Convention 2003: Sharing the joy of God’s Word
Convention 2003: Sharing the joy of God’s Word
A light sparkles in his eyes. His voice, clear but accented, is strong. He explains that he did not know what the Lutheran Bible Institute in Lusaka, Zambia, was all about when he enrolled there in 1966. In fact, he hadn’t even been baptized yet. But, WELS missionary Ernst H. Wendland said, “We’ll try him,” and let him stay whenhe showed up for classes.
Now Salimo Hachibamba is principal of the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka. He is attending the 2003 WELS convention as an honored guest because it is the 50th anniversary of WELS’ mission work in Zambia. He is preaching at the convention’s closing service.
I try to pry out of him what the topic of his sermon is, but all he’ll give me is the Bible text he’s preaching on—Romans 5:1. With a mischievous look in his eyes, he tells me, “You’ll have to listen and see.”
So, I do. I listen with rapt attention during Hachibamba’s sermon, not because I have to, but because I want to. This talented man’s words, powered by the Holy Spirit, wrap around me and pull me in: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
How many times have I heard these words? Yet, as this man reads them, I feel the weight of them. The importance. He draws them out and emphasizes the magnitude of them. He then reads Romans 4:16: “Therefore the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.” Ahh . . . a light goes on, and Hachibamba proclaims, “We have been justified by grace through faith.”
A thoroughly Lutheran teaching, being taught to me by a Zambian who believes those words just the same as I do. Joy wells up in my heart, as I realize that we share faith in the same God of grace.
Hachibamba continues his sermon, expanding on the picture of a loving Father who sacrificed his Son for us. He works his way around to the 11,000 members of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa in Zambia who also believe these words.
Then he says it: “I say this not to boast, for this is not my joy. This is your joy, because you started it.”
Wow. The reality of his words hit me, and I can’t help but get choked up. If WELS had not sent missionaries to Zambia 50 years ago, Salimo Hachibamba and 11,000 other Zambians may not have heard the truth about God’s grace. While feeling joy, though, I also feel an urgency—an urgency to reach out to more people, so that more souls can be saved by grace through faith.
“We say thank you very much for comingto us with the Word,” concludes Hachibamba. “Your money has not been wasted. The fruits are there to see. That’s your joy.”
That’s your joy—and mine.
Now Salimo Hachibamba is principal of the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka. He is attending the 2003 WELS convention as an honored guest because it is the 50th anniversary of WELS’ mission work in Zambia. He is preaching at the convention’s closing service.
I try to pry out of him what the topic of his sermon is, but all he’ll give me is the Bible text he’s preaching on—Romans 5:1. With a mischievous look in his eyes, he tells me, “You’ll have to listen and see.”
So, I do. I listen with rapt attention during Hachibamba’s sermon, not because I have to, but because I want to. This talented man’s words, powered by the Holy Spirit, wrap around me and pull me in: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
How many times have I heard these words? Yet, as this man reads them, I feel the weight of them. The importance. He draws them out and emphasizes the magnitude of them. He then reads Romans 4:16: “Therefore the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.” Ahh . . . a light goes on, and Hachibamba proclaims, “We have been justified by grace through faith.”
A thoroughly Lutheran teaching, being taught to me by a Zambian who believes those words just the same as I do. Joy wells up in my heart, as I realize that we share faith in the same God of grace.
Hachibamba continues his sermon, expanding on the picture of a loving Father who sacrificed his Son for us. He works his way around to the 11,000 members of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa in Zambia who also believe these words.
Then he says it: “I say this not to boast, for this is not my joy. This is your joy, because you started it.”
Wow. The reality of his words hit me, and I can’t help but get choked up. If WELS had not sent missionaries to Zambia 50 years ago, Salimo Hachibamba and 11,000 other Zambians may not have heard the truth about God’s grace. While feeling joy, though, I also feel an urgency—an urgency to reach out to more people, so that more souls can be saved by grace through faith.
“We say thank you very much for comingto us with the Word,” concludes Hachibamba. “Your money has not been wasted. The fruits are there to see. That’s your joy.”
That’s your joy—and mine.
Tags:
