Magyar Egyház, 1962 (41. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1962-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 about Him. But do you know Him? That is what St. Paul is talking about. There are many people l know about—without knowing them personally. I know quite a bit about, say, Winston Churchill, but I do not know him personally. I have never met him. The Apostle Paul knew about Jesus before he became a Christian. And what he knew he did not like. He thought of Him as a dangerous influence and tried to stamp out the young Christian church. And, you remember, when he was on the way o Damascus to persecute the Christians, he met with Christ—a personal meeting. No one can describe in adequate words tehát such a meeting means. St. Paul spoke of a bright light and a voice. Others have had this meeting without any such vivid experience. What matters is that we realize that Christ is alive and that He calls us to know Him and follow Him. It is happening today—in churches, in crusades, in quiet rooms, and even out on the streets. A man or woman comes to realize that Christ is alive! And then what happens? What is it that forms the link between our lives and Hist “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." Here are two ways in which Christ becomes a living factor in our lives. “The power of his ressurection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." Let us take them in reverse order. “The fellowship of his sufferings.” What gives Christ His tremendous appeal to the human heart is just this: we know He is the divine Lord, but he knows what it is to be exposed to danger, pain, separation from friends—even that final agony when God himself seems hidden from us. We can never forget that the Christ whose victory we celebrate on Easter is also the Christ who hung in agony for six hours on Good Friday. We know, in greater or less degree, what it is to suffer. And to know this Lord, is to know “the fellowship of his sufferings." Like the animals who burrow into the ground and sleep away the winter with its storms and blizzards, some men and women will not face the element of suffering in life. And just as these hibernating animals emerge in spring to blink in a sunshine they cannot really understand, so there are hibernating Christians who appear only at Easter to join in a triumph which they cannot really share. They want the Resurrection story without the Calvary. When you are in deep trouble, to whom do you turn? Is it to the radiant happy person who seems to ride always on the crest of the wave? I do not think so. I believe you want the friend who has been through it, who knows the darkest vatley as well as the mountain tops. This is the Lord who is alive and who offers you his friendship—a Savior who knows—for He has been there for us. THE HIDDEN POWER The other deep meaning of knowing him is hidden in these great words: “the power of his resurrection.” I say “hidden,” for this resurrection-power is not an open, obvious, dazzling power like the waters of Niagara, or the lights of Times Square. It is a power that works quietly in the mysterious recesses of the human heart. A moment ago I asked what kind of friend we need in trouble. It must be a friend who has been through it too. Yes, but it must also be a friend who has known how to triumph. The one who sympathizes so much and so deeply that he drags us down still lower into the depths, is of little rise to us! We need one who is not only a fellow-sufferer but is able to raise us up—one who, in fact, has resurrection-power. It is this alone that can penetrate the deeps and lift us out of ourselves and on to the way of health and hope. And it is this supremely that is offered by the risen Christ. An old hulk of a ship was once sunk in the mud of a river at its mouth. Every possible attempt was made to raise her with cranes and derricks. But still she remained fast in the mud, growing barnacles and impeding the traffic—just like some of us! Then someone had an idea and was given permission to try. He had noticed that the river was affected by the tide. So at low tide he harnessed an empty barge to the old hulk with strong chains and cables. Then everybody waited for the tide. Slowly and surely the waters came flooding in and the great lifting power of the ocean surged under that barge. As it rose inch by inch, so inch by inch the hulk was raised from its bed of slime. “The power of his resurrection.” It is something like this that happens to us when we are linked in faith, in prayer, in worship, to our Lord. The power that raised Him from the dead is made available to us. Silently the tides of his Spirit operate within, and lift us from the mud of our sins and follies, and deliver us from the grip of our despair. “Because he lives, we shall live also.” This the life, eternal life—beginning now—that He came to bring. “That I may know him . . .’’is much more than a mere memory of Easter. Our Easter bells are not just reminders of what happened once, but heralds of what can happen now. Our Easter lilies are not in memory of a battle long ago, but symbols of present triumph. When two disciples went for a walk on the first Easter Day their hearts were full of memories. They talked together in sad and hushed voices about the Jesus they had known. Then something happened that transformed their lives. “Jesus, himself, drew near and went with them.” This will be for us the happiest of all the Easters we have ever known if to us Jesus, Himself, draws near “and we know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.” EASTERN AREA QUARTERLY YOUTH CONFERENCE to be held in Bethlen Hall, 60 Cooke Avenue, Carteret, N. J., on Sunday afternoon, April 29. Theme: THE NUCLEAR DILEMMA Registration begins at 2 P.M. All young people are invited to come also from churches where no organized youth fellowships are in operation at the present time. ANNUAL CLASSIS MEETINGS Eastern Classis: Sunday, April 8, 2:30 P.M., Perth Amboy, N. J. New York Classis: Sunday, May 6, 2:30 P.M., 229 East 82nd St., New York, N. Y. Kurt Baurichter, West German statesman: “The reason why the ten commandments are so clearly worded is that no committee has worked on them.”
