Sunday, afternoon the Conference of Bishops will begin meeting. We often say that when we gather as a group, every ministry in the ELCA can be clearly brought to mind or spoken of with relationality.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is big, and its members come from so many diverse communities. I do not agree with every member about everything, but I love being a part of this iteration of the body of Christ. I love our emphasis on God’s abundant grace that justifies us before God apart from anything we do. I love that we name boldly that we are freed from sin and death and freed for love of our neighbors. The triune God we worship is a God of love, not sentimental or romantic love but deep transformative love. It’s love that manifests itself in the most surprising ways—a lowly manger, accompanying the outcast, Jesus’ crucifixion, simple bread and wine.
We bring all these gifts of faith and understanding and living out this faith to the various communities we live in and to the conversations we have with friends from different denominations. Through the waters of the baptismal font, we are freed to be wellsprings of God’s love!
From our closing hymn during Bishop Curry’s Installation:
Go to the world! Go into all the earth. Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth, baptizing as the sign of our rebirth. Alleluia. Alleluia. (All Creation Sings #991)
-Bishop M