# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1850 05 28_S154
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

154

have become. He used this gift, however, to further the inner peace of the Church, to remove misunderstandings, to bring back those who were estranged, to heal discords. But in other respects also he proved himself in his office a messenger and child of peace. Even by his natural disposition he was free from the outbursts of wrath of the choleric temperament, and through the grace of Christ he could bear with the wicked in meekness. In order to reconcile contending parties he could spend almost whole days of his strength in exhortation and mediating speech, and it was a great joy to him when he at last succeeded in making peace. Blessed are the peacemakers (the makers of peace), for they shall be called the children of God! this shall be fulfilled also in our Löber. In like manner he also knew how to take up the cause of the straying sheep and to lead them back to the flock by repeated friendly admonition. At the same time he gave good heed to doctrine and withstood the false spirits of every kind who seek to break into the congregations of Christ; according to God's command he separated himself from all familiar intercourse with them, although he never neglected to exercise universal love, and in his family devotions prayed daily for all men. On the other hand he diligently and faithfully kept fellowship with all who call on the Lord out of a pure heart, 2 Tim. 2, 22. To the older brethren in the ministry he was a faithful, upright friend, and to the younger a fatherly counselor besides. His hospitable house stood open to them at all times, as well as to all who needed lodging. Avarice he bitterly hated. A departed friend once said of him in jest: One dare not trust Löber with money, for he does not know how to handle it, he gives everything away again. How much he did for the poor of his congregations in Germany, how he took up the cause of the children of poorer friends, especially of his godchildren, will remain unforgotten before God and men. And when he himself, after his arrival in America, was almost impoverished, he nevertheless shared with a faithful heart (Tob. 4, 9.) of the little that he had, and soon began again to give more abundantly as his income increased once more. A daughter of his magistrate, who had emigrated with him from Eichenberg, Wunderlich, who died in the Lord a few days before him, he took into his house in place of a child, and tended the child, at first very delicate, as his own. Even to far-off places he let his little streams flow out, collected for missions and for needy fellow believers, and also urged his household and his congregation to such works of love. That he showed himself hard and self-seeking in the receiving of his salary, of this, surely, not even an enemy will dare to accuse him. In every respect he kept himself moderate, was gentle and yielding so long as he could with a good conscience, but knew also how to use severity at the right time. The upbringing and instruction of his three children, whom he loved tenderly, lay upon his heart always as a chief care. In this he knew well how to hit the right middle way between timidity-producing strictness and slack indulgence, sought to guard them as far as possible from dangerous company and to lead them to all Christian virtues. With his parishioners he dealt, according to the direction of St. Paul, 1 Tim. 5., lovingly and carefully, regarding their age and sex. It was a joy to him, at the announcements for confession, to spend whole days in counsel, admonition, comfort and instruction of the individual souls. Accustomed from childhood to refined, decent manners, which were then sanctified by grace, he knew how to speak to everyone to the heart with friendly, modest words. He did nothing out of favor, sought to win no party for himself in the congregation, but regarded himself as debtor and servant of all, wherefore also in his so instructive and blessed house-visits he passed over no family. For prayer and intercession for all his sheep he waited diligently in his closet and in the daily family devotions. Who of all that went out and in at his house does not think back, with sad yet pleasant remembrance, of the well-chosen festival sermons and expositions of Scripture which he read aloud, of the constant repetition of the Catechism, even with his grown children, of the beautiful hymns which he had them strike up, of the supplicating prayers, in this patriarchal family devotion, which laid before the LORD all the present need of individuals and of the whole Church? Who of all that knew his domestic life more closely does not recall the patience in his bodily weaknesses, the unpretentiousness in his bodily wants, the humility in his utterances about himself? To whom does the whole picture of his gentle, loving, godly life, untiringly active from morning until night, not still hover before the eyes? If we compare the picture of a Christian bishop, as our Chief Shepherd Christ Himself, Luke 12, and St. Paul, 1 Tim. 3, Tit. 1, and St. Peter, 1 Peter 5, have sketched it for us, with the picture of the blessed Löber in his walk and conduct of his office, we shall find no feature which this faithful and wise servant was not striving to exhibit in his life and being.

Yet in this attempted sketch of his portrait there is still one feature remaining, without which this sketch would be in no way complete, indeed without which it would seem rather like a Romish legend or a heathen panegyric; it is — the strife of the spirit against the flesh. All who belong to Christ must surely have something to say of this, how much more the teachers, who ought to stand at the front in every conflict! They too have not yet fully overcome this enemy, the sinful flesh, here. Even though the thorn-bush of selfishness seems entirely cut down and burned above the ground, yet in the lowest soil of the heart there remain sprouting, spreading roots. According to his origin, upbringing, temperament and outward situation, every preacher also has his particular inward temptations and inclinations to sin, which may occasionally be perceived outwardly also in sins of hastiness and weakness. A preacher of choleric temperament will often be tempted to rule imperiously, to be wrathful and self-willed; a preacher of sanguine temperament will be tempted, by natural or feigned meekness and humility, to draw souls to himself and to make himself a following; a preacher brought up more by the stimulation of the sense of honor than by strict discipline will have to struggle with much sensitiveness at insults and contemptuous treatment; a preacher from an old stock of high-placed, renowned servants of the Church, sprung as it were from priestly nobility, will have much to strive against the inclination to extend the authority of his office too far, to lord it over consciences, to want to impress by outward things, garments, ceremonies and the like, instead of setting forth in simplicity of heart the ever mighty Word of God. Our Löber also had such inward conflicts to endure. Especially the sensitiveness wrought by temperament and upbringing gave him much trouble, as he himself often lamented. But he not only lamented and confessed his sin, he also watched, prayed, struggled, accepted brotherly correction, and sought righteousness and strength in the holy Word of God, in the holy absolution drawn from this Word, and at the gracious Table of the LORD, which is prepared for us against all enemies inward and outward. Far be it from us, therefore, to be offended at him who is now perfected, if the sinful infirmities occasionally noticed in him should come to our remembrance! Still further be it from us, with presumptuous judgment, like the wicked world, to accuse him of hypocrisy even in the grave! No, he was washed, he was sanctified, he was justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Therefore he needed only still "to wash his feet." And that he also did himself to himself, and accepted such service from the hands of the brethren, and therefore he also experienced the faithfulness and righteousness of his God, who forgave him the sin and cleansed him, as a fruit-bearing branch on the vine of His Son, of all vice. And as he has borne the image of the earthy Adam, so shall he also bear the image of the heavenly.

This image of the earthy Adam, which our Löber bore among us and with us, caused us to behold him as a man of more than middle height, of slender yet firm build; his face was long, formerly of a ruddy, later of a pale yellowish color, his eye light blue, his hair dark brown. In his ordinary features lay calm thoughtfulness and friendly mildness; but they could quickly change into reproving, almost terrifying earnestness and mournful sadness