LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 115

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Pr. Bohlmann, Members of the Convention, Brothers,
and Sisters in Christ:

The synodical Handbook somewhere stipulates that
the former President, First Vice-President, Secretary,
and Treasurer are to be the guests of conventions after
hey leave office. So I am here in response to the
irective of the Synod and at the invitation of Dr.
ohlmann. There’s an old saying that old presidents
should be seen and not heard. Or as they say it down in
Arkansas, old presidents never die, they just smell that
way. But at any rate I’m here out of loyalty to that
“Handbook and my dear friend, Dr. Bohlmann. And it is
eally a great pleasure and honor to be here and have an
pportunity to address you briefly.

First of all, I congratulate Dr. Bohlmann on his
wonderful reelection. It was touch and go there, and I’m
lad that we called those two fellows out to the telephone
the time of the 32nd ballot. But I think that’s just
‘great, Ralph, and I’m proud of you. You’ve been a fine
resident, and I believe you’re going to be one of the best
‘Presidents The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod ever
ad. Congratulations also to Dr. Sauer, who was of such
great help to me during my years as President. A very
pecial warm word of thanks to Dr. Mueller, who’s
aving office. I don’t know that the Synod will ever be
ble to replace him, but I know that he was a wonderful
rson to work with, and I wish him nothing but well.

: On a personal note, Delpha and I are enjoying
etirement. We’ve never been so happy. I believe that it
is the vocation for which I am best suited. I have never
‘ound one that is so—with which I so completely agree
as retirement.

I

Now, just four points. I’m not here to make any
ouble or stir up anything, which is an unusual role and
‘one that’s hard to get used to. But itis really a marvelous
hing, as so many people have said, to be here on the
00th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther. Who-
ver in the world born in 1483 is still remembered? And
et today there are many, many times as many people
vhose hearts warm at the name of Luther, whose lives
re touched by his teachings, who honor and revere him
8 the great gift of God that he was to the church. This
‘meeting, with lay representation growing out of the
#reat doctrine of the priesthood of all believers; these
ible studies, with the Bible in the language of virtually
very nation under the sun, are monuments to the
aching and work of Martin Luther. An educated
clergy, a system of Christian education, in fact, the
Whole public school system of modern society, are all
Monuments to Luther.

Ii

And above all, closest of all to our hearts, the great

117

OTHER PRESENTATIONS
1. Greetings of the Former President of the Synod

doctrine that we treasure so much, that we are saved by
the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,
who comes to us through God’s holy, inspired, and
inerrant Word. That is the thing for which we thank
Luther. Growing out of this, of course, and perfectly
properly, is the great movement that we know as
confessionalism. This is something for which people
were imprisoned, were willing to die for, over a hundred
years after the birth of Luther. “We believe, we teach,
and we confess’ were not idle words, were not words
that were just written in a book. They were written on
the cells of prisons. They were written in the blood of
battle.

And today The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I
am happy to say andI think all of you are happy to say,
still wants to be counted among those churches of the
world that call themselves confessional Lutheran
church bodies. That’s what we are. When you witness
the situation that is going on throughout world
Lutheranism, and anybody who has been any kind of
observer of the scene since the end of World War II is not
surprised at things, it is a tragedy that, for example, you
can have formal official intercommunion established
between Lutheran church bodies and the Episcopal
Church without ever any real discussion of what Com-
munion is. And when you can have a journalist, with
whom I have always prided myself in totally dis-
agreeing, saying and saying correctly that that action