by Andreas Ehrenpreis (1650)
A great deal of writing and reporting has been done about community of goods, but so far it has not produced many visible results. Two reasons account for this: the one has to do with community life being based on leaving behind all worldly possessions; the other has to do with obedience, which consists in the surrender of our free will or self-will.(1) Without these steps, perfection cannot be reached. Jesus showed the rich young man this way as the highest demand of love, as the door through which it is hard to go. And yet this is how it must be. It cannot be otherwise. Whoever wants the most precious jewel, the hidden treasure, must sell all that he has -- everything -- and give it up.
A powerful and undeniable example of this work of the Holy Spirit was the first Church at Jerusalem. These first Christians had community by selling their houses, lands, and goods and laying the proceeds before the apostles. So no one could say of his goods that they belonged to him. No, they held everything in common. That is an undeniable fact. That is the light that penetrates through the world. That is the invincible City on the Hill; it cannot be hidden.
Now let us think of Jesus in His poverty and remember that the disciple should not be different from his master. Or let us think of sailors who run into danger with an overladen ship; they must lighten the ship and throw their merchandise overboard. How much more must we unburden ourselves of our pernicious self-will and our temporal possessions, which threaten to ruin true life.
On this way we speak of, these things are not to be thrown away and lost but rather turned to good use, for they are all to be given to the poor and needy, and what is much more, to Jesus Christ the Lord, in order that they may bear fruit a hundredfold.
The story in Exodus about the food that fell from heaven points out how true equality and community are to take shape. He who gathered much had nothing left over; he who gathered little had no less than the rest. The man who hangs on to even a very small part of his self-will or his property as his own private possession is no different from or better than the very richest man. He is rich enough to be disobedient to the will of God.
These are the characteristics of the true people of God. Jesus loved to use sheep, doves, and vines as symbols because by nature none of these like to be alone; they always want to be together. However brightly a coal may glow, it will soon go out if it is left alone. Hence the importance of gathering. Those who had been called by Christ remained together after they had left their parents, their trades, their professions. That is what Jesus means by His parable of the great banquet and the wedding of the king's son, when the servants were sent to call all the people together. Why did his anger fall on those who had been invited first? Because they let their private, domestic concerns keep them away. Again and again we see that man with his present nature finds it very hard to practice true community; true community feeds the poor every day at breakfast, dinner, and the common supper table. Men hang on to property like caterpillars to a cabbage leaf. Self-will and selfishness constantly stand in the way! How many are hindered and held back by it! However wonderfully they may speak in several languages, they have no life because they have no love.
Where there is no community there is no true love. True love means growth for the whole organism, whose members are all interdependent and serve each other. That is the outward form of the inner working of the Spirit, the organism of the Body governed by Christ. We see the same thing among the bees, who all work with equal zeal gathering honey; none of them holds anything back for selfish needs. They fly hither and yon with the greatest zeal and live in community together. Not one of them keeps any property for itself.
If only we did not love our property and our own will! If only we loved the life of poverty as Jesus showed it, if only we loved obedience to God as much as we love being rich and respected! If only everybody did not hang on to his own will! Then the truth of Christ's death would not appear as foolishness. Instead, it would be the power of God, which saves us.
Community is Not Compulsory
We can see many clear signs that show the way to true love and community. But it is quite wrong to accuse us of making life in community a matter of compulsion. By no means. It is Another who demands it and compels us to it; but neither He nor we want to force anyone. Never! Whoever is not driven by love and an inner calling should leave it alone. It is an urgent longing for enduring life and joy, it is fear of God's wrath, that drives us and urges us to obey Him. That is the source of community life. It is not we men. It is not our invention. It cannot be our undertaking. Many of us have had a livelihood and property and a strong self-will. We liked it all, too. We felt comfortable in it. But love for Christ and for the poor drove us to do what we do and confess to now. It was the recognition of God. So we found out the truth of the saying, "If you want the one, you must let the other go." We recognized the truth that no one can obey two masters. We cannot belong to God and Mammon at the same time.
Thus it is a decision of the will, not compulsion. Among the Jews it is left to the guest to decide whether he will partake of the Passover meal or not. He can take it or leave it. Jesus points again and again to man's will: "If anyone wants to follow me, he must go the way of death." "If you want life, you must keep the commandments." And the Lord let the unwilling man go his own way.
But Jesus wants more than our good will. He wants us to have joy in it, the joy of one who has lost something of little value and found a priceless treasure, like the man in the parable of the Kingdom who, in pure joy and without any compulsion, sells all he has for the sake of this new treasure. It means more to him than all the money, all the riches, and all the property in the world. Therefore we should not set store by what is petty and worthless, but give it up for the sake of the one and only treasure. That is the best exchange we can make in life. It is the source of permanent well-being, expressed in enduring life, enduring joy, and genuine happiness. Whoever does not want to act out of this good will, this deeply surrendered will, whoever does not want to act for the sake of God and the poor, should leave it alone.
Some people are not without light and recognition of the truth, yet they do not want to step completely into the light. They hinder others from seeing the full light because they still love wealth and its benefits. They have enough recognition to see that on the Day of reckoning, self-seeking will not be justified and praised. But to excuse themselves they claim that community living is an endless source of dissent and strife, as if Christ who is the Lord, the apostles, and the Holy Spirit did not know what they were doing when they brought community life into being. They may be taking certain unhappy marriages as a parallel; man and wife live together in disunity, and of them it is unfortunately said that they love each other best at a distance. But in a good marriage it is different. Each one bears with the weaknesses of the other. Both together bear joy and sorrow as they come.
