A Faithful Future

For the last day of our travels, we flew back to Iceland for one last day with Gunnar.  After a morning at the Blue Lagoon, we were graciously invited to lunch with Rev. Sigurður Grétar Sigurðsson at his home.  In addition to gaining another perspective on the Icelandic Church, it was also a final opportunity for our group to debrief.

The final question we were invited to share before departing for the airport to fly back to the states, was “How has this trip changed me?”

I recall saying that this trip has broadened my understanding of the importance of relationships in ministry.

Like the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland is wrestling with what the emerging church will look like.  However, I did not sense a great deal of despair in the national church of Iceland.  Even when we met with students studying theology to be pastors and deacons at the University of Iceland, there was not an overt fear about the future of the church or the availability of employment/call opportunities.

But why?

In Iceland there is an interdependence embodied in the people and culture that, despite individual differences, maintains reverence for the dignity of all people.  Being a remote island in the north Atlantic meant that mutual support for survival was vital to the well-being of the people.

It didn’t take long for us to see that the people of Iceland can strongly disagreed with the positions and opinions of their neighbors, yet maintain the relationship out of genuine care for the other.  This cultural reverence for the dignity and inter-connectedness of people is built into the foundation of the church of Iceland. 

In the states, conversations regarding the future of the ELCA is often bleak.  As a young person attuned to the voice of the millennial church, I often hear that if we don’t relinquish traditionalism and embrace the emerging social-political ideologies, the church will become obsolete.

However, even those same social-political issues are popping up in Iceland, they are not cause for alarm.  Because at the heart of the church is the Gospel, and if Christ’s church is faithfully preaching the gospel, then everything else will fall into place.

This is not to say that we get a free pass to ignore the important social-political issues of the day, but rather it is advocating on keeping our focus and vision on Christ.  Loving the Lord our God, and our neighbors as ourselves is what follows when the Gospel of Christ is shared and lived faithfully.

To that end, I hope someday to return to this “holy land” of fire and ice.

God of every time and place, in Christ you are making all things new.  Give us courage to trust in your vision, that we might faithfully proclaim your love throughout the world.  Broaden our horizons to the infinite ways you encounter us on the journey.  In Christ's name we pray.  Amen.