I was
taking a walk last week when I heard my phone ring in my pocket. At least, I thought it was ringing, but
actually it was dialing. Somehow, the phone
got jostled around and was dialing a number, but who was I accidentally
calling? I wrestled the phone out of my
pocket just in time to hear a voice say, “This is 911, how can we be of help?” I apologized multiple times and explained
that I was walking and my phone decided to call them on its own. They still asked specifically whether I
required assistance, asked my location and name just in case, and assured me
that this is something that “just happens” and to have a nice day.
This
little non-emergency reminded me how great it is that there are people out
there, on call 24/7, waiting to spring into action the second someone needs
help. We are blessed to be just a
butt-dial away from a whole system of rescue personnel who are waiting
vigilantly for a moment of true distress.
It is not unusual in my walks down State Road 54, to be passed by one or
more rushing ambulances or fire trucks with alarms blaring. This is a world in need of help, and God
bless those who willing and equipped to provide it.
Jesus
knew that returning to heaven meant leaving behind a world in need of
help. He loved the world that God the
Father sent Him to, despite the rejection and contempt of fellow human beings. And yet, those human beings were the ones who
needed the most help, and he saw that those human beings were also the solution
to that need. As God had sent him into
the world to bring the Good News of God’s grace, so Jesus would send his
disciples into that world to continue what he had started.
That
mission has been passed along to us…to you and me as present-day disciples of
Jesus. In Christ we recover the original
God-given purpose of humanity – to tend to this planet and the good of all
living things. This means caring for the
needs of those around us, giving a hand up to those who are facing hard
times. It also means nurturing the good
in our society, being a voice that helps guide decisions people make in our
congregation, community, nation and the world.
When Jesus came back from the dead, telling the disciples that he was
sending them out just as God had sent him, these were the tasks he was passing
on.
As
disciples of Christ, we try to understand the issues that challenge us in the
light of God’s grace and the message of Jesus Christ. Our national church body, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, has been studying and wrestling with many of them
on a large scale. By bringing in
parishioners and experts from varying perspectives, offering study materials
and surveying church members across the ELCA, and offering workshops and
gathering feedback at synod gatherings, our national church body has crafted
“social statements” that define our collective stance on many of these
issues. Each of them has been approved
by a 2/3 majority at one of our national assemblies. If you want to know “what the ELCA teaches”
on any of these particular points, the Social Statements are the place to
start:
ELCA Social Statements:
- Abortion / Aborto (1991)
- Caring for creation / Medio ambiente (1993)
- Church in society / Iglesia en la sociedad (1991)
- The church and criminal justice / La iglesia y la justicia penal (2013)
- The death penalty / Pena de Muerte (1991)
- Economic life / Vida economica (1999)
- Education / Educación (2007)
- Genetics (2011)
- Health and health care / Salud y asistencia sanitaria (2003)
- Human sexuality / La sexualidad humana (2009)
- Peace / Por la paz (1995)
- Race, ethnicity and culture
/ Raza, etnicidad y cultura
(1993)
The fact that the ELCA has
official positions on these issues does not mean that any particular pastor or
church member is expected to agree with everything in these statements. They are tools to help guide policy and
clarify our thinking. Some of the
statements define a range of positions that are held throughout the
church. Each of them looks to Scripture
and Lutheran teaching and seeks to find how our understanding of Christ
intersects with the struggles of our changing world.
Pastor Scott
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