LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 459

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A LUTHERAN STANCE TOWARD ECUMENISM

A LUTHERAN STANCE
TOWARD ECUMENISM

I. The Theological Basis for Ecumenism in the
Sacred Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions

A. The Sacred Scriptures
1. Ephesians 4

The apostle Paul calls the oneness of Christians in the body of Christ
“the unity of the Spirit’ (430. thats. the unity which the Spirit creates
when through one Baptism He calls us to one faith in one Lord, This
unity is a gift of God and is bestowed with the faith which kaity Chrixthans
together in the ane body of which Christ is the only Heads ibis not “first
effected through their [Christians conduct and behavior” and the practice
of those Virtues urged by the apostle in verse 2. namely. humility. gentle-
ness. long-suffering. and patience? [tis through these virtues that the
unity which a/ready exists amung all believers is to be given expression
lest through divisions caused by pride and lovelessness their oneness be
obscured

The apostohe mandate for ecumenical endeavors among ¢ hristans
presupposes the unity of the Spirit and is found in the admonition to hold
fast “in the bond of peace’ (4:3) to the unity which the Spirit has created
Christians are te pursue peace and concord because these constitute the
bond that Keeps them from Aying apart inte all sorts of fachons which
belie their unity in the Lord By using all the gifts which the ascended
Lord bestowed upon His church, Christians are to become mature so
that they are no Jonger curred about with every wind of doctrine. but
rather that by speaking the truth in love they grow together in every was
in Christ (427-18)

Df Corinthians

In his First Epistle to the Corinthians the apostle Paul expressly
affirms the unity of the church when he addresses his readers as “called
to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2. emphasis ours). This apostolic greeting
recognizes and asserts the oneness of the Corinthian € hristians with all
who by the Holy Spirit's power say that “Jesus is Lord” tt2 ay The
whole epistle then offers a model for those who are one in Christ to follaw
in their efforts to achieve peace and concord in the church and warns
against teachings and behavior which violate their bapusmal units

The apostle calls for an end to factions caused by false loyalties to
human teachers (chapters P=4i: he rebukes disorder resulting from
immorality and loveless legal redress against a brother (chapters 5 — 6).

time also a genuine concern for the physical well-being of all members of
Christ's body everywhere. (1 Cor. | — 16)

B. The Lutheran Confessions
1. The Sphere of Ecumenical Endeavors

The proper sphere of ecumenical endeavors is the church in the
narrow sense. According to the Lutheran Confessions, the church,
strictly speaking. is the congregation of saints made up of true believers
who have the Holy Spirit (Ap VIL and VIII, 16, 20, 22). In order to allow
for the fact that “in this life hypocrites and evil men are mingled with the
church” (Ap VII and VIII, 3). the Symbols speak of “the church in the
larger sense” (Ap VII and VIII, 10) as including in its external fellow-
ship also wicked people and unbelievers.

In view of the fact that the kingdom of Christ has not yet been
revealed (Ap VII and VIII, 17) and we are not able to determine the
boundary between the church strictly speaking (stricte dicta) and broadly
speaking (large dicta) it is. of course, within the “visible” structures
and fellowship of the church as it is encountered in this world, with
which also unbelievers are mingled and externally associated. that
ecumenical endeavors are carried on. Nevertheless. since “the wicked
are part of the church only in name and not in fact” (Ap VIL and VIII.
10), they remain the object of the church's evangelistic endeavors.
Strictly speaking, the church's ecumenical endeavors involve only those
who are part of the church in fact as well as in name, that is, those who
are “the living body of Christ” (Ap VII and VEIL, 12) and “in whom
there is true knowledge and the confession of faith and truth.” (Ap VII
and VIII. 22)

2. The Goal of Ecumenical Endeavors

Since the sphere of ecumenical endeavors is properly the Una
Sancta, it is self-evident that the goal of such efforts is not to create the
unity of the church (unitas, Einigkeit der Kirche}.2 The wnitas of the
Una Sancta is given with the faith that joins all Christians to their one
Head, Christ. and to each other in the little holy Nock which is without
sect or schism (LC 11. $1). The unity of the church is the presupposition.
not the goal, of ecumenical endeavors. (AC Preface. 10)

Ecumenical endeavors are directed toward achieving unity in the
church. While wnitas is a constant characteristic of the church, concordia
is not. Instead of concord, agreement. and peace. there are dissensions
(Ap XII. 90) and religious disputes (FC SD XI. 94) which cause “divi-
sions." (FC SD Rule and Norm, 19)

It is to these divisions which obscure and seem to belie the unity
of the church that Lutheran ecumenism addresses itself in the spint of
the Augsburg Confession in order to bring about Christian concord.

