God is Able!

Daily roll calls.  Endless announcements.  Hard benches. Sore bums.  Tedious elections and long-winded speakers.  Report after report.  Strong opinions met with even stronger reactions.  Sometimes the only things hotter than the temperatures are the tempers.

One event comes to mind.  Synod Convention.

Been there?

Each of those two words, synod and convention, just by themselves can give enough of a scare to the bravest of pastor and layman alike!  But put those to words together and watch grown men cringe at the thought of it!

The theme?  God is Able.

At the September 2006 Synod Convention in Lusaka, Zambia. The group of national pastors (four), delegates (ten) and missionaries (two) working in the Eastern Province.

More than a theme, it's a rock solid truth.   Since God is omnipotent (all powerful) and omniscient  (all knowing) and omnipresent (present everywhere), God is, without question, able. He is able to do what He wants to do.  Considering the development of the LCCA, this theme was as fitting as it was timely.

A growing child has questions.  Lots of them them.  So does the Lutheran Church of Central Africa.

Some were answered.   

Who will lead us the next two years?   God answered that through the voting procedure.

Who will be the third national professor at the Seminary?  Even prior to the Convention, God answered that through the Divine Call to Rev. Samual Kawiliza.

Can the LCCA meet its financial needs?  God answered that through the giving of our own members whom He has blessed.

Among others, these three questions have been answered, not because those in convention were so wise and so generous, but because God is.   God is able!   If God can solve the answer to man's eternal questions, than can't He manage the synodical ones?   

Of course!  God is able! 

So did the LCCA in convention decide to sit back and let God be God?  Actually, that's a two part question. Letting God be God didn't take a vote. Nor should it ever. God will do what God will do. There is no other God. To Him be all glory and praise, honor and dominion.

Everything about the convention told me that the LCCA is not going to sit back with arms folded and legs crossed. There are plans to make, students to teach and vacancies to fill.  There are meetings to attend, sermons to preach and sheep to find.  There are visits to make, reports to give and papers to write.  

Carmine Bee-Eater

And if God gives us the years ahead, there will even be synod conventions through which to sit. 

But since God is able to accomplish what He so desires, that is a good thing.

A roll call means that there are men elected by God whom He has brought together to carry out His Kingdom work.  

Announcements mean that there are people working behind the scenes for the good of the rest.  

       Hard benches subtly, if not boldly, encourage us to stand up once in a while.  Maybe it's a reminder that we each ought to stand up for the truth more often than we have. 

             Sore bums remind us that the work is what God said it would be: tiring, but temporary.  Elections, though tedious, give us an opportunity to be part of a process that puts people in the seats of leadership. 

                   Speakers sometimes get long-winded, but when they speak God's Words, is it not worth listening to? Report after report indicates the enormity of the work that God is accomplishing in vast areas of a country.  

                           Strong opinions and strong reactions reminds us each that we have the freedom to speak what is on our hearts and minds. A good reminder that God wants us to speak the truth in love and that the fight in which to be engaged is the fight of faith. 

And when tempers get hotter than temperatures, it's another opportunity to step into the shade of God's right hand, take a drink of the cool waters of forgiveness, and direct an entire assembly in convention back to the very reason why Jesus died on the cross.

If you happen to be visiting our LCCA in convention in September of 2008, bring yourself a cushion!

God is Able!