LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 6

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

6

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
A Personal Note

I can hardly believe that I’ve been at this work nearly five and a
half years. These years have been a great sacrifice, particularly for my
dear wife and sons. I recall one day when my older son, as a senior in
high school several years ago, called me on the phone. “Dad, can you
give me a ride home from school today?” I replied, “I’d sure love to,
Matthew, but I’m in Berlin right now.” He responded, “What? You’re
not home?” My dear wife has carried on her vocation with such grace,
fortitude, and faith that our boys have managed to make it well into the
university years still loving Jesus, their church, and … their parents.
This year past has been the most challenging of our lives. On
the last day of July 2015, a fire destroyed much of our home. As of
February 2016, we are not yet back into our house, but the date is
approaching. It’s been beautifully rebuilt. The trauma of losing so
much was offset by the joy of realizing what finally matters in life:
Jesus, my dear wife and boys, and church, family, and friends. The
month of August was spent sorting through possessions, with my
wife and two sons at my side, crying, laughing, and pitching. It was
the greatest thing that has ever happened to us (next to Christ and our
Baptisms). “God works all things for good.” The outpouring of prayer
for us was amazing, and we are blessed.
Blessings far outweigh the crosses. As folks have remarked on
the gray coming over my head, I’ve often responded, “Synod presidents age in dog years.” The visitation and convention schedule the
past year or two has been very challenging. It has been my joy, however, to encounter a church largely at peace. The Synod, to be sure, is
far from perfect. When I’ve been the source of or contributor to controversy, I have sought to recognize my own sin and shortcomings,
confess them, and work for resolution.
Long ago, as a young parish pastor, I began to learn that, no matter
how hard you try, you simply cannot please everyone. The Synod is
just a very large congregation, with personalities, flaws, weaknesses,
strengths, recusants, cheerleaders, conflicts, and accomplishments.
Every morning, I wake up with the deepest desire to be faithful. In the
office, I say my prayers at a kneeler and invariably read the Psalms.
These ancient prayers confess the range of my emotions, challenges,
and blessings on any given day. I tend to write notes about issues that
need prayer. Over the past two terms, I have witnessed remarkable
blessings and answers to prayer.
There is much more to tell you about. The 2017 anniversary of
the Reformation will before us this summer, and we’ll make some
important decisions about how to celebrate it. For now, I’ll spare
you any more, knowing full well there is a mountain of information
to follow this report. In Part Two, I’ll take up some other significant
issues for this summer.
Finally, I’d like to thank my staff for such stellar work. They are
amazing.
Looking forward to a great convention!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Rom. 15:13)

Pastor Matthew C. Harrison

2016 Convention Workbook

R1.1

A Theological Statement for Mission
in the 21st Century
In fulfillment of 2013 Res. 1-03A and adopted by the Board for
International Mission on Feb. 24, 2014.
In November 1991, the LCMS Commission on Theology and
Church Relations (CTCR) released a document, “A Theological
Statement of Mission.” Just as the current document is the result of
a Synod convention resolution (2013 Res. 1-03A), the 1991 CTCR
document was produced as a result of a Synod convention resolution
(1986 Res. 3-02). For decades, the Missouri Synod has passed resolutions in conventions in support of mission. This reflects how the
Missouri Synod takes seriously Christ’s mandate for the Gospel to be
proclaimed to the entire world. The 1991 CTCR statement on mission
and the current document demonstrate how each generation and age
of the church must confess and put into practice the faith given to us
by our Lord Jesus Christ. The two documents, while written in different styles, are in harmony with each other, expressing the same truths
about Christ’s mission and the church’s response to our Lord’s mandate. In fact, the CTCR statement on mission states about itself, “This
statement was not envisioned as an end in itself but as a tool that
would be available for possible use by the various units of the Synod
as they seek to develop their own individual mission statements.” In
this regard, the 1991 CTCR statement has served as a helpful tool.
1. God. Where the Holy Trinity is present via the Gospel and
received in faith, there cannot but be Witness (martyria), Mercy (diakonia), Life Together (koinonia).1 These three reflect God’s very being
as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, and they encompass His holy
and gracious will for all in Christ Jesus—namely, that all come to
believe in and bear witness to Christ, reflect divine compassion, and
live together in forgiveness, love, and joy in the Church (AC I).
2. Humanity. It is the deepest offense to natural man that, apart
from the life-giving witness of God in Christ, he is blind, dead, and
an enemy of God (Eph. 2:8–9); incapable of “true fear of God and
true faith in God” (AC II 1; 1 Cor. 1:22–25); and is, therefore, helpless under the damning and merciless hammer of divine Law (Jer.
23:29). The condemnation of the Law knows no respect for persons,
much less class, ethnicity, or sex. The witness of the Gospel (Word
and Sacrament) is the sole source of life for the dead, the only remedy for sin, death, and the devil. Thus, the entire life of the Christian
individual and the church is lived in and for the fact that “the Son of
man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
3. Christ, the content of the Gospel. Christ Himself is the content
of the Gospel, and thus of the Church’s mission of Witness (martyria),
Mercy (diakonia), Life Together (koinonia). The Gospel is defined
by Christ’s person, words, and works, and it transcends time and
space. Just as “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow,” so the Gospel is the unique once-for-all offering of Christ, the
God-man, for the sins of the world (Heb. 10:10). “The blood of Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “The work
is finished and completed. Christ has acquired and won the treasure
for us by His sufferings, death, and resurrection” (LC III 38). The
communication of the Gospel may vary from culture to culture, but
the fundamental definition of the Gospel as justification is timeless
because it is biblical (Rom. 3:21–26; 4:5). “We receive forgiveness
of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake,
through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for
His sake our sin is forgiven” (AC IV).
4. Christ, the source and model for the life of faith. Faith lays
hold of Christ, and from Him it is enlivened and given its impulse and
model for Witness (martyria), Mercy (diakonia), Life Together (koinonia). Jesus spends Himself completely (Mark 1:38) to bear witness