“Speak the Truth in Love” Ephesians 4:15

Among the items listed for the duties of pastors in the Constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is this one: 

·          [Shall] speak publicly to the world in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, calling for justice and proclaiming God's love for the world.

 It’s the longest duty on the list and comes after others that call for Pastors to serve the world around them.

There are times and places the demand that an ordained Pastor focus attention on this particular duty.  I believe we are at a time and place that demand my attention to this pastoral duty.  

I do so because I believe that the congregations of Neighbors in Christ, Sibley County, of the State of Minnesota are all in “trying time”—a time of great uncertainty for all and for some of anxiety, anger and sadness.

Of course, this, too, shall pass—but we are now it.

As your pastor, I urge all of us to pray more that God’s Good Will will be done on Earth as it in Heaven.

I also urge you to join me in focusing on our Baptismal Call to “to proclaim the good news of Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”

Of course, I understand that we, as persons of faith, may differ in our understandings of precisely how to do the above.  In fact, it is the great difference of understandings among all of us in Minnesota of how to “strive for justice” that makes this such a trying time.

In this message, I am providing a link to a message from the six ELCA Bishops of Minnesota:

https://mpls-synod.org/news/a-letter-from-the-bishops-in-minnesota/

I am also providing a link to a message from Bishop Dee Pederson of our Southwestern Minnesota Synod.

https://swmnelca.org/2026/01/15/synod-bishop-dee-pederson-a-pastoral-letter/

I’ll conclude my own message by suggesting how we may address one another amidst differing understandings of how to strive for justice.  I’ll do so by offering a quick reflection on the verse from Ephesians—"Speak the Truth in Love.”

My reflection is this: Whenever you feel that you should “Speak the Truth” about how to “strive for justice—or about anything else related to the trying times that we are in— ask yourself, “Can I speak this Truth in Love?”  If you determine that you cannot speak this Truth in Love, then ask yourself—and prayerfully ask God—“Is the Truth that I wish to speak really the Truth?”

May God grant us faith and wisdoms in these times—and in all times.

Pastor Leonard Hummel