Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By Deacon Amy Schmuck
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church
Upon the death this Monday of Pope Francis, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and leader to many outside the Catholic Church, I have been meditating on his example of living out the Micah 6:6-8 text in his role as a true servant leader.
What God Requires
6“With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?”
-Micah 6:6-8 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition of the Holy Bible)
As an ELCA Lutheran with a Roman Catholic background in my faith story, Pope Francis has been the Pope I find the most affinity for in my journey toward Diaconal ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Yes, the ELCA is viewed by many in and out of the denomination to be among the most “liberal” or “progressive” of the mainline protestant church bodies in America. Thus, our polity, our sacramental theology, our social statements and our scripture interpretations continue to disagree with the Roman Catholic Church. The fact that I serve as a Deacon – a rostered minister of Word and Service in the ELCA and that I’m a woman is a personal disagreement that I embody and live out every day.
However, despite these many disagreements, I do feel that in recent years, the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths have much more common ground than ever. Perhaps in the next 500 years, a true reform of the “Holy and catholic (small c) and apostolic church” will come to be realized! There are all types of signs that point me toward that hope, and one of those signs is the way Pope Francis demonstrated true servant-leadership as a follower of Jesus in the world today.
My favorite stories of the way Pope Francis embodied Jesus’ love for others include the times he chose on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday of Holy Week) each year to wash feet of 12 people as Jesus did for his disciples at the Last Supper. This was not done in a performative way in a grand Vatican worship setting. It was not done for his fellow Roman Catholic leaders. Pope Francis went out to find the feet of refugees, the feet of women prisoners, the feet of juvenile prisoners, and the feet of people with disabilities. Pope Francis loved people on the margins of society, just as Jesus calls us to do as well.
This example of servant leadership is powerful to all who may be in leadership roles in the church. Jesus washed all the disciples’ feet including Judas’ feet on the night of the last supper, demonstrating that God’s love expands to all sinners and saints, to all of creation.
Jesus’ Mandatum (Latin for “command”) to all of us that night is to love one another as Jesus loved the disciples. (John13:34). Thank you, Pope Francis for serving the Gospel faithfully, and showing all leaders a way to lead with great love, tenderness, and humility.
Rest well, my brother in Christ. May the peace and love you preached and lived sustain our faith for years and generations to come. Amen.
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com); The Rev. Lynn Finnegan, Associate Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org); Deacon Amy Schmuck, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (deaconamy@bethluth.com); and ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com).