M A G A Z I N E O F T H E LUT H E R A N C H URC H O F A US T R A LI A & N E W ZE A L AN D
VOL 55 NO4
Print Post Approved PP100003514
MAY 2021
Welcoming THE stranger
‘I was a s tranger and you welcomed me.’ MATTHE
W 2 5 :3 5
LUTHERAN
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
EDITORIAL
Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8267 7300 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
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LUTHERAN
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
The Lutheran informs the members of the LCANZ 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 and New Zealand.
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The Lutheran M AY 2 0 21
Homeward bound Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) board chair Jodie Hoff (right) and board member Michael Stolz managed to get in some COVID-safe reading at Sydney airport on their way home from Albury, New South Wales, to Queensland in March. They’d been at ALWS for the board’s first face-to-face meeting since 2019. Big storms hitting NSW and Queensland meant returning to the Sunshine State was touch-and-go, but Michael made it home in the nick of time for a Lions AFL game, while Jodie, who is the principal at LORDS (Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School) on the Gold Coast, was back to prepare the school in case of a COVID lockdown, which occurred the following week.
Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and it may appear on page 2 of a future issue and on our website at www.thelutheran.com.au
People like YOU bring love to life TJ Krause Seaford Lutheran Church SA Apprentice carpenter Most treasured Bible text: Luke 6:31 ‘Treat others as you want them to treat you.’
Melissa Schirmer Our Saviour Lutheran Church Rochedale Qld Mum and part-time Year 1 teacher Most treasured Bible text: Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’
Rohan Schefe Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Horsham Vic Truck driver Most treasured Bible text: Ephesians 1:3,4 ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us … with every spiritual blessing … For he chose us in him before the creation of the world.’ Let the light of someone you know shine through their photo being featured in The Lutheran and LCA Facebook. With their permission, send us a good quality photo, their name and details (congregation, occupation, what they enjoy doing, most treasured text in these difficult times) and your contact details.
May Special features EDITOR'S
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Over the past few years, I’ve found great joy in worshipping alongside people who look nothing like me. My home congregation is complemented by people of different cultures and ethnicities, various ages and generations, contrasting backgrounds and experiences, and with a range of abilities and disabilities. Many of us were once strangers to this gathering of believers but today we are a faith family. And I hope and pray that every time a ‘stranger’ visits, we will continue to welcome them with the love and hospitality of our Lord and Saviour. The make-up of my congregation wasn’t always this way. Indeed, the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand is more diverse in its membership than ever before – particularly in terms of race, ethnicity and culture – and what a blessing that is! After all, Jesus doesn’t say to ‘Go and make disciples’ of ‘one or two nations’ or of ‘this or that ethnicity’ (Matthew 28:19).
As well as our themed and regular columns and resources, this edition contains two special features which prioritise care for others. One is about the warning signs of leadership burnout, while the other highlights our LCANZ Hidden Hurts Healing Hearts campaign as part of Domestic Violence Prevention Month in May.
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Of course, in May we also thank God for mothers or our treasured memories of her, and we pray for mums who have lost children and those who wished to be mothers. We pray, too, for unity and healing among First Nations peoples and other Australians as we mark National Sorry Day (26 May) and the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum leading into National Reconciliation Week from 27 May. These special events are further reminders that no matter who we are or where we come from, we know whose we are, as God wants us all as part of his family. And, so, may he richly bless our efforts to welcome the stranger in whatever way we are called to do so.
Lisa PS – Remember, The Lutheran is now available as a digital edition. Go to www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe to register for free access as an existing print subscriber or to give a subscription as a gift today.
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Making friends with strangers
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No longer strangers thanks to acts of kindness
And, if our churches don’t reflect the changing faces of our cities and towns, it may be that we are missing the ‘Go’ part of our call as Christians. In this edition, we are privileged to share stories from our Lutheran family members who are welcoming ‘strangers’ by inviting, hosting, engaging and building relationships with people in congregations, church groups and schools. You will read about ways in which multi-ethnic or cross-cultural ministry in the LCANZ – whether through planned programs or incidental acts of kindness and friendship – are enriching us as a church as we learn from those different to us.
