[AI translation] My Christian Brothers and Sisters - It is often very difficult to find the right Word for Sunday and to group the thoughts of the congregation around it. It is made easier if there is someone who comes to the pastor during the week with a serious spiritual problem and needs an answer to a question. In such cases, the subject and the text of the sermon are also given voluntarily in most cases, because what is a problem for one person can be a problem for many other people.But sometimes, even often, we miss the people who come to us interested in spiritual questions. Not because not all people have spiritual problems, but because most people are reluctant to deal with them. They are happy to be left in peace, if possible, and so they are reluctant to talk about it. It is physically and healthily uncomfortable, they think, to deal with things that are too serious. This is true, because if one gets absorbed in researching one's psychological problems, one can easily end up with sleepless nights. But I think that a sleepless night is better than an eternity of sleep. He who puts his body before his soul, who would not give up his rest for anything, can indeed do no better than to avoid all spiritual excitement and anxiety. Everyone is free to turn off the alarm clock if he does not wish to wake from sleep. But do not be surprised if you miss your train...
In view of the fact that in recent weeks, far from the congregation, the personal questions and individual problems of some members of our congregation have not been able to reach me, I have chosen a Word from Scripture as the basis for God's message today which may be of universal interest, because the problem to which it refers is universal and general. The prophet Isaiah described this Word: "For the mountains shall pass away, and the hills shall be shaken; but my mercy shall not depart from thee, and my covenant of peace shall not be broken, saith thy merciful Lord."
How wonderfully beautiful is this verse! It is so beautiful because it comes directly from the mouth of God, crystal clear, transparent, free from all human embellishment, and you can see that it was not put into words by man, but by God. It is a true divine revelation. Not human words about God, but the words of the living God Himself to man. There is no pulpit style, no theological style, no poetry in it, this Word is spoken by God Himself, word for word, as we hear it now.
I feel, my Christian brothers and sisters, that this Word is what we all need. For we all know very well, especially nowadays, the feeling that suddenly the ground beneath us begins to shake, as if we were a sinking ship, mountains are moving away, rocks we thought were solid are swaying, we feel very insecure, and whether we like it or not, we are increasingly aware that we cannot live without it. The longer we live, the more we have lived on this earth, the clearer it becomes that we are dependent on a merciful God, even if we dare not admit it to ourselves.
"For the mountains shall pass away, and the hills shall be shaken; but my mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be broken, saith the Lord of mercies." How much comfort there is in this Word! But it is not sentimental, sentimental comfort. There is very little truth in sentimental consolation. Sentimental consolation denies the danger, and persuades the sufferer that he is free from pain, but in reality the wound hurts and burns just as much as before. This is not the way our basic faith comforts. But it tells us very clearly that our affliction may be so great that it may even overwhelm us, our cross may be so heavy that we may even crumble under it, the ground may shake beneath us, and we may lose all our individual security - but in the midst of all this world disaster, two things will certainly remain for us, and these two things will keep us: God's grace and His wonderful faithfulness.
Often we meet people whose lives are nothing but the ruins of beautifully built castles, people who have been through the storms of time, who have suffered great destruction, who have suffered great misfortune, who have lost their possessions, who have buried their dearest loved ones, who have lost all their treasures on this earth, who have only a few graves in a cemetery. Oh, how many a time a man is sued by God, and says: God has taken everything from me, and has utterly forsaken me, I can no longer approach Him, I can no longer believe in Him.
We blame God in vain, for He never promised to favour us and ours in earthly things, never promised to prosper us in all things, to save us from every peril, to spare us from every calamity. The grace of God is not a protection, the grace of God is not some earthly state of enjoyment. As long as we live on this earth, we are bound to the earth, that is, we are under the law of transience and mortality. As long as we live on this earth, we move on volcanic ground. At any moment, the earth beneath us may shake and pull the ground out from under us. Not to this, then, but to something quite different, does the divine consolation apply - it says: 'Though all around us may crackle and crackle, and all this universe be destroyed, one thing remains for you: my mercy shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be broken.