How much more does that apply to the new life of community, in which a whole people of God should bear with one another in love and forgive each other everything! They make allowances for each other. They can never forsake each other because of human weakness. They do not desert each other. We know very well that Jesus turned sharply on Peter. We know of disputes among the first disciples. Did they therefore desert one another? Could the unity of the Spirit be lost on this account? Or shall the communal life of Christ and His apostles be despised or rejected on this account? That is impossible. Now we can understand why Christ, who is our Lord, insists so much upon reconciliation and forgiveness.
Even at the time of the early Christians there was plenty of unpleasantness among the believers. Was the unity of the Spirit lost because of that? The Church remained united in spite of it, that one Church to which we must listen if we do not want to be outside. It would be wonderful if a people of God could live in uninterrupted peace, completely without blemish or defilement or any hateful thing. But because of our human weakness, such disturbances happen all the time. One ought never, on account of such shortcomings and weaknesses, to reject a whole people. "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
These things will not be an obstacle to anyone who is intent on building up Church community for the sake of love and salvation. He will be filled with a burning zeal to build up a living organism and to make the sacrifices demanded by the Spirit. That includes the surrender of all his possessions and all his strength in true service to God. He surrenders his whole self. That is how he finds true Gelassenheit.(2) If a light is to burn, it must consume itself. That is the only way it can give light.
Now we understand why Christ who is the Lord became poor for our sakes. That is why He had to say, "Sell all you have and give to the poor." So we can understand why Ananias, though he had kept back only a small part of his money to provide for the future, had to meet death along with his wife in such a terrible way.
It is a question of what a man does or has done to the least of his fellowmen. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus had already said, "Whoever has two jackets should give to him who has none. And he who has food should do likewise." Whoever speaks of Christ and of love and yet refuses to hand his property over to the community for the sake of Christ and the poor proves by his actions that he loves the things of this world more than Christ. Blessed are the poor who have given their goods for the sake of the poor. It must be done for the sake of the poor.
But it is even more important that on this way we surrender ourselves and become inwardly free and recollected, gratefully accepting all God sends. For then there will be nothing to which our hearts cling more firmly than to our brothers in the faith, the members of the common life. The emphatic words of Jesus not to gather belongings on earth can never be reconciled with the holding of private property.
Instead of looking after our own interests we must look after the needs of others. Love does not seek its own advantage. Again and again the question of self-seeking comes up. Everyone must seek with such constant zeal to serve the common need that he produces, if possible, a hundredfold profit. He who has worked faithfully in this way with his modest strength will be entrusted with great responsibility. What he has worked at will never leave him. Such work cannot be in vain, for it is the work of love in the service of those who are consecrated to God. Time and again we are enjoined to further the common interest in every way possible. As the old saying goes: Self-interest is bad interest; self-will belongs in Hell.
The Impossible Becomes Possible
Many thousands regard it as impossible to surrender all property and self-will. But Christ knew that it was possible. He stood before God. He could demand it. Historic examples stand as mighty proof that this way is actually feasible. Abraham showed it to be feasible when he left his rich homeland. And Moses was able to leave his comfortable court life. So we should not be surprised that it was possible for apostles of Jesus Christ to leave family and work, boat and net, in fact everything they had. Quite unexpectedly, even Paul was enabled to throw away high rank, personal greatness and prestige, as if they were dirt. For Christ himself had proved something a thousand times greater. He had left the greatest to become poorer than animals in their holes and birds in their nests. These have their own place of rest. He had none. He opened up the new way on which He held all things in common with His disciples, in shared poverty. One kept the purse for all. And furthermore, as Jesus had foretold, the Spirit of unity came with such power over this company that suddenly thousands found the will to community, in the face of which they could no longer be concerned about their former possessions. They adopted just that attitude which so many now look upon as impossible.
From then on in the course of the centuries there were many thousands who gave up completely not only a considerable fortune, but what is more, their self-will. Many of them came with empty hands to the Church they had been searching for; for the rest of their lives they were thankful for it. And in this way many, very many, have come to us (the Hutterian Brothers), partly from other Brotherhoods, particularly those in Switzerland. Some of these had already been proclaiming the truth they had recognized, often at the risk of their lives they brought many others with them. Most of them bore testimony to the Word to the end of their lives. The Church sent them out time after time into different countries. Often they had to pay for it with their lives. They were threatened with death by fire, water, and the sword. To the end, they testified courageously to the truth. So this way of community has actually been put into practice. As we can see in the early Church, which held to community of goods, this way has proved to be good and from God.
Community is Symbolized in the Lord's Supper
To this first Church, the Lord's Supper was given as a uniting and sharing in one loaf and one body. The grain had to die for the sake of the unity of the loaf. Only by dying was it able to take root and grow in the field and withstand all the storms. Only in this way could it bear fruit. Similarly, each individual must give himself up, must die to himself, if he wants to follow Christ on His way. Then in turn the harvested grain had to be crushed and milled if it was to become bread. Our own will undergoes the same for the sake of community. It must be broken if we are to belong to the community of the Supper and to serve in communal work. Furthermore, the grains had to be brought together into one flour and one loaf. Not one grain could preserve itself as it was or keep what it had. No kernel could remain isolated. Every grain had given itself and its whole strength into the bread.
In the same way, the grapes have to be pressed for the wine. Every grape gives all its strength and all its juice into the one wine. In it no grape can stay as it is. This is the only way wine can be made. Grapes or kernels that remain whole are only fit for pigs or the manure heap. They are far from being bread and wine. In keeping their own strength and individuality they lose everything and remain lost.
Here we see the most powerful picture of community. That is how Christ presented it to those who were with Him at the Supper. But even this uniform loaf is broken, just as Christ let His Body be broken. For us this means that the stubbornness of self-will is broken and that we must be ready to suffer and die, even in community. God himself brings this about by letting His power break in upon us, and that is what we pray for. His power streams out over us as love, as the love that brings all God's truth to fulfillment. As Christ has loved us, so love reigns among us. By this His flock will be known. This is the only way we can hold the Lord's Supper and community of the table. Everything we were or had, all strength and energy and property were given for common use. Like the loaf and the wine, we have become one. Whoever wants to be a brother, whoever has a longing to share in the breaking of the bread and in prayer, cannot reject community. We never ask in the Lord's Prayer for my bread or thy bread. We ask for our bread, our daily bread, the opposite of private property. Each time Christ distributed bread, He gave to many, to all, to each alike, no matter how small the supply was. He did not want to give to any one person alone. So the small became great, the little became much.
