the lutheran december 2013

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NATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

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DECEMBER 2013

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests [Luke 2:14]

St Paul’s, Grovedale Vic

Retired

Enjoys volunteering in Geelong and gardening

Fav text: John 3:16

Laurie FrostTrinity, Chinchilla Qld

Retired farming wife

Enjoys gardening, reading and visiting family

Fav text: Psalm 121

Linda EisingSalem, Alma Park NSW

Farmer

Enjoys reading, gardening and horseriding

Fav text: Isaiah 40:31

EDITOR/ADVERTISING phone 0427 827 441 email [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS phone 08 8360 7270email [email protected]

www.thelutheran.com.au We Love The Lutheran!

As the magazine of the Lutheran Church of Australia (incorporating the Lutheran Church of New Zealand), The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia. The Lutheran is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association and as such subscribes to its journalistic and editorial codes of conduct.

CONTACTS Acting Editor Rosie Schefe 197 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006 phone 0427 827 441 email [email protected]

Executive Editor Linda Macqueen 3 Orvieto St, Bridgewater SA 5155 phone 08 8339 5178 email [email protected]

National Magazine Committee Greg Hassold, Sarah Hoff-Zweck, Pastor Richard Schwedes, Heidi Smith

Design and layout Comissa Fischer Printer Openbook Howden

ADVERTISEMENTS and MANUSCRIPTS Should be directed to the editor. Manuscripts are published at the discretion of the editor. Those that are published may be cut or edited. Advertisements are accepted for publication on a date-received basis. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply endorsement by The Lutheran or the Lutheran Church of Australia of advertiser, product or service. Copy deadline: 1st of preceding month Rates: general notices and small advertisements, $18.00 per cm; for display, contract and inserted advertisements, contact the editor.

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BEACHCOMBING BLISSEleven-year-old Keziah enjoys The Lutheran with a little sun and salt-water added, while her family takes a break away from the Onkaparinga Lutheran parish in the Adelaide Hills. The rocks around South Australia’s Port Elliot coastline might be picturesque, but the best reading is still to be found in Dad’s luggage.

Photo: Steve Liersch

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People like you are salt in your world [ Matt 5:13 ]

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Front cover: © Ryan Beiler Dreamstime.com. Story page 8.

The Lutheran December 20132 Vol 47 No11 P382

Dear Mr Nick Cave,

As we get closer and closer to Christmas I find that—perhaps as an antidote to all the ‘muzak’ of the Silly Season—this year, your music is running through my head.

Nothing wrong with that. I’ve been a fan of The Bad Seeds for years. Your jarring chords, unique vocal expression and often incredibly

bleak poetry have been part of my personal soundtrack for more than two decades now. But there’s one song that bothers me.

It’s one of my favourites. A love song that has resonated in my heart and head since the first time I heard it. When I’m driving and the CD clicks over to Into my arms, I can’t help joining in.

Except for the first line. That’s where my problem with this beautiful, ultimately life-affirming love song stems.

‘I don’t believe in an interventionist God …’

I’m sorry, Nick, I can’t sing that. Because, like the woman you sing this for, I do believe in an interventionist God.

I believe in him historically—as creator, sustainer and saviour. I believe in him personally—as a director of my path, a life-bringer and the only One who truly knows and loves my soul (in all its imperfection).

And at Christmas especially, I can’t sing that line. Because at Christmas we celebrate the Christ-child, the ultimate intervention, when God took on flesh and was born, a helpless baby in a manger.

Creator and sustainer. Unable to lift his own head.

Saviour in swaddling clothes, completely dependent on a young girl and her husband-to-be who, incidentally, knew he was not this child’s father.

Not just an intervention. Even the high-rolling bankers at Lehmann Brothers would have classed this as a high-risk investment.

And he was born to save me. In that little stable—shed, cave, whatever—in Bethlehem two millennia ago, the Christ-child was born to save us all. So, even in this day and age, how can I not believe in an interventionist God?

Throughout my life I see him working. Sometimes in dramatic actions, other times through hints and signs that would be easily overlooked if I wasn’t searching for them. And I’m not the only person searching—countless others cling to their one hope—of life in Christ.

So, Nick, my Christmas prayer for you, and for the countless millions searching for the ‘something’, ‘the answer’, is that you see this God-made-helpless, God-made-flesh and understand that he alone is the bringer of peace. That from him spills all of the love, grace and forgiveness you are searching for. That you too are blessed by him.

FEATURES

05 From Jerusalem —with love

08 A journey towards peace

09 Abide with me

12 Transformed by love

24 Longest Lutheran Lunch

28 Birds in the Bush

COLUMNS

04 Heartland

11 Rhythms of Grace

14 Little Church

15 Inside Story

19 Letters

20 Stepping Stones

22 Notices/Directory

23 Reel Life

27 Bookmarks

30 Heart and Home

32 World in Brief

34 Coffee Break

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Vol 47 No11 P383

It happened again at church this morning. After a short confession, the pastor told me my sins were forgiven. My immediate internal reaction was, ‘No, that can’t be true. He doesn’t know enough about me to say that.’ How can he say I am forgiven when God knows exactly what I am—a sinner?

