August 17, 2008
The Moravian Church has been a pioneer in many things, but some where along the path lost its zeal and enthusiasm, because of the failure to reform itself. The Moravians speak with pride about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, referred to as the second Pentecost on August 13, 1727; it speaks with pride about the 100 year unbroken prayer meeting from 1727-1827; it speaks with pride about the Lovefeast and the Cup of Covenant being unique to the Moravian Church; it speaks with pride about its Missionary zeal in pioneering what can be referred to as mission to the new world in 1732, when our Fore Fathers planted their feet on St. Thomas to begin work with the African Slaves and thereafter, the work spread world wide; it speaks with pride about our rich fellowship and of how we love each other; it speaks with pride about the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the only source of our life and salvation and that this Scripture is the sole standard of the doctrine and faith of the Unitas Fratrum and therefore shapes our life; it speaks with pride about the preached word being central to our Church; it speaks with pride about the hidden seed and the Church that would never die. The question is what has happened to our Church? Where do we stand and if we are not standing, why not?
The Church is a dynamic organization and must be willing to constantly examine itself time and again. It must be willing to open up itself to the new and exciting things God is doing in the lives of men and women. It must be receptive and open for the Holy Spirit to breathe upon it daily and burn away all impurities and reposition it. The Hymn writer, Edwin Hatch, puts it in perspective when he penned the words:
Breathe on me, breath of God; fill me with life anew,
That I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God, so shall I never die,
But live with thee the perfect life, of thine eternity.
This is the Moravian Church, the Church upon which the Holy Spirit breathed, energized, renewed, transformed, united and repositioned in the Kingdom of God. August 13, 1727 will always be remembered as the Watershed year in the life of the Moravian Church. The Holy Spirit took a fragmented, divided, hostile and what seemed an ungodly group of people called the Moravians and Tabernacled amongst them and made them into the people He wanted them to be at the Bertlesdorf Chapel, in Germany. That was the turning point in the life of our Church. The Church must therefore continue to live out its mission and its reason for being. It must live out its faith so that multitudes will be drawn to Jesus Christ. Is there a witness for the Master?
