The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 18

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18

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

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The Call to Mission-Work.

Arise, arise! For Jesus Christ is risen
Alive, in glory, from grave’s gloomy prison.
Oh, open to His voice your heart and ear
And willingly His last commandment hear!
His Word is clear, is powerful and true,

Is spoken to apostles and to you. -

He says: “All power is given unto Me

In heaven and in earth; therefore go ye
And teach the Gospel to each nation.”

In Jesus Christ is man’s salvation.

Arise, arise, ye Christians! Love your Savior.
He is the Lamb of God. You know His labor.
For us, for all, His holy blood was spilled

To make atonement for all sinners’ guilt.

To ransom us His holy life He gave

As sacrifice and sank into the grave;

But God has now exalted His dear Son

From death and grave upon the highest throne.
Go ye and tell it every nation:

In Christ is reconciliation.

Arise, arise, ye Christians! Christ is calling,
To eager mission-work you all installing:
“Go ye into the world, all creatures reach,
And unto them My saving Gospel preach.
Baptize them all into the holy name

Of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; teach them
To do all things I have commanded you

And ever keep in mind My promise true:

He that believes and is baptized,

He shall be saved, immortalized.

Arise, arise, and stand the Lord confessing
To all the world. Oh, take to heart His blessing:
“Lo, I am with you alway to the end
Of this terrestrial world, and I shall send
My Spirit, filling you with strength and power.”
The Lord is with us every day and hour;
Oh, let us, then, go North, South, East, and West,
Perform our mission-work by Jesus blessed.
Let us proclaim to every nation:
In Jesus Christ is man’s salvation.
AuGuSsT WENZEL.

‘“Having Eyes, See Ye Not?’’

These words the Savior addressed to His dis-
_ Ciples upon a certain occasion when they had again
_ showed their lack of spiritual vision. What would
_ our blessed Lord say to His disciples to‘day in view
_ of the great spiritual need to be found on all sides
‘—the great missionary opportunities everywhere,
on the one hand, and the great apathy of so many
rotessing Christians, on the other hand, when they
called upon to help bring the Gospel to the un-
vangelized millions among them?
_ We often hear our country called a Christian

country; but in view of the fact that only about
fifty-five out of every hundred persons thirteen
years old and over belong to a Church, is our
country actually entitled to be called a Christian
country? During the past ten years the propor-
tion of church-members in our country has not in-
creased; in fact, the single-year statistics taken
since 1926 seem to indicate an actual falling off of
gains for the Church. At the very best, the Church
may be said to have just about maintained its rela-
tive numerical proportion.

In cities of 25,000 and over the Church has not
by any means kept pace with the growth in popula-
tion. While seven of the larger Protestant denomi-
nations were able to report that the increase of their
membership was at the rate of six for every hun-
dred of the population from 1906 to 1916, the rate
dropped to five for a hundred from 1916 to 1926.
The loss in membership in the rural churches has
been staggering during the last ten years; and while
it is true that some of the members lost to the
country churches have joined the membership of
city churches, it still remains true that the gain
in the urban membership has not kept pace with
the loss of rural churches.

Of course, the Sunday-schools have increased
their enrolment, and so have most parochial
schools, but their rate of increase has greatly slowed
down.

Why these pessimistically sounding remarks?
Are they made to discourage our readers? By no
means. We call atttention to these facts that we
may realize that we are not keeping pace with the
opportunities presented; we are not living up to
the missionary program of our Savior, even as far
as the homeland is concerned, and the reason for
this is that only the minority of us have tried to
carry out the Lord’s missionary program.

But what is the Lord’s missionary program for
us as far as our own country is concerned? Before
He ascended on high, He told His disciples: “Ye
shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and
in Judea.” This was the Home Mission program
mapped out by Jesus for the apostles. Translated
into language conforming to our case, Jesus’ Home
Mission plans for us would be that we should be
witnesses for Him in our own communities and in
our whole country. But that this is the Savior’s
Home Mission program for us is not realized by
the majority among us. But how is it possible that
those who are seemingly trying humbly to follow
their Master still lack this conviction? Is this lack