Thy Kingdom Come: A Blumhardt Reader (Continued)
Vernard Eller, Editor
T. Danger of Degeneracy
Areas in which Blumhardt’s thought might become distorted among his followers. — V.E.
1 Being Quiet or Quietrism?
The hope derived from the light of the Holy Spirit also has its reverse side, namely, that we come alive and recognize that the hope itself is alive with possibilities for us–possibilities, we should say, that lie in God, certainly, but in the creation as well. There are people who think nothing more is possible than what they can see with their half-dead eyes. Thus, when they hope, it is a feeble matter, because they always think, “We can’t do anything at all; everything must come down from heaven.”
It is different with those who know true hope; they be-come active on their own. How can I hope for a new heaven and a new earth in which justice dwells, how can I hope out of the strength of the Spirit, unless I am conducting myself in such a way that something more just, something better, can be created on earth? For everything God does must happen through us. It would be wrong for us to do nothing at all. As soon as God lays some promise in our hearts and he has laid it in our hearts that things shall be better–in his doing this, there also comes a certain strength: “Now begin! The hope is there; so you can begin!
As in an earlier instance, Ragaz’s personal predilection here again seems to have biased his choice of Blumhardt quotations, His heading has it exactly right in implying that “being quiet” is something different from “quietism.” He is right, too, in suggesting that there is the danger that, among his followers, Blumhardt’s position could degenerate into a humanistic, self-confident “activism.” The full truth of Blumhardt will be better served if we supplement the Ragaz quotation by putting it into tension with these–again, taken from the Lejenne book, Chistoph Blumhardt and His Message, 77-78:
“Waiting is a great strength. Waiting is a great deed.”“Let us arise in the knowledge that a Christian is a helper in this hope, full of the strength of waiting.”
“Truly waiting people, true Christians who wait for the day of God’s mercy upon all men, may gently spin the thread and twine it around the nations, tying them to our faith and preserving them for the day of Jesus Christ. What a coming of Christ that would be if many Christians were to say, ‘I too want to do something, I want to be a strength in quiet, through my waiting for the sake of others.’”
I would say that, in a certain sense, it is a deception when Christians seek peace–if they understand peace as though, through the gospel, a comfortable life should be made for them. The opposite is the case. The verse is relevant here: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt. 10:34). We have peace as long as the battle endures–but only in the battle. A soldier has peace when the bullet hits him and he falls dead, as an honorable fighter in the war. A soldier does not have peace when he lies in his tent sleeping through the fighting.
2. Freedom or Formula?
`The love of God makes free. We always have been free people, for we stand in the love of God. And I say to you, dear friend, “‘Wherever you may be, if you succeed in saying ‘Jesus’ in such way that everything of your own falls to the ground and you come into the love of the Father, then you are free.”
The regime of God requires free people…. God needs flexible people; in the love of God we are uncommonly flexible. And in direct correlation to the needs of the kingdom of God we must be ready to change; we cannot continue century after century in onemanner.
God meets me in a completely different way than he does you. All of us may have the same concept of Yahweh; but he will never speak to you as he does to me; he will appear individually to you differently from what he does to me. There remains a certain freedom in every individual regarding our feeling for God and our relationship to him–even though we are united as one people through one Spirit. Yahweh is nothing mechanistic.
I cannot say more than that I would that everyone might he placed here, where we are weak, in order that, together, we could experience the kingdom of God. You should not say, “I am something, and you are nothing; you must become as I am!”–which generally is the way Christians relate to one another…. But the closer you are to the kingdom of cod, the more gentle and humble, the simpler you will become. Christ will become your life. … Be meek, and thus Christ will rule.
The world will be captured for the kingdom of heaven without proselytism. In time, the conversion will happen of itself the more the rule of God becomes part of us, the more the eyes of others will be opened…. The more we succeed in accepting all of God, all of Jesus, all of the Holy Spirit, the more the world will become enlightened….
At this point, Christians understand the word of Jesus in an entirely false way: “Go forth into all the world!” Do your going into the world in the greatest sense; but conversion is not your business. It doesn’t even occur to the Lord Jesus to commission us to convert people! … If the Spirit of God does not do the converting, we had just as well put our cause on the shelf. There is something so high and yet so hidden in human beings, something so exclusively the property of the Father in heaven, that, when it is ready to break free, our fumbling hands and course sense dare not interfere with the secret fabric of a human soul.
Jesus wants a people who will bring forth the good and yet leave the bitterest adversary his freedom.
3. Hearts or Heads?
Don’t believe that we can accomplish anything toward the furtherance of God’s goal unless we, in some way, become honestly centered in him alone. Every other consideration is a matter of indifference. It is completely unimportant what, otherwise, we have in the way of “thoughts.” We want to be prepared for him, because, in the end, it is the person of Christ that makes the difference and not some teaching from him or about him. In the meantime, then, we must look into the invisible and cry, “Jesus!” That is not so easy to do-that is, if one does it without “thoughts.” With “thoughts,” it is easy.
Very many people come to me, all crying, “Jesus!”–but with thoughts. I first have to make them “thoughtless,” because, in their calling to Jesus, they are laying down certain conditions, even though all unconsciously. They are calling for a Jesus of a particular color, so to speak. One person likes the color “pietism” and so wants only the pietist Jesus. Another prefers “churchliness” and wants the Jesus of that color. Thus, human preferences and thoughts set themselves up above Jesus himself…. When it comes to what people would rather have, whether Jesus or their own thoughts about him, they will fight to the death for their own thoughts….
With the help of theological systems and convictions, anybody can call, “Jesus!” If a person can’t do it for himself, he attaches himself to a teacher and, in the name of this teacher, calls, “Jesus!” But, without reserve, to have it that Jesus is Master, because he comes from God–that happens but seldom…. Yet, where someone calls, “Jesus,” because that is what he perceives; where someone slips out of his human achievement, out of that into which he was born, out of what has become historical custom; where someone calls, “Jesus,” and calls in faith–there wonders happen, there something flashes down from heaven, there one is overwhelmed by the holy.
It is not upon our thoughts that all depends but upon our hearts. The final outcome of religion must be simple enough that all can understand it.
Everyone must concede that the kingdom of God comes not through logical concepts but through surprises.
Jesus gives no religion, no philosophy or morals–he gives us power.
If the gospel were served only by us parsons, if it had to be maintained only by human wisdom from the pulpits of the learned, then it would have died long ago. Truly I say to you, it never comes to the place that things depend upon our knowing something scientific about Christianity or our remembering particular principles of faith and morals…. No, It is not that. The essence of Christianity is not to be found in our understanding. Rather, it is there where simple hearts are awakened time and again, there where resurrected people are present, the inexplicable ones for which science hasn’t even words. If it were not for these joyous, faithful people, often coming from the lowest strata of society, then the gospel would die.
U. Outlook and Task
It was in the fall of 1914 that Blumhardt spoke these words. — V.E.
Before peace can come, there is much darkness that must be overcome…. When that has happened, then it shall be said, “He comes! Our dear God has answered our hope in him and our understanding with him by again giving peace.”… Thus we can rejoice–right now, in these troubled times. At least I am rejoicing, for I am certain that the living God is doing something among us. Following this sad time, a new grace will arise from him who is there and who was there and who will be there.
The entire history of the community of Jesus Christ has proven this: time and again, after the most sorrowful times, when one has believed that everything is going to smash, all at once our dear God is again there with his powerful help…. With you, I groan before God over the outbreak of the grievous events annihilating humanity. Yet these circumstances have come from God and are holy; there must be a transformation of all things.
God’s ways lead through judgment; and that judgment must create good. A cleansing shall take place in our unclean society; and the word of God shall remain our light and comfort even in the death of an age and its culture. The kingdom of God will now be prepared in earnest; and I rejoice that, in his earnestness, God is now speaking with mankind. This is itself a grace which remains firm in our hearts. Trouble and the works of men will pass away. God’s grace and the victory over sin, death, and hell will become fact even in our time.
The last times very likely will be troubled in that, as the past perishes, a great mass of people will arise wanting to defend the behavior of their false persons and to gather the worshippers of that past…. It is written, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’–do not believe it” (Mt. 24:23).
We see, then, how certain cultivated religious causes will arise, claiming that Christ has become lost, when, in actuality, it is only the causes themselves that have become lost, i.e., very simply, they must disappear. For here lies a secret, namely, that until these false Christs are silenced, the true Christ will not let himself be heard aloud. You may believe that for certain. Yet we must also live through times when Christ is lost–and we must not cry for him to reveal himself clearly to the world. One must be sensible when one prays; today I would not at all want the Savior to join the cryings in the wilderness. Against the last shrieks of irrational religiosity, as they now echo through Christendom, we must plug our ears and look on serenely while these causes die. One day they must die; and until they have died, Christ cannot make his voice audible.
We are convinced that in this time, when everything is being ruined and broken, inconspicuous seeds of the kingdom of God yet are being planted in the world. These seeds, which come from God himself, will not rot under the debris of the present day world but will much more truly, while the old is being rolled out of the way, grow upwards to serve as a transfiguration of the name “Jesus” to “The Christ of the World.”
Therefore, let as much torment and grief take root here and there among people as will, we will not despair but rather look to the future with courage, not letting ourselves become dependent upon this or that law or human order but letting ourselves be dependent upon Jesus, the light of the world. He will live and conquer until the entire creation glistens with his light to the glory of God, until our race of men who have ever been lost finally find the path which alone will lead than to the goal, to the destiny which, as sons of God, they have in creation.
V. Conclusion
Where Life and Death are fighting.
Remain, then, under God’s command,
If wrong you would be righting.
The world, the old, is overthrown;
And Jesus’ kingdom, it alone,
Arises from the ruins.
Part Two
The Fall of Christendom
John Regehr is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Mennonite Brethren Bible College, Winnipeg, Canada. In 1970, he completed his doctorate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a dissertation, The Preaching of Christoph Blumhardt. As source material for that study, Regehr translated thirty-one talks and sermons out of the collected works of the younger Blumhardt. Ultimately, Regehr’s committee decided that the translations should not be incorporated as part of the dissertation itself; so they have not been published in any form.
We have selected sixteen of those pieces to constitute Part Two of this volume. With the idea of getting as much of Blumhardt into English as possible, first Regehr and subsequently we ourselves deliberately have chosen items that do not duplicate what is available from Plough Publishing House. With only minor editing, the translation that follows is Regehr’s and is used with his permission.
In no way will these sermons serve as a substitute for what Ragaz accomplished in Part One. Nevertheless, they do carry a particular advantage of their own. Here, by reading complete presentations rather than excerpts, we can get a better “feel” for Blumhardt the teacher and preacher, for his style and the impact of his presence. Part One plus Part Two imparts to us much more of Blumhardt than either could do on its own.
Regehr arranged his selections in the chronological order of their original delivery; I have chosen, instead, to form them into a somewhat logical sequence. In the interest of including as much of Blumhardt’s thought as possible, I also have taken the liberty to condense and to excerpt where that seemed helpful.
Regehr made his selections from the four-volume collection of the works of the younger Blumhardt, Christoph Blumhardt: Eine Auswahl aus seinen Predigten, Andachten und Schriften
[CFBL], herausgegeben von R. Lejeune (Rotapfel Verlag, 1925-37). Each selection in Part 2 includes a reference that identifies each piece as to source and date and indicates what sort of editing has been done. — V.E.
A. The Name Jesus
He came as the little child over whom the angels sang jubilantly, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.” Upon being given the name Jesus, he stepped into the ranks of those that are called and known by name. And in this action God revealed himself in a particular way for the salvation of mankind.
This is not a name that men are inclined to give their children, but it is the name that the Father in heaven gives to a son of man. By that name the Father designates him as his Son and introduces him to us as our brother. It is a name by which the Father in heaven wants to say something to us and through which he wants to create something.
The name Jesus means Savior, Redeemer. The Father calls this, his Son, Savior, and makes him our brother in order that he might say to us, “You shall be saved!”
In every age, the greatest darkness among people has been that they have lost the light of their life and consequently have not been able to look to the future with prospects of life. Indeed, it has always been the torment of people not to know with certainty their ultimate destiny. But because the Father in heaven names the newborn child Jesus, every person knows whom he can count on concerning his life: “You shall be saved!” And now if you want to be a genuine person, you can be so if only, from the name Jesus, you read the announcement that the Father in heaven has made it his purpose to save you and all mankind. In the name of Jesus, the Savior, the Father wants to bring people into certainty regarding their salvation. And the name of Jesus not only proclaims this salvation, it creates it….
If the name Jesus is to communicate such an understanding to us, then each individual will have to make an effort to keep the understanding alive in himself. It is not wholesome for you to permit doubts about what God wants to do with you. It is a transgression against the name Jesus when you doubt that God wants to save you. Don’t be misled, you who have heard the gospel and have been instructed in all that God has done through the Savior for the blotting out of your sins. Don’t be misled when the world preaches something else or when your experience in the world seems an attempt to convince you that God is really not much concerned about your life. Assert the truth; you can know it and do know it, “I am being saved.” This is the first sermon that comes from Jesus. You are being saved; be assured of that! …
We must be firm in this–that, once the Lord Jesus has grasped us by his word, we understand him according to the word: “For God so loved the world … that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” If you have laid hold on that, and if you know that Jesus Christ was born, that he died for your sins; if you know that he was raised and is seated at the right hand of the Father–then know this, too, that you are being saved. The name Jesus proclaims this to you….
Though there be confusion in my life, “I am being saved nonetheless,” Though sins still break into my life, “Nevertheless, I am being saved.” Though hell assail me and the devil attack me, “Still I am being saved.” We have a confidence; and we affirm it against the flesh, the world, the devil and hell, against everything that may be named: “We are being saved, because Jesus has come.” This we know; it has been told us in the name Jesus by the Father in heaven himself. We don’t merely suppose it; we know it. The truth that we are being saved is one of the fundamental facts laid into our understanding in the name of Jesus….
