Well today is the second day of Citizens with the Saints the 2012 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s youth gathering.
It has been an interesting two days…
Just before leaving our hotel yesterday to walk to the Lutherdome a brother and sister from our group got the news that their grandfather passed away. We started the night with death and separation. It was not the way either me nor the rest of the group wanted to start our night.
But we made our way to the Lutherdome and was met with a wonderful worship experience. We had several people speak to us about justice and welcoming us to New Orleans. We were told we were gumbo- a wonderful mixture of who we are and the spice we bring to make the beautiful creation of the church. Then Nadia Bolz-Weber took the stage and spoke to us about being welcomed in the body of Christ. How she disliked Christians and the church and didn’t think she would ever be welcomed as a drunk and a drug addict. Who did things that were wrong and was not good. She wondered how she could be so good yet so evil at the same time. She said that the mythical creator that tells us we are lived by the grace of God and accepted as we are is not a unicorn but Lutherans and that is why she is one. She told us that God would use not only the gifts he gave us but the failures we think keep us from him.
Then this morning we went to practice justice. We were to he cleaning up lots in the lower 9th ward the worst hit part of New Orleans. There was a minor set back though as the dumpsters were not there for our projects. While we waited we walked around the neighborhood hearing stories of heart break and sheer will and determination as the people of this community hung to the hope that they would be able to return home. Then about 45 minutes before we were suppose to be done the dumpsters arrived and we were able to clear some debris from lots. It was wonderful to have people honk as they passed to thank us, and to have people tell us how much the appreciated our being here and helping.
Then we went back to the dome and heard stories of Discipleship. What it means to be a disciple and how we can live as disciples. It was a wonderful night of stories of missionaries and how they were called and that we all are called to go and be God in our neighborhoods and communities. The night tonight ended with a moving talk from Shane Claiborne telling us about his life experiences and how we can make the church be what Jesus meant it to be. He ended his talk by telling us a story of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem and how the donkey might have thought all the hype was for him, but it was for Jesus and we are just like the donkey. “We are all the asses that get to carry Jesus in.”
More to come…
aSacredRebel 