LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 48

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48 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

play God for the rest of us. Each of us has only one
role to play. All will go well, also in the sensitive areas
of human relations, if we help one another to be obe-
dient to Him who is Savior and Lord of us all. And this
obedience will be a true joy when it is the response
of children who obey because they trust their Father’s
goodwill.

I must report with regret that the best of our synod-
ical intentions have been cut short at every turn during
the past 2 years by a lack of financial support. This is
tragic for at least two reasons. In view of the im-
measurable riches with which God has blessed us, the
way in which we divide and use our substance seems
to tell how little we really trust God and enjoy the
freedom of selfless service. We are always in danger
of loving the gift more than the Giver and therefore
always in danger of losing both. But our stingy invest-
ment in God’s cause is at once also a poor witness and
a sure way to deprive people in many places of the
good things God intended them to have.

There are some serious consequences to vital work
which we have already undertaken. We have not been
able to put additional new workers into the mission
fields here and overseas. We are losing key leadership
in which we have so much at stake as teachers in our
elementary and secondary Lutheran schools, in our
colleges and seminaries, are almost compelled to take
other positions out of economic necessity. The time
will soon come when more congregations, special min-
istries, and mission projects come to a halt because we
have not been able to expand our system to produce
adequate supplies of workers. Increasingly we are
already being forced to turn deaf ears to those who
call for special materials and help and training to do
the job they have been called to do.

All of us know some if not all the reasons given to
explain the declining support. I find in all these reasons
a single common denominator. Our unwillingness to
give, to sacrifice, to become involved, to serve, and to
witness all say only one thing: we do not sufficiently
trust the grace of God to do all that God has promised.
More than anything else God wants the Gospel to be
put to use. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
How dare we withhold the Gospel from others while
we debate matters which God Himself saw fit to leave
unanswered or until we have reorganized the institu-
tional church into the shape we like? How dare we
discourage God’s children from demonstrating their
personal thanksgiving in this Ebenezer Year because
we prefer to find fault with someone or something rather
than to trust the power of God at work in them?

At various times I have debated if I should speak
more extensively now about our Ebenezer Thankoffer-
ing. I have much on my heart that my lips would like
to say. If I did not know the devil’s influence, I would
be completely mystified how this effort, intended to
bring out the best in each of us, has instead brought
out so little good and so much else in so many of us.
I can assure you that you will hear more about the

Ebenezer Thankoffering before this convention adjourns,
and what happens in the last half of this Ebenezer Year
depends, under God, as much on you as it does on
anyone.

I propose that we make this a turning point in the
life of our church, not by a resolution of this conven-
tion but by a resolution of every member of the church.
This resolution might say something like this:

Because I trust the grace of God, I will let Him
deal with human failure around me while I commit
myself to bear my weak brother’s burden.

Because I trust the grace of God, I will put
myself and what I have into the service of God.

Because I trust the grace of God, I will heed
the call which God gives through the church, for
we are members of the same body, and He is the
Head.

Because I trust the grace of God, I will live out
my faith first in my congregation and community,
where I can witness and share God’s life with others.

Because I trust the grace of God, I can live
compassionately and confidently, hopefully and vic-
toriously in the church and in the world.

Hl

This report is incomplete without some reference to
a third, though less specified, area of responsibility.
I refer to the relationship which our church has to
other church bodies, to other agencies of the church,
and to the government. In almost all instances you
will receive progress reports or recommendations on
these matters. Yet it is in the nature of the President’s
office to represent The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod to the rest of the church and the world.

First, I can report to you that the auxiliaries of the
Synod have continued their service to the church. These
organizations have faced the same trying times that have
caused perplexities for us all. Because these organiza-
tions are committed to serving the Synod, they are con-
stantly reviewing the role of service which they ought
to be rendering. You will find a report with proposals
for change outlined in the business of this convention.

It has been our privilege to be both partner and
leader in several joint ventures. Our common work
on a new Lutheran hymnal and service book is now
progressing. Discussions are now under way with the
Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, whom we
invited in 1965 to make common cause with us by
joining us. The Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. is
now half into its first year of operations.

Obviously, item number one on our agenda in church
relations is a decision regarding altar and pulpit fel-
lowship with The American Lutheran Church. This
subject has persistently remained near the top of our
agenda for more than a quarter century. I do not
intend now to retrace the steps that have brought us
to this time of decision. I fear that memories of the
past may cloud our view of the present even as dreams