Community is the Fulfillment of Love
Talk of faith and brotherliness does not go together with wearing expensive clothes, dining well every day, or piling up riches. The man who saves and accumulates always does it for himself and his family. Whether he lives or dies, his brothers and sisters in the faith have little or nothing to expect from him. How can he speak of love to God, of love to his neighbor, when the desire for wealth is doing its destructive work in him?
When we are filled with the spirit of community, we become simple and modest. We will be satisfied with what little food and clothing we have. On other points, people who honestly call themselves brothers can easily find a common recognition and reach a common agreement in faith; for example that it is God's will to shun war and weapons once and for all. But about possessions, in spite of the prophets and apostles, men will fight and struggle against the clear truth. Any profits from our work should not be hoarded. The fruits of our work must be put at the disposal of all our brothers in God. They are for the feeding, housing, and clothing of the poor, the hungry, and the old. It was through love that Jesus became poor and one of the lowliest on earth.
So He commands us as our Lord to love one another in the same way He loved us. That means that we make our fellow citizens in His Kingdom fellow heirs of all our goods, that we accept one another as members of the Household of God, that we close neither our hearts nor our purses to any need of a brother. Then, and then only, will God's love remain with us. That alone is genuine love. Ungenuine love is no love. Genuine love prompts us to give all our goods -- and even our bodies -- with an undivided heart. That is the way to the light. That is community. Where there is no genuine love, there is no faith.
Our love for our fellowmen must be so great that it compels us to share all our possessions with them; anyone who does not have that love for his neighbor should not think that the blood of Christ frees him from sin. As love springs from faith, so works spring from love. The only true "charity," consisting in acts of fervent love, is inseparable from true life and real freedom from sin. Active love will urge us to work for the overcoming of need and poverty rather than for our own benefit. Whoever does otherwise has not a spark or drop of divine love. He who loves God must love all men who have their life from God. If we really believe that all men have one God and one Father, we cannot possibly seek to gain or maintain an advantage over one of our brothers. If we still seek our own advantage, then love is extinguished and cold in us. We see the need and poverty of His children; we could help, but we do not do it, perhaps even saying, "Should I give bread to people I do not know?" So we become evil. We want to keep for ourselves what has been stolen from others. We are pleased we have succeeded in life. Those who have dropped behind on the way get nothing from us. Do they not need their share just as we do? This is how we lose our feeling for justice. It grows darker and darker around us because we cannot love our brother. The cries of the poor surround us like dark shadows; they have nothing and suffer privation while we have more than enough of the best.
That is a public scandal. The cries of "Woe!" uttered by Jesus surround us. How hard the Apostle Paul had to struggle in his day for the new order! Even among the Christians there were poor people who went hungry while others had plenty. Let us never forget that nothing can stand before God except love. That was the Gospel from the beginning. That is the source of the rich and unfailing strength that enables us to follow the command to give up our possessions and our very lives for the sake of the brothers.
We should not think that we are sacrificing our lives only when we face the sword or some other violent death. No. We have to give up our lives in good times too. When we are achieving something and things are going well, we should give our lives to serve our neighbors. Just at such times we are expected to give up everything and not spare ourselves. Paul could have done many things, but he wanted only what was for the good of all. So it is a question of wanting the good for others instead of for oneself. Therefore I will even give up my own judgment, poor or good, if it causes a brother to fall. We forfeit the love of God if we cling to our possessions in the face of our brother's need. For we should love, not with words, but with deeds and in truth. The love that works through us must be the same as that love in which God gave His Son.
The Vision of the Kingdom
The way of love for our neighbor is the way Jesus leads us into the realm of His lordship, into His Kingdom. In comparison, everything else is dirt and rubbish. Joy-filled life streams out from this new City, from this radiant City-Church. If in the face of this world of the future a man still longs for the pleasures of the senses and for possessions, he is a fool. His present life will soon be demanded of him. Then his heirs will quarrel over his estate. The worms have long been waiting for his body. It is simply stupid not to be able to let go of one's worthless possessions in order to gain the coming Fatherland -- just as stupid as refusing to exchange a worthless grain of corn for a diamond, or a poor clay pitcher for a golden dish. The only wise thing is free surrender, holding on to nothing. The only great thing is the faithfulness that makes a man hand in all his goods. This faithfulness is what God expects of every man without exception. It applies to rich and poor alike. He who is faithful in this radical sense with his few possessions will be entrusted with the stewardship of great things. He will judge and rule over the whole world and all its spirits. Such great things God has in store for insignificant men, if they will only love.
In the face of the shining lordship of God, one's immediate needs become extremely unimportant. They matter next to nothing. One cannot hold on to property when one stands before God. Between members of His Kingdom, companions in the faith, there is an end of mine and thine. We bear with joy the loss of our possessions (worthless, however precious they seem) as soon as we discover the greater good. This is enduring and gives no cause for fear. It gives courage. He who lives in faith enters that wonderful land of God's rulership. Then his thoughts are no longer with his coffers. They are where Christ is ruling with God. Therefore it is never enough to shun the revolting sins. Self-will -- not the most obvious and despicable sins -- is what prevents people from accepting the invitation to the wedding feast and the banquet. A man stays away for the sake of his own field, his own responsibilities, his own yoke of oxen, his own wife, his own business. It is merely the natural self-interest needed for daily subsistence that causes men to ignore the fellowship of the common meal. Time and again this is what makes us unworthy of the invitation -- the invitation given to all.
