The Lutheran, March 2009
A monthly column by Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson
Witnessing in troubled times
A call for evangelical missional imagination
As I reflect upon the recent Bishops’ Academy journey to the Middle East, consider the dire implications of the economic crisis throughout the world, and ponder the decisions that lie before us as a church body, I believe we are being called to bear witness to our faith at the intersection of fear and hope.
That intersection is not an easy place to live or from which to lead, yet it is where we are as a nation, as the ELCA and as a world. It is also a place where Scripture speaks to us, for we live and serve at the intersection of fear and hope.
When the risen Christ encountered his fearful disciples that first Easter evening, he extended an ordinary greeting: “Peace be with you.” These words became an extraordinary gift, for the risen Christ showed the marks of his crucifixion to the disciples. John tells us, “Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20).
Like the disciples, we live in Christ by God’s grace through faith. Like them, we can rejoice even when fear and hope compete for control of our lives and this church.
We need to be mindful of what fears can do to us. Fear can cause us to withdraw into ourselves so we become preoccupied with our survival. Fear can drive us to lash out in anger so we become mean-spirited and distrustful. Fear can cause us to long nostalgically for the past so we buttress ourselves from the harsh realities of the present.
At the intersection of fear and hope, we are sent to announce, “Do not be afraid.” Think how often God sent messengers to make that announcement: to exiles in Babylon, to a bewildered Mary, to shepherds in their fields, to women at Jesus’ tomb. By holding back the walls of fear that close in upon us, God has space to do a radically new thing, from liberating the captives to bringing us salvation.
In that upper room, the risen Christ did not spend much time dwelling on the disciples’ fears. He showed them his hands and side and said, “As the Father has sent me so I send you.” But they were not sent on their own, for Christ breathed on them the gift of the Spirit and sent them with the promise of the gospel.
At the intersection of fear and hope, God’s faithfulness to God’s promises also frees us for evangelical missional imagination. What might that mean for you in your life of discipleship and stewardship even in very difficult economic times? What might it mean for your congregation as it sets priorities? What will it mean for this church as we consider a social statement on human sexuality and recommendations on ministry standards?
It is my prayer that fear does not turn us inward, but that hope in Christ focuses us outward. Think about those images from Scripture as you seek to discern what evangelical missional imagination might mean at the various intersections of fear and hope you encounter:
• Jesus’ gracious, eager and joyful interest in the outsider and the outcast: can our imaginations help us recover — or discover — this presence of God, who simply delights in human beings and whose “face shines” on humankind? Can our Spirit-filled, evangelical missional imagination help us recover an image of others as neighbors, not enemies; contributors to a common good, not threats?
• God’s trust in people who, in Christ and by the Spirit’s power, are capable of participating in God’s own mission of reconciliation, liberation and salvation. What would it mean to see ourselves as capable of participating in and contributing to an enterprise that will serve the world in a way that nothing else can compare? How will our evangelical mission reflect the confidence God has in us (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)?
With you, I pray for an anointing by the Spirit so we might live and serve together with evangelical missional imagination at the intersection of fear and hope.