Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December, 2010 - Truth and Wisdom

Biblical Moorings

The Covenant has no new truths to proclaim. It has no claim to have discovered new truths upon which we have built our organization. We do not even accentuate new interpretations of old truths as being basic for our existence. That is typical in our Covenant, that we abstain from all that.

There is nothing distinctively new in the whole organization. We proclaim and cling to the old biblical truths, and we say with Paul: “All is yours.”

The principles of the Covenant are historical. They have been tested through history, and they are just as valid today as they were in the New Testament time.

Nils Heiner (1868-1958), “Covenant Characteristics,” from Covenant Roots: Sources and Affirmations, Glenn P. Anderson, ed. (1980), pp. 235,236.

The consequences of truth are not a matter of choice. Caiaphas attempted to engineer the truth so that he could dictate the consequences; but the truth itself was not subject to change. Jesus was committed to truth, and Caiaphas was not; so when Caiaphas asked, “Are you the Christ?” Jesus answered, “I am.” We cannot quite imagine him saying at this point, “Why do you ask?”

They all condemned him as deserving death. But it is quite clear that, if this was a real trial in any sense, it was not Jesus in the dock. It was all humankind who, in attempting to put truth to the test, found itself instead under the judgment of truth.

Everett L. Wilson (1936- ), Christ Died for Me (1980), p. 40.

Christ at the Center

Christianity is first and foremost a person. It is not primarily a t
heological creed, a system of philosophy or an ethical code, but rather the eternal truth of God personified. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Christ did not say that he pointed out the way, but that he is the way. He did not claim merely to speak the truth, but that he is the truth. He is not only the giver of life, but is life itself.

T. W. Anderson (1889-1972), “The Great Certainty”
From The Covenant Pulpit, ed. G. F. Hedstrand (1954), p. 11.

The assumptions of wisdom are the gifts of God, and apply to the universal study of humans and their world. But the assumptions of wisdom are proud; in them humankind is the judge and the doer. The sights of wisdom are set too high to find God or know him. Wisdom may search the heights for God, but there he is concealed by his own glory. Where God may be found in the world is on a cross, shamed and humiliated beyond our experience; and we dare to declare that the crucified Jesus is the revelation of the almighty God. While wisdom searches the heights, faith looks into the depths. Never, in the wildest imaginations of the wise of this world, would humankind have devised a scheme as foolish as the cross.

Everett L. Wilson (1936- ), Christ Died for Me (1980), p. 80.

As necessary and exciting as [the] task of interpreting the faith in the light of the circumstances and environment of today may be, it is also fraught with great danger. Translating the Gospel into a contemporary idiom may easily slip into simple accommodation of the Gospel to the values and perspectives of our culture. Then, instead of hearing the Word of God, people hear a somewhat Christianized version of their own wisdom.

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), “To Teach the Faith”
From Bound to Be Free: essays on being a Christian and a Covenanter (1975), p. 59.

We do not teach people to build on feelings. We tell those seeking salvation to have faith in the Word of God without waiting for feelings. A warm heart is not the basis of salvation. It is the fruit of salvation. Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe. “Did I not say that if you believed, you should see?” These truths were both spoken by the Lord Jesus. Let us not lose sight of either of them. As long as Jacob did not believe his sons, his heart remained cold. When he believed them, his spirit was restored.

Gustaf F. Johnson (1873-1959), “Hearts Aflame”
From Gustaf F. Johnson, Hearts Aflame, trans. Paul R. Johnson (1970), p. 15.

...We must continue to believe in the power of the Word of God to awaken, convert, and nurture men and women to Christian maturity. We ought never, as alas now often happens, replace the Word of God in the pulpit with piquant causeries. Nor should we lard the message with more or less equivocal stories, whether they be humorous or dramatic. If we care to recall them, we can surely remember tales we have heard that have been just as preposterous and unreal as A Thousand and One Nights, and much less entertaining. Our whole message must be sound and filled with a deep sense of concern for the congregation, for the preacher is a shepherd of souls who is accountable to God for souls.

There will certainly come times when strong temptations will come to us to be something other than proclaimers of the Word. A superficial and thoughtless public will want to be entertained when it comes to church. Influential members of the churches, who are themselves just as superficial and thoughtless and without an appreciation of deeper spirituality, will want to impose their ideas on the congregation. They measure progress in the congregation by counting the heads at the worship services. They will gladly forgive the pastor for anything as long as he fills the pews.

It is important for us to know these temptations and their source, and by the help of God to oppose them. If we cannot preach with joy and a sense of victory, let us then in the name of the Lord preach with tears and heartache. For it is stated in the psalm, “He that goes forth, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” God will answer our sowing of tears with a harvest of joy. In these times of drought, when we are offered so much piquant in place of the earnest Word we formerly believed and trusted, we need to lay these warnings to heart. There has never yet come a harvest that did not have its beginning in sowing. We do not need to discard all that which we have learned during these...years of Covenant history in the matter of message, organization, and methods.

If we continue to trust in the Lord and do not grow weary in awaiting his answer, and if we continue to rely on the power of the Gospel to transform human hearts--faithfully and quietly fulfilling our task in the church as before the Lord--the harvest will not be lacking. For here that word is true, says Jesus, that one sows, and another reaps. Just as the first disciples were sent by the Lord to reap where they had not labored, so perhaps others will reap from our labor. God's program is not confined to one short generation. When this becomes clear to us, we will not soon or easily be carried away by this nervous tendency of our time, which must have immediate visible results. We shall sow in faithfulness, and God will water the seed in his time. He will restore us again, as he does the watercourses in the southland.

Nils W. Lund (1885-1954), “Restore Us Again, O Lord”
From Herbert E. Palmquist, The Word Is Near You (1974), pp. 186,187.

You know, if Christ really is risen, the Christian for whom this is real does not need to become neurotic with fear that his neighbor is a stooge for Communism, or that a redeemed brother in some other denomination or country is a threat to his security in Christ. Has there ever been an age in which Christians have had more social security and less security in the Lord of the church? Let me remind you, my worried Christian friend, that there is no other power on earth or in all of space like the power which raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Why, of all people, should we be so anxious?

C. Milton Strom (1911-1972), Holy Curiosity (Board of Publications of the California Conference,1966), p. 102.

Faith and Learning

“Sunday school? ...What's in it for you?

First, the Sunday school provides you with an opportunity to discover the bask structure and content of the Bible, the textbook for understanding our faith. Whether you are a child or an adult, replace weekly classes are provided within the curriculum plan. This is important, because Sunday school makes the opportunity for biblical instruction available to all. True, the rich treasures within the Bible require extended study opportunities led by those who are specially trained. Yet within the context of a particular Sunday school class, you can acquire--if you want to--both the foundation and the desire for further study.

Second, Sunday school offers you a climate of caring. One of its main goals should be to foster friendship with those in your unique age or circle of interest. Your presence or absence week after week will be noted by others. Ideally, each class becomes a small community of persons sharing their lives hn prayer, service, and caring--like the early church in Acts.

Third, a Sunday school class should help you relate God’s Word to daily experience and help establish a basis for your moral life. The regular biblical input offered by the Sunday school is a needed thing if we are to cultivate the seed of God's Word and allow it to mature in us. Without such exposure to the Scriptures in the content of the Christian community, how can we possibly find our way in a world of decaying personal and social morality?

Fourth, Sunday school provides a place where you can bring your non-church friends and relatives, regardless of their age, and feel confident that they will be led in a simple way into the whats, why, and hows of the Christian faith. Here is one of its chief benefits. Sunday school cannot be equaled as a special entry point for new persons.

Fifth and last though not finally, the Sunday school provides us all with a wonderful opportunity to serve. Jesus said, “You are my witnesses!” Sunday school is a place where lay people have a unique opportunity to articulate the Christian faith and share it with others. If you have confessed your personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and are growing in your relationship with him, it is important to begin sharing that faith in a structured way with others. You will also learn and grow more quickly when you yourself prepare to share with others.

So what’s in it for you? A port of entry and a place of passage. It may seem awfully simple but it’s true. Understanding and experiencing the Christian life is somehow tied with regular Bible study and sharing. That’s what a live Sunday school program offers every believer.

Evelyn M. R. Johnson (1941- ), “Sunday School? What’s in It for Me?”, Covenant Tract (1987).

The chief purpose of the Public School is to train the mind and incidentally the character.
The chief purpose of the Church School is to develop Christian character and incidentally to train the mind.

The Public School ideal is capable citizenship. The Church School ideal is Christian discipleship. Educationally speaking, the Church School work should be the crown of the work of the Public School, and both schools should be provided with teachers whose work will measure up to their task. When the day comes that we shall find the Church School as well equipped to teach Scripture truth as we find the Public School equipped to teach the cultural secular studies and their application to living, and educational equilibrium will be established.

A high school boy said to his father one day: “If the Bible is as important to my education as you say it is why doesn't my Sunday School teacher make the Bible as interesting to us boys as our everyday school teacher makes our everyday school subjects interesting?"

...What common sense is there then for a minister to give as little as eight percent of his [or her] time and thought (as is the case at present, according to a recent statistical report) to a field which yields eighty percent of harvest in souls? Or, for a church and its workers to spend dollars and a major effort on rescue mission work, and only the pennies and a slipshod attention on its Sunday School and its allied activities?

Olga Lindborg (1889-1945), “Conscience and Character”
Manuscript, Covenant Archives, Record Series 2-1-14, Box 1.

...One law of education is that we have to be educated not according to our pleasure but according to our measure.... Education means, in the domain of [humankind], all that culture implies.... Only one kind of education even pretends [to concern itself with the whole person]. And that is Christian Education. Therefore, as a matter of fact, Christian Education is the only one existing worth the name.... To further the cause of Christian Education is the high aim of this institution of ours, this North Park College. It is the ambition of every teacher here to see that all the studies and all the methods of studying are of the highest choice. A Christian school is a bank where every single piece of money, be it [great] or small, should be of just the numerical value which stands engraved upon its face. To falsify the smallest truth is as much a high treason as to falsify the greatest truth or all the truth, just as to counterfeit a dime is as much a felony as to counterfeit one of the golden eagles.

David Nyvall (1863-1946), “Some Plain Facts about Education,” Linnea, 1898.
Quoted in Scott E. Erickson, David Nyvall and the Shape of an Immigrant Church (Acta Universitatis Upsallensis, Uppsala, 1996), p. 264.

