35: "…congregations which use the freedom they have to reject our proposals… they certainly deprive themselves of a blessing"
36: "In this way (giving up their freedom), many congregations would take on the form of Lutheran congregations without possessing their essence, our synod would perhaps become a large, well-organized machine" [Missing in most publications]
36: "…blessed struggle for the true jewel of the Church, for the purity and unity of doctrine"
36: "…there is every reason to fear the pernicious consequences of a restriction of the freedom of the congregations"
In a republic, such as the United States of America is, where the sense of liberty and independence is so strongly nourished in men from their youth, it could not but happen, that a restriction of it, however well meant, beyond the bounds which God himself has given, [the following green shaded section missing in Koeneke-CHIQ-CTM-Moving Frontiers-Harrison-At Home…, but NOT Baseley] would excite in many a resistance even to such regulations as would have been accepted if they had been allowed freedom to accept or reject them. <page 36> But if all congregations were to submit to the orders of the Synod, even in things neither commanded nor forbidden by God [i.e. adiaphora], because they had once committed themselves to them, but perhaps many with inner reluctance and resentment — what would be gained? In this way, many congregations would take on the form of Lutheran congregations without possessing their essence; our synod would perhaps become a large, well-organized machine, but not a living organism; the more we succeeded in building the outer structure, the more the inner life would dwindle; we would cultivate rotten trees at the root, plants which the Father has not planted and which should therefore be exhausted; we would perhaps often think we had accomplished great things, while <CTM 436> our works would be empty shells before God's eyes, and our apparent growth would often be nothing but a congealing and dying away in great masses of lifeless forms. [Walther is clearly referring to the German State Church]
The 4 published translations cross-referenced in this polished machine translation:
CTM=Concordia Theological Monthly; MH=M. Harrison, At Home — JB=Joel Baseley — MF=Moving Frontiers:
<page 30><CTM 430> <JB 243> <MH 1> <MF 170>
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Synod Address.
[1848 Missouri Synod, Walther: ”Relationship of Congregations to Synod”]
In the name of the holy, highly praised, Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Venerable brothers in ministry and faith, beloved in Christ!
So for us, as members and servants of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in this country, days of great joy, days of refreshment and strengthening have once again come in these last sorrowful times. God has given us grace that we, who know and have known ourselves to be united in one faith, but have not yet known each other face to face and have had to work and fight alone, mostly at a great distance from each other, have been able to gather here to publicly testify to our unity in spirit and to strengthen ourselves in confessing our most holy faith together and to build upon it, to take the burden of the individual upon ourselves together and to present it to God in united prayer. While at present our brothers in faith in most other countries, especially in the old <MH 2> fatherland, see themselves relegated almost exclusively to solitary sighing in the closet under the turmoil and confusion of a violent dissolution of all existing relationships in state [in 1848] and church, we, on the other hand, have been able to calmly gather here to refresh our spirits in each other under the shadow of undisturbed peace. Thanks, humble thanks be to Him who is so kind and whose goodness is eternal.
However, we are not here for ourselves alone; to a large extent, as servants and members of the Church, we have come here in the name and on behalf of our congregations to consult, in the fear of the Lord, about what is needed by them and the Church in general. <JB 244> We therefore have a great responsibility for our presence here, for the confessions we make here and for the decisions we take here. Many eyes are on us here; some look at our proceedings with apprehension, others with hope. In general, however, the demand is made of our meeting — and, we must confess, with perfect justification — that it will not only be of benefit to us personally, but will also bring blessing to our congregations and to the whole Church. — <page 31>
That <CTM 431> all of you, my dear brothers in Christ, have come here with the heartfelt request to God for such a fruit of our work here and with the holy resolution, as members of this body, to keep such a fruit firmly in mind as the goal of your activity, I do not doubt for a moment. But perhaps we are all moved, some more, some less, by the thought that our deliberations could easily remain fruitless; I mean the thought that, according to the constitution under which our synodical association exists, we have only the power to advise, that we possess only the power of the Word and of persuasion. According to our constitution, we have no right to draw up decrees, to <MF 171> pass laws and ordinances, or to make a judgment in any matter which imposes something on the congregations, to which they must submit unconditionally. Our constitution in no way makes us a kind of consistory, in no way the supreme court of our congregations. Rather, it leaves them the most complete freedom in everything, with the exception of the Word of God, faith and love. According to our constitution, we are not above our congregations, but we are in them and at their side. How, then, should we not be almost entirely deprived of the possibility of exercising a pervasive salutary influence on our congregations? Should we not, by adopting a constitution such as ours, have made ourselves a mere shadow of a synod? Should we not, under circumstances such as we have entered into, weary ourselves with labors that can easily be lost altogether, since no one is compelled to submit to our decisions?
To this I am sure you will all answer decisively with me: No! You need no one for this, least of all my evidence. I hope, however, that you will be happy to lend me your ear now when, at the opening of this year's meetings, I try to direct your thoughts for a few moments to the subject under discussion. There is certainly no one among us who recognizes <MH 3> more vividly than I do how utterly incapable I am of teaching in this venerable assembly, in the midst of teachers: It is not only incumbent upon me, as the least among you, to take the floor, but I also hope, by a few hints which, according to the extent of my knowledge and the extremely cursory preparation I have been allowed, I can at least give you an impulse to reflect further on this important subject.
The question which I now intend to answer is this:
Why should and can we do our work with joy, although we have no power but the power of the Word?
The first and most important reason for this is: because Christ has given His servants only this and no other authority, and even the holy apostles did not appropriate any other authority to themselves and therefore seriously warned the servants of the Church against claiming any other authority.
First of all, Christ clearly declares that his Church does not have the nature of a secular state. In answer to Pilate's question as to whether he was king of the Jews, he uttered, among other things, the great and important words: "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews <page 32>; but now my kingdom is not of this world." [John 18:36] But what the true, the actual character of His kingdom or His church consists of, he indicates by adding: "I was born for this purpose and came into the world to bear witness <CTM 432> to the truth. He who is of the truth hears my voice." [John 18:37] It also belongs here that Christ elsewhere calls his kingdom a kingdom of heaven and that the holy apostles call it the house and the kingdom of heaven. Apostles call it the house and city of God, the Jerusalem which is above, the free woman, the church of the firstborn who are written in heaven, and the like. Christ's kingdom and church is therefore a kingdom of truth, a spiritual, heavenly kingdom, a kingdom of God in which only free citizens of the kingdom of heaven, members of God's household, prophets, priests and kings dwell.
But who is the one who has authority in this kingdom? — It is Jesus Christ alone. He declares Himself to be so. He says: "I am a king." "I am the good shepherd." [John 10:11, 14] "One is your Master: Christ." [Matt. 23:8] The apostle calls him "the Head of the church over all things, which is His body, <MF 172> that is, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." [Ephesians 1:22—23] But how Christ exercises authority in his church, even though He has withdrawn His visible presence from it and seated Himself at the right hand of the Majesty on high, we see from the last declaration with which He once departed from His disciples, which reads: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Matt. 28:18-20] <MH 4> So it is His Word, <JB 245> accompanied and sealed with the Holy Sacraments, by which Christ exercises authority in His Church. This is the "straight scepter" with which he rules his people, the "rod and staff" with which he feeds his flock.
But Christ not only declares himself to be the one who has and alone has authority in his church and exercises it through his word, but he also expressly and completely denies all others any other authority, any other rule, any other power of command in his church. He not only says, as already mentioned: "One is your Master, Christ" [Matt. 23:8], but he also adds: "But you are all brothers, that is, in my church you are all equal to one another, all subject to me and none lord or commander of another. In another passage he says to the disciples: "You know that worldly rulers lord it over them, and overlords have authority. Let it not be so among you; but if any man will be mighty among you, let him be your servant [or minister; Diener]. And whoever wishes to be chief, let him be your servant [Knecht]." [Mark 10:42-43]
What Christ hereby denied the apostles, they never presumed to do. They demanded no submission except to Jesus Christ, namely to His Word. They said: "We do not deal shrewdly, nor do we falsify God's Word, but reveal the truth. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ, that He is Lord, and we your servants for Jesus' sake." [2 Cor. 4:2, 5]. Therefore, when St. Paul at the end of the 1st chapter of his 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians. When, at the end of the first chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul used the expression that he had not come to Corinth personally because he wanted to "spare" the Corinthians [2 Cor. 1:23], it might have seemed to some that the apostle was thereby making himself a lord who had the power to demand and to abate, to punish and to spare, as he pleased; but in order not to let this appearance rest on him, he <page 33> immediately adds: "Not that we are lords over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy." Furthermore, when the same apostle had urgently exhorted this church at Corinth to pay a tax for the poor, he added: "I do not say that I command anything; but because others are so diligent, I also test your love to see whether it is of the right kind." The apostle had already testified to the Corinthians when <CTM 433> they paid more attention to the persons than to the word preached by them: Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? They are servants through whom you have believed. Therefore let no man boast. It is all yours.
Be it Paul or Apollos, be it Cephas or the world, be it life or death, be it the present or the future: all things are yours. But you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." [1 Corinthians 3:5, 21-23] Even when electing and appointing officials for the physical needs of the congregations, the apostles therefore did not claim the right to carry them out alone. When the almoners were to be chosen in Jerusalem, the apostles addressed the congregation thus: "Brethren, look among you for seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may <MF 173> appoint for this need. But we <MH 5> will persevere in prayer and in the ministry of the Word." [Acts 6:3-4] Then it says: "And the saying pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephan and so on. These they set before the apostles." [Acts 6:5-6] Furthermore, according to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 21, when Paul had gained a reputation in the church at Jerusalem as an enemy of the Mosaic Law, and when he finally came to Jerusalem itself on his journey, James and the elders did not want to take the decision of the matter upon themselves alone, nor force the church to be satisfied with their judgment, but immediately there was a voice among the whole church council: "What is it then? In all things the multitude must come together, for it will come before them that you have come." Furthermore, according to Acts 15, when a dispute arose among the Christians in Antioch as to whether Gentile converts should be circumcised, and Paul and Barnabas could not pacify the divided crowd, the church chose the latter and others to send as their deputies to Jerusalem, so that a council might be held here, where there was not only Peter and James, but also the greatest number of converted and respected Jews. What happened? The apostles and elders gather to consider this speech, but even they do not dare to exclude the congregation from it; all come together; there is speech and contradiction from various sides; finally Peter and James stand up and put the matter in the right light. Thereupon a joint decision was taken and recorded in a synodical letter, in which it says: "We, the apostles and elders and brethren — it has pleased us well to be unanimously assembled." We can see from this how far removed the holy apostles were from allowing themselves any dominion over the churches. Even in the most important church assemblies they allowed the so-called laity no less right, no less seat and decisive vote than themselves.
For this reason, they also warned all those who administer an office in the church faithfully and earnestly against any desire to rule. Among other things, Peter writes: "To the elders who are among you I exhort, as one of the elders: Feed the flock of Christ as you are commanded, watching carefully, not under compulsion but willingly; not for shameful gain, but <page 34> from the heart; not as lording it over the people, but becoming examples to the flock23, 25." [1 Peter 5:1-3] In the same way, Paul admonishes his Timothy: "Do not rebuke an old man, but admonish him as a father; tongues as brothers; old wives as mothers, young as sisters, with all chastity." [1 Tim. 5:1-2] The holy apostles concede only one power to those who are to govern the church, <CTM 434> namely the power of the Word; thus the same apostles write; first St. Peter: "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the Word of God — so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus <JB 246> Christ" [1 Peter 4:11]; then St. Paul writes to his Timothy: "Preach the Word, hold fast, whether in season or out of season." [2 Tim. 4:2]
It is therefore beyond doubt, venerable brethren in the ministry and esteemed congregational delegates! that we do not renounce any of our rights when, as servants of the Church and as members of an ecclesiastical synod, we lay claim to no other authority than the authority of the Word, for in the Church, where Christ alone reigns, there should and can be no other authority <MH 6> to which all must submit. It is true that there are things about which God's Word does not determine anything and which must nevertheless be ordered in the Church; but all such things are not to be ordered by any authority above the Church, but the Church (i.e. teachers and listeners) orders them itself, free from all compulsion, as it deems necessary and salutary.
So what do those do who claim any authority in the Church apart from that of the Word? They deprive Christ's Church of the freedom which he has so dearly earned for it with his <MF 174> blood of God, and degrade this free Jerusalem above, in which there are kings, priests and prophets, this kingdom of God, this heavenly kingdom of truth, to a police institution in which one must be subject to every human order. They stand by Christ, the one true King, after his royal crown, and make themselves kings over his kingdom; they cast Christ, the one true Master, from his chair of doctrine, and set themselves up as masters in His church; they seek to separate Christ, the one true Head, from His Church, and authorize themselves to be heads of His spiritual body. They exalt themselves above the holy apostles and arrogate to themselves a power that is denied to them in God's Word, indeed that is not granted by God to any man, any creature, even to any angel or archangel.
Can it therefore be depressing to us, my brethren, that not only are we entrusted with no other authority in our American preaching offices than the authority of the Word, but also that no other authority has been conferred on our assembly in particular? O truly, no! This must awaken us to carry out our ministry in this country and our present work with great joy; for in this way the Church also maintains its true character among us, that of a kingdom of heaven; in this way Christ remains among us what He is, namely the one Lord, the one King, the one Head, the one Master; and our ministry and work retain their true apostolic form. How could we desire a power which Christ denied us and which no apostle has appropriated and exercised, and which would rob our congregations of the character of the true church and the right apostolic form! —
But it cannot be denied that the congregations have the freedom to relinquish their liberties and rights in some things, to be represented <page 35> and therefore to establish a church government through representatives, to whom they devolve their rights; as was and is the case in our German fatherland, among others.
But as undeniably as our congregations had the freedom, following this example, to clothe our synod, which meets in their name, with a power other than that of the Word, it is another question whether it would have been wise for them to have done so. And I think not, <CTM 435> because in our present circumstances we can confidently hope for the joyful prosperity of our work, or rather of the work of God that we are doing, by using the power of the Word alone. And this is the second reason why we should and can do our work here with joy, even though we have no power but the power of the Word.
It may be that there are times and circumstances in which it is profitable for the Church to place the supreme decision-making and organizing power in the hands of individuals, in the hands of representatives. Who would deny, for example, that the consistories in our German fatherland have been an unspeakable blessing to the Church in its time, especially when the prophecy of Isaiah was also fulfilled in the German Lutheran Church: "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers"? (Isaiah 49:23) Furthermore, who, with only a little knowledge of history, could deny <MH 7> that the Swedish Church has also built itself up magnificently under its episcopal [bischöfliche] constitution, especially as long as men such as Laurentius Petri, the famous Swedish Bible translator and pupil of Luther, wore the episcopal dignity, and as long as men such as the two Gustave wore Sweden's royal crown? But if we take a look at the situation in which the church finds itself here [in America], we can hardly recognize any other constitution as the most salutary than that in which the congregations freely govern themselves, but enter into a synodical union for mutual fraternal consultation, supervision and assistance and for the united expansion of the kingdom of God and the facilitation and promotion of the purposes of the church in general, as it exists among us with God's help.
It is true that if our congregations had given us full power to decide and order in their name, it would seem that it would then have been easy for us to give all the congregations of our district the form of <MF 175> genuine Lutheran congregations in a short time, whereas with our existing constitution all our hands are tied. But it only seems that way. ¶ There may, after all, be congregations which use the freedom they have to reject our proposals, even if they are salutary; in doing so, they certainly deprive themselves of a blessing; but what would be the consequence if such congregations, <JB 247> by joining our association, had made themselves bound to comply with all our orders? The exercise of our authority would lay the foundation for their constant displeasure, for ever-renewed fear of hierarchical tendencies, and thus for endless friction. In a republic, such as the United States of America is, where the sense of liberty and independence is so strongly nourished in men from their youth, it could not but happen, that a restriction of it, however well meant, beyond the bounds which God himself has given, [the following green shaded section missing in Koeneke-CHIQ-CTM-Moving Frontiers-Harrison-At Home…, but NOT Baseley] would excite in many a resistance even to such regulations as would have been accepted if they had been allowed freedom to accept or reject them. <page 36> But if all congregations were to submit to the orders of the Synod, even in things neither commanded nor forbidden by God [i.e. adiaphora], because they had once committed themselves to them, but perhaps many with inner reluctance and resentment — what would be gained? In this way, many congregations would take on the form of Lutheran congregations without possessing their essence; our synod would perhaps become a large, well-organized machine, but not a living organism; the more we succeeded in building the outer structure, the more the inner life would dwindle; we would cultivate rotten trees at the root, plants which the Father has not planted and which should therefore be exhausted; we would perhaps often think we had accomplished great things, while <CTM 436> our works would be empty shells before God's eyes, and our apparent growth would often be nothing but a congealing and dying away in great masses of lifeless forms. [Walther is clearly referring to the German State Church] Our main struggle would soon be about the execution of external human ordnances [cp. Harrison’s fixation on liturgies, orders] and institutions, and this would swallow up the real, blessed struggle for the true jewel of the Church, for the purity and unity of doctrine. In a word, we would lose sight of our beautiful goal of building the true Church, which is not an external scaffolding, but a kingdom of God in the hearts of men, and in the best case would bring about our own early dissolution. There are certainly religious fellowships in this Free State, which, with a strictly representative [i.e. no laity allowed] constitution, build themselves without contradiction and flourish in their own way, — but why? — Because the congregations are not allowed to realize their freedom <MH 8> and bind their consciences to their constitution through false doctrines. In our Evangelical Lutheran Church, however, where we must preach to our congregations that the choice of the constitution of the church is an inalienable part of their Christian freedom and that Christians, as members of the church, are subject to no authority in the world except the clear Word of the living God, there is every reason to fear the pernicious consequences of a restriction of the freedom of the congregations, especially in a free state such as ours.
But we have good reason to hope for quite different consequences if we desire nothing more from our congregations than submission to the Word, to which we also submit, if we therefore leave them to govern themselves and only stand by them in an advisory capacity. We must not fear that in this way the worldly elements of a political democracy will penetrate the Church, that a servile rule of the people, a pope of the people, will arise and that we, who are to be servants of Christ, will thereby become servants of men. How can this be an ungodly rule of the people, where the people use their God-given rights? How can this be a pope of the people if the priestly people of Christians do not allow any man to make laws for them in the things that God has left free and only want to obey the preacher of the Word unconditionally when Christ himself speaks through him, namely when he preaches his Word? No, a disgraceful rule of the people only takes place where the people presume to dictate to the preacher what he may or may not preach from God's Word; where they presume to contradict the Word of God and to hinder the conduct of the ministry according to it in any way; or where the people claim the power to make ordinances in the church as a privilege for themselves alone, exclude the preacher from this power, and demand <Page 37> submission from him to the ordinances made. A servant of man is therefore only the preacher who, out of fear of man or pleasing man, does not serve <MF 176> Christ faithfully, deviates from God's Word in doctrine or practice, and preaches after which his listeners' ears prick up. But precisely where the preacher is given only the power of the Word, but the full power of the same, where the congregation, as often as it hears Christ's Word from the preacher's mouth, accepts it as God's Word, there the preacher stands in the right relationship to his congregation; he stands in it not as a hired servant, but as a messenger of God the Most High; not as a servant of men, but as a servant of Christ, who teaches, admonishes and punishes in Christ's stead. This is precisely where the apostolic exhortation is rightly followed: "Obey your teachers and follow them, for they watch over your souls as those who are to give account for it; so that they <CTM 437> may do this with joy and not with groaning, for that is not good for you." [Hebrews 13:17] But the more a church sees that he who presides over it in the Lord desires nothing but that the Church be subject to Christ and His Word; the more it sees that he does not desire to dominate it, indeed that he watches with a jealous eye over the freedom of the church itself, the more willing it will become to listen to his salutary suggestions even in the things that God has set free; she will follow him <MH 9> in this, not as a disciplinarian because she must, but as her father in Christ, because she joyfully wills it for her own good. <JB 248>
But our synod body also has the same prospect of a salutary influence if it seeks to work through nothing but the power of the Word. Of course, battles await us there too, but they will not be those petty, knock-down battles for obedience to human laws, but those holy battles for God's Word, i.e. for God's glory and kingdom. And the more the churches realize that we desire to exercise no other power over them than the divine power of the Word, which saves all who believe in it, the more open the door will be to our counsel. Those who do not like the Word will indeed separate themselves from us, but those who love it will find our fellowship a comforting refuge; and if they accept our decisions, they will not bear them as an alien burden imposed on them from outside, but will regard them as a good deed and a gift of brotherly love, and will represent, defend and preserve them as their own property.
So even if we have no power other than that of the Word, we can and should carry out our work with joy. Therefore, dear esteemed sirs and brothers, let us exercise this power in the right way. Above all and in all things, let us remember that the pure doctrine of our dear Evangelical-Lutheran Church may be ever more fully recognized among us, may be in vogue in all our congregations, and may be preserved from all falsification and held fast as the most precious jewel; what the Word demands, let us not forgive one iota of it; let us bring it to full dominion in our congregations and let us not let up on it, even as God wills; here let us be unbending, here let us be ironclad; if we do this, then we can be unconcerned about the success of our work; whether it should seem to be in vain, it cannot then be in vain, for the Word does not return empty, but accomplishes what the Lord sent it to do. By the Word alone, without any other power, the Church was once founded; <page 38> by the Word alone it has been preserved until this hour, despite all the raging and raving of Satan and the world; by the Word alone all the great deeds which the history of the Church records have been accomplished; by the Word alone the Church will also, but certainly, remain standing even in this last afflicted time, until the end of days. Even the gates of hell will not prevail <MF 177> against it. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever." Amen. [1 Peter 1:25]
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