But more, beloved. Not concerning ourselves only are we to know that we are being saved–indicating, perhaps, to others, “We don’t know about you.” Not only are we forbidden to express condemnation regarding others, we must not even become indifferent regarding those who do not yet appear to have been seized by the gospel as we have been. We must not become uncertain in our thinking about the world, about the souls of people in general. The most certain truth in the Bible is that God wants to save all of mankind, indeed all of creation.
If Jesus is named Jesus, and if he thus is proclaimed to be sent by the Father and born a man and, at the same time, is proclaimed as the firstborn of all creation and the eternal word of God in whom all that lives has its life, then there must lie in this name Jesus–the name voiced by God, the name which is the Alpha and the Omega of creation–there must he in this name the proclamation that the whole of creation is being saved. Our loving God wants to carry the proclamation of salvation into the world; and in this “Jesus-age” in which we are living, we may regard every person with a view to his salvation and may instruct him concerning the same.
Once we have received into our spirits this proclamation of the name Jesus–I’d like to call it ‘the Creation-Proclamation”–then we become even more full of light. We already have a certain measure of light when assured of our own salvation, we who have been laid hold of by the gospel. But we become much more resplendent and more powerful–in other words, more “apostolic”–when we accept the understanding that the name Jesus assures salvation for all creatures, regardless of who they are, regardless of what they do, regardless of what kind of life it is in which they find themselves. Jesus–named by God the Father–makes the proclamation of the gospel reliable, makes the announcing of salvation for all creation valid. And we may view the lost from this perspective….
It is my opinion that the further the times advance and the more we see the powers of sin and unbelief and of death and hell entangling people and seeking to draw them away from the proclamation of the gospel, so much the more must we establish in ourselves the conviction that God has set salvation as his goal. Just that much more must we gain courage to set ourselves against these devils of our time and contest the prey they already have taken….
We do not want to regard as gospel that which we can mutter sleepily, as Eli did, “May the Lord do what pleases him.” No, we want to oppose such spiritlessness and stand in the gap as Moses did. If Moses, that servant of God, could wrest from the name of God mercy and grace, patience and faithfulness, for the entire people of Israel–then we can have the same courage (with the same repentance, of course) to announce the gospel, which is the will of God for salvation. This is the message we want to proclaim against the devil, against all the powers of hell, against all the evil in the world that accuses and condemns mankind: “You will not win out! This we know because we know Jesus. You must vacate the world.” Mankind belongs to God and to Jesus Christ; and salvation will not be denied to this groaning world.
Jesus is the firstborn of all creation; he is the firstborn from the dead; and it has pleased God that in him all the fullness of God should dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross [a paraphrase of Col. 1:15-20). The incarnation of Christ is his union with all flesh, with all humanity; and if God calls this one who is united with all flesh “Jesus,” then salvation is thereby proclaimed to all flesh. And we must avail ourselves of this truth if the name Jesus is to bear full weight on our understanding….
Be serious about “condemnation” for a moment. If those sitting next to you are to be deprived of salvation because of their present condition, then how much of your own being would have to go down into hell as well? Or do you suppose that exceptions will be made for certain people? Such a procedure would never even occur to God; he is righteous. Therefore, for our own sake we must hold fast to the proclamation of salvation for all.
In this, I do not wish to say that, at the end of time, God cannot and may not make a separation. What decisions must be made at the last judgment and what will happen to those who up to that time have not been saved–all that is his business. I say only this: Now, in our time, as long as God has not passed down his ultimate decision, the task has been given us to carry into the consciousness of all people the name Jesus, the name that is significant because it promises salvation. And we are to anticipate that salvation with sympathetic, priestly seriousness.
Now we want to touch on a further truth which the name Jesus proclaims. We have in him not only the concept of salvation but also the power of God for salvation. Not only does the name of Jesus proclaims salvation, but also it is Jesus who creates it. Consequently, the gospel is called a power of salvation to all that believe it, who really want to be saved by Jesus. We must not despair even though the world continues long under the proclamation of salvation without actually attaining it. We must not despair even though we ourselves, often in the face of intense salvation-preaching, see no instant redemption from sin and death. We must not despair because of the delay of the thoroughgoing redemption that is proclaimed in Jesus. In the name of Jesus, the world has been brought into safety by the Father in heaven–initially through the announcement of all-encompassing redemption but ultimately through the promised entry of salvation in the second coming of Jesus Christ….
Our community would long since have ceased to exist if we did not know and affirm Jesus as the power of God, as the victor. We would long since have been lost if, likewise, we did not see this Jesus invade our lives against ourselves, against the malicious trickery of our hearts, against the half-commitment of our faith, against the sluggishness of our being, and against our worldlinessthat persistently keeps surfacing.
Often we have had to wait for years to see any improvement in something in which destruction had already taken root. We could then have done what many do in view of destruction. They say, “We must simply let it take its course; that’s the way human life is.” No! No! We let nothing “run its course.” We must know Jesus as the power of God which is able to rescue in any situation–and not only according to some intellectualized concept but in truth, so that one can grasp it with the hands….
Only the person who knows Jesus to be the Conqueror who liberates us, who knows him as the Captain of our salvation leading us up out of all destruction–only he comes under the proclamation of salvation in a truly humble spirit…. When, for example, an habitual liar is attracted to the gospel, when the truth dawns that he is being saved and he believes it, what about his lying now? Shall he let his lies continue because he believes? What is the dynamic behind his lying? Behind his lying is the power of hell that binds him to the sin. And if no change takes place and the lying retains its hold, do you suppose such a person is being saved or redeemed?
If a redemption does not break into our lives through the power of God in Jesus Christ, then, although we call ourselves Christian and even consider ourselves among the believers, we will not enter heaven. No, the cords of sin, death, and hell must be cut off. We must become new; something that originates essentially in the power of Christ must set our life upon a new course. In short, we must have Jesus, the Conquering One, in small as well as in great matters. Only in this way will the assured hope of eternal life become firm within us….
We come now to a final proclamation that lies in the name Jesus. If we lay hold upon Jesus as the Redeemer of our own lives, then we can also believe him to be the power of God leading the life of all creation to the light. The power of Jesus Christ, too, we can relate to the whole of mankind, just as the understanding of salvation has been related to the entire world. When I know Jesus, who he is and what divine powers are manifested in him, then I have courage not only for myself but for others as well.
Even though many people nowadays accept nothing of their own salvation because they understand nothing of it, this does not discourage me. I think to myself, “Just wait until you have been rescued out of the claws of death, until your eyes have been opened; then you will believe!” It is such an attitude, I am convinced, which the name Jesus must create in the hearts of believers. Then these believers will become the first fruits, the light and salt, the front-line fighters in behalf of others. And herein lies the significance of the church of Christ on earth, the body of Christ that is to fill all things with its glory….
The life of man can no longer be an idle tale, since Jesus lives. Rather, the life of man is to come under the power of eternal life; and the Savior wants to help us in this. Indeed, as the great Lord of heaven and earth, he wants to fight at our side. For the world’s sake, he wants us to lay hold of him who is the power of God on earth. It is this power that blesses what is cursed, that rescues what is lost, and that finally wins the victory against all powers that are in heaven and that carry their anti-God activity down as far as hell.
This Jesus we have come to know; this Jesus we preach; this Jesus we want to take with us through each day of the year. And though one generation after another apostatize, one society after another is destroyed, let them fall away, let them go where they will! You lay hold on Jesus!
With him, we hold the victory in our hands; with him we will yet bring the world back in. Even if the whole world should mock him, if only our little flock remains steadfast in hoping for his power, we will yet see the whole world become our reward.
The whole of creation must come under the church of Jesus Christ, who is the head of all things. This purpose cannot fail; its expression is the word of God, the Father’s child given to us as Jesus–and such a word of God cannot fail….
The name Jesus will not find its glory in his allowing mankind to sink to ruin, in billions dying away in hell. Rather, the glory of that name will come in his being surrounded by countless multitudes, all, all of whom he has wrested from the power of death and sin, so that not one an say that he was saved apart from the right hand of God, the Father’s might who is named Jesus.
CFBL 1:50-63 (#12). Sermon preached New Year’s Day, 1883; published in Briefblaetter aus bad Boll, highly abridged.
B. All Things New
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
They will be his peoples,
And God himself will be with them;
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
Morning and crying and pain will be no more,
For the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Rev. 21:3-7)
These words express the warmest, most intimate possible relationship to the will of God. And this will of God has become so deeply rooted in mankind through Jesus Christ that it can never again be disregarded. And although the whole of human society temporarily should be unmindful of it, and though Christendom itself should be moving on a track very different from that which this will of God prescribes, there always will arise out of this root which has penetrated humanity people who will be as intimately bound up with the will of God as were the apostles and the prophets. These are people who will know that everything else derives from this unswerving, relentless will of God to make all things new–everything both for our own personal lives with all their woes and obstacles, storms and defeats, and also for a human race which has been forced to pass through so much trouble, so many defeats, and so many disappointments.
In Christ people can know and experience that we stand in an on-going process, a progressive development, that is leading to a consummation, to an end of which it will be said: “See, the home of God is among mortals … see, I am making all things new.” All sorrow will have ceased, even the blackness of death. The death of man will have been transcended through a creative act of God, so that the struggles in which we still stand today will have come to their end.
The Lord Jesus, so to speak, always stands at the far borders of the present. Consequently, it is understandable that, for him and for his first disciples, it seemed that at one blow things could all be different tomorrow. We may think that they were deluded; but if so, it was a glorious delusion and the greatest of truths. If Jesus had hesitated to step out to the remotest boundary and say, “The present may come to an end tomorrow,” then be would not have been that powerful personality who again and again calls into being people who, in view of present things approaching their end, derive strength to overcome that which still needs to be overcome today. We want to be such people; we would step out to the border, too. A part of our being has terminated its dealings with the present; we stand out there at the border, at the boundary of the present world, the boundary that signifies the beginning of a new humanity.
To be sure, it did not happen when the apostles expected it to and their expectations may have been rather crass–as though all things could change overnight, as though all the evils in the world could be removed in one fell swoop. The day, of course, has lengthened; and now we know that the first day that Jesus introduced involves an extended period of development. The day is in the process of becoming; it is not completed.
But what are a thousand years in the development of mankind? What are two thousand years? As we think of it today, what are the two thousand years that lie behind us? What is time? We need not be concerned about the length of time, if only we are involved in the cause, if only we are standing where we ourselves can grow in the will of God along with this larger development. And when the consummation does take place, when all things will have been fulfilled, then we will look back on what seems a brief span of years and say, rejoicing, “It has indeed come quickly.”
Therefore, I would like to direct a request to all of us: “let us take our stand at the end of things.” That is a loaded request. When we stand at the border, we already begin to experience many things in a different way. We discover that the incurable illness in us and about us actually comes to an end; a new thing begins. When we focus on the time to come, as Jesus does, then we already have drawn something of the time to come into our present life.
This age of tedium, emptiness, and restlessness that torments us cannot conquer us. Those evils which find expression in sorrow and crying and death and darkness, they will discover in us a power which will overcome them. This is what our scripture means by “he who conquers”; we who stand in this will of God for the age to come already conquer indescribably much now, even though we do not play leading roles. We cannot proudly say, “I will conquer, don’t worry; nothing can harm me. With my faith I can get through.” Although we personally do and should feel ourselves to be weak and poor, it is something of the power of the Lord Jesus that does the conquering, a power that can overcome all things because it is the power of God.
This power overcomes everything evil in us already in this present time, to the point that we cannot even say that anything is proving truly difficult for us. And even though we may be confronted by something extremely disagreeable, even if we are forced to renounce all we have come to love, we will still retain the consciousness that the power of God will overcome the difficult in us; we will not be destroyed by the pitiful stuff that surrounds us….
“I am making all things new!” This was the main source of power for Jesus as long as he was on earth. This is the source of power and might which arises in man again and again through the Spirit of Christ, so that he may not keep on working foolishly with externals but may be inspired to hope that all things will indeed become new. What to us is the world with all its evils if we have become strong in the Spirit of God? Who can name anything that could make us afraid if we are strong in the Spirit of God? When we have become new, then we conquer all things.
CFBL 4:71-76 (#9). Evening worship of September 18, 1909, abridged.
C. In the Return of Jesus Christ
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Thought I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:1-8)
In this parable on prayer there is something of a history of the coming of Jesus Christ. Today all our life of faith in the Savior, all our praying, even as individuals, all we do and experience–everything takes place under the portent of the return of the Lord Jesus.
The Savior comes into a dreadful world; although he is the Coming One, the world into which he comes is one of terrible unrighteousness. This is the characteristic of world history. World history always crushes a great number–an infinitely great number–of people under its brutal, violent tread. The history of the world may take what course it will–even in the eras of greatness for some nations, in the zenith of their culture, as they say–one thing cannot change, do what you like: history tramples people to the earth; behind it rises the cry of the destitute and the poor, whom the world is utterly unable to help. All worldly wisdom is confounded; it has nothing of value to offer. Even the good that is attempted leads to unrighteousness again and leaves behind it a moraine, an evil track in which lies the rubble of broken bones. And it is into this city that the Savior comes….
But because the Savior has come, we do not see only here and there a widow or a destitute person given a bit of help by the unrighteous judge, the civic authority. No, we see much help streaming forth from the coming of Jesus Christ. Then we rejoice; yes, then we rejoice. The return of Jesus Christ, our Savior, is truly happening within the world–even though it now is known only quietly in a few individuals, the elect. The Savior looks to his elect within this sorry world. And perhaps with a bit of anxiety as the last line of our text indicates–he clings, as it were, to these elect ones, seeking a base, a beachhead, for his coming….
