wfn.org | New Year Greeting from LWF General Secretary Noko

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

Pursuing Justice, Reconciliation With People of Other Faiths
an Urgent Missionary Task for the LWF
New Year Greeting from LWF General Secretary Noko 

GENEVA, 23 December 2003 (LWI) - Pursuing justice and
reconciliation with people of other faiths is an urgent
missionary task for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and its
member churches in the coming year, asserts LWF General Secretary
Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko in his new year greeting. 

Noko notes that participants in the LWF Tenth Assembly meeting
in Winnipeg, Canada, last July, "gave thanks to God that our
communion is blessed--not burdened--with diversity." They
committed themselves and urged the LWF member churches to
"receive one another's differences as gifts," and to "respond to
situations of injustice in other parts of the communion." The
Assembly, he says, underscored that "we are not a Lutheran
communion by ourselves, but are fully integrated in the worldwide
communion of the universal church and the whole human family." 

Dialogue with people of other faiths, says Noko, is an essential
form of ministry in a religiously diverse world, especially in
the current context of increasing religious extremism. He reminds
churches that they must themselves be transformed to become God's
instruments of transformation in multi-faith contexts.

The full text of the New Year Greeting from the LWF general
secretary follows:

New Year Greeting from the LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko

Dear friends,

As we enter the New Year 2004 our thoughts are filled with many
concerns. Some of these concerns are personal - for ourselves and
for our families and relatives. Through our closest network we
know how interdependent we are as human beings. 

Other concerns relate to our countries and the world we live in.
The lack of peace today is a growing preoccupation. In addition
to the armed conflicts and other forms of violence that continue,
and increase, it seems that there is a deepening and widespread
sense of unease, alienation and personal insecurity - also for
many who previously felt secure and comfortable.

Our concerns being many, we are still encouraged by the message
of the Bible not to lose heart. On the occasion of the birth of
John the Baptizer, his father Zechariah prophesied:

By the tender mercy of our God, 
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79).

May these words, and the faith that God has inspired in us,
guide us and give us hope in the year that we have now entered
into. 

"For the Healing of the World," the theme of the LWF Tenth
Assembly, which met in July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, reflects
the core of our faith. It recognizes a need for healing that is
felt as sharply now as at any time in human history. The Message
adopted by the Assembly speaks to this need in many different
ways. It reminds us that our hope in the midst of sin and
suffering is that God heals us. It witnesses to the fact that the
justifying gift of God - the gift of Jesus Christ - transforms us
in faith, and gives hope and healing for the whole world.

In our continuing exploration of what it really means to be a
communion of churches, there are powerful resources for healing.
The participants in the Tenth Assembly gave thanks to God that
our communion is blessed - not burdened - with diversity. They
committed themselves and called on the LWF member churches to
"receive one another's differences as gifts," and to "respond to
situations of injustice in other parts of the communion." They
acknowledged that living in communion entails mutual
accountability for the effects that our actions have, or can
have, on others. The Assembly also made it clear that we are not
a Lutheran communion by ourselves, but are fully integrated in
the worldwide communio of the universal church and the whole
human family.

We are called to participate in God's mission - a mission that
is even wider than the bounds of the church itself. Churches must
themselves be transformed, therefore, in order to become God's
instruments of transformation in multi-faith contexts. Dialogue
with people of other faiths is an essential form of ministry in a
religiously diverse world - especially in these times of
increasing religious extremism. 

As the Assembly noted, in today's world, religions are too often
used by political forces to divide people and to fuel conflict.
It is therefore an urgent missionary task in the New Year that we
pursue justice and reconciliation with people of other faiths.
This task must be given high priority in our international work,
and in the life of our churches. But it must also be given high
priority in our own lives, as we relate to neighbors and people
around us. 

For peace to be built, parallel efforts must be made at
different levels - internationally, regionally and locally. The
task involves all of us. It is God's will to "guide our feet
into the way of peace." 

May all we do and engage in this year have the purpose of peace
building in it, in one way or another. May we learn to reach out
to others in new ways. May we learn to understand each other
better. May we learn to appreciate differences. And - more than
anything else - may we learn to love one another, as God has
loved us. 

Let us in God's grace pray and work for a good New Year 2004.

___________

(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 inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
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