# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S74
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Although we’ve gathered under the banner of Joy:fully
Lutheran, I bet you, too, are anxious and troubled about
many things.
On one level, if you’re not troubled, you’re not paying
attention. As a storm was coming for Martha and Mary,
so a storm is coming for us. The world is changing. Our
numbers are declining. It’s tempting to point the finger
at each other and say, “Lord, tell her to help! Lord, tell
my brother to divide the inheritance! Lord, shall we call
down fire?”
And Jesus, looking at the rich young ruler, loved him.
And Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world,
loved them to the end. And Jesus, looking at a Synod full
of blame and bitterness, said, “Missouri, Missouri, you
are anxious and troubled about many things, but one
thing is needful.”
What is it? You know. “The Law says ‘Do this,’ and it is
never done. The Gospel says, ‘Believe this,’ and
everything is already done.”1 The one thing needful is to
receive from Jesus His righteousness, His love, His life.
He has done everything already.
The storm is coming, but we have a Jesus who stills
storms. The world is raging, but we have a Jesus who
has overcome the world. Death is coming, but we have
a Jesus who has trampled down death by His death. The
devil accuses us, but one little word can fell him.
What is that word? “Liar.” That’s what the devil does.
He lies. He is the father of it. And that’s what the fear of
the storm does to us — it plants lies in our heart. “The
Lord doesn’t care. The Synod doesn’t care. My pastor
doesn’t care. My congregation doesn’t care. We are
doomed. I know what I will do. I have resolved in my
heart to fight harder, to win the vote, to win the war.”

74 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

And Jesus says, “Missouri, Missouri, you are anxious
and troubled about many things, but one thing is
needful. Look to Me. Look to My cross. Look to My
resurrection. I have washed you. I have fed you. You are
holy. You are mine. Will I not be with you in the storm?
Will I not lead you safely through the valley of the
shadow of death? It is the Father’s good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. I am the resurrection and the life. You
will not die, but live.”
We have business to do this week. Elections and
resolutions. But our chief business is to be still and lay
our anxieties at the feet of Jesus. Luther said, “A man …
is made a Christian, not by working, but by hearing.”2
Was Martha wrong, and Mary right? Not exactly. It is a
matter of ordering. Martha put ministry, diakonia, first.
We don’t know for certain what happened next — and
maybe that’s for us to fill in. What should happen next?
I like to imagine that Martha sat down next to Mary and
they both listened to the one thing needful: Jesus’
words of forgiveness and life. And then, all bitterness
and resentment gone, they both proceeded joyfully to
the kitchen. Together.
They were a synod of two: listening to Jesus together,
working together, walking together. Their joy came
from Jesus. From Jesus comes our joy! The joy of the
Lord is our strength.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
1. Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation in Luther’s Works: Career
of the Reformer [LW 31] (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1957): 39–
40.
2. Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26 (Lectures on Galatians Chapters
1-4) (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968), 211.

Convention Sermons