It is important in the church and in our common fellowship in the body of Christ to be as clear as we can with each other about our understandings of God in Christ, the rock on which we place our faith, and of our doctrinal formulations. It is also crucial to remember that the Church has been attempting to do this for two thousand years and has not yet succeeded in finding a formulation that is wholly adequate to express the fundamental mystery to which it points. While it may appear to he intellectually sloppy, it is a matter of wisdom to adopt the position of early Covenanters in their debates about communion, atonement, last things, and so on. [Erik August] Skogshergh [1850-1939] said, “It is not always so important to know everything. It is always tremendously important to preach the gospel. So whether I am free or whether I am bound, I may be either and yet preach the gospel. So let us try and stop being omniscient, and get on with the work of planting.” And, I think he would have added, in its appropriate way, of church building, and necessarily of fencing. The thing at all costs we have to avoid is the state of mind and the kind of movement that begins to insist that the Christian life is fundamentally a life of doctrine, that that is what the life is. Most Covenanters have not and will not take that position.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), “Fencing” (1978)
From Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections on Being a Covenanter, Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson (2000).

In our understanding of the Christian school we begin with the assumption that there is a vital relation between the Christian faith and our intellectual discipline. Whatever faith means to us, it does not mean merely that vague, emotional, or mystical atmosphere which hangs like an iridescent mist over our intellectual activities.... North Park is not a Christian school because it has Christian teachers, Christian worship services, and compulsory courses of religion in its curriculum. It is Christian because it has believed from its very beginning that the Christian faith forms a necessary presupposition for all meaningful intellectual activity.

Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), Address to the Faculty, 1959
Quoted in The Covenant Companion, September 1, 1968, p. 6.

Importance of Listening

Spener [1635-1705] proposed, “We must beware how we conduct ourselves in religious controversies with unbelievers and heretics.” He reacted against the common belligerent mood of theological debate. The most effective manner of engaging the heterodox was to pray for them; to set a good example before them; to make a modest, but firm, presentation of the truth; to practice heartfelt love toward them; and to champion unity where possible between Christian confessions. Theological debate is necessary for the defense of truth and for the refutation of false positions. However, since all glory is due God alone, such debate must never be entered into for the achievement of self-glory, but to convert opponents by encountering them with the brotherly spirit of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37).

It is to Spener's credit that he maintained this personal style, refusing to stoop to sarcasm or personal insinuation when combating opponents whose zeal often was bound by no such rules....

K. James Stein (1929- ), Philipp Jakob Spener: Pietist Patriarch (1986), p. 100.

...You who always boast that you like the truth spoken directly to your face, you became so angry at the preacher recently when he touched some of your sore boils that with a great show of piety you informed another church member that a change of preachers would further the cause of Christ among us. Still you dare to believe that you are awaiting Jesus. May God help you.

You are not awake, my friend, but you may soon be awakened. Then you will pray, not with the usual flow of words, but with a heart cry--after the birthright is lost.

Gustaf F. Johnson (1873-1959), “Heavenly Lights in the World’s Night”
From Gustaf F. Johnson, Hearts Aflame, trans. Paul R. Johnson (1970), p. 173.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Nature - November, 2010

God’s Creative Genius

In view of our contemporary ecological crisis, the [biblical] wisdom tradition can offer some valuable insight for the Christian community by inviting us to behold the creative genius of God's handiwork in the natural world. Before the Creator, Job is made to feel small. And so should we. What begins for Job as a pursuit of divine justice ends with job receiving an elementary lesson on his place within God's created order. This is an exercise that we would do well to learn. The voice of God in the whirlwind is not done speaking yet. Every now and then, the fury of creation unleashed reminds us of our rightful place and calls us to responsible stewardship in God's divine order. Even now the vast blue-green waters of the Pacific Ocean, the expansive painted landscape of the Grand Canyon, and the delicate beauty of the Florida Everglades all proclaim God's glory, and “heavenly beings shout for joy.” Like Job, we too should be speechless with wonder when we consider that we have contributed nothing to this elegant grandeur. When God speaks, nature rejoices--and we must be quiet.

Bradley J. Bergfalk (19 - ), “When God Speaks: God and Nature in the Divine Speeches of Job,” from To Hear and Obey: Essays in Honor of Fredrick Carlson Holmgren, Edited by Bradley J. Bergfalk and Paul E. Koptak (1997), p. 81.

WHY?

Why do flowers bloom in the spring?
Why do bees have to sting?
Why do bells always ring?
I guess that’s the way God made it.
Why is the water always blue?
Why do cows say moo?
I wonder how God planned this.
Why does he make some people tall?
I guess that’s the way God made it all.

Kristine Twedt (1973- ), Age 8, Willmar, Minnesota
From Poems and Prayers from the Ark, Priscilla Johnson, ed. (1984), p. 22.

When we listen to many scientists speak, we find that they do not seem to give credit to God for creating the earth. This does not necessarily mean that they lack faith in God. Weather forecasters do not usually give credit to God for bringing rain, but this does not mean that they disbelieve in God or that God is not behind the natural causes of rain. Scientists make discoveries by studying the earth itself. As a result of their studies they change their views from time to time. The message of the Bible, on the other hand, deals with things that do not change. We respect the work of scientists and make use of their discoveries, but nothing the scientists may learn about the earth will prove that God was not there from the beginning as its Creator. In fact, it is quite impossible to imagine how it could have happened without him.

In general, science seeks to discover how the earth came to be and how we can learn from it in order to use its resources. The purpose of the Bible, on the other hand, is to tell us why the earth was created and what meaning it has for us. Therefore, science and the Bible have different purposes, and even though they do not always seem to recognize one another, this does not mean that they are opposed to one another.

Some scientists believe in God and some do not, but their scientific study cannot destroy our faith in God. He has given us the ability to believe in him if we are willing to do so. Therefore, our faith need not be affected by people who do not seem to give God credit for creating the earth. We recognize him as the one who caused all things to exist, and we continue to live as people who belong to him.

Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), God’s Friends: Called to Believe and Belong (1985), p. 24.

AWE

The vastness of the universe You created
Thrills us, Lord God;
No man can hope to know its limits
Or grasp its size.
For who can gauge the length and breadth
Of heaven’s highest vault?
Or who can tell the power
Bound up in galaxies of light?
Or who can count the stars?

Our wonder at this universe is burning;
It inflames us.
But let our awe for You, Creator,
Burn more brightly
And consume us.

Pauline Lenore Larson (1951-1977), Broken Arcs (1979), p. 17.

Spiritual Lessons

There is the closeness to the sky by day and an inexpressible nearness to the stars at night. Most exalting is the hour when day draws to a close before a bonfire of dazzling beauty. Beyond the rooftops and the chimney spires, beyond the city belfries that silhouette the western sky, God pens a chapter in the language of eternity.

Far below in the busy street the traffic rushes in a ceaseless stream day and night, accented now and then by shrieks of sirens--ambulances, police cars, fire engines, and other whistles and alarms. The ear, even in the third-floor chamber, cannot escape the clamor. But, strangely, one does not mind, for in this little haven close to the sky one learns to live apart from the world's unrest. That is its magic.

For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world's control.

After all, the truest solitude is not conditioned by what goes on outside. It is the interior solitude that matters. As for the tumult below--it is still there. Pulling out all the stops of the imagination, what one finally trains the ear to hear are curious sea-sounds--dashing waves and bursts of fury, splashing surf, shrieking winds, and foghorns calling from the deep. Then one has found his way to Nature's lap after all. What a priceless possession is the power to imagine!

Helga Skogsbergh (1892-1969), A Time to Reflect (1965), p. 15.

The wild morning-glory has in its nature a determination to climb. In the absence of a trellis or other adequate support, it will entwine itself around a tree stump or a weed: but climb it must and stretch it will. The human sentiments are like that. How well for the human character if it can have Christ for its trellis, upon whom it may be trained to its best expression!

Olga Lindborg (1889-1945), “Our Conscious Selves”
Manuscript, Covenant Archives, Record Series 2-1-14, Box 1.


O MIGHTY GOD, WHEN I BEHOLD THE WONDER
(Original translation from Swedish of O Store Gud)
O mighty God, when I behold the wonder of nature’s beauty, wrought by words of thine, and how thou leadest all from realms up yonder, sustaining earthly life with love benign,

Refrain: with rapture filled my soul thy name would laud, O mighty God! O mighty God! With rapture filled my soul thy name would laud, O mighty God! O mighty God!

When I behold the heavens in their vastness, where golden ships in azure issue forth,
where sun and moon keep watch upon the fastness of changing seasons and of time on earth,

And when I hear the roar of storms and thunder, when lightning cleaves the heavy sky in twain, and rainbow fair, the sign of promise tender, reveals itself when ends refreshing rain,

When summer winds o’er verdant fields are playing, when flowers bloom by cooling waters’ edge, when singing birds on ev’ry tree are swaying and fill with melody each grove and hedge,

And when I see, in holy Scripture reading, thy deeds, O God, on earth since birth of man, thy grace and wisdom that is shown in leading thy people ever safe across life’s span,

When I hear fools in ignorance and folly deny thee, God, and taunt thy holy Word,
and yet perceive that thou supplieth wholly their ev'ry need, thy love in grace conferred,

When I behold thy Son to earth descending, to heal and save and teach distressed mankind, when evil flees and death is seen recoiling before the glory of the Lord divine,

When crushed by guilt of sin, before thee kneeling I plead for mercy and for grace and peace, I feel thy balm and, all my bruises healing, my soul is filled, my heart is set at ease,

And when at last the mists of time have vanished and I in truth my faith confirmed shall see, upon the shores where earthly ills are banished I'll enter, Lord, to dwell in peace with thee,

Carl Boberg (1859-1940), “O Mighty God, When I Behold the Wonder,” tr. E. Gustav Johnson (1893-1974), from The Covenant Hymnal (1973), No. 19. (This is the original English version of O Store Gud, first published in The Children’s Friend in 1925. Carl Boberg was a Swedish Covenant pastor. The abbreviated version of his famous hymn, widely known and loved as “How Great Thou Art” (cf. The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook, 1996, No.8) is a later English translation of a Russian version, based on an earlier German translation of the original.


SNOW IS THE HAND OF CHRIST

Snow is a benediction
In which the hurt fingers
Of earth touch at heaven,
And no sin lingers.

Snow is the hand of Christ
Blessing the dark ground,
Forgiving the sins of earth
With a small sound.

Fred Moeckel (1929-1966), None But a Child May Enter (1982), p. 71.

Now comes the time for flowers, for joy, for beauty great.
Come near, you summer hours, earth’s grasses recreate.
Sun’s kind and lovely charming of dead things winter slew,
comes intimately warming and all is born anew.

Our lovely flowered meadows, the till field’s noble seed,
rich herbs laid out in windrows, green groves sedately treed:
these wonderful reminders of God’s good kingdom strong;
that we his grace remember, it spans the whole year long.

We hear the birdsong ringing a many throated laud:
shall not our tongues be singing our praise to father God?
My soul, lift up God’s greatness, a hearty song employ,
to him who wills to find us and bring us endless joy.

You gentle Jesus, Christus, our radiant sun, our shield,
your light, your arm protect us, to you cold senses yield.
Bring fires of love internal, but damp the heats of lust,
prevent all hurt infernal: teach us your hand to trust.

