Homily of Bishop Margaret Payne of the New England Synod of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

On the Occasion of the Fifth Anniversary of “The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification”

Sunday, October 31, 2004 - St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church, Wayland, MA

Last week-end, I traveled to Maine to take part in an ecumenical celebration. I left in the evening when it was already dark, and all the night animals were out and moving, as well as the night highway construction crews. Driving along one stretch of road, I could see, far ahead of me, one of those flashing signs that say with lighted messages anything that people program them to say,  and the first message that the sign had for me as I got closer to it was:

NIGHT PAVING - TONIGHT! - then that flashed off, and the next message was:

SLOW DOWN, and then,

FINES DOUBLED IN WORK AREAS, and then

GO RED SOX.

And I laughed out loud, not only because I am a Red Sox Fan, and not only because I was delighted that a little bit of passion had jumped out at me from an unsuspected source, but because it reminded me of the unity that I enjoy with other Sox fans - just at a moment when I was all by myself, driving down a dark road and feeling lonely.

Just imagine if we could be as excited about the unity of the church, as we are about being fans of our favorite sports team.

Just imagine if we felt truly passionate about ecumenical dialogues and decrees, and if the thought of our unity became a joy and consolation that brought comfort to us on all of the dark roads that we travel.

The support for ecumenism that is a gift from the Second Vatican Council, and the spirit of agreement about justification that was expressed in the Joint Declaration, truly are lights in the darkness of all the divisions that our church suffers.

One of the things that has struck me about the Joint Declaration is that it is founded not in a utopian vision of a warm and fuzzy relationship between two groups but in a joint listening and attention to scripture -   scripture such as we hear this afternoon - passionate scripture - the passion of St.Paul, who had his life turned upside down by Jesus, the passion of a God who loved the whole world so much, that he sent his Son to die for us.

Listen to what one part of the Joint Declaration says:

The Lutheran Churches and the Roman Catholic Church have together listened to the good news proclaimed in Holy Scripture. This common listening together with the theological conversations of recent years, has led to a shared understanding of justification.

Perhaps the deepest lesson and greatest hope of this “milestone”, as the Pope, the Holy Father calls this agreement that we celebrate today - is that we need to listen to scripture together more often, and make space for the Holy Spirit to move us in the way that God wants us to go.

Remember the story of the walk to Emmaus in the 24^th chapter of Luke? Two people were walking seven miles to Emmaus after the crucifixion of Christ, and they were talking about all that had happened, and Jesus joined them on their journey and began talking to them, but they didn’t recognize him.

During that journey, he explained many things to them about God’s will for humanity, and later they remembered, that when they were walking with him -

‘their hearts burned within them.’

There w:s a passion stirred in them by walking with Jesus, even when they had not yet recognized him.

There is always the possibility of passion when we journey in the ways and in the company of Jesus and those who love him -- and when we open our hearts to that possibility, we will be likely to journey the way that Jesus wants us to go.

Today we celebrate one leg of an ecumenical journey - which I deeply believe and trust is the way that   the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - wants us to go.

Jesus prayed before his death a prayer that continues to ring through the centuries - it was a prayer for the unity of all those who believe that we are justified by our faith, as a gift, and not by any works - we are justified by our faith in Jesus as our Savior.

He prayed to the Father on behalf of all Christians, of all times and all places -

“…on behalf of those who will believe in me…that they may all be one…

As you Father, are in me, and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that they world may believe that you have sent me.”

Notice those two little words :   So that.

Our efforts toward unity are not so that we can have the joys and comfort that unity brings, but  “so that” the world may believe. We work toward Christian unity so that the power of the Gospel may be increased in the world.

Recently Walter Cardinal Kasper, who is the primary ecumenical representative for Pope John Paul II    visited with the Conference of Bishops of the ELCA - to bring greetings and to speak with us about the ecumenical enterprise that we share. One of the things he talked about was the importance of our “common witness” to the highly secularized world in which we all live.

The more deeply we can commit to the joint mission that we share in Christ Jesus, and the more ways in which we can work together the more our witness will be strengthened to meet the challenges of a pluralistic, polarized and peace-deficient world.

Cardinal Kasper also offered a fascinating challenge that, for me, has become a question that requires deep pondering, lots of help from my friends, and the wisdom of God.

Here is the challenge:  In the 16^th century, the burden of sin and guilt was a huge problem -- Luther suffered enormously from awareness of his inadequacies, and the fear of God’s judgment.

The whole question of justification - which was so central for him, and whichwas at the heart of the division our churches suffered at that time in history does not now have the ‘passion’ that it had then - it is not the primary existential problem that most people suffer today.

People who live today are much more likely to struggle with the question of whether God exists at all and, if so, what meaning does God provide in a world that teeters on the brink of self-destruction, and is filled with people who have no hope?

For many people, it is a “ho-hum” kind of thing that Lutherans and Roman Catholics have decided to agree about justification - and it will continue to be that way unless that agreement can lead us into the contemporary questions and fears that plague our world, and allow us to apply our new partnership to the existential problems that exist today and separate people from God.

I believe that the Gospel always calls us to passion and to transformation, both personal and institutional. And I believe that this agreement that we share and celebrate today is a companion on our ecumenical journey that can cause our hearts to burn within us, and can transform the international Christian community.

The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was signed in Augsbury, Germany on a warm day.

The event began with a worship service in the cathedral of Augsburg where people gathered to pray, sing and worship together - as we are doing today - a common worship, in both of its meanings - common, as in shared, and common, as in holy.

Then there was a procession, behind the cross, through the streets of the town cheered on by many people, but also protested by many people who scattered pamphlets opposing this agreement throughout the same streets.

The procession came to St. Anna’s Church for more worship and a remembrance of baptism, and then the signing began, with the final signatures of Dr. Ismael Noko, of the Lutheran World Federation and Cardinal Kasper of the Roman Catholic Church. In the rehearsal, on the previous day, they had followed the instructions that had been given to them - get up, go to the table, sit down, take your pens, sign the document, get up and go back to your original seats.

But here is what happened on the day of the actual signing - after signing the document, Dr. Noko and Cardinal Kasper stood up and embraced one another warmly. And the contained emotion of the day became passion. When asked afterward why they did that, Dr. Noko said: When Cardinal Kasper and I saw each other, we could not help ourselves……we could not help ourselves.

What if that were the ongoing feeling and motivation for our ecumenical work -- that we simply cannot help but move into an embrace with one another?

That sounds a lot like the work of the Holy Spirit to me, and the movement toward the fulfillment of the prayer of Jesus - that all believers in Christ may be one. We embrace in joy for the work that has already been accomplished and we embrace for the journey into future agreements -- walking together, not separately, as we tackle the challenge of discovering more ways to agree and work together.

May God embrace all of us in the journey of life and Christian partnership, and may we prove faithful to the task of realizing the unity that God has placed in our hands.

Amen.

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