Wilhelm's space

It is with joyful anticipation that I am looking forward to our churches convention next week, where my father is planning to use parts of President Matthew Harrison’s book “At home in the Church of my fathers” to illustrate the background, foundation and purpose of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, which has striking similarities. Prof. Klän from the “Lutherisch Theologische Hochschule Oberursel i.T.” (SELK) is to add to this history with a paper on Hopf and his workings with our Church in mission, seminary training and its constitution and Rev. Tswaedi is to elaborate on our Churches life under Apartheid. It seems we will have plenty food for thought and discussion.

Other topics on our agenda are two district presidents from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Rev. Timothy Scharr and Rev. Dr. Brian Saunders on “The calling process: What is this?” and “Visitation as pastoral help” respectively. This builds on Prof. John Pless’ (CTS Ft.Wayne) paper last year: “The Report on the Saxon visitation” and mine: “Visitation as ancient Christian practice and challenge today”. This time I am talking on the “Ordination formula and pastor’s life”.

Besides regular devotions throughout the day there are also daily bible studies: “Called to be a pastor” (Dean Mandla Thwala); “How to be faithful” (Dean Tebelo Mafereka) and “Wonderful promise and hope” (Dean Siphiwe Danisa).

Brother Christoph (Mission of Lutheran Churches) is to update us on the Churches mission and we will also hear about the work of our Seminary in Tshwane.

The highlight of our convocation is to be the ordination of four candidates: Silas Mogale, Bheki Ngobese, Moses Mokopanele and Phenyo Mokgaimena tomorrow in a week – if they pass the ecclesial “Amtsexamen” this Friday.

We are expecting more than 60 participants as we gather in the Roman Catholic Retreat Centre of the Good Shepherd at Hartebeestpoort Dam. Thanks to faithful and generous friends of the Lutheran Church, who the Lord of the Church provides in his unfathomable goodness and unfailing faithfulness we can afford to hold this convention yet once again. May he bless the  proceedings with his presence and guidance throughout those coming days to strengthen the brethren and to edify the Church +++

The watchword for the 3rd Sunday in Lent (Oculi) comes from Luke 9,62: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” The Lutheran order of service is posted here in isiZulu and seTswana. This time the sermon on 1.Peter 1, 13-21 was written in isiZulu by Pastor Peter Weber, missionary of Lutherische Kirchenmission (SELK) and serving in the Ohlangeni parish on the south coast of KwaZulu/Natal together with Pastor Mkhabela.  Together they serve six different congregations in that parish. The seTswana translation was provided by our father Rev. E.A.W.Weber DD.

We are grateful that the Lutheran Heritage Foundation sponsors the distribution of these Lutheran service orders throughout southern Africa, helping many to read God’s word and participate in Lutheran worship regularly.

The watchword for Oculi is from Lk.9,62: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Read the orders here Zulu Order for Okuli with Sermon  and in seTswana Tswana Order of Service for Okuli

Yesterday I received an invitation to tell some stories about the LTS. Well, there are a number of stories I would like to share – especially the following:

1. Uganda: More than fifteen students graduated from LTS and ordained back home over the past 5 years. 2 are still in post-graduate courses at the university of Pretoria (UP). Each one of these has a remarkable story like Angus Lukeeta, the first student to arrive at LTS some years ago and getting this wonderful partnership going, which has enabled these students to fit in at LTS and now student Enoch McBen, who is enrolled at UP is even joined by his wife, who is doing the deaconess training program and their young boy, who is learning English and lots more at the Creche/Kindergarten up the road.

2. Liberia: Over the past 25 years more than fifteen students were at LTS both in Enhlanhleni and in Tshwane from Liberia. For example T.Doe Johnson was the first to graduate at the university of Pretoria (UP) in the OT with a Master of Theology degree and presently E.Gebotoe is busy with his MTh in Mission studies after completing his Honours at UP, his wife Laura is busy with her nursing diploma and their little daughter is going to the creche/Kindergarten close to LTS.  8 new students from Liberia are enrolled at LTS in 2012 (Deaconess students included).

3. Sudan: The sad story of Bishop Elisas, who passed away, but whose legacy is continued with students enrolled and graduating at the University of Pretoria e.g. Peter Anibati has passed his Honours in NT and is busy with his Masters in NT and has been joined by 2 more candidates this year.

4. Kenya: Three exchange students at post-graduate level

5. Tanzania: Five exchange students at post-graduate level

6. Students from Zambia, Rwanda, DRCongo, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Ethiopia – all have a story to tell.

