09:31
February 16, 2024
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)
Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Mohammed Abu Lebda, a poet and translator from Rafah.
This segment aired on February 16, 2024.
From Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA
Dear church,
As Lutherans, we are accustomed to holding tension between two truths. Thus the ELCA denounces the egregious acts of Hamas, acts that have led to unspeakable loss of life and hope. At the same time the ELCA denounces the indiscriminate retaliation of Israel against the Palestinian people, both Christian and Muslim.
For the past week we have borne witness to the horrors of the escalating crisis between Israel and Hamas. We also watch a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel blocks food, water, fuel and medical supplies and as airstrikes continue to cause unbearable civilian casualties ahead of a just-announced ground assault. We see Israelis and families around the world in the agonizing wait for word about the fate of loved ones killed or taken hostage by Hamas. We are in anguish, grieving and praying for all people who are living in trauma, fear and uncertainty.
Among us are Palestinian Lutherans who are fearful for their families, their communities and their homeland. In our communities we have Jewish and Muslim neighbors, who are also facing the horrors of this crisis and its impact on their loved ones.
It is difficult to find words that suffice in the complexity of this moment, and in the web of relationships that bind us together, as church, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and our interreligious partners. Yet God has called us to be a people who stand with others amid suffering.
We must also call a thing a thing. The power exerted against all Palestinian people — through the occupation, the expansion of settlements and the escalating violence — must be called out as a root cause of what we are witnessing. We are committed to our long-standing accompaniment of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.
The God who liberates us calls us to be a liberating witness. May it be so.
In Christ,
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Find updated resources and statements from the ELCA here.
Join our partner Churches for Middle East Peace for prayer every Wednesday from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Eastern time. Register here.
Call your lawmakers today through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and urge them to take action to de-escalate the conflict and uphold unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza. Find your member of Congress at GovTrack.
Support Lutheran Disaster Response here.
After Friday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, at our home we sat at the breakfast table long after our meal discussing and sharing, reading Facebook posts, wondering where we were headed. Our neighbor came back from a rally at the County Administration Building, visibly upset. The country is in turmoil. As I pondered, not about the need to say something, but what to say…something pastoral, not to throw more fire on the flames as we have seen done recently, my wife came across these comments from her District Superintendent of the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Sandy Olewine. Her words moved me in the depths of my spirit - and I shared them with the congregation today. Several people have asked for a copy - and here it is.
I was at the Padres game on Friday night (they lost to the Phillies, 4-3), when I glanced at my phone and saw a message from the Florida Bahamas Synod: William “Bill” Horne, who had served that Synod as its Vice President, and who had gone on to serve on the ELCA Church Council and then in 2016, to be elected to the position of Vice President - the highest position for a lay person in the ELCA - died of a heart attack last weekend, three weeks before his scheduled retirement.
The video that follows is titled: MASKS. We all like to make a good impression, but when it comes to God and the church, honesty is the best policy.
This is the 2011 Easter video of www.centralchristian.com. with thanks!
I don’t have the exact numbers at hand, but I am fairly certain that there hasn’t been a time since 1980 when the percentage of white mainline Protestants in the general population was HIGHER than the percentage of white evangelicals. That’s at least four decades - maybe longer. But this is a genuine shift …toward mainline Protestantism.
In today’s Gospel text (Mark 4:26-34), Jesus tells us about the mustard seed and how it grows into a bush that all the birds can find shade in. How is God calling us to grow - that we would be the ones who help others find their support, their “shade” - their place of refuge? We can compare it to the Ezekiel text - also finding birds who have their place to sit in the shade - which comes after a time of extreme difficulty but eventually turns into a promised blessing. We have also been through difficult times - but God will send times of blessing - and strengthen us to be a blessing to others! God’s peace - Pastor Andreas+
Watch the video to see the mustard seed’s growth happen in time lapse!
Our Gospel text in Mark 3 - really just the beginning of the Gospel, has Jesus already in hot water with the community, the religious authorities, and even his own family. Why? What brought on the opposition so quickly? Jesus is offering a new way to be the gathered community, a new way of saying you are welcome here. It is all about hospitality.
I found this YouTube on David Lose’ s blog [In the Meantime…] from a few years back - it was put out by a congregation that wanted to share its invitation to all people. I wonder if we could make it ours. Maybe you want to share this with others in the weeks ahead? Let me know what responses you get!
Pastor Andreas+