He is looking about among us, too, and is asking: “Are any of the elect here? Is there someone here who takes delight in the history which God is effecting on earth for the sake of his kingdom, for the redemption which is coming to pass?” And if you, dear child, have a love for the coming Savior, and if your heart persistently says, “Lord Jesus, our cause is nothing; Lord Jesus, come! Yea, come, Lord Jesus,” then the Savior says to you: “Pray without ceasing! Do not let up! Do not become foolish, and do not be without understanding! Pray!”
Through prayer we must set ourselves into the return of Jesus Christ, into the history of his coming to the world. And I give you the advice, I would almost say the command: If you pray regarding any matter, even concerning material needs, then place yourselves within the coming of the Savior….
And even when we individually experience help (and I receive so much help that often I am embarrassed in the presence of other people), then we must always ask uneasily: “Does this come from the return of my Lord Jesus Christ?” And if it does come from this return, then it is a sign that the Savior is coming. Then I shout for joy; then I rejoice; then I am exultant; then I am comforted! A sign of the coming Savior! I do not know what else can give me joy on earth. Today there is something of the return of Jesus Christ….
How is it today? Does our praying stand fully under this portent? Does the Savior here and now have people who believe in him as the Coming One, so that he can find a base of operations on earth? There certainly is much praying: you pray; your neighbor prays; your enemy prays; your adversary prays; everybody prays. But you pray in your sin, in your pride, in your passion. You pray, and the world remains as it was. The adversary laughs us to scorn for our praying. He is kept from laughing only if we stand within the return of Jesus Christ! “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” No, he will not find faith unless we pray within the coming of the kingdom of God in the person of the Lord Jesus….
Granted, the world does not believe all this; but the Savior is coming in any case. Granted, too, the elect no longer believe; but the Savior is coming even so. And perhaps even the elect, by and large, must fall into a form of unbelief so that the word, the great word, can be fulfilled: “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.”
But what then, Christendom, have you to claim in superiority over the pagans? Of what is it you want to boast against the unbelievers? How dare you insult others when in the main point, the point about which the Lord Jesus is primarily concerned, you also are lacking, when you are not standing in the return of God in Jesus Christ, when you are not standing firm in this coming?
For ourselves, we renounce everything–all being pious, all acting as though we were holy upon earth, all boasting. We forget all this, and as little children we slip in under the cloak of the great and mighty Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is coming; and even if you do not believe, redemption from the adversary will finally break into your own personal life. The Lord Jesus will come despite all unbelief! May he help us; may God help us that we might pray in the coming of Jesus Christ!
CFBL 4:230-238 (#28). Sermon preached October 28, 1911, very highly condensed.
D. Wait for the Lord
We want to be those who in truth wait for the Lord. But for what purpose do we wait? Do you suppose that our waiting is simply a kind of religiosity, by virtue of which we are perhaps differently tuned religiously than other Christians? Is this to be only a particular religious coloring that signifies nothing further?
Such may be the attitude of some that say they wait for the Lord, but in whose lives nothing is changed in consequence. Our waiting for the Lord is to lead to deeds of the Lord; consequently, our opinion is: If I wait for the Lord, the Lord will soon come.
We cannot understand those who say, “I wait for the Lord, but it will be a long time before he comes.” If a person says this and believes it, why does be wait at all? He had better leave it be altogether. This I say: He who does not in all things expect God soon is not waiting. Even if he affirms ten thousand times that he is waiting for the Lord, I do not believe it. If, for example, you come into severe illness, and in it you wait for the Lord, can you postpone the expectation of his answer twenty or thirty years or even longer? Impossible! If it is to be real waiting, you must expect God to do something at once. In consequence, perhaps tomorrow even will bring his decisive help.
For the person who waits for the Lord, everything he awaits in hope already comes into view. I think of this waiting as something alive in me; and obviously that which is alive is sustained with food; What, then, is the bread of waiting? The bread of waiting is the deeds of God. Without the deeds of God, the waiting of the heart dies.
Yet we must not expect too much from our hearts alone. Surely we do not consider ourselves strong enough that we can say, “I wait for the Lord, but for the time being I don’t need him. I’ll manage somehow.” Yes, you will manage all right; but how?
In an ungodly way, just as the world manages. Where God is permitted to be nothing but a spectator. It ought not to be so. Rather, when I wait, my waiting should be grounded in the acts of the Lord. My waiting acquires its durability because the Lord performs his actions. And my waiting will find its goal in a great action of God performed upon me and upon all creation.
We have experienced that the Lord is our help and shield, and that is why we can wait. Also, we have experienced that the Lord can become our help and shield suddenly, surprisingly. Thus, we always wait for the Lord in such a way as to expect an early manifestation from him; we cannot imagine that there will be boredom when dealing with the Lord.
“He is our help.” that is, he snatches us out of the evils into which we have come–body, soul, and spirit. It is not necessary, of course, that there be impressive, outwardly visible miracles. If only in the secret places, quietly, things are set right again and we are not left tangled in evil, then we are helped. Those who wait for the Lord already see his help, while others see only misfortune and ruin. Those who wait notice that the Lord sets to work immediately to remove the evil; and thus they are assured of near and complete salvation.
How easy it is then to remain patient, even when burden and threat persist. But it is unbearable when one is caught in some evil and then must admit, “The Savior is not at work here.” Of course, I know very well that there are many people in the world who see in themselves and in others the most unhappy of conditions. These people put up with the worst sort of evil in themselves with the evasion, “That’s simply the way I am…. It does not matter to them whether the Savior sets to work with them or not. And they view the misery of the world the same way. It is a matter of perfect indifference to them whether or not the Savior puts his hand to the problem. They may be a little sorry that things are the way they are, but even that does not trouble them for long.
But the person who waits for the Lord cannot feel this way; he wants to see God’s action everywhere. When there is something amiss or distorted, something sinful or pitiful in the world, he wises day and night that God might set to work. He prays that God will remember his name, “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6).
And then God puts his hand to the task; he is ready to grasp the whole world and, through Jesus Christ, switch it onto another track, pleasing to himself. It is those who wait who know how much in earnest God is about this; and they see, already in our time, how much has taken place. If we wait for the Lord, we are not waiting to see the beginning of our redemption. If those who believe that the consummation of the kingdom of God has been postponed indefinitely would consider how much God has been at work until now, they would be surprised. Truly, we are no longer waiting for the beginning; we are waiting for the end. We stand in the midst of the acts of God which are purposed for the end.
If anyone ridicules us because we wait for the Lord, expecting the end to come soon, it is simply because he does not know what waiting people experience. Those who wait for the Lord experience so much of the intervention of God that they have no time to make calculations for the distant future. Today, tomorrow, and always, they are in a state of readiness for the experience of new things; and each day they are prepared for the greatest event of all, the coming of the Lord….
But the Lord is also our shield. Innumerable dangers come upon the one who waits, particularly when he is moving forward. The last times, judged outwardly, are the most evil of times. This will be our own experience as well. Yet, in this, God also permits us the daily experience that we are protected children. Often we can see this only in retrospect. When suddenly some terrible evil breaks in on us, frightening and scattering all the people, we are tempted to think, “How can God permit such a thing?” But soon we come to realize that, in the midst of the greatest danger, we have experienced the greatest protection. God was showing us in what great danger we stand, how everything in the world is set toward destruction, and how much on guard we must be.
If things were otherwise, we would become too secure. If we were not subject to these sudden storms (which are, of course, only a small fraction of the distress in which the world lies), who knows but that we might become lax in our waiting? But to those who wait for the Lord, God is a shield. We can experience this; and it is an encouragement for the remainder of the time of our waiting….
Yet how few wait on the Lord in this way! Many Christians are surprised when they hear of some extraordinary thing happening to those who wait for the Lord! They wait and expect nothing; they believe but anticipate no change; and because nothing happens with them, they don’t believe it happens with others either. But all of you who even now have found the Lord to be a help and a shield, you can learn of such things more and more!
However, if I wait for the Lord, I also wait on behalf of the whole world to which I belong. The Chinese are as much on my heart as is my own person. Yet here we are waiting, and others are not waiting with us, and that is hard. Yet ultimately those who wait for the Lord must succeed. Suddenly it will become bright over the whole earth–to the praise of God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May he send joyful hope and victorious confidence into our hearts even in the darkest days so we may wait through to the end and be saved at last.”And remember, I am with your always, to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)
The Savior’s being with us has reference to the end of the world, not to its continuance. All the days of the disciples of Jesus are workdays looking forward to the consummation of the kingdom of God, with which event the present futile world will come to an end.
In the special sense of our text, Jesus is not witha person who spends his days for the sole purpose of sustaining earthly life. The Lord does not wish to spend too much effort on the continuance of the world. After all, it is corruptible; there is nothing left to be done but to await the wearing out of the decaying structure and the creating of a new one.
For the time being, we must do the best we can with what we have, not being too frightened when at times things collapse under our feet. We are only being loosed from everything earthly. Never again will the disciples of Jesus be really comfortable; but in view of the end coming upon the world, we can bear that which is inconvenient. Even the last great tribulation can be borne easily in view of that end.
In all our work, then, let us be careful to fix our eyes, not on the continuance of the world, but on its end. Then the Lord will be with us always, and he will see us through our current needs as well.
CFBL 1:32-38 (#9). First part preached January 22, 1882, the second on January 3, 1882. Appeared as a unit in Briefblaetter aus Bad Boll, February 15, 1882, abridged.
E. Standing Before the Son of Man
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Then he told them a parable; “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” (Lk. 21:25-31
Nothing is more important than that we prepare ourselves to stand before the Son of Man. In answer to the question, “What should be a person’s prime concern in this life?” we say, “that he has a sure hope of eternal life.” Yet we interpret that answer to mean that, in this life, he has an attitude enabling him to stand before the Son of Man….
There is a question that strikes fear into our hearts; and every honest person will feel with me. It is this: Will I be able to stand before God? Will I be able to stand before the Savior? Many people who feel quite reassured because they attend church every Sunday and participate in religious activities–who pray even be reckoned among the most devout–would nevertheless be terrified if suddenly they should hear the thunder of the last judgment and witness the arrival of our God. They would then come to see their Christian cloak as a filthy garment. In order to stand before God, they would be forced to look to something very different from what they could muster in the way of piety and spirituality, even in the best sense of those words.
But, beloved, we should not let ourselves come to this terror, We who are disciples of Jesus are to take care of that terror beforehand, It is our responsibility to consider ourselves always as standing before the Son of Man, to examine ourselves as though now, in the next hour, heaven would open and the time of the end come. This should be our attitude; and in such an attitude we can experience in advance something of the appearance of Jesus Christ and the coming of God into the world….
In the midst of earthly existence, we are surrounded by the heavenly and the eternal, that which gives movement and life to our hearts and sets us, as it were, already halfway into heaven. While we carry on our earthly activities quite naturally and normally, our hearts can still be in the heavenly and have experiences there where our eternal home is. Such a time we would very much like to experience. We would particularly like to have it now as we observe Christendom deteriorating and becoming bound up in the temporal….
All we have had up to this point is on its last run downwards. Our theology is moving down with the rapidity of a lowering storm. Our ecclesiastical perceptions are rapidly becoming political perceptions. Our worship services are being accommodated to the world. And thus it is necessary that all that has been should cease, should come to its end, making room again for something new, namely, the kingdom of God.
And we have a certain right to expect this in our time. At least I would like to stand before you as a witness of the truth that we are living in a day when we can expect the end of that which has been and can hope for the new…. Together with those who belong to me and all those who wish to understand me, my one aim shall be to permit that which has been to die, to cease. Of course, this is to take place in spirit, not outwardly. God wants to introduce some new thing; and the Savior will be better able to live in us when we ourselves no longer want to amount to so much–when we acknowledge that in what has been until now there is much that is detrimental, much that his of the flesh, much human activity, although the intentions were good.
All of this must die; therefore, we now say: “Die, then Jesus will live.” As up to this point we have said, “Jesus is victor against the devil, against hell, and against death,” we now leave it all off to one side and say: “Enough of that; now another conflict must begin: Jesus is victor against the flesh.” So you may no longer expect me to grapple with the devil; it is no longer necessary, and I shall leave him aside….
It is more important that the Savior overcome us than that he continue to attack the devil. The devil is not so significant: we ourselves are much more truly the opposition to the kingdom of God. We who are in the flesh offer much more resistance to the kingdom of God than the devil does. Human self-will, earthly-mindedness, and greed; the will to power and the love of fame; human heroism which does not need God but in the strength of youth accomplishes what it chooses without consulting God–these overleap the commandments of God and prove more dangerous than the devil. If in our day we wish to fight as we ought, then we must turn against these foes.
You will understand, of course, that in this conflict one does not advance heroically, as one does in fighting the devil. Here one becomes weak. And here I need to become the weakest among you. Only in dying do I want to become the strongest among you–in self-accusation, in gladly taking the guilt of others upon myself, in willingly suffering in myself all the pain and the cares of others. In this, I want to be the strongest among you. But, beloved, I do not wish to do it alone…. Follow me into this much more difficult struggle in which we turn the sword upon ourselves…. We want to be those who are dying, because we know that very soon we must give account to the Lord for everything we have done….
