June 13, 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I spent yesterday morning and early afternoon participating in the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of Mabel First Lutheran Church in Mabel. The worship service and the dinner and program that followed were filled with thankful celebration for the blessings of the past 125 years of ministry in the Mabel community, and a joyful expectation for the future into which Jesus is leading this congregation. As I drove away my heart was filled with joy and peace.
Then I turned on the radio and heard the awful news about the shooting in Orlando, Florida. My first thought was, “O God, not again!” Feeling like my heart was breaking over this senseless act of violence, and on the verge of tears for the victims and their families and friends, the words that came to mind were those words of lament from Psalm 13:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget (us) forever?
How long will you hide your face from (us)?
How long must (we) bear pain in (our) soul,
and have sorrow in our heart all day long?
Consider and answer (us), O Lord (our) God!
Since yesterday afternoon I have struggled with what to say that might be helpful in the midst of yet another tragic and painful event. I invite you to join me in the following for the next 30 days.
Each morning pray the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (ELW, p. 87):
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Each day ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to intentionally seek some way every day to be an instrument of God’s peace in what you say, or in the way you think, or in what you write, or in what you post on Facebook, or in what you do, or in the way you treat another person.
Each evening pray these petitions from the second set of Prayers of Intercession from the Service of Healing in the ELW Occasional Services for the Assembly (pages 273-274):
Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and especially for all who are suffering or are in any affliction.
Merciful God, you sent your Son to be our peace. Help all those who suffer any pain or grief, hopelessness or anxiety. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.
God of peace and reconciliation, bring an end to the sickness of the world, especially violence, terrorism, war, and their causes. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.
Loving God, mend broken relationships and bring peace to our families, our congregation(s), (our) communities, and the world. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.
O God, we bring these intercessions before you, knowing that you will hear us as you have promised, and will answer according to the mercy shown in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
May our prayers, our words, and our actions help to bring to our communities and our world healing, hope, joy, and the peace of God that passes all human understanding.
Peace & Joy in Christ,
Bishop Steve Delzer
HERE IS A FOLLOW UP TO THAT LETTER:
June 21, 2016
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
This is a follow up to my June 13 letter about the shooting in Orlando. In the midst of my own pain and anger about that shooting, I needed to dig deep within myself and reflect on how to be an instrument of God’s peace and not just another angry voice. I sincerely hope that you have been steeped in prayer and reflection over this past week. I also hope that you have been discovering ways in which you can be an instrument of God’s peace in your everyday life and relationships.
Now, to be more specific about the shooter’s direct attack on LGBTQ people – I consider this shooting to be a reprehensible act of malicious violence against a group of people simply because of who they are. There is absolutely no justification for such an act. I find in my own heart a mixture of profound sadness and angry disgust that such a thing could even happen.
So, where does one turn for a sense of direction, a sense of what to do? Here is what I have found to be helpful. The Scripture focus in my Spiritual Direction Group last Friday was a reading of the Beatitudes from The Message version of Matthew 5:1-10. What shimmered for me in that reading was verse 8: “You’re blessed when you get your inside world-your mind and heart-put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Those words captured for me what I was trying to suggest in my previous letter. My hope was that turning to prayer and reflection would allow God to get my inside world, my mind and heart, put right, so that then I could see God in the outside world. What I mean by that is that I want God to so permeate my heart and mind with God’s love that I see the face of God in the face of every person I meet, regardless of their gender, race, sexual preference, religion, or status in society. Because only then will I be able to truly follow Jesus’ command: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12).
Empowered to love others as God has loved me moves me to take seriously the phrase in our Affirmation of Faith “to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” (ELW, page 236). For me that means finding ways to stand with and to stand up on behalf of all people who are not experiencing God’s justice and peace, and at this time, especially our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. That means working for laws and systems that break down walls that divide us, that separate us into “us” and “them.” And it means constantly seeking ways in which each of us can be instruments of God’s peace in what we say, in what we think, in what we write, in what we post on Facebook, in what we do, and in how we treat one another.
So I will continue to plead with God and with you that our prayers, our words, and our actions will help to bring to our communities and our world healing, hope, joy, justice, and the peace of God that passes all human understanding.
Peace & Joy in Christ,