Oct 30 - Romans 6:6-8

We know that our old self

was crucified with [Christ]

so that the body of sin

might be destroyed, and

we might no longer

be enslaved to sin.

For whoever has died

is freed from sin.

But if we have died

with Christ, we believe that

we will also live with him.

Romans 6:6-8

Tomorrow is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of 95 points of debate on the Wittenberg Church door. It was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. It was also the beginning of the Lutheran church - a name that Luther himself did not like!

To celebrate who we are at Spirit of Joy, let me give you the very quick history of Lutherans in North America. Our roots are immigrant roots. The first wave of immigration – largely German – settled along the East coast in the 1700s (where, of course, all of the colonies were at the time). In general, this became the Lutheran Church in America. 

In the mid-1800s, two separate waves of immigration occurred. One wave – again German – sailed up the Mississippi River, settled in Missouri, and became the Missouri Synod. The second wave, more Scandinavian, settled across the upper Midwest. In general, this became the American Lutheran Church. 

This is a little over generalized. All over parts of the United States, little clusters of congregations – largely ethnic - began to unite. The 20th century saw these groups and ethnicities stretch from their original locales and spread across the nation, and as they did more and more groups of Lutherans banded together in unity. Indeed, that was the theme of Lutheranism in the 20th century.

The 21st Century could be seen as tearing apart that unity ... or it could be seen as churches uniting around different themes. For example, rather than uniting around a historic ethnic denomination, Spirit of Joy has banded with hundreds of churches focused on the word of God and the authority of scripture. 

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) "strive[s] to be a light to the world, not a reflection of it. We view God’s word as the #1 authority when it comes to our faith and how we practice it. While we understand that science, personal experience, tradition and other factors contribute to the conversations that we have, we do not believe that they have equal influence to what’s written in the Scriptures."

Our verses for today - which happen to be what Dave Roberts preached on yesterday - reflect a foundational pillar in our Lutheran understanding of life ... and of the freedom that God wants to give. "In Romans 6, Paul explains that those who follow Jesus receive God’s grace and are freed from being burdened by their sin. In LCMC, we celebrate this freedom."

That is first the freedom of a Christian. It is also the freedom of a congregation. With our denomination stretching across seventeen nations, "we understand that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to ministry because different communities often have different needs, backgrounds and cultures.  Rather than micromanaging what they do, we give our members the freedom to be creative in how they do ministry ..."

For me, it's been a great joy to be Lutheran in this free, grace-filled, word-focused context. Our association of churches includes “Mission,” prominently in our title. And rather than spending ten to twenty percent of church budget to support a large denomination (that certainly does some good things), our association of churches says, “Give us just a few thousand dollars … then go devote mission dollars to your own neighborhoods.” This has absolutely empowered our church! And over these last nine years of members, it’s become fun to sit again with pastors. We simply focus on the main things – like Word and Grace and Truth.

Tomorrow is Reformation Day, and today, I just want to celebrate being Lutheran!

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who loves unity

around Word, Grace,

and Truth –

thanks Martin for

pointing the path