The sermons, newsletter articles, and theological musings of a Lutheran pastor
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Pretoria
1) A busy streetcorner with a familiar sight... 2) The Union Building (capital buildings for South Africa) 3) Downtown Pretoria 4) The neighborhood around the seminary
The title of this blog comes from a collection of essays by Hermann Sasse (1895-1976), one of the more significant figures in Lutheranism during this past century. I am a part of the third (or fourth) generation of Lutherans to be influenced by him and his theology. As for the title, Sasse writes: "Many of us are lonely and forsaken: pastors who at lonely posts in areas of the church where today the verythings which had been the church's salvation through the times of the worst apostasy, the Word of the Holy Scriptures and the Sacraments of the Lord, are perishing. Young theologians face impossible tasks and are thrown into terrible conflicts of conscience. Instantly, at the very start of their life in the office, they learn to know the depth of the forsakenness into which God has always led His servants..." (The Lonely Way, Volume I, 432)This is not a pessimistic outlook, but a reminder to myself and others that God does not cater to the comfort of His servants, but instead sends them into a dark and dying world with the light and life of Christ.
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