At LCMS Installation

In his sermon at the installation service, Dr. Loren Kramer, president emeritus of the Synod's Pacific Southwest District and chairman of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations, asked those beginning their service to consider:

• "Whose church is it?" Not ours, Kramer said, but Jesus Christ's, who "not only planned it" but "paid for it" through His death on the cross.
• "Who's in charge" of the church? Not the president, vice presidents, or board and commission members -- "There can be only one head," he said, and that is "Jesus Christ."
• "Where are the headquarters of the church?" Not in St. Louis or any other earthly place, but "in heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father," Kramer said.
• "What are the orders" for us from our leader? To use the grace and gifts God gives each of us "for the common good and benefit of the whole body," Kramer said, and he encouraged those who are serving the Synod to "practice love and extend forgiveness."

Kramer urged them to "see with God's eyes" in order to "see His plan" for their service, and cautioned them not to compete with one another but to "complete each other."

"When each person does what they are gifted and called to do, the whole body is blessed and functions effectively so that God's work gets done," he said.

Kramer called service to the church "a high honor and a holy obligation," and said church positions are not about prestige but are about service. He encouraged those being installed to follow Jesus' example of servant leadership.

"Let His mind be your mind. Let His attitude be your attitude. Let His will be your will," he said.

He urged them to act not as "thermometers," simply gauging the climate of the church, but as "thermostats," helping to create "a healthy climate in which God's work gets done."