Our joy shall be in God alone; his honor alone we wish to seek. Indeed, we seek. Indeed, we shall willingly be those who bear burdens, who suffer, who are feeble, if only through this we can serve God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our heart burns regarding the misery of the world, because, although God has given so much help, he has received very little more honor than if he had not helped at all. People have honored him very little more because of his wonders and signs, even though these have become so great that they are spoken of everywhere. Wherever you go in the world you can hear people talking about them; but God is not honored more now because of them than he was before he performed them…. Consequently, our heart burns for God’s honor, not for our flesh; for God’s health, not for our health; for the welfare of Christ in his church, not for our earthly well being; for the experiences of the Holy Spirit, not for the coziness of our Christian spirit….
We need to die to our own cause as well. There is to be no “Boll Christianity”; God preserve us from that! Insofar as such already has come to be, I declare it, too, to be flesh–and flesh is of no value. Indeed, it is precisely to the flesh that we want to die; we want to be nothing special. No Christian pride is to emerge, but rather a Christian nothingness. We want to become nothing. We as Christians do not amount to anything; only Jesus does. What greatness we have achieved to this point, and what prominence we have attained beyond others, may God take from us….
The times of the end are upon us. Our text says: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” And later it says: “Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away till all things have taken place.”
While, on the one hand, we are encouraged to die, we are exhorted, on the other hand, to raise our heads, because the end is already drawing near. Already the signs are noticeable in sun, moon, and stars. Already, although quietly and unobtrusively, the anxious fear of men and the collapse of human power is beginning. Already the powers of the heavens are trembling, and the coming of the Son of Man is being revealed in the clouds with great power and glory.
Of course, you are free to follow or not to follow me in this matter, but I owe it to you to say that, in recent times, the progress has been much more rapid than you perhaps suspect. I stand in the greatest expectation of things to come. Not to me only but to others as well, many signs are being revealed….
No one considers that God, too, should be in a position to do something occasionally; natural science so long since has come to understand everything! And yet science knows nothing, because in these matters it can explain nothing. Therefore, take note: no signs will ever be given except such as also have a natural appearance. The coming of the Savior in the clouds, even when it is visible, will be explained as a natural phenomenon. These signs, even when they are very near at hand, will not be revealed to the world as readily recognizable to everyone. Only when the trumpet sounds (which will be audible in the world) and quite extraordinary voices are heard, will men become aware; and then they will say: “Alas, why did we not pay attention earlier? We could have taken notice. The times have been changing. Human structures and national histories have altered. Things move so rapidly that one is hardly able to follow events. And now we finally recognize that, truly, God has done this. If we had only paid attention earlier!” That is how it will be, beloved!
Yet, by that time, the terrors of the end will have set in; only those who prepared themselves earlier will remain without fear. However, it is of great significance–even for those who enter into the terrors–that there exists a people which is not terrified; a people to whom the Savior can come quietly; people, although they are scattered over the world, through whom the Savior can open a door by which even the terrified nations can enter in, so far as they repent.
Believe it, friends, that “summer” is coming for everyone, not just for you. When these things take place, then great terror must come upon the whole earth, otherwise everything would continue in the self-same course. But, through the terror, the blossoming of the earth will occur, so that the world may take on a new character, tending toward summer, and so bear fruit for God the Creator. Thus the coming of the Savior unto those circles where his Coming is expected will be the beginning of the redemption of the world, the beginning of the salvation of a new people who will at that time repent in the last judgment. Ultimately, the purpose of Zion on earth is that all nations might enter into it.
Dear friends, accept this quite simply and as children, for many misconceptions regarding the last times are in circulation–and these can keep you from regarding the time as being near. It is precisely in Christian circles that there is much error regarding expectations of the end. Some people wait for the conversion of the Jews. By the time that takes place, the end will have long since come! Some wait for the Antichrist. When that occurs, God will long since have come. You reed not fear the Antichrist; you don’t have to stand before him; you must stand before God, and he may come sooner than you think. All these secondary matters, produced by human thinking, become obstructions for many Christians–to the point that they never honor God, never honor Christ, never honor the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, do not ponder so long upon these things; accept them simply as the Savior uttered them–because all will transpire differently from what we imagine. Those only are wise who prepare themselves to stand before the Son of Man. All other matters will take care of themselves; nothing can harm us. All the storms and all the devils may approach us–even the Antichrist may come as often as he will–nothing can harm us if we are in the Savior, if we are a Zion of God, if we have hearts that are capable of experience, if Christ lives in our hearts.
Antichrist cannot subdue Christ; and he cannot subdue me either, if Christ lives in me. But if Christ is not living in me, then, although I may be the cleverest theologian or the greatest of Christians, every fool can throw me; it wouldn’t take an Anti-Christ to accomplish that. Therefore, beloved, what is important is that we be able to stand before God. It is about this that we must concern ourselves; it is for this we must hope…. We should be able to observe how the day of the Lord makes its approach. The text says that, in observing it, it is as though you were to see summer coming. Just as, in the gardens and fields, one can observe the first blossoms opening, the trees beginning to bud, and the leaves emerging, so we are to be a people that experiences the summer of God–the rising of the Father, the light of the Savior, the radiance of the Holy Spirit, the glory of the Sabbath of God.
All this we are to experience; but we will have to be quiet so that the Savior can show it to us. There are plenty of inquisitive people who would like to know something very special; but God does not tell them anything. When we experience something, we must remain perfectly quiet and make no great commotion about it; we must not storm and shout and seek to convert everybody to it. Just let it all come into your heart!
God does not reveal anything to a person who will immediately shout it abroad. But if we become sensible and rate the kingdom of God higher than anything else, then a kingdom-year can come and we will experience it. Yet we must pray for it, too, standing before God quietly and unitedly; then it will come.
In the meantime, the signs are occurring, although much depends on our becoming persons who can sense the approach of summer. God can join himself to such people; they are utterly free from all that is in the world. You may be rich or poor, glad or sad; you may be in any situation you like; it is all secondary. Those who can observe and who are able to experience what they observe–they stand above the world. Of course, they live in the world and do business in the world; but the joy of their hearts is the experiences of the kingdom which are theirs. God is near, and the Spirit of God is near, and already the signs are present in which we can recognize the end. People may believe it or not; but the word must be said; and the Lord makes his word come true.
CFBL 2:74-86 (#6). From a stenographic copy; a sermon preached November 25, 1888, at the close of the church year. Highly condensed.
F. God So Loved the World
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (Jn. 3:16-21)
Actually, it is impossible to preach on this text; one can only repeat it. It is already as complete as possible a sermon upon what God is in the world, what he was, and what he will be in the world forever.
We human beings usually see only our own neighborhood, the area in which we live; and what we see there is darkness. Thus the perspectives of God are lost, and everything seems beyond help. It looks as though all is lost. And then a great sadness comes over people; they see only themselves. The sadness becomes indifference, the indifference turns to insolence, and out of insolence grows thoughtlessness. And thus we move farther and farther from God. Finally, the mass of humanity despairs of God and is hardly capable of thinking of him at all; they do not know anymore who God is. Despite all their best efforts, this humanity does not achieve a satisfying existence. One can offer them what one will, lay treasure and fortune at their feet; they devour them and remain as they were. That is the darkness.
Do not imagine that people in darkness can be helped through any earthly treasure or fortune. One can only intoxicate them with money and excite them with innovations. There is tremendous activity and struggle for life in the darkness. There always appears to be progress; yet, things always remain as they were. Finally, all the aspirations of people and all their works die again; it all turns into a heap of rubble. What is left of all the Egyptians who wished to eternalize themselves even in death? What is left of all the ancient nations that had such a tremendous life in the darkness? There is nothing but ruin.
Yet into this darkness in which men perceive the world from their own perspective and in which they carry on their affairs, God sends his Son and suddenly introduces a very different light, a different way of looking at things. We give up everything as lost; he simply gives up nothing as lost. God loves the world; and the world is his. Just because we have run around in the world foolishly for a time, that does not mean the world is lost.
What then is the world? We are in the world; but we are not the world. The world is the creation of God, full of life. In this creation of God all things live–even the stones are alive. Nothing is dead, everything grows, everything develops; and in everything there is the power of life derived from God, a power demonstrating itself in a million ways, unseen and yet perceptible. A great portion of mankind is sighing; indeed, the whole world in which we live sighs for God, has its life only from God–and we are part and parcel of this world.
And now God sends his Son into the world as a man, so that mankind might recognize his love for the world and might love the world, too. In particular, we are to love the world as God’s creation, not the world that the apostle speaks of when he says, “Do not love the world,” the world of sin. But what God created is loved by God; and it certainly is not given up merely because people become foolish and can no longer help themselves in the darkness.
God does not give up on the people, either–indeed, on the people least of all. They are to be the children of the Father in heaven; and, as the first among the living creatures, they are to mediate the light of God to the world, for the world is wretched as long as man is not prepared to carry the light of God into it.
Therefore, in the beginning, when man still belonged to God, there was paradise. When man was no longer God’s, paradise ceased. When Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world, there was paradise again. His coming constituted a new beginning; people drew life from the Creator again. In a very simple way, therefore, people who encountered Jesus could be filled with blessedness; they were revived inwardly and outwardly. He had words of life, so they were in paradise; for, where words of life are heard again, there is paradise. The world that is loved of God is our heaven–if we understand the love of God and receive it into ourselves.
Therefore, the first truth is this: The world, as God’s world, is not hated by Jesus, nor is it discarded or condemned or cursed by him, No; precisely as the man under commission by God, he must love the world–because God loved the world. When God sent his Son, he gave him the charge: “Love my beloved world, no matter what you may experience, even if you are crucified. It is not the world that does this to you but the poor people who do not understand. Therefore, do not be misled; love my beloved world! I created it; I am the Father of all that lives in it, and this fatherhood I will not surrender. Every living creature, everything that has breath, is mine; I have enclosed all these things in my heart, and there they will remain. Go, love the world: do not judge it. How it came to be in darkness is none of your business. You are my Son; be my Son, the Son of the Father who loves the world!”
Thus, the light has arisen, and we are to enter this light; then we will be filled with life together with the Son. Consequently, the world suddenly becomes good. To believe in the Son means nothing other than giving up the evil which has engulfed us until now and whose adherents we have become. It means Coming to the place where God is with his love, where Jesus is, the Son who is bearer and executor of nothing other than the love of God with which he loves the world.
Arise, then; be radiant and joyful; believe in his name; and then you are in the light and are saved. For this purpose the Son of God becomes mighty. In the love of God toward you as soon as you open your ears and say: “Praise and thanks be to God! God loves the world; now I too want to be filled with love toward all that lives. If Jesus, his Son, is only love, then I want to be only love as well. I am enabled to become a follower of this Son; therefore, together with him, I belong to God; I am loved and I love. And where love is, there is life; and where life is, there is the light of men.”
In this way men are to come out from judgment. Before this, they are under judgment; now one need not judge them, because they already are unhappy and feel rejected. One need not add to that. Oh, dear friends, do not make any person more evil than he does is! There has been enough of judgment. Some day it will become evident to what extent many disciples of Jesus have hurt the world, which already could have become aware that the love of God has come. But no, we feel we have to wait until people become sensible. People who already believe in Jesus throw one stone after another upon the poor world! In doing so, they ultimately condemn themselves again; and then they themselves cease to believe in the love of God–and thus the darkness has become thicker than it was before!
Therefore, we must begin anew; we must understand the love of God anew. But don’t waste time pondering it! Become children and accept it for what it is. Permit this love which has never yet been fully understood, permit this love with which God has loved the world, to dwell with you as the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit–the love of God for the world. This love is what flows from the Holy Spirit, this and nothing else. Do not believe that anything condemnatory is the Holy Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is love. It is the same Spirit that spoke in the midst of the darkness, “Let there be light!” Sin was there, too. It is the same Spirit that said, “Let the darkness be separated from the light!” and the world became new.
In the same way, the world as it is now will become new in Jesus Christ. Nothing else need take place except that the love of God penetrate into all things. The hatred that has entered into man must finally be eradicated. Believe in Jesus Christ, and do not hate! To believe in him means to love; and, in so doing, you are relatives and friends of the only begotten Son. When you are rooted in him, all melancholy is a thing of the past. All sin is removed, because through the love of God one has entered upon a new way, one has become a totally new person. What concern now is that dead past?
Whoever does not experience this remains in misery. Many try in their wretchedness to create some kind of religion to assure their happiness after death. Be happy in love right now, from this day forward, Begin to love! Love one another! Boll would become a paradise in one year’s time if everyone here had this love of God in his heart. This needs to be grasped. Receive the full love of God, and you will be separated from your sins. There is no longer anything that condemns, because you yourselves have left the old, have become new persons, new creatures. All things have become new!
We need not wait for some special event; there is enough of blessedness now, because the love of God is effective in creating blessedness. Much creative work takes place now, because the living word is present, reviving the person both inwardly and outwardly. Suddenly someone says, “I was dead and have become aliv again!” A sick person says, “I have become perfectly happy; I don’t know where my sickness went to!” One lying at the point of death breathes again and does not die; an insane person is cured.
Oh, you have no inkling how many creative works take place simply because of this love of God! People are planted upon new foundations for living, foundations that have been present all along, though unused. Everything necessary is present already; but it becomes effective only where Jesus is and where one understands the love of God in Jesus. There, all things come to life; and the more people come to understand this love, the better. Indeed, even animal and plants will become new when finally people come to understand this love.
My friends, this is the signal that God has given the world. Until today it has not been understood, and that is what required such long development. This is the judgment that in the face of the love of God the terrible misery and woe of mankind really comes to the surface. Through the Jesus who came to save sinners, all blessedness and all life have been laid at the feet of humanity. And now people run away. This is the judgment–this is the misery–that people love their present situation more than the light, because they are afraid that their present evil will become manifest.
You have no idea what a terrible hindrance this is, this which keeps sinners from exposing themselves. If only I could say to all of the very worst of people, “Surrender what you are concealing; do not be afraid!” Their works have been evil; and now they are afraid to come to the light, because they fear that Jesus will condemn them all the more severely. So they run away from the light.