I’ve been a Christian and a Lutheran, all my life. I know about God’s free forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. I have heard the Christmas and Easter stories over and over again. As a pastor I have declared people’s sins absolved countless times. But my own heart still rebels against it. The bad things in my life surely outweigh anything good!

So my ego just can’t bear it when the pastor says, ‘Your sins are forgiven’. Despite all my training and experience, I am caught off guard. I want to see the evidence! I instantly turn inwards to find it and it’s just not there.

That impulse is as natural as the beating of my heart, and it comes with a thumping sense of guilt. This is more than the bad things I have

done and the good things I have failed to do. It’s me, as a person—driving home my personal sense of failure. I am not the person God means me to be.

So it goes on happening, week after week. The pastor says my sins are forgiven, and my insides argue, ‘No, they’re not. They can never be.’ Outwardly I am calm and assured of my faith, but inside the struggle goes on.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. By the time the readings and sermon are over and Holy Communion is served, the Holy Spirit has been at work. The difference between despair and delight, self and salvation is Jesus, my Saviour. He hangs onto me and doesn’t let go. What I instinctively feel as a sinner is not the final answer. Jesus teaches me to get over myself and trust God.

Am I alone in this, or is something similar happening all over the church? We struggle to come to terms with the bold promise of God, to take him at his word and trust him. Guilt and the fear it creates embroil our community in an inner struggle as we live out the faith we publicly proclaim.

No, just as I am not perfect, neither is anyone else in the church. Yes, the gospel struggles for oxygen as much in the church as it does anywhere else, perhaps more so. It doesn’t come naturally, but only by the Holy Spirit and the word of God. Every week God makes us new people, born again in Jesus Christ.

That’s why we can be church together. God does it, day after day, week after week, and year after year. However many years we are Christians, however good we think we are, it all comes back to God’s promise and to those words, ‘Your sins are forgiven’. That’s why we spend all our lives praising him and saying, ‘Thank you!’

Jesus teaches me to get over myself and trust God

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In today’s crisis the question becomes how to love your neighbour—how to live with your neighbour whom you see every day

by Serena Williams and Rosie Schefe

From Jerusalem —with love by Rosie Schefe

What does it really mean to love your neighbour, when the world is intent on building walls to separate you?

12.30pm, Monday, 30 September, 2013: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. I walk past the camera operator who has been projecting Bishop Munib Younan’s image onto screens high above the 1000-strong audience at the Australian Conference on Lutheran Education (ACLE).

‘So what did you think of that?’ I ask, acknowledging his role during the keynote address.

‘That was amazing! I only wish we were recording it. When that guy wins

the Nobel Peace Prize we’ll all be sorry that wasn’t on tape!’ the operator says, going on to describe how rare it was for him to become so engaged by a conference speaker.

It is a reaction that typifies much of my experience over six days of following Bishop Younan from Adelaide to Brisbane. The people he meets are captivated, not just by this small, unassuming man with the wide smile and subtle sense of humour, but, more importantly, by the powerful message of peace, reconciliation and love which he brings.

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Bishop Munib Younan has been the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) since 1998, and president of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) since 2010. The irony of having the LWF president elected from one of its smallest member churches—ELCJHL

has just six congregations—is not lost on Bishop Younan; instead it is something he celebrates. ‘Our nationality is less important than the gospel we carry’, he told an Adelaide audience.

But it is Bishop Younan’s identity as a Palestinian Christian that shapes so much of his ministry and message. ‘I am an Arab Palestinian Christian Evangelical Lutheran. This is my multi-layered identity. Most people would not understand such a combination

of identities because the common perception is that all Arabs are Muslims and that Arab Palestinians certainly are Muslims. But that is not true. I am an integral part of my society’, he said in his ACLE address.

Born in Jerusalem in 1950, two years after the creation of the state of Israel, Bishop Younan still holds a UNHCR refugee card. He knows the deep and lasting pain which displacement has caused his family. He knows how easy it would have been to accept the status of victim, to become passive in the face of injustice or to become radicalised as a response.

But none of those things happened. Firstly his Christian parents, then many other teachers and mentors showed him a different way, a way of hope. It permeates his character, fusing his faith and his cause of promoting justice and peace for all.

‘My parents taught me to love my neighbour, to turn the other cheek’, he said in one interview.

‘It can be quite easy to love the God you don’t see. But in today’s (Middle Eastern) crisis the question becomes how to love your neighbour—how to live with your neighbour whom you see every day’, he told his Adelaide audience.