Israel Kolmodin (1643-1709), “Now Comes the Time for Flowers,” tr. Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), from The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 646.

Soul Changing

Listen how God speaks though the daily wonders about us. Harken to the deep secrets of nature–the sighing winds, the lapping waves, the singing birds. But better still, listen to what the silent wonders say–a sunset laying its hand of benediction upon a weary day, the first star that appears when the swift darkness of winter settles over the land, the white hush of a morning blanketed in snow, the mellow glow of autumn before the winds blow. And yet, as Job says, “These are but the outskirts of his ways.” There are so many moments in the ordinary events of daily life that can be clues to sensing God’s nearness. But we so often let ourselves become encased in a shell of everydayness, a shell which the ray of wonder cannot penetrate.

...God doesn’t always speak in words. He may use another form of vocabulary, that of sight, sound, beauty, sorrow, friendship–and even tragedy. In the silent places with God men [and women] have received revelations destined to change history.

...Behold the stretching glories which surround us daily–the vastness of space, the uplifted hills, the measureless sea. These are ministers of expansion for the soul. There is the sky–“the daily bread of the eye.” We may not have an ocean, or a mountain, or fields of green on which to fix our eyes, but there is always a skyline somewhere to remind us of something larger than ourselves. The wonder of the heavens, the pageantry of clouds, speak a message to all people in every land.

Helga Skogsbergh (1892-1969), A Time to Reflect (1965), pp. 20,21,22.

If we are to believe the vision of God that we have in our Bibles, we know that he is supremely the master of reality. He is supremely the creator of a cosmos in which awesome wonders are on daily display. Because of our pressures in life, and our constant self-examination, as well as our need to perform, we never take the time to see these wonders. It is as one of my students said last week, “I've made an important discovery: you don't see much of the world when you're constantly examining your navel.” I got up right out of my chair and shouted, “Hallelujah! Another convert!” Somebody is going to look out at the world! Somebody is going to look at these mountains! Somebody is going actually to look at human beings and see them with all their majestic potential of becoming citizens of a city not made with hands. Somebody is going to see them, not as elements in production, but as creatures of the new creation. Somebody is going to see them as the poetry of God's heaven, and say, “I don't care about the schedule. Let's go have coffee. I want to hear what you have to say.” Somebody is going to live with them in depth, and is going to touch and be touched by them, and is going to be raised by them and get a taste of what blessedness really is going to be like. In short, somebody is going to begin to live in the world of God's creation as it ultimately will be, right now. And out of that, somebody is going to gather the strength to be able to say to the garbage-in-garbage-out syndrome, “I'm sorry, I don't have time for that kind of stuff. I'm engaged in real enterprises. There are real things I want to do.” If our programs and techniques of management prevent this from happening, they must be gotten rid of or reevaluated for the sake of the gospel and the church's ministry.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), “Managing” (1978)
From Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections on Being a Covenanter, Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson (2000), p. 56.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Providence - October, 2010

Biblical Moorings

The word “providence” comes from the Latin and means that God “sees before” or “looks out for us.” Providence is the doctrine that “the eternal, wise, holy, and loving purpose of God embraces all events” [Bernard Clairvaux]. It is the assurance that God cares for us and for his whole creation. We should expect this, of course, in view of what we already know about God. He is almighty, which means that he has the power not only to create but to govern his universe. He is also our Father, and as a loving Father he may be depended upon to take care of his children.

The Church sometimes distinguishes among three kinds of providence. There is, in the first place, a general providence by which we mean God's care for the universe as a whole. It includes his control over the earth and everything in it, over all plant and animal life, and over all human beings everywhere. The Old Testament says, “Thou art the Lord, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them.” Jesus speaks very beautifully of this: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26).

We speak of special providence when we are thinking of God's care for all men. Jesus referred often to this. He said to his disciples, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). The words are true not simply of the disciples but of all people. They show how wonderfully
he cares for us. Jesus makes it clear that special providence reaches all men--good and bad
alike--when he says, “for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

The Church speaks of most special providence when it is thinking of God's care for the one who trusts him and lives for him. The Christian is one who has placed himself [or herself] in such a position as to be able to receive the love and guidance of God. This doctrine gives...strength and comfort when he [or she] becomes weary and discouraged. Paul put it in words that are hard to forget, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him” (Romans 8:28). This does not mean that no misfortunes come to a Christian; it means that God makes it possible to find good even in them.

It isn't always easy to believe this. There are many things that happen which seem to contradict this faith. Why should little children, who have done no wrong, have to suffer? Why should tornadoes and floods threaten the homes of good people? Why should there be war with its death and destruction? How can a good God permit such things?

Christians never deny that there is such evil in the world. They may admit very frankly that they can't explain why it comes to some people rather than to others. But the Christian believes that God cares very deeply about what happens and that in his wisdom he can bring good out of the worst kind of tragedy. Here is the way Paul described his faith: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).

Clifford W. Bjorklund (1921-1986), Harry J. Ekstam (1918- ), Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), and Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), According to Thy Word (1954, 1955), pp. 355,356,357.

God Can Be Trusted
HE LEADS THE WAY

When lost in the woods,
Or even at sea,
Without any goods,
And lonely as can be–

Remember: He leads the way.
For His teachings are right
As day after day
We learn of His light.

When in a place that’s scary,
Know that God is with you.
And when things could be a little more merry,
God is with you all the way through.

Think always, wherever you are,
Whether you go or stay,
If it’s near or far:
God leads the way.

Bruce Lantz (1957-1969), Age 10, Pomeroy, Iowa
From, Poems and Prayers from the Ark, ed. Priscilla Johnson (1984), p. 14.

...Go home and sleep quietly, and leave it to God. We pray every day, “Our Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And then we stay awake all night for fear that he cannot do it, or will not do it, or that he might need more information. I have done that, and it is just plumb silly. It does not fit with what we already believe. They asked Franklin Roosevelt whether in the burden of the war he had had many sleepless nights. He said only one: the night Winston Churchill called him and said, “I think Britain will go down tonight.” You cannot blame a man for staying awake on a night like that. “Otherwise,” he said, “I just told myself, 'Well, Franklin, you've made some and you've lost some today. But whether you did a good job or a bad job, it's over, and there isn't a blessed thing you can gain by sitting around grumbling about it, so go to sleep.’” Now, there is no particular faith in that. That is just good old farmers' common sense. But with faith added to it, the conviction that, despite everything--and this is God's last humor--he uses us to do his purposes in the world.

Is that good news? I guess it is! Do we really mean it? Or is there an unregenerate comer of our spirits that says, “Yes, but, you know, God is really very old fashioned. He hasn't seen the newest mainframe IBM 360s, and he doesn't yet know what they can do. Now, if I could get Trinitarian theology on that mainframe and check it out, we could go from 18.5 percent compounded growth rate to 22.5 percent inside three and a half years, or at least 3.56.” Is that not dumb? But that is the way we think. Because there is something reserved in the corner of us that says, “He cannot be trusted, finally, to work out his own purposes. He cannot be trusted to defend himself. We must constantly be defending him against his enemies. We must constantly be sustaining him, we must constantly be careful of his reputation, lest he lose the battle. The prince of darkness is very strong.”

...Managing means keeping order in a chaotic world while recognizing that there is no more control over what is managed than there was for our predecessors who were uprooted, who planted, and who fenced. Like them, the manager cannot ultimately answer for the final outcome because its creation and control is beyond us....

...Good management comes from uncomplicated and faithful stewards, and will be rewarded by the king when he returns with the words, “Good and faithful servant!” I do not know what he is going to say to the computer. I suspect that what he will do is stand back, put his hands on his hips, and have a belly laugh. When I seek a way of expressing the pilgrim life, I take it to be a life, which sooner or later, has the delicate sense that it is not ultimately at home here, though it is here in all of its rich fullness in Christ.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), “Managing” (1978)
From Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections on Being a Covenanter, Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson (2000), pp. 58,59,60.

It is in...difficult moments that we can easily see the mystic and true believer in [August Hermann] Francke (1663-1727) emerge most clearly. In the midst of his concerns about contributions (and contributors), erection of new buildings, promotion of new programs, education of rich and poor alike, administration, pastoral ministry, and lecturing at the university, Francke retained his simple trust in the providence of God:

“Around St. Michael's Day, 1699, I was in the utmost need and as I went out into the beautiful weather and contemplated the clear heavens my heart was greatly strengthened in faith (which I ascribe not to my powers, but purely to the grace of God) so that I thought to myself, ‘How glorious it is when one has nothing and can rely on nothing, but knows the living God who has created heaven and earth and puts his trust in him alone and thereby one can have peace even in want.’”

Were this the end of Francke's moment of divine strength we could appreciate the beauty of his thoughts, the simplicity and depth of his faith, and the goodness of God who gave him refreshment in a moment of need. The conclusion of the episode, however, leaves us in awe. As Francke returned home that day, renewed and happy even though he came to a situation of need, some laborers who had been working on the orphanage came to him. It was payday and they expected him to produce their wages. The paymaster approached. “‘Is anything coming?’ he asked. I answered, ‘No, but I have faith in God,’ Hardly had I spoken the word when a student reported to me who had brought thirty talers from someone who he would not name.

“I went back into the room and asked the other how much he required this time for the payment of the builders. He said, ‘Thirty talers.’ I said, ‘Here they are,’and asked if he needed more? He said, ‘No,’ which then strengthened us both much in faith in that we recognized so evidently the wonderful hand of God which was there in a moment when it was needed and as much as was required.”

Gary R. Sattler (19 - ), God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good (1982), pp. 67,68.

DIVINE LOVE

I’ve got something to give.
You don’t have to take it,
But I wish you would.

I’ve got something to show you.
You don’t have to see,
But I wish you could.

I’ve got something to share with you.
Walk with me a while,
Talk with me a while.

I’m not there, you say?
You can’t hear me?
Listen with your heart;
I will surround you with the sounds of love.

And when you are alone,
Or frightened,
Or need strength to go on,

Call for me by name.
I won’t hesitate,
I’ll be at your side.

You don’t have to call for me,
Maybe you won’t.
But I wish you would.

Rebecca Briggs (1953- ), Age 15, Jamestown, New York
From Poems and Prayers from the Ark, Priscilla Johnson, ed. (1984), p. 146.

‘Our Refuge and Strength’

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.
Psalm 46:1,2

THESE DAYS ARE CHANGING

These days are changing
With each leaf shimmering down in sunshine
And frosty air through my bedroom window
These days are changing.

These days are changing
Children growing up, parents growing old
Death is stilling the laughter of friends
These days are changing.

Yet You, God of everything, do not change
Forever hiding us in Your love
Still helping us to face our troubles
You become a man and change our days.

These days are changing
Forever creeps closer like snow
Many glad reunions, the laughter of heavenly friends
These days are changing.

So come, changing days
Blow winter-time of life with all your challenge and pain
Meet our Refuge and Strength
Who conquers for us your trouble.

