wfn.org | LWI 2008-087 - 2008 Christmas Message from LWF President Mark Hanson

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  
>LWI News online:
>http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html

2008 Christmas Message from LWF President Mark HansonGod Fulfils
the Promise of a Welcoming Home 

GENEVA, 4 December 2008 (LWI)  -  Christmas brings good news
that God in Jesus Christ has come to make a home in a world where
the human family yearns for a place of joy, peace and hope, says
Bishop Mark S. Hanson, the President of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) in his 2008 Christmas message.

Although universally appealing, the fulfillment of the promise
of being in a place of security can be elusive in a context of
the cold and harsh realities of poverty and its attendant
diseases, and the infection of violent hatred at international
and local gatherings, notes Hanson, presiding Bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). 

But, points out the LWF president, even when life's journey
takes people far from familiar sights and sounds, and they find
themselves uprooted and displaced, "this God finds you, this home
comes to you."

The full text of the 2008 LWF Christmas message follows: 

2008 Christmas Message from the President of the Lutheran World
Federation

The Word became flesh and made a home among us. ~ John 1:14

Home. The promise of being at home and in a place of security
and peace is universally appealing, but fulfillment of the
promise can be elusive. Cold and harsh realities lurk on the
horizon like an ominous storm. Poverty and its attendant diseases
persist; the infection of violent hatred can be found everywhere
from international forums to local gatherings.  In every corner
of this world the human family yearns for a home, a place of joy,
peace and hope.

Christmas brings good news of a great joy for you and all
people: home is not far away. God has come to make a home with
you in Jesus. In the life of this human brother, on the stage of
human history, God took up residence in the world you and I
inhabit. From cradle to cross his life embodied the fulfillment
of God’s promised mercy - forgiveness for every sinner,
liberation for the oppressed, the hope of welcome in the very
heart of God.

This life - the Word deeply enfleshed in human experience - is
the embodiment of God’s glory, and the shining brightness of this
embodied glory is like the lamp whose light transforms a cold,
forbidding space into a warm and welcoming home. Even when your
life's journey takes you far from the familiar sights and sounds
of your childhood and you find yourself uprooted and displaced,
this light searches you out, this God finds you, this home comes
to you.

>Good Christian friends, rejoice!

>Bishop Mark S. Hanson
>President, The Lutheran World Federation
>Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Available in PDF, MP3 and Audio-Stream files at,
http://www.lutheranworld.org/XMas_2008-EN.html

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. 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.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information
service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not
represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.] 

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
>P. O. Box 2100 CH-1211 
>Geneva 2 Switzerland

>Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 
>Fax: +41/22-791 66 30
>E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org