LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 102

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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OTHER PRESENTATIONS 103

Some of you have heard the old story of the thief who
broke into a supermarket one night. Actually, he wasn’t re-
ally a thief—he didn’t steal anything. His only crime was
that he went up and down the aisles of that supermarket
simply switching price tags, so that the next morning when
the shoppers arrived they found T-bone steaks selling for
49¢ and a can of beans for $3.98. And I submit to you, dear
brothers and sisters, that that is exactly the way Satan
does his most devilish work in the church still today. He is
always attempting to focus our time and our energies on
those matters which will not really make a difference on
that great day when the Lord comes again to judge the liv-
ing and the dead. And he tempts us so often to let those
goals which really do make the difference between life and
death and between heaven and hell slip into matters of sec-
ond priority. From this, good Lord, preserve us.

We speak a lot, and well we should, of the grace and
blessing that is ours through the precious Gospel of Jesus
Christ. May that truth and gift always be the crown and
the most precious jewel and the power for all that we do
and say in this church body. But the point is not only that
we possess this wonderful truth and gift. The point is that

the Gospel so possesses us that it leaves us no choice but
to walk in the light as children of God.

So, in all things, my dear sisters and brothers, let this
part of the church of Jesus Christ which we know as The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod continue to grow up
into Him in all things. Let that happen as our consuming
passion is always and only that which is His consuming
passion, namely, to seek and save those who are lost and
to share in our words and in our deeds the love of Jesus
Christ and the grace of God. Let it happen in the way we
speak to one another and about one another and the way
we speak and witness to the world around us. Let it hap-
pen even when it means casting our nets out on the other
side of the boat and daring to do some things in a different
way so that by all means we may save some. And let it al-
ways be done with the mind of Christ and the love of
Christ. Above all, in our every word and deed, may Jesus
Christ be praised. Thank you, and may God bless you
abundantly.

August T. Mennicke, First Vice-President