wfn.org | ELCA Assembly Opens with Worship, Sermon by Presiding Bishop

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 17, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY OPENS WITH WORSHIP, SERMON BY PRESIDING BISHOP
99-CWA-06-SH

    DENVER (ELCA) -- Water sustains. We thirst, and water quenches the
thirst. The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America in his sermon for the opening worship of the
1999 Churchwide Assembly talked of water which sustained life then and
now.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is meeting Aug. 16-22 here at the Colorado Convention Center.
There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 ELCA
voting members.  The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ
Known: Hope for a New Century."
     When the wandering Israelites were thirsty, God quenched their
thirst with water from a rock.  Remembering this years later, during the
Festival of Tabernacles, the priests went to the
well of Gihon to draw water, then led a procession of joy with vessels
of water, recalling the life-saving miracle of water coming from the
rock in the wilderness, Anderson said.
     Citing the Gospel of John, the words of Jesus were proclaimed, "Let
anyone who is thirsty come to me!" the bishop said.
      "This was more than an invitation," Anderson said. "It was a
declaration of independence from temple ritual. It said that God would
once again provide refreshment on a journey beyond Israel and into a
wider world. Once again the stone would be struck and water would gush
forth, and that water, says the Gospel, would be the Holy Spirit."
     Jesus draws us with the invitation to "come," Anderson said. Who
can resist that offer?  Thirst is great among the people; and in the
midst of thirst, Jesus offers a sustenance which can fill the gaps and
weaknesses of unfulfilled needs, he said.
     Anderson reminded the assembly of the apostle Paul's description of
two thirsts: fear and weakness.  Paul said fear is a thirst for
confidence, and weakness is a thirst for competence.  Looking to this
assembly, Anderson confessed both fear and weakness.
     As frustrations abound, tempers flare, motives are misunderstood,
and fear is obvious, he said.  As difficult topics, such as economic
life and poverty or homosexuality are discussed, weakness is apparent.
     "Fear and weakness, yes," said Anderson. "I have brought them here
along with my canvas bag and my giant binder."
     Focusing on a lesson from the biblical book of Romans, Anderson
reminded participants that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness" and
that the Spirit keeps us from falling back into fear.
He referred to the Spirit as a "rising tide that lifts and bears us
along." Anderson acknowledged that we are all children of God, and the
Spirit drowns our fears.
     Yet there is a challenge: We have become part of an unending stream
of imperfect people. Jesus Christ has made us into instruments of mercy
and hope for each generation, Anderson said.
      "The Spirit supports us in our weakness," Anderson proclaimed, "by
absorbing our puny efforts into a greater, fuller flood."
     As the ELCA Churchwide Assembly begins, the group comes together in
fear and weakness, recognizing that the Spirit is present.  Let everyone
who is thirsty come, Anderson said.

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