YOUTH LEARN THE MEANING OF "SACRIFICE"

     NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- He died on the cross.
     30,000 teens here for the Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, July 23-27, gathered in the Louisiana Superdome Friday evening to celebrate the meaning of Jesus' death.  The Rev. Walter Wangerin, Jr., speaker of weekly radio show "Lutheran Vespers" and professor at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., told fellow Lutherans that it is indeed a "Good" Friday because Christians know the good news that is coming.  Good Friday is a Christian holy day preceding the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter.
     A giant steel-framed cross, bathed in red light, dressed the stage from which Wangerin spoke.  He retold the story of Jesus being condemned to death and being rejected by one of his own followers, Simon.
     Like Simon, "we're full of ourselves," Wangerin said.  He spoke the words of Jesus: "How could you make yourself so huge that you forgot I was the one who gave you your name?"  Christians believe they have eternal life because Jesus died for all sins, but Wangerin said they continue to complacently ignore the sacrifice he made for them.
     Before Jesus died on the cross, he cried out to Simon.  Wangerin asked everyone in the Dome to shout their own names.  The audience erupted, as a way of energetically claiming their identity as individuals whom Christ saved -- responding to Jesus calling each of them by name to take up the cross and follow Him.  Wangerin said they have to hear Jesus' shout before they can know what his last breath means.  He said, "Now we know. We can whisper `Victory...VICTORY!'" over death.
     The Good Friday service was made complete by a jazz band leading the "funeral" procession -- in New Orleans style.  A group of cross-bearers and a multi-colored banner followed in the march.
     Some youth brought candles for the closing of the service. Candlelight spread throughout the Dome, as if in anticipation of the gathering's vigil the following evening.

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Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html