From the Moderator

Message from the (New!) Moderator: September 2016

Moderator’s Musings – September 2016

David Whitten, District Conference Moderator

There was this little owlet sitting with his mother on a limb on a tree at dusk. The little owlet struggled with self- identity. He asked his mother, “Mom, am I really an owl like you? I’m not something else am I? I’m an owl, right?” The mom answered, “Yes, son, that’s right, you’re an owl. Why do you ask?” The little owlet peered into the twilight and said, “Because it’s really getting dark out here!”

It helps to be reminded of who we are when change darkens our horizons. And change darkens the horizon of the Church of the Brethren. There’s been a lot of discussion concerning the numbers coming out of Elgin. It’s a situation we’re only too familiar with in the Northern Plains District. Where once bustling, prosperous churches dotted the prairie landscape there now sits empty relics. Members that once numbered in the hundreds now barely fill a pew. Congregations that enjoyed a balanced fiscal health no longer employ full-time pastors and are strapped with maintaining buildings too old, too large, and too out of date. Congregations are experiencing a tremendous sense of loss constantly comparing today’s struggling church with the way it used to be. I catch myself doing it too.

But I’m reminded of the stories from the Bible where God specifically used small to overcome large, the weak to defeat the strong, the foolish to confound the wise. The story of Gideon is a story of how God used a weak-kneed, self-confessing coward to accomplish great things! The story of Gideon reminds us that no matter our size, no matter how great the odds are against us . . . if God formed, called, and sent us . . . nothing will impede us!

In many ways the story of Gideon is the story of the Church of the Brethren.

We have never been a large denomination. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t done great things. Nor does it mean we can’t continue to do great things. The decline in membership and fiscal shortfalls may just be a part of God’s plan to remind us that the survival of the church is in God’s hands not ours. Our call is to be faithful; to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed.

As the theme for the District in 2017, I use the words from God to Gideon in Judges 6:14. After Gideon complained that his family was the least among the families in the least of Israel’s tribes, God had Gideon look towards the approaching darkness, affirmed Gideon’s call and said Go in the strength you have . . . . Am I not sending you (Judges 6:14 NIV)?

And so, for you and me, members of the Northern Plains District of the Church of the Brethren, be affirmed of who you are. Do not struggle with self-identity. You are the church! God equips you and sends you strengthened by his Holy Spirit to your mission field where He has placed you. Go in the strength you have is God not sending you?

Message from the Moderator – Our Story Our Song: Church

Our Story, Our Song: Church

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold in ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on The Story of God, The Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding.

So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: O Holy Spirit, Making Whole (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 300)

Read: Acts; 1 Peter; 1 Corinthians; Philippians; Colossians

As we pick up our story this month, Jesus’ disciples are waiting in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed. For forty days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples in a variety of settings, continuing to teach and prepare them for their ministry. Just prior to his ascension, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive God’s promised gift of the Holy Spirit to inspire and empower them.

For ten days the remaining eleven disciples (minus Judas) gathered in Jerusalem with over a hundred other faithful followers of Jesus—both men and women—to pray. During this time, they also called Matthias, who had accompanied Jesus and his disciples “from the baptism of John until the day when [Jesus] was taken up”, to replace Judas as an apostle (Acts 1:22, 26).

The crowds in Jerusalem grew continually during this time as Jewish pilgrims arrived to celebrate Shavuot (Hebrew for “weeks”). The Festival of Weeks marked the seven weeks or fifty days between Passover and the start of the second holiday in the annual cycle of holy days. Originally a harvest festival celebrating the first fruits gleaned from the fields, Shavuot evolved into a celebration marking God’s gift of the law on Mt. Sinai, God’s covenant with the Israelite people (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/).

On the Day of Pentecost (the “fiftieth day”), as had been their practice in the preceding days, the disciples gathered with the other faithful followers (about 120 in all) for prayer.  “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:2-4). While not a direct parallel in terms of symbolism, the rush of the wind and the appearance of tongues of fire marking the arrival of the Holy Spirit echo the descriptions of the moments in which “the glory of the Lord” filled the tabernacle after it was completed (Exodus 40:34-38; Leviticus 9:22-24) and later the Temple at its dedication (1 Kings 8:10-13). “The Holy Spirit is the living presence of God among us, no longer “restrained” by a building” (Gladding, 205). With the gift of the Holy Spirit, “the glory of the Lord” filled the new temple, the gathered body of Christ.

As those gathered were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to proclaim the Good News in a variety of languages. This caught the attention of others and a crowd gathered as pilgrims from all over the world caught snippets of their own languages floating through the open windows and doors of the room where Jesus’ followers had gathered and drew near to hear what was being said. In this moment, God’s people experienced a reversal of the chaos that ensued when God “confused the language of all the earth; and…scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” in response to the arrogance that led God’s people to build the Tower of Babel in an attempt to reach heaven (Genesis 11:1-9). Wonder and amazement filled the crowd.

Then, Peter rose to address the gathering crowd, drawing on the words of the prophet Joel, embedded in their own story as God’s people, to reassure them that they were not drunk or crazy: “I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: your sons will prophesy, also your daughters; your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams. When the time comes, I’ll pour out my Spirit on those who serve me, men and women both, and they’ll prophesy” (Joel 2:28, The Message).

He continued, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection: God’s love incarnate; God’s vision and mission embodied; God’s promised Messiah. The Good News that so many, blinded by preconceived ideas, failed to recognize was living in their midst.  Moved by the power of Peter’s message reinforced by the signs of God’s Spirit moving in the midst of Jesus’ followers, many in the crowd answered Peter’s call to change their lives, renew their commitment to God, and be baptized. About three thousand were baptized that day and the church—the ekklesia, those called out of the world to belong fully to God and one another—was born.  On a side note, it is interesting that this number—3,000—parallels the number—3,000—who were lost because they broke the initial covenant between God and God’s people by worshipping the golden calf at the base of Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:25-35). “Here, on the day that the first people are drawn into the new covenant, about three thousand are added to the disciples’ number. Sinai [was] not…forgotten; God [was and] is faithful to God’s covenant. What was lost was…reclaimed (Gladding, 207).