No; out with that which is hidden! Out with the evil you have done! To the light with it! The light will not harm you; do not be afraid of the Father in heaven! Do not suppose that you will be saved because you say, “I have been good.” Our sins must be submitted to the love of God; we must become exposed for what we are. It is to this love that we reveal ourselves; and the love separates us from our sins.
Many people are robbed of their peace, because they are afraid that others will not like them anymore if all the evil comes out. But God likes you anyway, even if no human being does. People, of course, do get insulting when another person lets it all come out. Almost everybody steals and lies, but woe to the one in whom it is exposed! Everyone rails at him. But God does not behave in that way; he likes you anyway.
Our attitude toward people must change, my friends, or we will never experience the kingdom of God. With such hating and judging we frighten the noblest sinners away from the gates of the kingdom of God. Yes, there are actually the noblest of people among the sinners. Many a person is buried in the mud of sin and is yet the most brilliant gem. But God so loved that each person now may have the courage to say, “I am going to the Savior, too. I will take my lying to the Savior, and then I will become a new person. I want to become exposed so that all that is evil can be brought to the light. And there I will be loved; I will not be condemned.”
You must proclaim it; say it to yourselves and to others, “God will not condemn us! Come, let us be honest before the Father in heaven. Let us go to Jesus, to the one man who can love us. Let us become a church that has nothing but love!” Yes, we can bring things to this very point; even the evil we have done will be seen in a new light, in our understanding of the God who says: “Be at peace, my child. Even the evil that occurred was under my control. There is no thought now of your earlier presence among the pigs. My son was dead, and has come to life again.”
Now all is love, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That Spirit is the very simplest expression of what God is. Other spirits have sought to mingle with this one; and men have structured philosophies of the Spirit and supposed they were clever. Finally, they have tossed the whole gospel out of the window; so instead of the Holy Spirit they have spirits, instead of the gospel they have an almost fear-inspiring proclamation, and instead of a heart full of joy and power in the Father they have a melancholy heart. Rather than people being joyful as partakers of the love of God, they are sad. Thus the world and sin become greater and greater; and God becomes very small. Yet, in truth, our God is much greater than all sin and all the world. But his life must truly be in our hearts; and then it will become evident that Jesus Christ is the love of God.
CFBL 3:33-40 (#5). Preached on Pentecost Sunday, June 7, 1897.
G. Who Forgives All Your Inequity
Through this man Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him every one that believes is righteous. (Acts 13:38-39; from the German.)
This is the way of it! The Savior slips into us; and when anyone else wants to enter and demand a right to us, then he has to deal with the Savior. Our natural, sinful man is put behind; and the Savior steps forward and says, “What do you want? I stand security for this man. You have no more business here.”
Even if the person still has a sin, he no longer has to negotiate about it; that is now the Savior’s concern. And in this respect the person is righteous; no accuser can begin proceedings against him. Yet the Savior still negotiates with us regarding our sin. We must not be so stupid, as some evangelical Christians are, as to think that even God never deals with us regarding our sins. We are not righteous in the sense that God will no longer censure that which is sin, but rather in the sense that God now has us where he wants us, where he can do something with us. Yet, surely, he cannot leave us as the tramps we are.
It is here that we make a terrible blunder; and this is the glaring misunderstanding between the Evangelical and the Catholic Churches. One is as stupid as the other is. The fact of the matter is simply that God sees in us only the Savior. If the Savior can get into us, then we are righteous; but now God’s dealings with us begin. God demands from us a total believing, but no less a total effort. And these lazy Christians who run about thinking that no one will ask whether they are doing anything or not–they will run up against it! It would be well to take to heart all the seven virtues of the Catholic Church.
It is amazing how immorally pious we can be. Yet, if a person is excessively pious without having morals, he becomes a fool. When a person has entered into grace, the first requirement is that he get set properly and then consider what is right according to the gospel, that is, that he perform works. I can’t see why we should want to do away with works. For what purpose then do I have my faith? Surely that faith must prove itself in some way. “To believe” does not mean “to think.” Believing means being; and being means becoming. If I am good, then good will be produced. But faith is produced by God; and works are produced by God; and it is thus one becomes a true person.
Prior to this, a person already is righteous. In that his sins are forgiven through Jesus–but this in itself is the equivalent of God’s saying, “Give me that man; I’ll manage with him all right.” In this way the Savior stands up for us when, as a consequence of the preaching of the gospel, we are gripped by him, by his Spirit. This too must be correctly understood. The act of believing does not lie within our power, as if we could say, ‘Till now I didn’t want to believe; now I want to.” Hold on a minute! You will be told when you are to believe; you don’t simply come to the faith when you please. Faith is a gift and cannot be taken for yourself as you choose.
Of course, there are many people running about who think they have faith. They may have the language of Canaan; but they still do not believe. Often I prefer the unbeliever; at least he is honest. Faith comes out of preaching; preaching comes out of the Spirit; and the Spirit is God’s.
When the Savior comes down and gives himself as the one who liberates, who delivers us through the gospel, then man breathes this redemption-air and comes in confidence to that one through whom redemption comes. Therefore, the words, “Every one who believes in him is righteous,” are not meant to imply that a certain sovereignty has been given to man so that in his sins he is able to turn either to the devil or to the Savior. Rather, this is the meaning: he whom God sets within the sphere of the Savior so that he can recover his breath within the scope of redemption, this person recognizes that the help is coming to him from the Savior and consequently turns his eyes toward him. And it is this person who is saved. [It is not that he spied out a Savior for himself and chose him but that he recognized the rescuer who was at hand.] It is as though a man was drowning and then, in seeing someone on shore, is rescued.
This is faith, to have from the Savior the actual impression that he can help. Then one is saved; that is sufficient. That which we normally call “faith” is not enough. Many “believe” and yet do not have the impression that the Savior can help. And then, when they dispute against miracles, I think: “You surely don’t have much of a faith. Someday, when you are sitting in hell, you will notice how little you believed that the Savior is the mighty one.”
Your faith will not carry you from the earth by one hair’s breadth; but the Savior will, by his miracle-working hand. We must not give the honor to our faith: the Lord Jesus shall have the honor. When a community is based upon him, then it becomes a truly evangelical church. Praise God, we have a God who makes right those who believe in him.
CFBL 1:103-108 (#21). Published table talk of January 11, 1884 (the last half).
H. True Repentance
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and rewarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Lk. 18:9-14)
It is not exactly easy to preach on this text. It is, of course, a message announcing the kingdom of God that, upon becoming effective in the hearer, gives God an opening to reveal his righteousness and truth on earth. Yet there is a great danger that the hearers will take this very message of repentance out of the hands of the messenger and make of it what they choose.
Every person has a natural propensity for repentance. We thirst for it, as it were, and then seize upon it when and how we choose. Thus, that which should be our first step toward God, often becomes the means by which we are estranged from God. We practice repentance only in such a way as to justify ourselves, and thus repentance becomes arrogance.
There thus come to be two forms of arrogance on earth instead of only one. The one form of arrogance belongs to the world. As long as things are going well, the world exalts itself through its own accomplishments and claims a place alongside God. The other form shows up in devout people who have justified themselves through repentance–or suppose that they have justified themselves by worshiping God in their particular way. Thus a religious structure emerges which presumes to set itself up alongside God, or even against God, just as the worldly structures do. These religious forms of arrogance are the more dangerous because the sacred is involved in them….
We can see clearly how both sorts of arrogance showed up in the story of the Savior, how they gave him trouble in becoming the Savior he wanted to be. There were only few–very few–who were willing to give themselves up to him. Worldly arrogance–represented by King Herod and others–as it encountered Christ, obviously could not give itself up. These people wanted to profit from the Savior: he was to be good for them, he was to contribute to them; but they didn’t want to give anything to him, they did not wish to give themselves up.
Yet the other side acted no differently, the devout of the land, the Pharisees, those in whom resided the actual strength of Israel, those through whom the Bible had come to the people, those who were the guardians of morality. They wanted a prophet; but when a prophet came, they did not want to give themselves up to him. They wanted to remain what they were; and God was supposed to serve them just as they were. That is how it was in those times, and the apostles later had to struggle against the same thing in the early church. People again used repentance and faith to fabricate a religion that took the ground right out from under God’s feet.
And what shall I say about how it is today? … In our day human society in general has attained tremendous proficiency. It creates conditions and arrangements without the need of any help from God. In trade and traffic, which have been promoted by machines of all kinds, in human employment as it has been arranged and is in progress everywhere, one does not require God. On the thoroughfare of life one needs steam engines and machines and the like; nothing else is necessary. One does not need God as a power.
This character, more than anything else, makes our age what it is. And in this age in which everything is moving forward with such human proficiency, there must at some point be a people who cry out: “Halt! Halt! It must not be like this! God be merciful to me a sinner!” Our religion, our Christianity, our church, our best arrangements, our progress in culture, our social life, all these together must teach us to cry: “God be merciful to me a sinner!” That is the opening for the kingdom of God.
It takes courage to become quiet and to contemplate these things a little, to force them out of human hands so that one can come to faith again and stand as a poor person before God, acknowledging the truth that all this splendid life is of no use regarding that which is most important. Indeed, human proficiency ultimately leads to an end which must be called “destruction”–unless new powers enter into the process, powers of God, the rule of God wherein Christ can reign and be victorious, living and bringing into being what God wills rather than what man wills.
Will we achieve this? I hope so. Therefore, I present my old slogan again and will keep saying it until somebody understands: “Die, then Jesus will live!”
Perhaps you understand a little now what I mean by dying: surrender! When you die physically you must surrender your best, your body; and that is difficult to do, is it not? Why is it you must surrender it? Because, as it now is, it cannot live. In its present condition it is destroyed; one cannot make any eternal use of it.
At some point, every person inevitably has the feeling that he cannot continue any longer. And as painful and as unnatural as the surrender of the body is, one finally longs for it. It is similar with our inner being. Therefore, when he appears among us, the Savior says, “Give me your best! In me, die to your best, because, as you have it today, it serves no good purpose. You must take it out of your hand and put it into mine.”
Do you willingly surrender that which you have created and which is your own, so that you offer yourself completely to God as Christ offered himself to God on the cross and placed everything into God’s hand? Can you surrender like that?
In our day, God wants us no longer to be proud toward others; rather, we are to be humble, as was the tax collector of our scripture. We are in need of a justification before God; we do not need any sort of self-justification! All these books and sermons which praise us as world reformers do us no good. But when we stand as poor sinners and say, “Father in heaven, we have lost out; our cause is done for. Everything we have is so saturated with the human, has taken such wrong rejections, and even has so much blasphemy in it, that we give everything back to you. Here we stand; God be merciful to us sinners,” … then to us the Savior must say, “It is your fault that I am being blasphemed among the people, because what you Christians have is not what I brought. You have built your church exactly as you wanted it.” Today matters are such that God must adjust himself to every person’s ideas. Whatever way a person may choose to practice his piety, God must submit to it. In each church he must don a different cloak, so to speak, a cut that we prescribe for him. This we must acknowledge as our guilt–and thus will we become sinners who can be justified….
It is not this: Make yourselves great, then you will be proclaiming the Savior to the world. No, no, you pitiful man, die in the blood of Jesus Christ; be humble before all people and especially before God; renounce all arrogance; give yourself over to the hope that you will indeed conquer.
However, it is not you who conquers! The only Conqueror in the world is Jesus Christ. We must make way for him; in him we must live and move and have our being. We must stand up for him in repentance, crushed in our own being, sacrificing all that is our own, even the very best that we have. To submit ourselves to him body and soul, with nothing of self remaining–that will assist him to conquer. Truly, dear friends, he is the real Conqueror! Praise God, we know it! He is alive; we know it! The kingdom of God is in his hand; we know it!
CFBL, 2:279-88 (#38). From a stenographic copy; a sermon preached August 9, 1891. Very much condensed.
I. The Poor
The Lord does not forget the cry of the poor. (Ps. 9:12b; from the German.)
It is a good thing that we have the privilege of being poor. We do not have in mind only the poverty of not knowing how we will be able to make ends meet. That, of course, is a part of it; but it is only secondary. Our truer poverty lies in our effort to achieve what God has in mind for us; it is there that we are indeed most poor.
Many people put all their effort into nonessentials. They concern themselves with things near at hand, seeking to make their own way and arrive at human joy: “Let us eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we die!” It is this situation the Bible calls “being rich.” These people, of course, are as poor as anyone is. Yet, at least superficially, they are known as rich. In their relation to God, they act as though they are rich. They gobble down every sweet that comes to hand; and when God comes with his nourishment, they are already satisfied; they turn their backs and want nothing.
Strangely enough, it is these poorest of the poor who are called rich; and it is another group who is known as poor. These others have their minds set on something better, something higher; and in their striving they have concluded that ultimately man can be helped only by God himself. When a person arrives at this realization, he has made himself an utter pauper. No self-help here! If everything depends upon God, then it simply does not depend upon us. And the more a person becomes aware that things do not depend upon himself but upon God, the poorer he becomes. And thus the word becomes true: “Blessed are the poor, the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
It is the cry of these poor ones that the Lord does not forget; these are in fact his people on earth. It is their vocation, so to speak, to receive God and not let themselves be satisfied with anything else. A person in this position is truly poor, because now he has no means of help unless God stands by him. What now are wealth and praise and honor–even health and life? What are these if we have not the person of God as our treasure? All else is worthless. Now one is beggarly poor–and yet rich.
At present, after the world has struggled for thousands of years to become rich, it is not easy to let oneself be numbered among the poor. Yet God always sees to it that there are poor people; and that is of benefit to the development of the kingdom of God. When God finds a noble soul, he creates the circumstances of life that will prevent him from becoming rich. This person does not triumph even in spiritual matters; he cannot say, “I have everything; I know everything.”
