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The Means of Grace – Word of God

by Noel Due

‘The word of God’ and ‘the means of grace’ – both familiar statements, both deeply embedded in our heritage. And therein lies the danger.

We can become so accustomed to the means – baptism, holy communion and the preaching of the word – that we overlook their presence and power. Or better said, God’s presence and power. Because in them God gives himself to us. He meets us with outstretched hands, to forgive and to bless, to bestow life and salvation, to seal his eternal promises to us. They are personal actions, in which God performs what he promises.

That’s why the phrase is ‘the word of God’, not ‘the word about God’. The God who loves us speaks. And he doesn’t utter opinions into empty space; the Word has a face and name. The writer to the Hebrews put it like this: ‘in these last days, God has spoken in his Son’ (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus is the Word.

So, it is no surprise to hear him say: ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me’ (John 10:27 ESV).

What makes a pastor’s heart sing? It’s hearing his people (even one of them!) say: ‘God spoke to me this morning’. That’s worth a thousand ‘Nice sermon, pastor’ comments; or: ‘I hope the Crows win!’; ‘The children were noisy today. Again’; or even (a very rare) ‘You’re looking well!’.

But when God speaks, the world changes. That’s what powered the Reformation. It wasn’t just the reading, but the preaching of God’s word which turned the world upside down.

Why? A great theologian once said that no-one hears the gospel from the lips of the preacher, only from the lips of Christ. Only Christ can preach himself. And he does, every day.

He preaches in thousands of languages, uses vastly different personalities, and spans time and space through his servants. But when Christ preaches his gospel, his sheep know it. No matter which accent they hear, the sheep come to him, not to his servant. In their distress, they cry to him; in their joy, they praise him. Their faith rests on Christ, because they have heard his voice in the preaching.

Where we see this, we see a miracle.

Rev Dr Noel Due is Mission and Ministry Support Pastor for the LCA’s SA-NT District and chair of the LCA Committee for New and Renewing Churches.

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Talking together bears good fruit

Five centuries after the Reformation, how do the Lutheran and Catholic churches get along today? What has been achieved by working together since inter-church dialogue between the two began in Australia in the mid–1970s? We asked the dialogue team’s Lutheran and Catholic co-chairs – Rev Dr Stephen Hultgren, from Australian Lutheran College, and Rev Dr Gerard Kelly, of the Catholic Institute of Sydney – for their thoughts.

What has changed in the relationship between the two churches in Australia?

Rev Dr Gerard Kelly: The major change has been that we have moved from a situation of suspicion and hostility to one of friendliness. Rather than focus on what divides us, we are now more aware of what unites us. This becomes the starting point for engagement with each other.

There is much more contact than previously between members of our churches at all levels. There is a greater sense of trust of each other and a willingness to work together in addressing significant social issues. Our two churches have also grown in mutual understanding.

What have been the major achievements since dialogue began?

Rev Dr Stephen Hultgren: The dialogue has covered a number of important topics, including baptism, Eucharist (the Lord’s supper), the ministry, the church, justification, the ministry of oversight (bishops), Scripture and tradition, and the papacy (Petrine ministry).

Undoubtedly the most noteworthy milestone in the dialogue has been on the topic of justification. The Common Statement on Justification in 1999 stated: ‘Lutherans and Roman Catholics together see justification as God’s free and saving action in Christ whereby our sin is forgiven and we are both declared and made righteous. Together we confess that it is solely by grace and through faith that we are justified and not through our own merits. Together we say that justification cannot be separated from regeneration, sanctification, and the renewal of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Together we affirm that justification, or salvation in Christ, is central and normative to our Christian faith’. This statement barely preceded the 1999 signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church.

Ecumenical dialogue takes hard work, patience, and a spirit of goodwill towards the dialogue partner. The dialogue in Australia has borne good fruit, and we pray for God’s continued blessing on this endeavour, so that, as Jesus prayed, his followers might be one (John 17:21).

GK: The body of work produced by the dialogue is a remarkable achievement. Matters that were at the heart of the division of the 16th century are now seen in a different light. Sometimes we have cleared up misunderstandings. But more importantly, we recognise that both our churches have continued the process of reform and renewal, and this means that we address those divisive questions in a new way.

A further achievement is that the dialogue has not simply remained the preserve of a small group of theologians. The results have been slowly filtering down into church life more broadly. For example, I as a Catholic have a much deeper appreciation of the doctrine of justification and have become more aware of the place it has in my own church.