These days are changing
Failing leaves promise us that life shall come again
And for now, until then,
Refuge and Strength, very present help.

Peter J. Hawkinson (1964- ), “The Bethany Broadcaster,” (Church Newsletter, October, 2000).

Children of the heavenly Father safely in his bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.

God his own doth tend and nourish, in his holy courts they flourish;
from all evil things he spares them, in his mighty arms he bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord his children sever;
unto them his grace he showeth, and their sorrows all he knoweth.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers, your Protector never slumbers;
at the will of your Defender ev’ry foeman must surrender.

Though he giveth or he taketh, God his children ne’er forsaketh;
his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.

Lina Sandell (1832-1903), tr. Ernst W. Olson (1870-1958), © Lutheran Church in America.
The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 87.

...Your eyes saw my unformed body (Psalm 139:16).

Sometimes, I wish I could return to the past and correct the mean things I did to my brothers and sisters. Maybe if I had been born into another family....but if this had happened, I would not have been me. If even one parent had been different, I would not be me.

The psalmist says that God watched me when I was being formed inside my mother where no one else could see. That means that God knew exactly what I would look like and the kind of personality I would have before I was even born. Since God knew me while I was yet unformed, he must have planned for me to be. That means that I am not an accident; neither are you. Since God planned for you to be, he must have a plan for you. You are special.

Lucy Daniels (1946- ), You are Special (Booklet, 1987).

Thou tender, gracious Father, who watches over me,
how shall ever praise thee, how love and honor thee?
Thou guidest me with caution from ev’ry secret snare,
and ‘neath thy wings a refuge I find in my despair.

With raiment, food, and shelter, whate’er my needs imply,
for soul and body ever do thou in grace supply.
O Lord, I soon would perish if aught thou should exclude;
O could I love thee better and prove my gratitude.

In childlike, true obedience help me to do the right;
May precious be thy statutes, thy yoke be pleasant, light!
And when some hardship threatens, a danger frightens me,
may thou in all my trials my present helper be.

Thy heart is all compassion, with love it overflows;
whate’er of ill betide me, thou knowest, and my woes.
Thou dost not sleep nor slumber by night nor through the days;
thine arms, almighty Father, enfold all time and space.

Lina Sandell (1832-1903), “Thou Tender, Gracious Father,” tr. Carl O. Dahlen (1867-1938)
From The Covenant Hymnal (1973), No. 97.

If God wants to take me home I do not want to stay here on earth any longer. It may be that one wishes for himself an extended lifetime; or in a given circumstance one may wish to die. But our lives belong to the Lord, and all that we are or have should be surrendered to him in life or in death. His will should be the norm for everything. Whether we are in prosperity or distress, whether God gives or takes, we are his. We should be satisfied with the hour or manner that he chooses to call us from this life.

C. O. Rosenius (1816-1868), Romans: A Devotional Commentary, J. Elmer Dahlgren and Royal F. Peterson, translators (1978), p. 194.

Sovereign Over All

It must be understood that God’s purposive activity is present throughout the whole creation–in the far-flung galaxies of space, in the rise and fall of nations, in the everyday lives of individuals, great and small. The mere fact that the creation exists and is constantly sustained in its being is an expression of his holy will. The orderliness and dependability of the processes of nature (the so-call “laws of nature”) are an indication of his faithfulness. The complexities and intricacies of the ecological balances of nature are all providentially ordered.

It is, of course, true that nature and history and also characterized by much that seems to deny purpose. Nature is marked by seemingly unnecessary suffering, by natural disasters, and consequent destruction and waste. History does not always reward righteousness. In all honesty we must admit that God’s purposes are not immediately apparent to our observation. But the doctrine of providence is not based upon our experience of meaningfulness or the lack of it, but upon God’s disclosure of his purpose. “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purpose in Christ, to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1: 9,10, NIV).

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), Covenant Affirmations: This We Believe (1981), p. 41.

CALLIGRAPHY

There is a strange calligraphy
Connecting each event
Of import in my life ...
So that a moment that has meant,
Perhaps, particularly nothing
Has an artistic reason,
And every ill-assorted happening
a purposed season.

Fred Moeckel (1929-1966), None But A Child May Enter (1982), p. 26.

When the Reds [Communist soldiers] first arrived they went over to the mission station and hauled out all the groceries they could find. They came and handed me a few cans of milk, a big can of cocoa, a bottle of ketchup, some Kraft cheese, and a can of rolled oats. This was my part of the loot. I did feel badly that the station should be robbed of all these good things and was reluctant to use any of it, but thought that I might as well rather than see it destroyed. The day we arrived I went over to the mission station with Dr. Liu. It was sad, beyond words, to see the wanton destruction going on. After the Reds had taken what they wanted, the local people went in and carried away everything that remained. Even doors and windows were taken out. Books were strewn all over. Only a skeleton of the house was left after they had satisfied their greed. I thought to myself that they certainly do not know what they are doing. An organ was carried over to where I stayed, and someone was playing on that all the time. Dr. Liu, who was a Christian, knew how to play. After he had found a hymn book with notes, he and I played and sang some hymns together.

After three days in the city, orders came to cross the Han River. The troops went to Yuinyang, another big city about forty miles above Kunchow. The remainder of the army, together with some soldiers as guards, lived in the country across the river for about two days.

While there I had a very precious experience which showed that God was with me, and that he knew what I needed just then. One of the men at the hospital had gotten hold of a preacher's long coat. While he was searching the pockets a slip of paper fell out. I was standing close by and noticed the paper fall. Picking it up I found a Norwegian song written on it. The topic of the song was “Wait on the Lord.” The general thought of the four stanzas was as follows: “God will surely plan your daily experiences so that everything will be for the best. And if you take everything to Jesus you will be able to carry the heaviest load. Truly and firmly God will establish your way throughout life, and as you rest in him you are guided from sorrow and calamity. When the hour of departure has come, everything being prepared, then, you who have complained will feel ashamed because before you know it you will be at home. Amen, amen, in thy name, My Jesus, I am still. Thou, Lord, will surely plan my days just as thou dost see fit.”

I cannot explain my feelings as I tried to read that song. It contained a message which strengthened my faith and gave me new courage. I put it in my New Testament and read it time and again during the remaining weeks of my captivity. The friends at Laohokow sang the song for my benefit when I passed through there a month later.

C. Oscar Anderson (1893-1950), “The Chase Begins,” in Two Lives of Faith: the Autobiographies of C. Oscar and Ruth M. Anderson (Published by their Sons and Daughters,1974), pp. 72,73.

Wheresoe’er I roam, through valleys dreary, over mountains or in pathless wood,
ever with me is a Friend to cheer me, warning, comforting as none else could.
‘Tis the Shepherd, who once dying, bleeding, now through all eternity shall live.
Jesus leads his flock, protecting, feeding, and the tend’rest care doth give.

All my needs eternally supplying, all in all that Friend to me shall be;
ev’rything for which my heart is sighing, Jesus knows and helps me lovingly.
Though I often feel forsaken, lonely, he is ever near, for he did say:
“I am with you always,” and this only gives me courage on my way.

Pierced heart, with love o’erflowing guide me, help me through life’s desert find my way;
let my faith, no matter what betide me, find assurance in your wounds each day.
To your presence–for this life is fleeting–take me, wash my garments in your blood;
and with Thomas may I, at your meeting, cry with joy, “My Lord and God!”

C. O. Rosenius (1816-1868), “Wheresoe’er I Roam,” tr. Victor O. Peterson (1864-1929), © Fortress Press, From The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 427.

Thanks to God for my Redeemer, thanks for all thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a mem’ry, thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime, thanks for dark and dreary fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten, thanks for peace within my soul!

Thanks for prayers that thou hast answered, thanks for what thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered, thanks for all thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain and thanks for pleasure, thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure, thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside, thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside, thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow, thanks for heav’nly peace with thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow, thanks through all eternity!

August Ludvig Storm (1862-1914), “Thanks to God,” tr. Carl E. Backstrom (1901-1984)
From The Covenant Hymnal, a Worshipbook (1996), No. 657.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

September, 2010 - Preachers

Memorable Pioneers

In 1864 a young man came to Swede Bend, near Stratford, Boone County, Iowa. This young man came directly from Sweden where he had been in the service of the army for a number of years. By trade he was a cobbler. He was an earnest Christian, having been converted through the reading of Pietistin [“The Pietist”] shortly before leaving for America. He was of a happy disposition and as a new convert his heart naturally sang with overflowing joy. His name was Carl August Björk.

Because of his warm interest in matters pertaining to religion the people of Swede Bend regarded Mr. Björk as a very unusual type of young man. He would speak to them of the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus and sing religious songs with visible joy and happiness. On the first Sunday of his arrival he gathered the folks in the home, read to them a portion from the Pietistin and sang old familiar hymns which gladdened the people....

During the summer of 1865 several persons were brought under conviction of sin in Mr. Björk's unpretentious meetings and finally they experienced the peace with God. In the week of prayer in 1867 a revival broke out in Swede Bend and a considerable number were brought to Christ. Thus a great change took place in the community, and Mr. Björk was no longer the only Läsare [“Reader”] among the people. He was now surrounded by a group of warm-hearted Christians, who looked upon him as their spiritual leader though he still was an ordinary working man in their midst.

When on Good Friday, 1867, Mr. Björk was to lead the service in the Lutheran church in the pastor's absence, he planned to read a portion from Pietisten or from a postil. Coming to church he could not find the book. Some one had hid it in order thus to compel Mr. Björk to preach. Under the circumstances he was forced to make his first attempt at preaching. He read a portion of the Scriptures relating to the crucifixion of Christ and spoke extemporaneously on that great subject with considerable freedom and power. His audience was deeply moved by his message and a revival spirit was manifested in the meeting. Several souls were brought to spiritual life as a result of this sermon. Mr. Björk now was prevailed upon henceforth to preach at the services and not to read from Pietisten or from a postil. Having seen evidence of God's blessing in his first attempt to preach, he consented to comply with the wishes of the people, though he did so with fear and trembling. Thus the first minister among the Mission Friends in America was drawn into the ministry very much as the colporteurs had been drawn to this work without any previous planning on their part. Good Friday in the year of 1867 can be regarded as the very birthday of the ministry of the Mission Friends in America, and the Rev. C. A. Björk was the very first minister.

C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), The Mission Covenant of America (1925), pp. 23,24,25,26.

The [Jönköping] society had thirteen men in its service in the early1870's. They were a distinguished group of preachers, not because of their learning but because of their natural fitness and deep devotion to their calling. None had more than a public school education. Some had less than that. All bad been called into the ministry from the plow, the carpenter's bench, the blacksmith shop or whatever occupation had been theirs. Nowhere else in Sweden, at that time or later, has there been a missionary society that has had in its service a group of preachers so outstanding in originality, so lavishly talented, and so richly endowed with spiritual power.

