LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 133

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

Like many of you, I have viewed the rather lengthy doc-
umentary titled “Warrior of God: Man of Peace.” Parts of it
depict former President J. A. O. Preus as various individu-
cals saw him. My impressions were somewhat different.
‘Working with him on a day-to-day basis—including many
weekends—for eight years left me with the image of a man
who took his position seriously but never took himself seri-
ously, and that during a time of crisis unequalled in the
history of the Missouri Synod.

Those who knew him will recall his strong—and often
pungent—sense of humor. Once he said to me, “I just made
ten decisions, and half of them were wrong,” followed with
a roar of laughter.

He knew the secret of delegation. I remember his drop-
‘ping a stack of-letters and reports on my desk, announcing
with a note of finality: “You handle this; I don’t want to
hear any more about it.”

To some, President Preus was an uncaring politician,
plotting courses of action which ignored the well-being of
Missouri’s basic units, the congregations. Wrong. When at
one point it looked like the Synod would break apart, he
surprised all of us with a sudden call for a theological con-
vocation, where both sides would be given a chance to pre-
sent their cases. Some of us questioned this: “We know
what the issues are; why bother?” He answered, “We know,
but those folks out in the ‘boonies’ do not. We need time.”
It was this style of leadership that kept his opponents
off balance. They would zig; he would zag. They would zag;
he would zig. He was totally unpredictable. Nobody knew
what he would do next. He would saunter from office to of-
fice at the headquarters—then in downtown St. Louis—
cross his feet on the desk and ask, “What do you think
about this?” After several visits, he would return and, you
guessed it, follow none of the advice he was given.

He cared. Shortly after the Synod’s Anaheim convention,
congregations were being told to “make a decision” regard-
ing synodical affiliation. When I was about to leave for such
a debate, many of which lasted long into the night, Dr.
Preus said, “Phone me when it’s over.” “That may be after
midnight,” I replied. He insisted, “Call me anyway.” That
one turned out to be in the Synod’s favor. The phone call
was made at 1:00 a.m.

It goes without saying that he cared about the Word of
God. I won’t rehearse for you the battle for the Bible that
raged during the ’70s and ’80s. But I must say that a lesser

101

2. A Tribute to J. A. O. Preus

man would have cracked under the stress in those stormy
days. Surely the passage from the book of Esther applied:
“Perhaps you have come to this position for just such a time
as this” (Esther 4:14). :

A few months before his death, I received a little note
from Dr. Preus. He wrote, “Thanks for the thousand things
you did for me.” I’m sure that many of you have a similar
letter from a man who was grateful for the support he was
given.

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to
you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate
their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today
and forever” (Hebrews 13:7-8).

Robert C. Sauer, Fourth Vice-President