What Does This Mean?

Wyneken Wanders in Baltimore

In early July 1838, Friedrich Wyneken and Christoph Wolf wandered around Baltimore, looking for Lutherans. After mistaking an Otterbein Methodist prayer meeting for a Lutheran worship service, they found their way to Second German Evangelical Lutheran st. Paul’s Congregation and her Pastor Johann Häsbärt. Häsbärt was also an “awakened” pastor, who had led a group of Lutheran and Reformed Germans to secede from a congregation served by a Rationalist minister. He was very suspicious of Wyneken and Wolf, since in America laymen, con-men and “every expelled student or banished demagogue” regularly preyed on unsuspecting congregations to make some quick cash. It did not help at all that the two young men brought no written credentials or letters of introduction withthem. Yet Wyneken’s warmth and sincerity inclined Häsbärt to put aside his misgivings. Häsbärt’s fears were finally set to rest, when, Captain Stuerje testified to their character.

To seal their newly formed friendship, Wolf preached the following Sunday. Soon after that, Häsbärt fell sick and was confined to his bed. Wyneken served his congregation as substitute pastor for several weeks. Sometime during this period, Wolf went West ahead of his companion, settling in Marietta, Ohio. When Häsbärt had recovered, he tried to convince his new Hanoverian friend to stay in the east. Failing to talk Wyneken into remaining, the Baltimore pastor advised, “You must not travel on to the West under your own authority. I will write the Missions Committee of the Pennsylvania Synod, advising that they should send you out as their missionary.”

The timing was providential. At the 1839 Convention of the German-Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania, its Missionary Society met. The executive committee reported that in the latter part of 1838, Missionary Kohler had decided to accept a call in Eastern Pennsylvania, and thus was unavailable for continued service in the West. During the Summer of 1838, Adam Wesel’s letter from Fort Wayne likely reached their hands.

Now that we have caught up with events 180 years ago, we will leave the saga of Friedrich Wyneken until another anniversary comes to pass.

Friedrich Wyneken Comes to America

What Friedrich Wyneken learned about German Lutherans in America touched off a struggle in the heart of the young man. Friedrich would later describe that moment to Candidate A. Biewend, himself on the verge of a decision to volunteer to serve in America:

Sadly, I have to confess that, as far as I know, neither love of the Lord, nor love of orphaned brothers drove me to America. I wasn’t even driven by a natural desire to go. I went there against my will and fighting the decision. I went because it was my duty. My conscience compelled me. It grieved me so much then and still grieves me now that I didn’t — still don’t–love the Lord more than that and that He had to drive me out to work like a slave. Even today, dreadful challenges and temptations, doubts and griefs come over my soul when I’m serving in my once over there. It comforts me, that I can say: “I have to be over there. You know, Lord, how I’d like to stay here at home. But if I stayed, I wouldn’t be able to look up to you and pray to you. So, then, I surely must go of my free will.

At peace with God and sure of his decision, Friedrich Wyneken obtained release from his duties as a tutor. After a memorable candidate’s examination, he was ordained with fellow candidate, Christoph W. Wolf. Eighty-year-old General Superintendent Ruperti conducted the rite at St. Wilhadi Church of Stade on May 8th, 1837. With the help of Gottfried Treviranus, the Reformed pastor of St. Martin Church in Bremen, Wyneken and Wolf made the acquaintance of Captain Stuerje, who provided the pair of missionaries free passage to America on his ship, the Brig Apollo. Wyneken and Wolf arrived in Baltimore on June 28, 1838.

Meet Fritz Wyneken

Encore Post: The Young Fritz Wyneken was the tenth of eleven children, the sixth of six sons. He joined a family of dedicated and prominent servants of heavenly and earthly kingdoms. One uncle served as the Court Preacher of the King of Hanover, another the commander of the Queen of Denmark’s bodyguard and a brother the Rector of a seminary. Other Wynekens served as pastors and officers in a variety of occupations in Denmark and Germany.

When Friedrich was five years old, his father died, leaving his mother Louise to raise their eleven children. To accomplish this, she depended on a meager church pension, took in boarders and called on family and friends to make ends meet.