3. The Necessity of Ecumenical Endeavors
The Lutheran Symbols express an earnest desire for peace and
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for the purpose of obviating disagreements he corrects misunderstandings
about marriage. about the use of food offered to idols. and about the right
of those who preach the Gospel to get their living by the Gospel (chapters
6—9): he warms against offensive practices in public worship and espe-
cially at the celebration of the Lord's Supper which result from failure
of the Corinthian Christians to recognize that they are one body (chapters
10—11); he gives instruction about the gifts of the Spirit in order to
prevent divisive rivalries over whose gift is the most important. pointing
out that all gifts are to be exercised out of love for others and for the
benefit of everyone (chapters 12-14); he sternly chides some who dis-
turbed the fellowship by saying there is no resurrection of the dead
(chapter 15): and he urges the Christians in Corinth to share in the
poverty of the suffering Christians in Judea by making sacrificial gifts
to a relief fund in order thereby to demonstrate their unity with them
(chapter 16)

From this summary of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians it
is evicent that he opposes everything that constitutes a breach of the
baptismal unity of Christians. Loveless attitudes and actions. practices
in connection with worship that do not reflect awareness of our unity in
Christ's body. the church, and false doctrine which creates dissension are
singled out for apostolic reproof and correction. Particularly doctrinal
aberrations are condemned as destructive not only of peace and good
order in the church but also of the very foundation of our hope. St. Paul
calls for a unanimity in doctrine and for an agreement in practice which
exhibit the unity created by God's Spirit through our common Baptism
into one body.

3. Letters to Timothy

While the apostle Paul's words in 1 Tim.6:3-5 may have been
directed primanily to slaves in the Christian community who attempted
to exploit their new-found relation to masters as brothers in Chnist in the
interest of improving their social and economic status. these words
nevertheless contain an admonition that applies to every aspect of our
life together in the church. Anyone who teaches anything that “does not
agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ” is “puffed up.”
and by his “morbid craving for controversy" he causes dissension and
strife. Paul's injunction to Timothy, to pastors of all generations, and to
the whole church is recorded in 2 Tim. 1:13-14: “Follow the pattern of
the sound words which you have heard from me. in the faith and love
which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you
by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.”

Here is a Biblical model for ecumenical endeavors: Holding firmly
to the unity of the Spirit. foster and promote the bond of peace (Eph. 4):
recognizing our unity with all who in every place call on the name of the
Lord. strive earnestly by mutual admonition and instruction to overcome
every obstacle to peace and concord throughout Christendom, reproving
errors as injurious to faith and spiritual life and manifesting at the same

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harmony in the church ¢AC Preface. 2-4. 13. Ap XV. 52. X XT, 89:
Preface to The Book of Concord. p.4, FC SD XID and voice their
displeasure with dissensions and controversies (AP Preface. 16: XU.
90), Dissensions are deplored ay instigated by the foe of mankind to
impede the course of the Gospel (Preface to The Book of Concord
pp. 3-4) and as the cause of offense for unbelievers and weak Christians
(FC SD Preface. 7-8) and of anguish of heart for. the faithful (Ap XH.
127-128). On that account it is urgent and necessary that every effort
be made to settle disputes and bring about reconciliation and agreement
(Preface to The Book of Concord. p. 43, FC SD Preface, 10)

4. The Scope of Ecumenical Endeavors

Lutherans seek confessional agreement among all Christians. Wis
still the earnest desire of Lutherans “to have all of us embrace snd
adhere to a single, true religion and live together in unity and in one
fellowship and church, even as we are all enlisted under one ¢ Arist”
(AC Preface. 4). Mutherans. therefore. still say to all fellow Christians
with whom we have doctrinal disagreements: “We are prepared to
discuss... in so far as this can honorably be done. such practical and
equitable ways as may restore unity. Thus the matters at issue between
us... may be discussed amicably and charitably. our differences may be
reconciled. and we may be united in one. true religion. even uy we are
all under one Christ and should confess and contend for Christ” CAC
Preface. 10). The scope of Lutheran ecumenical endeasors embraces all
of Christendom.

“Churches will not condemn each other because of a difference in
ceremonies. when in Christian liberty one uses fewer or more of them.
as long as they are otherwise agreed in doctrine and in all its articles
and are ulso agreed concerning the right use of the holy sacraments”
(FC SD X. 31). The scope of ecumenical endeavors is nothing less than
the attainment of full confessional unanimity throughout Christendom
with respect to all the articles of faith. This 1s avr to say that the Symbols
require a prescribable amount of agreement for the mere sake of agree-
ment itself. or even that they attempt by a legislative use of Scripture to
compel agreement on/y on account of the obedience that Christians owe
to the Word of God. But this is to say that for the Symbols all the articles
of faith are so integrally related (o the Guspel-in-the-narrow -sense (FC
SD V. 27) that error in any article threatens 4 correct understanding of
the Gospel tcf. Ap Hl. 44. 1¥. 3. 82. 110. XL. 77: XVL 4. XXE 14.
XXVIL, 23. 34). [tis in the interest of preserving the pure teaching of
the Gospel that Lutherans seek by the light and power of the Gospel to
reach full agreement in aif the articles of faith

§. The Program for Ecumencal Endeavors

The confessing fathers of l.utheranism sought for and acmeved an
agreement in doctrine that was no mere pretense. but one that would
“help matters fundamentally” in a strife-torn church. (FC SD XII. $)

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