Our synod convention was the last week of May this year and admittedly I expected to hear a rehash of the same issues we have been discussing since I started going to synod gatherings in 1988. In this I was not disappointed, we discussed human sexuality, the environment race and poverty all of which are important, none of which have we resolved in our church or our culture at large. There were, however a couple of things that were out of the ordinary, things I can get excited about. The first was in the form of an initiative we passed, the second was a formal act by our Bishop, Mark Homerud in the closing worship.

The initiative that caught my attention was the Book of Faith Resolution. In this act of the convention we resolved to;
Celebrate the many ways that Scripture is already a part of our ministry and daily life.
Encourage disciples to increase their Biblical literacy.
Explore new opportunities for engaging the Bible.
Participate in Synod training events for the Book of Faith initiative.
Include Scripture as an integral part of all meetings and events.

“The Book of Faith initiative invites the whole church to become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of Scripture, in order that we might live into our calling as a people renewed, enlivened, empowered and  sent by the Word.”  This movement addresses a huge gap we all feel but often do not understand at the time we experience it. We hear God’s Word being spoken but we are unable to comprehend the message. I experienced this in a real world way when I first moved to France. People would address me directly and all I could do was respond “I do not understand.” We have this same problem with God. We believe God is still speaking in our world but not only do we not understand, we often are even unaware God is speaking. In France eventually I learned the language, haltingly at first but then with increased fluency as the days turned into months and the months turned into years. The intent here is that we reengage in learning the “first language of faith” found in the Bible. To truly be led by God isn’t the first step recognizing God’s voice when we hear it and understanding God’s Word as it is given? It is an old theme, but I find it exciting when a whole church, the ELCA, intentionally reengages, seeking first the things of God.

The second thing that really excited me was an act of our Bishop. An act carried out at the end of his sermon which to me made his preaching the “True Word of God” which is the Lutheran understanding of all preaching. At the end of his sermon he had us all stand and place our hands on the head of a person standing near us. And he began to pray. As I heard his words I excitedly said to Erika who had her hands firmly on my head, “he is calling down the Holy Spirit!”

I need to explain my excitement a little; I have had more than a little contact with the Pentecostal church through my brother Jay and now my nephew Bob. My Brother who scoffed at all Christianity was dragged to a healing service literally pushed up front at the altar call and the ministers laid hands on him and like our Bishop called down the Holy Spirit. His whole life was changed in that instant as he felt the rushing wind of the Spirit enter into his being. As a Lutheran obviously I was a little skeptical when he told me he was a different person, dead to his sinful past and now alive in Christ.

In hindsight though, he went from a person unable to hold a job, bitter and angry with the whole world to someone who went back to school, and became a teacher and for the rest of his life faithfully attended church and freely witnessed to his powerful faith. His new life, which ended a few years ago after many years as a strong witness to a faith he once rejected was one of the most powerful acts of God I have ever seen. The Spirit was called… and the Spirit came. God is faithful.

The second event is unfolding even now. My nephew Bob has been insulin diabetic since his early teens. About a month ago he began emailing us saying he believed that God intended to heal him. Although he was afraid, (as were we all) he trusted God and reduced his insulin until he was finally free of medication. Now over a month later he is still doing fine. In both of these instances I had to face the fact that my faith is often a little shaky. Can I, can we truly believe that God will act, that God will heal us, and that God will renew our faith and our church? Though it still frightens me I must answer yes! God not only can but it is God’s will.

I had never experienced what I have learned to consider to be an act of power even spoken about in a larger Lutheran context and all of a sudden here was our Bishop calling down the Spirit on the gathered assembly. He began to pray;

Father in heaven, for Jesus' sake, stir up in us the gift of your Holy Spirit; confirm our faith, guide our life, empower us in our serving, give us patience in suffering, and bring us to everlasting life.

I recognized the words of our Affirmation of Baptism service… but he was using it in what I consider to be a new and exciting way. Our whole denomination is facing difficulties and downsizing. None of us know what to do. But here was an act of faith which I believe has already started to change things.

In my mind I believe God was telling me this was an act not just undertaken as a part of a sermon but the Word of God given to us by our Bishop and so led by the Spirit and his example on the Day of Pentecost We brought this blessing to our church as well. I am sending this article on to Bishop Mark, In the hope that others, in other congregations will follow his lead as well. I do not posses the theology to explain my feelings in a “Lutheran way.” But my witness is that this is an act of power. I believe that God has already answered his prayer. As the days ahead of us unfold I believe we will see God’s response unfold as the Spirit leads us in new and exciting directions, hopefully as a part of a renewal of God’s Spirit and leadership that begins in each of us and spreads into our congregations, our synod our communities and our world.

And so I ask all of us to pray together… Come Holy Spirit.

Pastor Jim Bliss
June 2009