LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 74

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74 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

million casualties, caused not only by war but by the
tremendous movement of civilian people who, for
reasons of fear or force, are fleeing from one country to
the other in an attempt to find escape from oppression
and attack. The newspapers continue to tell us about
Africa and of all the difficulties the people of that
troubled continent are enduring, but they cannot
describe the actual situation.

It will never be possible for us as Americans fully
either to understand the issues or to make intelligent
judgments on who is right and who is wrong, but we do
need to be very alert to the fact that we must always be
on the side of the victims. The Good Samaritan did not
ask about the color, race, or creed of the man who had
fallen among thieves. He did not even take out after the
thieves. He did not walk off in indifference on the
assumption that the man did not belong to his church or
his race. Rather, he saw a fellow human being in need,
and he dismounted and helped him and took of his own
resources to nurse the man back to health.

It seems to me that as our church faces these
problems, and in the light of the enormous work that we
have been doing among refugees from Southeast Asia,
we need to be continually aware of the needs of suffering
humanity wherever these people may be and whoever
they may be. So we must be ready to help the victims,
whether black or white, whether Christian or non-
Christian. They are a people who are in need of our aid. I
hope and pray that the predictions of these men whom I
mentioned are wrong. But in the event that they are
right, I know that the people in our Missouri Synod in
the future, as in the past, will rise to help them through
our relief agencies, our medical-missions program, and
in every possible way by which we can come to the aid of
suffering people. Above all, let us pray for them, so that
our gracious Lord would visit them in their affliction
and distress and relieve them of agonies and the
tragedies which have befallen them.

We also live in a world in which Americans,
according to a recent Gallup poll, are the most religious
people of all the industrial nations. While belief in the
existence of God and the hereafter has declined
drastically in many of the industrial nations, actually
the belief in God, in immortality, and in the importance
of religion in the lives of people has increased in
America. We notice this also among our young people,
who are not leaving the church in droves but are rather
looking for ways in which they may be of service to their
fellowmen, including service in the various ministries of
the church.

And yet the same poll indicates that we are one of the
most lawless nations on earth, with incredible problems
of abortion, drug abuse, organized crime, pornography,
and all of the other problems about which we read
constantly. On the other hand, our people, especially our
young people, show a great interest in religion, even in
such matters as “being born again,” in holding to an
honest, forthright interpretation of Scripture, and in
many other ideas that even a decade ago were thought to
be passé. One can only marvel at the way in which, in
this Sodom and Gomorrah of modern society, the Lord is
raising up witnesses who are ready to dedicate

themselves to His service. How great He is!

We live in a world that is dominated by secularism,
skepticism, lack of respect for human life and dignity,
poverty, mistreatment of children, divorce, living out of
wedlock, arrogant homosexuality—all of which have
become accepted ways of living to many people. We live
in a time of anti-institutionalism, and maybe one of the
reasons for this is that the institutions are not ad-
dressing themselves to the questions which are bedevil-
ing people. In one of our major cities statistics indicate
that there are actually more worshipers of Satan and
followers of the occult than there are followers of Jesus
Christ. We have an enormous mission to accomplish, a
great witness to perform, and I would like to see The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in this historic year
not only speak loudly and clearly to minority groups like
Blacks and Hispanics and others but also to initiate a
ministry that would bring us into dialog with all who are
so troubled and so much need Christ. A generation ago,
General MacArthur, when he entered Japan, stated that
the great problems of the world are basically theological.
He spoke truly and propetically. The same is true today.

Thus we as Americans with our wealth, with our
interest in religion and in humanitarian concerns, are
people who are in a peculiar position to answer the call
that God has given us through the suffering, the
wickedness, and the sins which surround us, so that we
may be faithful witnesses to our Lord Jesus Christ, in
order to help the suffering and to bring the Gospel to all
people who need it so desperately. In many ways thisisa
day of opportunity unparalleled for the Christian people
of America and particularly for those of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod.

Seventy percent of the American people today claim
membership in some religious body; forty percent claim
to be active in their religious association. Another factor
involving the future of our mission is the population
shift. During the early 1970s the South and the West (sun
belt) regions of our country grew at a rate seven times
faster than the Northeast or North-central regions.
Eleven of the thirteen fastest-growing metropolitan
areas are in the so-called “sun belt” areas. What are we
going to do about the challenges and opportunities
facing us as a church and as a nation? This convention
can go a long way in answering this question in a
positive and helpful manner. Let us lift up our eyes and
see the harvest and the needs.

Our Blessings

Now let us look at some of our blessings.

Our greatest blessing is the undeserved grace and
mercy of God in Christ Jesus. God has sent His only-
begotten Son into the world that we might live through
Him (1 John 4:9). We live by faith in Jesus Christ, who
loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20). He died for
us while we were yet sinners, lost and condemned,
absolutely without any power to do anything about our
condition (Rom. 5:6, 8). We possess no greater blessing
than the realization of the love the Father has lavished
on us, whereby we are called the children of God, and
that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Because we, by the working of the Holy Spirit, believe