Saturday, November 3, 2007
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
EXAMPLES FROM THE REFORMATION: JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN
Have you ever heard of Johannes Bugenhagen? I would guess that some have, but not all. John Bugenhagen came to Wittenberg while Martin Luther was at the castle Wartburg. He had been a schoolteacher. It is said that when he first read Luther's "On the Babylonian Captivity" he considered him the greatest false teacher of all time. The more he thought about what Luther had written, he changed his tune. He later concluded, "The whole world is blind, for this man is the only one who sees the truth." John Bugenhagen became a close friend of Martin Luther and eventually served as pastor to Martin Luther. Martin Luther regularly confessed his sins to Pastor John Bugenhagen and was told that Jesus died to pay for his sins.
Now that's the kind of friend we all need! God help us to find just such a friend, and to be that kind of friend to others. Let us take every opportunity to encourage our fellow Christians with the gospel of Jesus Christ. While we may not all hold the office of pastor, we are all priests before our God and Father, given the good news of forgiveness so that we might dispense it to others.
Then let us also take the time to pray for one another, that God through word and sacrament would of His grace keep us in Christ. Amen!
Here stands the font before our eyes
Telling how God did receive us;
The altar recalls Christ's sacrifice
And what His table doth give us;
Here sounds the Word that doth proclaim
Christ yesterday, today, the same,
Yea, and for aye our Redeemer.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 467:6)
