Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 17

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Lutheran Synodical Conference, 1958 17

though the world usually gives more honor to the latter. For every-
one who knows the name of Josiah Willard Gibbs, the great Ameri-
can physicist, ten thousand know the name of Thomas Alva Edison.

In the kingdom of God it was the apostles and the great think-
ers of the church who gave us our theology, our doctrines. Cer-
tainly these men were also very practical. But they won their
insights by contemplation, as in the three years during which Paul
conferred not with flesh and blood after his conversion and the
decade during which Luther wrestled with his spirit for clearer
understanding. When the disciples and those hundreds, perhaps
thousands, sat on a Galilean hillside listening to Jesus preach
the Sermon on the Mount or when the disciples, and others too,
heard those wonderful discourses given in the last weeks before
the crucifixion, as they are recorded in chapters 6 to 17 in the
Gospel according to John, do you suppose that they were at such
times concerned about the practical problems of missionary work,
perhaps wondering where and how to perform the ancient equiv-
alent of ringing doorbells to add new members to their group?

Far from it! During those blessed hours they were immersed
in the contemplation of the riches of God’s grace, forgetful of
the world and its problems; they were pondering the ultimate
questions of life, death, and eternity and beholding Christ trans-
figured before their eyes. Out of those sweet sessions of discourse
and contemplation they would emerge with the power and un-
derstanding needed to bring their message to the world. - Without
these deep experiences they might not have been able to do so.
“Why could not we cast him out?” asked the disciples who had
remained at the foot of the mountain of transfiguration. “This
kind goeth not out but by prayer and’ fasting,” answered the
Lord —- or shall we say contemplation?

Today we who cannot see Christ in person go to the Scrip-
tures for illumination or enlargement of the mind but also to the
great book of nature and of history, in which God is revealed.
Would we want to limit the hours or years spent in such study?
The attitude of a Christian will always be that of Mary, who dur-
ing the time she listened to the Lord forgot completely about such
practical affairs as making dinner, performing household duties,
and entertaining guests. It won’t do to follow Martha’s example
and become impatient with all this concentration on the study of
the wonderful works of God. And yet one does hear arguments
like this: We live in a practical world, We can’t afford to let our
students have their heads in the clouds and their noses in books.
The church has work to do. The fields are white unto harvest.
The need today is for more Bible institutes and practical semi-
naries. We must concentrate on the “how to” rather than on the
“what” and “why.” After all, did not the fathers of our church
provide us with the what and the why? All we need to do is
accept it from them. But the know-how is all-important in the
modern world.

To such arguments I should answer that no matter what the
fathers provided, it will never be our own until we acquire it
the hard way through study. The servants of the church ought
not, except in extreme cases, let the needs of the harvest field
interfere with their work in preparation. The fields were white
unto harvest 2,000 years ago. They still are today. They will be