# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S97
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

OTHER PRESENTATIONS
1. Greetings of the President Emeritus
Dear Friends in Christ:
Thank you for your warm welcome—and thank you for
continuing the synodical tradition of inviting former presidents to bring greetings to the convention. After serving as
the chairman of four conventions of the Synod, I must
admit that standing before you again brings back many
memories. I’d like to share two of those memories with you,
if I may.
One is the memory of frustration, known to every chairman I’ve talked to, of dealing with endless and often difficult points of order and parliamentary procedures, and of
trying to do so in a kind but confident manner. I want you
to know that I got my “chairman’s revenge” this past year
at a large congregational meeting in my home church, Concordia, Kirkwood. We were in the midst of a rather animated discussion about whether or not to undertake a
major rebuilding effort when things became a bit tense and
confused. I put up my hand, was recognized by the chair,
and said in a loud, clear voice, “Point of order, Mr. Chairman!” Smiles turned to laughter when I, too, smiled and
continued, “I’ve always wanted to do that!” and then offered
a modest suggestion. The congregation went on to make an
excellent decision, just as it would have done without my
two cents’ worth. But it DID feel good! Who knows, President Barry, perhaps you, too, will have an opportunity to
get your “chairman’s revenge” some day!
But a second convention memory is much more meaningful. It happened near the beginning of a convention. I
had just been reelected, and we faced some difficult issues,
not only in the convention, but in the life of the church.
Suddenly one of the pages handed me a note. I glanced at
it, saw the word “Dad,” and immediately opened it and read
these words from our historian son, Paul: “Dad, here’s an
old fisherman’s prayer from Brittany. It has helped me a
lot; perhaps it will help you, too. Love, Paul.” And then
came this simple prayer: Dear God, be good to me; The sea
is so wide, And my boat is so small. Amen.
I have prayed that simple prayer often since then. It fits
so many situations so well. Whether it’s a personal or family crisis, or a moment of great need or challenge in our congregation or vocation or nation, how fitting it is to pray,
“Dear God, be good to me; the sea is so wide, and my boat is
so small.” May I commend it to you as a basis for your reflection—and your continuing prayer—for our beloved
Synod at this moment in its history.
For, indeed, our church body is very much like a boat on
a long and difficult journey across the wide, wide sea to the
ends of the earth. Every day we face new and daunting
challenges. Not only are we attempting to rescue billions of
sinners drowning in the sea of their own sin and shame,
but we are endeavoring to help one another remain faithful
to the end. That’s often terribly, terribly difficult, not only
because the sea is wide and the journey long, but because
we must travel through the rough storms and choppy seas

of materialism, secularism, relativism, and temptations of
every kind. The sea is so wide! It is so easy to get lost! We
need missionaries, pastors, teachers, and leaders by the
thousands! We need seminaries and universities to prepare
them! We need houses of worship and other facilities to feed
us with the Bread of life and to equip one another for the
work that needs to be done! We need money, we need workers, we need commitment—and the list of needs goes on
and on and on. “Dear God, be good to us,” we pray, “the sea
is so wide!”
But at least our boat in this wide sea is a very good one,
we say, the best there is, the good ship Missouri! Indeed,
in many respects Missouri is very seaworthy, as her 151year history of being strong and faithful and active in the
Lord’s work surely suggests. Again and again these past
three years, as I have traveled throughout our Synod and
visited with thousands of our pastors, teachers, and laity, I
have been amazed by the gifts God has given the good ship
Missouri. In our often hazardous journey across the wide
sea, we today thank God for the many, many people who
help us on the journey—
• for our faithful pastors and teachers and lay leaders;
• for District Presidents who care for our congregations and
our workers;
• for the Boards of Directors who serve the Synod and its
districts and all our entities so faithfully and well;
• for synodical workers like Walter Rosin, John Schuelke,
and Art Haake, and many other officers and board members who have served so well;
• for our tremendous missionaries and the mission staffs
who support them;
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