At another level, the results of the dialogue have also been able to play a role in helping our respective churches make decisions about the internal life of the church. This is what people today call ‘receptive ecumenism’ – we learn from each other.
There is one other achievement I should mention: we are now able to be frank with each when the relationship between our churches runs into difficulties. This is possible because there are genuine friendships among us.

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Luther’s vision for all God’s people

by Dean Zweck

Luther was deeply concerned about people – like the ordinary people he regularly preached to from the pulpit in the parish church of St Mary. He saw how people were being damaged and fleeced by the trade in indulgences, so he spoke out. Hence the 95 Theses.

When he discovered the gospel in its fullness, he proclaimed it to the people in bold, clear and colourful language. He said, ‘If I, in my preaching, should have regard to Philip Melanchthon and other learned doctors, then should I do but little good. I preach in the simplest manner to ordinary folk, and that gives content to all’.

Luther wanted people to understand that life under the gospel is a completely new and wonderful way of life. Life is not about trying to earn enough merit to please God, nor is it about serving yourself. ‘For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery’, said St Paul in Galatians 5:2. Luther picked up that message and proclaimed it clearly, powerfully and winsomely.

The Freedom of the Christian is one of the best things he ever wrote. He even sent a copy of it to Pope Leo X as a gift, saying that, although it is a small book, ‘it contains the whole of Christian life in a brief form’. His bold theme comes in a two-fold proposition:
A Christian is a perfectly free lord, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

This understanding of the Christian life was, and is, truly liberating and empowering for all God’s people. For Luther, there are not two classes of Christians: a holy elite doing God’s holy work, and the also-rans, the ordinary people. No. In Christ we are all one holy people, because we are all justified by grace and we are all equally servants of God in the priesthood of the baptised (1 Pet 2:9). So, in Christ Jesus we are all wonderfully free and at the same time deeply bound to serve one another.

As Luther puts it: ‘As our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbour through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christs to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, that we may be truly Christians.’

So in our particular calling, whatever it may be, and in all our relationships with others, we are to be free lords and ladies and willing servants – like Christ, in whom we become ‘little christs’.

With such a liberating and exalted view of what it means to be the people of God, it is no wonder that laypeople in the Lutheran movement soon began to blossom and show the fruits of faith in notable ways. Let’s consider four examples.

First, there is Katherina von Bora, Luther’s dear wife. He would jokingly call her ‘my lord Katie’ or ‘mistress of the house, doctor, and lady of the pig market at Wittenberg’, but there is more than a grain of truth in all those titles.

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The Means of Grace – Holy Baptism

by Stephen Schultz

What does it mean to be baptised? Over the years churches have had discussions – and disagreements – about this. Can an infant be baptised? Does it need to be by full immersion or is sprinkling sufficient?

The Bible teaches there is only one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). So, regardless of whether you were baptised as an infant by sprinkling or as an adult by immersion, the call is to grow in the understanding and grace of your baptism. God’s promises are attached to baptism – such as the gift of his Spirit – and baptism has ongoing relevance for our lives.

It is easy to take our baptism for granted, to see it as something in the past. So we say: ‘I was baptised’. But that would be like saying: ‘I was an Australian/a New Zealander’. If you’re a citizen of Australia or New Zealand, then you are an Australian or New Zealander – with all the rights and responsibilities that come from that. Surely if you’re baptised, then you are a baptised child of God – with all of its rights and responsibilities.

Baptism immerses us in the completed work of Jesus – his death and resurrection. On the cross Jesus declared that the work of paying the price for our sin had been finished (John 19:30).

That is why Jesus waited until his ascension to command his disciples to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’, ‘baptising them’ and ‘teaching them’ (Matthew 28:16–20). With his death and resurrection there was now something worth getting baptised into.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans (6:1-11), said the same thing. He wrote that when we are baptised into Christ Jesus, we are baptised into his death – buried with him in fact!

Of course, when we speak of Jesus’ death we also speak of his resurrection. When Jesus rose he proved that the wages of sin had been paid. In baptism we receive release from the power of sin and its consequence of death. Baptism is a ‘death and resurrection’ package deal.

Stephen Schultz is pastor at St Michael’s Lutheran Church, Hahndorf, South Australia.

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Partners in sharing Jesus’ love

The sense of evil and fear is hair-raisingly palpable as a spirit doctor approaches, uttering threats to villagers in northern Thailand’s mountainous Nan province.

Spirit doctors have long reigned over the marginalised and impoverished Lua people with fear, demanding sacrifices and rituals to appease the spirits.

But you are helping to change the lives of the Lua people.

You are helping them to know Jesus as their Saviour and to be freed from fear through your partnership with LCA International Mission.

