THE PARABLE OF THE CHOOK-RUN

There was a man who had a very precious chook-run.  He made it very secure - 2m fences, gate locked with a pad-lock so that neither four-legged nor two-legged foxes could get in at night and steal or destroy the very precious birds.  They were perfectly secure so that their owner could sleep at night without any worries!

But there was one thing he had not considered: bird flu!  Bird flu could not be prevented no matter how particular the owner had been with all his security arrangements.  So one morning the owner came to inspect his precious birds, only to find to his great distress, that half his birds were lying dead on the ground.

A very wise man!?  He had cared for the safety of his hens so carefully - no foxes, no dogs, no thieves could get at them.  - But, then, one thing he had overlooked: the possibility of a fatal virus in the air which had now attacked his pride and joy!

The man in the parable reminds me of the LCA.  Over the past years it has concentrated to the exclusion of almost everything else on debating the 'Ordination of Women'.  This subject was treated with the utmost care - and rightly so, whether in support of the ordination of women, or opposed to it.  Both sides resorted  to the Holy Scriptures to prove their case.

But one thing was neglected or simply unable, or unwilling, to be addressed: the general health of the theology of the Church - its Confessions as a true exposition of the Word of God.  Not only did some parishioners run hither and thither believing they could re-educate the LCA by what they learnt elsewhere so that in some cases Lutheran churches were hardly recognizable as Lutheran.  The Hymnbook was often ditched - the only official prayerbook of the LCA so rich in spiritual food if one only bothers to stop and really study the text of the hymns.  Then the worship of the Church had to be changed - to conform to the spirit of our times or to be the same as found elsewhere.

The Church which prided itself on preaching 'Christ crucified' - well, those ugly crucifixes - so out of tune with our culture - had to be removed from the altars.  It would be better to replace the crucifix with a plain wooden cross or with a screen on which to project pictures.  Or, better still, remove the altar from the sanctuary altogether - and the pulpit too. And install an over-head projector - then the congregation (those with good eye-sight) can be entertained with nice little ditties - perhaps from Hillsong.  Or, more latterly, data projection! - Turn our churches, at best, into Reformed Chapels (in conformity with the philosophy of the Swiss Reformed theologians (Zwingli, Calvin, etc.)  Get rid of anything that reminds us of our Lutheran roots!

If any members disapproved - ignore them; they are already over the hill, out of touch with modern society!  We have to do this for the benefit of the youth so that we don't lose them.  The youth demand change.  But where in Holy Scripture are the youth, or anyone else, given the right to demand anything - except the proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the holy Sacraments?  Interestingly, the Holy Scriptures constantly refer to the elders in decision making. e.g. "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.  All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'." 1 Peter 5,5  (NIV)

So, when the vote is finally taken at Synod on 'Women's Ordination' there will be those who greatly rejoice and those who are very sad and distressed - according to their particular view.

Which ever group we support, for all there will be the incredible job of cleaning up the 'bird flu' which has developed in the Church over recent years, largely as a result of inaction.  It won't be easy!  But all will need to hop in and help rebuild what we allowed to deteriorate, i.e. if the LCA means anything to us.

To do so, we need first of all to understand what the Church is about.  We are not a secular society. The Church is the body of Christ!  So the Church is something uniquely special.  There is nothing in the world to compare with it.  The Church is, however, not limited to this world.  It exists also in eternity.  The Church here on earth elects its leaders who are conscious of their responsibilities before God concerning the way they lead.

The current leader - the President - of the LCA, the Rev. Michael Semmler, has already published his triennial Report to the forthcoming Convention at Toowoomba, Qld, from September 30 - October 5, 2006.  In his Report he effectively tells us - winners or losers - how to face the challenges ahead of us.

He says: "the main business of the Church is to preach, teach and live out the central message of the Gospel.  We are determined to 'proclaim Christ crucified' (1 Cor.1,23)".  He continues: "we accept the Lutheran Confessions as a summary and as a correct exposition of the Word of God.  We hold that the acceptance of and subscription to the Confessions in the Lutheran Church must always be made 'because' not 'as far as' the Confessions are in agreement with the Word of God". (Theses of Agreement ix.4)  Report page 45f.

So, rebuilding is not done on the basis of ideas picked up from here, there and everywhere, nor according to our own individual subjective likes or dislikes, but on the official teachings of the Church: the Word of God and the Confessions which we accept as a true exposition of that Divine Word.

The most commonly known among the Confessions are the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism the latter one being used mainly for instructing especially the young prior to First Communion and Confirmation  - when we made our first pledges of loyalty to the teachings of the Church.

Concerning worship the President says: "worship begins by listening to God rather than first calling on God to hear us. The promises of God are for the ear rather than the eye.  That is important when we are tempted to judge the Church only by what we see." p.44

The Report continues: "Rather than promoting revivals, crusades, pleading and demanding exhortations and struggling to maintain our connection with God, we hear that through the miracle of baptism we are God's own.  The rhythm of worship requires our liturgies to form our understanding that God has taken hold of us and keeps us as his own through his refreshing Word and life-giving sacraments." p.44

But the President has a great deal more to say on this subject, so get hold of the 2006 Report book and turn to pages 43ff.  It really is a splendid Report; one cannot put it aside without getting the definite impression that the President is 100% committed to what he has written.  It is such an encouraging Report.

And just this closing thought from St Paul's Letter to the Romans (12,2):  "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will".[NIV]    

Konrad Hartmann  

emeritus pastor LCA

September 2006