"Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness...." (Deuteronomy 9:6, From today's Pentateuch-History Section)
The following is my reply to an itinerary letter sent by the couple leading the American Team whom Sarah and I will join next week. I thought you might find interesting what I shared with them.
The following is my reply to an itinerary letter sent by the couple leading the American Team whom Sarah and I will join next week. I thought you might find interesting what I shared with them.
Donald and Marlis:
I don't know if I ever told you, but I visited Herrnhut during the communist era in September of 1988. I was the only one staying in the hotel at the time. Of course the DDR required a reservation, which meant much more than Americans understand about "reservation." I had made the reservation from here in Berlin. The communist officials had prepared a great dinner and accommodation; you could tell they weren't used to many visitors. Before I went to the hotel, I was sort of wondering around the town for a few minutes, when I stopped to talk to a man working in his garden. He was one of the elders in the Unitas Fratrum, literally, Unity of the Brethren (Moravian) Congregation! I might add that "unity" in Jesus was the foundational desire and pursuit of the Herrnhut Community. This Moravian elder gave me a complete tour of the town and Moravian Cemetery where Zinzendorf is buried. Later I drove down the road a short distance to the church building in Berthelsdorf in which the famous August 13, 1727 communion service took place, the gathering which "sparked" the 120 year /24/7 prayer "watch of the Lord." The door to the building was locked, but about a year and a half later, just a few months after the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe, I went back, tried the door, and it was unlocked! I was actually able to stand in the centuries-old pulpit. The original church building was burned during the Hussite Wars of the early 15th century, and rebuilt in 1595. I have a copy of one of the original hymnals. What a glorious time.
I don't know if I ever told you, but I visited Herrnhut during the communist era in September of 1988. I was the only one staying in the hotel at the time. Of course the DDR required a reservation, which meant much more than Americans understand about "reservation." I had made the reservation from here in Berlin. The communist officials had prepared a great dinner and accommodation; you could tell they weren't used to many visitors. Before I went to the hotel, I was sort of wondering around the town for a few minutes, when I stopped to talk to a man working in his garden. He was one of the elders in the Unitas Fratrum, literally, Unity of the Brethren (Moravian) Congregation! I might add that "unity" in Jesus was the foundational desire and pursuit of the Herrnhut Community. This Moravian elder gave me a complete tour of the town and Moravian Cemetery where Zinzendorf is buried. Later I drove down the road a short distance to the church building in Berthelsdorf in which the famous August 13, 1727 communion service took place, the gathering which "sparked" the 120 year /24/7 prayer "watch of the Lord." The door to the building was locked, but about a year and a half later, just a few months after the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe, I went back, tried the door, and it was unlocked! I was actually able to stand in the centuries-old pulpit. The original church building was burned during the Hussite Wars of the early 15th century, and rebuilt in 1595. I have a copy of one of the original hymnals. What a glorious time.
Woody
***
Most of you know of the famous Moravian Revival of the 18th and 19th centuries. Count Zinzendorf was only in his twenties when this revival began. Perhaps a little known fact about him is that the Saxony Government actually banished him from Saxony in 1736, but in 1749 begged him to come back and establish other communities just like the one in Herrnhut. Would to our Lord Jesus Christ there were more people like him today, people begged by governments, people in whom Jesus Christ was so evident that governments would want them to replicate themselves and their communities/churches in other cities and towns.
I have absolutely no doubt that Zinzendorf would agree with today's text, that whatever revivals, whatever "great things" we see is not due to, "[]our righteousness." Whatever, "good land we possess (is) because of [Jesus'] righteousness." Jesus is the, "Author and Perfecter of faith." Jesus is, "the Author and Perfecter of," any and all we do which has any lasting value and power. I will continue to pray, praise, confess the Scriptures. But in and through it all, "Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness," but because of Jesus, Who Is, "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that I will remain faithful to do as You commanded, "that men should always pray and never give up," while always remembering, whatever "happens" is because of Your Righteousness, Who is Jesus. Amen.
Most of you know of the famous Moravian Revival of the 18th and 19th centuries. Count Zinzendorf was only in his twenties when this revival began. Perhaps a little known fact about him is that the Saxony Government actually banished him from Saxony in 1736, but in 1749 begged him to come back and establish other communities just like the one in Herrnhut. Would to our Lord Jesus Christ there were more people like him today, people begged by governments, people in whom Jesus Christ was so evident that governments would want them to replicate themselves and their communities/churches in other cities and towns.
I have absolutely no doubt that Zinzendorf would agree with today's text, that whatever revivals, whatever "great things" we see is not due to, "[]our righteousness." Whatever, "good land we possess (is) because of [Jesus'] righteousness." Jesus is the, "Author and Perfecter of faith." Jesus is, "the Author and Perfecter of," any and all we do which has any lasting value and power. I will continue to pray, praise, confess the Scriptures. But in and through it all, "Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness," but because of Jesus, Who Is, "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that I will remain faithful to do as You commanded, "that men should always pray and never give up," while always remembering, whatever "happens" is because of Your Righteousness, Who is Jesus. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
