LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1992, Page 92

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92 OTHER PRESENTATIONS

the training of future pastors and teachers, knowing that
if the lambs and the sheep of Missouri—as we move into
the ending years of this century and the first years of the
next century—are to be blessed, we must have faithful
pastors, we must have faithful teachers; a church body
that, perhaps with increased awareness, is ready and open
to minister to hurting people, hurting people—as one lady
said, “the little people who are so often overlooked”; a
church body that also finds herself, as I said in the brief
acceptance remark, “determined to keep the message
straight and to get the message out”; a church body that,
assembled in this convention and walking into the next
three years and the years that follow, is determined to be
a healing entity in Jesus Christ—to seek peace and har-
mony and unity and joy in Jesus Christ that makes us
proud to stand before the entire world and say we are
Missouri and we are proud of it; a church body that is
empowered, guided, committed to the Word of God and to
the Lutheran Confessions and to the sharing of that Gospel
of Jesus Christ to the end of the world. That is the course
that we must chart and follow together. |

As I found myself reading through these two volumes,
it almost seemed to me that I could hear our forefathers
speaking to us, and in the words of Kitchin, they seem to
say, “Lift high the cross, Missouri—higher the love of
Christ proclaim.” In the early chapters of the book, it starts
out as such a small whispering voice. As you move into the
center chapters, it becomes a bold and dynamic voice. And
by the time you reach the end of the volume, it is a cres-
cendo: “Missouri, lift high the cross, the love of Christ pro-
claim. Keep the message straight, Missouri! Get the
message out, Missouri, and do it now! Now, while there is
yet time.”

I have told many of you that in May of this year I lost
a very good friend in death. He was a treasure of our Iowa
District East. [ had met him about 12 years ago when he
and I started planting a new mission congregation in Cedar
Rapids. Through the years we have become very close
friends. He had a great love for missions. He was also a
grandpa, like me, and every Thursday he would stick his
head around the corner when he came to sign the checks
and look into my office and say “Hi, Grandpa,” and I would
say “Hi, Grandpa.” In November, he came to me and said,
“Al, I have just found out that 1 have a serious case of
cancer. It is lung cancer, pancreas cancer, and lymphoma.”

For the next two months he took chemotherapy. Often,
we sat in my office and prayed together. In February, the
first week, he called me and he said “Al, I need to come

by the office and talk with you again.” He told me that all ~

of the chemotherapy treatment had done no good, and that
day he was going to Rochester to see if there was any last
hope that Rochester might be able to offer to him. About
a week-and-a-half after that, he called me again and said

“Al, I need to come by the office.” And he came by the office
and he said “There’s nothing that can be done, Al. I have
only about six to eight months to live.” And then, looking
at me, he said “Al, how do you live those final six to eight
months of your life when you know that’s all that you have
left?” He said “Al, what do say when you put your arms
around your wife and you tell her that you love her, when
you know that you only have six or eight months left, AI—
your children, when they stand and they look at you and
they talk with you. What do you say to them, Al? Al, you’re
a grandpa, just like me. When you hold your grandchildren
on your lap and you know that grandpa isn’t going to be
around too much longer, what do you say, Al? What do you
say?”

Well, 1 won't tell you everything that we talked about,
but I will tell you this—that once he had left my office, I

_ went to the windows and I looked out over the countryside,

and as I looked out I couldn’t help but think of all those
fantastic “by grace” passages that we know of in the Holy
Scriptures: “By grace are you saved through faith”; “My
grace is sufficient for you”; “Grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I began to realize:
By God's fantastic grace, Marvin has been brought to faith
and Holy Baptism; by God's fantastic grace, he had con-
firmed the faith; by God's fantastic grace, he had for years
lived out the faith; by God’s fantastic grace, he had served
the Lord; by God’s fantastic grace, he had been the trea-
surer of our District; and by God’s fantastic grace, he would
soon be going home.

The first week in May—not eight months, not six
months but only two months later—he passed away. And
if I were to tell you that, to this day, I do not miss Marvin,
I would be deceiving you. But, what I do need to tell you
is that what holds true for Marvin holds true for each and
everyone of us and for our Lutheran Church—Migsouri
Synod: by God’s fantastic grace, you and I have come to
know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior; by God’s fan-
tastic grace, we are privileged to be members of Christian
congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod;
by God's fantastic grace, we are able to be a part of the
Missouri Synod; and by God’s fantastic grace, we will con-
tinue to live out our lives to'the glory of His holy name
and hold His cross higher. Higher, Missouri! For God’s
sake, higher, Missouri! Until, by God’s fantastic grace, we
hear Him say to us, “Come on home, Bill. Come on home,
Mary. Come on home, Al, by My fantastic grace.”

O God, as we move into the years directly ahead—work-
ing together, building bridges, healing ali those great
things God—help us, not just as the delegates assembled
here, but help our congregations. Help our congregations
and us to hold high, as our forefathers have, the cross of
Jesus Christ, the love of God to proclaim. Please God.
Please God. Please God. Thank you.

A. L. Barry