1 Corinthians 1:18-24 | John 3:13-17

Sisters and brothers, friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus who is the Christ, the one who draws all creation to himself. Amen.

I’m grateful for the past few days that we’ve spent together in this beautiful part of God’s creation at Lake Metigoshe – walking together on holy ground, surrounded by water and woods, prayer and laughter, scripture and song, campfires and fresh donuts.

And we gather in this closing worship service of the 2025 Bishop’s Convocation of the Western North Dakota Synod, united in the cross of Christ. The Apostle Paul seems to think the cross is important to people of faith for some reason. He is constantly grounding us in this truth like he does again today – “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Now…you might be asking…why in the world is the bishop closing the convocation with the cross.

Well … depending on which branch of the Christian tree you connect to most, you were invited to celebrate the lesser-known Christian festival, Holy Cross Day this past Sunday, or maybe yesterday, or even today. Again, it kind of depends on which Christian tradition. As I’ve prepared for today, I found that interesting. And kind of confusing and foolish too. So why not head to the cross again???

I mean, isn’t it interesting, that Christians still can’t agree on the proper date, or even which scripture readings to use when celebrating, a still relatively unknown festival day even though it’s been part of the Christian tradition since the fourth century? After all, the cross is one of, if not the most important and central things that we should pay attention to as people who claim to follow Jesus.

So, how in the world are we going to find unity around things like baptism or the inerrancy of scripture or transubstantiation or the location and date of a convocation of church leaders in the western North Dakota synod. If we can’t agree on something as simple as the date for Holy Cross Day, hmmm.

This year, our gathering in western North Dakota Synod featured a different name – I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve received about the name change; it has been held in a different location – I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve received about the location change; and it was held on different dates and followed a different schedule than we’ve used over the past 20 or so years – of course, I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve received about that too.

Just like the church’s seeming inability to agree on the proper date for the festival day of the Holy Cross, I hope and pray this for us today and in this season of ministry leadership in the church of Christ.

I hope and pray that all of the radical change for this year’s fall gathering has given you a little space to breathe.

I hope and pray that you have been able to set aside everything that you brought with you on Sunday afternoon, even if you were able to set those things aside for just a moment or two, I hope and pray that you’ve been able to do that.

And, finally, I hope and pray that this time together has given you the chance to remember once again, that God is the one who has called you into ministry leadership and in the cross of Christ Jesus, you never walk alone as a leader in this church.

Today, and every day for that matter, may this short time together that we have each year in the fall – regardless of its location or name or schedule – may this time together help us remind one another of the truth, that we are loved, that we are united as one in the cross of Christ.

And because of that truth, may we always remember that nothing else matters.

Nothing else matters.

The cross stands at the center of our faith. It always has. It always will.

But it rarely looks like good news in the world’s eyes.

For the world, the cross looks like loss. Defeat. Weakness. Foolishness.

And, if we’re honest with ourselves and with each other, even as leaders in this church, we sometimes feel that way about the cross too.

You pour yourself out with everything you can possibly give, and nothing changes. Feelings of defeat are real and raw.

We expect more and more and more of ourselves and all that happens is exhaustion. It’s frightening how weak we are.

Many days ministry leadership feels like managing decline, breaking up fights, and trying to figure out which evil thing you should pay attention to next. We feel that our leadership rarely brings forth growth or renewal or new life. Those things actually seem foolish because they are often so distant.

Maybe Paul was onto something, wasn’t he?

“God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,” Paul offers to us, “and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

The cross is not failure – it is God’s wisdom.

The cross is not proof that we’ve come up short.

It is proof of just how far God’s love will go.

Which is, at least in part, why I felt drawn by the Holy Spirit to have us conclude this year’s convocation by returning to the cross. As leaders in the church who often are okay when we let our emotional, physical, and spiritual health suffer in the name of Jesus, we need to return to the cross and recenter ourselves once in a while.

In Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s sermon during opening worship at this year’s Churchwide Assembly, she said this about the cross of Christ – “This – meaning the cross –  is the wisdom of God made perfect in weakness, demonstrated in a failed Messiah on a cross, humiliated by those in power, and one that sometimes we don’t or we shortchange because we don’t realize this incredible miracle of a crucified and wounded Christ who died for us so that we might have life.”

Leaning into the theme of this year’s Bishop’s Convocation that Dr. Frambach has so graciously led us through, we stand at the cross, and learn yet again…to expect less: less of ourselves, less of ministry metrics focused only on numbers and fame, less of the lie that we are the ones who save.

And at that same cross, we learn that we need to nourish more: trusting that God does in fact love the world, that it’s perfectly okay to be gentle with ourselves and with each other once in a while, that making space for Christ’s love to do what we cannot do is not a symptom of failure, but connection with the God of all creation.

These days on the shores of Lake Metigoshe have been made available to us as nourishment for every part of our being. Remembering again that we are not machines or programs or superhero robots capable of working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year.

You are a beloved child of God.

As beloved children of God, the cross is God’s foolish way of saying that nothing, nothing, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

 Many of you know this, but I have a spiritual practice each week of joining online worship in many different congregations. I worshiped with about six of you just a few days ago. Your proclamation of grace and love is a beautiful and life-giving gift to the world. May the words you proclaim to the people God is calling you to serve, always speak deeply to your own soul too, so you never forget that you are loved and claimed as God’s own child too. And that nothing can separate you from that truth.

As you and I go from this sacred place, we are invited to go, expecting less of the burdens that say it all depends on you, instead, we go nourishing more of the gospel that says it all depends on Christ; we go expecting less of ministry that serves only the most powerful so let’s just forget about those who are weak, instead, we go nourishing more and more each day of the strange, foolish, and beautiful wisdom of the cross.

Because, as Jesus says to us, the Son of Man was lifted up not to condemn the world, but so the world might be saved through him.

That is the promise we are called to proclaim.

That is the power that sends us back into the world.

That is the foolishness that unites us together as one.

I paraphrase Bishop Eaton’s closing from her Churchwide Assembly sermon in order for it to speak to our gathering in North Dakota.

I hope and pray that this convocation has been a time for us to cling to not our own effort or understanding, not relying on our own brilliance.

I hope and pray that we cling to this truth and testimony and witness of God stooping to be weak and taking on our mortal flesh, dying on the cross, being raised from the dead, breathing the Holy Spirit into us so that we too might live in the assurance of the foolishness and wisdom of God.

In the name of the crucified and risen One, we go forth from this holy place to love and serve.

Thanks be to God! Amen.