Commemoration of C.F.W. Walther (Observed)

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THE COMMEMORATION OF C.F.W. WALTHER, THEOLOGIAN
18 May Anno T Domini 2011 (Observed)
"Abide In Me”
John 15:1-11 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

"Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:1-5). 

Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther understood these words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He spent his life proclaiming and advancing the truth of the Gospel.  In a still young America where the Gospel had already been compromised by the majority of Christians, Dr. Walther taught how important it was for Lutherans to abide in Christ and His Word amidst the pressures of American society to merge that Word with the principles of the world. 

If this was important already in Dr. Walther's day, how much more important is it today?  Listen to the following exhortation of Dr. Walther, for his words are every bit as relevant to our ears as they were to the ears which were blessed to hear them in the 19th Century:

"Arise, you Lutherans of America!  Arise!  Let us use the glorious freedom that we taste here in America to the end that the old banner of confession, which in our old fatherland lay in musty [ruin], be hoisted here again.  And let us gather around this banner as a faithful and courageous people of confession.  Let us renew today the old oath of loyalty that we Lutherans have recited already at our confirmation.  Let our teachers in church and school be sworn to that oath!  Let us examine and correct everything, which we hear and read, next to God's Word, according to this confession.  Finally, let us only work and fight in rank and file with those who are prepared to follow this banner.  The storms of the world and the false brothers may rain upon us.  They will not rend asunder our banner, but only more fully and broadly unfurl it before the eyes of all the world. 

"In the Old World, my brothers, it is evident that the sun, which once arose in Augsburg and upon the Bergen Cloister, the sun of the pure Gospel, is setting.  Many true Lutherans in the Old World look with longing and hope to our young American Lutheran Church, which though it is small, is free.  And because she is free, she is, before others, called to salvage and rescue the pure Gospel here in the New World in these last times, that holy relic entrusted to our Church. 

"O arise!  Arise, American Lutheran Zion, and let there be light!  You, her watchmen, forward!  Lay hold the holy banner and hold it high and swing it joyously!  All of you, you children of this Zion, man and wife, old and young, follow those who show themselves true bearers of the flag!  O take heart and be joyful!  The Lord, who is a God of truth, is with us!  By that sign we shall conquer, though all powers of darkness in midnight hour plot against us and rise against us on the battlefield.  The battle will rage hot and even hotter!  Finally, we, persistent to the end - and grant this to us Jesus Christ, Thou Leader in the fight! - we will be taken in triumph into the congregation above, to the eternal festival of jubilation.  Amen.”

Amen, indeed, Dr. Walther!  May we 21st century Lutherans in American hold fast to our Confession, amidst the ever-growing trend among those who claim to be Lutheran to compromise it away, that we may truly remain steadfast in the Word, abiding in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who lived, died, rose, and ascended for us. 

To that end, come, dear friends, as branches to be filled with the Fruit of the Vine, that is, the very Body and Blood of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that He may abide in you and you in Him; that you may be strengthened and preserved in the true faith which bears the fruit of courageous confession; the true faith which keeps Christ's commandments to live a life of daily repentance and faith, to love and honor God with your thoughts, words, and deeds, and to love your neighbors as yourself.  Come and be strengthened to fight the good fight of the faith, knowing with joyous certainty that the war has already been won by your Savior on the cross.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.