The Upload
Posted on Jun 17, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
All this week I have continued to be haunted by the massacre that took place in Orlando this past Sunday morning. Below is a letter that was sent out from our Bishop, Roger Gustafson that is a call to action.
“Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Central States Synod,
Yet one more lethal act of hatred resulting in another slaughter of the innocents has grabbed our attention and left us speechless, wondering what it will take for this madness to end. In the wake of the horrific killings at Pulse in Orlando, we remember that as people who live in a particular way in this world – as followers of Jesus Christ – we first turn to the one who endured the agony of the cross and who, through that cross, arose to new life and offers that new life to all. This is the One whose Spirit walks with us now, praying for us when, because of grief or anger or despair, we cannot find the words ourselves.
So I encourage us all: Pray for all of those whose lives have been devastated by this savagery. Pray for the first responders who courageously ended the rampage and the hospital personnel who worked furiously – and are working still – to save the lives of the wounded.
Yes, do pray. But we are bound to do more.
As redeemed people who now live a new life because of Christ’s death and Resurrection;
As believers in a God who alone deserves our complete and ultimate allegiance;
As followers of Christ who declared the hallmark of his followers to be love:
We do not have the right to stay silent.
Ever since the water touched our foreheads amid the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” our lives ceased to be our own. They belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Our lives are secure forever in the care of the Creator of all. Because we are perfectly free in Christ we are at the same time perfectly bound to speak out and act up on behalf of the most vulnerable.
It is for us as people of faith to speak out against our idolatry of guns and the gun industry’s stranglehold on our elected leaders. That stranglehold, which prevents common-sense gun legislation, is killing us. It is for us as people of faith to speak out against intolerance that victimizes our siblings in the LGBTQ community. It is for us as people of faith to stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters against hateful rhetoric that shamefully demonizes and misrepresents them for political gain. I have written letters to our elected leaders, and I encourage you to contact them as well. There is strength in our numbers. Your words need not be eloquent or many, only sincere. Other children of God need them, and they need them now.
Contact information for those who represent the citizens of Kansas and Missouri in Congress can be found by going to www.Senate.gov.
You have been raised to new life in Christ! Please tap into the courage your new life gives you and speak up and confront the forces of death. You have God’s own assurance that the Spirit of the risen Christ will be with you (Luke 21:15). As always, it is a privilege to work with you in the service of the One who makes all things new.
--- Roger Gustafson, Bishop”
I pray each of you has a blessed week and that you might find the courage to speak out and confront these “forces of death.” Have a blessed and holy week!
Shalom,
Pr. Dave