But back to the story…From that day forward, the apostles continued to proclaim the Good News in word and deed: preaching and teaching, healing people, casting out demons, even raising Dorcas from the dead. As was the case in Jesus’ own ministry of healing, not only did those they touched experience personal physical or emotional healing, but also a restored relationship with God and just as importantly, a restored relationship with their community. As a result, the church continued to grow. Those early faith communities committed themselves to koinonia (a Greek word for communion), “fellowship created by intimate participation in each others’ lives” (Gladding, 213).  They worshipped together in the temple, broke bread together in one another’s homes, devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, prayed together, sang together, encouraged and supported one another, held all things in common, provided for the needs of all, enjoyed fellowship with one another, and lived a life of praise and thanksgiving, constantly building up the body of Christ.

But this doesn’t mean that life in the early church was without risks and struggles. The early Christians faced persecution, imprisonment, even martyrdom.  Just think about the stories of Peter and Stephen and Saul/Paul. The early Christian communities experienced internal conflict. Acts tells of the conflict within the church over the inclusion of Gentiles and the letters the apostles wrote to the early church were often written to address conflict. Further, as evidenced in the conflict the early church experienced, many (including the apostles) were slow to embrace God’s vision of a faith community that extended beyond the cultural community of the Jews, who had historically claimed the identity as God’s people, to include all people: Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female (Galatians 3:28). But the stories of the early church emphasize the importance of this vision. Consider Peter’s vision (recorded in Acts 10) or the many accounts of “outsiders”—Gentiles, slaves, women—who committed their lives to Christ, claimed their identity as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12), and became leaders in the early church: the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius, Lydia, and Priscilla.

The early Brethren modeled their life together as the ekklesia after the patterns and practices of the early church. Do we experience koinonia in our own faith communities, that genuine communion with one another rooted in intimate participation in each other’s lives or are the relationships we share shallow and trivial? Do we balance liturgical worship of God, with worship expressed through our love for one another and our neighbors in need? Do we reach out and welcome those who are different from ourselves? Do we fully embrace the blessings and the risks that come with living as the body of Christ in the midst of a secular world? As congregations, as a district, as a denomination, as the church universal, are we constantly striving to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love”? (Ephesians 4:15-16)

As Brethren prepare for and gather in Greensboro for Annual Conference, June 29-July 3, and as we prepare for and gather in West Des Moines for District Conference, let us pray for the church that we might find deep hope and profound joy in our communion with God and one another and in being part of God’s ongoing work of new creation.

“O God who has called men and women in every land to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, the Church of your dear Son; unite us in mutual love across the barriers of race and culture, and strengthen us in our common task of being Christ and showing Christ to the world he came to save. [Amen.]” (John Kingsnorth)

Sing: Renew Your Church (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 363)

District Conference Announcements: June 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Without our congregations and the members of our congregations, there would be no Northern Plains District.  It has been a privilege and blessing to travel around the district, worshipping with our congregations and engaging in conversation with our members. At the time of writing, I have been in twelve of our congregations and will visit at least four more before we gather for District Conference.  As we celebrate 150 years of ministry in the upper Midwest during District Conference, it will also be important to share the stories of our congregations. To that end, we are inviting congregations to participate in a number of projects.

Celtic/Story Crosses

When traveling in Ireland, one comes across large stone crosses in cemeteries, town squares, and parks. Carved into the face of these crosses are images that symbolize the life of the community. Some of the images depict biblical stories. Some of the images depict happenings in the particular community. All speak to the identity of the community. As I visit congregations, I am taking time to listen to their stories and together we are creating story crosses modeled after these  Celtic crosses. I encourage them to include stories from their life together, biblical passages that are foundational to their identity, and songs/hymns that give expression to their faith. As they share, either I record these stories with words inside an outline of a cross on a large piece of newsprint, or if there happens to be an artist in the congregation, they record these stories in images inside the outline of a cross. (See photos of examples.) These story crosses will be displayed at District Conference. If I am not scheduled to visit your congregation, I hope you will take some time to create a story cross and bring it with you to District Conference to be displayed with the others. It is truly amazing to hear about the particularities of each congregation and to see the emergence of common threads that bind us together.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry

The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. These items will be used as part of the worship center created during worship on Friday evening. A member of your congregation will be asked to bring it forward at a particular point in the service and possibly share one sentence about what the item represents. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality.  Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story. Along with your item, please bring a printed paragraph that can be placed with your item describing in more detail why you chose this particular item and its significance within your congregational life.

150 Random Acts of Kindness

The District Conference Planning Committee also wants to remind congregations of the challenge to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities in the months leading up to District Conference. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts.  Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Message from the Moderator – Our Story, Our Song: Cross

Our Story, Our Song: Cross

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on The Story of God, The Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding.

So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 259)

Read: Matthew 21-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; and John 12-21

This month we reach what many would argue is the climax of the story—the events which we now mark as Holy Week: Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his continuing challenge of the religious authorities, the celebration of Passover with his disciples, his arrest and subsequent trials, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. While there is no doubt that for us, as Christians, these events mark an intense, exciting, and significant turning point in the story of God and God’s people, the word climax also carries with it a connotation of ending. However, the story of God and God’s people does not end with these events. The story continues to unfold in the lives of God’s people. The story lives on in us, the Body of Christ, the incarnational presence of God in this time and this place.  But we’ll come back to that.

