Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

-- Colossians 3:14-15
I was in Minneapolis last week from Wednesday through Friday as a visitor observing the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. It was also available to watch on the internet and I watched much of it that way before that and on the last day, Saturday.
The lazy part of me that just wants everything to be easy and smooth (which is a big part of me) really wishes that I could have been able to just say something during the announcements about how exciting it was that the Assembly passed an agreement with the Methodists. Now we can hold joint communion services with the Methodists. In small towns and areas where there may be clergy shortages, a Lutheran congregation can call a Methodist pastor if there's not a Lutheran available and vice versa. I know there are a number of people in this congregation who come from Methodist backgrounds so you will find that exciting.
I wish I could just tell you about the Lutheran Malaria Initiative, an effort of all the Lutheran churches to combat Malaria a preventable and treatable disease that kills more than one million people a year.
Of course that exciting news has been overshadowing by other actions at the ELCA, that while difficult and potentially divisive, was also important.
There was a sexuality statement passed that laid the groundwork for discussing such matters as a community which does not agree. A two thirds majority was required for passing this statement and it passed by exactly two thirds. The statement was available and we did discuss it in our adult Bible Study.
Some news reports were that this study approved gay marriage. That is not true. I think what was controversial and difficult for some people about the study was that it acknowledged that we do not agree as a church body on the issue of homosexuality. Some people would have liked a very clear statement about this is right and this is wrong. But Lutheran social statements have never been the kinds of statements that have told people what they should think about social issues. They have always been statements that laid the foundation for discussion, outlined the different perspectives and recognized the ambiguities.
The ELCA is not like other churches which claim to speak for all its members when it comes to social issues.
Lutherans have always claimed that the basis for our unity is in Word and Sacrament. We are bound together by our faith in Christ, not our opinions on politics or social issues. In many ways it would certainly be easier if we all agreed on these matters. But we have been called to a great challenge. We are committed to love one another in Christ EVEN when we disagree on such emotionally charged and controversial issues such as homosexuality.
Which brings me to the even more controversial votes at the Churchwide assembly which are the policy recommendations on Ministry. Because they were policy recommendations, they did not require a 2/3 vote. No policy change in the ELCA has ever been passed with a 2/3 vote. The vote to ordain women passed with a 57% margin. There were two separate motions to change the rules and require a 2/3 motion. One motion was made on Monday when the rules were being voted on and one was made just before the policy resolutions were introduced. Both those motions were voted down.
This was the first motion which passed by a 77% margin:
RESOLVED, that in the implementation of any resolutions on ministry policies, the ELCA commit itself to bear one another's burdens, love the neighbor, and respect the bound consciences of all.
This was, I think, the most important motion. The ELCA has committed itself to bear one another's burdens, love our neighbor and respect the bound conscience of all. I think this is much harder, but much more Christ-like resolve than to do what historically Lutherans have done, which is, if we connot agree we will start a bunch of new churches made up only of people with whom we agree. This is why at one time, Lutherans were made up of several synods and denominations. But then Lutherans decided we didn’t like being divided up and resolved to come together. Now we are realizing just how hard it can be to live and work together with our Christian brothers and sisters with whom we disagree. With this vote, the assembly committed itself to figuring out how to do that.
What I think is important to remember is that everything else that the assembly voted on was with that in mind.
This was the second resolution.
RESOLVED, that the ELCA commit itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships."
The important phrase here is to allow congregations that CHOOSE TO DO SO. A few months ago, the Salem Council made it a policy that we would only allow weddings at this church between one man and one woman. This resolution does not impact our policy whatsoever. Our bound conscience to not allow same sex marriages will be respected. However, other congregations who choose to recognize same sex unions will be able to do so.
The following is probably the most controversial of the resolutions:
RESOLVED, that the ELCA commit itself to finding a way for people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church."

What this means is that congregations in the ELCA who CHOOSE to, will be able to call pastors who are in same sex committed relationships. They will be ABLE to if they CHOOSE. They will not be required to.
I'm not too going to read the entire wording of the 4th resolution because it's very long and convoluted, but it's the practical implications of implementing these resolutions but it does specifically say that we are committed to respect the conviction of members who believe that the ELCA should not call or roster people in committed same-gender relationships.
So what does all this mean?
I want to tell a story. It is a story about a family. It is a large family spread across the country. But they are a family who get together and do things together in the name of the family. One day the word spread among the family members that Joe who was gay, was going to marry Tom.
Now part of the family was very happy and excited for Joe and Tom and excitedly planned the wedding and looked forward to the celebration. Another part of the family was appalled by the idea of such a wedding. They loved Joe. But they could not in good conscience go to the wedding or support that relationship.
Now both sides of this family have a choice. The family members who do not support Joe and his wedding can separate themselves from those family members who do. OR they can graciously decline to attend the wedding but continue to be part of the family and gather with them at family gatherings. The other side of the family has a choice as well. They can condemn and refuse to have anything to do with the family members who do not support Joe's wedding. Or they do can respect their decision and continue to be part of the family and gather with them at family gatherings.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we ARE that family. I will not be surprised if some suggest to you or it occurs to you that it is time to leave the family. As your pastor, as someone who loves the whole family which includes this congregation but also the whole ELCA, I call you to the more difficult task of to bearing one another's burdens, loving your neighbor, respecting the bound consciences of all and sticking with your family, differences and all
Personally, the only actions the ELCA would take that would cause me to contemplate leaving would be if it were to question the divine and saving nature of Christ and the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. The questions we are discussing now are human questions about how we interpret and live out God’s Word in our lives. Throughout history faithful Christians have disagreed on matters of interpretation and living out our faith and to me the real test is not who is right or wrong on these issues, but how do we learn to put our faith in Christ above all and learn to work together to proclaim the good news of God’s love forgiveness and acceptance of all people through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
I hope we will continue to pray and listen to one another in a spirit of love and gentleness. But above all do not fear, for we are all held in the love and good purposes of God. I am not worried about the Church because it belongs to Christ and Christ keeps us one in his holy church through the Holy Spirit. In the words of our bishop Mark Hanson,
We meet one another finally, not in our agreements or our disagreements, but at the foot of the cross -- where God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in Christ.

Pastor Joelle

Pastoral Response of the Presiding Bishop
2009 Churchwide Assembly: Pastoral Response of the Presiding Bishop
Page 1
Pastoral Response Following the Ministry Policies Decision
Made to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly
by Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson
August 21, 2009
After the ministry policies vote on Friday evening, Presiding
Bishop Mark S. Hanson delivered the following message:
I want to share some words. As one you have called to serve
as pastor of this church, I have been standing here thinking about
my 23 years as a parish pastor and how differently I would go
into various contexts. Gathering with a family or a group of
people who had just experienced loss, or who perhaps were
wondering if they still belonged, or in fact felt deeply that ones
to whom they belong had been severed from them, I would
probably turn to words such as Romans 8:
Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes,
who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who
indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the
love of Christ? [. . .] For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
(Romans 8:34–35, 38–39).
But then I thought, what if I were going into a family, a
group, or a community that had always wondered if they
belonged, and suddenly now had received a clear affirmation that
they belonged? All of the wondering about the dividing walls
and feelings of separation seem to have dropped away. That
would be a very different conversation. I would probably read
to them out of Ephesians:
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he
is our peace; in his flesh, he has made both groups into
one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the
hostility between us. [. . .] In him, the whole structure
is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the
Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually
into a dwelling place for God (Ephesians 2:13–14,
21–22).
But then I thought, what if those two groups were together,
but also in their midst were those who had neither experienced
loss nor the feeling of the dividing wall of separation coming
down, but were worried whether all that had occurred might
sever the unity that is ours in Christ, and might be wondering if
their actions might have contributed to reconciliation or
separation? If all those people were together in a room, I would
read from Colossians:
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if
anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each
other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also
must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which
indeed you were called in the one body. And be
thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with
gratitude in your hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word
or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him
(Colossians 3:12–17).
That passage gives invitation and expectation that those
deeply disappointed today will have the expectation and the
freedom to continue to admonish and to teach in this church.
And so, too, those who have experienced reconciliation today are
called to humility. You are called to clothe yourselves with love.
But we are all called to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts,
remembering again and again that we are called in the one body.
I will invite you tomorrow afternoon into important, thoughtful,
prayerful conversations about what all of this means for our life
together. But what is absolutely important for me is that we have
the conversation together.
I ended my oral report with these words: “We finally meet
one another not in our agreements or our disagreements, but at
the foot of the cross, where God is faithful, where Christ is
present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we
are one in Christ.”
Let us pray. Oh, God, gracious and holy, mysterious and
merciful, we meet this day at the foot of the cross, and there we
kneel in gratitude and awe that you have loved us so much that
you would give the life of your son so that we might have life in
his name. Send your Spirit this night, the Spirit of the risen
Christ that has been breathed into us. May it calm us. May your
Spirit unite us. May it continue to gather us. In Jesus’ name,
AMEN.