THE LUTHERAN October 2018

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

OCTOBER 2018

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LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

WHAT A CAPIT AL IDEA!

EDITORIAL

Shirley Kleinschmidt, who worships at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Woongoolba Queensland, shares LCA news and views from back home with Munkhbat, a Lutheran evangelist/lay preacher in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. They are pictured in front of a ger, the style of portable tent accommodation in which many local people live.

The photo was taken by Dieter Gerschwitz.

Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8339 5178 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

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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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The Lutheran OCTOBER 2018

Fav text: Most of Psalm 139

Bev Bunge St John's Lutheran Church, Coleraine Victoria Retired Enjoys cooking for family, doing things for community, serving the church, morning and evening devotions Fav text: Matthew 6:33

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OCTOBER

Special features EDITOR'S

Letter

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Watching a BBC travel documentary on Russia recently, I was horrified to see footage of a huge sinkhole in Siberia, believed to be caused by melting permafrost.

The Batagaika Crater is a megaslump which, according to news and scientific reports, is a kilometre long and more than 85 metres deep in places. And it’s continuing to grow. A story on the British broadcaster’s website says the trigger that led to the crater’s formation dates from the 1960s. Rapid deforestation removed shade critical for keeping the ground frozen during warmer months. The article says this was ‘made worse by the loss of cold “sweat” from trees as they transpire’, which would have kept the soil above the permafrost cool.

While this massive hole is of great scientific interest, it is also releasing huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere, which could have a devastating impact on our planet. So one form of ecological destruction is precipitating another.

The documentary caused me to reflect on how delicate all life on God’s great and glorious globe can be. Our Creator gave humankind ‘dominion’ over creation, which also means we have responsibility for its care. As Pastor Andrew Ruddell, who formerly worked as a glaciologist and leads us in Bible study in this edition, says, God made us his ‘vice-regents’ or ‘stewards’ when it comes to caring for the earth.

Indeed, many Lutherans in Australia and New Zealand are already making such a contribution. Congregations are transforming the self-reliance of church plants with solar-generated power and rainwater-capture. Individuals are cutting their household waste and saving energy. Businesses are reducing their carbon footprint. And farmers are employing new and old methods alike to protect land and stock from the vagaries of extreme weather and to produce food in a healthy and sustainable manner.

The LCA/NZ also has a commitment in this area and, at the 2015 General Convention, Synod backed a call for members to consider the health of creation in everything they do. That resolution gave us the Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions’ Climate Action Working Group, and in this issue we are blessed to include reflections by some of its members, including from a 17-year-old Lutheran college student.

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How green is my Bible?

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Our call to care for creation

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Dirt and sweat make beautiful ministry

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Shaping Convention worship

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Regulars 9

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Heartland

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Dwelling in God’s word

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#youngSAVEDfree

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Going GREYT!

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Reel Life

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Go and Grow

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The inside story

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Notices

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Directory

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Your voice

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Coffeebreak

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In fact our Lutheran schools, too, are extremely engaged when it comes to the environment. And you have the opportunity to learn more about that through the copy of SchooLink, Lutheran Education Australia’s magazine, free with this issue. This is a chance to hear from school communities which have undertaken earth-care projects made possible by LLL grants.

I pray that while we may be extremely concerned about the future of the world in which we live, we will also find hope and encouragement in all of these stories as we strive to uphold our duty as stewards of creation.

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

REV JOHN HENDERSON

Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia

FREE TO LIVE CHRIST-CENTRED LIVES The debate in Australia about religious freedom is surely a sign of the times. Social ‘conservatives’ accuse ‘progressives’ of pushing a ‘hard-left’ social agenda, exemplified, for instance, by the recent marriage plebiscite.

participate in the ongoing ministry of Jesus Christ.

Their work builds and sustains our collective social capital.

Let’s draw a distinction, then, between such Christcentred lives and ‘religion’. Religion – the belief that humans can become God’s favourites because they believe, say, and do the right things – is the antithesis of a life lived in faith (Matthew 23).