It follows that someone who is weighed down with a particular burden, who cannot seem to find inner rest, of whom cheerfulness and laughter are not companions–he nevertheless can be quite content. God may be doing a work with him so that he can join the ranks of the poor; his cry may be essential in God’s finding a point of contact with mankind. For such a person things often are hard, especially in regard to other people who apparently are doing well. He would like to cry out: “Am I to live in misery, to be counted of no worth among men, to be embarrassed? Am I to be weeping while others make merry?” Why does God not give me freedom and make me strong?” Indeed, the whole world conspires to convince him that he is a fool if he does not have the same aspirations as others….
So it is no simple and easy matter to be one of the poor and the grieving–and yet this is the very best of situations for us human creatures at the present time. There are today swarms of superficial Christians who wish only to live always on the heights, to feel blessed; but they can’t bring it off. Their high lasts only for a time, like intoxication. A person can intoxicate himself; he can become intoxicated with the Bible, or with religious practices; he can get himself increasingly impassioned over something and then find that it amounts to nothing at all. None of these things endure.
On the other hand, if people are poor and intent upon complaining about it, we must tell them: “Be content; thank God that you do not belong to the rich, that you are one who has good reason to sigh! Or have you it in mind to forget about God, too? Do your sighing in faith, and then you are rich, even when you have cause to sigh.”
It is essential that there be people who cry out as though there were no God in the world. Of course, he is in the world; but most people are totally separated from him. They go their own ways; and on those ways they go to ruin. They carry on all manner of activities that spell godlessness; and thus mankind makes it appear that there is no God in heaven able to work effectively on earth.
Under these circumstances a person certainly has the right to cry out, because a jolly Christianity is the greatest possible folly in a world where millions of brothers and sisters are brought to ruin daily; where murder and killings and deception and cruelty and envy and greed and passion destroy everything; where nations strike out to destroy one another; where people work each other’s destruction; where all is dark. In such a world, the cry may well be a vehement one, even to the point of accusing God, “Why have you forsaken us?”
To say that in the right spirit certainly is not unbelief; it is rather a suffering with the world–the world that is, in fact, forsaken by God. Although God loves the world, the world truly is removed from him. And when the poor, amidst everything they already have, yet in faith come to be hungry–when they hunger for the nearness of God, hunger for the appearing of the Savior in the final resurrection, hunger for the Holy Spirit who is to be our teacher and guide, hunger precisely for these things of God–then they do not commit sin as they cry out.
Even if I possess something that can satisfy me personally but still have this hunger, then I belong to the poor. Nor can it be held against me when I cry out, because the poverty of the world is so great and the general deprivation of mankind is so pressing. Thus the most gifted people, those most richly endowed, can truly come to be reckoned among the poor. The Savior himself joined the poor; and certainly he was rich with the gifts of God. Yet ultimately he was the poorest of the poor and was forced to cry out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
In this cry lies our way to God and God’s way to us. But as long as we still have some little resource of our own which, under the circumstances, can satisfy us, then we do not break through to the kingdom of heaven, to the power of the kingdom of heaven which is required for the overcoming of the world. A little bit of the kingdom of heaven will not overcome the world. A merely general providence over mankind will not overcome the world. No, it is through the poor that the perfect and total rule of God must be drawn into the world in order to overcome it….
So, we must be poor, because it is precisely through our poverty that we are rich. We, apparently unfortunate, are yet in fact richly blessed, because the influence of the poor of the world is greater in its effect than the influence of the greatest kings and emperors. It is precisely through these poor that God’s own kingship is drawn to earth.
CFBL, 3:130-37 (#19). Table talk of April 25, 1898 (first half).
J. God’s Sheep
As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. (Ezek. 34:12)
Expressions similar to this one from Ezekiel appear frequently in the Holy Scripture; and these words contain the great thought of God that must be heard and understood among men. The thought of God always is this: No one is to remain lost. God regards everything that we would call lost as his possession.
With Abraham and even earlier, nothing was ever given up. It is not as though God settled for Abraham when Abraham believed in him. Certainly not! Always, God sees beyond Abraham–and at Abraham’s expense! Abraham is not to gain at the expense of the world; but Abraham is to suffer for the benefit of the world. At Abraham’s expense, God looks toward all the generations of earth. Israel is called, not that God might have a people in whom he can take pleasure, but that through this people he might reach the nations, the masses of mankind which are his sheep. At Israel’s expense, God goes out to the nations, And in this same great thought of God, Jesus Christ enters the world, coming into the flesh. It is not that God will settle for a dear Son and a few disciples serving him, No, at the expense of Jesus and his disciples, God is again looking to the nations, Jesus himself says: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also….” [Jn. 10:16]. At Jesus’ expense, God is going out to the nations; at the church’s expense, the world is to be blessed.
In this economy of the kingdom of God it becomes dear what our calling is if we, like Abraham and the prophets, wish to be servants of God in Jesus Christ, to be light in the world. God does not clothe his beloved Christians in velvet and silk and make them blessed in preference to other people; rather, at the expense of his disciples, God wants to make others blessed. We must submit ourselves to God so that we can be, so to speak, God’s reserve forces when he goes out to look for his sheep. We must stand as pillars; and, as with our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, we must not falter or waver when, at our expense, God moves out to the nations, to the lost and neglected.
This solidity must be evident in the genuine disciples of Jesus if God is to depend upon them. But such firmness is rare, because we pillars wobble when the demand is made of us: “Give up your body and your life, your possessions and blood, for this cause of God. Do not seek your own interests; but consider, rather, that you will be last to receive the benefits, Only when the others have received the blessing will you receive it.”
We who, in Jesus, constitute a people of God must not seek rest until God has found rest, until the lost have been found. You understand now why the work of God does not progress as rapidly as it might; there are not enough people at whose expense God can operate. Man’s egoism is too great; and this egoism has corrupted our very faith in God. People seek their own interests in God and thereby lose the character of the fighter and the pillar. They waver; and God has, so to speak, no support.
They waver in a twofold way. They waver in the sense of murmuring when things go ill with them, when it is demanded that they give up their life so that the love of God can reach others, when they are to become a sacrifice for the cause of God. They do not understand what it means to die in the name of God, for the victory of the kingdom of God. It often seems strange to me that people do not understand this. They gladly die for their fatherland; why then do Christians not want to die for their own cause, for the will of God, for the Father of nations? If men of the world can die for their fatherland, why can we not die for the Father? I have often wondered why it is precisely the Christians who become the most egoistic of people.
On grounds of the blood of Jesus Christ, people boast of their own salvation. This is bad! If the blood of Jesus Christ is upon you, then you can claim nothing other than that your life belongs to God and that the lost are to be saved at your expense.
The blood of Jesus Christ means that it will cost us our life that the kingdom of God might come. We must not waver–we must not even blink our eyes–when we suffer some loss because of our commitment to the kingdom–even if this means total loss and the giving up of life itself.
But people who should be pillars waver also for another reason: they do not love. They are asked to allow others to share their place with them, and this annoys them; they cannot imagine that someone else is to be their equal. They pass sentence and condemn; they judge and decree condemnation for the world, which they regard as odious…. One must have a certain reputation, a certain status in the world, a certain rank, in order to be recognized. We are always intent upon surrounding ourselves with those who have this recognition. We never get near those who are rejected; we ignore them, they are of little concern to us….
Yet neither sin nor devil nor hell carries weight; only man has value. Why, then, do you who are devout condemn the others? Why do you make it difficult for them? Why do you deny them consideration and love? I am afraid our religious societies will never learn what it means to love as God, in his Son, loved the world. We always assume that we have come to God for our own sake; religious people assume that they must eternally be regarded as the honored ones. Nevertheless, it just possibly could be that the spirits that now are exalted will experience wailing and gnashing of teeth and that those who now are despised by them will experience joy and bliss….
Of course, it is not we who can get to the lost ones; we cannot seek them. Let no pastor or missionary imagine that he can; we are not commissioned to do that. There is only one shepherd who can seek the lost, and that is Jesus–and the will of God within him. But we are to constitute God’s reserve forces on earth, and in this way he must be able to reach them…. We cannot seek; we can only walk among men as those who yield body and life in the service of this will of God that does seek the lost. So don’t try so much to change people! You are always working to convert them according to your pattern, to drive them into your institutions; and there they are to be sheep who jump to your whip. Do not work so much; but be pillars that do not waver when God is getting to the lost….
I believe that Jesus Christ will come, not from heaven as we suppose, but from his haven. The Savior’s heaven is there where God has his throne; and his throne is not only in heaven but, as it is written, with the destitute and broken. It is from this heaven Jesus will come, from this heaven where millions of people sigh and groan in their distress. And that is my heaven, too. I decline your heaven of bliss; I do not want to enter there. The heaven into which I want to enter, the heaven of my Jesus, is where he gives his blood and life that men may receive help–there where the apparently godless are, the apparently rejected and unbelieving. This is the heaven of Jesus Christ.
It will come as the greatest of surprises when one day the word will be heard: “These were my lowliest ones, and you did not feed them!” Why did you not feed them? We thought they were devils! “They were in prison, and you did not visit them!” Why did you not visit them? We thought they were devils! Now they are the lowly ones of God who are languishing in misery; and I say: There is the heaven of Jesus Christ, there is the God who leaves the ninety-nine righteous ones in the wilderness and seeks the lost sheep.
CFBL, 3:315-22 (#46). Published table talk of June 10, 1899, abridged.
K. Zion the Mountain of Peace
In the days to come
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
and many nations shall come and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more; (Mic. 4:1-3)
“What is the point of origin for God’s supervision of the nations?” We answer: The existence of Zion, the mountain of peace, is the basis of all God’s decisions in world history. Not for their own sake, but for the sake of Zion, nations must fall and rise again. “I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life” (Isa. 43:4), God says with reference to the continuance of his Mount Zion.
What then is Zion on earth? We say concisely: Zion is the Savior, Jesus Christ, and what belongs to him. With him is bound up a history on earth in which, in ever widening circles, individual people, whole nations, and ultimately the whole world shall be caught up. The goal of this history is a kingdom of peace based on a new world order. All of God’s utterances through the prophets tell us this. Likewise, all the verdicts of God are manifested in judgment and grace, because, in consequence of these, all nations shall come and worship God (Rev. 15:1).
The faith that this mountain of peace has its triumphal history in Jesus, to the honor of God the Father; and the assurance that, in the interests of total victory, God the Almighty governs not only the church of Christ but all nations as well–these make us happy and confident and allow our hearts to become wide, since through these we become emancipated from paltry jealousy against each other.
Before God, all nations have equal worth; yet, in the course of time, those people are blessed who enter into God’s plans with a self-denying love that seeks the good of all nations. The history of Zion, this mountain of peace, is not open for all to see, as is the transitory history of a nation. The stirrings of God’s kingdom-history originate in eternity and reach the nations in a variety of juridical sentences; but people seldom see the connection between their moment of history and the sovereign rule of the King of Kings. Yet the person who believes does perceive something of this connection and trembles with longing for progress in the history of Mount Zion.
The word of God which we have in our text intensifies this longing to no end, because it predicts a time when that history no longer will be concealed–when it will be openly manifest before all eyes that Mount Zion (or, let us now say, Jesus and his judgments) alone is immutable and thus can alone be regarded as the highest good and most desirable goal in all the world.
When God’s rule in Christ breaks through into the world, and when the new law of life embodied in Christ becomes dominant, then we shall see the salvation of all creation. In him, all things have life; and that which has died we shall see return to life. In him, too, we shall see the removal of all the evil from among the nations. His disciples experience something of these realities even now. What will it be when the nations acknowledge them?
No wonder our text speaks with excitement: “And they shall come and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that he may teach us his ways.” Here the promise is given that Zion’s salvation shall become known to the nations. It is not that God shall seek them; rather, they shall seek God on this Zion, in the name of the Lord Jesus. It will become clear to them that, from here, laws are issued which man needs in order to live, that here is to be found the life-giving word of God which can create a new birth.
When, in coming to the knowledge of Mount Zion, the nations renounce their old ways in order to gain something new, the result will be the beginning of a great age of peace, a rapid transition to a new life upon a new earth under a new heaven. All this, God will accomplish through Mount Zion. Peoples and nations will come under the judgment of Jesus Christ; and he it will be who, in the end, will compel the hearts of the nations. He will do so with a strong hand and stern righteousness although without forgetting his primary work of reconciliation. What shall be well forgotten are the deeds of the murderer and the liar and the long centuries of bloodletting. We shall recognize one another as God’s people, who are called to works of peace, who, together, can again become the crown of creation through our head, Jesus Christ.
As we remember, let us always do so with a view to this great goal of Zion, the mountain of peace, loftier than all the mountains of the world.
L. The Righteousness of God
The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. (Rom. 3:22)
This is a verse that has become utterly distorted in translation. There is no “righteousness before God” in the sense that the righteousness that I acquire through faith has validity before God. Rather, the Bible always says, as it does here, that God’s righteousness has been revealed through faith in Jesus Christ for all that believe. That is something very different.
I am not to inquire subjectively whether I will be justified before God. I am to ask how God’s righteousness may come upon me–objectively. Open your ears–I’ll say it again. We are not to ask, “Will I be justified before God?” but rather, “How do I attain the righteousness of God?” The Bible never says, “The righteousness which is valid before God.” Luther translated it that way because he had an erroneous idea in his head, and so the Bible had to submit.
