It's not the Same-old Same-old
The Rev. Mark Sherwindt, Pastor
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Advent 1: December 2-3, 2006
The New Church Year begins. It's Advent. We have entered the year of St. Luke, whose gospel will guide us through the seasons of Advent and Christmas, and all the way through Epiphany, Lent and Easter, continuing on through summer and fall, past Thanks-giving and on to the last Sunday of the Church Year, Christ the King Sunday. In addition to our turning the page of the liturgical calendar, our Synod also turned the page on a new chapter in our life and elected a new bishop - Elizabeth Eaton - on the fifth ballot, who will now serve for a term of six-and-one-half years through June of 2013. You know, it's easy to have the feeling that life is pretty much the same-old same-old, with today and tomorrow remaining much like it was yesterday. That's how I felt when yesterday's balloting began. But then on the third ballot Elizabeth Eaton drew to a tie with the fifty-something men in the race. On the fourth ballot she took the lead, which led to her victory on the fifth and final ballot. Imagine that, a woman elected bishop in northeast Ohio and not from Cleveland and married to an Episcopalian priest!
Bishop-elect Eaton has served for the past twenty-five years as a parish pastor in Ohio, the last 15 years at Messiah Lutheran Church in Ashtabula, snow-bound Ashtabula. Let me tell you a little about her. She was Co-founder and President of Imagine Ashtabula, a grass-roots community-building project, and alongside that it was four years as co-chair of the Ashtabula Area City Schools Bond Issue and Levy campaigns. I must admit that it was a shocker, when Jim and Elaine Fidler, our voting delegates, called me while I was racing down I-77 to get to our 5:00 p.m. service on Saturday with the final results. By a vote of 281 to 230 the Northeastern Ohio Synod removed yet another glass-ceiling, and said yes to a community-organizing, justice-seeking, bright, funny, and gifted woman. It's not the same-old same-old. We're living in a world that's changing faster than many might like, and northeast Ohio is right there in the mix. Like it or not, tomorrow is not going to be pretty much like it was yesterday. And, let me tell you, that's what we're going to discover as we enter the year of Luke.
Luke's Gospel has long been appreciated for being a Gospel that was well ahead of its time in lifting up the role of women. In truth, it has nothing to do with being ahead of its time, and everything to do with being faithful to Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God. His was a vision where outsiders are accorded special status, where those usually found on the underside of life's lottery of access and opportunity are embraced by God's favor, and made first-class citizens in the household of faith and the kingdom of God. Nowhere is that more evident than with the story of Mary and the text identified as the Magnificat. Listen to its words: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor upon the lowliness of his servant. From now all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One of Israel has done great things for me, and holy is his name. He has shown the strength of his arm by scattering the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. Mary's Song has all the contrasts that characterize the revolutionary freshness of Jesus' upside-down priorities. The weak, those of low degree, the outcast, those regarded with disdain and suspicion: these are the ones who are singled out for blessing in Luke's version of Jesus' gospel. These are the ones who are called into service, chosen to sit at the table and join in the work and the fellowship of his community of disciples.
What a great way to announce the arrival of the year of Luke, by electing a woman to fill the role of bishop as a sign that the Kingdom has come to northeast Ohio. It's not just Mary, and it's not only women who help Luke to develop the theme. It's Zacchaeus, the Good Samaritan, tax-collectors and sinners, and that woman from the city, who was a sinner, singled out on the day that Jesus entered the home of a Pharisee because she bathed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then anointed them with oil. It's not going to be the same-old same-old in Luke. That's what Jesus announced with his Inaugural Address in Luke 4: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim that this is the year of the Lord's favor.' He then rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and then declared, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing.' Things are going to be different starting today! It's not going to be the same-old same-old. That's the Good News of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of St. Luke.
And then there's that Inaugural Sermon in Luke 6, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, which Jesus delivers from the plain in Luke, with the same revolutionary freshness that makes it clear that something very different and radically new has arrived with the ministry of Jesus. Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom. Blessed are the hungry, for they will be filled now. Blessed are you when the in-crowd excludes you, ridicules you, reviles you horribly. Rejoice, be glad, leap for joy; for surely your reward is great in heaven. How's that for a world of contrasts, where those on the outside looking in are singled out for special status, embraced by God's favor with the arrival of God's kingdom.
I'll be honest with you. I had a different sermon in mind when I was preparing for today's worship. In fact, I had a different sermon prepared and ready to go before the fifth and final ballot in yesterday's elections for bishop. I was expecting the same-old same-old. It's become standard procedure in elections for bishop here in the Northeastern Ohio Synod that there is always one woman in the round of three by the time we get through the third ballot. That wasn't new yesterday. There was a woman, Elizabeth Eaton, on the list of three with Jerome Burce and Dave Anderson. What was new was the fact that Elizabeth won! The same-old same-old went out the window, along with yesterday's sermon. Now, to be truthful, I didn't call it the same-old same-old. I drew the contrast between the changes that are implied when we say a New Year has arrived with the elements of continuity we depend on from one year to the next. The same-old same-old: that's bad; but continuity: that's good! That's why I went with Great Is Thy Faithfulness as the Hymn of the Day. God's faithfulness is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God's faithfulness is the Rock that keeps us grounded and anchored when everything else is changing and in flux. God's faithfulness is the continuity we can always count on, trust in, relax with, and lean on. In choosing the Closing Hymn, I thought I would connect God's promise to be faithful with our call to be steadfast. Again, the common thread is continuity, focusing on the things that stay the same, lifting up the blessings of knowing that in some very important respects tomorrow is going to be pretty much the same as today and yesterday. But, as it turned out, that's not what Elizabeth's election as bishop proclaimed; and what is more, that's not what the Gospel of Luke proclaims.
We've entered a new era. A new day has dawned, and with it comes fresh challenges, new opportunities, and some revolutionary changes. Page 24 in this thick booklet of Pre-Assembly materials contained Elizabeth's answer to the question of priorities if elected bishop. Her response listed three priorities, the first being to strengthen Lutheran identity. Lutherans have a distinctive voice. Our doctrine of justification by grace and our theology of the cross are desperately needed in a culture that glorifies success. We are not generic Protestants. If we don't know who we are and what we believe we won't be heard. Secondly, every congregation must see itself as a mission station. We are all missionaries now and the mission field is not overseas but here in our neighborhoods. There are thousands of people in northeast Ohio who have never heard the Jesus story. Our congregations must be equipped and willing to share the gospel. Finally, we have to remember who we work for. We all work for God and we're all in this together. We need each other to do God's work.
Well, maybe those two hymns - Great Is Thy Faithfulness and Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word offer Good News and a timely message even when the emphasis becomes welcoming the changes that come with a new day, a new era, and a new year. I love singing about God's great faithfulness. But I also love the prayer we lift up with our closer. Lord, keep us steadfast in your word. Curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from your Son, and bring to naught all he has done. This hymn was not written by a secure bureaucrat just trying to survive with the same-old same-old. This hymn was penned by Martin Luther, the wild boar let loose in the Lord's vineyard, the German bull advocating change and renewal in the china shop of the church catholic. Verse two continues the prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known. For you are Lord of lords alone. Defend your holy church, that we may sing your praise triumphantly. The reform Luther invited and poured his life into brought some good things to Christ's church, making us stronger, better focused on the right priorities, and more faithful to God's call and Christ's mission. That is the desired goal today as we welcome a new year with Advent, a new bishop with Pastor Elizabeth Eaton, and a new look at learning what it means to live in Jesus' Name. Amen