Society now views churches far more negatively than in the past. Vocal critics in the media find a willing audience. Pressure is increasing, in places like Victoria, to purge religion from the public space.

Subtle and insidious, the religious opinion that For their part, churches don’t help when they give I am better than others slowly accumulates like inadequate, opaque responses to a poison. It shows itself when someone real questions about historical abuse, does the wrong thing by me. It could particularly by clergy. Meeting victims be as commonplace as when someone God’s ANSWER of such abuse has shown me how jumps me in a queue, or cuts me off in destructive it truly is. When churches to our human traffic. It’s so easy to be indignant and respond poorly, it adds fuel to the fire condition does not seek justice, or maybe even retribution. of those who claim that for society That’s what religion does. It makes us lie in our religion … to make real progress, religion must feel superior. We fail the test of serving become a purely private matter.

It lies with Jesus, the others as Christ serves us (Matthew PERFECT Word of 20:25–28, Galatians 5:13–15).

This public debate, however, is strangely at odds with the situation God made flesh.

God’s answer to our human condition most of us know and experience. does not lie in religion – the art of Despite declining numbers, in making God pleased with us – no many places, especially in smaller communities, matter how hard we try. It lies with Jesus, the perfect churches are the glue that hold people together.

Word of God made flesh, voluntarily taking our place, When the banks, schools, service stations and drawing the evil of this world upon himself on the supermarkets have left, churches are still there. cross. He’s the one God is well and truly pleased Local Christians give countless volunteer hours and with. He makes us his body, a church in which he massive resources to support the community. Local gladly receives everyone who turns to him. He freely churches, embedded in their communities, return shares his love and gives us eternal life, setting us that generosity by being beacons of hope during free to serve others just as he has served us. dark days, giving comfort in times of distress and We believe in this church. We won’t give it up, confidence in times of doubt. They care for the whatever happens in the public square. Our job, as sick, the needy, and the homeless. Christians do church, is to go on loving, to go on caring, and to the voluntary work in society that governments and continue to serve the world, no matter what, just as corporations simply don’t have the people or the Jesus continues to serve, nourish and redeem us. purpose to do. Every week, millions of Christians

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H OW GREEN is my Bible?

In his ‘day job’ with the University of Queensland, Professor Neil Bergmann works in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. But along with his extensive interest, research and qualifications in high-tech disciplines, he is passionate about protecting and preserving earth’s natural resources. Here he shares a biblical reflection on our Christian responsibility to care for creation.

by NEIL BERGMANN

The ecological damage being done to God’s good creation is an urgent issue facing all of humanity.

The earth’s resources, land, water, and air, as well as its rich diversity of plants and animals, are under increasing stress from unsustainable use, enabled by scientific and technological capabilities that were unthinkable a few generations ago.

The answers to this crisis are not simple or obvious.

Those same technologies have given us vastly improved healthcare, lifted millions of people out of poverty, and provided many with meaningful and rewarding careers.

But something needs to change if there is any hope that this current generation is to leave the earth in better shape than we found it. Where can we, as Christians, look for guidance?

One of the key parts of the Lutheran Confessions, the Formula of Concord, begins with the statement: ‘We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard according to which all dogmas together with all teachers should be estimated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and of the New Testament alone’. So does Scripture give us any help here?

Rather than a book about what we should and shouldn’t do, I think the Bible is much more about who we are and what kinds of people we are called to be. It is a book about our relationships – our relationship with God, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with God’s creation.

These relationships start in the creation hymn of Genesis 1, where the triune God is creator, and we humans are identified as part of God’s creation – a creation that is very good. Humanity has a special role in creation: ‘God created humankind in his image’ (v27) and then said to them ‘replenish the earth and subdue it’ (v28).

