The Lutheran December 2019

N A TIO N A L M A G A ZIN E O F THE L U THE R A N C HU RC H O F A U STRA LIA

DECEMBER 2019

The Lord has forgiven you.

2 SAMUEL 12:13 (TLB)

VOL 53 N11

Print Post Approved PP100003514

A God of

SECOND CHANCES

LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

‘I do’ love my favourite mag!

Even on their wedding day early last month at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, at Appila in South Australia’s Mid-North, Janette Lange and Peter Schirmer didn’t miss seeing the latest edition of The Lutheran.

Lutheran. Holy Trinity was Janette’s original home church – in more recent times she has been a member at Glynde in Adelaide’s east, and serves as Senior Archivist at Lutheran Archives. While Peter, a member at St Paul Blair Athol in the inner northern suburbs, is the LCA/NZ’s Executive Officer of the Church. The photo was taken by LCA/NZ Church Worker Support Manager and Faith Warradale member Chris Materne.

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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People like YOU bring love to life Marion Unger St Pauls Parkes NSW Retired Enjoys doing flowers for church and hosting guests at her family’s B&B, which supports Lutheran ministries.

Fav text: Matthew 11:28

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LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA 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.

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Eden Bishop Bethlehem Morley WA Student and Grow Leadership participant Enjoys reading and playing piano Fav text: Psalm 46:1–3

Leanne Warbrooke Good Shepherd Tingalpa Qld Retired Lutheran teacher Enjoys being with friends, patchwork and stitching Fav text: Romans 8:28

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December EDITOR'S

let ter

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Special features The prodigal father

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Thanks God for my second chance

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Shedding my old life 10

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, ‘They should lock him up and throw away the key’. Perhaps you’ve even said it when you’ve been appalled by someone’s crimes. I know I have.

But I’m not sure it’s ever an attitude befitting us as Christians who profess to be all about love, mercy and forgiveness.

Thank God that he never, ever says that about us – no matter how blind we are to our own failings and how quick we are to judge others; no matter what appalling things we’ve said and done.

Taking the gospel beyond bars

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Instead, he gives us a second chance … and a third and a fourth …

As we rush around preparing for Christmas or are frozen with dread about the pressures, sadness and loneliness this season can bring, we should remember that second chances are exactly why Jesus became one of us. In the Old Testament, time and again God’s people turned their backs on him. They rejected the prophets’ words of warning and calls for repentance. And we’re no different. That’s why Jesus had to be born, live, suffer and die.

And because Easter follows Christmas, we have those beyond-value second chances. Like the father of the prodigal son, God wants to welcome us back with loving, open arms, and the promise of eternal bounty, every time we mess up.

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Yes, our God is a God of second chances. Instead of locking us up and throwing away the key, he sent Jesus to unlock our self-imposed chains and prison cells of sin and guilt. He’s the key. He has freed us and taken on the life (and death) sentence that should have been ours.

In this edition, we are blessed to feature some amazing stories. At times they’re as jaw-dropping as my favourite TV show, British police drama Line of Duty.

Duty. But this is no fiction. These are the real stories of real people in the LCA/NZ – their incredible and inspiring life journeys.

These brothers and sisters in Christ have made some bad choices and big mistakes from which they thought there was no recovery. But from the depths of loss and despair, they have been rescued by our God of second chances and are now living to his glory.

It’s the same for all of us. We might think that our sins aren’t nearly as bad as those of others. But God does not rank sin – we’ve all fallen way short of pleasing him (Romans 3:23). We all constantly need rescuing. And that’s what Christmas is all about.

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Regulars Heartland

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Dwelling in God’s word

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Go and Grow

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The inside story

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Going GREYT!

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Reel Life

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#youngSAVEDfree

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Directory

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Your voice

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Coffeebreak

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Notices

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As this is the last edition for 2019, I would like to thank you, our readers, subscribers, group collectors and other ambassadors, for your loyalty and we look forward to your continued support. Please keep encouraging others to join us – a subscription makes a great Christmas gift! My gratitude also goes to our wonderful team, which brings you The Lutheran.

