The Lutheran November 2022 Sneak Preview

EDITORIAL

Editor Lisa McIntosh

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e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

Executive Editor Linda Macqueen

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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.

Walking their way!

The convenience of The Lutheran’s digital edition was a bonus for Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) staff during their recent retreat. The ALWS crew rose at 5.15am to make the climb up Mount Coolum in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast region and have a photo with new Executive Director Michael Stolz (back right). And, as they had their phones with them, they also had The Lutheran ! Also pictured are (front row, from left) Maddi Hegarty, Kirra Lewis, Celia Fielke, Amanda Lustig and Martin Scharnke; (back row, from left) Jacinta Harford, Peter Egesa, Michael Stolz and Julie Krause.

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

Moira Nagorcka

St Pauls Lutheran Church Box Hill Vic Retired secretary and constant gardener

Most treasured Bible text: John 14:27

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

Elijah Friebel

St Andrews Lutheran Church Tallebudgera Qld

Civil Labourer

Most treasured Bible text: 1 Peter 4:8

‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.’

Rose Vonow

Our Saviour Lutheran Church Aberfoyle Park SA

Registered Midwife

Most treasured Bible text: Isaiah 40:8

‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.’

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 and most treasured text in these difficult times) and your contact details.

Some of the biggest names in the Bible lived with disabilities. From Moses’ stutter to Saint Paul’s unnamed ‘thorn in the flesh’, Scripture has plenty of examples of God working through what was seen as ‘human weakness’.

And, of course, God’s glory and love shone brightly when Jesus’ miracles brought into the spotlight people who had been ignored, belittled, shunned and left destitute by society

they could not see, hear, speak or walk. Jesus not only straightened the mason’s ‘withered’ hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9–13, Mark 3:1–6, and Luke 6:6–11), he also restored his dignity and livelihood.

Unlike religious, government and business authorities of his day, when Jesus met a person with a disability, he saw the whole person. The fact that he ‘saw’ them at all set him apart. He loved them just as he loved his disciples and loves each of us, with our varying abilities and disabilities. Because society ostracised and failed to care for people living with disability, Jesus knew they were suffering and wanted them to live their best lives. His prayer for everyone in 2022 is the same. As he says in John’s Gospel (10:10b), ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’.

That’s why the accommodation, in-home and day-centre services and employment and training programs facilitated by churches, government, charitable, and aid and development organisations who work alongside people living with disability are important. Overall, they aim to remove barriers to independence and selfdetermination and replace them with opportunity and self-worth.

Among our Lutheran family, we have agencies whose staff, volunteers and supporters know the joys of serving with people who live with disability, and the challenges of a world which still excludes and devalues people, based on physical, mental and intellectual attributes. These agencies include Lutheran Services and Anuha in Queensland, and Lutheran Disability Services (LDS) and Elcies Disability Care (Lutheran Care) in South Australia. In addition, LCA International Mission and Australian Lutheran World Service support people internationally through their partnerships and programs.

We are excited to share a raft of stories from those who serve and live in this space, including thoughts on how our churches can be more inclusive of people living with disabilities. (Personally, I experience an extra dose of joy from the privilege of worshipping in a congregation with LDS clients and carers.)

As well as our regular columns, news, views and resources from around the church, our print subscribers will find a bonus copy of Border Crossings from LCA International Mission inside (digital subscribers can head to https://lcamission.org.au to access a digital copy under the Resources tab).

I pray that you’ll be blessed by your reading.

Special features

Putting heart, soul and grace into

all about faith, fun and community

for clients

families

can our churches be more inclusive?

with no limits

in name, nature and action

Regulars

we bear

name: Bishop Paul’s letter

in God’s word

and Grow

Our cover: iStock.com

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages may contain images of people who have died.

Because we bear your name

I watched our new King Charles dwell silently and pensively with the words of the anthem during his dear mother’s funeral, ‘God save our King’. Throughout his life, he had been praying ‘God save the Queen’.

Charles has taken up the work of monarch of the Commonwealth, in the wake of seven decades of extraordinary servant leadership. But an outstanding tradition that he follows from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is her Christian witness as a head of state in our modern world.

Young Princess Elizabeth was baptised into Christ in the chapel at Buckingham Palace in 1926 and was confirmed and married in the Church of England. Throughout their lives, ever in the public eye, Queen Elizabeth and her beloved husband Prince Philip served as a faithful Christian couple. Upon her accession to the throne in 1952, she became the head of the Church of England and was its longestserving supreme governor.

In her first Christmas broadcast after her father King George VI had died in 1952, Elizabeth spoke of her own prayerful yearning, ‘Pray for me … that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you, all the days of my life’.

This was a yearning she ever continued throughout her 70 years of service as Queen of both Australia and New Zealand, as she lived by faith under a very public scrutiny. She worked with 15 British Prime Ministers and nearly 200 different Heads of State in the various places of the Commonwealth.

As we entered the new millennium in the year 2000, Elizabeth took the opportunity to share a deeply personal witness to her own walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. In her Christmas broadcast that year, she said, ‘For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example’.

BISHOP PAUL’S LETTER

REV PAUL SMITH

At the same time Elizabeth has been praying, we have been praying for her. Many of the readers of The Lutheran in New Zealand and Australia will remember school days singing ‘God save the Queen’ before class every day. This anthem is a prayer, asking God to guide and bless the leader of our countries. God has answered Elizabeth’s prayer and our prayers for her.

At Her Majesty’s funeral, the preacher, Archbishop Justin Welby, left the listener in no doubt regarding Elizabeth’s walk by faith. He concluded his message with an invitation for listeners to take up the hope that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Archbishop Welby proclaimed, ‘Her Late Majesty’s broadcast during COVID lockdown ended with: “We will meet again”, words of hope from a song of Vera Lynn. Christian hope means certain expectation of something not yet seen. Christ rose from the dead and offers life to all, abundant life now and life with God in eternity. As the Christmas carol says, “where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in”. We will all face the merciful judgement of God: we can all share the Queen’s hope which in life and death inspired her servant leadership. Service in life, hope in death. All who follow the Queen’s example, and inspiration of trust and faith in God, can with her say: “We will meet again”.’

Our two nations have paused to express our thanksgiving to God, for the life and witness of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. As Christian people of this Commonwealth, we commit ourselves to praying for Charles III and all our leaders, both in our private prayers and in the liturgies of our congregations and Lutheran communities.

God save our gracious King.

In Christ,

Paul

Lord Jesus, we belong to you, you live in us, we live in you; we live and work for you –because we bear your name

‘FOR ME, THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST AND MY OWN PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY BEFORE GOD PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK IN WHICH I TRY TO LEAD MY LIFE.’

Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand