FROM THE PASTOR
Connecting Together on the Road
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart…Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. (Hebrews 10:1-3, 12)
Standing on the ridge of the mountain where the Ruhija Seminary, African Arts and Music School is located in Tanzania, one can look down into the valley below. One sees the smoke from cooking fires, the lush green of the banana and coffee shambas, clusters of huts, goats, and other signs of a life lived pretty close to subsistence. No electricity, running water, nor major roads are in the near future in this valley. And one can see, criss-crossing the shambas, connecting the lone huts and village clusters, a network of paths cut into the dense foliage. These paths are life itself.
Along these paths midwives travel to deliver babies, mourners travel with comfort for the bereaved, food travels to the market, the hungry and lonely are visited with bread and company, the isolated hut is connected to news and gossip, lovers meet on the path, dusty young feet trudge to school, medicine is brought to the sick, the evangelist arrives at a hut to lead a village Bible study, the pastor brings the Eucharist to the aged and sick, help arrives to pick the harvest, the person dying of aids or malaria receives visitors who hold off the final loneliness.
Standing on the ridge and seeing the roads and paths hacked out of the bush in this valley parish, connecting and re-membering the Body of Christ, gave me a vivid image of our life together at St. Luke’s. “Religion” means literally to connect again, ligament again: “re”= again; “ligione”= connect (ligament). The word for synod is similar, literally “together on the road,” (“syn” “hodos”). In his beautiful book about a rural Lutheran parish, Richard Lischer compares rural roads to the connectedness and community of the perfect love of the Holy Trinity. “As the Father has loved the Son, so have I loved you…” (Note: The book Open Secrets is available in our church library.) It was a profound spiritual experience to gaze over the valley and contemplate the human longing for and holiness of companionship expressed in the myriad roads and pathways forged throughout the valley. It is a profound spiritual experience to contemplate life together in our congregation as a series of roads connecting us to one another as a great cloud of witnesses who follow Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Can I still say that I am a somewhat new pair of eyes? I have been amazed and grateful to observe you conduct a listening season and a Strategic Vision Planning Process with great energy and faithfulness. This vision to Connect again with one another coming out of the pandemic, to connect to our community and world through the Gospel has given us spiritual energy and holy imagination. These past Sundays I have seen us welcome missionaries, connect through outdoor picnic, brunch, coffee and conversation, begin a new season of Sunday School, Confirmation, beautiful music and adult Bible study. God is in the midst of it. Let us hold onto that Vision of Connecting in Christ, let us hold on to one another, let us hold on to God’s generosity, as we face the uncertainties and challenges (including fiscal) of this time of transition.
We are together in Christ on the road.
Pastor Stephen Bouman
