LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 67

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT, PART 3
“Joy:fully Lutheran”
Tampa, Fla. • July 21, 2019
Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”
(1 Thess. 5:16–18).
Welcome! We’re delighted you’re here! Thank you for
your willingness to serve! Thanks for the prep! Thanks for
the hassles and travel. Thanks for dealing with the
mountain of nonsense in your mailboxes! How many of you
are first-time delegates? Marvelous! I guarantee we are
going to have a good week here in Tampa. You’ll make new
friends and rejoice in seeing old ones. You’ll learn more than
you can imagine about your marvelous church body. You’ll
see some of our warts and disagreements. The week will not
go exactly as anyone predicts or might desire. The Lord will
bless us with collective wisdom. We won’t get everything
exactly right or perfect. We’ll sin and be forgiven here. We
will have great moments of humor and joy. We shall pray
together. We shall give thanks. And we shall leave this place
tired, but rejoicing still — prayers energized and giving
thanks like never before for the Gospel and the LCMS. “For
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).
Joy is a product of the Gospel. It grabs our hearts
through every part of the Small Catechism. The Ten
Commandments condemn us all alike. But the joy in Christ,
the God-man, is in the balance over against all our sins
(Luther). The joy is that Jesus fulfilled every jot and tittle of
the Law for you! The Creed tells us exactly who God is —
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; our Creator, Redeemer and
Sanctifier. As if there’s not enough joy in all creation, He
redeemed us “not with gold or silver, but with His holy,
precious blood” (SC, Second Article). The Lord Himself
teaches us to pray confidently and joyously in His prayer:
“He is our true father and … we are his true children” (SC,
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer). “We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that … we
too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Joy! “If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you
withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:23).
The Office of the Keys wipes my slate clean, opens heaven’s
doors and clears my conscience — and wonder of wonders,
as a spiritual priest I can do the same thing for my neighbors,
friends and family! Wow! Joy! In the Supper, the Savior’s
body and blood are placed upon my lips “for the forgiveness
of sins.” That joyous feast is a foretaste of the feast to come!
Rejoice!
If you want to be a grumpy, joyless, thankless dolt in
this convention, then you’ll do it without me.
President’s Report, Part 3

We have, in my view, a slate of outstanding resolutions
to be taken up by this body. They are not perfect, however,
as we’ll soon find out. We really pushed the floor
committees to do quality work, and it shows. Like always,
there are a few issues still in flux — at least as I was writing
this the morning before floor committee meetings. Like all
conventions, no one will get everything they want. But at
the end of the week, we’ll look back and rejoice and thank
God for the work and for each other.
We are here to be about the work of the Synod, which
is spelled out with crystal clarity in our Constitution. Article
I says that we are “The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.”
Article II says that we confess the Scriptures as “the only rule
and norm of faith and of practice,” and that we confess the
Book of Concord “as a true and unadulterated statement
and exposition of the Word of God.” The Objectives of the
Synod immediately follow: (1) “Conserve and promote the
unity of the truth faith” and (2) “Strengthen congregations
and their members in giving bold witness… and extend that
Gospel witness into all the world.” Simply said, it’s
Steadfastness for the sake of sharing the Gospel.
I stood for the presidency nine years ago because I
believed, as I said at the time, that we were drifting. I believe
in the public confession of the LCMS. I believe that the
inerrant and inspired Scriptures give us clear direction in
the face of a world run amok. I believe the Book of Concord
is true and much more than a description of how Lutherans
450 years ago confessed in their context. The Christ says to
us today just what he said to Peter and the apostles: “But
Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). The Book of
Concord — with its most basic document, the Small
Catechism — is my answer, is every LCMS church worker’s
answer, is every institution’s answer, is every
congregation’s answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the
Living God” (Matt. 16:16). As we confess the Gospel to the
world, next door or around the globe, we confess the true,
living God-man, the Christ of the Scriptures. “The blood of
Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Strong
confession! Strong engagement! Strong mission!
Luther knew that confession has an eschatological
dimension — that is, confession is made in the face of
eternity. He knew what would happen after he died. This
passage is in the Formula of Concord in Article VII on the
Lord’s Supper: “Hence if any one shall say after my death, ‘If
Luther were living now, he would teach and hold this or that
article differently, for he did not consider it sufficiently,”
etc., let me say once and for all that by the grace of God I have
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 67