Herrenhuter readings for Monday, the 8th April 2013

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

God's HandsIn God’s hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10 NIV)

God is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ (Acts 17:27-28 NIV)

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LÖHE ON 1.JOHN 5:9-10

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

ResurexitGod’s testimony is this, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. (1Jo 5:9-10 NIV)

Today’s gospel underlines and emphasizes the proof of our savior’s resurrection from the grave. The Church has added this wonderful passage from the first epistle of St. John to be read during the divine service as epistle reading. This points to the testimony God has given about the living Lord – his only begotten Son – in heaven and on earth. Gospel and epistle agree in this holy purpose to jointly testify and witness about the risen and glorified savior in such a way that the congregation will be firmly grounded in its faith in the living Lord and will thus find profound peace and intense joy in him. This divine harmony in expressions of God’s holy word works in our hearts, that we worship God the Father and the Son without any contradiction or doubt – in unanimity and faithful communion – praising him from the bottom of our content and peaceful hearts with Hallelujahs of this blessed Easter tide!

Almighty God! We pray that you may grant to us, who have celebrated Easter holidays, the power to live lives of joy and peace in word and deed. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (O.J. Mehl)

Oh my Lord Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead, save us from devils might and cunning and from deaths bonds that we all together enter the new life, which you have gained.

Be praised in this time by all God’s children and eternally by all those, who have overcome by thy very blood. Lord Jesus Christ grant power and courage that we too may overcome! (Laurentius Laurenti, 1660-1722)

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for the first Sunday after Easter: Quasimodogeniti. It is found on Pg. 166 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Sunday, the 7th April 2013

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

PelicanI will betroth you to me forever.  (Hosea 2:19 NIV)

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery–but I am talking about Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32 NIV)

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Lutheran Order of service in isiZulu/seTswana

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

myrrh-bearing-women2“Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!” The Lutheran Order of Service for the first Sunday after Easter (Quasimodogeniti) is available here in isiZulu and seTswana. Today it comes with a sermon written by my father Rev. E.A.W.Weber (Welbedacht, KZN) based on the gospel of Saint Mark chapter 16 verses 9-14 (15-20) in isiZulu (wz1322130407 Kwasimodogeniti) and seTswana (wt1322130407 Kwasimodogeniti) 

We thank the Lutheran Heritage Foundation for supporting the distribution of hard-copies of these orders of worship and sermons throughout Southern Africa. If you also want a copy please do not hesitate to subscribe by writing to EAWWeber@bundunet.co.za.

I pray you have a very blessed Eastertide and have time to meditate on the watchword of our Lord Jesus Christ recorded in the first Epistle of St. Peter in the 1st chapter: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1Pe 1:3 NIV)

The liturgical colour is white and the Church rejoices with Hallelujahs, the Magnificat and the Gloria in exelsis.

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LÖHE ON 1.CORINTHIANS 5:13

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

AdmonishGod will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” (1Co 5:13 NIV)

Who does the Apostle St. Paul address in this fifth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. Who is to exercise discipline and expel the wicked? Is that just said to the pastors in Corinth? Are they entrusted with keeping discipline all on their own? No – just as little as our Lord Jesus Christ addresses only pastors in Matthews 18. All Christians – the entire congregation and Church – is entrusted with this disciplinary process – especially with good order with regard to the Lord’s Supper. The congregation is responsible for this. It’s a necessary expression of brotherly love and care. Wherever there is no discipline and good order, there is no real cohesion and communion in the congregation and Church. There the congregation lacks the necessary expression of God’s family and people. It is not possible to exercise discipline in a blessed and edifying manner as long as the congregation does not recognize this as its own responsibility and honourable duty of brotherly love and care, which every member should pursue vigorously.

It is totally misplaced to expect this procedure from pastors alone. The pastor is a prominent member of the congregation – no doubt – and he has the special responsibility entrusted to him by the office of the ministry. This he has to bring to bear to maintain proper discipline in the congregation in both doctrine and practice – yet he can only do his part and fair share. He is and remains only one, a brother, a member of the congregation and Church, who can’t do the work and practice the loving discipline entrusted to the entire congregation and church. The pastor does not replace the congregation. He cooperates with it even as he leads it. Never should the pastor allow the congregation to push their godly cross, responsibility and duty off onto him.

Lord, you are the sole helper in this challenge troubling your church. Grant unto us, that we continue to hope, where according to human reason there is no hope. Grant to your Church a new spring, let her dead and dying live once more so that the children of your Church might flourish, bloom and bear fruit like good fruit trees of your liking. Grant this by your glorious resurrection. Amen.

