Eternal life begins in here and now, says Lutheran bishop

'Your life in the kitchen is your spiritual life,' he tells ecumenical mission

- WCR photo by Ramon Gonzalez Participants in the Strathcona County ecumenical mission listen eagerly to Lutheran Bishop Telmor Sartison.

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Ardrossan

Paul's letter to the Romans calls us to work for peace and justice and to love our neighbour as ourselves, said a retired Lutheran bishop.

Paul calls on us to "hate evil and to overcome evil with goodness," Bishop Telmor Sartison said at an Oct. 23 Bible study that was part of the 18th annual Strathcona County ecumenical mission.

In Romans 6:23, Paul says that God's gift is "eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord," said Sartison, retired national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

"But when you think eternal life, don't just think after you are dead.

"Eternal life is now. We are living it. So eternal life is just not something we get when we die, although we get that bonus when we die. But eternal life is what you are doing now with your life, that's it."

The Oct. 21-24 ecumenical mission consisted of 10 sessions on Scripture hosted by different churches in the Sherwood Park area. Sartison, 70, led all 10 sessions. Being the People of God was the overall theme of the mission. The Oct. 23 Bible study at Ardrossan United Church drew about 40 people from various Christian churches.

Give back to God

During the session, Sartison touched on different parts of the Book of Romans, describing the text as perhaps the clearest Gospel in the New Testament.

In Romans 12:1, Paul implores the Romans to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God.

Bishop Telmor Sartison

"This is important to think about," he reflected. "We all are different. We all have different gifts. We think differently; we react differently. Give God those differences."

He urged his audience not to try to be like their neighbour or a person they wished they were like.

"Just give back to God who you are with your strengths and your weaknesses," he said.

"God wants your body, not just the flesh and blood but the whole of you - your mind, your spirit."

The word "spirit" should not limit our thinking for it is not something that we just do up in our heads, the bishop said. "It's our whole life.

"Your life in the kitchen is your spiritual life; your life in the garage is your spiritual life; your life in the car, your life at Church, your life praying, your devotional life is your spiritual life.

"Everything is your spiritual life. Your spiritual life is the life you live and how you live it is the way you express that spirituality."

So presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is our spiritual worship, is the thing we have to do, Sartison said. "It's the giving of your life back to God."

When Paul urges people to resist being put into moulds and calls on them to be transformed by renewing their mind he is suggesting that we have a responsibility to read, to think, to listen, to talk, to inform our intellect and to shape the way we look at life, the Lutheran bishop said.

Take responsibility

"Are we satisfied with the statistics I read earlier (which suggest people on welfare received more 20 years ago than today)? Do we just let that sink in our mind or do we say 'Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that.'

"Maybe there is something I should try and do then. So it suggests that we take some responsibility. Take who you are and exercise your mind with the gifts that God has given you."

We like things to be black and white but Paul sees shades of grey, especially when it comes to who should be accepted into the Church.

In Romans 11:28-29, he says the Jews, judged by their response to the Gospel are God's enemies for your sake, but judged by his choice they are dear to him for the sake of the patriarchs.

"So we as Christians sometimes want to say they won't be included and neither will the Muslims. But we don't know about that stuff," Sartison said. Part of Paul's argument is that "God is going to save the Jewish people too" despite their response to the Gospel.

The Gospel is the most important thing in the world, he said. It is the power of God for salvation to all who have faith.

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