Rooted and open
We are called and empowered to serve the neighbor so that all may flourish.
It can be challenging to explain, concisely, what it means to be an ELCA Lutheran. My go-to description draws on an image from my days as a pastor at Luther College. Our approach to being a church is like a tree that has deep roots and open branches. Sometimes people assume that, because of our commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, we’re not grounded in Christ or traditional theology. Others assume that a church that’s as grounded in Christ and tradition as we are can’t be open and inclusive, or must be open in spite of our theology. In truth, our church is open because we are rooted. Our roots–In the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Lutheran theology–are what make us open.
Rooted and Open: The Common Calling of the ELCA Network of College and Universities was published in 2018. It was created to help ELCA colleges and universities better understand and articulate the “third way” of Lutheran high education–a way that doesn’t fit neatly into the expected boxes of “secular” or “sectarian.” The authors of the resource identified three marks of the common calling of ELCA colleges and universities, that the graduates of these schools are: “Called and empowered to serve the neighbor so that all may flourish.” Breaking that down into three parts, the document explores the Lutheran theological roots that are essential to an identity turned outward towards our neighbors and all creation.
The authors write: “Now, as never before, the world needs our graduates, graduates who are intellectually acute, humbly open to others, vocationally wise, morally astute and religiously sensitive.” If we were to remove the academic context from that statement and apply it to the ELCA as a whole, how would that sentence read?
“Now as never before, the world needs a church that is…
Rooted and open
Practicing accompaniment
Church together and church for the sake of the world
So confident in God’s love and grace that we can try new things
Proclaiming Christ’s radical grace
A witness to love that’s stronger than fear
…”
Thank you for reading, reflecting, singing and praying with me this Lent; blessings on your preparations for Easter. Remember: your witness, and your proclamation matters. Share the good news!
Read: Revelation 22:1-4
Sing: There in God’s Garden ELW 342
Reflect:
How would you finish the sentence? “Now as never before, the world needs a church that is …
Read through the Rooted and Open document; what echoes from the previous weeks’ Lenten devotions do you find? If you can print out the document, underline theological concepts and terms that are new to you and put stars next to ones that are familiar. Which aspects of Lutheran theology and identity would you like to learn more about, and how will you go about it?
Pray: Gracious God, keep reforming the ELCA in all its expressions, and the whole Church, too. Ground us in Christ and give us enough confidence to be truly open and to live for our neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
A large tree with substantial roots and sun shining through open branches.
