# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1998_S98
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

98

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

• for the staff and faculties of our Concordia University
System and the many faithful teachers at our seminaries;
• for our excellent Communications staff and board;
• for those who give generously and those who manage our
finances so capably, especially now when our congregational giving to the Synod is dangerously low;
• for CPH and the congregational services staffs who assist
and encourage our congregational ministries;
• for our youth and those who care for them as they
gather—and as they live and serve in this difficult age;
• for our minorities and their patience as they encourage
us to learn to sing the Lord’s praise in songs that are
sometimes new;
• for those who help us provide gifts of love to the weak and
unfortunate of this world.
Yes, indeed, the sea is wide, but we travel on the good
ship Missouri with so many wonderful brothers and sisters
who cheer us on the way. To all of you who have enriched
our life together, I can only say a simple, but profoundly
sincere, Thank you! I’m so glad you’re aboard! You make us
proud to be Missourians!
But even with such wonderful fellow-passengers and our
long history of faithful service, we would be kidding ourselves if we returned home thinking that our hope on the
wide, wide sea lies with our splendid boat and its many fine
passengers! But even at its best, the boat is not our savior—and the boat is not at its best. This is neither the time
nor the occasion for extensive self-criticism, but without
some early recognition and attention to our problems, the
quality and success of our journey may well be in jeopardy.
Please ponder with me such questions as these:
Why do we so often act as though we are the only boat
on the sea, always quick to label and condemn mistakes
that occur on other boats, but remaining too isolated and
aloof to appreciate progress in confessing the Truth or to
address problems constructively? (With all our theological
experience and understanding, what a pity that we remain
largely uninvolved in the major discussions of our time
among fellow Christians.)
Why do we so often go beyond the infallible chart and
compass God has given us in His Holy Word, with its constant focus on the forgiving, empowering, enlightening, and
freeing Gospel of Jesus Christ—why, I ask, do we so often
go beyond that Beacon by taking direction (especially in issues not clearly or completely addressed in the Word of
God) from human traditions, synodical customs, fallible resolutions, majority power and vote, and even the tactics of
fear and intimidation? Is that perhaps why our boat so

often seems to be running in circles? Why can we not trust
each other to act responsibly, especially in situational questions of pastoral care that are neither black nor white?
Why are so many of us asleep in the boat when we could
be working with others to tend the boat and help resolve
synodical problems? (Too often that’s been true of me, too, I
must confess.)
Why does our synodical boat so often act like a battleship or a destroyer as we try to lead, support, and enable
the 6,000 congregational lifeboats that constitute our fleet?
Why do so many cry out, “Don’t rock the boat!” when we
confront changes and challenges? Don’t they understand
that rocking the boat may often be the only thing left to do
when its stuck in the mud?
Why do we so often act as though our boat is merely for
our own pleasure and not for bringing the rescuing love of
Christ to the many who are lost at sea?
Why, why, why, we ask. Why are all these awful things,
and many, many more all too true of us on the good ship
Missouri? Why? Because, as we confess again and again,
we are all sinful and unclean in thought, word, and deed!
We have done what we ought not to have done, and failed
to do what we ought to have done! Lord, save us, we perish! Dear God be good to us; the sea is so wide and treacherous, and our boat is so small and wayward!
Indeed, our hope and our help does not lie in our splendid boat Missouri—not even if we were able to correct all
of its faults and weaknesses. No, our help is in the name of
the Lord! And His Good News, today and every day, is that
God is good, and good to us, too! His Son, Jesus Christ, is
our Savior from the stormy seas around us, our Pilot on
treacherous seas, our Captain for the journey ahead. It is
He whose Gospel of forgiveness and hope has brought life
and peace and joy to us all. It is because of Him that the
sounds of Easter joy aboard the good ship Missouri are
more powerful than the shouts of doom and fear. It is because of Him that celebrations of His victory over sin and
death have become our songs of joy, too. It is because of
Him and His promises that we rejoice, and believe, and love
even now, as we journey into a new century of His grace.
And we know and believe and are sure that because He has
been so good to us throughout our journey, He will continue
to cheer us on our way and will hear our prayers of help to
the journey’s end, when we will join with angels and
archangels and all the company of heaven in endless songs
of adoration and praise and thanksgiving to our good and
giving God.
And so again today we pray with great boldness: “Dear
God, be good to me; The sea is so wide, And my boat is so
small.” Amen!
Ralph A. Bohlmann, President Emeritus