With the Passover approaching, as a practicing Jew, Jesus made plans to go to Jerusalem to celebrate as was the custom. Knowing how he had ruffled the feathers of the religious authorities and sensing the rising opposition and antagonism, some of Jesus’ followers urged him not to go. But Jesus was intent on going. He knew what was to come and tried to explain to his disciples why he must go, but they still didn’t fully understand who he was and couldn’t grasp what he was telling them (Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34).  Or maybe it wasn’t a matter of ability, but a matter of will. Maybe they didn’t want to accept what he was telling them because it didn’t fit their image of the conquering Messiah.

Hmmm. I wonder if we are more like the original disciples than we want to admit? I wonder how we cling to some particular stories, words, images of Jesus and discard or ignore others because they make us uncomfortable, because they demand too much of us, or because the “complete” Jesus is just too messy, too complex to fully grasp?

But back to the story. In spite of opposition from the religious authorities, the people were eager to embrace the Messiah—or at least their image of the Messiah. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a humble donkey—in stark contrast to the pomp and power displayed by a Roman official or military leader on a majestic horse—Jesus was welcomed by cheering crowds, proclaiming him the “King of Israel!” (John 12:13). This reception sparked further concern among the religious authorities, concern that was inflamed when Jesus went to the Temple and threw out the money changers in a rare display of righteous anger. As a result of what they perceived as a rising threat to their power and authority, the religious leaders began to form a plan to put an end to Jesus’ challenging ministry.

However, Jesus remained undeterred. While the religious authorities were plotting and scheming, Jesus continued to teach in the Temple, challenging the status quo with the vision of an upside-down kingdom.  Still, some of those closest to him, couldn’t—or wouldn’t—see him for who he really was, even as people who had been marginalized by society recognized and bore witness to his true identity. One evening while eating supper at the home of Simon the leper, a woman approached and anointed him with an entire jar of costly ointment. Some of his disciples questioned her actions, proclaiming them a waste of valuable resources, but Jesus rebuked them, proclaiming that she had prepared him for burial (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). Later, in a pivotal moment, Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples, made the decision to betray Jesus.

Later in the week, on the first night of the festival of Unleavened Bread, Jesus gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover. As they reclined around the table, sharing the simple and richly symbolic meal, Jesus challenged the disciples by stating that one of them would betray him, causing the disciples to look within and at one another, questioning their commitment. Perhaps it was this moment that gave rise to Paul’s admonition to examine ourselves and make ourselves worthy before approaching the table (1 Corinthians 11:27-28) and our subsequent practice of engaging in a period of examination in preparation for Love Feast.  Betrayal is a strong word. When we engage in that time of self-examination are we truly willing to name our shortcomings for what they are—a betrayal of God’s hope for the world made manifest in Christ?

But this was not the only striking moment of the evening. It was also in the context of this Passover celebration that Jesus knelt and washed the feet of his disciples in an act of cleansing, humility, and service. When once again questioned by one of his disciples about actions that defied social convention, he commanded them to go and do likewise as servant leaders (John 13:12-17). It was at that meal that Jesus also reinterpreted the meaning of the bread and cup traditionally consumed as part of the Passover celebration in light of his life and death, defining a new covenant between God and God’s people marked not by the body and blood of a bull, but by the body and blood of Jesus himself. In addition, before departing the upper room where they had celebrated the Passover, Jesus cared for the future needs of his disciples—those who were in the room with him and those who would follow throughout history—promising them the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide them and offering a prayer of blessing on their behalf.

Then Jesus went out to pray in the garden of Gethsemane by himself, leaving his disciples to watch and wait. It was here that Judas brought the chief priests to arrest Jesus. Peter drew his sword and made an attempt to intervene, but Jesus stopped him. He had come not “to deliver his people at the point of a sword. He had come to bring an end to violence” (Gladding, 189). He was, after all, the Prince of Peace.

What followed over the course of a very long night was a series of beatings interspersed with “four separate trials, each one a farce” (Gladding, 189). First, he was brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling elders of Israel, where he was asked if he was the Messiah, the Son of God.”  He responded “You say that I am.” And they accused him of blasphemy. The chief priests then took him to the Roman governor, Pilate. Why? Pilate probably had no interest in becoming embroiled in the internal conflict of the Jewish people.  However, only Rome had the power to authorize the death penalty and the religious authorities wanted Jesus dead. In their mind, only death would end the perceived threat to their power. How ironic, since his death made possible the resurrection which expanded Jesus’ sphere of influence far and wide. But let’s not jump ahead. While the Romans could authorize the death penalty, blasphemy was not punishable by death, so the religious authorities made up crimes to make it seem as if Jesus was a threat to the Roman empire. In spite of their accusations, Pilate saw no threat so passed the buck, sending Jesus to Herod. Herod questioned Jesus at great length, but ultimately sent him back to Pilate who was then forced to make a decision. Initially, he told the Jewish authorities that he would have Jesus flogged and released, but they demanded he be crucified.  Pilate again tried to avoid that judgment, offering to release either Barabbas who had been convicted of insurrection and murder or Jesus who he felt was innocent of all charges. The religious authorities incited the crowds to support their cause, so when Pilate offered this choice, the crowd called for Barabbas’ release. To avoid a potential riot, Pilate could do nothing else but release Barabbas and sentence Jesus to death, although he physically and symbolically washed his hands of the matter. In the space of a few short days, the cries of the crowd turned from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify!” I wonder how many of us would have been swayed by the mood of the crowd? It is easy to think we would never have turned against Jesus, but even Peter, who Jesus had named “The Rock”, denied him three times during that long night.

The next morning, Jesus was crucified, an exceptionally brutal form of execution. Pilate had an inscription put on the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” When the chief priests saw this they argued that the inscription should be changed to read: “This man said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” But Pilate stood by the original inscription (John 19:19-22). Further, at the moment of Jesus’ death, a centurion standing guard proclaimed: “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39). As was so often the case during his life and ministry, in his death Jesus was recognized for who he was by outsiders even as he was being rejected by his own people.

