Message from LCA Bishop John Henderson, 2 April 2020
Video Script #3, 2 April 2020
View the video on the LCA/NZ COVID-19 Response page
The peace of the Lord be with you.
I’m John Henderson, bishop of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.
This is my third video message to the church during this pandemic. Today I am speaking particularly to those of you in Lutheran schools and early childhood services, aged care, and community service organisations.
I want to encourage you with the words of the prophet Isaiah:
… those who trust the Lord
will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles
soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run
without getting tired.
Tired is certainly how you might be feeling, and with no end yet in sight.
I acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of early childhood education and care workers, school teachers, medical staff, carers for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people, community workers, chaplains, support staff and leaders in Lutheran schools, early childhood, aged and community care services across Australia. Thank you for your dedicated service to the young, the ageing and the vulnerable.
You represent diverse organisations, working across a variety of sectors, serving in many places and among many people – urban and rural, wealthy and not-so-wealthy, young and old, families and singles, employed and unemployed, those who are healthy and those who are ill. Yet we all work in a common cause. Whether you share our Lutheran expression of faith or not, you are part of the extended family of our church. Thank you for your service to those in your care, and for going the extra mile in this time of need.
God calls every one of us together in love and service, and we need to follow that call now, more now than ever.
Together, we do what we can for the benefit of others, in the name of Jesus.
As you show love and care in these extraordinary days, know that God loves you. He loves those in your care. He is the rock who keeps us safe. You are professional people who also support one another, encourage one another and pray for one another. Ask God for those extra reserves of energy you need. You already know these things, and I want to encourage you in what you do – it’s important.
God bless you in your determination to care, to make a difference, and not to give up. Our resolve, and our faith, will be tested. We will need to give up some things. I’m sure we will also gain other things, even if we aren’t clear what they might be just yet.
I conclude with these words in Romans chapter 8:
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May the same Christ be with you all, now and forever.
