The First Stop on Jesus’ Return

A few years ago I was at a county ministerial meeting held at the home of the local Missouri Synod pastor's home. His wife, who claims to be a direct descendant of C. F. W. Walther (Patriarchal Father of the MO. Synod folks), asked me an interesting question. "If Martin Luther returned from the dead today" she asked, "which branch of Lutheranism do you think he would join?"

I hate stupid questions, and this is a pretty stupid question. So I thought I would give her a pretty sarcastic response. "If Luther came back from the dead today" I said, "I don't think he would join either the Missouri Synod or the ELCA. I think he would be pretty disappointed with both of us." "You take yourself way too seriously and marginalize women. We don't take ourselves seriously enough and He would also be disappointed that we quote him way too much." Needless to say, she didn't like my response.

I often get asked the question, "If Jesus returned today where would be the first place he would go?" Well, for one I am not real sure. A couple years ago I was driving back to Cooperstown, ND from Grand Forks, on a very hot day. Ahead of me, in the middle of the highway was this gleaming white vision, as I drew closer I was able to make out a man with long hair, walking stick in hand, robe flowing in the wind and for a moment I was certain that it was Jesus. As I drove pass he offered a friendly wave, later that night He was on the news, it wasn't Jesus.

So, if Jesus did comeback this coming Sunday morning where would He go? I hear that some of the larger churches, especially the ones downtown, train their ushers on how to divert homeless people from the sanctuary without making a commotion so we can cross off those churches. I would hope that He would be welcomed at Recovery Worship; at least He would get a cup of coffee and someone would offer him a smoke. The LCMC church in town would turn him away because they would think He was gay, the Lutheran Brethren would turn him away because He isn't Norwegian, and the Baptist church would want to baptize him first. (Ok folks, I'm joking so hold the emails)

Where would Jesus go? Well, I think the first place He would go would be to a local bar. I know that He would be welcomed, someone would offer him a beer, He would feel right at home with his followers, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

How have you welcomed the stranger today?

See you Sunday

Stirring the Pot

When I say "stirring the pot" I mean that I like to occasionally say things that create conversation, it isn't always important that I agree with what I have written, however, I think conversation is healthy. For those of you who follow this blog you probably got here through Facebook, one of my favorite modes of stirring the pot. I love to put links on my page that I know will create conversation, especially between me and my politically active son Allan and daughter Martha. It doesn't take much to get them stirred up.

Last week I read a link that had been posted by one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Susan Hedahl. Her link was to an article by Chris Hedges (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/after_religion_fizzles_were_stuck_with_nietzsche_20100510/). In the article Hedges presents a pretty gloomy prediction for the future of religion, to be specific Christianity. I agree with much of what Hedges observes, by the way. If it was Susan's goal to "stir the pot" she was certainly successful.

In my comment I questioned some of the language that is used in churches today. A church that says it is "Welcoming" but churches seldom are. Two weeks ago while I was at Gettysburg Seminary I heard the following line of welcoming to the Communion Table. "All are welcome to Communion with us today. If you believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist and are baptized, please come forward to communion" or words to that affect. Is that really being welcoming? What, as an example, one of our Full Communion partners whose view of what happens in communion is a bit different than ours is in attendanceI, they would not feel welcome. What if I am a "seeker Christian" someone who has come to accept the teaching of Jesus but have not yet been baptized? I would have to have stayed in my pew, not feeling very welcomed. Anytime we "welcome" people but then add qualifiers (if, or, but) we are not welcoming, it only sounds like we are and that makes us feel good, but does not make someone else feel welcome.

Well my comment received some pretty harsh response from a pastor from Penn. He describes himself as an "Evangelical Catholic" which means he is a Lutheran who really would rather be a Roman Catholic. He suggested that I take a refresher course in the Lutheran Confessions. My question is simply this; does God speak to us today through the Lutheran Confession of the 16th Century? Is it healthy for the church to cling to documents written from a drastically different world view then we have today. When Martin Luther wrote his Small Catechism there were not IPod's, IPad's, Wii or X-Boxes. Most children were born into and were raised in a two parent home. The adults, and children, spent most of their day in heavy labor without the distraction of cable TV or the local Mall to get in the way of their everyday life. The church clergy was made up of men, still mostly single men, and their biggest concern seemed to be the Muslims at the gates of Vienne.

Now, before my Orthodox friends get all excited and start sending me anonymous emails, I am not saying the Lutheran Confessions should be filed away under ancient history. I would like to suggest that we read them through the eyes of the 21^st century, in light of the issues that face us in our world today. Is it really that bad if we welcome everyone to the communion table and risk the chance that an un-baptized person receives the bread and the wine? Isn't worth the risk? I think it is!

 

See you next week.

Storefront Jesus

It has been over three weeks since my last post. I took a couple weeks off for a trip back to Gettysburg Seminary for a continuing education event (which included a pilgrimage to the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA) a class reunion and an interesting meeting with an ELCA Bishop who is in recovery. While I was in PA Sandy called and told me that her father Dean had died, so I left for Ohio to pick up a few things, and then drove to Memphis for the funeral.

The south is an interesting place. You can't spit without hitting a church. Within a couple of blocks from my step-son's house is a large United Methodist church. Down the road is a large Presbyterian and Episcopalian church. Every strip mall (a bit of an exaggeration but not much) has a church. Tucked between mega churches, like Belleview Baptist Church that looks larger than the Fargo Dome, are small little churches with names like Full Gospel Baptist, Holy Spirit Pentecostal, El-Shadi Tabernacle, and several churches like MB Baptist or MB Pentecostal, not really sure what the MB stand for. I went to a church on Sunday where, one after the other, people stood up and proclaimed how happy they were to belong to the "true church of Jesus" I also watched a lot of local pastors on the public access TV channel make the same proclamation.

I wonder what Jesus' response would be to all of this stuff? People proclaiming to have the "truth" as least as they see it anyway, I think he would walk in and turn over a few tables; it worked in the Temple.

When I retire I am going to move to Memphis, rent some space in a strip mall and start my own church. I will put up a neon sign, "Bishop Ray's Full Recovery Tabernacle." It's my church, might as well be a Bishop. Sandy can sell fried green tomatoes and hush puppies to raise funds and during the week I will play golf. Sounds like a plan.

See you next week; it is really great to be home in Fargo!

 

Pastor Ray