Friedrich attended Gymnasium in his home town of Verden. At age seventeen, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen, the traditional Wyneken alma mater. Yet the school’s strict atmosphere and its students’ vulgar behavior proved intolerable to the young man. After one semester, Friedrich enrolled in University of Halle’s Theological Faculty, where he remained until he graduated two and a half years later.

At Halle, Friedrich found a mentor in Augustus Tholuck, a leader of 19th Century German Awakening and supporter of the Prussian Union. During Friedrich’s years at Halle, Tholuck taught courses in New Testament, Dogmatics and the History of Doctrine.

Through his influence, Wyneken became an “awakened” and “believing” Christian. Upon graduation, Wyneken served as a private instructor in the home of Consistorial Counselor von Henfstengel at Leesum, a town near Bremen.The area was a stronghold for the Awakening and a place where Friedrich Wyneken would grow both in his faith in Christ and zeal for missions. No doubt his relatives played a part in this development, since many of them lived in the area. After four years in Leesum, he briefly served as the director of a Latin School in Bremervörde and then a private instructor of a boy, whose health required him to live in Italy and the South of France.

Wyneken’s education and experience had made him into a strong, convinced pietist, full of zeal for the Lord and “a fanatic full of fire to oppose strict churchhness.” Wyneken returned to Germany in 1837, fully groomed for a promising career in the church. Then he read accounts of the spiritual needs of German Lutherans on the American frontier in the journals of mission societies. Everything changed.

Send us a Faithful Shepherd

180 years ago in late May, Pastor Jesse Hoover died. In the frontier town of Fort Wayne, Indiana, his congregations mourned. Along with them, the whole community missed him, too. Lutheran pastors were rare in the dark forest. Elder Adam Wesel of St. Paul’s congregation wrote to the Mission Committee of the Pennsylvania Ministerium for help. Among other things he pleaded:

“Have pity, honored fathers and brothers and send us a Pastor… If you canvas the northern part of Indiana you will soon see how important it is that you send us a faithful Shepherd. The harvest is great but unfortunately there are no workers. If it is not possible to send us a Pastor, dear brothers, then send us a circuit rider. We hunger and thirst for the Word of God.”
Adam Wesel
St. Paul Lutheran Church
Fort Wayne, Indiana
4 June 1838

The letter arrived in Pennsylvania at a perfect time. The committee had planned to send a survey missionary West in September. But their candidate could not go. They we’re without a man to send.

Yet as they pondered, a young pastor had just arrived in Baltimore. His name was Friedrich Wyneken. In late August they dispatched him to Indiana, to gather scattered Protestants into congregations. This he did — and more!

More about this story in later posts. For now, thank God for the prayer the people of Ft. Wayne prayed and add your prayer to theirs that God might send faithful shepherds to gather his people into the fold of their great Shepherd.

That Rebellious House

I have thoroughly been enjoying preaching on the Old Testament Lessons these past few weeks. The hits just keep coming with Ezekiel 2. Ezekiel is quite a prophet, and his task from the Lord is a mighty tall task. He is to preach to that rebellious house of Israel.

Ezekiel was sent into hostile territory. He was sent to a people who was in the middle of divine judgment, slowly being brought to repentance. Judah was being thrown out of the promised land. They are mad and upset with God. And to make matters worse for Ezekiel, God tells him, that the people would not want to listen to what Ezekiel was sent to say.

The rebellious house of Israel would not like it because they still had punishment and discipline to endure. The Lord’s message through Ezekiel would fall on mostly deaf ears, and these are ears of the Lord’s chosen people Israel, the people through whom the Messiah was to come.

The message of Ezekiel was one of repentance. And that is a great message to hear when it is not directed at you. For repentance requires you to acknowledge that you have done something wrong, that you have sinned before God. And we certainly don’t like having to admit that we are sinful and unclean in the sight of God and deserve nothing but punishment from God.

But with the message of repentance comes also the promise of forgiveness. The message of the prophets is the same of Jesus himself. And like Ezekiel, Jesus came to the rebellious house of the world. Jesus accused the world of its rampant sin and its rebellious ways, straying from the ways of the Lord. His Law accuses and kills, but His all atoning death on the cross brings with it life and salvation to the one who believes. What a beautiful gospel He brings. And he brings it to us, that rebellious house who needs to be brought to repentance and faith daily.

