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The Church and Criminal Justice

By Pr. Lisa Rygiel

The article below appeared in the September 2025 Living Lutheran Magazine and was written by Kristin Johnston Largen.

ELCA social statements have the highest teaching authority in our church: each statement is created through a comprehensive and inclusive study process, and then must be approved with a two-thirds vote at a churchwide assembly, the largest, most representative gathering of ELCA members. Not every person who calls themself an ELCA Lutheran agrees with every statement, but they represent the ethical and moral stance of the ELCA as a whole on specific social issues, based on Lutheran biblical and theological commitments.

Social statements are not responses to current sociological or political trends; instead, they describe practical ramifications of the Lutheran faith in one’s daily life. They are often quite countercultural in that they resist prevailing secular norms and ways of thinking. In this way, they are a gift to the church.

Our life with Christ is manifested in our life in the world, in all aspects.

Have you ever wondered why the ELCA bothers to create these statements? Some may think of this work as an add-on, an indulgence or even a distraction from the main activities of our church. Nothing could be further from the truth. Social statements reflect a reality that stands at the heart of the Lutheran faith.

Lutherans teach and believe that faith isn’t just about us and Jesus. Instead, our belief in Jesus Christ and the way we relate to him as our savior directly relates to how we view and treat our neighbor. Our life with Christ is manifested in our life in the world, in all aspects—a relationship with Christ cannot exist apart from the relationships we have with all those in God’s family, and all of God’s creation.

Lutherans don’t go to church to escape from the world. We go to be fed and formed for life in the world, to be the hands of Christ in the Spirit’s work of transforming the world, turning swords into plowshares and weeping into joy. The social statements reflect that work and inform how we engage in it.

The church and criminal justice

With this in mind, let’s turn to a specific social statement: “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries,” which was adopted in 2013. (A summary of key points begins on page 3 of the statement, and the document closes with 11 implementing resolutions that offer practical ways of living into its commitments.)

Thoroughly grounded in Scripture and the Christian tradition, this statement offers multiple concrete suggestions, which include recognizing how institutional racism has led to the disproportionate incarceration of African-descent men, and advocating for more just and equitable laws and policies. However, I believe that the statement’s most important point—and the one that best represents the Lutheran convictions undergirding it—is its call for a change in mindset.

The social statement describes this change as “a transformed mindset, one that counteracts the logic equating more punitive measures with more just ones.” This mindset “challenges current undertones of vengeance, violence and racism and permits everyone in the criminal justice system to be seen as members of human communities, created in the image of God and worthy of appropriate and compassionate response.”

As faithful Christians, we want to create systems that treat people with human dignity even while holding them accountable for their crimes.

As Lutherans, we know that all have sinned and fallen short of the grace of God: all of us are sinners and unworthy on our own of God’s grace and mercy. At the same time, all of us are created good by God—beloved children of God who have infinite worth in God’s sight. This means that, as faithful Christians, we want to create systems that treat people with human dignity even while holding them accountable for their crimes. As faithful Christians, we want the families of those who are incarcerated to be cared for and supported. As faithful Christians, we want those responsible for enforcing the law to be safe and respected.

The more we move away from systems steeped in violence, vengeance and vitriol, the more we can live into the kind of community God is calling us to embody, that the Spirit is creating among us even now.

ELCA members have varied experiences with the criminal justice system. You may be the victim of a crime or the perpetrator; you may be a lawyer or a prison guard; you may be a victims’ advocate or a law enforcement officer; or you may have someone in your family or congregation who fits one of those categories.

Regardless, “The Church and Criminal Justice” calls upon all members of this church, “through steadfast prayer, discernment, Christian education, ministry efforts and public action to share the gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ as they hear the cries, offer hospitality, accompany and advocate on behalf of those whose lives are caught up in or committed in service to the criminal justice system.” We do this not because we support one political party or another, or because this or that pundit tells us to, but because we believe in Jesus Christ and our faith in him calls us to witness to God’s grace, love and mercy for all, no exceptions.