From South Africa and the LCSA I would like to highlight the following:

1. Bishop emeritus David Tswaedi joined LTS in Enhlanhleni in 1976 (year of the Soweto riots). He only had Std. 6 and was recommended to finish his schooling first. He did this. He not only did his STM in the USA at Ft.Wayne, but also received a Honorary doctorate at CS St.Louis. He is presently busy with his PhD studies there. He has been the bishop of the LCSA for nearly 20 years and has taught at the LTS in Tshwane since its move to Pretoria in 2001. He has been part of the ILC excecutive and has been a great success story for the LTS training all along. Obviously there is lots more to add on this pastor, who is still faithfully serving in the LCSA at all levels of ministry at national, diocesan and congregational level too.

2. Rev. Radikobo Ntsimane has joined the LCSA years ago and was trained in Enhlanhleni before he started his university career at the university of KwaZulu/Natal in Pietermaritzburg, because he did not get a place in CTS Ft.Wayne. In the mean time he has been lecturer and rector of the LTS for nearly 10 years, he has completed his PhD in Church History and after teaching in this field for a number of years at the University and is now earmarked to take over the national department of oral history for the South African government. He too still heads a LCSA congregation as pastor and serves faithfully in the Church at various levels.

3. Rev. Eliot Sithole was a poor farm boy from Enhlahleni, where he grew up under the auspices of his grandfather, who was an evangelist there. He studied theology at the LTS in Enhlanhleni and after serving successfully especially in youth ministry in the Umsinga area he was called to teach Old Testament and Hebrew at the Seminary in Pretoria. He was then given the opportunity to enter the PhD program at CTS Ft.Wayne and is now busy with the final stages of the dissertation, while he as an expert in both Hebrew and Zulu is now working together with the United Bible Society on the revision of the Zulu Bible translation. After this project it is expected that he will continue lecturing OT/Hebrew at the LTS in Pretoria.

4. Rev. Nathan Mntambo – another son of a pastor, who grew up in Mpumalanga – is teaching practical theology at the LTS for twelve years now and has taught the biblical languages and several subjects like Church History. He is the dean of chapel and serves faithfully were needed. He has completed his STM at CTS Ft.Wayne and is very keen to enrol at PhD level there too – if the residency requirement is not to stringent as he has a family of 2 daughters with his wife.

5. Five other students from the LCSA have graduated successfully at the University of Pretoria over the past 4 years: Rev. Orapeleng Shuping (Honours in Systematics, busy with MTH), Rev. Vincent Cane (MTh in Missions), Rev. John Nkambule (Honours in Missions, busy with MTh), Rev. William Maphalala + (Honours in NT, busy with MTh), vicar Bheki Ngobese (Honours in Systematics).

This goes a long way of proving that the education at the Seminary prepares our students well to master the post-graduate system successfully at University level. The legalized partnership between UP and the LTS is a result of this positive cooperation over the past years. The envisioned Lutheran Chair at UP under Prof. Dr. Werner Klaen will hopefully do its fair share of getting this established even more and on a more and that more students will receive solid academic education from a confessional Lutheran perspective. Presently there are five post-graduates studies from outside the LCSA studying at the University of Pretoria at either honours or masters level.

6. Of the hand-full of students from our Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, who have graduated at the Seminary all have been successfully incorporated into the work of the Church. A number of them now hold leading positions in the various dioceses:

6.1 Mandla Thwala – dean of KZN

6.2 John Nkambule – deputy dean of GP

6.3 Christopher Mosenogi – deputy dean of NW

6.4 Mothlatlosi Sebeelo – deputy dean of BW

The successful implementation of a deaconess training program at the LTS with Deaconess Grace Rao over the past 3 years and now the start of a full-time course in deaconess training with Deaconess Deborah Rockrohr. Here the story is still in the making.

Hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea to proceed/ask further questions.

Today the Church commemorates the 40 knights of Sebaste, who were martyred in Armenia +320. Read more about that here: Forty Martyrs of Sebaste – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Prof. John T. Pless preaching at LTS during the Confessional Service

Confessional Service, p. 290 LSB

Hymn of Invocation: “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy”- 434 LSB

Psalm 119:105-112 (Nun)

Hymn: “Speak, O Lord, Your Servant Listens”-589 LSB

I Samuel 3:1-10

“Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” That was young Samuel’s petition and it is hard to think of a prayer more appropriate for a seminary community like ours here at LTS where we are devoted to Luther’s oratio, meditatio, tentatio. It is here that we are given the privilege of time together to hear the words of the Lord, to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them as the Collect says. But it is also here in these buildings, that we are tempted and all too often give in to the satanic invitation to get so caught up in our speaking, our words, that we fail to really listen to the Word of the Lord. Samuel was serving in the temple but our text tells us that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days” and that prior to this episode “the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” The priest Eli was aged and his service had already come under God’s disapproval. It was one of those seasons in the life of Israel that the Prophet Amos describes as a famine not of bread, but of the hearing of the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Yet the does not remain tight-lipped and silent. He speaks.