The fig tree was not cursed on account of bad or poisonous fruit. It was condemned to wither away because it could have borne good fruit and did not do so. Out of repentance and turning around must come good fruit. A new life that does not produce good fruit is not genuine. The Baptist tells us what this good fruit is: giving away your second coat and feeding those in need. Faith is power, the power that gives strength to bear fruit. Then we will provide food and drink and clothing and our labor as well, for those who need it; then we will put love for the brothers and for all men into practice; and then, if we are consistent in this service, we will become simple and modest in our own needs. This surrender will not let us become lazy or unfruitful. That is the fruit that God demands; that is the fruitfulness brought about by brotherly love, the living sap of the new tree. In such a life, God and the brothers and sisters become greater than everything else. Whoever is not ready for this remains blind and unpurified. All talk of Christ remains aimless talk and idle opinion as long as our thoughts and longings are concerned with personal aims arising from our worldly condition. Only faith that brings forth love opens the door to that other Kingdom in which Jesus is Ruler. Jesus, our Healer and Savior, leads the way into this new life and Kingdom.
Community is the True Fasting and Sacrifice
Everything that was said about almsgiving and fasting in the Old Covenant (and also valued in the New Covenant) is fulfilled in such a life. It is a matter of depriving ourselves in order to give bread to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and clothing and bedding to those who are cold. When we do these services, light and health enter our house and our life. Then there is nothing we need in the whole world, for our thoughts are filled with God and His Kingdom. It is not in the fasting or the sacrifice itself that we meet God. In fasting as in sacrifice, it is not the cult or the solemn ceremony that moves Him. He does not want them. What He does want and demand is what is good: justice, love, and good deeds. There is a thirst for the living God at work in all these things, pointing to the salvation and healing which is in Jesus Christ. Then the heavens are rent. Then comes the One who was to come. The people of old saw His coming from afar. The old man Simeon held the Child in his arms, and we seek Him with joy and with all our heart as the great gift that can come from God alone.
God created man to walk erect with his head up. Man is not meant to be like the animals that hang their heads earthward. He is not meant to be preoccupied, like them, with the search for food. He belongs to the whole of God's cause and to the Kingdom.
The believing man steps into a new life. He is asleep or even dead to his previous life. All desires that are directed toward the earth are killed. Love for property and attachment to possessions have died with them. The vice of avarice hangs like a leaden weight on a man, pulling him down. Once a man has died, he will no longer be found in his own house. Once a man is buried, he is no longer seen on his own land or in his favorite tavern. The man who has died has left behind his wealth and property. After death no man's wealth, house, money, or goods belong to him anymore. This is how we understand the truth that we must die to the present world. Having died, we are no longer found among our possessions. From the point of view of self-will and desire for possessions we are in fact no longer living. To walk with God means to sacrifice ourselves just as Christ did. To give body and life means much more, not less, than to leave goods and chattels. Out of this strength to die we maintain a new order in a united household. Like children who are equally loved by their parents, we live in community and share our food and all our goods. We have left our previous way of life behind us just as though we had died.
Greed is One of the Worst Evils
Whatever separates us from the Kingdom of God, whatever has no part in His realm, is vice and must be publicly condemned. In God's eyes, greed in any form belongs together with fornication and all other impurity. But very few realize that the apostles were right in their judgment, putting the two things on one level -- love of money and immorality; to the apostles, both are guilt and sin, poison and weeds. But because most men cling to them with might and main, they are blind to this truth. With the rich that is obvious. The poor merely lack the means and opportunity to do the same. In their hearts they are just like the rich. We must not be deceived, however loudly they decry the avarice of the rich; they themselves are no better. Many of them boast that they are not miserly, whereas they are full of the devil of drinking and the demon of extravagance. Their drunken breath gives proof of their insane covetousness. They would love to have plenty of money in their pockets to satisfy their greed!
Passion and money is the root of all filth just as much for the miser as for the spendthrift. Those who love possessions should never forget that avarice is essentially nothing but idolatry. For men cling to money as they should cling to God. They serve it as they should serve God. Their idols are silver and gold. No one who is in the service of idolatry, impure passion, or love of money can come close to the Kingdom of God. On these points, Christ the Lord is hard and inaccessible; His coming Kingdom is closed to them. The man who knows this gives his goods to the poor so that they may bear fruit a hundredfold; if he acts otherwise, everything will be taken from him.
Christ Wants the Poor
The man who is settled in riches and property refuses the invitation to the Kingdom. He does not want to listen. He does not want to come. God calls the poor because the rich refuse. If the lords and nobles and business magnates refuse, the kingly joy of freedom and community is offered to the humble and enslaved. God gives it to the simplest of the simple. He would just as gladly give it to the high, the mighty, and the influential if only they would become simple enough to want to come. All should come. None are to be rejected. Healing and riches have come to all men and are available to everyone. That sounds agreeable to our ears; even so we do not want them because there is more involved, namely that in exchange for them we have to give up and leave everything that conflicts with the nature of God. Such is the covetous will of the present world that from the beginning it has caused us to struggle against recognizing the truth. "Is this voice really from God?" Great and clever people will not believe it. They push love away. God calls them repeatedly, wanting to gather them under the protecting strength of His love. He wants it. They do not. That is what Jesus said.
They do not want to follow His call and influence. Thus they compel Him to use sharper weapons; He had to use the sharpest language in speaking to them. The poor listened to Him. Many of them went with Him. Rich and great men caused Him pain. So He had to cry out the threefold woe: woe because they are rich, woe because they are full and they laugh, woe because they are honored and popular. But still they are not excluded. Christ brings His atonement and reconciliation to the whole world. But it will be hard, very hard, for the rich to overcome themselves. It will be hard, very hard, for them to leave riches, property, and self-will. It will be hard, very hard, for them to learn obedience and live in community. It will be hard, very hard, for them to enter into the Kingdom of God.
