ELCA on Inter-Religious Commitment
By Vicar Lisa
Occasionally, I like to share some of the things I am working on in school with you. In light of one of the findings by the Transition team about learning what it means to be Lutheran, I thought I would share part of a paper I wrote about the ELCA document entitled A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment. The information below is a summary of some of the key points of this document. You can read the entire document by clicking on the link.
Whenever possible, the ELCA cooperates with other Christians in building relations with those of other religions and worldviews. In addition, the ELCA extends the cooperation to additional neighbors, including those of other religions, those who identify with multiple religious and spiritual traditions, and those who are not religious.
The ELCA believes that we have a dual calling to witness to Christ and to love our neighbor (Great Commission and Great Commandment). It is believed that through authentic, mutual relationships, we can truly love our neighbors as people made in the image of God. This commitment includes confronting, whenever possible, the often-compounding oppressions experienced by people of various religions and worldviews based on race, ethnicity, gender, and class. The ELCA must play an active role in dispelling fear of our neighbors, opposing religious bigotry, and standing with those who are the targets of fear, discrimination, hatred, and violence.
The ELCA wishes to develop “Mutual Understanding” which involves moving from factual knowledge of commonalities and differences to grasping coherence and even glimpsing beauty. And it is believed that in discovering how others love and cherish their religious traditions, we more deeply love and cherish our own. We empathize with the challenges and struggles others face in their religious commitments, as well as appreciate their joys. Mutual understanding opens the possibility of friendship and accepting responsibility for each other’s well-being.
We are called to work toward justice and peace for all people and creation, that is, the common good. Religious diversity, when accompanied by mutual understanding and cooperation, enriches the whole.
As part of the Great Commission, we evangelize, sharing through our lives the joy of the good news of what God has done in and through Christ. This is done in both word and in deed, in love and respecting the dignity of the other. As we do so, we honor our conviction that every human is made in the image of God and all creation is good. We do this, relying on the Spirit, who alone creates faith.
Once again, I will state that I am proud to be in service to the ELCA!
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Second Sunday After Epiphany
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Jan. 14
Last Sunday we heard about Jesus’ baptism, and now we hear about his calling of the disciples. It is the same with us: after baptism we are called to follow him, whom this Sunday’s gospel reading calls Jesus, son of Joseph, Rabbi, Son of God, King of Israel, and Son of Man. To speak the mystery of Christ, we need many titles.
John 1:43-51
In various parts of John’s gospel, we read a more developed Christology than in the synoptic gospels. For John, there needs to be no miraculous birth to indicate Jesus’ divine identity, because he is the God-sent teacher, the one come from God to replace human kings, the ultimate fulfillment of religious hopes, and the divine judge glorified by angels at the end of time. Today’s reading exemplifies why Christians need to know the Old Testament, for all the Christological titles adopt and alter imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures.
1 Samuel 3:1-10 [11-20]
The narrative of the call of Samuel is chosen as a parallel to the call of Philip and Nathanael, for the God whom Christians hear calling them in baptism is the God whom ancient Samuel followed. Contrasting the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament cannot be biblically sustained.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Over the course of the three years in the weeks between Epiphany and Lent, the lectionary appoints semicontinuous readings from 1 Corinthians, chosen because this seminal letter of Paul describes the communal life expected among believers and calls them to lives of mutual love. Today’s selection focuses on one specific ethnical issue—sexuality—as paramount now as in first-century Corinth. As is usual in dealing with ethics, Paul offers, not new Christian regulations, but the theology of our baptism into the body of Christ.
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