Now God’s breaking of the silence is not in and of itself good news. Think of the children of Israel assembled before Mount Sinai.  They were struck with terror at voice from the cloudy and awesome majesty, begging that the divine voice be stilled. God speaks a word that we would rather not hear. He speaks His Law with criticizes not only our words and deeds but it is criticism of who we are. His Law is not only a condemnation of misplaced thoughts and errant actions; it is revelation of who we are – sinners conceived and born in sinners. When God speaks this word of evaluation over us and we are found guilty, we do everything but pray “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” In fact, we do the very opposite as out of our mouths come a whole liturgy of self-justification. It is not that we want to hear God, but that we want God to open His ears to our words. We cannot say with the Psalmist David, that God is justified in His judgment of us and so we want to share with God- and we insist that He listens to us- our well designed rationalizations of sin, our excuses for evil, our accusations of God and the neighbor.

Luther observes that when human beings speak they either justify God or else they will justify themselves. To justify God is to give Him the honor of truthfulness just as David did in Psalm 51 when he prayed to God “Against you, and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Ps. 51:4). Those are hard words to speak but because they condemn us. It is not the Lord who is in the wrong; we are. We would rather not admit it. We deplore confession for it is an acknowledgement that we are not merely victims of the wrong of others but that we are the problem. So instead we seek to justify ourselves. And how do we do it? Through words…words that proclaim our rightness, words that eagerly reveal the sin of the brother or sister but are unheeding of our own sin. Like the tribes of Israel around Sinai, we would rather that God not speak.

But if God did not speak we would be left with our own words, with the thoughts and imaginations of hearts ever ready to craft some new idol, to enthrone some false god that we conclude would be more merciful to us than Jesus Christ.  God speaks and His word of unerring law and this is what He says: You have not feared, loved, and trusted me above all things and so you have despised preaching and my Word, not holding it sacred or gladly hearing and keeping it. You are too ready to speak and too slow to listen. You elevate your own opinions above my Word and you think that your thoughts are more essential than the teaching of Holy Scriptures of which you are bored.  If we are to speak, our words can only be the confession:  “Against You, O Lord, have I sinned in my hardness of hearing, my dullness toward Your Word, my slowness to learn of You and cherish Your wisdom.” If we think that we have not sinned in this way because we are students of theology or teachers of the church, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

God calls you this day to repent, to confess your sins, and receive His words of absolution. Our prayer is young Samuel’s prayer: “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” The Lord God whose voice called Samuel to His priestly service is still speaking. He has called you by the Gospel to faith in His promises, enlightening your mind by His Word of Truth and sanctifying your lips for the proclamation of His name.

God is not silent in the face of your confession of sins.  He does not leave you in silence with your sins to ponder whether or not they are forgiven. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that the man who is left alone with is sin is utterly alone.  You are not left alone to bear the burden of your sin. It was carried to the cross by the Lamb of God who did not grow weary in the hearing of His Father’s voice or dull to His Scriptures but perfectly and completely heard and fulfilled those Scriptures for us and our salvation.

“Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” This is our prayer as we come to kneel in repentance at the Lord’s altar this morning. God answers that prayer by speaking through the mouth of His servant  who says “ I forgive you all your sins for the sake of the bitter sufferings and death of my Son.” These words do not belong to the minister but to the Lord Christ. They are spirit and they are life. They say what they do and they do what they say. God speaks here in these words not to terrorize or condemn but to console and to comfort with a peace bought with His blood and indestructible because He is raised from the dead to live and reign for eternity.  “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it..”

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep  your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

Prof. John T. Pless

It’s pastor EM Mkhabela’s birthday today. He is serving in Gamalakhe near Port Shepstone on the S.Coast of KwaZulu/Natal together with Rev. P.C. Weber at Ohlangeni. I think that is an ideal constellation – especially if you consider the third active party in Pastor Kurt Schnackenberg of the FELSiSA serving in close proximity at St.Michaels Lutheran Church. Pastoral teamwork like that is a great opportunity + May the living God continue to bless these brothers down at the Coast.

Time of Christian missions is far from over. The traditional religions of this world are as virulent as ever. Just read these temple plans by Hindus in India via Höchster Hindutempel der Welt: Indien kopiert Kambodschas Angkor Wat – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Reise.

There are some things, which are the same even across denominational lines. Read here what is said about “Prayer” and “Place to worship” and other matters in the holy sanctuary via A Mass Less Ordinary | First Things.

Brasilia, Brazil (ENInews)–Prominent Brazilian biblical scholar and author Milton Schwantes died on 1 March after a long illness. He was 65. A pastor in the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, and a professor of the Old Testament at the Superior School of Theology (EST) in São Leopoldo in the 1970s and early 1980s, Schwantes’ ecumenical witness influenced a generation of Brazilian and Latin American scholars, according to a report by the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC). [259 words, ENI-12-0130]