LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 69

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CONVENTION ESSAYS AND BIBLE STUDIES
1. From God’s Word to Our Commitment—
To the Ends of the Earth
Introduction
One of the features that has always set apart conventions of the Missouri Synod from those of other churches
has been the doctrinal essay. In a former era this was done
by one person, but in recent times the doctrinal essay/Bible
study has been done by a number of presenters, as will be
done in this convention. Most American churches have understood that the business of their convention was business.
The Missouri Synod has always understood that the business of the Synod is its doctrine and teaching and has set
aside the prime time of the day for such doctrinal discussion. In his essay to the 1879 organizing convention of the
Iowa District, Dr. C. F. W. Walther, first President of the
Synod, spoke about the importance of discussing doctrine
at conventions. He quoted a paragraph from an observer
from the old General Council of the Lutheran Church, a
synod not much interested in doctrine. The observer put it
this way:
Now I understand why the Missourians are so unified. The reason is that they always spend a great deal
of time in the thorough study of doctrine. They don’t
merely discuss it thoroughly, but they always try to get
down to the basic principles and prove everything on
the basis of Scripture. This is the secret of the Missourians. With that kind of approach they cannot help
being unified.

opens their eyes in the breaking of the bread. The Emmaus
disciples rush back to Jerusalem to tell what had happened
only to have the Lord appear in the midst of the disciples on
that Easter evening. Then comes the powerful conclusion
to the Gospel. Here it is:

May the Lord grant that we always keep our committment to our doctrine and teaching.
The convention theme, “To the Ends of the Earth,” is
emphasizing the call that the church has to evangelize, to
reach out with the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme really poses questions to us as a Synod, as congregations, and as individuals: “What are we all about?
What is it that we do? What is it that we have to say to a
world that is facing death?” We speak Good News. We
evangelize. I know that the term evangelism has gotten a
bad name in certain circles and that the term outreach is
more in vogue. Indeed we do reach out. But we reach out
with the Gospel, that is the evangel, using the Greek-based
word. We evangelize with the Good News of what God has
done and continues to do for us through Jesus Christ our
Savior.
If one is looking for a text to speak about what it is that
we do, the conclusion to St. Matthew’s gospel immediately
jumps into our minds. That is the Lord’s mandate to preach
the Gospel to all creatures and to baptize in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
to observe all that He has commanded. While this is a premier text, I’ve always been amazed that the text from the
conclusion of St. Luke has generally been ignored. Let me
remind you of the content of this wonderful concluding
chapter of St. Luke. The chapter begins with the resurrection account and the unbelief on the part of the apostles as
they heard the story told by the faithful women. Next
comes the story of the walk to Emmaus as our Lord reveals
Himself in His teaching to the two unnamed disciples and

Then Jesus said to them, “These are My words
which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that
everything written about Me in the law of Moses and
the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then
He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ
should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you.”

That text says so well what we are all about, and it is
that text that I should like to speak about with you this
morning.

I. Words Spoken and Written
Must Be Fulfilled
There are many who are confounded that we Christians—and we Lutherans, in particular—are so bound to
words and texts. Why all this concentration upon the Word?
Our Lord tells us why words are important. He says that
every word written about Him in the Old Testament would
be fulfilled. Ultimately all that He has spoken when He was
with the disciples during His earthly ministry would also
be fulfilled. When Jesus spoke, He was not speaking idle
words. He was not filling up time. Every word meant something, and every word was to be fulfilled. The sermons, the
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