LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 101

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satisfaction are part of true repentance.6
As we prepare for 2017 to celebrate that great
Reformation heritage, let us be mindful of the cost
of that heritage:
“Luther and his followers acted in the name
of the church catholic to restore the Christian
Gospel to its central place in the church’s life.
The theological insight that had to do with
the heart and core of the Christian faith—the
Gospel of God’s free forgiveness offered to humanity through Jesus Christ and received by
faith. Recognizing how the central Christian
message of “repent and believe in the Gospel”
had been obscured and neglected by the church
of his time, Luther sought to restore the Gospel
to its central place in the life of the church. He
and his followers carried out their reform of the
church in the name of the Gospel.”7
This is the reason we gather in convention, that we
acknowledge and confess the brokenness and separation of our humanity from our Creator, and our only
way of returning is that our Creator must come for
us. We cannot return on our own volition. It is only
the Gospel that provides the bridge of reconciliation
and restoration.
The first promise of the Gospel to our parents in Eden:
the “protevangelium” that the Christ would be lifted
up and defeat Satan on the cross—His heel would be
bruised, but He would also bruise the head of evil and
sin that the devil brought in the world through Adam.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man
be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have
eternal life. For God so loved the world, the He gave
His only Son, that whoever believes in him may have
eternal life” (John 3:14–16).
And when the Son is lifted up! “And I, when I am lifted
up from the earth, will draw all people to myself ”
(John 12:32).
Introduction to AC XII in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, 2nd ed.; ed. Paul
McCain, et al. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), p. 37.
7
Accents in Luther’s Theology, Essays in Commemoration of the 450th Anniversary
of the Reformation (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1967), p. 20.
6

“Upon This Rock: Repent”

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a notable novel by
Charles Dickens. His famous opening sentence introduces the universal theme of the book, based on the
French Revolution, and the drama depicted within:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age
of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was
the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of
Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we
had everything before us, we had nothing before
us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were
all going direct the other way [hell].
The worst of times: evil is real; the wickedness of
humanity is still great in the earth, and every intention
of the thoughts of humanity’s heart is continually evil—
original and actual sin (Gen. 6:5). Therefore, things
have been falling apart in a fallen world among fallen
people, in the world and in the church, life turned upside-down, things crumbling to dust, life and relationships redefined. Hurting people hurt people, broken
people break people, fear and anxiety remain on the
rise, and the church and its attendance slowly decline.
The best of times: the Gospel is the still the power of
God. And we proclaim with the great apostle, “For I am
not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The
righteous shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16–17).
In this twenty-first-century drama of sinful humanity,
and in the church’s witness, mercy, and life together,
we have this glorious opportunity to proclaim boldly
with our Savior: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel”
(Mark 1:14–15). We are precisely in the Kingdom at
such of time as this.
Desmond Tutu’s An African Prayer Book:
V I C TO RY I S O U R S

Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;

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