And we are as the 4th question concerning Baptism indicates. By daily contrition and repentance our sinful adam is drowned and the new man daily emerges, to live the gracious presence of God forever.

Thank the Lord that He sends his preachers and His only Son to that rebellious house preach His Law and Gospel to us in need of repentance and faith!

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Isaiah

On the 6th of July, the church commemorates the prophet Isaiah. If you have never read the front part of the hymnal I highly recommend it. The Church sees the good in remembering the saints.

Isaiah ministered to God’s people during an era of great turmoil. Reading his book, you will see that he was called to serve as the Lord’s prophet the year that King Uzziah died, and he served as a prophet through the reign of Hezekiah. During this period there was a lot of political turmoil, and the book does speak about some of these situations in detail. But the promise of the Lord saving his people and gathering them together on His Holy Mountain is in the background.

Isaiah did what every other prophet did, speak the word of the Lord to the people, even the kings of his day. He preached the Law of God, proclaiming that judgment was coming on Judah and the northern kingdom in the form the Assyrians, and later the Babylonians. He preached to them repentance. But Isaiah also offers much gospel and forgiveness from the Lord. We only need to look to Isaiah 40. But even before that we see throughout his book that he preaches Law and Gospel.

In the three year lectionary of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, we find Isaiah’s book is used on a whopping 77 Sundays. That is over 50% of the Old Testament lessons, when you consider the season of Easter replacing OT lessons with readings from Acts.

Perhaps, we should ask why Isaiah is so prominent in the lectionary. Perhaps, it is because Isaiah preaches Christ’s kingdom in a way that the Gospels preaches it. Some even called Isaiah “the fifth Gospel” because Christ and His work comes through so clearly. Even the name “Isaiah” conveys Christ. His name means “YHWH’s Salvation”. And it is no surprise that two of Isaiah’s favorite words to use in the book are the verb “he shall save” and the noun “salvation”.

Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ are quite clear, and perhaps that is why we like him so much. Isaiah also is quoted a number of times by the Gospels too, and Isaiah 52 and 53 are highlighted in Acts as a the text that converted the Ethiopian Eunuch.

So we in the Church give thanks to the work that the Lord did through His prophet Isaiah, as we remember and commemorate Isaiah today.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO

Church and State Relations

The State as we learned is to wield the sword and keep rampant evil and sin at bay. The Church is given to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

So, how do we citizens of the State and the Church fit into both categories? What ought we be doing? The answer I believe comes through vocation.

One vocation that we all have is being citizen of the State. This vocation is informed by the many others we have as well as the Word of God, especially the vocation that comes from being baptized into Christ. Each vocation places duties on us, and the Small Catechism gives us a small picture into some of those duties. Peter in his first letter reminds us to honor all, even the Emperor.

Christ our Lord says in the Gospel of John, be in the world but not of the world. And Paul also reminds us that our citizenship truly lies in heaven. But we aren’t in heaven yet, but we live in that hope. We are here in the world to serve our neighbor through our various vocations, and that includes the State and our government leaders. The Church is in the unique position to inform the the State of God’s law and gospel.

We are even given the command that when the state compels us by law to do something against the Lord’s will we are to obey God rather than men. The Church has a voice in the public sphere, particularly to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How else will the citizens of the state receive the grace of God? Certainly, they will not see that grace from the State. That is not the State’s job or purpose.

What do we do as citizens of the State? We want desire peace and prosperity. We pray for our government leaders in our worship services, even those we don’t agree with politically. We pray that the Lord God use them to fulfill their vocation as leaders and give us a peaceful and quiet life that allows us to worship our God and Savior Jesus Christ without fear.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO

Great is Thy Faithfulness

I really enjoy the Old Testament, and if you have been paying attention, the Old Testament lessons during this season after Pentecost have not disappointed. This Sunday, we get Lamentations 3:22-33.

Lamentations is not the first book people want to read in the Old Testament because it deals with communal suffering. In Lamentations we know exactly why God brings this suffering on the people of Jerusalem. They did not turn from their wickedness and sins. They did not seek God, but rather ran after other gods. God warned them this would happen through the many prophets He sent, but they would not listen. This is written for our learning.

Another question you might be asking is this: “So what’s God’s plan with this suffering?” Or another way to say it, “What’s God’s desired outcome?” It’s simple: Be brought to repentance and faith.

