LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 67

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68 CONVENTION SERMON

of His pasture.” (Paraphrasing the farmer: “All our
lives we’ve been looking for a church like that!”)

Now God invites us to “Search for Him with all your
hearts” (Jer. 29:13). That means more than knowing
“about” God. A person can know a lot about God and
not know God. He will never know God until he learns
to trust Him and love Him through Christ.

I recently read the life of Mahalia Jackson — one of
the outstanding singers of Gospel songs this country had
ever known. Barriers she had aplenty. But she also
had commitment to and faith in God through Christ.

Mahalia Jackson, up from poverty, sang to vast and
enthusiastic crowds in many of the great concert halls
of the world. She was born right over here on Water
Street in New Orleans in 1911 between the railroad
tracks and the levee of the Mississippi. Her father
worked on the river docks during the week and was a
lay teacher in church on Sundays. Mahalia had little
schooling, not even a formal music education, but she
heard the showboat music along the river Mississippi.
She listened, fascinated, to the great jazz bands on Canal
and Rampart. She came to realize that she had been
given a truly great voice.

From the early joy of singing in the choir in her
beloved church . . . where she would lift her magni-
ficent voice in moving Gospel songs . . . she went on
to great success.

At the close of her book, Movin’ On Up, New Or-
leans’ own Mahalia Jackson beautifully testifies to
Christ her Savior. She says: “Along the way I will re-
joice with the Lord and sing my Gospel music...
spreading the good news!” And how she did!

Mahalia was a marvelous ambassador for Christ.
Jesus says: “As the Father has sent Me, even so I send
you.” (John 20:21)

One evening in England I walked down a street on
the west end of London and came on a Jarge building
with a great golden eagle set high upon it. It is the
home of the Ambassador of the United States. That lit-
tle plot of ground is America overseas. And the Am-
bassador who is quartered there lives in London, but
his citizenship is in the United States and he carries
out his work under the direction of those in leadership
in Washington.

The Ambassador’s task may not always be pleasant.
If his country’s interests clash with those of the foreign
power, he may need to hold a difficult position. He may
be quite unpopular for a while ... but he has no choice
if he is to carry out his mission!

And you and I in the midst of a perverse, wicked,
and hostile world are to represent God and His interests
... with love and with light . . . courageously and faith-
fully passing along His enduring truth to all genera-
tions. “God has made us His ambassadors. We are to
be in the world but not of it— we are to represent the
Lord in our communities. ... We are not to be isolated
but rather involved as His sent ones.”

It is reported that before the Second World War,
a certain college professor, sensing the tragedy which
was about to descend upon the world, decided to take

his family to a remote Pacific Island, hoping to remain
safe there until the trouble blew over.

The island he chose was Guadalcanal, the site of
one of the fiercest battles of the war. The fact is, we are
all involved in the world, like it or not. There is no
way to say: “Stop the world, I want to get off.” Our
faith is centered in the Incarnation . . . the fact that
God, Himself, became personally involved in our world
in Jesus Christ. We are to face the world with the Bible
in one hand, the daily newspaper in the other, as God’s
people involved on a mission.

One month after President Kennedy was assassi-
nated, a memorial service was held at Arlington Ceme-
tery. In the dusk of that December evening, someone
lit a candle from the flame over his grave. Then that
eandle lighted another and another until there was a
long line of brightness flickering down the hillside to
the bridge back to Washington and out into the Vir-
ginia countryside.

When we come to worship God it should be like that
line of brightness. The end of worship is to signal the
beginning of witness and service. We light our lives
afresh at the eternal flame of Jesus Christ and then
carry that flame of faith back to the darkness and let
it radiate for Christ in our homes, schools, and busi-
nesses.

“If Christians would praise God more, the world
would doubt Him less!” Isn’t it time for us to cease
“bad mouthing” the church? I think it’s time for em-
phasizing the positive. “For the Lord is good, His mercy
is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

We are reminded: “The symbol of our convention
represents this emphasis, the flow of concerns and ef-
forts within the church, which receives its strength from
God’s act of redemption in Jesus Christ.”

“A sunburst radiating from the Cross is a reminder
that Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, whose love and
triumph over the cross spreads to warm all creation.”
“Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in
ceaseless praise.”

Now because of our sin, it doesn’t always go that
smoothly or ceaselessly! We seem to have shortages
when there should be surpluses! The answer to our
shortage of man and money power was given by a wait-
ress in Washington during World Ward II when sugar
was one of the rationed commodities. A customer who
had already received his share loudly ordered some
more sugar for his coffee. Her answer was a classic in
brevity and plain speech. She said: “Stir what you’ve
got!”

The psalmist is saying the same thing. He invites us
to ‘Make a joyful sound unto the Lord . . . Come be-
fore His presence with singing .. . And into His courts
with praise.” The psalmist is saying in effect “Stir
what you've got!” For renewal and commitment are
wrapped up in the theme of this convention and in this
text.

An 85-year-old woman was struck with what was
feared to be her final sickness. When her children were

canes te epi oY

an OC EES

sateen anus

peseeneryshy aoe eh

: