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07/23/2014

Trinity's Midweek Blast for July 23, 2014

Light and Leadership


As I write this week's message, war is being waged in and around Gaza. This land that Pastor Mitri Raheb describes as the place where hope and light were first incarnated is once again consumed by violence, death, grief, and darkness. At the same time, the daily news tells us that it was Russian-armed rebels in the Ukraine who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing all 297 on board. Now we hear that rebels are taking the bodies from the crash site before investigators can arrive. Meanwhile, the Islamic State has ordered every Christian in and around Mosul, Iraq to either convert to Islam or face execution. (I used to spend quite a bit of time in the early 1980s in and around Mosul and fondly remember the fabulous hospitality of its residents.) In addition, scientists now predict that the sea level on the North Carolina coast will rise 3.8 feet by 2100.

In the midst of all this news, a new crop of students is immersed in intensive summer Greek on the Trinity campus. Most of our recent graduates are receiving news of coming interviews and potential calls. Many ordinations have already happened and more are on the horizon. It is puzzling why there is little or no news for some. Some of our very finest are awaiting news of any kind.

Monday in chapel we sang the 3rd Song of Isaiah as a part of an Anglican version of Morning Prayer:

Rise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, and God's glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open; by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation, and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

So what does it mean for us to be in the business of forming leaders in the midst of today's news? Can we sing such a canticle with integrity? I believe we can, not because we will one day figure out how to get along with each other, but because we have a great God who keeps promises.

Ten days ago I had the privilege of preaching at the ordination of Sean Barrett at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Centerville (Dayton), Ohio. Sean chose as his Gospel text John 3:1-17. The text speaks of a time of darkness when Nicodemus comes to Jesus asking faith-seeking questions. It is in the exchange that we hear these words:

For God so loved the world that God gave the only Son
so that whoever believes in the Son may not perish but may have eternal life.

If "eternal life" has something to do with going to heaven after one dies, then this verse has little to say to us except for the hope of one day being in a "better place." But if "eternal life" means a whole new way of living - life on a higher plane right here and right now in this world that God so loves - because we believe Jesus and his true way of life, then we have something that speaks to leadership formation. We are to bear the light. The light to which the prophetic poet says nations will stream and which will enlighten every darkness is to be carried by us. It is not another set of tactics, strategies, or a new plan that can heal this world. It is God who infuses us with light and a vision for what is possible. It all reminds me of the hymn written by Dan Schutte, for which Isaiah 6 served as inspiration:

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord.
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

In the abiding hope of the empty tomb,

Rick Barger, '89
President
Trinity Lutheran Seminary

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