LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1971, Page 103

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Fee NSO ET ELEN ELLIE OE: CELL ARN EE DAD CI ERO

ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT
OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

Greetings to the 1971 Convention of The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod

If I were St. Paul, I would probably begin by say-
ing, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at
Milwaukee.” Even though I am no St. Paul, I greet you
on behalf of the Lutheran Church in America in his
words, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The apostle used that
greeting so frequently in his letters that he must have
used it as he visited congregations in person. The
pastor who confirmed me, and who had received most
of his theological education in schools of the Missouri
Synod, used that greeting at the beginning of every
sermon.

The words are burned into my mind for as long as
I shall have a memory —and what words they are!
Think of the word “grace,” so uncommon in our every-
day vocabulary. In contrast, think of the word “peace,”
almost carelessly common in our current verbiage.

Grace is the beginning of that precious trilogy, Sola
Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura. The latter two de-
pend upon the first. You and I in our study of Scripture
and in the enjoyment of faith are in the hands of God.
Each of us individually, and each of our church bodies,
is subject to the same sin thai characterizes everyman

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

105

when he tries to take the place of God and claim for
himself and his work an absoluteness and a perfection
which only God can claim and own. When salvation
means righteousness before God, or peace in our rela-
tionship with God, you and I cannot save ourselves,
nor our churches, nor our world. Only God can do
that, as He has done in Jesus Christ. Whatever our
differences, we have this in common, that we depend
on God’s grace in Christ.

We are alike in being offended because men in this
century have courted repeated catastrophe by trying
to call each other brothers without identifying their one
father. Unfortunately, we are also alike because we
have confessed faith in God the Father of all, but have
offended men by refusing at times to treat them as
brothers. This fact illustrates how our sinfulness rebuffs
God’s grace as He tries to bring us peace.

In the Bible peace is not equated with quiet. The
Bible does not indicate a history of sweeping differences
under the carpet of indifference or apathy. At the same
time the New Testament does not condone every con-
flict and every division in the church. Peace can be a
spiritual gift accompanying trust in God so a person
can endure or engage in earthly conflicts. Peace can
be an eschatological promise which fosters patient wait-
ing when no human effort can overcome the evil that
besets us. At the same time the eschatological vision
helps us discern right from wrong and stirs us to fight
for the right as God gives us to see the right. Peace
can be a goal to seek and pursue in human society.
But finally peace can be the fruit of unity in faith,

Unity is elusive today — in society and in the church.
We must grant there are times when men simply can-
not agree enough to live in the same house. In such
an instance, as Christian brothers each of us must
respect the other’s conscience but still try to find
tangible means to demonstrate our love for each other.
Thank God we are finding such ways.

The relations between our two churches were epito-
mized in a comment by my secretary who has a career
of more than a quarter of a century in the president’s
office in New York City. One day last year she said,
“Just think, years and years went by when there was
no communication with the Missouri Synod office in
St. Louis, but in this one week there have been three
letters!” I can only believe God has been at work in
the relationships that have developed between us in
these recent years.

Yet our relations would be offensive if they were
for ourselves alone. We are more than brothers. We
are servants of one Master, the risen Lord Jesus
Christ. Our understanding of obedience may differ, so
we do not serve together in every way. We do not
have the same views of altar and pulpit fellowship, for