LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1989, Page 86

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The theme for the 150th anniversary of Concordia Sem-
inary is, as you know, “Light for Our World.” And we do
well to ask, Who or what is that Light for the world of both
1839 and 1989. Is Jesus the Light? He said, “I am the Light
of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness,
but have the light of life.” Is that Light Holy Scripture?
The psalmist already confessed, “Your Word is a lamp to
my feet and a light to my path.” Or is the Gospel the light?
Indeed, St. Paul told his Corinthian friends, “God who com-
manded the light to shine out of darkness ... has shone
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Perhaps we are the
light? That’s precisely what our Savior said in the Sermon
on the Mount, “Your are the light of the world . . . Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Yes, all these
truths, drawn from the rich mine of Holy Writ, make this
a beautiful theme with application to every part of our
lives.

And the text, that glorious word about the priesthood
of all believers, the text that was a favorite of Dr. C. F. W.
Walther, brings together the Light theme with the theme
of this convention. On the one hand, the words before us
tell us that God has called us out of darkness into His
marvelous, wonderful, remarkable light. On the other
hand, they tell us that God has done this so that we might
show forth His praises for calling us to light. And to say
that is simply to say, “Tell everyone what He has done.”
May the Lord, then, bless these few moments together in
the Word by His powerful Spirit as we consider “Light for
Our World.” The division is simple: We have been brought
to that Light. We are to bring it to others.

I

We have been brought to that Light. Some 20 or 25 years
ago 30 million people in an 80,000 square mile area cov-
ering eight states and part of Canada were thrown into
darkness by a power failure. 850,000 people were trapped
underground in New York subways alone. Suppose it were
to happen again—here—at the convention—some night—
no light, no air-conditioning, no refrigeration in the ho-
tels—just darkness. It wouldn’t be pleasant. But it
wouldn’t be the greatest power failure in history. The worst
power failure in history took place thousands of years ago
in the Garden of Eden when our first parents pulled the
switch of disobedience and plunged the entire world into
darkness, the darkness of sin and death and hell. We still
feel the effects. We feel it in our personal lives, which fall
so far short of the glory of God. We feel it in our corporate
lives with our pettiness and seeking after vainglory, for-
ever wanting to be master and not servant. Indeed, we
have felt it right here in this convention hall, have we not?

But God has called us out of darkness into His mar-
velous light. He has called us to the light of His mercy and
grace in our dear savior Jesus Christ—oh, blessed truth.
He who is the Light of the world has carried our sins into

OTHER PRESENTATIONS
1. Address of the President of Concordia Seminary

the very darkness of hell and buried them in His tomb.
The Spirit of God, through Word and Sacrament, has called
to us, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give
thee light.” And we have come forth into the sunshine of
His love by faith in His saving work as our Sin-bearer. No
longer need we stumble blindly, unable to see the lights
in the Father’s house. He who is the Way, without whom
no one comes to the Father, leads us on the way to life
everlasting. This message is made clear in the four titles
which St. Peter gives us in the opening words. “You are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His
own special people.” Time does not permit us to look at the
beautiful Old Testament roots from Exodus and Isaiah of
these titles. Suffice it to say with Phillips in his para-
phrase, “All the old titles of God’s people now belong to
you.” “Chosen” even before the world began as those who
would be heirs of life and light through the Savior. “Royal
priests” who need no mediator or advocate save Jesus the
Christ whose blood has opened the door to the very Holy
of holies in heaven. A “holy nation,” counted so through
the merits of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. “His own special people,” who by grace belong
to Him forever. Think of what he has done! He has done
it all. We are God’s elect, God’s servants, God’s saints,
God’s possession.

Our fathers gloried in that message, that light. For 13
years Dr. Walther, our first president and the first pres-
ident of Concordia Seminary, lectured to the Western Dis-
trict on just one theme, that the doctrine of the Lutheran
Church alone gives all glory to God for calling us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. And that’s why he and
the others were so concerned about doctrine in general.
They weren’t trying to be cantankerous isolationists. They
weren't anti-intellectual “Biblicists.” Their concern for the
doctrine of Scripture, for the doctrine of election, for every
doctrine was a concern for the doctrine, the Gospel as it is
here so beautifully proclaimed in this verse. And so, as
Walther, at the dedication of the 1883 seminary in St.
Louis described how this “small, despised congregation”
had grown so marvelously that this expensive building had
to be erected for seminary training. He recalled the spirit
of the church when he said, “Our Synod did not ask: What
must we do to become large and numerous? It only asked:
What must we do to be found faithful before the Lord of
the church?” Yes, our fathers, like we, were brought to the
Light. They gloried in that Light. They sought above all
to be faithful to that Light.

II

But now, even as we have been brought to the Light,
so we are to bring that Light to our world. Why has God
made us “a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, a holy
nation, His own special people”? “That you may proclaim
the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light.”