Lutheran. Thank you to Linda Macqueen (executive editor), Elysia McEwen (graphic designer), our regular contributors Rebecka Colldunberg, Helen Beringen and Mark Hadley, proofreaders Lyall and Lois Kupke, Kathy Gaff and Pastor David Strelan, and James Jay and all at Openbook Howden.

Have a safe, happy and blessed Christmas,

Lisa

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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

BEING RIG HT WITH CHRIST Human beings naturally want to be ‘right’. We will go to great lengths to justify ourselves using all the arguments and force we can muster.

Christians can also find themselves doing it. In a dispute we also try to persuade others with the strength of our argument, sometimes even to the point of forcing agreement.

And, to prove their point, Lutherans will naturally bring out the ‘big guns’ of Scripture and Confession.

Of course, we do need to follow our beliefs and hold to what is true. But what happens when two sides of an argument are both equally convinced they are right?

When we shut our ears to our sisters and brothers, then, like a bushfire, even small arguments will escalate into major disputes, raging out of control.

And if we use Scripture and Confession in unloving ways, we make it almost

J ESUS M A D E PEO PLE ‘ R I G H T ’, N OT BY A RG U I N G , B UT BY PATI ENTLY G IVI N G H I M S ELF F O R TH EM .

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impossible to find a peaceful resolution.

It’s deeply ironic, because Scripture and Confession are both witnesses, not to our ‘rightness’, but to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the gospel of love, forgiveness and peace.

(Matthew 9:2–8) and a sinful woman (Luke 7:36–50). Of course, we know to our eternal benefit, that in his passion and crucifixion, Jesus paid the price for their errors, their sin, and he did not ask for anything in return.

We believe that God has redeemed us at great cost. He has remade us into the very image of Christ.

This kind of non-judgemental meeting people ‘where they are at’ is the model Jesus sets.

We also believe that we are still sinners, prone to sinful ways. The law always threatens to uproot the gospel.

Defending myself as ‘right’ in whatever argument I face doesn’t help me if, in doing so, I fail to love my neighbour as I love myself (Luke 10:27).

He made people ‘right’, not by arguing, but by patiently giving himself for them.

This approach transformed people like Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2–8). Jesus also taught this approach in his parables, such as the waiting father (Luke 15:11–32) and the Pharisee and the tax-collector (Luke 18:10–14).

Is there another way? I believe that there is and that Jesus shows it to us. He met many sinners during his ministry. At times he corrected them, usually those who were certain that they were right, and condemned others because of it, like the Pharisees and scribes who criticised his disciples for not ritually washing their hands (Mark 7:1–13).

But more often, Jesus just ‘sat in the dirt’ with sinners and loved them, for example, the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3–11), even though he also spoke sternly against adultery (Matthew 15:19 and elsewhere).

He even spontaneously forgave people without first requiring their repentance, such as a paralysed man

This month, as we again celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, my prayer for the LCA is that all our relationships will be transformed by Jesus’ sacrificial love. I pray for the Spirit’s gifts of 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control' (Galatians 5:22).

Truly, we are only ever ‘right’ because of Jesus Christ. He gives us his undeserved love and forgiveness in baptism and the gift of saving faith.

Now God is giving us the opportunity to extend the same grace, forgiveness and understanding to each other. And that’s how people will know that we are his disciples, by the love we have for one another (John 13:35).

TH E

prodigal

FAT H E R Alcoholism had prevented Gavin from having a positive relationship with his son Dion for many years. But, after the devastation of a family breakdown and the revival of his Christian faith, this ‘prodigal father’ has been welcomed into the life of his son.

Gavin started binge-drinking during his teenage years when heavy alcohol consumption was part of the culture at various places he worked at around country South Australia.

He believes his shyness made him easily led by other people in those days.

‘Maybe I used that as a mask to cover that up, but then I did it because everyone else did it’, Gavin says.

