wfn.org | (LWF) German Bishop Challenges Christians to Act

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

LWF Tenth Assembly, Winnipeg, Canada, 21-31 July 2003

PRESS RELEASE NO. 10

German Bishop Challenges Christians to Act Energetically in the World to
Bring About Healing 
Margot Kaessmann Sounds Conclave Theme, "For the Healing of the World"

Winnipeg, Canada, July 23, 2003- "I grew up in the faith of my mother and my
grandmother, who told me, 'When God calls you, you'd better go.'" With these
words, Dr. Margot Kaessmann, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Hanover, Germany, opened her keynote address before the Tenth Assembly of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Winnipeg.  Kaessmann noted that she serves
as the first woman in a distinguished line of bishops of Hanover, including
Hans Lilje who played in important role in the formative days of the LWF.  

In her address, delivered alternately in German and English, Kaesmann called
on Christians to engage the world with vigor in the hope that the human
community can live in justice and peace and thereby bring about "the healing
of the world," which is the conclave's theme.  Kaessmann declared that
healing will not occur through the globalization of an economy that does not
respect cultural differences.  Rather global healing will come about through
the message of God's love manifest in justice, peace and the safeguarding of
creation.

Dr. Kaessmann spoke before the 700 participants at the LWF Assembly, which
takes place every six years, and is hosted this year by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC).

As followers of Jesus, Christians are able to give hope to theworld.  "We
hope for the new heaven and the new earth, hope that transcends this world,"
stated Kaessmann, who is one of three women bishops currently serving in
Germany.  "As Christians we are God's people drawn from all peoples * that
remains the biblical vision."  This hope enables us to distinguish  between a
"here and now" society that honors power and might and one that practices
solidarity, loves justice, achieves peace and protects creation.  Healing,
stated Kaessmann means acting as the true stewards of this wounded world.

Kaessmann, bishop of Germany's largest regional Lutheran church with 3.3
million members, also challenged assembly delegates to bring about the
healing of the church.	The ecumenical "Kirchentag" church gathering in
Berlin at the end of May 2003, which drew 200,000 participants, was the
living sign of a vital church whose growing unity cannot be held back by
encyclicals.  Despite this positive sign, Kaessmann reiterated the convention
theme and warned that the church must also contend with its own wounds first
if it is to confront the wounds of the world. 

She cited the Lord's Supper as the concrete sign of healing for the world. 
The community that takes shape around the Lord's Table is a healing
community, a tangible sign of restoration to health.  If the church wants to
promote authentic healing in the world, it must acknowledge the centrality of
the Sacrament as a healing act not only between God and persons but between
persons.

"When we share bread and wine with each other, then we can and must leave
behind the conflicts and burdens that separated us and experience anew our
life together," declared the bishop.  "At the Lord's Table, we come together,
the poor and the rich, from the highways and byways, the estranged, the
disappointed, the lovers, the sick, people from north and from south."	The
Eucharistic fellowship has both human and social implications and serves as a
reminder for peace and justice.  It calls into our remembrance "that we
belong together, transcening any barriers, as God's people." It calls us to
ecumenical engagement.

Kaessmann cited as a condition for global healing that we see the world in
context, through eyes that are wide open but which look also through the lens
of God's love.	It shocks us to see what happened in Yugoslavia, what still
happens in Northern Ireland.  Despite the fact that in Central Europe we have
enough to eat, schools for our children, universal health care, many of us
are burned out, empty inside. Success in life is often measured just by the
ability to hold things together.  Europe may indeed possess great wealth, but
there is much that is broken and in need of healing.  Christians are able to
bring into this context the healing Word of God. They are able to look at the
world as it is, without closing their eyes or walking away.

If we want to speak of healing, said Kaessmann, we must first examine our
wounds, as any good physician would: at those small wounds that manifest
themselves in the angry word, the betrayed trust, and also at the large and
gaping wounds of war inflicted on human flesh by bombs and on refugees tossed
to and fro; by the guilty parties who thwart opportunity for development in
Africa, Asia, Latin America, who force child soldiers to employ brutal
weapons, and who daily sacrifice thousands to hunger.  Such atrocities cannot
be contained in words.

In the face of such horror, it is essential to understand that God himself
is wounded "by the destructions that we as human beings inflict on one
another," said Kaessmann.  "The Jesus story insists that we 'understand God
as both all powerful and powerless.'"  We don't require logical explanations
for an omnipotent God who also permits suffering.  We are only called to have
the courage to trust that God wills us to life, not death.  Christians must
bear the brokenness of human life and take part in "the way of the cross." 

Kaessmann reminded delegates that the HIV/AIDS pandemic no longer implies an
automatic death sentence for sufferers who receive he appropriate
medications.  The real problem, she said, is that these medications are often
too expensive and that second-class substitutes are given to people who
cannot afford better.  While progress has been made in medical research in
the treatment of cancer and the containment of the SARS virus, it has also
led to the growing conviction that we have the ability to cure every ill.  We
often forget that we are created in God's image, and would rather believe
that we create our own image.  In this context, Kaessmann called the church
to understand that healing is part of the Great Commission, and not merely a
secondary, diaconal task.

"When Jesus healed, He did two things," said Kaessmann, "He spoke and he
touched.  He made God's Word audible and tangible.  When Jesus healed, he saw
the person's faith and trust in God."  When Christians heal in Jesus' name,
we don't demonstrate our own healing power, rather we reflect the presence of
a loving God to the whole person.  Healing is not proof of God's presence and
is often abused in a human attempt to view it as a sign of special gifts.  We
truly witness to trust in God by learning to live with illness, to perceive
it as a grace, a gift from God.  

True healing is a holistic, a holy, a blessed process in which the
achievements of medicine, the role of one's own soul and God's spiritual
gifts are integrated.  Perhaps the church's role is to help us see that "the
various gifts - charisms - do not compete with one another, rather they
complement and enrich each other," declared Bishop Kaessmann.  Those who wish
for true healing must open themselves in body and soul to receive insights,
both ancient and new, and in diverse ways to witness to God's healing work in
the whole person.

Bishop Kaessmann put forth a vision for a "different world * where God's
spirit is at work * we will allow peace to grow without violence * there will
be a jubilee year that frees people and nations from bondage * refugees will
find a home *religion can finally become a factor i defusing conflicts *and
coming generations will learn to understand the earth as God's Creation."  

The Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is taking place
21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, under the theme "For the Healing of the
World." It is being hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(ELCIC).

There are almost 700 men, women and youth participants in the Tenth Assembly
including 356 delegates from the 133 churches with full membership and three
associate members. The Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the
LWF, and meets normally every six years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is
governed by its Council that meets annually, and by its Executive Committee.

Further information including photos, video and audio news, is posted on the
Assembly Web site www.lwf-assembly.org 

To order photographs, please contact LWF-Photo@lutheranworld.org 

*	*	*

The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7 million of the 65.4 million
Lutherans worldwide. 

The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest
such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.