Always Being Made New (Pastor's Annual Report to Martin Luther Church)

(Note: This is the annual report I wrote for my congregation's annual meeting on January 26, 2014. I share it here for members of my community to find online and with the hope that others may find it useful in other congregations.)

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ: new creation! The old has passed away; the new has come to be.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, translation mine)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) our national church body. To mark the occasion, this year’s triennial national assembly was convened under the theme “Always Being Made New.”  The theme was meant not just to celebrate our past, but to highlight that we are a church born from the Reformation and are always looking to the future and asking, “How is Jesus making us new now? What is the Spirit shaping us to be tomorrow?”

While these questions are always before us as Christians, they are especially apt for us at Martin Luther Church as we begin this new year. Our council and other leaders have been hard at work this past year in exploring new ways of being the church. We’ve moved to make Cross+Generational themes the center of our Christian Formation and VBS programs, successfully held a worship service at La Fuente Restaurant for Christmas, and are preparing to start a new worship service at 6pm on Sunday evenings. At the same time, our financial projection for the coming year continues a downward trend and the available resources to continue ministries (let alone plant new ones) are stretched to the limits.  

Our council is putting together a bold and broad agenda for the coming year of looking at everything we do as a church through the lens of our identified values and the 5 Cornerstones. Given the limitations before us, we are already asking some difficult questions about how to prioritize and possibly reduce certain areas in order for new fruit to come forward. These conversations are not easy, but they are a part of our constant renewal.  

The quotation I shared above is from the same passage that gave us the language adopted when we chose to become a RIC congregation, welcoming all people, and council has been using this passage as a focal point this year. Note how it speaks not just of new creation, but the passing away of old ways of being. This is core to the Christian life. Being alive in Christ means dying to our own ways. Being baptized into eternal life means drowning the “old creature” within us. There is never Easter without first confronting Good Friday. I read of a church that holds this before their members annually by asking, “What are we willing to give up in order to gain something new?”*

There are many exciting opportunities before us and I and council remain very positive about our long-term prospects. God has promised us new life eternally—which includes this year!—and I see that new life both in where this church has been and in where we are headed. As we seek that new life, we are challenged with these two questions: “How is Jesus making us new now?” and “What are we willing to give up in order to gain that new life?”  May God’s grace guide us always as we live as God’s new creation.

In God’s Amazing Grace,

Pastor Ari

*To be clear, not everything “old” is bad, nor is something good just because it’s “new.” But as Jesus says in John 15, healthy branches bear fruit. Renewal is asking, “Where is there fruit? Are there once-healthy branches that are no longer growing?”

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.” -Semisonic, "Closing Time"

Pope Francis the Economist

Back at the beginning of December, Michael Gerson had an excellent op-ed piece for the Washington Post about Pope Francis' published exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel." (Side note: I'm in the middle of reading the exhortation myself. If you are interested, you can purchase it on Amazon or download a free digital copy for your e-reader here.) As explained in Gerson's article, part of the Pope's exhortation addresses the ethics of economic systems, warning against economic practices that turn people into commodities and value profit over human dignity. This quickly drew some howls of criticism from commentators who accused him of socialism and marxism, among other things.

Since I believe Gerson does an excellent job of refuting these accusations while simultaneously lifting up the themes of Advent, I won't waste time repeating his arguments. Instead, I want to pursue another thread of the debate that caught my attention.

In reading some of the comments and articles critical of the Pope's position, there was a theme running through much of the thinking that either implied or stated outright something like this: "Economics is not a spiritual issue and a pope has no authority to speak on this. The pope should stick to spiritual issues and let us deal with these real world issues." It was as if some were saying, "You stick to saving souls and let us save people's retirement accounts."

The problem with their line of thought is that money IS a spiritual matter. While we may think of the world in terms of spiritual and secular matters, the Bible doesn't. Everything is a spiritual matter because everything comes from and belongs to God.  And if we look at the Bible, it would seem that money especially is a spiritual matter.  

Jesus talks about money more than any topic other than the Kingdom of God. Yep. He has more recorded words on money than on prayer, heaven, hell, or sin.  Roughly 1 in 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke relates to money. (Or so I've read. I've never actually counted every verse to make sure.) In the Old Testament, much of the condemnation leveled by the prophets stems from people failing to do anything to help the poor, hungry, and unclothed.

Contrary to those who want to say economics is unrelated to "spiritual matters," it would seem that God cares an awful lot about how we think about and use our money. Pope Francis doesn't just have the authority to speak on economic issues, but as a spiritual leader, he has an obligation to address money issues. God expects to be Lord over our entire life, not just Sunday morning. If Jesus has redeemed our entire life, then that has an impact in how we spend our money, do our jobs, act in public, and so on. As Gerson points out in his article, the Pope doesn't hate business or money, but he rightly points out that they, like anything in this life, can be used for good or for ill and we need to be conscious of how we use them.

That's a struggle and I for one face it daily, but I cannot divide my life into two boxes called "spirtual" and "secular" and then hand one to God and say, "You can have this one, but don't worry about what's in the other one." That doesn't deepen my relationship to God. To use an economic term, that cheapens the relationship.

