Below are excerpts from a talk that I gave today at my home church about my upcoming year of service in South Africa with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program in South Africa. In the past several weeks you as a congregation have been learning about the “what’s” of my upcoming year in mission. I will be serving with the ELCA in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in a variety of capacities, primarily in ministries addressing HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and democratic empowerment. But what I would like to share with you today are the “why’s,” why I have come to this moment in time, on the verge of something completely new.
Last Sunday at UniLu, the community that I have called home during my years at Boston University, Pastor Don Larsen preached on the work of the Holy Spirit. He said that the work of the Spirit is to lead. I would take this several steps further to say that the work of the Spirit is to poke, to prod, and perhaps even to shove a little. I told Don so after the service. In response to this comment he showed me the verse from Mark, which immediately follows Jesus’ baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit. Chapter 1:12 of Mark reads, “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Jesus would then be tempted by the Devil in the desert before beginning his formal ministry. In this passage the word used in the Greek “to drive out” or “to cast out” is ekballow. This same word is used in the Gospels when Jesus casts out demons. Don suggested that in the same way, the Spirit is casting me out, driving me to a new place for a spiritual purpose. That is a difficult sentiment with which to grapple, to be driven out, but one with which I resonant deeply.
I go to South Africa to do a difficult thing. I am under no romantic illusions about “finding myself,” but I know that this experience will change me profoundly. I go not only to be an agent of change, but more importantly I go to be changed. Change is difficult, especially for Lutherans as we know. I go to learn to see the work of the church through new eyes: African eyes, developing world eyes. I leave you to grow and have the Spirit grow in me.
I have been contemplating this growth process through the image of a tree, but more specifically a tree and its roots. The growth of a tree happens in two directions, both upward and downward. Often when we consider trees, we think exclusively of the obvious, what is above the ground. I ask you to consider not only a tree’s expression above ground (its trunk, branches, and leaves), but also its expression below ground: its roots. Though often overlooked, the roots of a tree are equally important. They keep the tree literally “grounded,” grounded in the soil whose water and nutrients sustain it.In the same way, I feel grounded in my roots. But my sense of rootedness is changing from a physical understanding to spiritual one. Emanuel and UniLu are my spiritual roots, but it so much easier to be reminded of these roots through physical things. I can see and touch the font in which I was baptized. I can hear the congregation say the prayers and the creed along with me. I can greet and talk face to face with each one of you. But in just a few short weeks all those familiar, comfortable stimuli will fall away. My senses will be bombarded with new sights, sounds, ideas, and emotions. The communities of faith that have nurtured me have ensured that my roots are strong and planted in solid ground.
But roots are only half the story. The second half is yet to come. Growing out of this sense of grounding, of rootedness, I have found the freedom to grow, to branch out, to take the risk of doing a new thing. I have the privilege of giving a year of my life in service, to the development of another community, to accompany that community in its own walk. I invite you to take part in this walk.