Following his death, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the High Council, asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus body.  This was not a simple request. The bodies of criminals were not buried, but left to rot as an example. “Although Pilate had washed his hands of the whole affair, perhaps in this moment he saw the opportunity to spite the Temple elite, who had pushed him too far. Or perhaps he simply believed that Jesus deserved better treatment in death than he gave him in life. Whatever the case, he granted Joseph’s request, and Joseph laid Jesus in a stone tomb” (Gladding, 194).

Following Jesus’ death, the disciples went into hiding, but on the third day after Jesus’ death, the first day of the week, some of the faithful women went to the tomb to anoint his body with spices. When they arrived, they found the stone at the entrance to the tomb had been rolled away and the body was gone. In its place sat two angels. Angels, or cherubim, had previously been tasked with guarding the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  But with the veil ripped in two (which happened mysteriously at the moment Jesus took his last breath), the empty tomb became the Holy of Holies, open to all by the selfless sacrifice of Jesus. The angels reminded the women what Jesus had said about being handed over to the authorities, being killed on a cross, and rising three days later.

As they stepped out into the light, puzzled by what the angels had told them, Mary Magdalene saw someone in the garden. He asked, “Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” At first, she thought he was the gardener, but when he called her by name, she recognized him and cried out, “Teacher.” He told her to go tell the disciples he was alive. The details of the resurrection accounts vary from Gospel to Gospel; in fact, in the original version of Mark we are told the women “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). However, I prefer the stories recorded in Matthew, Luke, and John, in which Mary went and proclaimed the good news of Jesus’ resurrection.

Today, we are still called to proclaim the good news: “Jesus is alive! He is risen! Death indeed is defeated! Jesus of Nazareth has been vindicated—he is indeed the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the hope of Israel, and of the world! By his death, our sins have been forgiven. And by his resurrection, we have new life, eternal life, life abundant!” (Gladding, 195).

Although this is not the end of the story, it continues in us, with Christ’s resurrection, the story comes full circle: In a garden, on the first day of the week, a new creation took shape. As followers of Christ, are we ready to fully embrace our role as partners with God in giving shape to that new creation?
Sing: Proclaim the Tidings Near and Far (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 282)

District Conference Announcements: April 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

A Special Invitation
When we gather for District Conference, August 5-7, 2016, we will be gathering for our 150th recorded “big meeting.” This is a significant milestone. I would like to extend a special invitation to each of our congregations, fellowships, and projects, to send delegates and representatives to District Conference to celebrate this milestone, to strengthen the bonds of fellowship, and to share in the work of the church in the Northern Plains District. We are each—individually and as congregations—members of the body of Christ, and the body is not complete when some are missing.

To mark the milestone, strengthen the bonds of fellowship, and embody God’s Story and Song by serving together as Christ’s hands and feet in this time and place, everyone is invited to participate in several special activities before and during District Conference.

Special Opportunities for Fellowship at District Conference
When we gather for our 150th recorded District Conference, August 5-7, 2016, we will gather to do the work of the church and to worship our God together, but we will also enjoy times of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This fellowship is an important component of our time together, strengthening the bonds of unity. Not only will we break bread together, sharing fellowship around the meal tables, but both Friday and Saturday evenings there will be special times of fellowship. On Friday evening, conference-goers are invited to support our youth as they host their annual ice cream social, sharing conversation with old and new friends while engaging in a favorite Brethren pastime—eating ice cream. On Saturday evening, after a festival of story and song celebrating the ongoing ministry of God’s people in the Northern Plains District, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary with cake and another opportunity to share in casual conversations with one another.

150 Random Acts of Kindness
In the months leading up to District Conference, the District Conference Planning Committee also wants to remind congregations of the challenge to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts. Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry
The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. The Northern Plains District is comprised of its congregations; without the congregations there wouldn’t be a district. We are not sure if we will use these items as part of the worship center or as part of a different display, but we know we want to create a visual representation of the congregations that make up our district. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality. Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story.

Moderator Visits
Just a reminder, as a transplant to this district I now call home, I have a strong desire to visit as many congregations as possible between now and District Conference. During those visits, I want to talk about the importance of remembering and faithfully living into God’s Story—in word, song, and action—and I want to listen to the ways in which your own stories have intersected with God’s Story. To schedule a visit, please contact me at 612-239-6214 or rpgingrich@yahoo.com

Message from the Moderator: April 2016

Our Story, Our Song: Crown and Conceit

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on God’s Story, Our Story: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding. So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: Let the whole creation cry (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 51)

Read: 2 Samuel 7-8; 11-12; 1 Kings 1-3; 6; 9:1-9; 11-12; 2 Kings 21-25; Isaiah 1; 51-52; Jeremiah 1-2; Ezekiel 7; 34-37; Micah 4-7

We pick up our story this month during what was arguably the Golden Era for the Israelites.  David—who along with his son Solomon are remembered as the greatest kings in Israelite history—continues to rule over the Israelite people. Under David’s leadership, the conquest of Canaan was finally completed and the kingdom is united.

David chose Jerusalem as the political capital of the united kingdom because of its geographic location between the northern and southern regions. But David wasn’t satisfied with building a political capital; he also wanted to make Jerusalem the religious capital of the kingdom, proudly leading the procession as the ark of the covenant was carried into the city. After building a lavish palace for himself, David determined that God should not dwell in the simple tent that still housed the ark; he wanted to build a temple. But speaking through the prophet Nathan, God declined: “Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever…(say) ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’” (2 Samuel 7:7) And yet, God once again responded to a need to meet the people where they were and promised David that his offspring would continue to rule after his death and that his son would ultimately be allowed to build the temple that David so wanted to build.

