Address at the

Cornerstone Laying at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

June 30, 1864

Merciful God, faithful Father! We thank you for all our unspeakable benefits, but especially because you have given your dear Son, Jesus Christ, to us lost sinners unto salvation and redemption. We thank you for your blessed Gospel in which you give us your Son with everything which he has earned for us, which is: forgiveness of sins, justification, life and salvation! We praise you that in spite of our great unfaithfulness, in gratitude and indifference you have preserved this your Word of life among us, through it also have gathered a small number of believers who even if in much weakness do, however, call upon your name from their hearts, comfort themselves with your grace, contend for your glory, work in your vineyard, and await the revelation of your glory! We beseech you, gracious God, through your gracious Holy Spirit, that we, however, may regard this your Word as our most precious treasure so that we may build upon it with firm trust and confidence, with heartfelt joy rejoice in it and delight in your law! Yes, grant that we may fight courageously to the last hour of our lives for your precious Word of truth and that we gladly may give willingly and generously of our temporal goods for its preservation and spread! And thus when our departure from this vail of tears is at hand, then fulfill your promise upon us who hope in you and let us find an eternal rest and be revealed with your elect in contemplation of your blessedness. Hear us, O loving Father for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son!

"Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.'" 1 Peter 2:6.

THE TRUE CORNERSTONE

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ!

The fact that you have gathered here today in such large numbers for this celebration, and your sending of delegates to us from afar, surely shows our entire synod's backing of it. The work for which we have come together here is of course of great importance not merely for one congregation, not merely for the moment, but for our entire synod in the time to come. And truly our hearts must be filled with inexpressible joy, with heartfelt thanks and praise when we consider what grace our dear God has demonstrated to us, that we, a little group of Norwegian Lutherans in the midst of this land of sects, and at a time when the war2 troubles the hearts of so many people and demands such great sacrifice, dare to make up our minds to do so, and so far have already provided the means for beginning the construction of so large a building for use as a Christian college where the flower of our synod, its Christian youth, in the course of time, under God's protection, shall be trained and be made capable of being "pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," (Ep. 4:11.12), and thereby God's Word and its pure doctrine be preserved for the present and coming generations. Because even if our willingness and joy have been very meager in comparison with the Jewish people's, yet we must, however, exclaim as David did when he and the people had given so generously gifts for the temple which his son was to build, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you." And again, "O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own," 1 Ch. 29:14.16.  

But brethren, do we dare hope that this large undertaking which we have begun in great weakness and also to the surprise of many people, shall also be completed, that these walls which have begun to rise shall also be finished, these rooms filled by a teachable, pious youth and this school in the course of time send out armies of faithful witnesses to the truth? Yes, God be praised, we certainly do dare hope for it and cheerfully we put our confidence in it as truly as we lay the proper cornerstone and always build upon it! I mean the Cornerstone of which Peter speaks in the holy words I read to you just now. It was surely of it that the Lord already says through the prophet Isaiah in his 28^th chapter, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation" (vs. 16).

This tried, precious Cornerstone is of course no one other than our dear Lord Jesus Christ, God's and Mary's Son. Since through the devil's cunning and seduction man had fallen away from God through sin, become totally depraved and subject to death and eternal condemnation, he then, God's Son according to his Father's merciful counsel from eternity took our nature upon himself, was made to be sin for us, suffered our punishment, yes, became a curse in our stead and in that way atoned for the Father's cruel wrath and reconciled the world unto God. And through just this his perfect work of redemption he became the Cornerstone in the spiritual building, the new Zion, the Christian Church, which of his inexpressible grace the Lord wanted to raise up out of fallen mankind. Therefore also all the Scriptures testify of Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone, the Rock of our salvation. And for that reason God lets the Gospel of his kingdom be preached so that through it we should as living stones be built up unto a spiritual house on this precious, tried Cornerstone against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.