What frightens them away is clear. The New Covenant does not promise good days, it does not lead us through rich lands. The history of the Old Covenant shows that whenever horses and chariots and silver and gold were piled up, the land was strewn with idols and sin. Again and again there arose prophets foretelling need and poverty and proclaiming the end of the corruption brought about in this way. Good days have never been good for men.
Therefore God established a New Covenant, a completely new one. But misery, despisal, the gallows, and poverty are so hard for us men to accept that we persist in thinking this new way is impossible. Therefore the Son had to be the first to tread this impossible way. Since then nobody could reject it as impossible, for it had been trodden. Since then we have had a leader and Pioneer of the faith who, poor and despised, has trodden the way to the end. The end could not be anything but the extreme consequence of this way, execution as a criminal! Lazarus had to end his life in poverty and misery, Joseph and Job had to suffer bitter poverty. In the same way, the New Covenant demands that we remain firm to the end even in the most distressing need. And that is how we shall find great and exulting joy!
Community is Not a Soft Way
Pampering oneself with fine clothing is out of the question. On this road one has to step into many a dirty puddle. Pampering and self-indulgence go hand in hand with possessions, riches, and sensuality. They do not belong to the way of poverty. This way leads to the cruel suffering of a bitter death. Opulence must be left to wealthy households and their vermin. Excess of any kind goes hand in hand with luxury and hypocrisy; excessive eating and drinking are forms of this same soft indulgence in nonessentials. We call it despicable weakness.
The austere life of John the Baptist, so poor in food and clothing, was there for all to see. That made it possible for him to demand that men share all their goods with their fellows, and to proclaim fire and destruction over all the unfruitful chaff. Let no one who wants to be known as a believer or a brother teach the broad way of covetous desires. Let us not entertain the delusion that it is not necessary to turn our backs on wealth and possessions, that it is not necessary to embark on community life in full surrender. It is abusing the Scripture in support of a teaching completely alien to it, to try to make the hard truth acceptable and comfortable for the rich; that is utterly impossible in fact. We need a strict impartiality in our vision. Only then are we able to recognize the way of truth, the clear leading of the divine Word. The whole of Scripture tells of what was revealed and brought to fulfillment by the Spirit in the first Church at Jerusalem.
Private Property Cannot Be Defended
The strong ruler Mammon opposes this guidance of the Holy Spirit; he opposes the clear promises of God, which carry God's power within them; and he opposes all those who follow this leading. Again and again he employs lovers of property to do his work of covering up and distorting the truth. He gets them to use pious words in support of their disorderly way of life and their possession of money, but he often makes mistakes in his choice of words. He works against himself when he makes them quote the case of the false apostle Simon to support his arguments. Like Judas Iscariot and Ananias and Sapphira, Simon, with all his money, was cursed. Certainly one can quote the Apostle Paul as calling the rich of this world to give with glad hearts and use their money rightly. Certainly one can emphasize that John the Baptist to begin with spoke only of the first step in the new life, that is, doing no man violence or injustice. Certainly Paul bade carnal men who were still in the infant stage to put money aside for the Church at Jerusalem, which lived in community. These are examples of transitional stages, however, that were to be outgrown.
Instead of trying to provide a certain justification of private property by these pious arguments, the rich should rather say quite openly that they choose to follow the way of the world. They want to follow it, even though property leads to servitude. They want to hold on to it, even though life in community would bring freedom and spiritual life. If they choose to hold on to their animal nature, let them keep their own hole or nest! Jesus at any rate quite clearly rejected property. Whoever walks with Him cannot keep anything of his own. Some people may argue that owning communal property is no different from owning private property. The answer is that what belongs to the community is neither mine nor thine. Common property excludes private property. Life in community means devoting one's life and strength to working for the benefit of all.
The door to this community life stands wide open. Come out of your private nests! Out of your private houses! Stop looking after your own affairs! Away with self-will! Sell everything! Give to those who have nothing! Come! Come, follow Me! Renounce all you have, then you can be My disciple. Do you really want to follow Me? Then give up yourself. Leave your goods and chattels; let go of yourself. Follow Me. I have nothing of My own. I have not even a place to lie down and rest. Is it because of your field, or your work, or your household that you do not want to come? Are you holding on to such little things? Do you love your self-interest and possessions so much? Then, of course, you cannot sit at the table of My community. You do not belong to Me.
This is how Christ speaks to those who are held back by the ideas that rule the whole world. Their lives will never be fruitful. To vindicate themselves they take counsel with the many others who, like them, hold on to their own nests and, like them, want very much to be Christians and still keep their possessions. They want to uphold property, so they have to belittle life in community. And they end up by neglecting and despising the clear way of Christ, His perfect order, and His very truth and life. Then the Word, which had already been at work in them, flees from their hearts; their hearts are turned away from faith. They return to seeking their own food. They are unwilling to work their fields and keep house for the common purse. They become like moles and foxes that undermine the communal plantations and cause them to depreciate. And still some feel in their hearts that they cannot deny the existence of love when it creates a life in community that is there for all to see. In the depths of their being they recognize this fact as good and necessary, but the right moment, the favorable opportunity, never seems to come. First one things stops them, then another. So the structure of community that should serve the House of the Lord never gets started. But for continuing the old life in their paneled houses, the right time always seems to be there. (Haggai 1:4) The true reason lies deep. What they love most is not God, but holding on to their things. They still have far to go.
Love's Refining Fire
There are many who have given up this or that form of injustice but remain utterly involved in it in other respects. Of the ten virgins who went to meet the Bridegroom, five had to stay outside: the flames of their festive lamps were not burning. Their faithfulness was extinguished; it was not enough. Of the trusted servants whom the landlord put in charge of his property, one had to be sent away for the same reason -- lack of faithfulness. In the flock of animals that are all considered clean, the goats will in the end be separated from the sheep.
