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
JULY 2016
VOL 50 NO6
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EDITORIAL Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au
Robert Grieger catches up on some essential reading while camping with wife Alison by the Mackenzie River in Victoria’s Grampians National Park. The Griegers are members at Christ Church, Murray Bridge SA.
Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8339 5178 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
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The Lutheran JULY 2016
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JULY
Special features EDITOR'S
Letter
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Backing a sports team, paying your annual membership fee, turning up to matches, volunteering, fundraising – it’s all easy and enjoyable while your side is winning. Morale is high, fans want to join, and, as they say, success breeds success. I'm a supporter of two football teams that have spent considerable time at the bottom of the ladder in recent decades. It’s not as much fun turning up or tuning in week after week when you know you’re in for a drubbing.
When we don’t get what we want in organised worship services, we either whinge loudly, or become less regular silently, then simply leave. It seems nothing in our local faith families creates more squabbles or discontent than what happens during weekly worship. The organist is too slow, the band too loud, the sermon too long, the liturgy too repetitive, the drama too flippant, the pastor too formal, the service too casual, the songs too old-fashioned, the banners too gaudy, the worshippers too disrespectful.
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But when did worship stop being about God and start being about us and what we want?
In this issue a few pieces of the worship puzzle are highlighted, but this is merely a sample. There are many more aspects we don’t have the space to explore. Nonetheless I pray these pages will encourage you to discuss with family and friends why and how we worship – and along the way rediscover the joy of celebrating with the winning team, Sunday after Sunday.
Catholics and Luther – a new perspective
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Music key to heart of service
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Regulars
Lutheran worship has many elements – some essential, some optional. The way we treat the components of a service can be cause for contention, conjecture and even condemnation.
Isn’t it a sacred opportunity to commune with our Lord and experience a taste of heaven on earth? Isn’t it meant to be our expression of love, gratitude and praise in response to the one who saves us?
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NZ Lutherans first to greet 500th anniversary
The joy, the passion and the motivation can evaporate. And so the fickle (not you or me, of course) become less regular attenders and then disappear from the weekly ritual altogether. Is there a parallel between our clubs and our churches? Is there a danger in the LCA that we’re becoming fair-weather worshippers?
Worship Q & A
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Heartland
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Little church
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Reel life
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Go and Grow
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Inside story
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World in brief
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Directory
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Letters
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Notices
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Coffee break
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Lisa PS You may notice t he inside pages of t his edition look and feel
a lit tle different. In response to feedback from our loyal subscribers, we have switched to a mat te paper stock as we believe it will be more reader-friendly. We hope you enjoy t he change.
Our cover: Photos
by Mark Schultz, Andrea Winter, Michael Rudolph and iStock
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
REV JOHN HENDERSON
Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia
TRUE CHRISTIAN CHAR ACTER ‘And so they stand before the throne of God and worship him in his temple day and night' (Revelation 7:15). Where do Christians most show their true character? Is it in works of service? I heard recently that if active Christians were to stop volunteering, more than 80 percent of community volunteer hours would be lost. But others also do works of service, even selflessly. It’s in the Christian character to do good, but it’s not unique.
body and blood. No-one else takes his or her God into daily life as a Christian does. So what we do in worship, what we say (or sing) in worship, and how we behave in worship, really matters. In this sacred encounter, God shows the world our true character.