"That kind of luxe just ain't for us; we crave a different kind of buzz." -Lorde, "Royals"

God's New Year Resolution

Every year, two things happen in January.

First of all, many people make New Year resolutions where they promise to make themselves better in some way this year.  "I will exercise more." "I will eat healthier." "I will laugh more... spend more time with my kids... quit smoking..." And so on. I generally do not make resolutions (the list of needed improvements is longer than can be tackled in one year), but I do usually at least think about what I'd like to see improved.

The second thing that happens every January, though largely ignored by everyone except church nerds like me, is Baptism of Our Lord Sunday. Baptism of Our Lord Sunday is always the Sunday after Epiphany on January 6 and is meant to remember the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan. It can also be a day to remember and celebrate the baptisms of all believers and I usually like to have a celebration of baptism be part of worship on that day.

What has never occurred to me until this year is how these two things can be linked. Martin Luther talked about baptism as a daily renewal, a constant source of God working in us to make us more holy. Daily we are justified (meaning "put in line with God") by our baptism. To Luther, baptism isn't a one time event, but a way of living, a daily practice and reminder of God's work in us to make us who we are meant to be.

In other words, baptism is a daily New Year resolution. But it's not a resolution we make on our own; it's one that God has made to us and God partners with us to shape us into the best version of ourselves. It's also one that doesn't get abandoned after a month or two because God's promise to us doesn't disappear.

And here's the even deeper connection between these two things: most all the things we resolve to do for New Year's can be ways of honoring and serving God. Taking care of our bodies and making them healthy is caring for the dwelling place of God because "you are God's temple and God's spirit dwells in you" (1 Cor. 3:16). Have a healthy body also makes us better able to help and work for others. Spending more time with family and friends builds the loving relationships God calls for us to have. Getting our finances in order removes a distraction (and an idol?) and can free us to be more generous with our resources.

Being baptized into Christ means that God is constantly resolving to make us more healthy, whole people, both spiritually and physically, internally and externally. We are called to live baptized, to constantly be renewed and improved by the Spirit, not just in the New Year, but every year, every week, every day.

“I don’t want to leave unchanged.” -Shaun Groves, “After the Music Fades”

The Radioactive Prophet

My 3 year-old son loves the song "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. He wanders around the house singing it, he demands we play it on the radio regularly, and he asks to listen to it almost every night as his "bedtime song."

When I was hearing it for the 10,000th time last week (thankfully I really like the song, too), one of the lines struck me as familiar in a different way. In the buildup to the chorus, the lyrics sing "I feel it in my bones, enough to make my system blow." On this particular time, those words brought to mind Jeremiah 20:9: "God's word is inside me like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I cannot hold it in any longer" (emphasis mine).

Jeremiah was a prophet in the Old Testament who faced a lot of resistance from the powers that be (probably because he was bringing them bad news) and he speaks the words in 20:9 as part of a passage saying he wishes he could give up and go home, but God's pull on him is too strong, "enough to make his system blow."

As this thought struck me, it occurred to me that many of the lyrics in the song could be heard as the words of a prophet calling for change:
- "Welcome to the new age. Oh, I'm radioactive"
- "I raise my flag... It's a revolution, I suppose."
- "I'm waking up."
- "This is it, the apocalypse."
- There's even a reference to "the prison bus" and Jeremiah was imprisoned just before the quote in verse 9. (I know it's a stretch, but humor me.)

I don't think Imagine Dragons had Old Testament prophets in mind when they wrote the song, but I think it's a interesting way to think about following God. What if we were to imagine living in God's light as "a revolution," a "waking up" that "makes my system blow" and replaces it with something new? What if we expected the word of God to be radioactive, a force that burns inside us and contaminates and infects anyone or thing that gets close?

In my sermon this past week, I invited the church to imagine themselves as prophets, but I didn't paint it in terms of radioactivity and revolutions. Is that a terrifying or exciting idea? Certainly most of the prophets did not have beds of roses (actually none that come to mind), but they lived with a purpose and felt compelled to act and speak on behalf of God's people. What in your life gives you a burning sense of purpose and how could that be the spirit of God speaking to you in your bones?

"I'm breathing in the chemicals." -Imagine Dragons, "Radioactive"

(For more fun, try listening to Imagine Dragons' song "Demons" as a Psalm about sinfulness and imagine the line "I can't escape this now, unless you show me how" as a cry to God.)

In Gratitude to Nelson Mandela

Sometimes saints and heroes can function as a mirror that shows us our unkempt hair and smudged face and drives us to clean up the image of the person we see. Their excellence reminds us of our own imperfections, but simultaneously inspires us to work toward that excellence. I believe Nelson Mandela was such a person for much of the world, but certainly was for me.

Mandela has shown that Christian ideals such as forgiveness, loving your enemy, mercy, and compassion are not just good ideas, they are practical solutions. How often have we thought, "Sure, loving my enemy sounds good, but this is real life?" or "All that morality stuff is great for my personal life, but it doesn't work in politics or economics." What's particularly amazing to me is that Mandela at one time would have agreed. In the 1960s, he turned from non-violence and advocated violent acts as the only way to overturn the oppressive government. Love, peace, and compassion seemed an impossible path toward justice.