So God will be gracious to his people in all circumstances. There is no condition that can alter this mercy. It is a covenant of God which he will keep and fulfil in all circumstances. So far does God go in faithfulness that if a man were to do the same, we would say that he did not count on his human dignity. In such a way, almost demeaning divine dignity, God was faithful to His once chosen people Israel. Anyone who has ever read carefully through the Old Testament must have been amazed to see and observe with what infinite patience God bore all the evils of His people.
The people of Israel fell again and again, chasing after strange gods, sacrificing on every high altar of Baal, and bowing down before the pillar of Ashtarta in every field. One almost has the impression that God has chosen the most unfaithful people in the world and made a covenant with them, only to show the infinite faithfulness and patience of God to the world. Finally, God did not fail to give a final testimony of his faithfulness: it was to this unfaithful, debauched people that God entrusted his only begotten Son. Even then, when He was crucified, God prepared from the cross on which His holy Son hung the remedy for the mortal sickness of mankind. That God should send His holy Son, even after all trials, to save His people, was a very great thing. That God did not sweep mankind off the face of the earth in a second flood after His holy Son was crucified was an even greater thing. But that God should have taken from the dead body of His slain Son the serum which saved the murderers from the inexcusable consequences of their deeds, is beyond all human comprehension.
Behold, this is grace. After this, perhaps this word has greater weight for us: though the mountains be removed, though the hills be shaken, though the mountains be removed, my mercy shall not depart from thee. This grace stands rock-solid, but even this is not a good analogy, for a rock can crack and fall into the abyss. We can trust ourselves to this grace without end.
Our founding hymn continues: the covenant of my peace shall not be shaken. God has a different understanding of the covenant than man. The eternal God makes only a one-sided and everlasting covenant. We humans feel that we are released from the obligation of the covenant if the other side breaks the covenant. It is different with God: His given word stands in all circumstances, it remains even if the other party, i.e. man, tramples on and breaks the covenant.
How good it is that we know this, because if we open this book, our Bible, it is nothing less than God's testament, a testament that is closely related to us. The value of this testament, then, depends on whether it is accepted by God as binding, whether it can be invoked in certain circumstances, or whether it is conditional and whether it can be revoked.
'My covenant of peace shall not be broken,' says God. All God's Word is a deed, and a deed cannot be undone. In this Word of God there is no if, no but, no would, but what is written here is in reality, an irrevocable fact: which means that whatever happens in this world, God's grace is always ready for those who desire it. There is no plea for mercy that goes unanswered; God never rejects the one who invokes and clings to His oath of faithfulness. No more sleepless and hopeless nights, no more despair for him who has a part in this testament. On this grace may be built without end.
Let us also note that this word "grace" is from the dictionary of princes and kings. To gain the king's favour, to be received into the king's favour, is more than a protection - it is the enjoyment of the most expensive royal goods. In the great of this world, one can easily become disgraced. A little change of wind, and woe to him who has fallen out of the king's favour. With him it can never happen. With Him there is no fickleness of temper. His mercy and covenant are everlasting.
Behold, so great is the grace of God. Oh, how terrible it is that we have worn out this grave and rich concept. When we hear this word, it must first enter into our souls: woe is me, for I am a sinful, miserable, and helpless man, - but then the happy consciousness must pass through our souls: thank God, who has yet accepted and chosen me. Grace means that God has judged me and yet saved me from condemnation. Judgment and acquittal, that is the content of divine grace. This is the grace our Word says is ready for all of us.
None of you can be sure that the ground will not shake under your feet, that a stormy tempest will not pass over your head and sweep away all that you have labored to build - but of one thing we who have been here today can be sure: God's grace is completely independent of our external condition. It does not falter, even if everything around us is shaken. God's grace is wonderfully able to turn the bitterness of life into happiness and the darkness of life into light.
Happy is the man who, even above the ruins of his life, can sing with a peaceful and serene spirit, "Therefore our hearts would not fear, if the whole earth should be shaken, and the mountains should fall into the midst of the sea."
Amen.
Date: 27 August 1938.
Lesson
Zsolt 46,1-8