I want to argue for authentic worship that joins in God’s conversation with his people. For centuries Is it in lifestyle, morality and ethics? This one isn’t we've had liturgies that do just that. Around 90 per so easy. Christians generally behave pretty cent comes directly from Scripture. The much like the rest of society. When society dialogue of life and death, sin and grace, Even if the owned slaves, Christians owned slaves. captivity and freedom, law and gospel preaching When society marginalises certain groups is finely drawn and persuasive. Even if is woeful, on people, Christians often marginalise the the preaching is woeful, believers grow same groups. Christians find themselves of believers grow in faith from the liturgical rhythm and the either side of political debates. Of course, in faith from sacramental life. there are also wonderful times when we the liturgical Are we now burying these historic and rise above the mediocrity of society and rhythm and the well-proven liturgies as though they achieve extraordinary change for good. sacramental life. embarrass us? Do we think we have We are a positive influence, but we can outgrown them? Sure, sometimes we don’t say the same of many people of good ‘do’ liturgy all that well, and we can be awkward at conscience. We always can, and should, do more. it, but do we really want to discard something that Is it in motivation, and purity of intent? Motivation is was once our lifeblood, for borrowed and unproven hard to judge from the outside, but Christians tend to forms about which we aren’t so sure? be as much part of the materialist society of wealth Is this an old man’s lament? Well, I’m not that and accumulation as anyone. We are not necessarily old yet, and I grew up with experimental worship demonstrably different. I could go on of course, but alongside the liturgy. I am noticing, however, that I think you can see where this is heading. I want we are now in danger of forgetting where our true to say that Christians show their true character character lies. So this is a plea, if you like, to keep in worship. That extraordinary activity is uniquely Christian. No-one else experiences such intimacy our worship authentic and without pretence, so that with their God as we do in the gifts of the word everyone who comes will see our true Christian and sacrament. No-one else walks out of worship character and understand that what we confess with his or her God on the inside: bread and wine, about our God and his salvation really is true.
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The Lutheran JULY 2016
W O RS H I P Church worship can be a hot potato for us in the LCA/NZ, as it is in many other denominations. No congregation or pastor is exact ly alike in the way they conduct and participate in services. We asked t wo pastors from the Commission on Worship for their personal responses to some burning questions on the subject.
WHY DO WE WORSHIP GOD FORMALLY? WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH TO WORSHIP? Pastor Adrian Kitson: We don’t ‘have to go to church’, but we do need the mutual encouragement of other Christians to remain faithful, fruitful disciples of Jesus. We need him, his word and holy gifts no matter what, when or where. We can gather in loungerooms and bars and parks and schools. We are also free to gather in the buildings purpose-built for worship. Any worship gathering is a miracle. God serves us and we respond in thanks and praise, listening, proclaiming, singing and prayer. The question is, why would any Christian want to miss out on what God does for us when we gather in worship? Pastor Tim Klein: Why do I worship in a congregation? For me, at the base level, it’s about being part of the body of Christ. Sure, I worship God in many personal ways, from celebrating and giving thanks to the Lord for all good things around me as I go: singing, whistling and writing songs of praise, and serving the Lord in all sorts of ways. But going to church every week to worship is heartland; it’s biblical; it’s life in the family of faith. I worship with my faith family, into which I am baptised.
Q&A
WHY DOES GOD WANT TO BE WORSHIPPED? ONE OF THE THINGS GOD WANTS OF US IS HUMILITY AND YET HE WANTS TO BE WORSHIPPED. HOW IS THAT EFFECTIVE ROLE MODELLING?
AK: For the most effective role modelling of being fully human with the deepest humility, all we have to do is look to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. His words and actions of acceptance, challenge and calling, all said and done in love, are not just for information but also for transformation of the heart and mind. For all he has done and all he continues to do for us, there is only one appropriate response – to follow, to love, to pray, to sing, to listen to him above all others. We call that ‘worship’. TK: I’m neither puppy nor puppet – not licking the hand that feeds me, nor dancing to the puppeteer’s tune. God wants me to worship him so he can bless, feed, forgive, guide, refresh and restore me for everyday life. God doesn’t need my worship; he loves it! In worship he has my full attention and that maximises his blessing potential on me and those with me. We are built for relationship with God and with each other. God knows that worship together is good for us all.
WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF LUTHERAN WORSHIP AND WHY THEY ARE CRITICAL? AK: The essential element of our worship and what makes it divine and spiritually alive is the presence of Jesus. What we participate in is truly of profound spiritual blessing because Jesus speaks to us, and because his word does what he says. He is far beyond our understanding and yet he reveals his character and intention for us by his powerful word, as it is proclaimed in words and in actions of baptism, absolution, the Lord’s supper and the blessing. TK: All of the above. It’s the Lord present with his body – together in one place. Baptism into Christ affirmed; sins confessed and forgiven; God’s word publicly read aloud, taught and proclaimed; feeding at the Lord’s table; being blessed and sent. These are for me the essentials of worship. There’s one other key for me: that in worship God is both subject and object. It’s not about me. I can proclaim Jesus as Lord in worship only by the working of his Holy Spirit. So he has brought me there, he inspires my worship and there the body of Christ worships God in his entirety.
WHICH ‘INGREDIENTS’ OF WORSHIP COME DOWN TO PREFERENCE? AK: Our worship has a rhythm to it from the Scriptures. The point of this rhythm or shape is not to restrict us, but to keep us firmly fixed on Jesus and the gospel at the centre of worship. The words, songs, prayers and actions within this rhythm are not set in concrete, and yet it is good to have common words, songs and prayers from Scripture. God has also called pastors in his community to proclaim God’s word and administer his gifts of grace. This includes the training, support and empowering of others to assist in worship, including the organist or band, the Bible readers, pray-ers, those who share messages for children, people who usher and welcome the stranger, and lay preachers. TK: As the body of Christ in worship we fit into the rhythms laid down for us – shaped around the cross of Christ – with biblical foundations. Each of us brings to the body of Christ unique gifts, character and style. But I am conscious that my personal ideas, gifts and character should not move worship away from the biblical models upon which our service orders are based. We do, however, add to the collective memory of worship with modern expressions, new songs and ritual appropriate to the context.
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GOD MADE ME UNIQUE, NOT A CLONE. SO WHY CAN’T I WORSHIP HIM ANY WAY I WANT? AK: God promises he is with us. At any time we can speak with him, hear him speak, ask him for what we need and seek his will for our lives. In this sense we can and do ‘worship’ him anywhere, anytime. But he has created a special gathering where he gives us unique gifts. In this more public gathering of church, through pastors, he gives us his gracious acceptance and love in concrete, tactile means of word and water, bread and wine, in a public, corporate, communal way that makes us his body on earth in a visible, tangible way. TK: Of course you can – especially when you are alone. When we are together, we share a common ritual – something that belongs to all of us. Some people worship with arms and heads raised high; others with hands clasped and heads bowed. Some sing loudly; others softly. Some read the Bible and some listen. Some smile and laugh with joy as they are fed the bread of life; some weep. But in worship the Lord meets all our needs. In forgiving each other our differences, God is at work in us refreshing us with a new sense of being gathered around the cross in the body of Christ.
WHAT IS LITURGY AND WHY DO WE NEED IT?
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN WORSHIP AND WHY DOES IT MATTER WHAT WE SING/PLAY?
AK: ‘Liturgy’ is a strange word to our ears. We say now that it is the ‘shape’ or ‘rhythm’ of what happens when God’s Spirit gathers us in Jesus’ presence. Sure, the liturgy can be done poorly in some dead, rigid, formal, lifeless kind of way, with little regard to those gathered and what their culture is. But when enacted with the gospel at its centre and when people’s needs and language are taken into account, it shapes us in good ways – in the gospel way, with Jesus at the centre. We receive him and respond to him in prayer, praise and thanks.
AK: Music is a beautiful gift of God that enhances our worship because it can engage people in ways the spoken word often cannot. Its purpose in worship is to serve. Luther called it the ‘handmaiden to the gospel’. The role of musicians is to support people in the singing of the word, prayer and praise. They also support the preaching of the word as they work with the pastor to enact the drama of the liturgy, telling the story of God and his people. A well-played old song, sung with a faith-filled heart and rhythm, led by an old organ or single guitar or no instrument at all, can be just as helpful and encouraging as a song played by a cast of thousands with great skill and the same good heart.