After getting married and having children, Gavin and his family moved to Adelaide, where he didn’t know many people. That’s when he began drinking by himself and

the impact of his alcoholism on his family increased.

Son Dion, who was five when the family moved to Adelaide, says while he didn’t recognise that his father’s drinking was the issue, he saw the impact on his parents’ relationship as a result of Gavin’s emotionally and verbally abusive behaviour.

‘Probably the biggest thing I noticed was the fracturing of my parents' marriage and that was in the form of arguments’, Dion says.

‘I didn't consciously recognise that it was the drinking at that point. It was only as I saw that Dad was different when he got home from work than at other times when he wasn't drinking and I started to put things together and realise that there was a problem.

‘I didn't like my parents arguing. I'd see my friends’ parents and how they were together and I kept thinking, “Why can't my family be like that family?”.

‘I remember many times, especially in my later high school years, planning how I was gonna run away.

I didn't wanna be part of the family. I remember yelling into my pillow that I hated Dad, that I didn't want to be near him.’

Gavin, who was brought up in a Christian family and had continued to go to church with his wife and sons, says that for years he endeavoured to hide the truth about their problems.

‘We just acted like a normal couple and we hid everything’, he says. ‘[But] arguing all the time was the ugly part and [we’d] just argue over stupid things really, and once an argument started, it just didn't stop and I didn't know how to control myself basically. I would go outside and have another drink.’

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After he’d finished high school, Dion left home and moved interstate to work at Warrambui Retreat and Conference Centre, a Lutheran camp near Canberra.

Despite believing it was ‘inevitable’ that his parents would split up, he was still crushed when his father told him his mother had left.

‘I knew it was a possibility for many, many years.

I remember Mum saying, “As soon as the kids are gone, I'm gone”. She recognised the marriage had broken, fallen apart, long ago. I was just crushed, but I was at Warrambui and I was so grateful that I wasn't actually in the midst of the mess. I was in an environment, in a community that was so supportive and just surrounded me with prayer and love.’

‘ I [TO LD] D I O N I H AD N ' T H AD A D R I N K F O R 15 DAYS A N D H E CA M E A N D G IV E M E A H U G . TH AT WAS A B I G TH I N G , A V ERY PR ECI O US M O M ENT.’

The day after his wife left, Gavin had his last drink.

His pastor had recommended he go to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) but he says he was ‘trying to think of all the excuses in the world’ not to go.

‘Eventually, I did and it was probably the best thing I ever did’, Gavin says. ‘I felt straight away I needed to be there and that was probably the turning point.’

The decision to attend AA not only changed Gavin, it also transformed his relationship with Dion, which had been virtually non-existent to that point, according to father and son. They met up a couple of weeks after Gavin quit drinking.

‘I [told] Dion I hadn't had a drink for 15 days and he came and give me a hug. That was the first thing I suppose that I knew I hadn't lost all the respect of my kids. And it also encouraged me to keep going on my track of recovery.

‘That was a big thing, a very precious moment.

‘I attended AA for 12 months. I had a wonderful support group of six people from the church and they still support me to this day. I couldn't have done it without them.

‘When I look back now I think maybe if God hadn't allowed something to happen in my life – [for it to] come to a crisis point, I may never have stopped drinking and I really thank him for that.

‘I really turned to God a lot and it helped absolutely.

So now there's a very close relationship there. We can talk day-to-day and basically, I just treat him as another person.’

Dion says that even his own act of crying out in desperation to God over his parents’ separation strengthened his relationship with God. He also saw the good that came out of a devastating situation in his dad becoming sober and in their new relationship with each other.

‘My parents’ marriage had broken down, but there was also a joy in the fact that he'd walked away from the alcohol and that meant new possibilities, new things, new chances – a second chance really – and that was so much to celebrate and give thanks to God for’,

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Dion says. ‘Before Dad stopped drinking, I really didn't know who he was, I didn't have a relationship with him.

‘Outside of the alcohol, I couldn't really describe who he was, but after that, he’s been a completely changed man and we've become such good friends since then.