And yet, decades later, Mandela proved his younger self wrong.

By welcoming his opponents into his government, by refusing to seek revenge for decades of violence, and by introducing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (by which many pro-apartheid leaders were granted amnesty in exchange for publicly confessing their crimes and listening to the testimonies of their victims), he managed to sooth much of the hatred and fear that had permeated the country for decades. In fact, one could argue that his insistence on forgiveness, peace making, and reconciliation worked better at creating a stable transition to democracy than any of the other examples we have in recent memory. (Just look at the struggles that Libya and Egypt are having today.)

Mandela would have been perfectly justified with pursuing a different route, one that demanded greater retribution from former oppressors, yet he found the strength to believe and embody the words of his compatriot, Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death." In so doing, Mandela managed to heal a nation set it on a path that would have seemed impossible even shortly before his release. I pray that Mandela's life may continue to challenge us to recognize that ideas such as love, mercy, and forgiveness are not just pie-in-the-sky philosophies, but are practical, real-world Gospel.

“You're possessed with a power that's bigger than the pain.” -Everclear, "Heartspark Dollarsign"

How "Frozen" Warmed My Heart

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I went with my family to see the new Disney movie, Frozen. In most ways it is just like a typical Disney film: it's (very loosely) based on a fairy tale ("The Snow Queen"), has fun, singable music, and silly sidekick characters. Oh, and, of course, there's a princess.

There was, however, an unexpected, positive surprise in the movie for me that grew out of a typical Hollywood trope. At one point, the central character, Anna, asks Olaf, the talking snowman, "What is love?"

In many Hollywood movies, the script would then turn into some romantic Hallmark card about love being when your heart sings, butterflies in your stomach, and being unable to imagine life without your beloved. And the movie sets up well for that kind of answer with Anna developing fast and strong relationships with not one but two handsome men in the roughly 36 hours of the movie's main timeline. (Love is also something that happens at first sight, right?)

But that's not where Frozen goes. Olaf replies to Anna that love is making someone else's needs and desires more important than your own. He says it so simply that you almost miss the meaning. But to drive the point home, Olaf then does exactly what he said in an act of selfless love for Ana. (Without wanting to give it away, the ending also hinges on an act of selfless love.)

Now I love a good romantic love story as much as most people, but it was so refreshing to see love named for what it really is: choosing to put another ahead of yourself, even at the sacrifice of your own wants and needs. I've seen plenty of relationships (not just romantic) stumble over the other idea of love and wonder, "Why don't my feelings stay the same?" or "Why don't my feelings fix everything?" As Olaf correctly points out, love isn't a feeling; it's an action. And he echoes John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: that one lay down his life for his friends."

What's even more remarkable is that Disney seems to be on a roll with this. Selfless love was also a central lesson in Brave (along with a beautiful example of repentance) and was the course for Wreck-It Ralph becoming a hero in a scene that makes me cry every time I've seen it.

So cheers to Disney for giving a wonderful, practical description of love. It's nice to see love presented as something that is more than just wishes and kisses.

“We don’t know enough about love so we make it up.” -Jars of Clay, “The Age of Immature Mistakes”

Peace Be With You

(Note: This post was originally written for my church's newsletter.)

“O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…” -Traditional Advent Hymn

“[Jesus said,] Peace I leave with you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” -John 14:27

During Advent this year, our church will be exploring the idea of peace. It seems a fitting theme because in the build up to Christmas we often hear the message “Peace on Earth” in carols and cards echoing the message of the angels that first Christmas night. It is also a time of year where we seem to more acutely desire peace in our lives … and perhaps are more aware of where peace is lacking in our lives. 

There are many things that can steal peace from our lives: worries about the state of the world; disappointment in ourselves; injustice to ourselves or a loved one. And many of us have likely seen/imagined/lived scenarios of doing everything we can to make sure Christmas is peaceful and perfect, only to have the day disappoint.

What is this peace we hunger for this time of year? In English, we typically equate peace with an absence of something, as in we see peace where there is an absence of movement or an absence of violence. From a Biblical perspective, though, peace is something else. In much of the Bible, peace is mentioned using the Hebrew word “shalom.” Shalom expresses not an absence, but a presence, because it indicates a sense of wholeness. If I were to wish “shalom” to another person, I would be saying, “May you be fed and sheltered; may you be loved and may you rest without fear or worry.”

If peace is about presence, then it makes sense that we proclaim peace in Advent and Christmas, which are about anticipating and celebrating the presence of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus promised to come and “ransom” us from those things that steal peace from us—fear, selfishness, hopelessness—and so we experience peace in those places where we find the presence of the Christ. 

Ultimately, the peace we proclaim in Advent is not based on everything in our lives being right or still, but in the hope that Jesus chose to be present among us and continues to draw near to us and our world. It is a peace that the world cannot give. As the angels told the shepherds where to find Jesus that first Christmas, may we share that peace by pointing towards the places where we find Christ.

“This is my kingdom come.” -Imagine Dragons, “Demons”