Sept. 28, 16th Sunday After Pentecost
10 a.m. Sunday Worship

Announcements

  • Fellowship: Join us after worship for coffee and conversation.
  • The Way Ministry: While Pastor Clay works with the city to identify options for feeding and ministering to the unhoused, Zion’s is welcoming them to use the fenced lower yard for this ministry. For the foreseeable future they will gather there each Sunday at 1 p.m.
  • Children’s Choir: Children’s Choir resumes at 2 p.m. each Sunday, through Nov. 30, in the Fellowship Hall.
  • Weekly Studies Resume: Beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, (repeated at 12:30 on Saturday, Sept. 27), Pastor Lisa will lead a Study entitled By What Authority: Rethinking Early Christian History. Presented in a video and study guide format (no books required), the sessions give participants a chance to see how the drama of the early church affects our lives of faith today.
  • 5-Loaves: We will deliver meals for 5-Loaves next Saturday, Sept. 27. If you can help with meal preparations on Friday, or with deliveries on Saturday, please let Norine Hazen, Terry Watson, or Jo Moss know.
  • Save the Date: Our annual Blessing of the Animals will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, in the fenced lawn adjacent to the Fellowship Hall. Brittany Cook will be drawing caricatures of your pets and would like to get a head start on that project. So, if you would like a picture, please share a photo of your pet with Brittany now and she’ll get started.

E-formation – 16th Sunday After Pentecost, Sept. 28

The gospel this coming Sunday is the well-known parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus. Come to worship to hear what all this story might mean for us, who are rich in God, and who feast sumptuously on the meal of Christ.

Luke 16:19-31

This famous parable of Jesus, written down in the late first century only in Luke, is similar to others from Egypt and among the rabbis. The color purple designated expensive clothing reserved for the upper classes; linen was used for Egyptian undergarments of the rich. The use of the name Lazarus may link this parable with the story in John 11, in which a Lazarus returns from the dead but does not convince Jewish leaders that Jesus is messiah. The rich were expected in lieu of taxes to feed the poor. Rabbinic literature referred to the eschatological banquet as Abraham’s bosom (NRSV, “to be with Abraham”). Hades, not the medieval hell, is the lowest level of the three-tier universe which houses the dead. This parable exemplifies Luke’s focus on the poor and his condemnation of the inappropriate use of wealth. The final line indicates that Luke understands the gospel of salvation is found in what we call the Old Testament.

Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Amos was a farmer who spoke God’s word in elegant Hebrew during the eighth century bce (see more detail in last week’s Lectionary 25). His message was that since the people were living without care for the poor and were participating in pagan religious practices, God would punish them. Zion is a poetic name for Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah. Samaria was at Amos’s time in the south of the northern kingdom of Israel, which is here called Joseph (v. 6). Archaeologists have found one such bed with ivory inlays marked with the name of the king of Damascus. The meat of lambs and milk-fed calves is very tender, and since the animal has not served its full purpose, expensive. Amos believes that God will end the kingdom’s political independence as punishment for the people’s sins.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

Written probably in the late first century by a disciple of Paul, the author of the Pastoral Epistle 1 Timothy is concerned about false teachings and the ungodly lives of some members of the church. Although many early believers came from the lower classes, the author addresses the newer situation in which some Christians had wealth. This passage describes a Christian lifestyle that no longer anticipates an imminent eschaton, urges societal contentment, as did one of the virtues in Stoicism, and focuses on economic disparity in the community. The reference to Pontius Pilate seems to connect with John 18:36-37. “The commandment” is the composite of Christian truths. The passage of praise (vv. 15-16) may come from an early Christian hymn. King of kings, a title used by Oriental monarchs, was used by Christians to refer to God.

Zion's Lutheran Church

A Reconciling in Christ Community
zionsluth@gmail.com
719-846-7785