The same separation takes place here on the way of surrender. The doors are open, people want to come in, but only faithfulness and truth count. Not pious words but willing deeds born of faith belong to the new Kingdom. People can talk about all kinds of wonderful forms of worship, but they are still on uncertain, slippery ground. They do not want the way of action and Gelassenheit. No one dares it. It demands too much. It demands unconditional faithfulness in giving up everything! Riches and a life of comfort are murderous, slippery ground, on which everything is bound to collapse.
The day of testing will come. Then everything will melt and break like ice. Then it will be evident what kind of life people have led. They did no good deed to Jesus, for they did not keep His Word and did not truly love Him. And therefore they could also not love those who belong to Him. In the face of this, it will be no use asking any questions or making any excuses. They are rejected. They recoiled from the supreme test of the refining fire. This fire could have proved in good time whether there was real gold in them or whether what looked like faith was only a delusion.
Gelassenheit is the name of the refining fire that gives the decisive answer to this question. In this heat, all dross and inferior metals are discarded. In it they are removed, disposed of, eliminated. What is freed is the pure gold: faith, and the love that comes from faith. What is left behind is everything else that one had. God and Mammon cannot remain amalgamated. That is the test of faith which the rich young man, Ananias and Sapphira, and many thousands of others had to undergo. This fiery test showed what meant most to them: their pious self-will and their possessions -- or Christ in every fellowman! This furnace burns away everything that blocks and hinders. It has the same effect as the needle's eye or the narrow gate. None of the things we have been dragging along with us can get through. Fire is needed if gold is to be proved.
Everyone has to go through this test! It was so from the beginning. When the earth was created, God saw that everything was good in its own way. Only about man God did not say that he was good. Instead, He set him a test in order to see whether he would be good or bad. In this test man first showed what he was; he made the wrong choice. Abraham too had to undergo this test in its sharpest form. The same thing happened to the Israelites, who were called out to be a people in wealthy Egypt and then led into the desert. Poverty was their test, and the prohibition of certain meats was part of it. In the case of Job the nature of this test was even clearer.
Each time something becomes the object of man's greatest love, God steps in. Through Jesus, God strikes at that self-will and greed harder than ever before. Whoever goes through this trial and chooses the way of Jesus is given the greatest responsibility, entrusted to him after he has left house, family, and goods for Christ's sake. But whoever loves any of these things more than he loves Jesus does not belong to Jesus. Therefore love will decide, love born of faith; it is the refining fire of true Gelassenheit. What remains as purified gold is the love of God; it alone has a place in His Kingdom.
God want us to love the poor. Christian community is the best way to put this love into practice. Through hard and steady work, we can provide an adequate standard of living for the poor and homeless; we can provide food and spread the table for them at every mealtime. We can do this even while we own nothing ourselves. Through this service people are enabled to live who would otherwise have to beg from door to door or die of misery and starvation. This is done for love alone by all who live in community; purely for Christ's sake and the sake of the poor. It is a question of love and friendship and brotherhood; in the first place, love and friendship toward our brothers in the faith. Only in joyful dedication can this work be done.
In such a life, there is no thought of income or profit; still less, interest and usury. They are out of the question. In the New Covenant, ownership, self-interest, and avarice are branded as injustice and wickedness. But stubborn self-will prevents men from recognizing their guilt in these sins, just as pride does. Avarice stands out so plainly that it is obvious to anyone; it makes one man rich and the other poor. One man could help the other but he does not do it. That is avarice. But there is another form of greed for money, which turns out to be just as avaricious: the rich lend money at interest to their poorer brothers in the faith, in order to become a little richer. What about love and brotherhood? What about the conscience? How is anyone to recognize them as Christians? For surely the sign of discipleship is love.
Johann Arndt and Menno Simons
Johann Arndt was a highly enlightened man, respected by his own people but despised by many others as a heretic.(3) He wrote much that was good and true about the Christian life. But he did not represent that the perfect word and highest command of love must be carried out in community and mutual help. He comes very close to the mark, for example, when he says of the apostles that they had to leave and disclaim everything they had, even their own self, before they could receive the Spirit from Above. He says that the true light was given to those who followed Christ on this way. Johann Arndt saw that. If he had represented this direction truthfully instead of covering it up, he and his followers would have run into great danger. Never at any place or time could Church community flourish if its people represented the full light of the truth, for wherever a true spark of the light has tried to show itself, it has been attacked with persecution and annihilation. So the light of truth has always been squelched. People rushed at it with fire and sword whenever it tried to shine. They threatened to exterminate it with tyranny, torture, and execution. The nearer one gets to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes.
Even Menno Simons remained a little to one side of the truth. In his Foundation he testified earnestly and with enthusiasm to some essential points of Christian faith.(4) He came close, very close, to the truth about perfection. He condemned avarice, ostentation, arrogance, and the like in strong words. But he never spoke out clearly about the decisive choice placed before the rich young man or about the powerful creation of the early Church in Jerusalem, although he knew the Church had its origin in nothing less than the mighty inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the early Church, the giving up of possessions and the holding of all goods in common were very clearly witnessed to, particularly in the case of Ananias and Sapphira.
Menno's writings seem to point very forcefully in this direction. He lashes out at lust for money and the increasing of the rich man's fortune. He does not mince his words in exposing the cruelty with which they oppress the poor and leave them in their misery. He uses very sharp words against the whole wide world and its scandalous profits. But in singling out the people of the world, the clergy, and the monks for these pointed attacks, he lulls to sleep his own brothers in the faith. Many of them were living in the same wealthy ostentation and lack of discipline. Some oppressed their poorer fellow believers instead of really helping them. The Foundation points particularly to those Mennonites who are proud of this writing by Menno Simons and who console the rich among them with it. Had Mennno Simons demanded the fruits of life that are truly in keeping with love, he would surely have found fewer people to go with him. There have always been only a few who have really dared to take the narrow path.
