LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 118

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118

OTHER PRESENTATIONS

We must not fear the suffering. We know in the Word of
God that God’s Zion stands in the midst of God’s enemies.
The twentieth century, which was supposed in the West to
be the peak of the enlightened human development without the living God, witnessed such atrocities that go beyond
all measure and understanding. In that century alone, the
number of Christian martyrs exceeded the complete number of all Christians martyrs of the preceding centuries and
millennia. Today, when Nazism and Communism have
been buried, the true biblical Christian faith faces the open
hostility of fanatical sabre rattling religiousness in various
parts of the world. Our sole respond is the divine love, bold
testimony, and readiness to suffer. But we should not close
our eyes either from the fact that true biblical Christianity
faces mounting hostility from Western secularism strongly
occupying the media and coming up with its so-called politically correct agendas. Western Liberalism has shown
how intolerant it can be in dealing with those who cling,
like Doctor Martin Luther, to the truth of the Bible. In
Scandinavia and Germany, ordination is being denied from
those who believe and act in accordance with the Word of
God and the Lutheran Confessions. The biblical voice of the
church concerning various contemporary issues, such as
abortion, marriage, euthanasia, and homosexuality, is
hardly being tolerated in the media any more. Front pages
and prime time radio and television coverage is given to
people with ideas that seek to dethrone the Word of God as
the fundament of the church and the norm of the one true
faith. We must never forget that the banners of the church
of Cain, of which Luther speaks a lot in his commentary on
Genesis before the end of his life, the banners of the church
of Cain are arrayed in the midst of the enemies of Zion because they oppose the scepter of the Messiah, the Word of
God. Are we ready, as the Bible says in the Book of Revelation, to follow the Lamb of God wherever He walks? Are we
ready to be numbered among those who fearlessly walked
into the great tribulation and came out of it the robes
washed white in the blood of the Lamb? Are we ready to acknowledge and follow the biblical truth at whatever cost?
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya has been
grateful to explore the treasures of true Lutheranism in the
plains of the American Midwest, in The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod. We have been happy and privileged to find
the troops of Christ, as portrayed in Psalm 110, arrayed
over here under His banner and according to the true faith,

2004 Convention Proceedings

the pure doctrine. This is the reason, this alone, that we
have approached you and extended out our hand to you asking for cooperation and fellowship. Our church is still materially poor. Previously, we have been promised material help
by others if we only compromised the biblical truth and the
pure Lutheran doctrine. We have rejected this kind of inroads and preferred poverty because we have not been ready
to throw away our spiritual treasures in the Bible and in
the Lutheran Confessions. As we are now coming closer to
you and as we are seriously considering pulpit and altar fellowship, we do this in the sincere hope that genuine biblical Lutheranism will also prevail in the plains of American
Midwest, namely in your church as well as in the densely
populated cities and towns, in the green hills, towering
mountains and open savannahs of East Africa.
Indeed, the gate of the Word of God is wide open in
Africa. New areas open up for the Gospel, new frontiers
move under the banner of the Lamb, totally new people are
ready to suffer and even die for the sake of Christ and His
Gospel. I understand that the sabre rattling we hear from
the fanatic corners of Islam is due to the fact that the
Gospel is pressing forward and finding souls in growing
numbers who welcome the Gospel with relief and joy.
Therefore, it is time to invest more in the missions in the
African continent.
Finally, often times development and progress is set in
the society and church as opposite to the doctrine and confession. The numerous false prophets in the Old Testament
came up with their contemporary agendas and disappeared
as never to be heard about again. It was only the way of the
few true prophets of Israel, the way of repentance and the
faith of the covenant, that did lead forward. Today again,
there is only one road that will lead to the future, namely to
follow Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, wherever He walks.
As Dr. Luther says in the Smalcald Articles, the true
church is the gathering of those sheep who listen to the
voice of their Good Shepherd. Today we stand between the
historic Reformation of the sixteenth century A.D. and the
final reformation of the church in the second coming of
Christ. Our calling and task is still unfinished. May God be
merciful and help us to be steadfast in love and faith to face
that final day of reformation with faithfulness until death,
in bold true faith and with abundant good works of love!
Walter Obare Omwanza, Presiding Bishop, ELCK