No two of them were alike in their presentation of the gospel, but all were men of one book and bad the most implicit faith in it. Some were fluent speakers. Others spoke haltingly. Some sat still as statues while they preached. (To be seated while preaching was the custom among them; one was a cripple who could not stand or take a single step without his crutches.) Others gesticulated and mimicked. Some never violated good taste in the use of illustrations. Others could not deliver a sermon that did not grate on the ears of the audience at some point. But all were alike in their unreserved consecration to the service of Christ for the salvation of men.

For more than twenty years the Gospel had been proclaimed with power by these men. There was hardly a parish within two hundred miles of Jönköping where a fire from heaven had not destroyed the altars of Baal, hardly a village where homes had not been transformed. Meeting-houses had been erected, places of amusement changed into temples of God, congregations and mission societies organized, and the moral standards raised to a higher level.

Erik Dahlhielm (1880-1955), A Burning Heart: a Biography of Erik August Skogsbergh (1951), pp. 45,46.

The ministers of the Mission Synod were from the outset self-made men who were in possession of very little theological training. The Rev. J. M. Sanngren and the Rev. P. Undeen had for some time studied in the Rev. P. A. Ahlberg's Theological Institute in Sweden, but the other ministers of this early period did not have any such training. All of them did, however, possess a good knowledge of the contents of the Bible, and they were well grounded in the writings of Dr. Martin Luther and other prominent theologians. Consequently they had a firm grip on Bible truths and a fairly good insight into theological matters. Some of them were gifted speakers, and they were all godly and self -sacrificing men whose aim it was to bring the good news of salvation to their fellow men. In their labors they experienced blessings from God, and the people listened gladly to their message.

C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), The Mission Covenant of America (1925), p. 83.

I remember our preachers--Myhren, Lindholm, Nilsen, and Train [in the Hilmar, California community where I grew up]. In those early days these farmer preachers were venerated but not paid well. In their long Prince Alberts they appeared as prophets out of the Old Testament to me. On week days they looked like the rest of us. On Sundays they were set apart wielding the sword of the Lord. It was something to see the farmers coming to church on Sundays in their lumber wagons and buggies.

Eric G. Hawkinson (1896-1984), Memoirs, “The Hilmar Years (1903-1907),”quoted in Grace and Glory: a festscrift on preaching in honor of Eric G. Hawkinson, The Covenant Quarterly, 1981-82, p. 11.

I have no doubt that the occasional appearances of this great man (J. A. Hultman, “The Sunshine Singer”] contributed much to my spiritual development. In deep contrast, however, was his inconspicuous brother, Frank Hultman, who was pastor of our little church. Once when we were having a social affair in the basement of the church, the pastor tossed an apple to me. Had I tossed anything in the church basement I would have been punished; therefore, the pastor was a very bad example to me. However that may be, I had the warm feeling that he was on my side and that he was one human being that I could trust. He had established that I was worthy of his attention. He confirmed my confidence in him by writing me a letter after we had moved to California. I would not want to minimize the influence of the famous “Sunshine Singer,” but among the few things that kept me from breaking completely with the church during my adolescent years were the memories of that tossed apple and of that letter, which is still one of my most prized possessions.

Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), Crying for my Mother (1975), pp. 9,10.
The Call and Education
Preachers must first and foremost have a call, and this is not replaced by any education. However, education is not replaced by a call either: without a call, no preacher. But a call without education results in a preacher who either never finds his real call or loses precious time by trying to look for and find that call.... This can never be emphasized enough .... Our theological seminary will be on the right track when we unite theological studies for the pastorate with a growing measure of liberal arts studies.... If any idea about a simple school for evangelists should in the slightest way prevent our future pastors from a foundational and comprehensive education, then this school would be a temptation rather than a blessing.

David Nyvall (1863-1946), Våra predikanters utbildning, Winter, 1919, quoted in Scott E. Erickson, David Nyvall and the Shape of an Immigrant Church (Acta Universitatis Upsallensis, Uppsala, 1996), pp. 295,296.

Need for Spiritual Maturity

I have often thought that preachers must really be worse and not better than other people in bearing up under trials and disappointments. It has also occurred to me that this is the result of our being accustomed to receiving more attention than other people and thus we become irritated when some disregard or contempt is shown us.

C. J. Nyvall (1829-1904), Travel Memories from America, 1876, E. Gustav Johnson, tr. (1959), p. 76

A pastor must always be prepared to perform the services of his office and never be embarrassed if unexpected and unique situations arise. He should act so that he gives the people a good and serious impression. A careless ministerial act is highly culpable and should never occur either at home or in church.

C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), “The Young Pastor” (1893), from Son of the People: The Autobiography of C. V. Bowman, tr. Eric G. Hawkinson, ed. Lois Bowman Michaelson (1988), p. 180.

Servant Leadership

In ministry we tend to forget theology and strive for servanthood and action. That attempt is often short-lived because it quickly runs out of a logic that will keep it going. Discouragement is the result. But as 2 Corinthians 4:5 stresses, ministry is first of all christological and, therefore, eschatological. Without that christological grounding in Christ's mission and promise, there is no direction for leadership other than self-interest. Servanthood becomes inane.

With a christological grounding, however, servanthood is both reasonable and directed. Christian workers are given over to people because they are first of all given over to Christ. To be involved with him necessitates being involved with his mission to people. Leadership, like any Christian service, is directed and motivated by Christ and his concerns, not by the whims of people. We are not people's servants or slaves in the sense that they “own” us; nor are we to do whatever they desire. Any service to them must fit under the lordship of Christ, his justice, and the concerns of his kingdom. Service and leadership become synonymous only when both are directed and motivated by Christ. To lead one must show people Christ and his kingdom so forcefully and clearly that they are compelled to follow. Servant leadership always results in people following Christ, not the servant.

Klyne R. Snodgrass (1944- ), “Your Slaves on Account of Jesus: Servant Leadership in the New Testament,” from Servant Leadership, Volume One: Authority and Governance in the Church, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 14,15.

A staff minister in a recent discussion about leadership said, “If the pastor will play the melody, I can provide the harmony. But when the melody keeps changing and isn't clear, it becomes very difficult.” This is a productive analogy for the pastor as leader of staff, lay leaders, and congregation. The main vision may come out of the minister's own depth of spirit, or may be created through corporate leadership action, but unless the melody is sounded clearly and consistently by the pastor, other staff and lay leaders will find it difficult to join in and add the harmony that is essential to accomplishing the goals. Together, pastor and staff are “pacesetters in the process of building a sense of common purpose in the congregation.”

The minister cannot wait to hear the melody from the congregation. While specific themes may be present, often they will be too diverse to give clear direction. The ministers and lay leaders, who know the people and context, choose the music to be played. They become the conductors of the “congregational orchestra,” and the members provide the harmony of support and action needed to accomplish the vision. If the minister refuses to lift the baton and give direction, the dissonance caused by people choosing their own pitch and playing their own tune will confuse the church's witness and mission to the world. The melody will be lost and the music will not be heard.

The minister playing the melody must not try to play all the other instruments that provide the harmony. People often need help in learning to play the harmony, and practice must be provided so that all can carry their part. A wise leader will learn how to delegate, accepting failures and mistakes in the process. Ministers who seek to fix the problem at hand by doing it themselves do so at the expense of developing the capabilities of their associates and lay leaders.

It is also possible to help others play their instruments to the neglect of playing one's own. The minister must first be attentive to the God who has called him or her to be his servant. Then he or she can help the congregation give attention to God in their lives. The ultimate harmony comes as the Spirit of God blends the work of ministers and the congregation to create a harmony of praise to God. In the context of harmony, the witness and mission of the church will be accomplished.

Frances M. Anderson (1931- ), “Sounding the Distinct Notes of Leadership”
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp 83,84.

Pastoral leadership is an art. It is not hierarchical rule but a servant leadership that calls forth the gifts of all people in the congregation. As an artist, the pastor needs to help develop the gifts in his or her people and help create organizational structures that allow those gifts to flourish harmoniously in promoting the mission of the church to glorify God. ...Management theorists ...agree that no one system works everywhere. Rather they describe principles, recognizing that one's organizational culture is a complex and powerful ally if understood and taken seriously. Each congregation is unique, with limits and possibilities.

The interaction between pastor and congregation is where the new work of art is created, An organizational structure that promotes love, respect, and honesty is crucial if a common mission is to be articulated and the gifts of all exercised in the pursuit of that mission. In managerial and artistic language this is what the Apostle Paul meant by equipping the saints for ministry.

Norma S. Sutton (1946- ), “Pastoral Leadership Is an Art”
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 129,130.

Communal Sensitivity

Since the ministry is entrusted to the whole, what is the unique role of the pastor? Influenced by Richard Osmer's distinction between teaching authority and commanding authority, I argue that the pastor's primary relation is to Word and sacrament as they lay claim on people, first for receptivity to God's grace in Christ and then to service in the name of Christ. It is God through Word and sacrament, not the pastor, who claims and calls people. The pastor's authority is to announce, both to persons as such and to the congregations, that as one and as many they are claimed and gifted for service. But what is to be done is not to be commanded but corporately discerned. The process of discerning is a form of teaching because it keeps the horizons of Scripture and present experience linked, and in that relation God's leading is discerned. The desired end is to be able to say, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

C. John Weborg (1937- ), “It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us: Clergy and Laity in Interaction,” from Servant Leadership, Volume One: Authority and Governance in the Church, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), p. 130.

The Christian ministry has its origin in Christ and his church. Consequently, it is not a calling in which we may exercise an unbridled invention or a display of our own opinion and talents. There is room for change. Blessed are those who are sensitive to change in the direction of improvement or decline. But there is also a tradition which is the mainstay of our life work as ministers. Only the uninstructed can believe that truth is of today alone. It behooves us, then, to lay hold of that tradition, because by both over-confidence and timidity we may lose its power.

The true tradition is not saved by repetition alone. We must speak the truth truthfully. This principle alive in our ministry will solve the problem of the old and the new. This principle will guide both the prophet and the priest as they minister in the church of Christ. With such an insight, they will have need of each other and will dwell together in peace....

“The Minister and His Ministry,” from Covenant Ministers’ Service Book of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of America (1944), p. 7.

God preserve congregations as well as preachers from heaping uncharitableness and contempt on an old, worn-out servant of Christ, in that one lifts to the skies the new, who still has tried little or nothing. It is dangerous to sin against a fellow-brother, even the simplest one. God watches over such behavior, and in due time he will repay him who has sinned in this way.

It is just as dangerous for a preacher to fall for popularity so that, in his own eyes, he becomes remarkable and important. Many have on that path dug their own graves and have, within a short time, made themselves useless, not to mention that on that path one can become a scandal in the church of God. The victims of pride and self-love among preachers are many and comprise a warning to all.

