“For our sake [the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Last Sunday we baptized another six Persian adults at Zion Lutheran Church (SELK) in Hamburg. We started our next 12-week Baptism class an hour later, immediately after the Divine Service. My Finnish missionary friend Rev. Pasi Palmu joined us, as did an interpreter. After an opening prayer, I asked the new candidates how much they knew about Christianity. Answers ranged from “I’ve heard a bit about it and am curious” to “On my way to Germany, I lived in Turkey for ten months and attended a Christian church there.” We opened our Farsi Bibles and read John 3:16. I next explained how Christ took all our sins upon Himself and gave us His righteousness in return, but from their expressions, I could tell I wasn’t quite getting through to them. Hmmm. “Imagine Jesus gave you a brand-new Porsche… with all the bells and whistles,” I offered. All the guys grinned. “That would be great,” one of them replied, “but would I have to give Him anything in return?” “No,” I answered, “because there is nothing you have or can do to pay for His salvation. But He would *take* something from you…” “Take?” he asked. “Yes. In exchange for the Porsche, He will take your broken bicycle that doesn’t work and maybe has only one wheel and no handlebars. A complete piece of junk… those are your sins that Jesus will remove from you and place upon Himself.“ I pointed to a wooden crucifix hanging on the wall. “Why would Jesus want to do that?” one of them asked. “Because He loves you. In fact, He loves the whole world, as we just saw in John 3:16.” “Wow, Christianity is much bigger than I assumed. I thought it was just about leading a better life or finding inner peace…” The next day I sent them some basic texts to read and included a link to a powerful movie, which has been translated into multiple languages, including Farsi. Maybe you know someone who needs to watch it. May the Lord bless the people to whom you send it—and everyone in our new Baptism class!
The Tiews in Germany 