One solution is to work together with neighbours, as Christians, Jews and Muslims have done through establishment of the Council of Religious Institutions in Israel in 2005. It brings religious leaders from a range of traditions together, in an interfaith dialogue in support of peace and a political solution for the states of Israel and Palestine.

‘I think the world has mistaken Islam as the enemy. Islam has many faces, like Christianity does, like Judaism does. Muslims have problems with their extremists, as we do as Christians, and as Jews do. If we say that all Muslims today are extremists, then we are not rendering any favour to our Christian people either—we face the same problem being viewed in that way’, he said in an interview.

‘In our world today, we need to speak on common values in religions, not comparative religions. It is very important to take an inclusive approach for religion to combat extremism. We often forget the common values we share, but interfaith dialogue should always look to common sharing. If you want to combat extremism, it is vital to swing against the fear of “other” that is going on at the moment’, Bishop Younan said.

Left: Bishop Younan delivers his keynote address at the Australian Conference on Lutheran Education. Right: Bishop Younan enjoys a casual moment with Lutheran Education Queensland director Sue Kloeden and Lutheran Education Australia executive director Stephen Rudolph.

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Christians must take on the prophetic voice in the midst of extremism, of what is going on in the world


Bishop Younan said that Arab Christians have much to teach the world about living in harmony with Muslims and Jews. ‘There have been Christians in the Holy Land for 2000 years’, he gently reminded audiences. ‘The gospel was first preached in Arabic and we used the name Allah for 600 years before the prophet Mohammed’.

But now, perhaps when they are needed most, Christians are leaving the Middle East. Arab Christians are an integral part of their community, Bishop Younan said, and the fabric of Middle Eastern societies would be weaker for their departure.

‘I tell them, if you emigrate the conflict will become religious, not political’, he said. ‘Christians remain the guarantee of a moderate, modern and civil society, where every citizen lives under the law of the country.

‘Christians must take on the prophetic voice in the midst of extremism, of what is going on in the world’, he said.

‘While it is true that the so-called Arab Spring may indeed be turned into an “Arab Winter”, the fighting is not about religion. Some will try to use religion to cloak their activities and ambitions; this cannot be denied. Some political parties are explicitly identified with one brand or another of religious commitment. But … it is too simple to say that it is all about religion. The Muslim and Christian perspective on the Arab Awakening is that it is needed for democratic reforms, so that all people … may have equal rights under the law’, he said in his ACLE address.

Bishop Younan went on to outline instances of religious co-operation being employed as a force of hope and compassion in the Middle East,

reminding Christians and Muslims alike of the dual command to love God and love their neighbour.

The ELCJHL lives this out most visibly through its schools, Bishop Younan said. It operates four schools, taking students from kindergarten to Year 12 in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Ramallah and Beit Jala. They have a combined school population of 3000 students, educating both girls and boys, Christians and Muslims. ‘Though the ELCJHL is relatively small in the Holy Land, one out of six Palestinian Christians shapes their thinking in one of our schools or programs’, Bishop Younan told ACLE.

‘Through education and dialogue, we transmute cultures of fear into cultures of hope and compassion. Jesus was always going on his boat to “the other side”, to people outside of his own culture, to meet people where they were, in order to bring healing and good news to all. We are called, as disciples of this same Jesus Christ, to do the same and see the image of God in the other’, he said.

He remains hopeful that a peaceful, two-state solution can still be found for the Holy Land. A solution that is based on 1967 borders for Israel, with Jerusalem shared by Christians, Muslims and Jews. A solution that sees construction of Israeli settlements on the West Bank stopped and a right of return granted to Palestinian refugees. A solution based on the sharing of resources and a form of regional co-operation among Middle Eastern states that is similar to the European Union, focused on mutual interdependence.

‘The security of Israel is dependent on justice for the Palestinians’, Bishop Younan told his Adelaide audience. ‘Justice for the Palestinians is dependent on the security of Israel.’

‘I dream that Palestinians will see the image of God in Israelis and that Israelis will see the image of God in Palestinians. Please pray for us and for what we are doing’, he said.

Video of Bishop Younan’s keynote address to ACLE is available from the website acle.net.au

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land:In Beit Sahour, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, working out of a very broad ecumenical policy, strives to ‘build awareness of the role of Christians in the Palestinian society and the importance of non-violence as a means for change.’

In Ramallah, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope is very involved and active in women’s ministries and the ELCJHL Women’s Desk in ‘striving to be a good example in the Palestinian society, promoting gender awareness in all its work, ministries, and institutions.’

In Jerusalem, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer is responding to needs of the elderly population through the Martin Luther Community Development Centre. Christian and Muslim elders alike are welcomed and invited.

In Bethlehem, the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church continues to grow in service to the community as Dar al-Kalima College joined Dar al-Kalima Evangelical Lutheran School and Dar al-Kalima Wellness Centre this autumn.

