LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 9

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
light of their being given by the triune God. “The exegesis of the Holy
Scriptures cannot contradict their inspiration.”13 Both interpreter and
context stand under the Holy Scriptures and are, in fact, interpreted by
the divine Word. The internal clarity of Scripture is mediated through
the external clarity of its own words. Far from being an imposition on
the Bible, the right distinction of the Law from the Gospel is nothing
other than the distinction between “letter” and “Spirit” (see 2 Cor.
3:1–18). Without this distinction, the Holy Scriptures remain a dark
book (see Ap IV 5–6; FC V 1–27).
The Scriptures stand in the service of preaching. Preaching that
conforms to the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures is the oral Word
of God and, therefore, a Means of Grace. Preaching is never merely
descriptive but always a kerygmatic, efficacious proclamation that
delivers condemnation to secure sinners and consolation to those
broken by their sin. Preaching is always a speaking of either the Law
or the Gospel in the present tense, creating repentance and faith in
those who hear where and when it pleases God (see Is. 55:10–11;
AC V 2–3).
Preaching is not limited to the sermon but is also individualized
in the absolution, where God’s servant is entrusted to speak words
that forgive sins now (see John 20:21–23; SC V). The absolution is
eschatological, that is, it brings the verdict of the Last Day into time
as Christ says, “I forgive you your sins.” The absolution leaves no
room for doubt, for it is God’s own Word of promise to be trusted in
life and death.
14. Baptism. Baptism is far more than a rite of initiation. While
it is a line of demarcation between unbelief and faith and hence not
optional for mission, it is more than an entry point into the Christian
life. Dr. C. F. W. Walther wrote, “Let us never forget that through
Holy Baptism we have all joined the mission society which God
Himself has established.”14 Baptism is best thought of as present tense,
hence, “I am baptized” and not “I was baptized.” Luther notes, “I am
baptized, and through my baptism God, who cannot lie, has bound
himself in a covenant with me.”15 Baptism is the triune God’s gift
whereby He demonstrates His mercy by bestowing on us a new birth
(see John 3:3–6; 1 Pet. 1:3–5; Titus 3:4–7). Baptized into His own
name (Matt. 28:18–20), we have God’s own pledge and witness that
we belong to Him through the forgiveness of sins (see Acts 2:38–39)
and are heirs according to the promise (Rom. 6:1–11; Gal. 3:26–29;
Col. 2:12–14). Therefore, Baptism will not be withheld from infants
or from new converts to the faith. Since it is by Baptism that we are
joined to the body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 12:12–13), this Sacrament is
foundational for our life together.
15. Lord’s Supper. Hermann Sasse described the Sacrament of
the Altar as “the church’s heartbeat.”16 In this Sacrament, Christ gives
His body and blood under bread and wine for us Christians to eat
and to drink. It is His testament in which He bestows the fruits of
His saving sacrifice on the cross: His body given into death and His
blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Luther underscores the forgiveness of sins in the Small Catechism as he engages in a threefold
repetition of the words “given for you” and “shed for the forgiveness
of sins.” These words show us that the Sacrament of the Altar is the
testament of God’s sure mercy for sinners. When we come to eat and
drink Christ’s body and blood, we come as beggars to the feast of
heaven. In this Sacrament, we are not accessing Christ by liturgical
mimesis;17 rather, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes
(see 1 Cor. 11:26). Eating and drinking in the Lord’s Supper does not
create life together (koinonia) but confess and express this unity we
have in the proclamation of Christ’s death. Life together (koinonia)
in confessing Him is always Christ’s work and Christ’s gift by His
Word. Hence the practice of closed Communion is a necessary corollary of the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper.18 Bringing contradiction in

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teaching or life in the Holy Communion fails to give witness to Christ
and what He gives us in and with His body and blood.
16. Priesthood of the baptized. The apostle Peter writes to those
who have been “born again to a living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3), that is, to
those who are baptized into Jesus’ death. He describes us as “living
stones” that are built up as a “spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). This priesthood is holy, that is, it is cut off from
the uncleanness of sin and set apart to live by faith in Jesus Christ.
Notice that the New Testament does not speak of us as individual
priests, each going his or her own way and doing the work of a priest
for ourselves. Rather, the New Testament speaks of our lives lived
within a company of priests, a priesthood.
The priesthood offers spiritual sacrifices. These are not sacrifices
that atone for sin. Jesus did that once and for all on the cross (see
Heb. 7:27). The sacrifices that we offer are spiritual sacrifices, the
sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit (see Ps. 51:17). This is
the life of repentance: daily dying to sin and living in the newness
of Christ’s forgiveness. In other words, the whole life of the believer
is one of sacrifice. This is the point that Paul makes in Rom. 12:1,
where he writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that
by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.”
Everybody in the ancient world knew that sacrifices were dead,
not living. Jerusalem’s temple resembled a slaughterhouse more than
a church. The priest, smattered with blood, looked more like a butcher
than a clergyman. Paul’s words must have jarred his original readers for he writes of a living sacrifice. We present our bodies as living
sacrifices for we have died to sin in Baptism and now live in Christ’s
resurrection (see Rom. 6:1–11).
This priestly life is our vocation, our calling. We live it out in
our daily callings in the congregation, in civic community (citizenship), the family, and the place of work. Here we who have received
mercy from the Father show forth that mercy in our dealings with
others, and it is here that we bear witness to Christ by “proclaiming
the excellencies of Him who called us out darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Going about our daily vocation as baptized members of Christ’s
royal priesthood, we testify to Christ, speaking His saving Word, the
same Word we regularly hear in preaching and the same Word we
read for ourselves in Holy Scripture (e.g., through personal and family devotions). The content of our witness is always Christ, crucified
and raised from the dead for all. In so doing, we are inviting others into the same life we have received from Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, the only real life there is: that given in Word and Sacrament.
Baptized believers will often be found urging others, believers and
unbelievers alike, to “come and see” (John 1:39) what Christ has done
for them and for all.
17. Office and offices. There is one office that Christ has instituted for the proclamation of His Word and the giving out of His
Sacraments. This is the Office of the Holy Ministry (see John 20:21–
23; AC V XIV, XXVII). Through the call of the Church, the Lord
places qualified men into this office (see 1 Cor. 14:33–38; 1 Tim. 2:8–
14). The men who serve in this office are to be properly trained and
capable (see 1 Tim. 3:1–7; 2 Tim. 2:1–7; 4:1–5; Titus 1:5–9) of the
task of being stewards of the mysteries of God (see 1 Cor. 4:1–2). The
Church may not be without this office for it is to this office that Christ
has entrusted the preaching of His Word and the administration of His
Sacraments. No one puts himself into this office nor does the Church
have the right to refashion the office into something other than what
2016 Convention Workbook