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At the end of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John, many disciples who had been following Jesus left him. Looking at the 12, Jesus asked, \u201cWill you also go away?\u201d Simon Peter answered, \u201cLord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life\u201d (John 6:66-68). It was a kind of crisis at the beginning of the Jesus movement.<\/p>\n
Jesus had been teaching about the gracious gift of life that comes from the Father through Christ. People were amazed by the multiplication of the loaves and fish and all of the talk about the bread of life. They wanted to know what they had to do to be doing the works of God. Jesus\u2019 answer, \u201cThis is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent (John 6:29),\u201d didn\u2019t sit well the crowd. I suspect that the most fervent among them wanted marching orders and the more careful wanted a checklist to make sure they were on track.<\/p>\n
Questions in Scripture are fascinating: they are often more revealing than the answers. \u201cWhat do we do?\u201d \u201cTeacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?\u201d (Matthew 19 :16). The people in John and the young man in Matthew wanted to know not only what they could do to save themselves, but to be assured that it was indeed in their power to save themselves. We don\u2019t ask different questions today. When it comes to the great metaphysical questions we ask, \u201cHow do I know? How am I sure?\u201d It\u2019s a hard thing to believe that it\u2019s God\u2019s good and gracious will that all be saved from death, and since we can\u2019t save ourselves, God has done it through Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection. It\u2019s not what we do or even about that which we are certain, but what God has done, and God\u2019s faithful and sure promise. In a recent survey of ELCA Lutherans, Kenneth Inskeep, director for research and evaluation, asked the question: \u201cWhat must you do to be saved?\u201d Fifty percent answered: \u201cDo good works.\u201d Fifty percent of Lutherans.<\/p>\n
At least half of us admit that, deep down, we believe it\u2019s still up to us. Let\u2019s not beat ourselves up\u2014this isn\u2019t a Lutheran phenomenon, this is not an American phenomenon, this is not a 21st-century phenomenon\u2014it\u2019s a human phenomenon. We either disbelieve for joy or don\u2019t want to give up control.<\/p>\n
This is precisely why we need well-trained confessional, scriptural, theological, liturgical, compassionate pastors and deacons: to keep us pointed to Jesus, to the law, to the cross, to the resurrection and away from the world\u2019s siren song of self-help, self-determination and self-righteousness.<\/p>\n
And this is precisely why we need confessional, scriptural, theological, liturgical, compassionate laypeople: so we \u201c… fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching or God\u2019s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it\u201d (Martin Luther\u2019s Small Catechism).<\/p>\n
Two major initiatives requested by the ELCA Church Council and informed by your input have come to the same conclusion. The Theological Education Advisory Council and the Called Forward Together in Christ process both lifted up the importance of well-formed lay, consecrated and ordained leadership. We must keep the saving gospel of judgment and promise as our foundation and future.<\/p>\n
This is the work of the entire church. It\u2019s not up to the seminaries to identify and recruit pastors and deacons, nor is it the exclusive province of the ordained and consecrated to be grounded in the word. Start looking at fourth- and fifth-graders in your congregation. Support church camps, Lutheran campus ministries, and Lutheran colleges, universities and seminaries. Encourage Young Adults in Global Mission.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve received a $3 million gift to the ELCA Fund for Leaders, which will provide full tuition scholarships for up to 60 additional students over the next three years. This is just one part of a multifaceted leadership initiative that we are launching now. When people ask how the ELCA can be relevant, I answer: only if we are sure that our hope is in the living Christ and only if we share that with the joy of the gospel.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
\nPresiding Bishop
\nEvangelical Lutheran Church in America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s Not What We Do\u201d At the end of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John, many disciples who had been following Jesus left him. Looking at the 12, Jesus asked, \u201cWill you also go away?\u201d Simon Peter answered, \u201cLord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life\u201d (John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,1],"tags":[539,538,519],"yoast_head":"\n