The Bible always says “God’s righteousness”; and this is achieved through faith, not through the law. Legalism does not achieve God’s rightness and truth; but our conduct in faith toward God brings us God’s righteousness. The world cannot of itself attain this; and you cannot attain it, either. All your effort is in vain. You may struggle all your life to do everything to a “T.” You may be as brave and as good as you like. You may found a society which is smooth as a mirror, where people hardly laugh anymore, let alone dance and frequent the bar, and where the daily activity is only rising, praying, working, praying, eating, praying, sleeping, praying. Go ahead and create such a society; the world will not be helped thereby. All your effort to be righteous before God is nothing but a waste of time.
Are you sure that it is not occasionally the righteousness of God to dance? If it pleases God that you dance once in a while, why don’t you dance then? Did not David have to dance once for the sake of God? “But I don’t approve,” you say. Their legalism rises against righteousness, and legalism strikes the deathblow.
Can the righteousness of God still get a hearing in the churches today? No, the righteousness of God has to adjust itself to the church’s legalism. We stray into superstition and bad habits, because we seek out righteousness before God; and that is wrong. You are not to be righteous; God wants to be righteous. You are not to seek what would be your own righteousness. You can’t succeed; that doesn’t amount to anything. What do you think you can do that would in any way honor God? Your concern should be that God’s righteousness enters the world.
This can happen when you offer yourself to Christ and say, “It is not I who live; Christ is to live; the righteousness of God comes through him.” And God’s righteousness can be revealed in you just as you are. You can exemplify the righteousness of God even while you are sick; therefore, rejoice! You can exemplify the righteousness of God while you are in temptation and distress; therefore, rejoice! God wants only for you to allow him to be at work in his righteousness.
There is a purpose of God in our having to endure struggle. It makes no difference if we feel ourselves to be sinners, as long as we know that God is dealing with us as he chooses. We must not seek ourselves and our righteousness; we must seek to have God enter into the world with his righteousness. And when he says that, with his coming, we will see ourselves all the more as sinners, then we must rejoice and gladly acknowledge ourselves to be such, if only God comes with his light. Though I may be black as coal, yet I know that, when the light of the righteousness of God comes, I may well be burned but I nevertheless will arise anew in the righteousness of God.
Yet this objectivity has been utterly lost in Christianity. “I want to stand before God–I, I, I!” Oh, you poor man, don’t worry about your standing before God; but see to it that God and his righteousness can get to you whether you stand or not! And if he must strike you down, rejoice, because you will rise again afterwards. But your first concern should be not that you gain something but that God does….
Submit yourself so that the righteousness of God can jolt and shake you. Do not seek to be reckoned righteous; that would be at least partially deception, as though God were to say: “It doesn’t matter even if you are not properly clean; I won’t look too carefully. Just believe that you are credited with being righteous.” No, the righteousness of God must get into the world in an honest fashion; otherwise all Christianity is useless!
What kind of a world do we have? A Christian world? Yes, but one full of unrighteousness! Yet God wants to dwell with us; he wants us to make a way so that he personally can rule in every heart. For this reason Jesus died and has said, “Die with me so that our God may come, so that his righteousness may come upon earth.” Rejoice, then, when everything is destroyed. When body and soul suffer pain and are in trouble, rejoice! The righteousness of God must be revealed in all flesh.
But when that which Godcalls “righteous” is revealed, then you will be surprised. We don’t anymore know what is right and pleasing to God. Actually, only one thing pleases him–and that is when he sees that I am not pleased with myself, when I say that I, with all my house, want to be broken in pieces because no part of me is wholly right. This attitude alone sustains me! In nothing that we carry on here–whether eating and drinking, sleeping or working–is there yet righteousness. We still can’t do anything right. We still have not been able enough to make a way for God; and, consequently, we are perplexed in many matters.
And yet, finally, the world must be saved through righteousness and judgment. So we must crucify ourselves and exert effort; and perhaps then God’s righteousness will yet be revealed–whether in judgment or in kindness, either way will suit me fine. We dare not stand up to face the nations before this righteousness has been established. A preaching of the gospel behind which there is nothing but unrighteousness has very little value.
We don’t even know, for example, whether God approves our sitting in church. When you have worked all week and are tired, then, under certain circumstances, it may be right for you to stay in bed–and it may be a disgrace to God when you place your broken body on the hard church pew. God wants to lead us according to the truth of life; and he may despise our best because there is falsehood in it. He may indeed say, “Get away from me with your bawling; seek righteousness and not legalism.”
It is terribly discouraging that one little word could have caused such confusion for centuries. Because Luther said, “I seek my righteousness in faith,” the entire Lutheran Church has adopted a wrong course. I do not want to force this idea onto people; they wouldn’t understand it anyway. But I, personally, want to make an about-face; and I hope that, if I accomplish it, God can deal with me in such way that something comes out of it that will serve others as well.
We must sacrifice ourselves for the righteousness of God. Forget about yourself. Don’t always seek to be right in yourself; pray only that God may come. He will jolt you, of course; and the deepest motives of your being will be exposed; and these things cannot occur without much bitter pain. But let us rejoice even when the way leads through the severest judgments. Let us rejoice in the judgments, because we do not want to become happy with our sins, but we want God to rejoice in his creation; and we do not wish to stand between him and his creation any longer. Only in this way do we serve God aright; and then he can use us once more.
CFBL, 2:434-38 (#57). From a stenographic copy; table talk of September 28, 1893, slightly condensed.
M. Wonders
In your majesty ride on victoriously
For the cause of truth and to defend the right;
And let your right hand perform wonders.
(Ps. 45.4-second part from the German)
This we know for certain: if the Lord once should draw the line in this world according to truth and right, then wonders would have to come crashing in upon one another, because at the same time, that which has become crooked would have to be broken and straightened out. Things will not straighten out on their own They have become so accustomed to being crooked that they will have to be broken, as when a doctor breaks a limb that has grown crooked in order to straighten it out. The doctor is harsh and must use force; but when God rides forth for the cause of truth, things go more easily, because he does not use force; he uses wonders. He enables things to become normal again, so that the perverted is made right and the crooked straight–and, with that, a “wonder” has occurred.
These wonders of God always come in connection with truth, in connection with the right. Consequently, they are never marvels that astound and leave us confused as to what their meaning might be. Always light is produced; always things make sense; always the event has moral value. Therefore, we do not really have to beg for wonders; we need simply pray: “Dear God, be so kind as to draw the line according to truth in our house!
Work according to the right among us, that is, in the hearts that are here. Dispense with ceremonies, and move straight ahead!”
Then there will be no lack of wonders. Wherever it is needed, things will be made right; and there will not be cause for a great Commotion about it. If difficult matters present themselves, or if you get into a very perplexing situation and don’t know which way to turn, don’t just catch hold of the situation at the point where its awkwardness is apparent and seek to heal it from there. That awkwardness one must bear and suffer. But look behind, where something is not right, and say to God, “Make that right! Here is something of falsehood, and there; I can’t remove it; you will have to do it! ” Then the wounds will heal; and the awkwardness on the outward side of life will fail away when inwardly matters are established according to the truth.
We have no inkling of how much falsehood there is inside man, how much self-deception, how much self-conceit, how much ill will, how many deaf ears. And all this can be so cunningly hidden, while outwardly one appears quite polished. A whole society can appear to be very elegant, while underneath it amounts to nothing. This is the cause of many maladies, because one trouble leads to others. Physical deformity is a result of the deformity and distortion in the inner part of mankind and of the individual. Of course, it is not as though the distress of the individual–say, his physical illness–is necessarily the direct result of his own inner perversion. No, everything is intertwined. We are like a chain in which the corporate deformity produces its fruits right along with those of individual deformity, to the point that we cannot determine from where this or that stems. We can only say that, in general, if things were operating closer to truth and right, matters would be very different. Therefore, we don’t pray, “Do wonders!” but rather, “Let truth prevail! Let things be broken so that they can be set right!” Ask this, and we don’t need to concern ourselves about the rest.
This verse is a real encouragement for me, because recently I have had great trouble concerning the wonders being performed nowadays, Often I am asked what one should make of them. Through Spiritism, Magnetism, and the like, men perform the greatest wonders, healing everything. And the whole business is Christian! They say:
We all believe in one true God,
Jew, Christian, Turk, and Hottentot.
There are stories, too, of the immediate effectiveness of the laying on of hands. People are struck with astonishment. Yet these all are oddities and not wonders; they are not bound up with some truth. Assume for the moment that one of these people were able to heal all the sick at one blow; what would we have gained? Then we could jump about for a little while, until we got sick again! Beyond that, nothing would have been achieved.
I am saying this only to make you cautious. God shall perform wonders, true–yet only if they grow from the setting right of the inner man. There must be a basis, a kingdom-basis, from which we are illumined and renewed in our godly aspects. It is there that the wonders shall take place; and then we can shout for joy when outward things become right because of what has happened inside.
However, then the significance of outward wonders diminishes; one does not speak so much of the healing of the body. This wanting to heal from the outside inwards makes me very suspicious of all such phenomena; and I would like to draw your attention to it. Spiritism can cure; Magnetism can cure; sorcery can cure; and now prayer can cure, too–everything can cure. Everyone wants help in the area of medicine. Yet they want only to be healed; they have no interest in God! And it is strange that, in these stories of healing, it always is added, “So and so many doctors have confirmed it!”–as though it were necessary for the doctors to confirm God!
I am quick to say for the sake of our house: I am sorry that we have acquired a reputation of healing and have been placed on a plane with so-called Prayer-Cure Institutions. Yet anyone who has been with us for a while must certainly be aware that this is not what we are after. I do not want to see a single miracle performed upon anyone that is not the consequence of the inner righting of that person. I would be afraid for the person who got well so quickly. He would deceive himself if he supposed that he was something now that his little finger had been healed. He would be spiritually deceived!
“Therefore, O Lord, ride forth for the cause of truth! Make hearts right! Let the inner man become something genuine and proper!” And then what can and must take place in the outward man will happen of itself.
CFBL, 1:230-33 (#46). First part of the table talk of January 30, 1886; published. Abridged.
N. Nevertheless I Will Hold to Thee
Nevertheless I will hold to thee;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me with honor.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
and there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Ps. 73:23-26. First line from the German)
The subject of this passage is God, whom very few people understand. When we read such words, we must consider how the psalmist was able to say: “Nevertheless I will hold to thee.”
In what way do I havehim? Is God something one can grasp? Can one lay hold of him with the hands? If a strong man is standing at my side and I am in danger of falling, I hold on to him: then I can say: “If only I have you. then I will not fall.” But what then is God?
In our misery we have made it a habit to say, “God! God! God!” But with very few people is there any substance behind the cry, because, when God does something rather different from what they expected, they fall anyway and remain down until some other person comes and helps them up. Thus there is a whole flood of terminology with which these people satisfy themselves, because it is part of social etiquette in our day to be just a little pious. But when life comes to the point where “their flesh and their heart may fail,” then they despair: “No, I cannot bear to have my soul fail, or I am undone!”
Or if heaven and earth tremble, if my fate on earth becomes uncomfortable or difficult, brings conflict or heartache, then to what shall I hold? Where is my God then?
When we read the scriptures, we are always amazed at how firm a stand those people were able to take. We must consider, however, that in Israel they did not speak of God in the giddy way we do. When they spoke of God they thought of him in relation to something, something established upon earth; and it was to that they fastened themselves. When, therefore, the author of this psalm said, “Nevertheless I will hold to thee always! … If I have only thee! … Thou art my God!” he was thinking of something he had experienced–and that was God. Consequently, the Israelites called God “Yahweh”–meaning “he who has so given himself as to be experienced,” he of whom it can be said: “There he is! Lay hold of him!” That is what the word “Yahweh” means: “There he is!” And with him I will remain, where he is.
And where was he? He was with Abraham and began something there. He was with Isaac and continued there. He was with Jacob and made further progress there. He was with Joseph, with Moses, and there proved himself the one who acts, out of whose deeds a people emerged, a people presenting itself time and again as a savedpeople.
Following these accomplished deeds, the promises of God appeared. As he has done once, so he will do again. And his history is eternal, for God is with us. He has begun a work; and he will bring it to completion!
Thus the biblical people reminded themselves of the history that lay behind them–not merely their national history, but also the life-history that lay behind each one. Their personal history fell into place as a part of world history, as part of their national history. Read the hymn of praise that Mary sang, or the thanksgiving hymn of Hannah or Deborah, or the many psalms that people of this sort sang. All of them were people of the world who in their own lot were experiencing the great story of God in the world.
At times things went against them, and it seemed as though they had fallen prey to destruction; but then they rose, and there they were again! In this up-and-down of events, of individual fortunes and those of the nation, they observed God; they saw how God steps in to act. Out of these many experiences an image of God was formed in the hearts and emotions of the Israelites. They never philosophized about God as we do; a Jew would have been ashamed to do that!
But we have carried on for thousands of years now–and one stupidity follows another. We lose the vision of what God already is in us and what of him already has become history in us–and then we are unable to endure hardship. Poor rogues that we are, we immediately suffer defeat and give up in despair:
“Where then is God?” We see only outward things; and according to how these affairs are going, we are either contented or we are not. And thus God, the living God, the God who reveals himself, of whom one can say, “There he is!” does not acquire a people; and man loses the ground under his feet….
We must come to the point where we can experience God again and in that experience have fellowship with him. I am not talking about any sort of theology; something much more real than words must enter our being! There must be deeds! Deeds are true, and on them one can stand secure. By them, we regularly can observe, in our own lives or in the lives of others, that God has begun a work! … We must have in mind something specific. Thus, we keep insisting that something be experienced. You must consider talk as something quite secondary. Others may instruct all they wish; we want experience. And, praise God, not only do we want it, but we actually get it.
