Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 71

LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 71

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
one church of God in motion, the actualization of
the one universal, catholic church. … Mission is
the life of the catholic church. … The catholic
church and mission—these two no one can separate without killing both, and that is impossible
No matter where you might look, the church of God in the
LCMS is on the move. In mission (a single mission—as Paul
would go on to say to the Ephesians, one mission in “… one
body and one Spirit … one hope that belongs to your call—one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4–6.) There
is good reason why we don’t call them the LCMS Office of National “Missions” or the Office of International “Missions,” (as
if there were many and not one “Mission”) and why my job title
at the International Center is Chief Mission Officer, not Chief
“Missions” Officer. In its simplest terms, our singular “mission”
is to extend the gift of righteousness and forgiveness to the world
through the preaching of the Word and administration of the Sacraments. With purpose and resolve. Rejoicing in over seventeen
different program ministries serving thirty-five districts and
over six thousand congregations just here alone in the U.S. A
clarion voice within the culture, now made wider and deeper
than ever before through the Lutheran Center for Religious
Liberty. Together with Christ in supporting over one hundred
twenty missionaries and their families around the globe, situated in over forty countries. And two hundred LCMS military
chaplains serving the men and women of this country’s armed
forces as they protect us in some of the most dangerous places
on the planet.
Thanksgiving for the cross that we bear together with Christ,
with patience. Don’t kid yourself about this earthly life. We are
not theologians of glory for prosperity, health, wealth, and success. We are theologians of the cross. We preach Christ crucified.
“Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ ” (Matthew
16:24). Mission program initiatives and budgets and leadership
in the church undoubtedly have their place in the stewardship
of the abundant blessings that God grants, but they are not the
end.
Going forward in faith, our thanksgiving and attention is
turned to the work that we’ve been given to do. So often, it is
hard and lengthy. Jesus said: “You will be brought before kings
and governors for my name’s sake” (Luke 21:12). We’ve seen
that across centuries and generations.
And so finally—a word of encouragement at a time when
the devil is doing his utmost to discourage us who have been
made alive together with Christ. We wield, as St. Paul would note
later on in his epistle to the Church at Ephesus, “the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Satan doesn’t stand a
chance! If there is anything that I’ve learned during my time
at the International Center, it’s that the Gospel is infinitely robust and unstoppable. It needs continually to be brought out of
hiding, boldly and unashamedly. It will never break. This Word
enters into the messiest of situations, the most challenging of
mission fields, smack dab into the middle of the war zones of
the lives of sinners the likes of you and me—and though we
may indeed falter and fail, and we will, God’s Word never does
and never will. He said, “For as the rain and the snow come
down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and

bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my
mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish
that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I
sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11).
We live in that promise, in His time and reality. This is what
it is to be made “Joy:fully Alive,” in body and soul, together …
because His life-bestowing Word is for life together. This is what
it is to be “Joy:fully Lutheran”!
Rev. Kevin D. Robson, Chief Mission Officer

R1.3

Church Relations
Perhaps at no time in the history of the Missouri Synod
has there been greater opportunities to have a significant impact upon world Lutheranism. For almost as Lutheranism has
existed in a distinct form from Roman Catholicism (after the
Reformation and the presentation of the Augsburg Confession),
there have been two forms of Lutheranism: (1) an inclusive form
that did not emphasize doctrinal agreement and tended toward
unionism, and (2) an exclusive form that required agreement in
all doctrine for fellowship. The Prussian Union in 1817 marked
a significant cleavage between inclusive and exclusive Lutheranism, while the formation of the Lutheran World Federation
signified the final break for these two types of Lutheranism.
The Missouri Synod was founded as an exclusive Lutheran
church that required agreement in doctrine and practice for
fellowship. Consequently, the Missouri Synod never had the
number of church partners or even mission starts in as many
places as other church bodies that had looser requirements for
fellowship. Because these Lutheran church bodies, such as the
national churches in Scandinavian and Germany, did not hold
to biblical inspiration and inerrancy or to the Book of Concord
in the same way as the Missouri Synod and her partners, they
drifted further and further from the biblical message to embrace
a progressive, secular agenda such as justice issues, climate justice, and gender justice. While the Western Lutheran churches
drifted further from the Scriptures, the Lutheran Churches of
the Global South still held to the Holy Scriptures, even if some
errors from Western churches were introduced. This situation
created the perfect storm for these church bodies to seek out the
Missouri Synod, her partners, and the International Lutheran
Council (reported on below). As a result, many church bodies,
particularly from the Global South are seeking the LCMS due
to her biblical and confessional teaching. This does not mean
the LCMS can enter fellowship with all of them, but at the same
time the Missouri Synod has a duty to proclaim the truth and
shine light into the darkness. During the past triennium, the
Missouri Synod has had relationships with 96 Lutheran church
bodies around the world. Many of them are seeking the Missouri Synod because of the direction the church bodies that first
brought the Gospel to them have taken. Now is a tremendous
moment to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the
world.
The Commission on Theology and Church Relations
(CTCR) report describes several church fellowship requests,
working agreements and discussions with other church bodies
that will not be repeated here. Some highlights appear below.
2019 Convention Workbook