While David is remembered as one of Israel’s greatest kings, he was not without his faults. It might be easy to think of David’s affair with Bathsheba as a personal sin. However, all sin is social in nature because at its heart, sin is breaking relationship—with God, with another human being, or with the created world. The social consequences of David’s sin serve as a stark reminder that when we sin, we do not hurt only ourselves, we also hurt those around us. David never again experienced the genuine peace and unity he had fought so hard to secure. For the remainder of his rule, the Israelites experienced conflict—internal and external. Even the transfer of power to Solomon was contested.

Eventually, however, the rule of Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, was firmly established. In an act of selflessness and humility, Solomon asked God for one thing when he assumed the throne: wisdom to govern. “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this” (1 Kings 3:10). So not only did God give Solomon great wisdom, God also gave Solomon what he had not asked for: riches and honor. Solomon became known throughout the world for his wisdom and under his rule, the Israelites experienced forty years of peace in the midst of both political and economic prosperity.

In the fourth year of his reign, Solomon began to build the Temple—a project that took seven years to complete. Make no mistake, the Temple was a magnificent and extravagant structure. A fitting dwelling for God, the King of Kings, the Ruler of Heaven and Earth? Perhaps. But I can’t help but wonder what was lost in building the Temple and redefining religious practices around the Temple.

Our God created the heavens and the earth. Can anything we build to “house” God ever be as resplendent as the cathedral of nature which God built? Why do we feel the need to “house” God? Why do we even want to try to confine God—who presence and activity is so expansive God chose to self-identify only as “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14)—to a “house”? When God dwelt in the Tabernacle, God moved and dwelt among the people, leading them with the Cloud of Presence. But unlike tents which are portable, Temples (and Cathedrals and church buildings) are stationary. “What is lost when we can no longer pull up stakes and move where God leads us? Do we shape a building only to discover it begins to shape us? Do we become more invested in the building than the God the building is for?” (Gladding, 127) Do we use our resources to sustain a structure rather than to undergird God’s mission? I think these are still important questions with which we must wrestle.

Further, we cannot ignore the manner in which Solomon built the Temple and other structures designed to centralize and fortify his authority (a palace, a wall around the city, the fortification of cities strategic to national security, garrisons, and huge storage complexes). Solomon completed all of these massive building projects through conscription. The remaining original occupants of the land were enslaved and the Israelite people themselves, who had cried out to God and were delivered from slavery, although not considered slaves, were required to leave their families, their land, and their livelihoods to work on Solomon’s projects one month out of every three. There is disturbing irony in the fact that Solomon relied on forced labor to build a Temple for the God who promised salvation and deliverance from slavery in all its forms. The seeds of conceit were planted.

When the Temple was complete, God once again appeared to Solomon, pledging presence, prosperity, and peace for all Israelites, and continued authority for the house of David, if only they will keep God’s commandments. But with the renewal of the covenant came an explicit warning: “If you turn aside from following me…but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut Israel off from the land that I have given them; and the house I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples” (1 Kings 9:6-7).

Unfortunately, Solomon, despite his great wisdom, did not heed God’s warning. Remember the conditions God laid out for the kings of Israel: in addition to remaining faithful to their God, they were not to build up a standing army, not to enter into covenant treaties with other nations through marriage (which related directly to faithfulness to God since these foreign wives often maintained their faith in other gods and brought with them their own religious practices), and they were not to amass wealth. Solomon defied all of these conditions: he bartered his wisdom for wealth (1 Kings 10:23-25); he built up a fleet of ships and chariots and built garrisons to house the army that protected his wealth; and married many foreign women who eventually turned his heart to other gods (1 Kings 11:1-4).

While the Israelites were not immediately overpowered and cast into exile, with Solomon’s death the era of peace and prosperity came to an end. When Solomon’s son, Rehoboam came to power, the people rebelled against the heavy burden of conscripted service under his father. But Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to their pleas for deliverance, setting the stage for internal conflict and subsequently the end of a united kingdom. As God had promised, David’s house continued to rule over the tribe of Judah, but ten of the remaining tribes pledged their allegiance to Jeroboam. A long succession of kings followed, each seeming to stray farther from God’s commandments than his father before him. But even then, God did not abandon the people. “God sent prophet after prophet—Elijah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah—to call the people back to covenant faithfulness (Gladding, 141). Recalling the words of George Bernard Shaw, the prophets both saw things as they were and asked why and dreamed things that never were and asked why not, and eloquently articulated these God-given visions. But to no avail. In their conceit, the people broke every commandment, thinking that because God’s presence dwelled among them in the Temple, nothing could happen to them. Eventually, both parts of the divided kingdom fell and the people were carried away into exile.

We are not immune to such conceit. Are we guilt of becoming so comfortable with an economics of affluence that the suffering of those around us—suffering we may have even inadvertently helped create—goes unnoticed? Are we guilty of adopting a politics of oppression which ignores or even silences the cries of the marginal? Are we guilt of creating a “static religion in which God has no other business than to maintain our standard of living, and whose prophets we try to silence when they speak words we do not want to hear”? (Gladding 131)

Amidst an unending barrage of fear-based election year political rhetoric, worldwide unrest rooted in experiences of injustice, and deep theological divides in the church, it can feel as if we are experiencing exile, living in a dry and barren land, wondering where God is in all of this. But just as the exiled Israelites held onto hope, we too must hold onto hope—hope rooted in the story of our God. God’s Story—Our Story—is a story of a God of unconditional love and grace, a story of a God who promised, and promises, to remain faithful to the covenant even when we are not, a God who seeks to deliver the whole world from that which enslaves, and a God who has consistently called God’s people to partner in that mission—all of which is embodied in the Resurrection.

This month, as we embrace the promise of the resurrection—in the coming of spring and as we move more fully into the liturgical season of Easter—may we take the time to honestly identify and confess our own conceit, may we embrace the hope that God remains present and faithful within us and among us, and may we renew our covenant with our God, faithfully seeking to inspire hope in others.