In Beit Jala, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation offers a place of rest to pilgrims at its Abraham’s Herberge guesthouse, with a vision that is open to all.

In Amman (Jordan), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd invites the community in, as it opens its al-Khoimeh Community Center to local groups and events.

Source: www.elcjhl.org

Jesus was always going on his boat to “the other side”, to people outside of his own culture


employment, health care and education opportunities in western Jerusalem. Some are separated by the wall from members of their own extended family. For its residents, Bethlehem has become a town of conflict and despair. For those who journey there, it has become a town of sorrow.

Yet despite what Bethlehem has become, Bethlehem is still the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. His life, death and resurrection are still the source of peace. His life of loving all—including his enemies—is the path to harmony on earth. His life and death reconcile all people to God and in turn to each other.

This means there is the possibility of peace for the current residents of the town of Bethlehem with those who have escalated conflict in Bethlehem.

But today’s Bethlehemites find that, for them, peace is almost impossible to believe. So they need our prayers and our support. Our prayers for peace between all the parties involved. And

Joseph and Mary made that long journey for a census. It became a journey of joy as Mary gave birth to a baby.

To make such a journey today, from Nazareth in Israel to Bethlehem in the occupied Palestinian territories, Mary and Joseph would have to cross through approximately 70 barriers. Crossing through the separation wall, fences, checkpoints, ‘flying’ checkpoints, earth mounds and ditches … it would be nearly impossible.

Most Christmases we sing the carol O little town of Bethlehem. As we sing it, we often think of what Bethlehem was like on the night when Jesus was born. But this year let’s think also of what Bethlehem has become today.

The town that gave us the Prince of Peace has become a town of sorrow and conflict. The population experiences isolation because of the wall that the state of Israel has erected. They are now isolated from free access to

A journey towards peace

by Rev Robert Bartholomaeus

our support by getting alongside them in their sorrow and by challenging the thinking of those who have built the wall of separation.

Let’s pray and live in such a way, that the journey to Bethlehem will once again become for all a journey of joy.

Rev Robert Bartholomaeus serves the Immanuel Lutheran Church at Woden, Australian Capital Territory. He is a member of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network in Canberra and is involved in other ecumenical activities.

The town that gave us the Prince of Peace has become a town of sorrow and conflict.

‘So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David’ Luke 2:4

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Grafitti painted on the wall which separates the state of Israel from its Arab neighbours, near Bethlehem.


Abide with me

‘I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29:11

by Cath Pfeiffer-Smith

On 20 September, 2011, Edna Vonow sat at this remote railway line waiting for a train to go through the crossing. The driver waved at her and she waved back. What happened after that is nothing short of a miracle. You see, God was right there with her, waiting for that train too.

Crystal Brook is a charming town some 200 kilometres north of Adelaide, just off the main highway. I drive down the main street and see clusters of people chatting, a friendly wave of a hand out the window, a tractor bumping through town. I catch the waft of freshly baked pasties as I snail-pace it past the bakery.

It's a town that Edna Vonow and her extended family have called home forever. Its unhurried pace and welcoming ambience is engaging. But as much as Edna loves this place, for some time she had been praying that the town would be given a shake to its bones, to make it sit up and take more notice of God. Little did she know how God was going to answer her prayer.

The day started out like any other. Edna carefully arranged chairs in her lounge room for the church ladies to meet, prepared food and looked forward to the afternoon with her friends. The day went well, although she can't remember any of it any more.

Then she headed out to her son's place on the farm, some 12 kilometres out of town, the place she called home when she was younger. A road she had travelled many, many times and a crossing where Edna had stopped too many times to remember.

No-one is quite sure how she drove her car into the second engine of that train.

No-one is quite sure how—with the force of the locomotive dragging her car 50 metres down the track and inflicting twists and bends on every panel—75-year-old Edna sat in God's hand in the tiny pod of her driver's seat, which somehow remained untouched.

But God was there with her and also sent her family through that crossing 20 minutes after the accident. Her

son Kingsley rang the Rail Authority to ensure that no trains could use the track until he went down and had a look at whatever was on the line.

As he and the children drew closer, their worst fears were realised. As Kingsley rang for help, fourteen-year-old grandson Andrew prayed for Edna and held her hand for 35 minutes at the horrific scene.

Edna’s head injuries were serious, due to the force of the impact. She was flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Her prognosis was not good.

Medical staff predicted that, at best, Edna would be bedridden and totally dependent on others for her care. A decision was made to take Edna off the ventilator nine days after the accident to ‘see what her body wanted to do’.

With her family by her bedside giving Edna permission to go to Jesus whenever she wanted, amazingly she kept on breathing. Her first words that afternoon were ‘Jesus loves me’—over and over again. And so began her long road to recovery.

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the lutheran december 2013

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