TK: The word ‘liturgy’ comes from a Greek word meaning service. For me, liturgy is the framework that makes way for God to serve us and for us to respond to him. Without a frame our worship would, in some ways, be spineless. It’s the ‘order’ that frees us to worship in a way that is not cluttered or bent out of shape by our own ideas and expectations. Healthy liturgy moves and flexes, responding to needs and circumstances. It responds to the word of God so that real ‘serving’ happens. I went to hear a visiting speaker who said, regarding the shape of worship: ‘We should be rooted in tradition before we can innovate with integrity’ (Nadia Bolz-Weber).
TK: Like Pastor Adrian, I’m a musician, primarily a singer. I have a broad range of musical knowledge and taste. For me, music suited to church worship needs to be faithful to Scripture and serve a function of teaching, prayer or praise. Music can be liturgy or prayer. It can convey truths of God into deep levels of subconscious, or simply celebrate moments of grace. Some music is better suited to larger or smaller gatherings; some is more personal, reflective or devotional. Some is better performed, while some melody is easier sung by various generations. But church music belongs to all of us. We share a collective memory and need to be wary of dismissing the heartland of that memory.
WHAT SHOULD THE RELATIONSHIP BE BETWEEN WORSHIP AND OUTREACH? AK: All we do in worship is, by its very nature, ‘outreach’. This is because wherever God speaks his word, he achieves the purposes for which he sends it. Therefore all worship services are evangelistic in nature. Strangers need to be welcomed. Words and actions need to be inclusive. The gospel needs to be the main word in everything done and said. The coffee needs to be good and the welcome full. The preaching needs to use common language, and stories told need to be God’s story intersecting with those of everyday people. Love needs to shine and the Spirit’s calling, gathering and enlightening power needs to be welcomed and prayed for. TK: Only a person who knows God can worship God, so worship is perhaps, by definition, meant for the faithful followers of Jesus. But worship is also a place where the Lord feeds and equips us, forgives and refreshes us. Good news is proclaimed and done. His purpose is that we should serve him; that we would be his presence in the world! So, while the primary focus of worship might be for the body of Christ to gather, it also has dimensions of outreach where the Lord reaches out to us and others in our brokenness, to bring us back to the foot of the cross – worshipping and serving the Lord.
Adrian Kitson, above, pastor at Nuriootpa, SA and writer of the LCA theme song Where Love Comes to Life, and Tim Klein, above left, pastor at Warradale SA and also a musician and songwriter. Both pastors are members of the LCA’s Commission on Worship. However, these responses represent their personal reflections and are not official statements on behalf of the commission.
CATHOLICS AND LUTHER –
a new perspective by DENIS EDWARDS
As part of the lead-up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, an ecumenical working party of Lutherans and Catholics has been planning a program of projects and events to jointly commemorate the occasion. One project is a series of articles about the significance of the Reformation, written by Lutheran and Catholic authors from around Australia, to be published in both Lutheran and Catholic publications. The second in our series of six is by Reverend Professor Denis Edwards from the Australian Catholic University’s School of Theology and Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry.
A new perspective on Martin Luther has been opened up for Roman Catholics by the fundamental consensus with the Lutheran church on the doctrine of justification, which was expressed in the Joint Declaration signed in Augsburg, Germany, on 31 October 1999.
We don’t make ourselves right
before God, but are justified simply by
What a joy it is that we can come together on what was the central cause of division between our churches, and that we no longer condemn each other’s views on the central truth of our faith, our salvation in Christ!
We can attempt to make ourselves right by the kind of home we have. We can try to make ourselves right by competing for attention, for status, for a better job, for more money. Many of us get caught up in a cycle of more and more work, as if taking on more, or achieving more, makes us right.
What does this mean for Roman Catholics in their view of Luther? I think it provides the possibility to see Luther as offering a precious gift on the journey of faith, in his conviction that God is a radically gracious God, who makes us right.