Nyman was a spirit doctor who brought dread to his village. But today, as he sits on a cement floor with his grandchild, Nyman shares a new story. He’s now a baptised Lutheran Christian. He meets regularly in a small church with other believers and Lua Lutheran evangelist Pim.

Through the proclamation of the gospel, people’s lives are being transformed. They are learning of the love and peace of Christ and being set free from darkness and fear. Today there are more than 1200 baptised Lutheran Christians living in the Nan province.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, and in partnership with people in Lutheran churches, you are privileged to bring the life-changing good news of Jesus to Nyman and others in our near-neighbouring countries in South-East Asia and the Pacific region.

Contact:
Check out our website at www.lca.org.au/international-mission
or contact Erin, Nevin or Glenice e: lcaim@lca.org.au
p: 08 8267 7300

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Your love reaches one million people

One million people.

Stand them shoulder to shoulder, and you have a line of people stretching from Adelaide to Melbourne.

That’s how many people our Lutheran family helped through ALWS – just in 2016 alone.

Working through ALWS partner Lutheran World Federation, you go to people living in or fleeing some of the most troubled places on earth – such as South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

You welcome refugees with food to eat, water to drink and the kind of loving care which shows people they are not a number, or a case, but a person. Each one is important.

At times of crisis, conflict and disaster, your help targets those who are most at risk – the elderly, the sick, children, pregnant women, and those who have suffered abuse or trauma. Just as Jesus sought out those who are forgotten or rejected, so do you.

Meanwhile, for people living in poverty and facing injustice in countries like Cambodia and Nepal, you back long-term rights-based development that supports people to become self-sufficient and independent. Countries like PNG and Indonesia see your ALWS support delivered through local Lutheran churches and service groups, reaching out to their communities with practical action.

In every action we take, the special needs of children are held precious and protected.

To find out more about how you can bring love to life through ALWS:
p: 1300 763 407
w: alws.org.au
e: alws@alws.org.au
PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

 

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Doing something

by Laura Robbins

Most schools are involved in community service and fundraising – but Lutheran Education is seeking a different approach to service, whereby we engage in service learning. It’s not just a one-off activity here and there; it’s learning about social justice issues, in a way that engages Head (learning), Heart (advocacy), and Hands (action). It’s about growing reciprocal partnerships, and meeting genuine needs.

Here at Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School (LORDS) our students learn about the deeper issues and the causes of injustice and disadvantage. For instance, in our ongoing partnership with St Vinnies (as we have our students learn about homelessness), students are asked to consider how people might become homeless and why it’s so hard to get out of that situation. At LORDS we are seeing that these connections and deep learning, which our service-learning approach fosters, are resonating in the community. People are saying, ‘It’s great that your approach isn’t just about raising $1000 to give to people who are homeless, but you’re educating young people to make a difference’.

Social isolation
In 2015, as the Year 11 Christian Studies (CS) teacher I had the opportunity to develop a social justice unit of work. We decided to set up a partnership with a local aged-care home, based on an idea our principal Jodie Hoff came up with. She encouraged me to develop the partnership and unit of work in order for our students to have a deeper understanding about the social isolation of many people in aged care. I developed the unit of work to be a combination of ‘traditional’ CS classroom lessons and a ‘buddy’ program with the aged-care home, involving frequent visits to our aged-care buddies.

Over time students began to see for themselves that many nursing homes are full of people who are just left there. They don’t all come from loving families, who visit Nan and Pop every weekend. This raised some hard questions for the students and was an ongoing discussion topic in the reflective conversations we had after every buddy visit.

The students really valued having an aged-care buddy. The time they spent with their buddy could involve taking them for a walk in the garden, playing bingo with them, or colouring in with them. Students also valued sitting and listening and learning from their buddy. They came to learn that everyone has a story, and that this story is to be respected and valued.

Homelessness
For Year 9, we’ve come up with a program called Stepping Up and Stepping Out, which is like a rite of passage. As part of this program the Year 9s participate in a ‘street retreat’ in Brisbane CBD, where they learn firsthand about homelessness and
its causes.

Laura Robbins is Pastoral Care Coordinator for Years 7 to 12 at Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School (LORDS), south of Brisbane, Queensland.

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LITTLE x LOVE = LOTS!

by Linda Macqueen

LOTSA COINS

Vicki Gollasch of Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) regularly visits schools to talk to the students about the plight of refugees.

At Australia’s smallest Lutheran school (St Peter’s, Dimboola, in western Victoria) her visit was going pretty much according to the script. In order to personally experience something of the life of refugee children, the students half-filled buckets of water and walked around the block, sharing the carrying of the buckets.

