Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 440
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 440

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

440

THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

WHEREAS, The Apostles’ Creed ends with the words “and the
life everlasting. Amen”; and
WHEREAS, In discussing “The Life Everlasting,” the 1991
Explanation of the Small Catechism (Luther’s Small Catechism with
Explanation [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1991], 166)
reads, “God gives eternal life to me and all believers in Christ”; and
WHEREAS, The explanation goes on to make three important
subpoints (ibid., 166–67):
• Eternal life is a present possession (John 17:3; 3:36);
• At the time of death, the soul of a believer is immediately
with Christ in heaven (Luke 23:43; Phil. 1:23–24);
• At the last day the believers, in both body and soul, will
begin the full enjoyment of being with Christ forever (Matt.
25:34; 1 John 3:2); and
WHEREAS, Each one of these three is distinct and yet inseparable
from the other two. We could even say that the first is a promise,
the second is a promise, the third is a promise; and yet there are not
three promises, but one promise; and
WHEREAS, We are concerned that some pastors may emphasize
the second at the expense of the third, and that others may
emphasize the third at the expense of the second; and
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Study Bible (Edward Engelbrecht, ed.
[St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009], 1750) and the
Lutheran Witness (Joel Biermann, “Waiting for the Resurrection,”
June/July 2017, 6–7) discuss “soul sleep” (“view that the soul of a
dead person exists in a state of sleep” [Erwin L. Lueker, Lutheran
Cyclopedia, (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1975) 727])
without clearly and completely rejecting it; therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage its pastors to
preach and teach in a very clear way that the promise of everlasting
life is one great promise and yet has three parts; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage its pastors to
guard against preaching and teaching the second part in such a way
that it obscures or diminishes the third, and to guard against
preaching and teaching the third part in such a way that it obscures
or diminishes the second; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage its pastors to
clarify for their congregations, if necessary, that Scripture does not
speak of soul sleep, but of souls after death in a state of awareness
(Rev. 6:10; cf. Luke 16:22–31; ‘rest’ in Rev 14:13; cf. Heb 4:9–11
does not imply sleep). When we speak of the dead as sleeping, this
refers to the body (Lutheran Cyclopedia, 727); and be it finally
Resolved, That the Synod in convention encourage its pastors to
preach and teach in a very clear way that the souls of the faithful
departed are with Christ in heaven, and Christ is with us on earth,
resulting in a “blest communion, fellowship divine,” which is an
unending source of comfort and joy, courage and strength (Heb.
12:1)—until “there breaks a yet more glorious day: … !” (“For All
the Saints, LSB 677).
Faith, Mount Vernon, IL; Our Savior, Carmi, IL;
Suburban Bethlehem, Fort Wayne, IN
Ov. 5-29

To Give a Clear Confession of the Resurrection
in Our Funeral Practices
WHEREAS, In Luther’s Small Catechism explanation of the First
Article of the creed, we confess, “I believe that God has made me
2019 Convention Workbook

and all creatures; that He has given me my body…”; we are called
to preserve our bodies as living sacrifices; and there is no reason we
would want to destroy willfully that which God has created in His
image and given to us; and
WHEREAS, When Holy Scripture speaks of the burning of bodies
by fire (a practice that historically, and currently, is observed in
pagan societies), it does so in a negative context, including specific
words of condemnation in Amos 2; and
WHEREAS, By contrast, the burial of the bodies of God’s people
is described as occurring with reverent care, as witnessed by Christ
Himself whose body was anointed for burial; and many other
examples; and
WHEREAS, Neither cremation nor burial nor any other funeral
practice has any impact on the salvation of the deceased, nor does
it impact the bodily resurrection we confess in the creed;
nonetheless, the funeral service is the last rite given to each of us as
members of the Body of Christ until we are transformed at the Last
Day, and is a witness to the faith of the deceased; thus, we should
strive in these as in all things to give a clear confession of the
teaching of Holy Scripture, rather than use Christian liberty to
minimize it; and
WHEREAS, For these reasons the Church has opposed cremation
of bodies; our funeral rites speak of the committal of the body to the
grave, and we are to consider the coffin as a bed in which the dead
in Christ sleep until they reawaken at Christ’s appearing; and
WHEREAS, At the present time some oppose the process of
embalming for various reasons; although spoken of without
condemnation in Gen. 50:2 (Israel) and Gen. 50:26 (Joseph),
nonetheless embalming is not necessary for a funeral service with
the body present, which may be held with a closed casket, or
promptly after death, without need for embalming, so that
“embalming or cremation” is a false choice; and
WHEREAS, A funeral service with the body present is a vivid
reminder of the wages of sin that we have all earned, yet
simultaneously an opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel
and Christ’s triumph over death and the grave in which the deceased
shares through Holy Baptism; and
WHEREAS, In our modern culture that embraces youth and
pleasure, and rejects the concepts of sin and death, we should also
take every opportunity to use funeral services to proclaim Law and
Gospel: our sin and resulting death, requiring Christ’s vicarious
atonement, and the victory we have in Christ; never to engage in
eulogies, sentimentality, and other practices that distract from the
theology of the cross; and
WHEREAS, The process of cremation requires the burning of the
flesh and the physical crushing of bones to create “ashes” and
although many treat the resulting remains in a dignified manner and
do inter them, it is also the case that some engage in careless or even
frivolous practices in the handling thereof, such as scattering to the
heedless winds to achieve “oneness with nature,” or at a favorite
location of the deceased such as Disneyland, which is not the case
with physical burials; and
WHEREAS, For all these reasons, the Synod ought to teach that
the best practice regarding last rites is a physical burial of the body,
because that gives the clearest confession of our faith regarding our
body as a creation of God, our death as the wages of sin, and our
sure and certain hope of our bodily resurrection through Christ’s
own death and resurrection; therefore be it