The Lutheran emphasis on the doctrine of justification is a powerful reminder of what is central to the gospel: that we are made right by God, and by God alone. We are made right by God’s love poured out in the world in Jesus Christ, in his life, death and resurrection.
By studying the Scriptures, Luther came to a truly liberating discovery. We don’t make ourselves right before God, but are justified simply by God’s grace. It is God who saves us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is God who makes us right in Christ. And God does this as a free gift. The whole of our Christian life flows from this free gift.
We are made right by a God of love, whose grace and mercy always goes before us and in whom we can entrust every aspect of our life and our death. In entrusting ourselves to him we find true freedom. We are enabled to live in freedom, free of the desperate need to prove ourselves. We are freed to take joy in God’s good creation and to live lovingly with those around us.
God ’s grace.
I believe this insight is a gift from the Luther we Roman Catholics need to receive. Some have a view of God that fills them with fear, and they need to hear again the liberating idea
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that God is a God of grace and mercy; it is God who makes us right, not what we do. But in our society today there are other ways we can be trapped in self-justification. There can be a desperation to prove to ourselves and others that we matter, that we are important.
The Lutheran JULY 2016
De n is a rds E dw
NZ Lutherans first to greet 500th anniversary As the sun rises on 1 January 2017, a group of New Zealand and Australian Lutherans and international guests will be the first in the world to greet the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation.
by LINDA MACQUEEN
Whitfield met with her in Berlin some weeks ago.
He also met with the Executive Committee of the Gossner Mission in Berlin and extended a formal invitation to them to attend. It is hoped that up The dawn service will be held at to six Gossner representatives will be the location of the first Lutheran among the group for the Reformation mission in New Zealand, at the anniversary on The Chathams. north-eastern tip of the Chatham The LCNZ is praying that this Islands (Rekohu Wharekauri), more commemoration might contribute to than 750 kilometres east an ongoing process of of the mainland. The of tension and The Chatham healing international dateline unease between the bends eastwards around Islands are the indigenous- Moriori people the islands, allowing the and the Maori iwi (tribe), BIRTHPLACE who invaded The Chathams islanders the honour of being the first people in of the Lutheran in the 1830s. the world to greet each ‘It seems that the Gossner new day. story in New missionaries were able ‘You are invited to be to relate to both Moriori Zealand. there with us’, says LCNZ and Maori very positively’, Bishop Mark Whitfield, Bishop Whitfield says. ‘We ‘as we begin a whole year of are hoping that our presence might commemoration of the Reformation offer both groups the opportunity to and celebration of God’s reforming cooperate, for example, in the powhiri grace and love’. (formal welcome) to us when we arrive on the island, and during our The Chatham Islands are the commemorative events.’ birthplace of the Lutheran story in New Zealand. In 1843, five missionaries from the Gossner Mission in Berlin landed there. To the Europeans, ‘The Chathams’ were, literally, ‘the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). The New Zealand Lutherans have pitched the commemoration on The Chathams as the first place in the world to enter the Reformation anniversary year; something that resonated with Professor Dr Margot Käßmann, Special Envoy of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany for the Anniversary of the Reformation 2017, when Bishop
www.50500.lca.org.au
The commemoration is also an encouragement for the people of the LCNZ and LCA to listen for God’s call on our lives, Bishop Whitfield says. ‘The Gossner missionaries followed God’s call to the ends of the earth to live and to share the reconciling gospel. Where are the “ends of the earth” that God is calling us to today? Who are the people “on the edge”, waiting for us to proclaim the gospel to them?’ More information about the Chatham Islands commemoration, including a draft program and costs, can be found at www.50500.lca.org.au
During this synodical term, 2015–2018, the LCA/NZ reaches two significant milestones: in 2016 the LCA’s 50th birthday; and in 2017 the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 50.500 faith.freedom.future invites us to celebrate and commemorate these special anniversaries – with thanks to God for his past blessings, and in the sure hope and confidence that he is building the LCA/NZ for the future.