LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 75

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ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

Greetings to The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, Den-
ver, July 15, 1969

Dr. Harms, Fettow LUTHERANS:

With the many crucial issues before you at this con-
vention, I fear I cannot promise you anything exciting
in these greetings from the Lutheran Church in Amer-
ica. In 1965 in Detroit it was different. Then Dr. Fry’s
place on the agenda made history. Dr. Behnken of
revered memory was attending for the last time a con-
vention of your Synod, but it was the first time that
a president of my church had been invited to speak at
your most official gathering. Since that time when Dr.
Behnken and Dr. Fry shook hands and stood together
for photographs in Detroit, the presence of a president
of one Lutheran group at a convention of another has
become routine. Now, being a brief routine item on an
agenda is not very exalting to a man’s ego. Yet, I am
grateful for this routine, even grateful that it is routine,
that it has become a regular part of your convention.

What should be more regular than Christians greet-
ing each other in the name of Christ? In continuity
with the church of ancient times I bring you first that
fundamental Christian greeting, “Christ is risen.”
Gratefully I acknowledge your readiness to respond in
faith, “He is risen indeed!”

Since for some years your church has allowed us
to enjoy prayer fellowship, I bring you second the
greeting which serves as an invitation to common prayer,
“The Lord be with you.” Again it is gratifying to know
you would respond, “And with thy spirit.”

In view of our Lord’s high-priestly prayer that His
disciples might all be one, people in our churches long
to share the greeting in the Preface to Holy Communion,
“Lift up your hearts.” Then there is silence instead of
response; because God’s Spirit has not broken through
to give the blessing of altar and pulpit fellowship.

Yet God has given us much of Christian life together.
In addition to the resurrection, faith, and prayer, He has
led us to unity in Baptism. Though we have not come
to mutual honor for the sacrament at our respective
altars, we do honor the sacrament at the fonts in all
our churches. Though we do not enjoy reciprocal re-
spect for each other’s confirmation and ordination, we
do respect the initiation into the Christian fellowship,
regardless of whose congregation or minister is involved.

If we go further, it may seem strange that God has
succeeded well in bringing us to unity in our confes-
sion of sin. We use almost the same words in our
liturgies. Although each of us has been tempted on
occasion to emphasize the sins of the other, we acknowl-
edge in our worship that none of us are perfect. In this
fundamental agreement about ourselves, there lies the
potential for greater unity. If all of us are prodigals,
who dares to play the self-righteous elder brother?

We know our relationship with God depends entirely
upon His forgiveness and upon His fulfillment of righ-

teousness in Jesus the Christ. Our heritage endows us
with a strong opposition to synergism. Recently a Lu-
ther scholar from the Roman Catholic Church concluded
that the crucial debate of the Reformation centered
upon freedom of the will.

In the present ecumenical age, we Lutherans have
a contribution to make in stressing man’s dependence
upon God for eternal salvation.

Since this is also an increasingly secular age, we
Lutherans have reason to stress that salvation frees us
from an inordinate concern about being religious. Our
Lutheran confessional documents illuminate the futility
of increasing holy days and holy observances, monastic
exercises and isolating forces of life. Instead, having
considered the essentials, grace and faith, the Confes-
sions define Christian life in terms of service to fellow-
man. Consequently there should be little wonder that
our churches have cooperated in world relief projects,
in some social welfare work at home, in emergencies
served by military chaplaincies, and in consultation to
avoid the duplication of ministry.

Today the world seeks out the church in strange
ways. The demands placed upon us may not agree
with our conception of the church’s function in society.
The voices that call to us, however, may help us dis-
cern new forms of human need and new opportunities

Dr. Robert J. Marshall, president of the Lutheran Church in America