"The Church Must Go Out ..."

At the closing service of the Mission Festival, the Brazilian exchange pastor of the ELM made a powerful plea for a missionary church.

This year's Mission Festival came to an end on Sunday morning with a worship service in the Great Cross Church. It was organised by Pastor Simon Volkmar from the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK), the ecumenical exchange pastor of the ELM from Brazil, Cristina Scherer, the trombone choir of the Hermannsburg Protestant parishes and the SELK choir.

The Bible texts for the day at first glance do not seem to call for missionary zeal to change the world; they were at the centre of the first half of the service. "If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.." (Romans 12:18) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Luke 6:37) "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? " (Luke 6:41).

You could easily get the idea that faith is about making yourself comfortable at home and not harming anyone. Cristina Scherer then made it clear in her sermon that this could be a misunderstanding. "It is the task of the church to proclaim the love of God ... It is also one of the tasks of the church to oppose the countless forms of violence, oppression and repression, to denounce evil and injustice, to support the weak, the needy, the helpless and the marginalised, to stand by everyone without distinction," she explained.

It is not possible to be a church and carry out mission without taking risks, without going out to meet people, "as a loving, encouraging and motivating presence." This path is about believing and confessing that goodness and love are stronger than the evil forces of this world.

Pastor Scherer spoke about the example of the Brazilian priest Júlio Lancellotti, who cares for the homeless in Sao Paulo and says: "I don't fight to win. I know that I will lose. I'm fighting to be faithful to the end". "Let us have more courage to be faithful to the gospel," Cristina Scherer called on the worshippers. She also spoke about Jullyene Lins, a Brazilian defender of women, children and minorities. She said: "I am very afraid of dying, of being murdered. But at the same time as I fear, I also have the strength to fight." Or, as it says in the Gospel of John: , "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18).

In the end, there is a bridge between the Christian faith and its implementation in the world: "sisters and brothers, let us have more courage to be a missionary church that sets out on its journey. Not to win every time, but out of the immense joy of remaining faithful to the preaching and proclamation of the kingdom of God," was Scherer's appeal. Against this background, she sees the 175-year history of the missionary organisation and its future in a positive light, as it is part of a church that is on the move and is now on the move together with people from partner churches around the world.