Title: ELCA YOUTH LEARN THE MEANING OF
"SACRIFICE"
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 26, 1997

YOUTH LEARN THE MEANING OF "SACRIFICE"
97-YG-09-HR

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