Wed
Jan 20
2010
Bishop Dave deFreese
Nebraska Synod, ELCA
“Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
As we watch the horrors of the Haitian earthquake and our hearts ache at the overwhelming tragedy of human destruction, the call to be the Church arises with a profound clarity. Now we can live love. Now we can express the compassion of our God that declares immense value to each human life. Now we can overcome our innate selfishness and respond with the nobleness of Christ’s claim on our lives. Now we can demonstrate the acute difference our baptismal gift makes. Now we can be the Body of Christ for the sake of the world.
Amongst the poorest of the poor, the devastation is crushing. The Haitians crave the hand of God as embodied through the Church to reach out with the tender touch of loving concern. Along with medical and material care, they need to know the cloud of witnesses of God’s gracious mercy surrounds them. They need the Church to be the Church … to live love!
This is written just a few days after Pat Robertson has pronounced judgment upon the Haitians. Incredible! With one arrogant statement, both a long suffering people and our God have been blamed for such grievous affliction. As he articulates it, this earthquake is a deserving consequence of past misdeeds that God cannot overlook. NO! Our simple response is many fold: first, then who can stand before the Almighty? Second, who is this vengeful god that is so different from the God of the Cross who willingly died for sinners so we might live abundant lives? And also, who dares to judge when God has claimed that responsibility to solely be God’s?
NO! Again, we have an opportunity for the Church to shine in the midst of staggering darkness. We love because God first loved us! We will make tireless efforts to express compassion and hope because of our God’s fathomless love. We will hurt with the people of Haiti. We will walk and limp beside them. They will not be alone … because we will be the Church! … with and for them.
Our ELCA systems to care are well aligned. We have been in Haiti for years striving to live out the Gospel. Our Lutheran Disaster Response along with Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran World Federation give us tremendous inside opportunities to serve without needing to “reinvent the wheel.” We have been there working before the earthquake’s devastation, relationships of trust are established, even with an inept and challenging government. It is good to be a part of a greater church that day after day strives to serve … that does mission in many forgotten, unglamorous places.
Because of these past structures and our current ELCA efforts, 100 percent of every gift given will go directly to alleviate human suffering. Where else is that a reality? We can, and will, make a difference!
In the midst of a cynical society that perceives “that Christians are judgmental and hypocritical” (Barna Report), we have an opportunity to live love. We have the occasion to exhibit a difference. We dare not be like one leader has described: “Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives.” We are not a collection of individuals who go to church, but the community of compassion who ARE the Church! We are the Body of Christ for the sake of the world.
Please respond to this call to be the Church! As you can, give generously … grateful to share your God-given blessings with others. Live more simply, so that others may simply live. Rejoice that God can use us to express God’s compassion to those who are suffering so desperately. Be the Church! Live Love!
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