Lutheran Ping!
Posted on 09/22/2008 6:29:58 PM PDT by lightman
LUTHERSTADT WITTENBERG, Germany (ELCA) -- Repentance is God's gift to the world through Jesus Christ, and it is one central theme of the ongoing Lutheran Reformation, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the 68.3 million-member Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva, and presiding bishop of the 4.7 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago.
Hanson made the comment in remarks here Sept. 20 at a groundbreaking ceremony for a Luther Garden, a project of the German National Committee of the LWF. Lutherstadt Wittenberg marked the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's arrival here Sept. 20-21 with a series of public events, including the groundbreaking. Lutheran churches and organizations also kicked off a 10-year "Luther Decade" leading to 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation.
Luther, a German monk, was a key figure in the Reformation, which began in earnest after he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church here on Oct. 31, 1517. The theses raised a number of questions about biblical interpretations and practices of the Catholic Church.
Luther was not a prominent person when he arrived in Wittenberg, but during the following 10 years a small community of peers began to notice his theological work, Hanson said.
"What launched him into prominence was that theological witness that he began with the theme of repentance," Hanson said. The first of Luther's 95 Theses on the power and efficacy of indulgences said, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said 'repent' (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance," he said.
The Lutheran Reformation continues today as an "evangelical, ecumenical … reforming movement within the Church catholic," Hanson said. If the Reformation is to continue its contributions to the world, repentance must be a "lived reality in our relationships with one another," he said.
Repentance is not required for humans to qualify for divine mercy, he said. "Rather, when we talk about repentance, we're describing the entire life of the Christian lived in faith in Jesus. Or even more accurately, we're describing the life of Jesus living in us, as the new creation raised to a new life in Christ," Hanson said.
Living a repentant life frees Lutherans to care for neighbors and for creation, and to reject violence and misrepresentation of other faiths, he said. Repentance is appropriate in view of divisions that occurred in the 16th century -- many of which have not been healed -- such as divisions between Protestants and Catholics, nobles and peasants, and clergy and lay people, Hanson said.
"My prayer is that this garden may be a sign of hope not only for the people who come to Wittenberg, but will be a sign of hope for the people of the world -- that the repentant life in Christ will free us to care for God's creation, and to work for reconciliation, justice and peace in God's world," Hanson said.
Other speakers at the groundbreaking, attended by more than 200 people, were Bishop Johannes Friedrich of Bavaria, and Dr. Andreas Kipar, Luther Garden architect. When completed the garden will consist of 500 trees from around the world. The project also calls for planting some 5,000 trees worldwide.
---- Information about the Luther Decade is at http://www.wittenberg.de and http://www.luther2017.de on the Web.
Very well. So let the ELCA repent of its neglect of the sacrament of confession; its advocacy of the homosexual agenda; and its unrelenting attempt to emasculate the language of worship.
And did I mention masquerading as the Democratic party at prayer?
Oh, is that what is meant by “go and sin no more”?
I call it the ELDNCA.
Oh, is that how the verse concludes?
So much (too much) ELCA liturgy and preaching stops with "neither do I condemn you."
They also need to repent of having Tiller the Killer as one of their parishioners.
A Christian life frees a person to be politically correct? Hanson's altar is made of porcelain with swirling water.
Yes, Lutherans and all Christians should care for their neighbors. The statement about creation though, while taken at face value seems innocuous enough, could be misconstrued as support for those that believe in man made global warming. I believe that man has dominion over the earth and other beasts, and it is in his best interest to care for the earth, but the worship of the earth and putting earth above all things is much like the deists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It takes the focus off of Christ.
Hanson gets more play time in Europe than here at home it seems. Good. He can stay there. He seems fitted for their Worldly viewpoint.
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