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Thanksgiving Devotion: "Now Thank We All Our God"
CHICAGO, IL (November 25, 2003) - Editor's note: During Thanksgiving week,
Covenant Communications is posting devotionals sent to us by various
Covenant churches. This one is written by pastor Eric Sorenson of
Crossroads Covenant Church in Concord, California.
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom the world rejoices;
Who from our mother's arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
From "Now Thank We All Our God" by Martin Rinkhart (1586-1649)
The Thirty Year War was a long, complex, and devastating war that
touched most of Europe. Even though its conclusion led to many positive
and long-standing changes in Europe, the loss of life was shocking.
Nevertheless, as is so often the case in the course of traumatic events,
some great people emerged through the trials.
Born a cooper's son in Eilenburg, Saxony, Martin Rinkhart enjoyed a good
education, eventually graduating from Leipzig in theology. Like the
other Martin, Luther himself, Rinkhart was a good musician and entered
ministry as a Lutheran cantor, then as a deacon in Eisleben. In 1617, he
returned to his home as archdeacon of Eilenburg.
The next year, the horrors of the Thirty Years War began. At one and the
same time, Eilenburg was a good place to be and a bad place to be. It
was a good place to be because it was a walled city that became a
refuge for the war-ravaged population. It was a bad place to be because
in a fortified city, disease can run rampant. For some time, Rinkhart
was the only pastor in Eilenburg because the others had fled or died. It
is reported that in 1637 a great pestilence swept through the city that
left 8,000 dead, including Rinkhart's own wife. In the midst of his own
grief, Rinkhart conducted nearly 5,000 funerals, sometimes leading as
many as 40 or 50 per day.
During the closing years of the war, Eilenburg was overrun or besieged
three times, once by the Austrian army and twice by the Swedes. On one
occasion, the Swedish general demanded a payment of 30,000
thalers (a German coin). Rinkhart served as the intermediary,
pleading that the suffering city could not afford such a tribute. His
earnest pleas, however, were rejected. Turning to his companions, the
pastor said, 'Come, my children, we can find no mercy with man; let us
take refuge with God.' On his knees, he led his people in such fervent
prayer and singing that the general radically reduced the levy.
How is it that this man could write the words of this famous hymn - "Now
Thank We All Our God" - published in 1636, in the eye of the great
suffering? Hadn't the good pastor become so discouraged and desensitized
by the stark tragedies around him that thanksgiving was the last thing
on his mind? In some amazing way, he had simply come to believe that
God's great providence and grace are always good, no matter what the
circumstances, though he did acknowledge the hardships:
O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
You may not be ready for Thanksgiving because you've had a tough go of
things and have come to the unalterable conclusion that there is nothing
to be thankful for. But, whether you feel like it or not, Thanksgiving
is coming, which reminds us that circumstances don't have to deter us
from giving thanks. As for Rinkhart, it so much depends upon what we
look at, and how we look at it. But through the eyes of Jesus, we can
always be truly thankful.
I Just Got a
New Heart.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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