True Community is God's Work
In the recent and dangerous Reformation times, men of faith appeared again at last. They knew the Scriptures and were conversant with languages. The light was lit in them. They came forward. They testified sincerely to the truth. They offered to hold debates with learned people, for they were ready to have a member torn from their body for every false conviction that could be proved against them.
They set about God's work with power from on High. In the strength of God's almighty power, they took it up earnestly and vigorously. God's power is stronger than words can express. They fought their fight steadfastly and gallantly, even unto death, for they wore the right armor for this fight, and they had received the golden sword. Without yielding, they stood firmly in faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them forfeited goods and property, even their bodies and their lives. The banner of the great Sovereign Jesus Christ, the banner of blood and strife, went ahead of them. They followed it. His royal highway was their road.
We should follow their faith, for they prepared the way. They dared to undertake their unique work in the strength of the almighty God. They did it for the sake of community as the fruits of perfect love. They began it for the sake of the community of all believers. They defended it against the yawning abyss and the raging depths. They carried it through against all the doubts of those who said it was impossible. And they gave it a perfect Order in accordance with Christ's will.
In spite of persecution, the work grew. At various times we had twenty and more households of Bruderhofs. These were situated in different places, market towns, and villages. Sometimes there would be from three to four hundred people living together in one household, and even as many as six hundred. These hundreds of people had a common kitchen, bakery, and dining room, a common school, a common maternity house and baby nursery. In each household there was only one steward or householder. With the money brought in by the various workshops and other sources of income, he bought whatever was needed: grain, wine, wool, hemp, salt, cattle, and so on. To everyone in the house, children and adults, the steward gave according to each one's need. Special food was fetched for school and preschool children, for mothers of newborn babies up to the age of six weeks, and for any others who needed it. Everybody else went to the dining room for the common meal. Certain sisters were asked to look after the sick, bringing them their meals and nursing them. The elderly sat separately at table and were offered a little more than the young and healthy. To each was given according to his need, as far as possible.
The communities established according to this Order have continued uninterruptedly for well over a hundred years [as of 1650]. Only by the grace of God was this possible. It was not easy. We have gone through very hard times. We have often been thrown into dire poverty through plundering and burning. We have suffered much damage through the great wars.(5) Several households were completely annihilated and lost everything. But each time we moved together again. Time after time another suitable place was found to take in all those who had been persecuted and driven out. We have borne with one another and suffered together in great poverty as well as we were able.
There were also better times when things went well. But in those very bad times we had to use up everything that belonged to the Church. Everything that had been set aside during the good times had to be used up. We could well have used a thousand times over the great amount of goods that was stolen from us by Francis Cardinal von Dietrichstein. It was not surplus but the result of genuine brotherly responsibility to care for the needs of the whole Church. In this spirit, time and again we met the need with whatever we had left after being driven out of house and home in times of persecution. This happened repeatedly for the sake of our faith in Christ Jesus. Time and again we had to set out on our wanderings with the many little children and the many sick. At those times particularly we held together. How could we possibly abandon the weak and old in such need! We cared for them to the best of our ability and did all we possibly could for them. We looked after one another as brothers and sisters should. And God was standing by our side. That alone enabled us to stand our ground. That alone enabled us to grow.
Many sincere men, women, and young people came to us, having left well-to-do homes or big farms and, above all, their own strong self-will and in some cases high public standing. Some came to us from other Brotherhoods. Unto death, they witnessed to the divine truth of community as an absolute necessity. We need not be surprised that in the face of such remarkable facts there was much lying and slander. It was the same with Christ and the apostles. So it will remain until the end of the world.
Private Property Becomes Church Property
To establish community life takes all our strength. It is nothing less than the cause, the cause of Him who is our Lord. We should count the cost beforehand!
It ought not to happen (as it did a number of times) that people come in a quick blaze of enthusiasm, wanting to take part, but their will proves to be insufficiently grounded and cannot carry them through. In the long run they find it hard to submit to the Orders that arise inevitably from the Spirit of Christ. Sooner or later their courage and zeal flag. They break their covenant. They leave the path. They quarrel and give trouble. The difficulties are greatest with those who fall away after having given in their property, originally with good intentions. And now they demand it back. They want it again for themselves.
That is why we do not right away accept a final surrender of property from one who wants to begin a life of brotherhood with us. He is given enough time to learn what our convictions are and what message we proclaim, and to find out what our way of living and working together means for him. To begin with, we put aside what he brings with him into the community, either to be returned to him eventually or used for the common cause. If later on the community life no longer appeals to him, he can go his way. Then we are glad to give him back what had belonged to him, to the last penny. He is at liberty to go where he sees the best opportunities for himself.
If after this time of testing he recognized the truth, if he has really experienced the truth and asks for baptism of his own free will, he becomes a part of community life. Whatever he has brought with him is now laid before him. Whether little or much, it is given back to him. Now he can hand it over to the Church, for that is as it should be. Now it is accepted. Now the poor and needy can benefit from it. It will be used wherever it is needed.
But should it ever happen that he becomes unfaithful and in contradiction to his clear commitment demands to have his previous belongings back, nothing can be given back to him. After all, he did not hand it in so that it might later be given back to him! Before God and in all justice we owe him nothing. We treated him in the way we have just described. What a man gives up in the morning is no longer his in the afternoon. Therefore whenever a person is received into membership, all this is said to him. Certainly, as things are at the moment this is hardly necessary. People are so very poor that we have to give all those who come to us everything they need, from the very first day on.