Frequently I experience something, so that, in my room, I am compelled to fall down on my face in thankfulness and worship before God and say, “Praise and thanks be to God, that person is now saved for eternity!” The person himself, of course, is jubilant and happy too; yet, often he does not know what a great thing he has experienced. If tomorrow something unpleasant comes along, he is laid low, whimpering. It is as though he had been given a mere penny, so readily he throws away his experience!
We must acquire wisdom. We must get to the place where, if for decades we experience nothing and it seems as though God is leading us through a tunnel, we keep reminding ourselves that once we did stand in the sun. If there was nothing to experience and one was forced back upon “spiritual uplift,” I would have nothing to say; such hours of inspiration pass away. If we had only spiritual inspiration to depend upon, then we would be the most miserable people on earth.
But do not be unduly anxious; God gives to his children as they sleep. Just keep your heart in the right place and remain inwardly attentive. When an action of God does take place, then open your eyes! In that way, a person can experience something, whether it be in the spirit (in which case the experience is adapted to your total being and remains perfectly natural) or whether it be in the physical life. But one can experience something if he wishes to, Even if one does not desire experience, he may get it nonetheless; but he will not perceive it. One could even be very pious in all this; but he would not then understand the words of our psalm.
If we stand within the kingdom of God, we must expect his action in history. We can observe God in world history today, too. In the whole world we can see something of the rule of God and can say, “No human being did that!” But a person is not an accurate observer if he sees the world only from the perspective of his own partisan viewpoint; that which is of God cannot then be seen.
One cannot imagine a newspaper today that would be like the books of the Kings, observing and judging the history of Germany according to good or evil. With us, it is the custom to distinguish between Frenchmen and Germans, between nobility and peasants, between various social strata and religions, but not between good and evil. In that regard, we give no verdict! We would have mankind divided between churchgoers and non-churchgoers; but this distinction is not to be found in the Bible. That is why the Bible is so refreshing–it makes a distinction only between good and evil.
If we have eyes to see, then the good and the evil will be distinguished for us as well. Then we will be able to see where in history God is and where he is not. Then we will have God materially among us on earth. Take a look into life where you live and into the people round about you; when once you observe something, then hold to it; and though body and soul may languish, do not be whining and weeping any longer!
Many people believe that, if once they come under the rule of God, their lives must of necessity be free from instability and turmoil. That is totally wrong. It is precisely when you have come to God that life becomes threatening, because it is only then that you are in fact alive and able to endure anything at all. Previously you could endure nothing. But if once you have experienced something from God, then you are able to pass through tribulation; and your tribulation will produce fruit. Others cannot endure it; but we can endure even death and not be fearful; we can endure hell itself and be unafraid.
God needs to have one of his children in every hell, because it is only through them that he can enter that hell in order to bring it to an end. Therefore, we must enter into all tribulation and endure in it, carrying the comfort of God with us into it, even into hell itself. Thus we are to be present as a people of comfort, a living gospel.
If no man of comfort were willing to enter into hell, that would be terrible indeed. Jesus was a man of comfort upon earth and in hell, in the desert and in palaces, at the side of sinners and of the righteous. He could endure all things, for his Father was in him and was his life. And so he says to us, “Endure it, for what you endure with me, you endure with God; and with us nothing is in vain.”
The most insignificant event must serve for good, must bear fruit. Just so, the least significant human being can come to have worth in heaven and on earth. Zacharias and his wife, through their firmness, could contribute to the birth of John the Baptist; and Mary could become the mother of the Savior.
To want to endure nothing is great foolishness; to believe that you are forsaken by God if you must endure something is one of the silliest concepts among those belonging to the kingdom of God. For if the kingdom of God lays hold on us, where do you think God is going to go with us? Clearly, we remain within this foolish world; we cannot live in heaven but must remain below in the world. We are impelled to move into all the situations in which people exist. We must pass through all the grief that other people have, because there is to be a man of faith in every sorrow of the world.
Thus, we must enter into these things, perhaps for long periods of time. Perhaps we must endure to the point that we hear and see nothing of God, until finally God, who is with us in the distress, can bring light into the situation. The very fact that God is in it with us means that the matter cannot fail; ultimately God comes to be acknowledged in every tribulation. But we are impelled to enter into it; he must have us, because he wishes to be a God of people, not a philosophical concept. He wants to have children who remain alive even in the deepest darkness. In this way the kingdom of God will finally come.
Many would be quite content if the kingdom were to come to them; but they will have to wait a long time, because that is not the way it works. Rather, God sends his own into the world; they are to be his gospel! In this way we must endure, until the whole world is filled with his living gospel, God grant that in this way we might become servants and bear our tribulation.
However, never should we permit the tribulation to come into our hearts! Do not permit the satan of sadness to enter. Away with this satan. If it becomes dark in your heart, you can no longer be a person who bears fruit. Today, everyone is called upon to be a living gospel to the glory of God–the God who is with us in the deepest tribulation and darkness and who leads us out again to the high places of life.
How does God do it? That is always a puzzle. Everywhere in the Bible we find this: “Get away, let me do it.” Sometimes, of course, it sounds as though God is lamenting, as though he were not quite able; but then comes a time when he says, “I can too! The poor are before me, and I must help them.” But how?
CFBL, 3:98-103 (#14). Evening Bible study of January 8, 1898.
O. The Power of God
"Because the poor are despoiled,
because the needy groan,
I will now rise up," says the Lord,
"and I will bring relief."
(Ps. 12:5. Last line from the German.)
Different answers are given. The faint-hearted say, “Yes, he knows how to bless even in distress; and then, of course, there is eternity beyond.” But in this way not one single misery comes to an end; not one solitary tear is dried! And this is how this business of eternity is; let’s face it honestly: if I am constantly advised to seek comfort in eternity, then I cannot genuinely trust God. If I see nothing of succor in this world, who can guarantee it for the next? Or did the Savior come only into the beyond? It seems to me he came to us!
Consequently, comfort cannot simply be equated with “the beyond.” Even if in some temporal situations the outcome is not restricted to this earthly life but lies beyond it, the question still remains whether that outcome will be attained immediately upon my leaving this life. I don’t believe it will. God does not operate in the world in so mechanical a way. Matters run much more naturally; and the struggle is more difficult than we imagine. One cannot simply be jumping around in the world and then die–and expect that matters are settled for all eternity. Rather, there are developments; there is progress or regression to the degree that the distress can be taken from us and God can succeed in giving relief.
Our achieving blessedness is a question of the power of God. He must employ force, and it is for us to have faith in his capability. After all, God has made us! When, in their spirits, people come near this power of God, they always draw a little of it into themselves and thereby become the best possible instruments of God, in that they have drawn from him a portion of his ministering power.
It is not so much a matter of a person making an obvious and sudden change toward conversion; of primary importance is the fact that God bestirs himself on that person’s behalf and gathers him in. The history of our redemption progresses by moments of God’s demonstrating his aid, in acts toward which we can contribute nothing. And some day, when we shall be in the kingdom of heaven and when the last shock, the jolt of death, has come, we will look back once more and marvel at how often God had to intervene powerfully on our behalf, even against our will, in order that we might be saved, God’s action on our behalf always takes this form: he is in heaven and keeps approaching us, pressing in on us, until he can enter our life here in this world.
This is the intent of God’s effort toward us. And consequently, our assistance regularly seems delayed. Our distress is not alleviated until the barrier of eternity, between this life and the beyond, is penetrated. The opening must be made from above, not from down here upwards. Christendom has gotten this reversed; now we would make many openings up, out of the world. Through these we would fly like the doves and be saved; and yet we don’t even know what is out there! Some people even want to hurry death along; but when they get across to the other side, they make big eyes! One must be extremely cautious! It is very painful for me that the truth of this reversal can’t get through to the mind of Christendom. This is why Christianity functions so poorly.
I know how “Blumhardtian” all this is. People will say, “Now Blumhardt is coming up with his queer stories again.” But I wish you would prove to me which is biblical: our going to God in death, or God’s coming to us in life. From the first to the last chapter, the Bible deals with God’s coming into the world; and of all this business about dying, nothing is said.
Every word in the Bible guarantees for me God’s action here, where I now stand. If God raises only one finger against my distress, more is accomplished than if men organize a hundred thousand benevolent institutions. It is God’s action we need; and very quickly God will have to do something for us, because we cannot pull the load. We must ask God to bestir himself; and we must become biblical again. I would like to say nothing but this: Become biblical! This is what produces understanding and wisdom: our maintaining as a priority the truth that God comes down and Jesus comes down, and that we claim our privilege on earth. Sin and death are overcome here, not through our faith, but through the power of God.
Our pitiful faith doesn’t accomplish anything anyway. Most people merely believe according to their heads. This sounds harsh; but I can’t help it. I can’t bear such prattle about “faith.” because it produces the most self-loving of people. They pay attention only to themselves. I, too, know what faith is. But a faith which we create, in which we wish to see things go according to our own ideas, such a faith I don’t want. The power of God saves us, and that power is obliged to save many people who don’t even believe aright. Who among us would stand up with his faith and say, “Look, I have the right faith!”? That is delusion! But when we reverse this thing and make it biblical, then light comes into every situation, we acquire totally different hearts and heads, totally different hands and feet.
We must be constantly mindful of God’s efforts to come into the world and achieve something here. We must not be satisfied merely to have a religion, as the heathen have a religion, even if a little different. God puts no store by our religion. When he finds it impossible to come down and help people, he prefers to permit them to become irreligious. In Egypt, the children of Israel were allowed to do as they pleased, and they became religiously dissipated. But God undertook their cause anyway, because his help does not depend on religion but on his own faithfulness and mercy and power and on the hearts that wait for him to come down.
In this we want to be united, in this hope and in the assurance that God sees the destitute on earth and then says, “There, now I will arise; now I will do it and bring relief.” And we know that on the day of Jesus Christ a great restitution is yet to come!
CFBL, 1:239-44 (#49). Table talk of February 12, 1886; from a stenographic copy, (first part).
P. The Right God
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…. (Deut. 7:9)
A person must know whether his faith is on the right track or not. I think that many people gradually become unbelievers because, of course, they don’t have the right God. In the course of time, Christendom has dropped the right God and acquired a philosophical God–still under the name of the old faith but without the actual reality. The true reality has slipped away. One thinks of God simply as someone in the upper spheres who does not manifest himself to us in our circles as a God of action….
No wonder so many folks become unbelievers! I wouldn’t believe in such a God either. “If that which you are preaching to me is God, then I am through; then I will not become a pastor!” This was my sentiment even when I was at the university. “You have the same words, but you no longer have the thing itself. You postulate a God without hands, without a mouth, without feet–so that we can simply do as we please. God has to keep his mouth shut and is prohibited from doing anything.” No thanks; I won’t believe in such a God!
The same holds true for Christ. When anyone speaks of demon possession, people turn green with rage. They say that the Savior was deluded, that those were notions of the time, that we don’t need that sort of thing today because we have doctors and hospitals, and that is all we need….
But then they can dispute very nimbly about the deity of Christ and speak of how he was God’s Son–so that one way or another, we are deprived of a Savior on earth. Yet I tell you, the Savior doesn’t ask what we think of his duty or his humanity; he inquires only whether we want to make use of him or not, We weren’t commissioned to ponder his person. Whatever he may have been we shall discover soon enough in heaven. But to us it is said: “He is your Savior! Do you want him, or don’t you? May he do something for you, or may he not? Are you going to throw him out as the Pharisees did, or do you want to have him as the tax collectors did?”…
It often may seem that God doesn’t do anything, no matter how much we beg. In this or that area of life it is as though everything has gone dead. What is the consequence? That we say, as many do, “Now I believe nothing anymore!”? No, rather I say, “Then we don’t have him. We have gotten onto a wrong track; we are no longer turned to him in the right way. Because only a God who intervenes is our God. If he does nothing, it is not our God.”
But, take notice! When you again get pointed right, then you have his faithfulness again, you have his mercy again, and then something must happen again. Then we can stand up again and say, “That is our God!”
We shall never again be able to convince the world with preaching or with books. The world today will have nothing to do with fantasies. For devout people these are fine; but our world of machines and commerce and life, where people seek a solid foundation on which they can stand, this entire world of business which laughs at us when we come with our ideas–people of this world will no longer decide in favor of a religion of fantasy….
We don’t need a religion; we need a man, a God. And if we don’t get a God, what then is the purpose of all our Christianity? It produces hypocrites! It is as dynamic as cobblestones are! We need an action-God, a God who does something. That is the God of the Bible. The rest will come of itself.
That is what Israel had with its Yahweh. There it was said, “That is the right God! Didn’t you see the smoke on Sinai? Didn’t you hear his voice and the trumpets? Didn’t you notice how he gives bread and water when these are lacking, and how he led you with a wonderful hand? Remember that! That is your God; he is the right God; he is able. The other gods are nothing; they have mouths and do not speak, they have hands and do not grasp, they have feet and do not run. But your God is the right God.”
And thus it must be with us in regard to the man Jesus. The Lord Jesus is able; and when he does something, then we can say: “Behold, that is the right God; he is able. Your theological prattle means nothing to me.” … We can no longer manage with words alone; there must be deeds, “Save us! Save us! Help us, O faithful God, and do something!” And then, when salvation comes, then there is light….
Know that the Lord, your God, who demonstrates himself to you and performs deeds, he is the right God. He is the God who made heaven and earth. He is a faithful God who leads his cause on to the end. Let us place our hope in him today. Let us together cry and pray, “Lord, do something for the many, many people!” And our cry will not be in vain; we shall yet experience it. As I have said, much is tossed down from heaven to those who cry out. He feeds the hungry ravens; and he will not let his children pray in vain!
CFBL, 1:420-24 (#78). Table talk of September 24, 1887; from a stenographic copy, condensed.
Copyright (c) 1968