LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 126

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128

navians are people who can laugh at stories about
themselves. But, Dr. Oswald Hoffman told me, very
rightfully, that a fellow in my position shouldn’t tell
ethnic jokes about living ethnic groups. So I now tell
stories about the Hittites.

My story today is about two Hittites named Sven and
Ole. They were taking the truck driver’s exam in
Minnesota, which is a three-part examination—a writ-
ten part, an oral part, anda practical part. Sven and Ole
had passed the written part, and went up for the oral
part. Sven went first. The examiner said, “You have 15
tons on your rig, and you’re driving on a wet, rainy day.
The road is slippery; you come over the brow of a hill;
you see a 10 percent slope about a half mile long; and
you're going about 55 miles an hour. At the bottom of the
hill, you see a railroad crossing with a freight train
parked on it. You test your brakes, and the brakes fail—
nothing happens. What’s the next thing you do?” And
Sven said, “Vell, I’d reach over and yab Ole with my
elbow, and vake him up.” And the examiner said, “What
in the world would you do that for?” He said, ““Because
Ole told me last week he ain’t never seen a really big
accident before.”

Well, what I want to say to you is that the world isa
dangerous place, and many believe that we may be
headed for a really big accident. The issue of war and
peace is very much with us these days and under-
standably so, with the growing awareness and concern
about the dangers of nuclear war. I read with great
interest Resolution 3-06, the subject of which is to
encourage peacemaking and the study of problems
concerning the church and nuclear arms. I compliment
the drafters for pointing out that it is man’s faulty
relationship with God and our sinful natures which
poison our relationships with our fellow men.

That’s a very important point to remember for all of
us who would deal with the issues of armaments,
defense, and the prevention of war. Salvador de
Madriaga, the great Spanish philosopher and historian
who served for many years on the League of Nations
Disarmament Commission, wrote in his memoirs that
we tackle the issue of war upside down and backwards.
He said nations don’t distrust each other because they
are armed; they arm because they distrust each other. It
is the distrust that we must tackle if we are to reduce the
probability of war.

In the meantime, I believe that it is our God-given
duty to make the world a less dangerous place insofar as
God permits us to do it. We as citizens of this great
nation should help tend to the economic health, the
social health, the political health, the military and
defense health, and, by all means, the spiritual health of
our nation and of the world. We need to reduce the risk of
war—all wars—because that’s the only way to reduce
the risk of nuclear war. I don’t believe that God will let
us “uninvent” nuclear weapons. At the same time we
must defend our people and the principles of liberty and
justice for all upon which this nation was founded—as

well as the principle of freedom of worship that brought
the founders of this church body to our country. And we

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

need to do it, not just for ourselves, but for those who will
follow us as well. We’re basking in the liberties which
our forefathers, with God’s help, provided for us, and we
need to provide for those who will follow us. =
We don’t want war; and we don’t want to be para-
lyzed by the fear of war. We will not prevent war and we
will not secure liberty and justice through unilateral
disarmament or through anything like nuclear freezes:
There aren’t easy, quick, cheap answers to the difficult
issues of war and peace. I compliment the drafters of the
resolution for drawing attention to Luther’s doctrine of
the two kingdoms, which is also very well reinforced in
Romans 13: 1-7. And I compliment them for urging that
congregations and members become familiar with the
issues and to work responsibly within the political
process to enhance the prospects for world peace. If T
have a quarrel with that part of the Resolution, itis with
the words “‘to become familiar with the issues.” I would:
respectfully suggest that “familiar” may not be stron
enough, and that “knowledgeable” might be a bett:
word. ake
Nuclear weapons won’t be wished away. The mili-
tary power of the Soviet Union won’t be wished away. EL
Salvador, Afghanistan, and the dozen or so other warg
that are going on in the world today won’t be wished

says, “You are going to hear the noise of battles close b;
and the news of battles far away. But listen. Do not be
troubled. Such things must happen. But they donot
mean that the end has come.” We’re not help
certainly. The starting point for us is trust in God ang
receiving the absolution of the risen Christ. Only fr
there can we move to aright relationship with our fell
humans. .
Not only are we not helpless, but as St. Paul says,iq
those wonderful last verses of the eighth chapter
Romans, “Know in all things we have complete vi
through Him who loved us.” And then St. Paul goes
to say, as I believe we should say to ourselves a8 We.&
with the difficult problems in the world today, “F
certain that nothing can separate us from His,
neither death nor life, neither angels nor other hea)
powers, neither the present nor the future, neit
world above nor the world below. There is nothin
creation that will ever be able to separate us fro
love of God which is ours through Christ Jes
Lord.”
With that sure knowledge, we can mare
courageously and confidently to do the wor
has laid out for us here on this earth, int
the left hand, whether it’s administering the ch
defending the nation and reducing the risk of wal
have important work todo here at the conventio!
want you to know that I along with about three ™
other church members are praying for you as-'¥!
that work. I too have some important work toda
ask you to pray for me and for my fellow members
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and for all the men and wor
our Armed Forces. ke
Speaking of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we meet