‘Subdue’ doesn’t sound like a very green relationship with the earth, but we get further explanation in the second creation narrative recorded in Genesis 2. ‘God formed an earthling from the dust of the earth’ (v7), emphasising that our bodies are made from the earth itself, like all the other animals and plants. However, unlike other creatures, our lives and our spirits came directly from God when God ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life’ (v7). We also get more information about what ‘subdue’ means when Genesis 2 tells us The Lutheran OCTOBER 2018

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all of creation. St Paul tells us that ‘creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God’ (Romans 8:21).

It not just our souls that are redeemed, not even just our human bodies and souls, but all of creation that has been redeemed and is being made into a new creation.

Just as we care for and honour our bodies as temples of the living God, so we should also care for and honour all of creation.

that the earthling was placed ‘in the garden to work it and to take care of it’ (v15). So right from the beginning we are intimately linked both to God and to the earth.

We are inseparably part of one great and good creation, but we also have a special role to care for that creation.

We often treat the earth as though it is just a TEMPORARY stage for our human DRAMA and a storehouse to meet our earthly NEEDS.

Psalm 8 tells us more about our relationship with creation: ‘You [God] have crowned them [humans] with glory and honour and made them rulers over the works of your hand’ (v6). God has uniquely given humans the intelligence and passion to develop world-changing science and technology which, in turn, gives humans the ability to affect the environment in ways previously unimaginable. But how should we use this power?

We often treat the earth as though it is just a temporary stage for our human drama and a storehouse to meet our earthly needs. In John’s visions in Revelation we are promised ‘a new heaven and a new earth for the first … had passed away’ (21:1), and it sometimes feels as though we are happy to trash this current world because a better one is coming.

God places a much greater value on this old earth than we seem to do. God’s covenant with Noah is not just with the few remaining humans, but ‘with every creature that was with you in the ark’ (Genesis 8:17). Jesus tells us: ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care’ (Matthew 10:31). If God cares for the lowliest of creatures, surely we should also.

Christ came not just to redeem our immortal souls from a sinful and evil world. Rather, Christ came to redeem

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When we look at the Bible through ecological eyes, even familiar stories give new insights. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), instead of a wounded traveller, we can see a wounded earth, stripped of its clothes and left half dead. Surely, loving our neighbour as ourselves includes actively caring for a wounded creation. Or are we like the priest and the Levite, too busy or too holy to help a groaning world? It is not enough to blame others for today’s ecological damage; we are called to actively care for creation.

Looking at the parable of the Prodigal Son gives us even more insight. God’s good creation is an inheritance that has been given to us to care for and to pass on to future generations. But instead, it seems that our generation has ‘squandered [its] wealth in wild living’ (Luke 15:13). But this parable also gives us hope. For the prodigal son, it was a famine that brought him to his senses. For us, we need to open our ecological eyes to the current state of creation.

But rather than despair at the state of the world, we Christians can hope. As the prodigal son repents and returns to his father, so we can acknowledge that we are living beyond earth’s capacity to sustain our current lifestyle, and turn in repentance to a loving and always forgiving father.

We are renewed again by God’s energising love, and we can join with God in his ongoing re-creation of a broken world.

So yes, I think the Bible is much greener than we have thought, if only we take the time to look. Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may truly see.

Neil Bergmann worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church at Rochedale in suburban Brisbane.

He joined the LCA’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions’ Environmental Action Working Group because he has hopes for a higher profile for environmental issues within the church.

Photos: Nigel Minge

Our call to care for creation

by C ATHRY N H A MILTON Am I a tree-hugging greenie? A caring grandmother?

A steward of God’s creation? Or all of the above? Well yes, I love trees, but I love birds, orchids, food, and spending time with my grandchildren, too! These are all God’s gifts and they all need to be cared for.

about the life-giving planet we call Earth. As community, we exploit our life-support system for our own ends without understanding the fragile connections essential for all living things. Our beautiful native orchids, like those above, cannot survive without fungi in the soil and the intricate network of trees, plants, animals and insects. And you can experience these intricacies of God’s great design. Joining a revegetation group has grown my understanding for healthy local systems that sustain God’s handiwork.