‘I would never have imagined that I could be such good mates with my dad before he stopped drinking.

‘I look at him and see his faith has just skyrocketed – because before it was essentially nothing. Now it's real, it's a living thing.’

‘I guess I really never knew Dion either before I'd stopped drinking’, Gavin says.

‘I've only really got to know him since then. And, as Dion will tell you, it's just grown from nothing to everything.’

Members of the LCA/NZ, Gavin and Dion originally shared their story of reconciliation and restoration through Lutheran Media’s Messages of Hope.

Hope.

DWELLING IN GOD'S WORD Our God is a God of

C D HANCES N O C E S Christmas is a time that can highlight the brokenness in our lives. It’s also the ultimate story of hope in Jesus Christ, who came as one of us into our broken world to bring healing.

You can reflect on that hope in Luke 2:1–20.

God had sent prophets to restore the Israelites to a right relationship with him throughout the Old Testament. But time and again, his people rejected these messengers and turned away from God. Ultimately he sent his son into the world to give us all second chances.

I know from my work with Lutheran Media – and particularly from responses to Messages of Hope – that people are looking for a second chance and a way to cope with the brokenness in their lives. They need hope to cope with life’s challenges.

Are you in need of a second chance?

Or do you know someone who is?

In one way or another, we all need second chances, and even third, fourth and 77th chances.

Read Matthew 18:21–22.

There are many stories in the Bible about people receiving second chances from God. That is central to the Bible – God giving us second chances through Jesus Christ so that we are reconciled to him.

A much-loved story of second chances is the parable of the lost son or, as it is also known, the parable of the loving father.

Read Luke 15:11–32.

You might like to read it a few times and each time focus on a particular character or, if you are in a small group, different people can read the different character parts.

by Pastor Richard Fox

How do the sons and the father treat each other?

What do they have to overcome? How do they do that?

How does this parable help your relationship with God and other people?

How can you share this hope with others who need second chances?

Read Romans 5:6–10. This text communicates God’s great sacrificial love to give us second chances.

How does this help you have a second chance?

The great king of Israel, King David, was also in desperate need of a second chance. He committed adultery and murder. Aware of his sin, David prayed Psalm 51. This Psalm offers a prayer to God and the hope of receiving a second chance. Take time to read it aloud as your prayer to God. You may also want to pray it on behalf of someone you know.

God offers everyone, including us, his forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We receive forgiveness through faith. Receiving forgiveness and a second chance gives us hope every day.

Read Romans 5:1–5 aloud.

If you are in a small group, you might like to take turns and read it to each other in pairs to encourage one another. What does it mean for you to have second chances with God? With others?

God is a God of second chances. Thanks to Jesus Christ we have hope that the brokenness in our lives and in the world can be healed.

For resources to help you or someone you know to learn about the second chances God offers, go to www.messagesofhope.org.au (www.messagesofhope.org.nz).

You’ll find booklets, videos and stories to help deal with relationship issues, anger, alcoholism, abuse, guilt, forgiveness and all kinds of second chances.

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Matt Dutschke tried to hide the pain he felt for many years.

But when he lost his family and his farm, he thought he had no reason left to live. Now he believes that thanks to grace, he has been blessed with restored family relationships, a new marriage, and fulfilling work and volunteer roles, and says …

‘Thanks God for my SECON D CHANCE’

B Y M AT T D U T S C H K E

Growing up in a large farming family on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, I came across as a fairly happy sort of a guy. I grew up in the church and was always involved in leadership within the youth.

nearly 30, I met a lovely lady who had a little boy, who became my son and, after we married, we had a baby girl. My wife did not share my faith and so this was a struggle for me in our marriage.

So a lot of people who knew me had no idea of the pain that was on the inside. Through my teenage years and 20s I hated myself. I had been through various forms of abuse and was struggling with my identity and worth and was afraid of relationships. I had always suffered depression from a young age.

The farm always struggled; I was driving trucks and working long hours to supplement our income. My wife did not enjoy farm life or the farm and, after the best harvest ever, we could still not see things getting better.

So, for the good of the family, we leased the farm out and I worked off-farm in many different jobs.

I had a breakdown in my late teens and spent years talking through things with psychiatrists. When I was 25, my psychiatrist retired and we thought I was okay.

In 2010 we went to Vietnam to teach English, which was my wife’s dream, so I gave up my job as a hire franchise manager. I had a breakdown there and came home and the marriage was never the same again. And after nearly 16 years of marriage, my wife left me, which

I was heavily involved in my community and my church but felt I still had something missing. When I was

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I knew also meant losing my family unit and my family farm. I slipped into absolute depression. I hid away and was making plans to finish it.

I was sitting in the scrub on my farm and having my last cigarette, with the intention of taking my life. I cried out to God and said, ‘Where are you? I’ve trusted you my whole life and yet here I am’. Then my phone rang.

It was my sister, Carol. She realised something was horribly wrong and made me promise to wait and she drove two hours back to the farm. She also had one of my brothers come to be with me.

W E AR E D EEPLY I N D EBTED TO GO D A N D I TH A N K A N D PR AIS E H I M FO R G IVI N G M E A S ECO N D CH A N CE.

I was in hospital on and off for the next 12 to 18 months. My dad makes beautiful wooden comfort crosses and my sister had written the verse from Isaiah which says ‘I’ve got your name on the palm of my hand’ on a cross. I just clasped that and cried many tears over that journey.

The following year, a cousin and mate who is involved with the Shed Happens interdenominational men’s ministry nights on Yorke Peninsula, invited me to share my story. I prayed for strength and then shared everything – the shame of what I had gone through, the shame of losing my family, the shame of losing my family farm.

It was a turning point for me. I met the Shed Night founder, Queensland Lutheran Ian ‘Watto’ Watson, at a camp and he has given me constant encouragement and been a real mentor throughout my journey.

During my recovery, while reading a Christian book, I came to understand God’s grace. Even though I’d lost a marriage, I’d messed up my kids’ security in a family unit, and I’d stuffed up my farm, God loves me and calls me his Champion Son of the King.

I’d decided to move to Adelaide to be closer to my kids but went back to Yorke Peninsula in mid-2012 to help my brother out while he was battling cancer. When he died, it was amazing how God gave me strength I did not believe I had, to be there for my family.

Not long afterward, my sister encouraged me to get involved with Teen Challenge South Australia, which helps men to overcome addiction, and I’ve been volunteering there ever since, including running a monthly Shed Happens night there. I also hosted the first Shed Happens nights for Adelaide’s north after I moved permanently to Adelaide in 2012 and I remain involved with the group.

Through volunteering at Teen Challenge, I was offered a job at Cornerstone Housing, formerly Lutheran Community Housing, where I fill a variety of roles, from maintenance to dealing with contractors and whatever is needed.

Last year I went to Africa on a mission trip for SOUP, a Christian organisation which provides housing, medical treatment and emergency aid for people in Uganda.

I also taught adults life skills in Kenya for two weeks. It was a life-changing time for me, as I trusted wholly in God and sought his guidance.

But despite the way God had already turned my life around, my heart still yearned for a Christian life partner.

Then through a Christian singles site, I met a wonderful lady named Dodie. We’ve now been together a little over 12 months and we were married in February this year and were blessed to have our four children in our wedding party.

God has been such a God of restoration, of grace, of healing for me. We are deeply indebted to God and I thank and praise him for giving me a second chance.

Together Dodie and I have developed a children’s Good News Reader Bible storybook for Africa, adapted from one done previously for Cambodia. But this is not my and Dodie’s doing, this is God’s leading. This is a classic example of asking God what to do next and then seeing a door open.

I believe God’s got me where he wants me. And Dodie and I will be really excited to see where he’s going to take us next.

Matt Dutschke is a member of Para Vista Lutheran Church in suburban Adelaide.

For more information about Shed Night ministries, go to www.shednight.com