Fraternity-Testvériség, 1971 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1971-10-01 / 10-12. szám
BISHOP ÁRPÁD BERETZ: Ptirben of Höbe Sermon delivered September 6, 1971, at the 75th Anniversary of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America and the 50th Anniversary of the Bethlen Home, Ligonier, Pa, “So faith, hope, love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” (I. Corinthians 13:13) “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) Dearly beloved, Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior: My joy and my gratitude is not only for this day of celebration which commemorates the 75th Anniversary of our Hungarian Reformed Federation and the 50 years of love and service of our Bethlen Home to our churches and people but also for this: Here, we are at home. Here, the family lias gathered. . . Though, we may bear the scars of struggle and conflict, bitterness and enmity;— perhaps torn and tattered, yet we are not broken. The faith of our fathers, rooted as it was in the Hungarian Reformation, still holds us and keeps us one in faith, hope and love. God has been merciful and gracious to us far beyond anything we may have deserved or expected. For this inestimable mercy, I give Him everlasting praise and proclaim His unending glory. The churches, the pastors, the people of Calvin Synod Conference of the United Church of Christ join me in expressing our sincere and genuine best wishes on this significant occasion and ask that God continue to bless the present and the future work of our Federation and Bethlen Home. Dearly beloved: Rarely, in the over 400 year old history and heritage of our Reformed faith and tradition, did the faith of our fathers shine more brightly than on that day 75 and 50 years ago when “aliens and sojourners” made a covenant with God and each other to serve their fellow- man and neighbor in his trouble and need. Simple folk with simple ways found expression for their faith. The fellowship of God’s people became so precious in their sight that they determined to keep it, maintain it, no matter what the cost. And the cost was great! The sacrifice staggers the imagination. But they understood what some of us do not, that the church is the best hope of mankind. Without the church, no plan to save the world and man can hope to succeed. If the church of God fails, then darkness descends upon mankind, then life is only mere existence, and death is eternal and final. From whence came this faith? Surely, it was predicated on the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the Reformers and the professing fathers. But also on their history and heritage. Their ancestors had withstood the burning and pillaging of their homes and villages; their pastors were dragged from their churches and pulpits to be galley- slaves in far-off lands; they had to endure personal injustices and indignities from their land-lords and petty officials; and they had set before them the life and witness of pious men and women who, for over 400 years, were determined to be true to the heritage of faith bought with the blood and pain of their forefathers. The name “Reformed according to the gospel” has always meant, and still means, a personal witness of faith in God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. Our founding fathers made their witness, for they knew that the church and faith they witnessed to was bought and paid for by our Lord Jesus Christ with his own precious blood and by the blood and sacrifices of his martyred people. As heirs of this faith and this church, they were determined to keep it, preserve it and pass it on to generations yet to come; they witnessed to faith, hope and love. They had hope! Our forefathers had no wealth, no security, no health or welfare programs. But they had hope in the future and in the God who was in that future. They dared to dream and their dreams became reality. They dared to move forward, to reach for far- off horizons; they labored diligently and they, in time, tasted the fruits of their labors. They witnessed to hope. Our present generation seems to have lost its capacity to hope. We expect something to happen but we ourselves remain aloof and uninvolved. We are quick to say what we will not do, hut seldom will we state what we will do. We want the benefits without cost to us. We want rights without responsibility. This attitude leads to defeat and failure; to loss of identity, history, heritage tradition and the future as well. It means rootlessness. And rootlessness means no past, no present, no future, no fruits. Can it be that we are a people without hope? How else to explain our inability to preserve and maintain that which we received on a silver platter? How else to explain our blindness to our own history and past? How else can we account for our lack of aims and purposes and goals? Are we really hopeless People? 17