Earth care is a topic that has long interested me. During my childhood near Murray Bridge in South Australia, my parents were market gardeners before venturing into raising chickens. I learned about sustainability, the value of recycling chicken manure, conserving water, buying local, and living simply and in community.

I grew up in the Lutheran church. Many As Christians, members were farmers, although I didn’t see evidence of environmental action in we have no choice the 1960s and 70s.

but to CARE

God calls each of us differently to use our gifts and his gifts – my story and his story. In my life I hope that others see the connection I feel to God’s creation, a respect for conserving resources by building an energyefficient home, and my desire to share what I have learned with others through my work.

Studying science at university, I heard about US marine biologist Rachel deeply about the Carson, whose writings are credited LIFE-GIVING planet with advancing the global environmental movement, particularly regarding the In 2015 I was asked by Tanya Wittwer, we call Earth. impact of pesticides. My early work was the chair of the LCA’s Commission agriculture-based – dairy research, soil on Social and Bioethical Questions and water conservation and plant quarantine.

(CSBQ), to nominate to the commission. The aim was to help the church experience ‘eco-reformation’ – that A marriage, a mortgage and two children later, I took by its stewardship actions the LCA shows it values much-needed contract work with the department which and cares for God’s gift of creation. My prayer is that, is now SA Water, and at the SA Health Commission. through the Holy Spirit, the work of CSBQ and its I had also joined the Lutheran church in 1991 at Environmental Action Working Group, with Lutheran Salisbury to help my children learn about Jesus.

Education Australia and Australian Lutheran World While my work was all environment-related, my interests Service, continues and expands across the LCA/NZ to were turning to how the community could do more. bring about some bottom-up action.

In 2011, I finished a PhD researching carbon-neutral communities and realised we can’t rely on government to protect God’s creation – it’s a bottom-up task. While Dr Cathryn Hamilton is Convener politicians struggle for agreement on climate change of the CSBQ Environmental policy, in the meantime I believe we are called to act.

Action Working Group and a As Christians, we have no choice but to care deeply member of Salisbury Lutheran Church in suburban Adelaide.

Dwelling in God’s word: A STUDY ON

E WA R D S T S G N I BE T A I E O R N C F O In the beginning God created the cosmos and all that’s in it. With his word he ordered the chaos and he blessed it and called it ‘good’. Made in his image, he declared humankind ‘very good’.

All creation worked together in perfect order and harmony – the land, oceans and atmosphere, plants and animals, man and woman. The soil brought forth vegetation, the oceans were filled with fish, the skies with birds. Every kind of creature was fruitful and multiplied.

God, the ruler of all, made humankind his viceregents (stewards) over creation, ‘to subdue and have dominion’ (Genesis 1:28). Made in God’s image they were to do this without greed.

Read Genesis 1:28.

Made in the image of God, what do you think the vice-regency of humankind was intended for? Was it to be aggressive against creation or for creation?

Compare your answer with Genesis 2:15.

Then entered the lie from the father of lies, who was ‘a murderer from the beginning’ (John 8:44).

Humankind listened to the lie rather than the truth of the Word. This lie is the physical and eternal death of all humankind and all things in its wake.

(Genesis 3:17).

God’s word is always ordering and effective. His word goes forth and never returns void. But when it is misused to serve the lie, it is not without harmful consequences. Under the lie, humankind’s dominion over creation is disordered. Instead of care and proper use, there is misuse and abuse. This has resulted in irreparable damage to the planet through unbelief, ignorance and exploitation.

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by PASTOR A N DR EW RU DDELL

Think of all the good things you enjoy from God’s creation. List as many as you can. How can they be abused? What are the consequences? How can the good things God gives you be abused to bring harm to others or even death? Think of the ways we try to justify this abuse? Is it God’s fault or is it for self-gain?

It is often said that ‘money is the root of all evil’.

Is this true? Would getting rid of money save the planet? Read 1 Timothy 6:10. What is the real problem?

