Hong Kong

In September I went to a meeting in Hong Kong. This was a gathering of Lutheran bishops, and seminary presidents, from Hong Kong, East Malaysia, West Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and United States. All of these churches have been, and continue to be involved China ministries. The time together was a time in which all the participants could share openly about their China ministries, their hopes, the goals, the things which have gone well, and things which have not gone so well. It was the first time such a gathering had taken place, and was sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and organized by Rev. Dr. Peter Shen.

I was privileged to give two presentations focusing on the theme of unity and gift sharing based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. In addition to focusing attention on unity and gift sharing, I also lifted up how the church can move forward when threatened by disunity and dissension.

In the two presentations I chose to do two things which I had never done before. First, I chose to use a missiological hermeneutic, asking what the text had to say about God's mission in, to, and for the sake of God's world. Second, I chose to look at the gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12 as gifts given to particular church bodies, and not simply to an individual. What are the gifts which God has given to the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hong Kong, or any other of the churches in the region? How are these gifts to be exercised and shared in common ministry in the region?

The first focus was on God's mission, not on the church's mission. The church's mission is always, and will forever be, secondary -- important, but secondary to, and derivative from God's mission made known in Jesus Christ, a mission in God's world, for the sake of God's world, or better yet, for the sake of God's entire creation. The second focus was on the gift giver. Who gives the gifts -- God. God is the subject of the active verb. The object of God's actions is the people of God. The third focus was on the reason for the gift, which according to St. Paul is the common good - again God's mission.

But, what about dissension and threatened disunity? St. Paul leads the Corinthian congregation, and we in the 21st century up to the answer as he closes 1 Corinthians 12: "I will show you a more excellent way." The entire 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians is a response to how to deal with dissension and threatened disunity.

I was thankful to hear the discussions which followed each of the presentations. I was pleased to hear the risk taking on the part of church and seminary leaders, admitting to their shortcomings, rejoicing in the gifts given, sharing the needs they personally had, and the needs of their churches and institutions. Some of what happened in Hong Kong showed up a week later in a meeting in Hong Kong. But, that's another blog.