And every poor sinner who has learned thoroughly that all the imaginations of his heart are evil from youth on, and all his own deeds and failures to act are sinful and damnable and he himself is under God's wrath and curse, and who therefore listens to God's friendly words of comfort in the Gospel and lets God's Word through the power dwelling in it convince him and work faith in his heart and the comfort that God is no longer angry but that he thus places his heart's hope and comfort alone in Jesus Christ and the reconciliation which took place in him -- he, you see, is such a living stone in the building, the Zion of which Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, when we made the decision to build this building whose cornerstone we lay today, and when we gave and gathered the means for the carrying out of the work, then it was of course all only a fruit of the faith through which we ourselves, as many of us as believe, are living stones, built upon and fitly joined together on the true proven and firmly grounded Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. We certainly would not have gotten it into our heads to carry out such a work nor been willing to go to such sacrifice and pains if this faith had not been found among us! But since God kindled faith in our hearts and let us taste the sweetness of his Gospel and through it made us rich in all kinds of spiritual treasures which are much more precious than gold, yes, pure gold, when he comforted our thirsty, starving souls with the forgiveness of sins and heavenly peace, and made us miserable, forsaken sinners fearlessly to defy sin, death and the devil -- you see, then his Word and pure doctrine became for us the pearl of great price which we will not exchange for all the riches and glory of the world. Then it also became our chief and constant concern to see how this Word which had become life and salvation for us could also be preserved pure and unadulterated among us and the generations which are coming after us. Then it also became our hope that they also could get to drink of the same fountain of life, be fed with the same heavenly manna and be strengthened to hold their ground against all the devil's attacks. When through faith we became living stones built up to be a spiritual house on the immovable Cornerstone, Christ, then we became willing and anxious to bring forth temporal as well as spiritual sacrifices which are well-pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, brethren, when we have gathered today in order to lay this cornerstone here in this building then we do not do it as though we place our confidence in it, as beautiful and solid as it is, or that the successful completion and safekeeping of this building should be to our credit, and even less, the blessing of the work which shall be carried on in these halls. No, when we hope for a successful progress for this building and for rich blessing from the work in it, we will not place our comfort in the fragile stone nor in the deceitful heart of man, in its zeal, strength, cleverness and wisdom, nor upon earthly riches. But in him do we place our confidence, in the one thing as in the other, who "upholds all things by the word of his power" (He. 1:3) and who has loved us unto death and has come to save us. This cornerstone which we lay here, you see, is to be a symbol and reminder of the fact that we and our church body are founded upon the chief Cornerstone which the Lord has laid in Zion, Jesus Christ, and that in faith in him as the true Cornerstone we will build this house and do the Lord's work in it.

We surely do not want to give the young men who shall be admitted to this school a worldly training, a mass of knowledge with which, serving the spirit of this world they could gain power, honor and riches in this world and perhaps cast a condescending glance on our Norwegian name. Nor do we want to bring up our youths to practice an outward Christianity, train them in pious manners and teach them, inspired by their great wit and deeds, to comfort themselves with their outward righteousness and piety! No, we do not want this building for such a purpose. Then we would have built it on sand and because then in unbelief we are ashamed of the true foundation and Cornerstone, it would be a stumbling stone to us. Then, even if we could succeed in erecting this building, the Stone which we rejected would fall on us, crush us and destroy our work.

No, brethren, primarily, we will teach the youth here rightly to know Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. We will teach them to love him as their soul's Bridegroom and Friend, to build on him and to entrust themselves to him as their solid Rock and Fortress, who when the world fails, shall stand immovable with that which is built upon him. We want to teach them to continue in his Word and to regard one word of God worth more than heaven and earth. We want to teach them along with this saving doctrine, also other useful knowledge which we can give them here, to honor and to thank our dear God and to serve the brethren whom he has redeemed with his holy blood. We want to teach them to give themselves with body and soul, talents and powers, goods and gifts, yes, to offer their entire life as a thank offering to the Lord who out of love for us has offered his life to be the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. Therefore with Christian discipline, admonition and prayer we will also seek to mortify and subdue the flesh, its pride and many kinds of wickedness wherever it might emerge in these young men. In this way, dear friends, we want to build on the chief Cornerstone which is laid in Zion who was chosen by the Father himself and is very precious in his eyes.

But now, if the work in this college above all is to be this: to teach the students to know the Lord in his Word and to be immovable in it in spite of all the objections of reason, the changing opinions of the spirit of the times and the devil's poisonous errors, and in this way to build upon the Cornerstone which the Lord has laid in Zion, then of course Jesus Christ will also be laid as the chief Cornerstone for our entire church body in the coming years through this work. Because the pure Word of God with which the young men have learned at this college to comfort themselves and to hold firm to, they will one day proclaim in the congregations. They will also teach them to hold this Word of God precious above everything else, to be immovable in it in spite of all the devil's attacks and to comfort themselves through it alone through the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. They will teach the congregations in this faith to praise and to laud God, to work for the preservation and spread of the Word, to fight the good fight of faith, to grow up into him who is the Head, Christ, and thus to build upon the proven precious Cornerstone which truly is laid. If we build now, brethren, in this way upon this true Cornerstone, if we work now in faith in Christ, then our work shall not be in vain, because "he that believes on him," our text says, "shall not be confounded."

