LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 64

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64 PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

promising to obey Him. Then Moses takes the blood of
the sacrificial peace offerings and sprinkles it on the
people (24:7-8). This depicts the ongoing life of the
chosen. Having received Christ as Savior, they desire to
do His will. Failing this at times, they find comfort in
their election of grace and in forgiveness of sin merited
by Jesus Christ on the cross. Here is the struggle of the
chosen. With Paul they admit failure: “For I joyfully
concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a
different law in the members of my body, waging war
against the law of my mind. ... Wretched man that Iam!
Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks
be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! . . . There is
therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus” (Rom. 7:22-25; 8:1).

Even though we know we can never arrive at a state
of perfection here below, either in purity of life or in
carrying out the Great Commission and all that is
implied, yet we need not despair, for our feeblest efforts,
begun, continued, and completed in the name of Jesus
Christ and to the glory of God the Father, will result in
spiritual victories. Our Lord has promised us that His
Word will not return to Him void but will accomplish His
purposes and prosper in that for which it was sent (Is.
55:11). Simply stated, regardless of the enormity of the
task, despite the obstacles which Satan, the world, and
our sinful flesh daily set before us, we shall succeed. God
does not ask for results. This is His responsibility and
not ours. He only asks for faithfulness and willing
obedience.

III. Too Little, Too Few

Consider for a moment the miraculous catch of fish
recorded in the fifth chapter of Luke’s gospel. First
comes the challenge from Christ: “Put out into the deep
water, and let down your nets for a catch.” Next the
picture as it appeared to men: “Master, we worked hard
all night and caught nothing.” Then the pledge of
obedience: ‘Nevertheless, at Your bidding we will let
down the nets.” Jesus would take it from there. He
always does. Or consider the feeding of the 5,000. They
knew that five barley loaves and two small fishes could
not feed 5,000. But they acted in faith, and our Lord did
the rest.

But now as we consider the work to be done during
the coming seven days, let us also be sensitive to the
reasons why the work of the Kingdom in our beloved
Synod has not been more effective.

By this time itis a known fact that all too many in our
church body have very little knowledge about the work
which 6,200 congregations have banded together to

carry out. Because of this, support has gradually waned,
and our Synod faces a serious financial problem. Whata
tragedy it would be if at a time when the challenge and
opportunities are greater than ever before we would be
forced to make drastic reductions in missions and in
preparing church workers! I hope that every delegate
would regard himself or herself as chosen in a very
special sense. You can do so much, not only during the
convention but after we adjourn, if you go home with the
story. Hold a circuit meeting, or better yet, arrange to
meet with every congregation in the circuit you
represent, so that you may share the challenge and the
need. The Lord will do the rest.

Frequently we wonder what can be done when we
come from a corner of the Kingdom where we are
definitely in a minority. The sprawling cities, the
collapsed downtown areas, the vast miles of emptiness
in the West, not to mention the startling growth of sects
and cults everywhere in our country, can frustrate even
the most optimistic. But it has always been so. These
difficulties are not new; in every age God’s people are
confronted with similar challenges and problems.

Even so the Holy Spirit, who leads us to truth (John
16:13) and who adds to the church daily those who are
being saved (Acts 2:47), will not let us down. It is
significant that in these few verses we have selected for
our meditation the three Persons of the Godhead are
mentioned in active roles. Someone has said that the
Holy Trinity is here presented as “God in His working
clothes.”

It is because God is at work within us and able to do
far more abundantly than all that we ask or think (Eph.
3:20) that we can take up the tasks with confidence. Peter
closes his brief introduction with the assurance that
grace and peace will be ours in a multitude of ways.

Peter in his second epistle exhorts the chosen with a
reminder that “according to His promise we are looking
for new heavens and a new earth, in which
righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). Until that is a
reality, He commends us His chosen ones to “grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Let us, the chosen, therefore now
rededicate ourselves to growing and sharing and to
giving God the glory, both during these convention days
and throughout the rest of our earthly journey. Let us
show our faith, our hope, and our love in all our words,
our decisions, and our actions. Let us show patience,
understanding, compassion in our dealings with our
brothers and sisters here gathered. Let us learn that by
patient continuance in welldoing “we shall do His will,
hallow His name, and cause His kingdom to come.”

J.A.O. Preus, D.D.