Sing: Lift every voice and sing (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 579)

District Conference Announcements: March 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Special Opportunities for Fellowship at District Conference

When we gather for our 150th recorded District Conference, August 5-7, 2016, we will gather to do the work of the church and to worship our God together, but we will also enjoy times of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  This fellowship is an important component of our time together, strengthening the bonds of unity.  Not only will we break bread together, sharing fellowship around the meal tables, but both Friday and Saturday evenings there will be special times of fellowship.  On Friday evening, conference-goers are invited to support our youth as they host their annual ice cream social, sharing conversation with old and new friends while engaging in a favorite Brethren pastime—eating ice cream. On Saturday evening, after a festival of story and song celebrating the ongoing ministry of God’s people in the Northern Plains District, we will celebrate our 150th anniversary with cake and another opportunity to share in casual conversations with one another.

150 Random Acts of Kindness

In the months leading up to District Conference, the District Conference Planning Committee also wants to remind congregations of the challenge to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts.  Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry

The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. The Northern Plains District is comprised of its congregations; without the congregations there wouldn’t be a district. We are not sure if we will use these items as part of the worship center or as part of a different display, but we know we want to create a visual representation of the congregations that make up our district. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality.  Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story.

Moderator Visits

Just a reminder, as a transplant to this district I now call home, I have a strong desire to visit as many congregations as possible between now and District Conference. During those visits, I want to talk about the importance of remembering and faithfully living into God’s Story—in word, song, and action—and I want to listen to the ways in which your own stories have intersected with God’s Story. To schedule a visit, please contact me at 612-239-6214 or rpgingrich@yahoo.com

Message from the Moderator: March 2016

Our Story, Our Song: Conquest and Crown

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold in ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on God’s Story, Our Story: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding.

So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: Lead on, O cloud of presence (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 419)

Read: Joshua 1-8; 22-23; Judges 1-8; 1 Samuel 8-11; 16; 28-31; 2 Samuel 3-5

This month we pick up our story as the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty long years.  Just as they had fled from Egypt on a path created when God parted the waters of the Red Sea, so they entered the Promised Land on a path created when God parted the waters of the Jordan River. Leading the way? The priests carrying the ark of the covenant—the symbol of God’s presence among them. After crossing the Jordan, they camped at Gilgal, celebrated the Passover (an embodiment of God’s Story), and tasted the bounty of their new land for the first time. Still ahead was the task of conquering the land, but in the moments immediately after crossing the Jordan, the people paused to remember the Torah and to worship their God who faithfully provided for their needs.

The first city to be conquered was Jericho.  As Joshua stood on a hill overlooking the city prior to the battle, he was approached by a representative of God and in a scene reminiscent of Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, was commanded to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground (Joshua 5:14-15)—a reminder that Israel’s enemies would be defeated by God and God alone, not by the might of the Israelite people. And if this wasn’t enough of a reminder that God was in control, the walls of Jericho fell without struggle when the Israelites followed God’s command to march around the city with the ark once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day with the priests blowing the shofar.

Then we encounter a part of the story that is difficult to comprehend—particularly for those who claim a Christian identity deeply rooted in the teachings of the Prince of Peace. As God had commanded, the Israelites killed every man, woman, and child, and every animal—with the exception of Rahab (who had earlier sheltered the spies) and her family. It is hard to reconcile the God of unfailing love, the God who responded with compassion to the cries of the enslaved Israelite people, the God who repeatedly forgave their transgressions, with the God who commanded the complete destruction of all the original inhabitants of the land. Perhaps God knew that the Israelites were susceptible to the temptations of the surrounding culture and that the only way they could possibly uphold their covenant with God and fulfil their mission to partner with God in bringing healing to the world was if they weren’t faced with temptation.  But does that really make it any easier to understand and accept?

Yet, in spite of God’s presence and the easy conquest, the people who had pledged their faithfulness to God almost immediately fail to follow God’s commands. While they kill every living thing and burn the city to the ground, they don’t destroy the gold and silver, bronze and iron. They fall prey to the temptation presented by such wealth. And in subsequent battles, they fall prey to the temptation of pridefully relying on their own power instead of seeking God’s guidance. As a result, it is many years before they gain full possession of the Promised Land, many years before they experience peace from battle. Even then, when Joshua addresses the people on God’s behalf just before his death, he finds it necessary to remind them of all that God has done for them, issuing a renewed call to be faithful to their God as God has been faithful to them and to resist the temptation to adopt the practices and worship the gods of the people they have conquered.

While the people give voice to their commitment to faithfully serve God alone (Joshua 24:16-18) their actions don’t reflect this commitment. Further, they stopped telling the story of God’s faithfulness. As a result, their children, who had not witnessed God’s great acts firsthand, did not know God. So peace was short lived.

The cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, battle, repentance, deliverance, and restored peace was cemented.  “The Lord would send a nation to oppress them. Then the people would cry out to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord would raise up a judge to deliver them. Their oppressor would be defeated. And the people would have rest. But then they would forsake the Lord…once more” (Gladding, 111).  Orthniel, Ehud and Shamgar were first among a long line of judges God appointed to guide the peope. The stories of others such as Gideon, Samson, Deborah, and Samuel, son of Hannah and the last of the judges, are probably more familiar.

While the judges provided leadership at crucial times, the Israelites were not fully united, the twelve tribes of Israel at best maintained a loose-knit alliance. (see Judges 21:25).  As Samuel’s life was drawing to a close, he named his own sons as judges over Israel, but like so many of God’s people before them, they fell prey to temptation, perverting justice for their own personal gain. God’s people rebelled against their corrupt leadership, but in so doing, fell prey to the temptations of the surrounding culture. They came to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king to govern them “like other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

The request upset Samuel, but God told Samuel to listen to the people for “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you” (1 Samuel 8:7b-8). Samuel tried to warn the people about the power a human king would ultimately wield over them, but they would not listen, so with God’s blessing and guidance, Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel and a monarchy was born, although a monarchy divided along geographic lines with ten tribes occupying the northern regions of the Promised Land and two tribes occupying the southern regions of the Promised Land. The road to the creation of truly united kingdom was long and the preservation of that kingdom not without struggle—in large part because the kings continually fell prey to the temptations of power, wealth, pride, and the practices of the surrounding cultures.

“God had laid down conditions for the kings who would reign over Israel. They were not to build up a standing army, nor enter into covenant treaties with other nations through marriage, and they were not to amass wealth.  Thus they would continue to rely on God to provide for their needs, and to protect them, which would be a witness to the other nations that God was indeed present in their midst. God’s reign would continue through the king” (Gladding, 122). Saul had his victorious moments as the first king of Israel, but even before his own death, Samuel had become disenchanted with Saul’s leadership because he repeatedly defied God’s conditions.

So in response to God’s call, Samuel, the last judge of the people, also anointed the second king of Israel—David—even before Saul’s reign had come to an end. In fact, David served Saul. But as David’s popularity among the people grew, so did Saul’s jealousy and resentment. Ultimately Saul turned his attention from the fight against the Philistines—a very real threat to God’s people—to various attempts to kill David—his perceived rival.  Ultimately, when his army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Philistines, Saul took his own life and David rose to power.

David succeeded in doing what Saul had not; he defeated the Philistines and united the northern and southern tribes, carefully choosing Jerusalem, a city located between the northern and southern regions as the capital. David’s exploits as king—both positive and negative—are well known. Under David’s leadership the unending cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, battle, repentance, deliverance, and peace continued.  

God was faithful to the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: God formed a people, gave them a place to call home, and remained present with them. In spite of the people’s recurring faithlessness, God was faithful. It is important to tell the stories from this period because both the faithfulness and failures of God’s people and the faithfulness of God can inspire us to greater faithfulness. But it isn’t always easy to remember and tell these stories because they are so violent; it is hard to reconcile our picture of God who had so much love for the Israelites, extending grace and deliverance over and over again, with the God who violently destroyed their “enemies.”

So, just as it is important to tell the stories, it is important to question the stories. To question is to bring an open heart and mind to our engagement with the stories of God and God’s people throughout history. And when we approach the stories with an open mind and heart, we are often the recipients of new insights.

This month we continue to journey through the season of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and renewed commitment. When has God’s Spirit moved you to new insights in relation to particularly difficult stories in the arc of God’s Story? When have you—or your community of faith—fallen prey to the temptations of the surrounding culture? When have you experienced the cycle of covenant faithfulness, betrayal, struggle, repentance, deliverance, and peace in your own life? When have you experienced God’s faithfulness even in the midst of experiences of hopelessness and perceived abandonment or even periods of faithlessness? How are you being called to bear witness to God’s faithfulness and presence?

Sing: Shepherd me, O God (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 163)

District Conference Announcements: February 2016

This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song: Looking Ahead to District Conference

Rhonda Pittman Gingrich, Moderator

As we look ahead to the Big Meeting, August 5-7, 2016, when we will gather as brothers and sisters for the 150th time, celebrating a long history of continuous ministry in the upper Midwest, the District Conference Planning Committee invites all of the congregations in the district to participate in a couple projects.

150 Random Acts of Kindness
In the months leading up to District Conference, we want to challenge the congregations in the district to collectively engage in 150 random acts of kindness—or to put it another way, 150 acts of ministry—within your surrounding communities. We are celebrating a significant milestone in our life together, but we don’t want to focus solely on the past. As God’s people we are part of a continuing story. What better way to celebrate that than to actually embody our identity as a “sent people” and to reach out in service to those in need. As you engage in your random acts of kindness, take pictures of your efforts. Send your pictures and stories to Hannah Button-Harrison communications@nplains.org for publication in the district newsletter and possibly on the website AND bring a copy of your pictures to District Conference for inclusion in a collage that will celebrate the ways we are still engaged in vital ministry in the upper Midwest.

Symbols of Congregational Ministry
The District Conference Planning Committee also invites each congregation to bring something that represents your congregational story to District Conference. The Northern Plains District is comprised of its congregations; without the congregations there wouldn’t be a district. We are not sure if we will use these items as part of the worship center or as part of a different display, but we know we want to create a visual representation of the congregations that make up our district. The possibilities are endless. The item you choose to bring might be an historical artifact, it might be a piece of art, it might be a symbol of a long-time and continuous ministry in which you are engaged, it might be a symbol of new vitality. Hopefully the selection of the item won’t be a unilateral decision made by the pastor or a small committee, but a decision made by the congregation as you reflect together about your story and the ways your story intersects with God’s story.

Moderator Visits
Just a reminder, as a transplant to this district I now call home, I have a strong desire to visit as many congregations as possible between now and District Conference. During those visits, I want to talk about the importance of remembering and faithfully living into God’s Story—in word, song, and action—and I want to listen to the ways in which your own stories have intersected with God’s Story. To schedule a visit, please contact me at 612-239-6214 or rpgingrich@yahoo.com.

Message from the Moderator: February 2016

Our Story, Our Song: Shaping a Community and Its Mission

Rhonda Pittman-Gingrich, Moderator

Throughout the Biblical Story, God repeatedly reminds the people to remember the Story. As God’s people, it is important for us to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith—in good times and in bad times—so we don’t forget who we are and whose we are. When we forget who we are and whose we are, when we fail to remember and tell God’s Story and to sing the songs of our faith, we run the risk of allowing our identity and lives to be shaped by the prevailing stories of society. God’s Story must not simply be remembered (recited and heard), it must be re-membered (pieced together and retold ways that connect intimately with our lives), understood, and embodied.

So as we continue to move through this year, I invite you to join me in an ongoing exploration of the overarching Story of God and God’s people—a story that continues to unfold through us today. To provide structure for this journey of remembrance and reflection, I am drawing on God’s Story, Our Story: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible by Sean Gladding. So grab your hymnal and your Bible and join me in exploring the Story that reminds us who we are, whose we are, and who we are called to be and become.

