Jesus, the 16th-century Anabaptists and a “Star Wars” character provided inspiration on opening night of the Mennonite Church USA convention July 8 in Greensboro, N.C.
A crowd of about 1,600 people in the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center heard a call to be risk takers for Jesus.
Held every two years, the convention features worship, seminars and a Delegate Assembly. This year’s theme is “Follow Jesus.”
The opening night speaker, Rachel Ringenberg Miller, MC USA denominational minister for ministerial leadership, cited the first Anabaptists as models of risk-taking Jesus followers.
Mennonites and other Christians who claim an Anabaptist identity are celebrating the movement’s 500th anniversary this year.
“Five hundred years ago, our Anabaptist ancestors were so one with Jesus they could not keep quiet,” said Ringenberg Miller, a former pastor in Portland, Ore., and Newton, Kan., who attends Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind.
“They risked everything to follow Jesus. They defied the political governments of the day. . . .
“They were one with Jesus and Jesus was with them through their lives and through their deaths.
“And I think we need a little bit of that 16th-century Anabaptist risk-taking right now.”
Ringenberg Miller recalled watching Rogue One, a film in the “Star Wars” series, in which the character Chirrut says, “I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.”
She could identify with Chirrut’s belief, which is so strong he would risk his life for it.
It’s the kind of belief the first Anabaptists had — and the kind of risk-taking Jesus modeled as he began his ministry in the Gospel of Luke.
The week’s theme scripture is Luke 4:14-19, in which Jesus quotes Isaiah, saying he has been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners and sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and proclaim the Lord’s favor.
Jesus’ words so disturbed his listeners that they threatened to kill him. What made them angry, Ringenberg Miller said, was Jesus’ claim that God’s favor extends beyond the boundaries of Israel.
The Jewish people, of which Jesus was a part, were a deeply marginalized community in survival mode, she said.
“It’s hard to see the generosity of Jesus’ love when you’re in that place,” she said. “It can make you feel uncomfortable.”
She posed a challenge: “When you get uncomfortable this week, because you will, when you come across someone with different theological understanding than you, I want you to sit with it, to pray, talk to a trusted friend.
“Be curious. Wonder what Jesus is trying to tell you. Because the good news of Jesus is that God’s love is relentlessly expansive.”
Jesus almost gets martyred on his first day out, Ringenberg Miller said, but God’s love is stronger than death or fear.
“Let us be bold and take risks now,” she said. “Let us speak and act on behalf of God’s relentless love now. . . . Let us be able to disagree and still be the church together now. Let us put our energy toward loving God and our neighbor now.”
She invited the crowd to say with her: “I am one with Jesus and Jesus is with me.”
The evening began with executive director Glen Guyton inviting the crowd to observe a moment of silence in memory of Ervin Stutzman, MC USA executive director from 2010 to 2018, who died June 3 at the age of 72.
Members of Greensboro Mennonite Fellowship welcomed conventiongoers to the city.
Olivia Krall, coordinator of the MC USA Archives, introduced the first of five short videos highlighting stories from each of the five centuries of Anabaptist-Mennonite history. She said about 2,500 Anabaptists were martyred in the movement’s first century, beginning in 1525.
The convention continues through Saturday morning, July 12.
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