# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1849 02 20_S102
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

102

of the accusations made against him and to learn from himself the causes why a great part had given up fellowship with him; but his vehemence, with which he met me, took away from me all desire to speak further with him.

I confess to you openly that I struggled much with myself when I came home again, and considered within myself whether I should preach here or not. I shrank from the sneaking interloping of the Methodists; at no price would I, on this journey of mine, offend in any way against the apostolic rule, 2 Cor. 10:15, 16. But since I was repeatedly asked for a sermon by several Lutherans who sought me out; since they further gave me the assurance that they stood in no connection with Mr. E., and that for the reason that he is not a Lutheran preacher, nor wishes to be; and since they finally declared that they most earnestly desired the formation of a Lutheran congregation, I promised them a sermon for this evening. By chance I met Mr. E. only yesterday. He was somewhat friendlier toward me and asked me whether I would still preach? I answered yes, yet with the declaration that I wished to hold divine service only for those who at present belonged to no congregation.

Today I used partly for the preparation of my sermon, partly for several visits and the distribution of tracts. The service took place at 7 o'clock in the evening in a fine, spacious hall of the courthouse. The hall was filled with hearers of both sexes, among whom Mr. E. was also present. I had chosen Jerem. 3:15 for my text. In the introduction I spoke of the purpose and occasion of my appearing here, and then set forth from the text: "How richly blessed a congregation is to which God gives a shepherd after his own heart; 1. what is required of a preacher, in order to be a shepherd after God's heart, and 2., what a rich blessing comes to a congregation through such a one. At the close of my sermon I guarded myself against the reproach of sneaking interloping, declaring and testifying that in this discourse I had wished to address myself only to those of my fellow believers who stood without connection with a congregation and a shepherd, and I exhorted them to give up their sad condition and to call a preacher faithful to the Confession. After the sermon I was asked for our address, as also for copies of the Lutheraner and of the synodical constitution, and received from all with whom I spoke the promise not to rest until a Lutheran ministry should exist among them.

The number of German Lutherans seems to be rather large here, and I have good hope that they will soon unite into a congregation of their own, if only they do not again become indifferent, or be led astray concerning us by all manner of lies. I should indeed wish nothing more earnestly than that Mr. E. were Lutheran in doctrine and practice; but since he is not so in the least, we can wish nothing else than that our fellow believers keep far from him, and that beside the evangelical congregation a purely Lutheran one be formed and provided with a capable man.

In describing my missionary procedure in B. I have gone into particulars on purpose, in order to put you and the brethren in a position to form a correct judgment about it. Convinced that I have acted according to the will of the Lord and the practice of our church, I close this report.

Your sincere

Lochner.

(To be concluded.)

Passion Voices from the Writings of Ancient Teachers of the Church before the Time of the Reformation.

Awake, my soul, arise speedily from the dust, behold with strained gaze the remarkable man whom the mirror of the evangelical history holds before your eyes. Who is he that enters there with the countenance of a king, and laden with the shame of the lowest servant? Crowned he goes, but his crown is a crown of thorns, which presses a thousand bloody marks upon him. He is clothed with royal purple, but instead of for honor it is to be to him for shame. A scepter he carries in his hand, but his venerable head is maltreated with it. They bow the knee before him, worship him, proclaim him king, and straightway they spring up again to spit upon his cheek, to beat his chin and neck with fists. He is stripped and torn with scourges, shamefully fastened with brazen nails to the cross in the midst of malefactors, streams of blood well forth from his deep wounds. Who is it now, who amid all torments does not open his mouth to complain, to threaten, or to condemn, who rather at the end pronounces a word of blessing over his enemies, such as the world had never heard? Who, moreover, is he with whom heaven and earth suffer, whose death makes even the dead alive? Behold, my soul, it is your Lord Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the only-begotten Son of God, true God and true man, who alone of all that walk under the sun was found without sin.

Eckbert, Stimulus amoris, C. II.

Indeed the fire which the heavenly Father gave to the earth in his Son had long been burning, but the wood of the cross brought it new strength. The oil of mercy, which came hither, increased its glow, and the revilings and blasphemies of the Jews rushed on like a howling tempest, which let the flame rise up to heaven. Behold, then even the full heart of the thief was kindled. The effects of such a love he could no longer withstand, tender compassion seized him, and into loud lamentation he broke forth, not over his own, but over the Lord's innocent suffering.

Tauler, Geistreiche Betrachtungen des Lebens und Leidens Christi, C. 42.

What hast thou done, most precious Son of God, that thou wast thus judged? What was the cause of thy death, what the ground of thy condemnation? I, I am the scourge of thy pain, I have brought thee to the cross with all its torments. O the wonderful sentence and mysterious counsel!

The ungodly sinneth, and the righteous is punished; what the wicked deserves, the good suffers; what the servant owes, the Lord pays; what man commits, God takes upon himself.

How deeply, O Son of God, has thy humility let itself down! What glorious grace, what high goodness, what tender love, what great compassion hast thou shown! I do evil, thou bearest the punishment; I am proud, thou humblest thyself; I am intemperate, thou sufferest hunger; I seek after pleasure, thou lettest thyself be pierced with nails; I taste the sweetness of the apple, thou the bitterness of the gall; with me Eve laughs and rejoices, with thee Mary weeps and suffers.

Anselm, oratio 2.

When the innocent Lamb had hung three hours upon the cross, and at the same time the earthly sun, in sympathy with the Creator, had hidden its rays, then, after all was finished, he himself, the fountain of life, dried up, about the ninth hour, as Jesus, God and man, with a strong cry and tears commended his spirit into the Father's hands and gave up the ghost. The veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the graves opened. There he hangs now, who is fairer than the children of men, with extinguished eyes, with faded cheeks, a sacrifice of sweet savor before the majesty of the Father, to turn the heavy wrath away from us. So look now, holy and righteous Lord, down from thy throne and thy heavenly dwelling. Look upon the face of thine Anointed. Behold the holy sacrifice which our High Priest offers thee for our sins, and be reconciled because of the misdeed of thy people. Behold also, thou, O redeemed humanity, who, what — and how great He is, who for thee hangs on the cross, whose death awakened the dead, whose departure puts heaven and earth in mourning, yea, compels hard rocks to compassion. O human heart, harder art thou than any stone, if, in the thought of such an atoning sacrifice, thou art not filled with fear and touched with pity, not softened in contrition and moved by love.

Bonaventura, Signum vitae.