LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 95

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even among Evangelical Christians, some 57 percent
express some reservations in saying that Jesus Christ
is the only way to salvation.6
This has led some to predict the imminent collapse of
Evangelical Christianity. This breakdown, it is claimed,
will follow the pattern of deterioration established by
Mainline Protestantism and will fundamentally alter
the religious and cultural environment of the West,
including the United States. We may be experiencing
the first manifestations of that even now.7
I
Challenges, indeed!
Our gracious Lord Christ anticipated times such as
these, and He says to you and to me this morning:
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the
day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34).
But given all that we’ve heard, how is it that I cannot
be anxious? How many of us haven’t said something
like, “I fear not for myself so much, but for my children and my grandchildren.”
Personally speaking, I am anxious about many things.
I am anxious about the well-being of our institutions
of higher education—our two wonderful seminaries
and the schools of the Concordia University System. I am anxious about the future of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. I am anxious about the state
of culture in the United States and the Western world
as a whole. And I am anxious about the orthodox Lutheran Confession in this troubled and confused world.
We are surrounded by the cares and trials of this world,
and the temptation is to become so preoccupied and
overwhelmed by these that we miss the gracious provision and care that God so richly pours out upon us each
and every day: feeding us with His Word, giving us His
body and blood to eat and drink, and clothing us in the
righteousness of the Crucified and Risen One.
The Gospel of Christ quiets our troubled hearts and
calls us not to be anxious about tomorrow, for all your
U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Beliefs and Practices,” June 1,
2008, pewforum.org/2008/06/01/u-s-religious-landscape-survey-religious-beliefs-and-practices/, accessed July 7, 2016.
7
Michael Spencer, “The coming Evangelical Collapse: An anti-Christian chapter in
Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity
will rise,” Christian Science Monitor Online, March 10, 2009, csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html, accessed July 7, 2016.
6

“Upon This Rock: Repent, Confess, Rejoice”

tomorrows are already established in the unwavering
promise of Christ. This is Christ’s promise to each
and every one of us here at this convention and to
each person in the congregations, schools, missions,
and partner churches God has called us to serve.
God is using us at work in this place, blessing us as
we gather to learn, and enabling us to hand over the
faith once delivered to the saints.
So be of good cheer! For in the end, while the New
Testament challenges us to live a life worthy of the
calling to which Christ has called us, it defines that
life first of all in the person and work of Jesus Himself. He is the one who, though He was rich, became
poor. He is the one who mourns over His broken
people and who meekly went to the cross in our place
because of His hunger and thirst that we might be
declared righteous. He is merciful and pure in heart,
and by His death and resurrection makes peace with
God, so that we, who are persecuted by the devil, the
world and our own sinful flesh, might know that the
kingdom of heaven is indeed ours.
Therefore, my friends in Christ, “Do not be anxious
about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing? . . . But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, will he not much more clothe you?”
(Matt. 6: 25, 30). God has clothed you in the righteousness of Christ, and now Christ’s life shapes and
transforms your life into one of repentance, confession, and rejoicing.
“Our mission,” our Synod’s mission statement says, “is
vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word
and deed within our churches, communities and
world.” Now, as much as has always been the case,
we need to confess faithfully. This, I am convinced, is
our vocation. It is time for us to confess—and to do so
with clarity and with vigor.
II
The opportunities to rejoice by sharing the good confession have never been greater. For, even though the
church may have lost its privileged position in North
American culture, orthodox Lutheranism continues to
be a force for spiritual good as faithful Christians study
the Scriptures, as pastors preach the Word, properly
U P O N T H I S R O C K • Essay

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