{"id":9964,"date":"2024-09-12T19:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=9964"},"modified":"2024-11-27T16:05:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T16:05:41","slug":"belonging-to-christ-and-to-one-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/12\/belonging-to-christ-and-to-one-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Belonging to Christ and to One Another"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you feel alone sometimes or even much of the time, you are\u2014as the phrase goes\u2014\u201cnot alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the hyperconnectivity that technology offers today, even those of us who belong to vibrant communities in our schools, churches, workplaces, and neighborhoods can experience isolation, loneliness, and even despair. And our experiences of isolation are easily exacerbated by global waves of epidemics, natural disasters, and political division.<\/p>\n<p>This good news is needed more than ever today: In the waters of baptism, Christ claims us and draws us into one body. In the community of Christ\u2019s disciples, we are given an identity that says &#8220;you belong!&#8221; This identity overcomes all isolation and division.<\/p>\n<p>In sharing with you more about our ABIDE practices\u2014Luther Seminary\u2019s distinctive approach to accountability, belonging, inclusion, diversity, and equity\u2014I want to highlight how, as a community rooted in God\u2019s unconditional love for all people, we strive to live into a deep sense of <strong>belonging<\/strong> that begins with <strong>baptism<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Baptism joins us to the living Christ and to each other. Through baptism, God washes away all conventional standards people use to measure or protect value and privilege. Without these conventional standards, we stand humbly before God.<\/p>\n<p>Remembering the source of our belonging can be especially powerful in this season of elections and partisanship. \u201cWords have power,\u201d as Kathryn Schifferdecker, Elva B. Lovell Chair of Old Testament, says in her recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workingpreacher.org\/commentaries\/revised-common-lectionary\/ordinary-24-2\/commentary-on-isaiah-504-9a-23\">Working Preacher blog post on Isaiah 50<\/a>. The question we must keep in mind, she reminds us, is whose power. Schifferdecker encourages us to \u201cstrive to sustain the weary with a word\u201d\u2014God\u2019s word, that is, not our own.<\/p>\n<p>The clarity we gain when we insist on asking \u201cwhose word?\u201d will guide us well beyond seasons of turmoil and calm, war and peace. For Christians, the words we speak about God convey the power of Christ\u2019s claim on us in our baptism. Though we tend to think of baptism as the beginning of a Christian\u2019s journey with Christ, baptism is also God\u2019s final word for us. In baptism, our old selves are put to death and we are given new life. We are sustained by this word and free to strive on behalf of our neighbors, to sustain them with God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n<p>We are not alone in our loneliness and isolation. In Christ\u2019s body, we are not alone in our belonging, drawn into new life where we find our true identity.<\/p>\n<p>Peace,<br \/>\nRobin Steinke<br \/>\nPresident<\/p>\n<p>Read other installments in our Fall 2024 series on Luther Seminary\u2019s commitments to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/14\/abiding-with-one-another\/\">accountability<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/12\/belonging-to-christ-and-to-one-another\/\">belonging<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/10\/that-we-may-be-one\/\">inclusion<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/12\/the-gift-of-diversity\/\">diversity<\/a>, and equity (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/about\/mission-and-vision\/abide\/\">ABIDE<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you feel alone sometimes or even much of the time, you are\u2014as the phrase goes\u2014\u201cnot alone.\u201d Despite the hyperconnectivity that technology offers today, even those of us who belong to vibrant communities in our schools, churches, workplaces, and neighborhoods can experience isolation, loneliness, and even despair. And our experiences of isolation are easily exacerbated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Belonging to Christ and to One Another - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/12\/belonging-to-christ-and-to-one-another\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belonging to Christ and to One Another - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you feel alone sometimes or even much of the time, you are\u2014as the phrase goes\u2014\u201cnot alone.\u201d Despite the hyperconnectivity that technology offers today, even those of us who belong to vibrant communities in our schools, churches, workplaces, and neighborhoods can experience isolation, loneliness, and even despair. 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