E. A. Skogsbergh (1850-1939), Minnen och Upplevelser
Quoted in Eric G. Hawkinson. Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), p. 154.

There is a certain mystical quality to the pastoral presence that communicates concern and transcends words and the ability to perform. A plaque that hangs on my office wall expresses the idea in a profound way: “A Pastor is one who speaks to your spirit, listens to your heart, and understands what words can never say.” This kind of presence ministers in the deepest way. It expresses not so much our knowledge or expertise but a quality of spirit that functions even when one is at a loss for words.

Everett Jackson (1933- ), “The Role of Lay Leadership in Pastoral Care”
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), p. 102.

Need for Support

Our pastors are all human, not any of them are perfect. But they are chosen by God and called by the Church for a definite task. In your home say nothing derogatory about your pastor. He may not be America's greatest orator, nor your denomination's deepest theologian, but he is your pastor. If you have criticisms, go to him personally. Whatever you do, do not corrupt your children's mind by adverse criticism of your pastor. If you have nothing kind to say about him, then keep silent. I believe that the pastor should be spiritual adviser not only of the adult members of the Church but of the children as well. Do all within your power to establish the confidence of the one who by virtue of his office should be their spiritual adviser.

Peter Person (1889-1984), “The Parent and the Sunday School”
From Nath. Franklin, The Covenant Home (1935), p. 46.

He [Erik August Skogsbergh (1850-1939), often called “The Swedish Moody”] had a tender heart for his fellow ministers and never said or did anything that could be construed as a criticism of the pastor of the church in which he held a preaching mission. He looked upon the task of the evangelist as the easier, because the evangelist preaches a week or two in a place, wins some for Christ and leaves. The pastor remains. It is his duty to care for the converted and see to it that they grow in grace, a task that many a time robs him of his sleep. The evangelist preaches to a new audience every two or three weeks, the pastor to the same audience month after month, year after year. “How important, then, is it not that the evangelist is a humble man who co-operates with the pastor, encourages him, and encourages the church to think well of the shepherd whom Christ has placed in their midst?”

Erik Dahlhielm (1880-1955), A Burning Heart: a Biography of Erik August Skogsbergh (1951), p. 140.
Pastoral Ethics

[The following] guidelines are a teaching document to alert us [Covenant Ministers] to issues we should consider in making ethical decisions. They are affirmed by the Ministerium upon review by the Board of the Ministry.

A) This world is created, sustained, and loved by the everlasting God who has overcome darkness by the victory of Christ in the Incarnation-Crucifixion-Resurrection event.

B) We are called by God, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to be servants of the Word and Sacraments, and to give leadership to the church as the body of Christ with the authority and grace of Christ the Servant.

C) We hold true to and give instruction in the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, as the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.

D) Aware that we all fall short of the glory of God and only by grace are we saved, we nevertheless recognize the dignity and worth of each individual, grounded in the image of God.

E) We seek to minister to everyone who comes to us. Our calling is the expression of the totality of God's redemptive work in making himself known in Christ through the Holy Spirit, which is attested in Scripture and given narrative in the Church's tradition.

F) We understand the need for ongoing educational activities for our professional growth and give careful attention to nurturing our spiritual life through study, meditation, prayer, and spiritual direction or companionship.

G) We care for our personal and family health by maintaining a proper balance among our personal, family, and vocational responsibilities. It is imperative that we choose to seek appropriate assistance when we are in need.

H) We are committed to the biblical standard of chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage. We define marriage as a monogamous, heterosexual relationship.

I) We seek out and enter into collegial relationships, recognizing that our perspective and judgment can be compromised by isolation.

J) We seek to establish and maintain appropriate boundaries in all pastoral relationships.

Ethical Guidelines for Covenant Ministers, An Occasional Paper, Number Five (1990s), p. 2.

Passion for Christ
The historian Herbert Butterfield once wrote: “Hold to Christ absolutely, but for the rest be totally uncommitted.” Passion for Christ and liberty are dynamically one. Whatever genius the Covenant may have, this is it as I perceive it. There is fierce commitment to Christ at the center but jolly and almost reckless abandonment away from the center. Our fellowship at its best has always fought off penultimate absolutes. Not often has anyone tried to force our fellowship into a box-doctrinal, methodological, or structural-but when it has been attempted someone always managed to yell "fire!" A certain robust recalcitrance always managed to break it up. But there was no such recalcitrance when God would blow in like a tornado, or roll in like a rhythmic brook.

Such freedom seemed too reckless at times. Almost anyone could start a prairie fire and get away with it. Our Covenant has its own trail of “burnt-out” cases. Some played with fire and many got burned. But in spite of the excesses, there was usually a drama more exciting than the Super Bowl. Where was the wind of the Spirit going to blow today? Who was about to be invaded? Expectancy was in the air!

Much of this drama was created by “rugged individualist" personalities. When sixteen, I can remember attending a Sunday evening service in the First Covenant Church of Duluth to hear the Rev. Gustaf F. Johnson conclude an evangelistic series. The impact on me was not only moving; it was frightening. My hair stood up stiff on my head. Yet as much as I would dread another encounter of that kind, I knew I would have to return if such an event recurred. Masochism? Perhaps. But I would secretly have to admit that the winds of God blew through the Texan's words.

Arthur W. Anderson (1920- ), “To Be Ourselves”
From Bound to Be Free: essays on being a Christian and a Covenanter, James R. Hawkinson, ed. (1975), p. 77.


If you are without fire, my young brother, your life will end in shipwreck. It will be impossible for you to argue yourself through to victory in the tornadoes of unbelief of our times. People cannot even hear what you say in the roar of the storm. If you are going to seek this prominent personality with one problem and that outstanding authority with another, you will sink into the darkness of despair before your problems are solved. If, however, the fire is burning in your soul, it will be just as difficult for the deeps of unbelief to drown you as it was for the Adriatic Sea to swallow the Apostle Paul.

How shall I secure this fire?

When the disciples of the Emmaus road walked along as smoking torches, they fell into company with one who set fire to their hearts with his words. “Were not our hearts burning within us, while he walked with us in the way, and while he opened the scriptures to us?” they exclaimed when they knew who he was.

Oh, my weary, discouraged, hopeless and sinking brother! You wish that you had never become a preacher. Right you are! A preacher without fire is more unhappy than a street sweeper with a worn-out broom. But you may re-establish company with the Lord Jesus--and you may do this today. Perhaps he is standing just over there, and like the disciples of old you do not recognize him. Now he will come and fellowship with you on your journey. And then the fire will be rekindled in your heart.

Gustaf F. Johnson (1873-1959), “Hearts Aflame”
From Gustaf F. Johnson, Hearts Aflame, tr. Paul R. Johnson (1970) p. 19.

Monday, August 2, 2010

August, 2010 - Preaching

Biblical Moorings


Biblical roots for the sacramental view of the sermon are found in the New Testament's presentation of the nature of preaching, and particularly the preaching of Jesus. The word used for preaching in the Synoptic Gospels, keryssein, means "to announce," "to proclaim." The Vulgate translation is praedicare, "to call out openly." In the New Testament, preaching is not simply edifying discourse or instruction in abstract truth or illumination of religious truths; nor is it merely exhortation or admonition or "inspirational" address. It is an act of proclamation in which that which is proclaimed is made present and powerful in the moment of proclamation. Thus Jesus came to the synagogue in Nazareth, read from Isaiah 61 concerning the promised messianic age, and then declared, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in you hearing" (Luke 4:21). In his person and proclamation the long awaited rule of God had become living reality in their midst....

The primacy of this form of proclamation must be reaffirmed in an age when people demonstrate little confidence in the spoken word. Everywhere language is used to manipulate and control hu¬man behavior for personal profit or advantage. Lying in advertising, in business, and in government is commonplace and often taken for granted. Surrounded every day by speech which lacks authenticity, the Church finds it doubly imperative to live and speak with integrity in every aspect of its life. The Church takes courage, however, in the realization that the effectiveness of its witness does not depend ultimately upon the quality of its life but upon God's grace which makes use of imperfect vessels.

...Preaching must be the faithful exposition of the biblical message in such a way as to permit the grace of the Gospel to bear on daily life. Through the Holy Spirit the reality of the salvation actualized in Jesus' death and resurrection is made present and effective in the words of the preacher.

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), AThe Theology of Preaching: A Covenant Perspective@
From Grace and Glory: a festschrift on preaching in honor of Eric G. Hawkinson (The Covenant Quarterly, Nos 3,4, 1981), pp. 88,91.



The Wind of the Spirit


The secret of our success has been the simple preaching of the gospel in the power of the spirit .... We have been weak in education and parliamentary procedure, but we have been strong in the pulpit.

E. August Skogsbergh (1850-1939), Covenant Yearbook, 1910, p. 146, quoted in Scott E. Erickson, David Nyvall and the Shape of an Immigrant Church (Acta Universitatis Upsallensis Uppsala, 1996), p. 233.

When there is a change in the pulpit of a congrega¬tion, there is sometimes a revival in the church and the new man is given the credit for it, but the true reason may be that the old familiar voice is no longer heard. To be sure, there was much that was human and weak in the labor of the one who left but there was also something which remained in the hearts of the listeners, which was called forth by the sound of the new voice and quickened to new life.

Nils Heiner (1868-1958), AWhen the Lord God Calls@
From Herbert E. Palmquist, The Word Is Near You (1974), p. 153.

Great Covenant preaching does not belong to a bygone era. The gospel is always modern and gospel preaching is always fundamental.

G. F. Hedstrand (1886-1960)
From Foreword to The Covenant Pulpit, G. F. Hedstrand, ed. (1954).

Many a beautiful sermon containing wonderful truth and dressed in eloquent language falls to the ground like a bird shot down in flight. What is lacking? No heart! Nothing is wrong with its theology. The teaching is correct, and truth is spoken. Scripture after Scripture is quoted. The presentation is quiet and orderly, and the language is dignified and stately. Despite all this, not a soul is gripped by the message.

Why is this? Simply because the preacher has neglected to make what he says a vital issue for himself. He is like a record player which grinds out what has been cut into the record of the memory during the previous week. This is not preaching. This is merely making a speech.

Gustaf F. Johnson (1873-1959), AHearts Aflame@
From Gustaf F. Johnson, Hearts Aflame, trans. Paul R. Johnson (1970), p. 8.


Proclaiming the Story


Preaching is the telling of the story of Jesus, to the end that the hearer becomes part of the story. Its purpose is not to impart information, but to evoke faith and obedience. It is a word of faith that we preach. When the hearer believes and obeys this Word, he becomes a participant--not just imaginatively, as a child does when a bedtime story¬hero has the same name as he, but actually and effectively. This is a principal implication of the saying that Christ died for me.

The first preaching of the apostles consisted mainly of this storytelling, as demonstrated by Peter's sermon to the household of Cornelius. Very briefly, almost summarily, he told them the story of Jesus. But he didn't stop there with the conclusion AWell, now you know the story.@ Instead he continued: "To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." He invited them to become part of the story and they did. "While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word" (Acts 10:33,34). Without this conclusion the sermon was unfinished.

