LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 12

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12

SYNOD REPORTS

referenced above, the truth is that such is not the case in other parts
of the world and even in some parts of the U.S. And projections indicate things will become much more challenging for Christianity in
the years to come.
Perhaps you’ve seen the same statistics that recently came to my
attention. According to the report of which I speak, in 1970 there
were 100,000 Muslims in America. Today there are over 9 million,
and in 30 years there will be 50 million! At the current rate of growth,
Islam will be the dominant religion of the world, already having surpassed the world’s Roman Catholic population. The projected growth
rate of this one non-Christian group reminds us of the urgency of our
work in Christ’s mission, namely the proclamation of the Gospel and
administration of the Sacraments. “For there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
All this is to say, simply but significantly, how critical it is for us
as ONE People—Forgiven to be about the work God has called us to
accomplish. We do so out of deep concern for the eternal welfare of
every person for whom Christ died. We also do so for the sake of the
Gospel and the survival of the Christian church, which at any time is
only one generation from extinction.
It is only in response to God’s love for us in Christ Jesus that we
do whatever we do as His people. And we do what we do with fervent
faith in the promise of God that He will build His church and “even
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
Be encouraged also by the promise of God in the words of James:
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who
has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever
and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 5:10–11).
Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Appendix I
Address of LCMS President to ELCA Churchwide Assembly,
August 22, 2009
Presiding Bishop Hanson, Members of the Assembly, Special
Guests, Friends in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Over the years of my life and ministry, these words from St. Paul
in 2 Corinthians 5 have become especially meaningful:
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting
mankind’s sins against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His
appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in
Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19–
21, ESV)

What a blessing it is to know that our sin is forgiven, removed
from us as far as the east is from the west, because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ on Calvary’s cross. And what a humbling privilege
and huge responsibility it is to know that God is making His appeal,
through people like you and like me, people with feet of clay, that the
world might be reconciled to God through faith in Christ.

I bring you these greetings on behalf of the 2.4 million members of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod at a difficult time in the world
and in the church. Economic pressures bring great burdens. Strife
finds its way into the LCMS, the ELCA, worldwide Lutheranism,
and the Christian Church as a whole. Mankind’s inhumanity to mankind manifests itself in global unrest and worldwide terrorism. Peace
is often elusive, both in the world and in the church, as sin and Satan
continue to rear their ugly heads in both venues.
Lutherans are no strangers to discord and divisiveness. The
Lutheran church was born under such conditions. Yet we also know
the path to concord, expressed in these rather straightforward words
in The Formula of Concord, written during a notable time of doctrinal controversy and discord in the church. Hear these words from the
Kolb-Wengert translation:
“For these controversies are not merely misunderstandings or semantic arguments, where someone might think that one group had not
sufficiently grasped what the other group was trying to say or that the
tensions were based upon only a few specific words of relatively little
consequence. Rather, these controversies deal with important and significant matters, and they are of such a nature that the positions of the
erring party neither could nor should be tolerated in the church of God,
much less be excused or defended.
“Therefore, necessity demands explanation of these disputed articles
on the basis of God’s Word and reliable writings, so that those with a
proper Christian understanding could recognize which position regarding
the points under dispute is in accord with God’s Word and the Christian
Augsburg Confession and which is not, and so that Christians of good
will, who are concerned about the truth, might protect and guard themselves from the errors and corruptions that have appeared among us.”

The writers of this Formula pledged themselves, and I quote, “to
the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments,
as to the pure, clear fountain of Israel, which alone is the one true
guiding principle, according to which all teachers and teachings are
to be judged and evaluated.” Discord can become concord when
Christian individuals and Christian church bodies are faithful to the
Holy Scriptures, which reveal the Gospel of God’s grace, forgiveness, and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
The very fact that I represent a denomination known as The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod at an assembly of a denomination known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bears
witness to the fact that, sadly and regrettably, in spite of the Holy
Word and mercy of our God, the Confessions affirmed by the constitutions of both our church bodies, and the faithful example of those
who have gone before us, schisms remain, not only in the Christian
Church, but also in the Lutheran church. We have doctrinal differences that separate us. That is no secret.
I speak these next words in deep humility, with a heavy heart
and no desire whatsoever to offend. The decisions by this assembly
to grant non-celibate homosexual ministers the privilege of serving
as rostered leaders in the ELCA and the affirmation of same-gender
unions as pleasing to God will undoubtedly cause additional stress
and disharmony within the ELCA. It will also negatively affect the
relationships between our two church bodies. The current division
between our churches threatens to become a chasm. This grieves my
heart and the hearts of all in the ELCA, the LCMS, and other Christian
church bodies throughout the world who do not see these decisions
as compatible with the Word of God, or in agreement with the consensus of 2,000 years of Christian theological affirmation regarding
what Scripture teaches about human sexuality. Simply stated, this
matter is fundamentally related to significant differences in how we
understand the authority of Holy Scripture and the interpretation of
God’s revealed and infallible Word.

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