Jerusalem was in utter ruins. King Zedekiah watched his sons be killed at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. God’s judgement against Jerusalem was on full display. Tears filled the streets. But in our readings from Lamentations 3, Jeremiah remains confident in the compassion of God. The Lord does not destroy and kill to all eternity. This discipline Jerusalem receives is actually all about compassion. God shows His compassion through discipline on His people because He loves them and us. He does not want any to die, and this discipline will humble some and bring them to repentance and faith in Him. The Lord’s Law and discipline has this effect. The Lord disciplines those he loves. This is why we too discipline our children, because we love them.

The Lord’s wrath is not forever, but was actually poured out for us all on Jesus at the cross. Christ suffered the full weight of God’s righteous judgment and wrath once for all. Even in wrath the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Jesus takes our suffering on out of love. He turns his cheek and receives the insults. He drinks the bitterness of God’s wrath for us. This is the mercy of God for you in action, and you get to receive this mercy anew every time you hear that your sins are forgiven on account of Christ. So do not be grieved by your sin, but receive the Love of God for you in Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO

Building the Body of Christ with a Visit

I wonder just how many church members only see their pastor on Sunday morning. Has your pastor seen your home? Does he even know where you live? Has he tried to make a house call to you?

Perhaps, the bigger question is whether or not you have invited your pastor over for such a visit. Too many people think that going to church on Sundays is “enough”. And please don’t get me wrong, the gifts of Christ are certainly there for all people and that is certainly enough for our salvation. But being the body of Christ, we ought to build one another up. Visits do just that.

Jesus went into people’s houses to visit with them. Shouldn’t your pastor? Maybe he has tried. Perhaps the membership list is daunting. Maybe he feels he needs to be invited.

Most often people think that a visit for the pastor is reserved for the family members of a dearly departed. Or people think its for the really sick or just for those who are “shut-in”. But what if I told you that every church member should get a visit? A pastor should visit all the sheep put into his care because he must give an account of those entrusted into his care. But every Christian should and ought to visit their fellow church members because it builds up the body of Christ.

A visit is a friendly reminder to the person (no matter how frequent or infrequent they attend) that they are cared for by God and by their church. Visitation is a chance to remind us all what Christian charity looks like. It is a chance to connect with one another in ways that a corporate worship service does not allow unless if you have “gemutlichkeit” in the parking lot after.

It the best way for your pastor to get to know you, and it helps him preach practical law and practical gospel to you from the pulpit. Visiting also builds rapport for those “harder” visits when “Mom” passes or when your spouse is called to our Good Shepherd. It might even help build up courage within the pastor to make those other hard visits to the people who haven’t been in church since before he got there.

So if you haven’t gotten a visit from your pastor, might I suggest you invite him over? It might do you and him good!

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

“What will this child be?” That was the question of the people who witnessed John’s father bless the Lord God upon John’s birth and naming. Zechariah, you might remember, was so skeptical when he first got the news of John’s arrival that God shut his mouth and kept him mute until naming the boy John.

The appointed lectionary readings for the day give a bit more information about what John would do and be. He is to be the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.

Also from the book of Malachi and from Jesus’ own mouth we learn something else about what John was to become. John is the Elijah promised before the great and awesome day of the Lord (Mt 11:13-15; Mt 17:12-13).

But one thing that John is not is this: John is not the Messiah (John 1: 19-23) . John is adamant about his position as this voice in the wilderness. Even though John’s birth was prophesied, and even though John preaches with power, and even though he has a large following, John does not preach himself. As a matter of fact, he does not preach anyone except Christ and Kingdom that Christ ushers in, which the kingdom of forgiveness of sins.

The song of Zechariah also known as the Benedictus, also answers the question from above. John will the be the prophet of the Most High. He will give knowledge of salvation to the people of God in the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:76-77). The Baptism that John baptizes with comes from God (Mt. 21:25), and it a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). The same message that John will preach will be preached by Jesus, but Jesus is also the fulfillment of it and thus mightier (Luke 3:15-16).

Who will John be? He is the one who will reveal Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!

John was sent to prepare the hearts of the people of Israel for Christ. We too hear his words, and they still ring true for us. Even at his birth, we know from God’s words through the song of Zechariah who John will be.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter Lutheran Church, La Grange, MO