Grant the holy stringency of Elijah, when the mislead blind masses consecrate temples and altars to contemporary idols and may we never bow before them our heads or knees – not even outwardly – but let us remain your faithful witnesses, steadfast and true – even if all alone. (Karl Johann Philipp Spitta, 1801-1859)  

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Saturday after Easter. It is found on Pg. 165 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Saturday, the 6th April 2013

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

christusrex183Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43:13 NIV)

Jesus Christ is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17 NIV)

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LÖHE ON 1.CORINTHIANS 5:6

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

disciplineYour boasting is not good.  (1Co 5:6 NIV)

That’s St. Paul’s call to the Corinthians. What would he say to our practice of Church discipline and especially our practice at the Lord’s Table? Do you think these are just questions concerning the Corinthians and irrelevant to us? Don’t we recall that our Lord Jesus Christ himself mandated all his congregations to practice good order and discipline in Matthews 18? Dear brothers, Dr. Martin Luther is quite right that discipline is just as valid a commandment of our Lord as all others too. This mandate to practice good order and discipline is basically the command of pure love, the love of the Christian congregation and Church amongst each others and also to their Lord. Discipline in its proper form is the discipline of Easter, discipline of the Lord’s Supper just as the Church exists in this time of Easter and as a sacramental communion until her Lord comes again in glory.

This discipline has ceased to exist in our Churches today and we can say that it hardly exists anywhere anymore. Here and there a lonely pastor might still be found and a faithful church council of elders is probably even rarer still. The pastor tries to do the right things – perhaps with fear and trembling. What denunciation makes the rounds about such faithful shepherds? Nobody says: “This Pastor means well and he’s driven by the love towards God’s people and God himself!” No – rather he is badmouthed: He’s a fanatic, a proud priest, who’s about to convert the Evangelical Church back into the Catholic Church. Those disciplined seem to have good reason to object and to oppose him. Some even go so far as to accuse him and the questions of discipline become a matter for civil courts even – for example if a drunkard presses charges against the pastor, who disciplines him – or the adulterer. What does the congregation say? Is it alert? Does it notice what is going on if sin starts to rule openly in families and congregational circles? Does it support its pastor in his struggle to regulate these issues with pastoral and spiritual discipline out of Christian love or does it just demand tolerance and allow sin to rule in a loveless and secular ideology? You know the answer – dear reader. In most cases the pastor is left lonesome and to his own devices.

Whoever sins, hates the light and doesn’t want to hear the truth. Whoever speaks about repentance is branded a breaker of the peace. The word of the holy and beloved cross was always a harsh one for the world to bear – and is that even now. (Emmanuel Adolf Waizt, 1811-1864)

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Friday after Easter. It is found on Pg. 164 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Friday, the 5th April 2013

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Holy TrinityI am the LORD your God. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. (Hosea 13:4 NIV)

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3 NIV)

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LÖHE ON LUKE 24:15-16.30-31

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Jesus in EmmausAs they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him…When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. (Luke 24:15-16.30-31 NIV)

As the Lord wanders with his disciples and reveals himself to them, he is touchable. He touches, lifts up and blesses the food. He breaks the bread and gives it to them. It was he, who had hung upon the cross. He was there in bodily presence. His disciples recognize him, yet he disappears before their eyes. His bodily presence stops and he is absent – no longer with them as before. He was present in the room, but the room could no longer hold him. His body was no longer bound by space and time. We don’t know from where he came and where he went – not even how exactly he was with them, while his presence lasted. Yet we do know, that his body in which he appeared to his disciples, was not his just for a brief moment, but rather that of all eternity, the real body but no longer subject to the spatial and timely restrictions of our mortal bodies. He was visible and invisible, present and absent, just as the Lord wanted to be. What a wonderful matter this eternal body of our Lord, which we too will share by his grace and mercy + as he already has made us part of this new creation through holy Baptism.

Resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ + We trust your gracious promise that the resurrection from the dead is to be a reality for all our bodies, dead, buried and deceased in many different ways. Yes, you have promised an eternal life for your saints and an eternal death for sinners. You have said so, so it will be like that. We rejoice in this wonderful prospect and praise your holy name o God of our life and our salvation. Amen.

Jesus lives! The vict’ry’s won! Death no longer can appall me. Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done! From the grave Christ will recall me. Brighter scenes will then commence; This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! To Him the throne High above all things is given. I shall go where He is gone, Live and reign with Him in heaven. God is faithful; doubtings, hence! This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! For me He died; Hence will I, to Jesus living, Pure in heart and act abide, Praise to Him and glory giving. All I need God will dispense; This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! I know full well Nothing Me from me shall sever, Neither death nor pow’rs of hell Part me now from Christ forever. God will be my sure defense; This shall be my confidence.

Jesus lives! And now is death But the gate of life immortal; This shall calm my trembling breath When I pass its gloomy portal. Faith shall cry, as fails each sense, Jesus is my confidence!

This is a rather free translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Thursday after Easter. It is found on Pg. 163 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and published in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Thursday, the 4th April 2013

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Evangelischer GottesdinestMake known among the nations what the Lord has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. (Isaiah 12:4 NIV)

Our Lord Jesus Christ says: “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16 NIV)

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