LWF Christmas Message: With Exceeding Joy
Confirmation students from the Windhoek area clasping hands as they form a Luther Rose at the Global Commemoration of the Reformation in Windhoek, Namibia on 14 May 2017. Photo: LWF/Johanan Celine Valeriano
Archbishop Panti Filibus Musa reflects on peace
(LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) celebrates Christmas in 2017 with a reflection on peace. Writing from Numan, Nigeria, LWF President Archbishop Dr Panti Filibus Musa, reflects on the hymn of the angels and the message of peace in the Christmas message:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
Faced with the atrocities carried out in the world, such as terror attacks, extremism, the abuse of political power, human trafficking, and gender-based violence, the LWF President writes, we should be reassured that God is with us and “our redemption is nigh. It is this assurance that defines our journey, not the forces of darkness.”
Musa, Archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, invites all LWF member churches to share the gospel in word and deed, just as the shepherds did on the first night of Christmas. Let “us in this season of Christmas and New Year commit ourselves to proclaim the good news of our redemption that compels us to be instruments of peace, justice, and life-giving actions that enrich all humanity as people embodying the image of God.”
The photo accompanying the Christmas Message comes from LWF’s 2017 Christmas card. It shows confirmation students from the Windhoek area clasping hands as they form a Luther Rose at the Global Commemoration of the Reformation in Windhoek, Namibia on 14 May 2017. Photo: LWF/Johanan Celine Valeriano
LWF Christmas Message 2017 from Lutheran World Federation on Vimeo.
