 Pastor Paul’s Message for May 2012
It’s a Public Faith
The word, “church,” is loaded with layers of meaning for us. It can mean a small gathering of people in a home or coffee shop or it can mean the vast structures of our various denominations, including Roman Catholic and Lutheran. It comes from a Greek word meaning, simply enough, the gathered people of God.
On May 27 we celebrate Pentecost, the beginning of the church according to Luke in the Book of Acts. In Luke Pentecost happens in a public space, the “public square,” where an international gathering can see it. ELCA Lutherans (us) put this in a phrase: “God’s Work, Our Hands.” We are, says Paul, the “Body of Christ” in the world (public square) working to bring healing to the world. It is our baptismal calling and the logical extension of the communion table.
I don’t’ think we can undertake such a calling on our own without burning out. Christian faith at its best has always been an empowerment movement. The Spirit fills us for service, but in order to serve we need to be sustained by community, worship, prayer, a sense of common mission and study.
I have a recent experience with faith in the public square. On April 19-20 I was in Miami, courtesy of MOP/Together Colorado, for education on how some banking institutions are helping to fund the building of prisons nationwide. Private prisons, it turns out, turn a 5
billion dollar a year profit. The more prisoners, the more money is made. The United States incarcerates more people per capita by far compared to other industrialized nations. The Afro-American community is disproportionately affected, while the immigration detention centers house increasing numbers of Latinos, both documented and undocumented. Restrictive immigration laws that we hear about allow for easier arrests and fill the detention centers with prisoners. Stories of torture and sexual abuse abound, but are denied by the institutions themselves. The human cost is enormous, but it is unimportant to these institutions and funders. This is one example of what is happening in the public square. We unintentionally support the funding of private prisons and detention centers through our investments, individually and as a church. Some of us have no choice in the matter, for various reasons. I find myself faced with this unpleasant reality and have been asking about my own and Our Saviors’ investments. As you read this we will still be in conversation about it. As the Body of Christ in the public square what do we say about this? What is the work “Our Hands” should or can do? When we see ourselves as a public faith community we really can’t turn away from the suffering and human cost that we find especially in the well-funded private prison industry.
We will have a jazz service on May 27 to celebrate the Holy Spirit among us. I hope you will join us for one service at 9 am that morning. We will have our last early service for this season on May 20.
On May 13 Jon Stalls will talk with us at our 9am forum about his walking ministry. Jon takes people and groups on guided walks, both long and short, helping people to pay attention to their surroundings. Jon also works as a media and communications director at MOP. Earthlink comes to Our Savior’s on May 6. Our Bible study on the Letter of James will be on May 20.
Nancie and I will be on vacation from May 16-May 25. I will miss one Sunday, May 20, and have asked Dan Tisdel to preach at both services. As summer begins, I want to thank the choir and musicians of our community for their wonderful offering throughout the year. Thanks as well to the entire community for your hours of volunteer work. To our new members during the last year, welcome and may Our Saviors be a blessing in your life as you are to us. A special thank you to Jordan and the members of the Long Range Planning Team as we continue to discern our future. It is always “God’s Work. Our Hands!”
God’s Peace,
Pr. Paul |
