Joy and peace in Jeparit
On Sunday 12 April, St John Lutheran Mission Jeparit were warmly welcomed into Lutheran Mission - Australia in a joyful service, led by Pastor Sam Modra. Over 100 people including visitors from near and far gathered for worship in the beautiful St John church on the second Sunday of Easter.
After the opening hymn ‘He is risen, He is risen’, Pastor Sam lead the rite of reception, reading the LM-A Confessional Statement. Elders Wayne Werner, Ian Keller and Joshua Koop signed a copy on behalf of the congregation.
Pastor Sam preached on the Gospel text for the day, John 20:19–31, when Jesus appears to the disciples in the locked room. The disciples were hiding, afraid of reprisals from the Jews, but also no doubt worried that the Risen Christ would be angry with them for running away. In the midst of their fear, Jesus appears to them and says, ‘Peace be with you’.
The disciples had no need to fear, Jesus hadn’t come back for retribution, he hadn’t come back to give them a lecture on commitment, or mateship, or standing up for their belief. Jesus’ return is much more important than that.
Peace be with you…
Peace be with you…
Then again, the next week
Peace be with you…
There is no reason to fear! You are forgiven! All tied up in that phrase, peace be with you! This is Jesus’ message to the disciples and we can know for certain the peace that Jesus gives here is peace connected to forgiveness. Jesus’ forgiveness is both a personal forgiveness for how they wronged him, but also God’s forgiveness for their state of being.
Contrasting the fear of the disciples before Jesus’ proclamation of peace to their fearlessness in Acts, Pastor Sam noted that Jesus brings this same peace to us. We hear it proclaimed to us in the divine service, and we have the opportunity to share it with each other. He commended the practice of passing the peace before communing together, private confession and absolution with a pastor and consciously living out God’s peace and forgiveness in our homes by absolving each other with Christ’s words.
Don’t miss these great opportunities to build faith by proclaiming peace, resurrection and forgiveness to one another. Let the gospel have its full reign in your lives as you use it to obey God rather than man. Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you! Christ is Risen!
At the close of the service, past Jeparit Pastor Paul Kerber told some stories and shared greetings from him and his wife Karen and from the Barossa Lutheran Mission congregation, and greetings were presented by Luke Nuske from St Paul’s Lutheran Church Pinnaroo, Lyndon Hampel from Concordia Lutheran Church Loxton, Tony Noller from Vectis Lutheran Church and Rob Koning from St Stephen’s Lutheran Church Rainbow. A number of greetings from those who couldn’t be present were read, including a moving greeting from former Jeparit Pastor Carl Thiele. LM-A Chairman Peter Walter commented that ‘It was a privilege and pleasure to attend Jeparit’s first LM-A service.’
After the service, the crowd enjoyed a time of wonderful fellowship and an array of delicious savouries and sweets. The comment was made that, ‘Lutherans certainly know how to put on a great luncheon!’
Reflecting on the day, Pastor Paul Kerber said that it was a wonderful day which reflected the tireless work of the St John Church Council and their considerate way of taking all the members along the journey of the past 12 months. Michaela Koop of Jeparit commented that there was a feeling of excitement and peace about the service, recognising that ‘a year's worth of planning, prayer and organising culminated with a day blessed by God.’