In Genesis 1:28 the two verbs ‘subdue’ (in Hebrew kabash) and ‘have dominion’ (radah) are used. When these words are used elsewhere in the Bible with aggressive overtones, extra words are added in the Hebrew to modify their meaning (Numbers 32:22,29; and Leviticus 25:43,46,53; Isaiah 14:16, respectively).

Because of these two verbs in Genesis 1:28 some blame Christianity for the ecological damage to the planet. Is this claim accurate?

While substantial improvements in human wellbeing are evident in many parts of the world, this has come at considerable cost. Disorder and decay are all around us – ‘the whole creation groans’ (Romans 8:22).

No longer are all creatures fruitful. Plastics are clogging and choking our wildlife. Our impact has been widespread. As a glaciologist I would travel to the earth’s remote polar and alpine regions to measure glacier loss from human-induced climate change. Science has physical power but can never prevent us living ‘the lie’ and misusing it.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17–21. Where does victory over sin come from? How was this achieved?

As Christ’s ambassadors who work with God’s creation, how is Godly dominion manifested?

In this monthly column we hear from young people in our church about the ministries and mission they are part of – and how we in the LCA can better engage with youth in our communities.

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to GUARD the E A R T H Zant i Ajaero describes herself as ‘an incurable bookworm, an aspiring doctor and an ent husiast ic budding scient ist ’. A 17-year-old st udent at Concordia College in suburban Adelaide, she is also t he youngest member of t he Environmental Act ion Working Group of t he LCA’s I A JA E RO Commission on Social and Bioet hical Quest ions (CSBQ).

by Z A N T I still remember volunteering to help my teacher recruit members for the new environmental club he was establishing at Concordia College in Highgate, South Australia. It’s now très chic, but was not so popular initially.

Few people wanted to attach their name to something as nerdy as the environment.

I would love to become a neurosurgeon. I have always wanted to cut people up – to help them, of course!

Actually, I became inspired when I was around eight and read the biography of American politician, author and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson. I would love to improve the lives of conjoined twins, too.

When Pastor Peter Bean, who has since retired, announced the EarthEnvironmentEgo competition, I eagerly entered a piece on how trees are discriminated against. Unlike most people, I began to care about the environment because of trees, rather than animals. I have a phobia of most animals. The judge said that I had presented an ‘interesting argument’ and I won first place in the writing section of the competition.

In the CSBQ Environmental Action Working Group we discuss how the LCA approaches environmental issues and collaborate with some very dedicated people. A lot of discussion, consultation and planning is always needed before any big changes can occur. Participating in a committee is something that more young people should do because it prepares you for life beyond school. We need to be prepared to take our place as leaders by being guided by those with more experience.

Pastor Bean then asked whether I would like to be part of a church environmental action working group. I felt very surprised and honoured but some people I told didn’t understand what it was about. They just thought I had to spend a few hours every few weeks talking with some old people (i.e. people over 30)! However, my family were very happy that I could offer a secondary school student’s perspective into the church’s environmental programs.

But, before I share the secret discussions that go on at the LCA offices, I should introduce myself! I am 17 and am taking the International Baccalaureate educational program at Concordia. I am blessed with parents, two brothers and a lovely six-year-old sister. My family and I emigrated from Nigeria to Australia in 2007.

Photo: Craig Elliss

I became so involved with the environment partly because I wanted to take action about a spiritually important issue in our contemporary world. It is easy to feel like the prophet Jeremiah, who thought he was too young to do God’s work, but youth can bring many things to the table – including new perspectives. A friend and I also have founded the Adelaide ‘crew’ of Earth Guardians, an international youth environmental organisation, some of whom are pictured below. We are currently involved in local government-level campaigns, such as wildlife protection.

Zanti Ajaero attends St Michael’s Lutheran Church in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills with her family.

How can the LCA engage more effectively with young people?

On a grand scale, I think the church needs to have a leadership that is representative of all its members. I think that inviting youth onto more committees is a good way so that we feel our views are recognised.

This also involves shifting away from the standard model of youth groups and youth camps as separate bodies, to a model in which youth participate in ‘adult’ leadership.