WASHINGTON (RNS) — A prominent Lutheran leader invoked the story of a martyr while defending work to help the needy after Elon Musk, a billionaire who runs the Department of Government Efficiency, described federal funding for Lutheran aid organizations as “illegal” over the weekend.
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the country, posted a video debunking comments by Musk and others on Sunday (Feb. 2).
“Despite misinformation and baseless doubt cast today on funding that supports Lutheran organizations across our country, the ELCA remains steadfast in our commitment and work with our many Lutheran partners and expressions of our church,” Eaton said. “The ELCA is also concerned for other faith-based communities and organizations who have similarly come under attack.”
Eaton recounted the story of Saint Lawrence, a deacon in Ancient Rome. In the presiding bishop’s retelling, the Roman emperor demanded the Christian church turn over its riches, but Lawrence responded by selling the church’s possessions and giving the money to the poor. When the emperor finally confronted him and demanded the riches, Eaton said, Lawrence pointed to the “hungry, the poor, the naked, the stranger in the land, the most vulnerable.” He then declared: “These are the treasures of the Church.”
“He was martyred for th …