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Presiding bishop


By Mark S. Hanson


People of the resurrection O


World waits for messengers of the good news


n the first day of the week after


Jesus was cru- cified, women went to his grave expect- ing to find


death. There was an earthquake (Matthew 28:2) and suddenly everything was differ- ent. A messenger of resurrection told them, “He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said” (6). As they hurried to tell others, Jesus met them (8-9).


An earthquake devastated Haiti in Janu-


ary 2010. Honestly, even before the quake, those going to Haiti would have expected to find poverty, malnutrition, disease and injustice. The power of death in its manifold expressions blinded many from seeing the deep faith, the strong perseverance and the rich culture of the Haitian people. Looking at Haiti today, it is understand- able that one would describe the country on the basis of the piles of rubble left in the aftermath of the earthquake. Some 1 million people still live in tent cities. One cannot deny the death, the destruction, the rubble. Yet I experienced a far different message


As people of the resurrection, let us tell of the Spirit’s work liberating God’s people to live freely by faith in love, serving our neighbors and welcoming the strangers.


in Haiti. The messenger was Joseph Liven- son Lauvanus, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Haiti. As we walked among the ruins and rubble, he stated emphatically: “We will not be defined by rubble but by restoration, for we are a people of the resurrection.”


In Haiti, Jesus


lives. Amid death and destruction, the peo- ple of Haiti sing of God’s steadfast good- ness just as Lutheran


50 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org


seminarian Ben Larson was singing “O Lamb of God, you bear the sin of all the world away” as he died in the rubble. The Haitians are a people of the resurrection, witnessing to how Jesus lives and, in him, God is making all things right, even amid all that is wrong.


Shall we listen to these messengers—Mary Magdalene and Mary, Lau- vanus and Larson—and join our voices to theirs?


There are many voices telling us who cannot be trusted. Let us, how-


ever, sing of the God in whom you can trust, the God who makes promises and keeps them, the God who raised Jesus from the dead, the God who in Christ has made you a new creation. There are voices in the world, in the church, at home and work, loudly bemoaning what is wrong in the world and in the church and saying who is to blame. As people of the resurrection, let us tell of the God who in Jesus is setting the world right, bringing in the new creation, reconciling the world in Christ and sending us as ambassadors of this reconciliation. There are many voices, even our own inner voice, telling us what we cannot do and who we must never be. As people of the resurrection, let us tell of the Spirit’s work liberating God’s people to live freely by faith in love, serving our neighbors and welcoming the stranger. How? Gener- ously, compassionately and joyfully, with our whole lives, with every gift God has given.


Although it may not seem that the world believes that such a message is possible, it is waiting for such messengers to appear. The creation waits with eager longing for the messengers of God’s embodied salvation to appear (Romans 8:19ff), singing of God’s trustworthy goodness, of life in Jesus Christ, of the Spirit’s liberating power. The creation waits with eager longing for messengers announcing, “We will not be defined by rubble but by restoration, for we are a people of the resurrection.” M


A monthly message from the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His email address: bishop@elca.org.


Official notice Pursuant to constitutional provision 12.31. and bylaw 12.31.02. in the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amer- ica, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will convene in the Cypress Ballroom of the Orlando World Center Marriott, 8701 World Center Drive, Orlando, Florida, on Monday, August 15, 2011, at 1:30 p.m. and will adjourn at approximately 12:00 noon on Friday, August 19, 2011. All plenary ses- sions will be held in the Cypress Ballroom. The opening service of worship will be held in the Crystal Ballroom of the


Orlando World Center Marriott on Monday, August 15, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. The following college corporations also will meet, beginning at approximately


4:30 p.m., on Wednesday, August 17, 2011: Luther College (Decorah, Iowa); St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota); and Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa). David D. Swartling, secretary


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