One Body in Christ!

So where do we worship on Sunday mornings? I know that you were dying to know! It is the Cathedral Lutheran Church in Kisumu and last weekend I had the privilege and honor to preach at their English and Swahili services. The Gospel was on Jesus' words to His disciples about the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:19-24, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Pastor Isaiah blessing the children.

The worship service lasted over two and a half hours, but it was really awe inspiring to worship and share God's Word with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ halfway around the world. We actually got to worship God on the Lord's Day before all of you who are seven hours behind us! I made sure to share Christian greetings on your behalf from America and remind them that you are praying for them. If you are wondering if I spoke in Swahili, you can rest assured that I did not! Pastor Isaiah, a local pastor and fellow Capstone staff member, was gracious enough to wrestle with my American accent and translate my sermon for the congregation.

I have to say that it was very intimidating to preach in Kenya because a big part of preaching is application. God's Word is unchanging, but the way that we apply it to different events, times and cultures does change. I had a professor at seminary, who spent six months out of the year teaching at the Lutheran Seminary in China, remind us in class one day that in China Jesus is not the bread of life. He is the rice of life! To use and apply God's Word to a different culture is really difficult because it is not about WHAT you say, but HOW you say it that makes all the difference.

Pastor Joseph of Cathedral Lutheran Church

The Cathedral Lutheran Church in Kisumu is shepherded by Pastor Joseph Abour. You might remember him from when Immanuel Lutheran Church raised money a couple years ago to help purchase Bibles for Bondo in Western Kenya. He was the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Bondo at the time of our generous Christian gift to help underwrite some of the cost of purchasing a Bible for our fellow followers of Christ. The first thing that will catch your eye about this congregation in Kisumu is its youthfulness. There are over 200 youths in their Sunday School alone! It is pretty amazing to see them streaming out of the service to hear God's Word in their classrooms.
Also located on the church's campus is the Archdiocese of the Lake region, which encompasses the suburbs and small villages of the city of Kisumu. The bishop of this region is the Rev. Dr. Joseph Ochola. He is the bishop of 26 Lutheran congregations and his role is very similar to our New England district president's role, Rev. Timothy Yeadon. Bishop Ochola is very familiar with Americans because he studied at our fellow Lutheran Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Before I was able to preach at the Cathedral Lutheran Church in Kisumu, I visited with him to gain his permission. The first question he asked me was what seminary I attended, St Louis or Fort Wayne. Being a graduate from St. Louis, I assured him that I did not know there was any other seminary besides the one in St. Louis, which is a little seminarian humor. He quickly responded with a smile and a similar answer that he didn't know any other seminary besides the one in Fort Wayne! He then welcomed me to preach not only at the church in Kisumu, but also any of the rural congregations that he is bishop of as well!
All of this reminded me of how connected I have felt when worshiping with fellow Christians around the world. The Bible calls the Church a body. We may look different, speak different languages and even serve Christ in different ways and in different places in this world, but at the end of the day we are all connected to one Body, through the Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for making the Church a picture of real unity. As Johnny Cash sings in his song One, "we are one, but we are not the same." One in Christ that is! The Apostle Paul writes, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us (Romans 12:4-6).” ~Joel

Cathedral Lutheran Church Children's Choir