And how were it also possible that the Lord should withhold his blessing from this work! Has not he himself commanded us to do it when he says, "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16:15)? When we then out of thankfulness for his boundless love, in obedience to his Word seek through the instruction in this school that the youth can become capable of preaching the crucified Jesus Christ, then we should know for sure that the Lord will bless this work to the salvation of souls in our generation and the generations to come because for that reason of course he also gave his only-begotten Son into death so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Yes, when we also build this building just so that God's Word can be preserved, be proclaimed among us so much more richly, and spread further, then we should be assured that the Lord will allow this work of ours to succeed as surely as we do it in faith in Jesus Christ, because then it is the Lord himself who does it and we know of course that where the Lord builds the house the laborers do not labor in vain.

We can be sure that the devil who only aims at hindering and destroying the kingdom of God and corrupting our souls will try to sow his poison at this school, to stir up controversy and factions, or through seduction to the vice of covetousness will attempt to stop its building, because he well realizes that his own kingdom is going to be torn down and the kingdom of God built up if this work goes forward and large numbers of the Lord's disciples are sent out from this place to proclaim salvation in Jesus' name. But we can be comforted. His cunning shall in no way benefit him because if God is for us, who then can be against us? And God is for us in the one thing as well as in the other when we build on the true Cornerstone which is laid in Zion and work in confidence in his promise in Christ, because whoever believes in him shall not be confounded!

And you, dear brothers, whom God has called to be the young men's first instructors and teachers at this school, I know of course that I do not need to admonish you to continue to build on the Cornerstone which is laid in Zion because that is what you ought to have been doing as before the face of God from the moment you began this work. But I would very much like to say a word to you for your strengthening. When you feel the weight and responsibility of your holy and glorious office resting heavily upon you, when many times you get to see your finest hopes disappointed and on the other hand often see little fruit from your work, oh, do not lose heart then, but just keep on building confidently on the precious Cornerstone and be assured that your work cannot be in vain because even if it is so that it is often the case that it is the following generation which first can rejoice to see the fruit of their forerunners' work, yet the Lord's truthfulness is still a refuge for us that his Word "never returns void" (Is. 55:11).

And you, dear students, to whom God shows such exceeding grace since he lets you grow up under Christian nurture and gives you so rich an opportunity to grow in the true knowledge of God, oh, see to it that you also build upon the true Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, because if you don't, all your effort and work as well as the knowledge you might acquire for yourselves will do you no good. But if you yourselves are built up upon the true Cornerstone as living stones and if you continue building on it alone, you will be letting your Redeemer's boundless love and the glory of the calling for which you are being trained and also your dear teachers' concern for you and work with you and the congregations' sacrifices for you, motivate you very strongly not to spare any effort and work so that you can grow in the various branches of learning and be made capable of doing the work of God in the calling into which he may place you.

And you, dear congregations, their delegates and pastors, let us embrace this school with our whole heart's sincere love! Let us always bear it on our heart and not cease with our intercessions for it! Let it be our privilege to give God that sacrifice of thanksgiving to support and to maintain it through our temporal gifts! Do not let the materialistic spirit of the times make us indifferent and sluggish, nor lying prophets confuse us, nor a spirit of dissension stop the work, but let us hold fast to the Cornerstone which is laid in Zion and in faith do the Lord's work so that we shall not be confounded, and then we and our children shall have the joy of being comforted in distress and death with the sweet comfort of the Gospel. Then shall we see our young men as teachers of the people proclaim the Gospel throughout our regions, as teachers of the children feed the Lord's lambs with unadulterated milk, or in other positions proclaim the works of the Lord and build up his congregations.

And now, our God, to you be the work commended! It is yours. Let the spirit of peace and love dwell within these walls, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge fill their hearts who shall be led here, teachers and students! Let your blessing rest upon their work so that it may be done to your praise and glory and to the salvation of your redeemed church until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Yes, Amen in Jesus' name!

Maanedstidende December 1864, pages 365-370.