Welcomed by the gospel
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Respect is on the line 25 Five signs your character is slowly imploding
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Regulars Heartland
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Dwelling in God’s word
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Going GREYT!
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Go and Grow
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Church@Home
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The inside story
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Directory
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Sudoku
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Your voice
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Prayer calendar
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Our cover: It was a day of celebration at Glynde Lutheran Church, South Australia, as Rika’s (centre) children Rei, Koh and Ema were baptised. After the service, two other young mums who attend learning programs at Glynde asked also to be baptised, and at a later date they were. As Glynde Cross Cultural Mentor Barbara Mattiske (centre back row) said afterwards: ‘God is amazing!’ Photo: Grant Mattiske. The Lutheran M AY 2 0 21
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JES U S I S G OD'S LOVE. HE G IVES U S NE W HE ARTS TO L AY AS IDE O UR OL D WAYS, TO B EL IE VE AND FOL LOW HIM, TO L IVE WI T H HIM E VERY DAY.
heartland
RE V JOHN HENDERSON
Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia
CLE AR VISION FOR THE WAY FORWARD I recently had a pair of multifocal spectacles that just weren’t right. Everything was slightly off. No matter how I twisted my head or swivelled my eyes, my vision was not clear. Outdoors, horizontal lines, such as house gutters, took on a blue-halo effect. Eventually I had the lenses replaced. Now, with new ones, I can see clearly. When we read the Scriptures, we also see them through lenses of various types, and I don’t mean spectacles. In times of distress, God might lift up passages that you previously glossed over. In times of joy, words of praise will leap off the page. In a tight spot, words of encouragement will be there. When struggling with sin or guilt, you will read words of forgiveness and reconciliation in Jesus’ name. In times of persecution,
FOCUSED ON TH E CENTRAL TEACH I NG OF J USTI FICATION BY FAITH , WE KNOW TH E LOVE OF GOD, DEEPLY AN D CON FI DENTLY. IT IS OU R CLEAR VISION FOR TH E WAY FORWARD. 4
The Lutheran M AY 2 0 21
you will see the hosts of heaven praising God in eternity. The Scriptures reveal God’s love for us in real, living ways as he meets us where we are at. Our immediate situation, however, is not the only lens that shapes our reading of Scripture. Many lenses work together, just as they do when an optometrist tests your vision. We usually don’t notice them, just as a fish doesn’t notice the water it swims in. When the lenses work together well, we see clearly, but when they don’t, they distort our vision to varying degrees. Such lenses include culture, gender, race, affluence, poverty, pride, greed, prejudice, and many more. They can help or hinder the clarity of our vision. Some we choose, some we don’t. We Lutherans also openly read the Scriptures through the lens of our Confessions, which we accept as ‘true expositions of the Word of God’ (LCA Constitution 2.1). Very specifically, they are the documents contained in The Book of Concord of 1580. (If you don’t have them, you can find them online at sites like https://bookofconcord.org/.) If you’ve ever read the Small Catechism, for instance, it is from our Confessions. The ancient Apostles or Nicene creeds we use in worship also are included. The Confessions are the lens which confirms us as trinitarian, small ‘c’ catholic (ecumenical), scriptural, sacramental (baptism and communion), and evangelical (the good news of Jesus Christ).
The Book of Concord, Concord, or ‘agreement’, comes from a time of great turmoil in western European society and the church. People died in defence of the truth, and people died in defence of error. Wrong was done on many sides. Holding on to the gospel of Jesus Christ, despite the violence, division and potential ruin of the time, took more than ordinary human vision. It required a very sharp focus, which came from the central scriptural witness to Jesus Christ and the doctrine of justification by faith, not by works. God reveals his boundless love at work in the world through the cross, as summarised in Augsburg Confession IV: ‘ … we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness in his sight, as St. Paul says in Romans 3[:21–26] and 4[:5]’. This is our confession. This is who we are. Without the gospel, the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake, we are nothing. But our God is faithful. We can rely on him. Focused on the central teaching of justification by faith, we know the love of God, deeply and confidently. It is our clear vision for the way forward. As the Scriptures say, Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No-one comes to his Father but through him (John 14:6).
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