LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 111

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our neighbors the way we should; we don’t confess
our Lord the way we should.
But Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with
the heart one believes and is justified, and with the
mouth one confesses and is saved.” And Peter says,
“In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, being
prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you
for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with
gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:14). And Jesus says,
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also
will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven”
(Matt. 10:32).
Now if Peter and Paul and Jesus tell us this is something we should be doing as we live out our lives as
Christians, then shouldn’t we be looking for every opportunity to confess with confidence and with joy the
hope that is in is us? But perhaps, like Moses, you don’t
think you are eloquent enough. Let me tell you a story:
When I was a pastor in Colorado Springs back in the
early ’90s, one of my members, a 17-year-old man
named Matthew, contracted leukemia. The good
news was that one of the most qualified doctors in
the nation for the treatment of leukemia practiced
in Colorado Springs. The bad news was that Matthew’s leukemia was spreading rapidly, and he was
allergic to penicillin and all penicillin-related drugs.
The doctor told Matthew there was an experimental
treatment he could try. The doctor could make no
promises, but Matthew didn’t know what else to do.
Matthew agreed, and the treatment began. I would
visit Matthew quite frequently, as he deteriorated every day. One day, Matthew had an interesting story
to tell me. The previous day, his doctor had stopped
by and said to him, “Matthew, I want to give you
something. I have given this to many others of my
patients, and they have all survived. It is a Buddhist
stone. If you hold it tightly in your hand and pray, I
believe it can help you.” What do you think Matthew
did? This doctor held Matthew’s life in his hands.
The day after the doctor had given him the Buddhist
stone, when he came to see Matthew again, Matthew
said to him, “Doctor, I appreciate everything you are
doing for me, but I need to give you this stone back.
I have my God and my Savior; I don’t need a stone.”
Matthew didn’t need a stone. He was built on the Rock.
“Built on the Rock—Confess”

You know, Matthew’s confession, although it was a
courageous one made to a person responsible for his
survival, was not a particularly eloquent confession.
When Jerome of Prague was about to be burned at
the stake for his faith, his confession was eloquent,
“This soul, I offer, Christ, in flames to thee.” Matthew’s
confession was much simpler. But it said what needed
to be said. Our confession of the faith doesn’t need to
be eloquent. What does the familiar hymn say?
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If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked
With the judgment’s dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior’s waiting arms.
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Our testimony doesn’t need to be eloquent. But there
is one thing that it must do. When I was 20 years old,
I was living in Germany attending the Lutherische
Theologische Hochschule, a school and seminary of our
partner church in Germany, the Selbständige Evangelische—Lutherische Kirche. All of the classes for the
year had ended, and all the students had gone home.
My flight home to the United States would leave the
evening of the next day, and I was packing. But I was
also a bit lonely. Nobody was on campus, and I was
bored, so I thought I would visit the American military base in town. I walked down the hill to Camp
King, showed them my passport, and they told me
where I was allowed to go. I discovered a bowling
alley and, for lack of anything better to do, decided to
bowl a few games. A young man was there watching
me bowl, and since I was bowling pretty well that
day, he continued to watch. Eventually, we struck up a
conversation, and I learned that he had just enlisted
in the military and was at his first posting. His name
was Steve, and he was Jewish. He was away from
home for the first time in his life, and he was lonely.
He discovered that I was studying to be a pastor and
thought he would take advantage of this budding
theologian in front of him to ask me some questions.
Now, I am usually ready for questions, but his first
one almost stumped me. “I have been seeing a lot of
dead birds lately. What does this mean?” I was temptFox’s Book of Martyrs, eds. John Malham and T. Pratt (Philadelphia: J. & J. L.
Gihon, 1813), p. 750
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LSB 826:2
3

U P O N T H I S R O C K Essay

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