Sing: The God of Abraham Praise (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 162)

Read: Exodus 1-24; 32-34; 40; Numbers 9-14; Deuteronomy 26-34.

This month we pick up our story with the Israelites on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt. These are Abraham’s descendants. They made their way to Egypt under the leadership of Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson, to escape a famine. The Pharaoh at the time had deep respect for Joseph and welcomed the people with open arms. They lived and prospered in Egypt and just as God had promised, became a great nation. Unfortunately, four centuries later, a new Pharaoh viewed them not as a blessing, but as a threat and enslaved them. Still they multiplied and so Pharaoh ordered the death of all Hebrew infant males. One young mother rebelled and by her courageous actions the infant Moses was saved.

Many years later, God hears the cries of the Israelites, seeking freedom from their suffering and bondage. Remembering the promise made to Abraham—to continue the work of restoration, reconciliation, and re-creation—God calls Moses, who had fled Egypt and is now an old man, to return to Egypt and lead God’s people to freedom. The account of Moses’ dramatic and powerful encounter with God (Exodus 3:1-4:17) reminds us that “we do not worship a God who is distant and far off but a God who draws near, a God who hears our cries, a God who cares about us” (Gladding, 70).

But all is not smooth sailing. In a perplexing twist, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh so that he doesn’t immediately grant freedom to the Israelites. Why? Perhaps so that through the plagues, the Egyptians would see that the gods they served were powerless. Or perhaps, so the Israelites would experience the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods and place their trust in God alone.

A Sidebar: In Exodus 4:22-23 God refers to the Israelites as “my firstborn son.” God’s covenant with Abraham revolved around this one particular people. But perhaps in this reference to the Israelites as the “firstborn,” there is an implicit reminder that God’s vision for the world encompasses a much larger family that extends beyond this or any particular people.

But back to our story. God eventually delivers the Israelites from slavery. Their “salvation is not just from something, it is also to something: to service to the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of the covenant” (Gladding, 72). The Israelites—and indeed, all of God’s people throughout the arc of time, including us—are called to be faithful to the covenant with God by embodying God’s promises of restoration, reconciliation, and re-creation in ways that invite others into relationship with God.

So while God has delivered them from the bondage of slavery, their journey is not yet over. The Israelites are not as quick to recognize and embrace the call to serve their God. And so God does not immediately lead them to the promised land. Instead, God guides them on a long journey through the wilderness, faithfully meeting their needs and shaping them for faithful service as mediators of God’s covenant, partners in God’s mission to heal a broken and hurting world.

It is in the wilderness that God gives the people the Torah, the Law. The Law is not just a set of rules, rather it is a set of “practices to shape their new life of freedom together—practices that would protect them from themselves, from the fear and anxiety that pervades humanity and from the darkest impulses that had been shaped in them from being enslaved…(transforming) them from a group of slaves into a holy nation—people made in the image of God who would reveal the character of God to the peoples around them” (Gladding, 89-90). To truly liberate them, God needs not only to bring them out of Egypt, but to draw Egypt out of them.

With the gift of the Torah, God renews the covenant with the people: observe my commandments—embody the knowledge that I am your God with heart, soul, and might—and you will be blessed, fail to observe my commandments and you will be cursed (these blessings and curses are outlined in Deuteronomy 28). But it is important to note, that the Israelites are not called to live by God’s commandments to earn God’s favor, but in response to God’s unconditional love and care for them.

Of course, it doesn’t take them long to forget God’s hessed love for them and subsequently to forget the covenant they made with God. Just days later, in an act of radical disobedience, they make the golden calf and Moses has to plead with God to remember the covenant and extend mercy to the people. This is not the first or last time the people doubt and Moses intervenes. Throughout their long sojourn in the wilderness, this becomes a pattern. And there are consequences. Those who God freed from bondage in Egypt, never set foot in the Promised Land. Only after they die does the new generation stand poised on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to enter the Promised Land. And in those moments, Moses once again addresses the people, encouraging them to renew their covenant with God, to embrace life as God’s people, holy and beloved (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Through the Exodus and during the wilderness years that followed, God came near to the Israelites, revealing both God’s name and God’s character, dwelling among them in the Tabernacle, and shaping the people into a holy and beloved community ready to worship their God and embrace their mission as God’s partners with faithfulness.

God’s Story is a story of liberation. Like the Israelites, we are often held captive by events, circumstances, and attitudes that prevent us from naming, claiming, and living into our true identity as God’s people, holy and beloved. We continually need to experience a new Exodus, an exodus from all that enslaves, all that distances us from God and one another: greed, envy, complacency, violence, selfishness, self-sufficiency, pride, and the list goes on. We need God to come near and liberate us from our bondage to sin and into our call to serve our God in a way that genuinely reflects God’s character marked by hessed love (defined as lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion) so that all of creation might come to know God.

This month we enter the season of Lent. Lent is a time for reflection, repentance, and renewed commitment. As you move through this season, I invite you into a time of reflection. From what do you need to be liberated? To what is God calling you that you might more fully reflect God’s character?

As a district, we are also embarking on a new round of the Sending of the Seventy. The theme for this round is how we are being called to serve our neighbors. The Torah was and is not intended to exclude, but to give form and shape to the identity of all God’s people. In fact, embedded in the Torah is a deep reverence for life, a commitment to care for and protect the vulnerable and marginalized. As persons created in the image of God—individually and corporately—our identity is shaped by God’s hessed love for us and for the world. Our faithfulness to the vision of extending God’s lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion to the most vulnerable reflects our faithfulness to our covenant with God. Who are your neighbors? What are their needs? What are some practical ways you can meet those needs and bear witness to God’s lovingkindness, mercy, and compassion?

Sing: Obey My Voice (Hymnal: A Worship Book, 163)