The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Sheet 85

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

children is growing up, much to the detriment of
the nation. Ah, the sins of this city cry heaven-
ward! If we could pen all the happenings of but
one day and one night, would any newspaper dare
publish the findings? Immorality, shame, and vice
abound in such measure that the community at
large is no longer horrified at any reoccurrence of
the same. And what is human life? A murder
a day is the sad record of this crime-ridden city of
ours. Dishonesty, graft, gambling, theft, robbery,
and drunkenness fill column upon column of the
newspaper day after day. This is truly Satan’s
opportunity. And he is not idle; he is ever ready
to deal the death-blow to any and all. “Deep guile
and great might are his dread arms in fight; on
earth is not his equal.”

O Lutheran Zion, look about you and see your
opportunity. This community, where men from
every nation are gathered, where crime and iniquity
abound in such a manner that the glorious name of
our city is besmirched the world over, this com-
munity, where the hellish foe unrelentingly carries
on his pernicious activities with such horrifying suc-
cess, — this community is assigned to you, it is your
abode. You and your children are surrounded by
this ungodly generation. Their evil example is ever
before you. Grant God that you will not waver, will
not falter, will not be swept away with the vast
throngs on to eternal perdition.

But more than this. Being in the midst of this
ungodly people, do you realize the duty incumbent
upon you? By the grace of God your soul has been
spared; you delight in being Christ’s own; you
enjoy His leadership. Friend, can you stand by
idly and permit thousands upon thousands of souls
to perish, to hurry on to inevitable perdition; stand
by without even uttering a word of warning, a word
of admonition or of comfort, without extending
a warm invitation to them to come to Jesus, their
only Savior, to Him who has no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but will have all men to be
saved? Friend, why do you hesitate? The final
Day of Judgment is fast approaching. Every second
a soul is hurried to eternity. Satan has mustered
his forces for the final onslaught. Eternal Mercy!
Let not the blood of the millions perishing be found
on our hands. Heed the Master’s call and “go out
into the highways and hedges and compel them to
come in.” His Majesty’s command is imperative.
And it demands action as the field is white already
unto harvest.

Let us therefore obey the divine command and
array our forces. In so doing, we first look to our

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Leader, Christ Jesus, the Son of God and Mary’s
Son, who by His innocent suffering and ignominious
death once and for all times conquered the hellish
foe. This truly must fill the heart of every one with
courage to go out and aid in the rescue of perishing
souls. You men of God, called and ordained to be
His servants, pastors and leaders, nearly 200 strong
in this our community, together with nearly 300
teachers, called specifically to lead the lambs, we
entreat you to come forward and step into the front
line of action. You men and women, you 80,000
communicant members of our Lutheran churches of
Chicago, follow and extend the line with the 50,000
children worshiping in our midst. All being ready,
let us advance and in the strength of God go out
and rescue the perishing. Do you know that more
than 2,000,000 are awaiting you? Yes, 2,000,000
in our community are professedly without church
affiliation. The majority of these possibly never
have been approached, never have received a word
of warning, never have been reminded of their
pitiful condition and the fearful eternity awaiting
them. The Master bids you, “Go!” Can you, will
you, refuse?

I hear some one whisper: “I would go, but the
little I can do will not amount to very much.”
Friend, it is your flesh and, blood that speaks thus.
The Master’s command is supreme, and even if your
efforts should not be rewarded with success, “go,”
said He, “go out into the highways and hedges and
compel them to come in.” If you would but follow
His bidding, you would be surprised to see how
signally He is blessing your humble efforts. We
know His promise that His Word shall not return
to Him void.

To illustrate, permit me to say the following.
Did you ever stand at the edge of a quiet pond?
I know you did. And you picked up a little pebble
lying at your feet and cast it far into the quiet
water. It was just a little pebble, just a little splash,
and just a little ring that formed in the water, and
another ring, but larger, another and another,
always larger and larger, until finally the entire
pond was in motion, —all, all because of that little,
insignificant pebble. Friend, do not think and say,
“T can do but very little.” Did he, I pray, who con-
fidentially told conscience-stricken Luther where to
find the Bible realize what this seemingly insignifi-
cant information meant for Luther himself, meant
for the Church of his day, meant for you, for me,
and for the true believers of all times to come? It
was only a pebble cast into the quiet waters, but it
meant the spiritual enlightening of Luther, the