Preaching is important to the interpretation of the cross at precisely this point. Analysis and objectivity had little to do with the attitude of the apostles to the cross. Instead, they had entered into the experience of the cross and they were under a divine mandate to extend it to others. It would not be adequate to teach others of the experience without drawing them into it, for it is only from within that the foolishness of the cross may be perceived as the wisdom of God....

...Christ is risen, and present. The preaching does not cause his presence; instead, it defines and declares it. The presence of the risen Christ, not the imagination of the preacher, bridges the gap of history. Yet without the preaching Christ would be the unintroduced guest at the party, or the stranger in the back pew. His presence, possible as it is because of his resurrection, makes it imper¬ative for everyone to know his story.

Everett L. Wilson (1936- ), Christ Died for Me (1980), pp. 93,94,95.

The opportunity and need for proclamation of the gospel, the strong public announcement of the good news revealed in Christ Jesus, is before the church, especially the preacher. Leadership requires it. Doing it will enhance the leadership role. Wise or simple, learned or untutored, successful in this world's terms or a failure at everything, every human being needs to know that in Christ there is the new and right relationship with God. God wants people to know that!

The apparently overwhelming tendency to use the pulpit for didactic ends may occur because of the kind of audience to whom the person in the pulpit preaches todayBthe "savvy" individual who is often better informed than the preacher. The preacher is no longer the "parson," the person in the community. Consequently, the preacher may be intimidated by the hearers' learning and success and feel the need to cover his or her tracks. Rather than a fearless, "stick-your-neck-out" declaration of the promises of Scripture, the preacher carefully explains and aims at logic and good sense. There is no desire here to speak against such concerns. The desire here is rather to awaken the preacher to the additional challenge of announcing the gospel in declarative terms, a gospel to which hearers are called to respond. The gospel is also for heralding.

J. Robert Hjelm (1927-1999), AThe Pulpit Leads the World@
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 54,55.

The preacher [here referring to the lay colporteur in Sweden] should not find more joy in his work than in the fact that his name is written in heaven (Luke 10:20). In his travels from village to village, often without food for a day, he must not give way to discouragement, despair, or anxiety about sustenance (Luke 9:58). When he meets people with natural goodness, he must not hide the truth that would wound them into seeking new life. Pleasing and fearing the people are great temptations to the colporteur (Isaiah 51:12,13). When he meets opposition from preachers or people, he must not become vindictive or abusive. Christ died also for them. He may say, "It is, after all, the truth that I speak." Even so, why are you not as zealous about your own faults? Beware to think that you are something under much approval of Christian friends. In too zealous a service with much speaking and preaching, you can preach away your own spiritual life.

Mission Discussions in Jönköping, Sweden, 1892
Quoted in Images in Covenant Beginnings, pp. 133,134.

I once heard it said that my father's preaching was centered around two themes, "our badness and God's goodness." I do not so recall it, and I heard much of his preaching. Rather, he spoke of our lostness and God's mercy. There was something infinitely precious about men and women, but they had missed the road and only Christ could save them. That was the testimony of their own experience. I went astray and knew not the road but then I heard the voice of the Savior. Others were now on the same road of lostness as they had been and they were out to win them. It wasn't the debater that stood out in the old Covenant preacher, it was the pleader. Paul's distressed complaint to the Corinthians, "though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers," could probably have been made in our early days also. But we thank God for the "fathers"; they predominated.

Alas, that it should be so difficult to have a heart and to maintain it. True doctrine we have and some perhaps which is not so true; we have organizations; we have "revivals," campaigns, drives and crusades. And most of this is good. But it is incomplete unless "the love of' God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Herbert E. Palmquist (1896-1981), Wait for Me! (1959), p. 9.

...During the first era of rupture [in the early Mission Friend movement], and not so infrequently, the sermons contained sharp attacks against those who opposed the mission. Should we say that by this they called forth cries of heresy, hyper-evangelism, etc., which were so loudly and persistently heard from the pulpits of many of the Lutheran churches? We believe that we will come nearer the truth if we say that with such behavior they were mutually stimulated. The zeal of the flesh, whenever it appears, is punished by the Holy Spirit--¬this in spite of the fact that the person thinks that he is performing a service to God. It was probably a good thing that no one in the Mission group dared to break into print on these matters. In that area the opposition was alone. With this inability to defend themselves with the pen, which they were sensible enough to understand, they seemed to have learned that this was the best way to victory in the conflict. The chairman spoke of this in his report at the annual meeting in 1874: "Our work has, in many ways, met resistance. Those who have attacked with the greatest zeal are most convinced that they have not triumphed, wherefore they must attack again. The position we have taken up to the present of not answering the accusations of the opposition has not caused us any loss.The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10).

C. M. Youngquist (1851-1901), Hem-Missionären, November, 1892.
Quoted in Eric G. Hawkinson, Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp. 139,140.


Law and Gospel


The gospel is a good and joyful "news," a delightful and glad message from the God of life to all sinners--to all people, in fact, inasmuch as all have sinned. He desires the death of no sinner. No, he desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. He has eternally had the same mind which he has shown from the day of the fall, but especially revealed in that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). To tell sinners about this incomprehensible grace, love, and mercy is to preach the gospel. When sinners hear that it is only through his deeds that they can become blessed, this frees the slaves and frees the souls, yes, even the worst and the one who has sunk most deeply. The law preaches death. The gospel preaches life. The law preaches the curse and rejection. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Report of a Mission Meeting, Randolph, Kansas, August 3, 1877.
Quoted in Eric G. Hawkinson. Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), p. 129.

When preaching and teaching God=s commandments in the church, it is helpful to remember both uses of the law found in Mark 10. We may strongly teach that the laws of God ought to be kept and can be kept in their outward form. This is necessary for the sake of order in the life of the community and the well-being of the individual. In biblical tradition, this is especially necessary for the sake of the weaker members of society, particularly children. Simultaneously, it is our calling also to declare that God's commands cannot be wholly kept. When we plumb our hearts and motivations, we are fugitives from the law. We are driven from the holy God, or else to Jesus and the cross for forgiveness and freedom from the bondage of the law offered in the one who calls us by name.

James K. Bruckner (1957- ), AOn the One Hand...On the Other Hand: The Twofold Meaning of the Law against Covetousness,@ From To Hear and Obey: Essays in Honor of Fredrick Carlson Holmgren, Edited by Bradley J. Bergfalk and Paul E. Koptak (1997), pp. 114,115.

With liveliness and warmth, even sharpness, [the early Covenanters] discussed first questions about the doctrine of the Bible regarding Christ's work for a fallen world together with self-improvement and faith. ...The new movement emphasized powerfully the danger of preaching moral effect and [self-acquired] faith as conditions for accepting grace, thereby leading the sinner from Christ into [one's] own work for self-betterment and true faith. They taught that often the preaching was such that faith became the soul's own virtue wherewith one sought to buy God=s grace. Therefore one should preach Christ more as the object of faithBChrist and his work for the soul. There must be no limitation in the presentation of Christ's work for a world fallen in sin. "It is finished." These words were defended and interpreted by the words of Rosenius, "You shall believe in a righteousness which all have; then you will have a righteousness which all do not have. ...What is it then that all have? A reconciled God, an eternal righteousness earned and brought forth by Christ. What is it then that all do not have? A mind not reconciled to God, a mind in which the Holy Spirit has not worked a new will, namely, partaking in God's nature."

...We are not protecting doctrine or conduct which does not stand the test before the Word of God. No, for this Word we tell all. This will at the last judge all. God be thanked that the solid rock of the Word prevails.

C. M. Youngquist (1851-1901), in Hem-Missionären, June, 1892
From Eric G. Hawkinson, Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp. 49,50.

"Our forebears," said Pamp [Frederick E., 1883-1967], "had heard legalistic preaching in the established church all their lives as the priests castigated their erring parishioners. But because they were not themselves saved and could only say, 'Don't do as I do but do as I say,' they could not bring any real help. When the evangelicals came with their personal experience of God's saving grace, it was as salve in the wounds. The appeal did not lie in any technique. They addressed their listeners with the Good News, saying: 'Well, here you are, the prodigal. How do you fare in the far-away country? God is the father, full of love and mercy, who waits for you to come home'" Can it be said that such preaching is too naive for our sophisticated age, or is there behind all of the lostness of the present generation a broken cry for the Father's house?

Herbert E. Palmquist (1896-1981), The Wit and Wisdom of Our Fathers (1967), pp. 185,186.


Diverse Gifts


To meet the giant front which presses forward against the stronghold of faith and life and light in our day we need both the heavy and the light artillery. We need the deep, serious sermons, and we also need those which go in a little lighter style. In literature we need the kind of writings which lead our thoughts and minds down into the depths of salvation truth. But we also need the light, literary address which stimulates the emotions, speaks to the senses, and finds its way to those hearts which would never be reached by the heavy projectiles. As for myself, I am a little bit related to the humor artillerists, and it is my conviction that even these people have a place to fill in life.

Paul Peter Waldenström (1838-1917)
From Herbert E. Palmquist, The Wit and Wisdom of Our Fathers (1967), p. 26.

Pastor Sanngren was, by nature, a lively Smålänning. In addition to this, he was, by the grace of God, a completely happy man who could also make others happy through the preaching of the gospel. He was through and through an evangelical preacher who could portray Christ for sinners so that hearts were melted.

He was certainly peculiar in his way of preaching. It was with respect to this that he was criticized. But in spite of these peculiarities God used him for edi¬fication and salvation.

On one occasion I had opportunity to see how he handled himself in the pulpit. At that time they built pulpits like a large rostrum. Because there were so many Smålänningar on the North Side (Chicago), they had taken the pattern from the mission house in Jönköping and built a broad rostrum so that one could dance behind it if one wished.

I sat on a sofa behind him. He began to warm up in his heart so that he began to jump. Just as he was to express a happy thought, he kicked up both feet like a Missouri mule and almost caught me in the face with his shoes. After that I moved farther away from him.

Another time he preached on one of David's psalms in which David describes the Lord, "He has bent and strung his bow, he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts." (Psalm 7:12, 13). Then he described the Lord as a hunter who is out hunting game among people. He described in a vivid way how the Lord seeks to save the lost by shooting the arrows of truth.

"Pay attention now," he shouted, "now he bends his bow, look out, now he puts the deadly arrow on the bow string, now he shoots." And Sanngren, while pointing to a woman who sat on the front bench, shouted, "Pumf." The woman fell from the bench to the floor and began to cry to the Lord for salvation. It is said that she was saved and became happy in God.