‘This was all very normal’, Vicki says. ‘We always ask the children to do something practical like this when we visit schools.

‘However …’

At the end of the day the children presented Vicki with a cheque. They had been collecting and saving their chapel offering money for two years. They had raised $1300.

‘That was an amazing effort for a school with 28 students’, Vicki says. ‘And they were thrilled to know that they could support 50 refugee kids at $26* each.’

St Peter’s principal, Tim Reimann, says the students have always been very generous with their donations at chapel every Friday.

‘In all my time within schools I have never witnessed such a spirit of giving from such a small school community.

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Cooking with care

by Sally Sandford-Morgan

Next year Endeavour College will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Since its humble beginnings, serving others has always been a highly valued activity. Connections with other Lutheran organisations are greatly appreciated and our link with Lutheran Community Care (LCC) gives our students the chance to step outside their comfort zone to help others.

LCC at Ingle Farm is located within the local primary school. This means they can provide a range of support services to families from both within and outside of the school community. One of their projects involves Year 9 students from Endeavour College and some students from Ingle Farm Primary School working on activities together. This is the second year the program has been run and it has been greatly enjoyed by all the participants.

Diana, one of our Endeavour students, has said about her experience: ‘The children we helped to cook have learning disabilities, but they enjoy the time away from class and that it is a way for them to take their minds off things’.

The program was started last year as an alternative to voluntary participation in sporting teams on Tuesday afternoons. It was originally anticipated that a team of six to eight students would visit LCC once a fortnight, but after a larger-than-expected response two teams were established and they participate in the program in alternating weeks. Students are committed to being part of the service team for the duration of the term.

Students in the Special Needs class at Ingle Farm Primary are unable to participate in some events, such as excursions. A staff member said, ‘Many of them prefer not to access the playground area at recess and lunchtime due to their lack of confidence. But one time each week they are able to participate in an activity where they feel special, and they really look forward to it. If they arrive and the Endeavour students aren’t there yet, they are very disappointed, as they think the older students aren’t coming at all. But when they do arrive, excitement takes over, their faces light up and they have an enjoyable time.’

The activities are coordinated and organised by the staff and volunteers at LCC. These vary on a weekly basis but often include a cooking and/or craft component. Students from both schools work together to complete tasks.

‘Seeing the rest of the service team working with the kids and the way they talked to them was really cool to watch’, said Meaghan, one of our Endeavour students. ‘It made me realise that even small things such as talking can make a huge difference.

‘The more the kids got to know us, the more comfortable they became and they were excited to tell us about what they have been doing. Cooking with them has helped me to be a patient person, as the kids did not always know what to do with different steps in the cooking process.’

For me, the most satisfying thing about this project is the knowledge that our students are becoming more understanding of people outside their usual circle of experience. At the same time they are learning about part of an organisation that they might contribute to as volunteers or employees in the future.

Sally Sandford-Morgan is Service Learning Leader at Endeavour College, Mawson Lakes, South Australia.

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Sent to sow in our own backyards

by Andreas Mayer

None of us felt like an evangelist when we started.

But after 10 months of being part of a missional community – also known as a ‘Love Life Community’ – we’re starting to see its fruits. This is both in our own faith and understanding of Jesus and in the lives of the friends and colleagues God is connecting to us.

The basic idea of a missional community is simple. Instead of everyone in a congregation trying to serve in ministry and do a little evangelism on the side, one or more teams of between three and eight people are intentionally released from serving in other areas to focus their energies on local mission.

This means having time to meaningfully connect with individuals, not run programs. While doing so, the team members continue to worship with and be pastorally supported by their congregation.

As people come to faith, the missional community connects them into the mother church for ongoing discipleship. All of this is done with faith that our gracious God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is already at work in the lives of not-yet-believers, drawing them to himself, and that our role as a missional community is to prayerfully discern how God is at work and where we can join in.

In our case, our congregation – Immanuel Lutheran Church, Woden Valley, in Canberra – is one of the ‘Sending Churches’ in the LCA, supported and trained by Church Planting Mentor and Mission Facilitator Dean Eaton.

As Dean trained us in evangelism and local mission, some of us were challenged by God (and our pastor) to step out of our comfort zone serving in church and be part of a missional community. Our congregation now has three missional communities representing three different age demographics.

It’s now been 10 months since we took up that challenge and, while God hasn’t worked through us in quite the ways we were expecting, we have grown in recognising the prompts of the Spirit and being faithful in following them.

 

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