Yes, the Lord can at times use preachers even with a delivery which is peculiar. In that event he naturally uses them for blessing not because of their peculiarities but in spite of them. It is clear that the Lord wants his witnesses to appear in a proper and inoffensive way, which in no way means that one shall stand like a statue but in a way which is natural and free. The hearer understands whether it is natural, affected, or imitated.

E. August Skogsbergh (1850-1939), Minner och Upplevelser.
Quoted in Eric G. Hawkinson, Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp.134,135.

For me, the most unusual, the most imaginative, the most human and incarnational preaching came from my hero in the pulpit, Eric Hawkinson. I've heard the sermons of the greatest names but none has lit up my flesh and fragility with the glory of God as the chapel sermons of "Hawky." He simply expounded the Word of God and brought out the stars over this Word with parables from foxholes, farmyards, shy children with flowers, and Hilmar. Once in a Christmas sermon at seminary chapel he told how the Word of God came wrapped up in a gentle, "pink baby flesh." I reached out and touched the pulse beat of God. He wasn't reading it; he was living the Word with us. That's preaching! I want to preach for dear life like that!

Arthur W. Anderson (1920- ), Wild Beasts and Angels (1979), p. 92.


Sensitivity to People

Pastors are artists. The most overt form of their art is shown in preaching (rhetoric), liturgy (choreography), musical talent, and other specific artistic gifts. But the subtle form of art shows itself in pastoral care and leadership style. A trained intuition can help people verbalize their hunches, hopes, and hurts without telling them what to say. Artists work with material, and the material cannot be forced without being damaged. Good questions are a work of art because when anyone is "under questioning," he or she experiences some form of intimidation. The recognition of "where people are in life" and how to enable people to deal maturely with such is the fruit of living among a people, listening to them, and knowing that not just any verse of Scripture will do. The "word fitly spoken" is an artistic choice of words, texts, and gestures. Birney Quick, well-known artist in Minnesota and teacher of artists, says that the most significant thing an art teacher does is not the teaching of techniques and technical material but "finding the right pot" in which the plant of the developing artist can mature. Pastoral artistry has to do with an ecology in which judgment and grace, gift and task, can live dialectically.

C. John Weborg (1937- ), AIt Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us: Clergy and Laity in Interaction,@ from Servant Leadership, Volume One: Authority and Governance in the Church, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), p. 124.

When the Word has been preached and there is a sense that some people are ready to make a commitment to Christ as their Lord, then an invitation to make some kind of outward response may be helpful to the new converts in reinforcing their decision. They may be encouraged to do one of several things: raise their hands, stand where they are, give a brief expression of thanks to God, come forward for counsel, remain after the service to confer with the pastor, declare their decision to someone after the service, fill in a prepared card with a word about their commitment, write a letter to the pastor, or join the next inquirer's class.

When handled with spiritual discernment the invitation not only helps the newly committed to affirm their faith, it also encourages other Christians to become more active in their witness for Christ while it heightens the evangelistic expectancy of the whole congre¬gation.

AWorship on the Lord=s Day,@ from The Covenant Book of Worship (1981), p. 22.

[Carl August] Björk [first president of the Covenant] was a master in the pulpit--at times serious, piercing to the quick; at other times gently pleading; then again illustrating his sermon with pointed anecdotes and even humorous incidents. He preached to secure decisions, and therefore constantly harvested souls. This was in spite of the fact that he never emphasized revivals in the customary meaning. When fellow preachers began to use pressure methods upon the audience, Björk would say, "Now machinery is being used, as for me, I'm going home." Eternity alone will reveal the multitude won for Christ through his ministry.

C. E. Backstrom, ACarl August Björk,@ from Three Covenant Presidents, by C. E. Backstrom, E. Gustav Johnson, and Erik Dahlhielm (1943), p. 38.

The single image that remains most clearly in our minds as a parable on father's intention in preaching and his methodology surrounds the story of his encounter with a little boy at Swan Lake Bible Camp in South Dakota, years ago. Tired as he often was from a heavy schedule of teaching and preaching, he had come to that family camp weary and troubled over what he would say. The struggle, as he himself recalls, was evident there in his early sermonizing--the struggle to get through to clarity on the one hand and to his listeners on the other. On one of his early walks through the camp--he was an incessant walker while preparing himself to preach--he saw a lonely little boy, solitary by the road, listless and preoccupied, protected by a sense of privacy that seemed to forbid intrusion. Others were playing baseball, swimming, run¬ning, shouting, laughing, all that lively youngsters do to spend their prodigious energies at camp. For two or three days he watched that solitary little figure, so apparently lost--speaking briefly and courteously to him, but failing, somehow, in the ex¬change to bring cheer. Near the end of the week, father found the boy suddenly intent--reading a letter. Unaware of another's presence at first, obviously reading and rereading, the boy finally looked up, took father's eye, and with a broad grin leaped into the air shouting, "It's O.K., Hawky! I've just got a letter, and everything's O.K. at home! Let's go play ball!" That very image-- "Everything is O.K. at home!"--a little boy's image, became the center of the sermon that tied the whole week together.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997) and James R. Hawkinson (1930- ), ANotes on the Preacher by His Sons,@ from Grace and Glory: a festschrift on preaching in honor of Eric G. Hawkinson (The Covenant Quarterly, Nos 3,4, 1981), pp. 71,71.

There is a certain eloquence, in my opinion, [with] which ... a preacher can speak so that the simplest old lady can understand every word. That is the eloquence I strive for, and which I would counsel all preachers to practice. I will gladly leave it to others to immerse themselves in meditations over the meaning of the different colors in the high priest's garments and similar things. I congratulate those who see a great spiritual depth in that and are edified thereby. But for my part, when I hear it, I remember a little story. There was a preacher who spoke about the position of John the Baptist. He did not belong to the Old Testament and he did not belong to the New Testament. After a profound consideration of this, the preacher exclaimed: "Where shall we then put John the Baptist?" whereupon an old farmer got up from his seat and said: "Put him here in my seat because I am leaving."

It probably would not be out of order here to tell a little story. In a gathering at the home of C. O. Rosenius there was a Bible discussion. I had the floor and spoke, I thought, very well. When I had finished, Rosenius said in his clear, calm voice: "Well, the first thing we understand is that our dear brother Waldenström comes from the University at Uppsala." It was as though he had hit me in the head with a club. But the influence of that blow still remains even though the ache is long since gone. I could wish that many a preacher today might have a similar knock in the head.

Paul Peter Waldenström (1838-1917)
Quoted in Herbert E. Palmquist, The Wit and Wisdom of Our Fathers (1967), pp. 106,107.


Feeding the Flock

On one occasion I was assigned to make a sermon outline on the text about Jesus feeding the five thousand in a desert place. I had done my work honestly and now was to give my outline in class. As my title I announced, "A feeding in the desert." Responding quickly as usual, [President David] Nyvall said, "Yes, yes, just so, that's good," and with his lovely and unexpected acknowledgment singing in my ears I continued to give the disposition of the contents: main points, sub¬ordinate points, and conclusion. When I had finished, the professor sat quietly looking at his Greek Testament. Then he said, "Well, that was like being invited to dinner without getting any food." What a crushing moment! But the professor was right. As I realized later, I had issued an invitation to dinner but had not put anything substantial on the table.

C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), AThe First Year in North Park@ (1894-95)
From Son of the People: The Autobiography of C. V. Bowman (1988), p. 194.

Using the Flock

A number of Covenant pastors use the conventicle or midweek meeting to provide an opportunity for the congregation to discuss the sermon text for the following Sunday. The practice has much to commend it. Certainly it serves to heighten the congrega¬tion's awareness of the importance of the preached Word, which will be heard in the context of worship, and of the dependence of the Church upon it for its continued well-being. This use of the conventicle also facilitates greatly the pastor's understanding of where the congregation is, both in terms of its grasp of the biblical message and of its varied needs.

Even more helpful and essential is opportunity for spiritual discussion following the hearing of the Word. Basic to the preacher's task is the relating of the message of the text to the everyday concerns of the congregation. That is a task, however, in which the members of the congregation must share. The Word having been heard, it is their responsibility to work through its implications for their everyday existence as the people of God. The conventicle could well be used for sharing the insights, resolves, and concerns which arise out of the hearing of the message.

Even if the sermon is not the immediate basis for the discus¬sion, the proclamation of the Church in its widest sense needs constantly to be examined and appropriated through such informal sharing and mutual encouragement. The role of such informal groups in furthering renewal and growth into spiritual maturity can hardly be overestimated, especially when they are centered in discussion of the Word.

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), AThe Theology of Preaching: A Covenant Perspective@
From Grace and Glory: a festschrift on preaching in honor of Eric G. Hawkinson (The Covenant Quarterly, Nos 3,4, 1981), p. 94.



Social Dimensions


Whether one follows the lectionary or develops sermon series from the great biblical texts and themes, the social dimensions of the Word of God must be presented with faithfulness and conviction. A sermon is good not primarily because of its literary or rhetorical quality but because of its truth and reality. It conveys the powerful truth of the Word of God, a truth that is social as well as personal. And it connects with the reality of the lives of the hearers, a reality that is social as well as personal. What is required here is not so much prophetic courage as simple faithfulness (in exposition of the Word that God has given) and genuine love (for the hearers in the reality of their daily lives). It is a mistake to drift away from the truth of the Word or to stop short of the reality faced by the congregation.

David W. Gill (1946- ), AThe Unique Role of the Church in a Troubled Society@
From Servant Leadership, Volume Two: Contemporary Models and the Emerging Challenge, James R. Hawkinson & Robert K. Johnston, editors (1993), pp. 73,74.

That the message will be preached or proclaimed means much more that simply hurling Christian shortwave messages across trackless deserts or snowy wastelands, as needed as that may be as an entrance. It is more than passing out tracts, skywriting "Jesus loves you," or programming a computer to dial a salvation message to every phone number in the neighborhood.

When has the Gospel been adequately preached? What is sufficient proclamation? How deep must it penetrate before one can say, AIt has been preached here@? Often despite our best efforts, proclamation never gets below the topsoil; it just runs off, eroding even that thin soil. Has the Gospel really been preached to the urbanite who happens to flip on a TV evangelist, or to a commuter seeing a billboard as he or she roars past? There are many who, while hearing, do not hear. When has it been adequately preached? When the hearers comprehend the Gospel message of the kingdom in such a way that they make an intelligent decision for or against an allegiance to Christ.

Only the Lord knows when the Gospel has truly entered the heart, when there has been a sufficient depth of proclamation. Only the Lord knows, and until he judges it sufficient, we continue. So the missionary enterprise is not just a plant-and-run strategy, but one that aims at deepening the Gospel within the culture as well.

Brad Hill (1950- ), Slivers from the Cross: A Missionary Odyssey (1990), p.109.

About Me

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Nearly seventeen years into retirement, I am enjoying the opportunity to share thoughts and life experiences on a regular basis. This blog is part of a larger personal website at www.rootedwings.com. Your comments, thoughts, and life experience responses are not only invited but welcome!