Much evil is said about us on this point. Although this just conduct is valid before God and required of all believers, many people (even among the Swiss Brethren) condemn it. The only arguments they can bring up are false ones. On the Day of the Lord, when His judgment comes, all lovers of property will have to recognized the truth. Then they will recognize wealth for the murderous weed that it is. They they will see that it choked the living seed within them, so that they were unable to bear fruit in life.
Order and Obedience
The deepest root of this noxious weed is certainly not the external and tangible aspect of property. It is rather the arbitrary self-will and obstinacy anchored in the willful heart, the will of the ego, which is directed against the communal will. Whoever is accepted into our communal life has to be obedient in every aspect of his life. It is not only a matter of a man leaving his goods and chattels. It goes deeper than that: through obedience he has to subordinate himself to the Church. He has to be willing to be used by the Church in whatever work and service is considered right and useful. If we first surrender to Christ himself as our Lord, we submit to the will of God. With this, we have in fact given ourselves to the Church and to the brothers and sisters. This is confirmed by the New Testament. It means real sacrifice, the surrender of our lives.
Christ the Lord himself expected the same of His apostles and disciples. He demanded obedience of them. Wherever He sent them they went, even if it cost them their lives. He sent them like defenseless creatures into the midst of beasts of prey. They were expected to be submissive and obedient to men insofar as these were given authority by Him. He who listens to the apostles listens to Jesus, and therefore to God, from whom Jesus has His mission. The prophets foretell that from all the wildernesses of this world men who are like wild beasts will become capable of living together in community, that people who are like wolves will become like lambs, that a little child will be able to lead them all.
For that to happen, obedience and a definite order must be established. Otherwise people cannot live together as a people of God. So the apostles tell us to obey those who have been given authority. We have to subordinate ourselves to them because they have to give an account for our lives. Whoever looks down on them despises God himself! For He has given His Spirit into them. When Moses called together the people known as the company of Korah, they declared, "We will not come." And this disobedience was their downfall. The Apostle Paul emphasizes most strongly, "Have nothing to do with him who does not want to obey our words."
Further, the young should submit to the older ones. And more than that. Each one, yes, each one, should submit to the other. More significant still is the reason for this command: God sets His face against those who think highly of themselves; those who are aware of their own smallness and count themselves among the lowly will be rewarded by God. In the Old Covenant this attitude led to the harsh words, "Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death." All believers must be led to joyful submissiveness. It is in this submission that we break with the Devil and our self-will. "You no longer belong to yourselves." Nobody belongs to himself. He must do whatever he is appointed to do by men whom God calls. The Apostle Paul expects this obedience even in his absence. He claims God as his authority for this. Through Paul, God works on men to will and to work. It is God who brings about both the willing and the accomplishing of good. Obedience and enthusiasm born of the Spirit are constantly needed in God's Household. Everyone does joyfully and with a will what he is asked to do. He hates and turns away from his own will.
Obedience takes the place of ritual sacrifices. Disobedience is disbelief and arises out of it. Disobedience is demonic sorcery, nothing but the selfish ends of man's own will. Invocations to God and the accompanying rituals strengthen man's obstinate self-will to the point where disobedience becomes idolatry and sorcery of the worst kind. Therefore any man who ignores as unnecessary, thus repudiating, the command of obedience given by God and Christ, has good cause to fear the Day of Judgment.
Discipline and Purification
The bond of love is kept pure and intact by the correction of the Holy Spirit. People who are burdened with vices that spread and corrupt can have no part in it. This harmonious fellowship excludes any who are not part of the unanimous spirit. Man is by nature inclined to sin. In order to keep a people of God pure, it is very necessary that strict order and discipline are used in the right measure. Evil has to be warded off. The coarser vices and sins have to be publicly unmasked before all members of the community. This is the only way to awaken men's sense of shame about the worst sins and to sharpen their consciences. If a man hardens himself in rebellion, the extreme step of separation is unavoidable. Otherwise the whole community would be dragged into his sin and become party to it. If a curse lies on a community, the curse must be lifted. Otherwise God's Spirit cannot be with us, for He does not share His rulership with other spirits. The Apostle Paul therefore says, "Drive out the wicked person from among you."
The Church should not be negligent in carrying out this Order. The way the world administers justice by capital punishment is the opposite from ours; instead we use the discipline of the Church. In the case of minor transgressions, this discipline consists of simple brotherly admonition. If anyone has acted wrongly toward another but has not committed a gross sin, a rebuke and warning is enough. But if a brother or a sister obstinately resists brotherly correction and helpful advice, then even these relatively small things have to be brought openly before the Church. If that brother is ready to listen to the Church and allow himself to be set straight, the right way to deal with the situation will be shown. Everything will be cleared up. But if he persists in his stubbornness and refuses to listen even to the Church, then there is only one answer in this situation, and that is to cut him off and exclude him. It is better for someone with a heart full of poison to be cut off than for the entire Church to be brought into confusion or blemished.
The whole aim of this order of discipline, however, is not exclusion but a change of heart. It is not applied for a brother's ruin, even when he has fallen into flagrant sin, into besmirching sins of impurity, which make him deeply guilty before God. For the sake of example and warning, the truth must in this case be declared openly and brought to light before the Church. Even then such a brother should hold on to his hope and his faith. He should not go away and leave everything but should accept and bear what is put upon him by the Church. He should earnestly repent, no matter how many tears it may cost him or how much suffering it may involve. At the right time, when he is repentant, those who are united in the Church pray for him, and all of Heaven rejoices with them. After he has shown genuine repentance, he is received back with great joy in a meeting of the whole Church. They unanimously intercede for him that his sins need never be thought of again but are forgiven and removed forever. Christ gave His apostles authority and power to do this. What they bind is bound and what they loose is loosed. Christ gave them His breath and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (John 20:22-23) For all those who abandon their evil ways that means a tremendous joy, a joy that leads to life. Each one who makes this covenant with us, each one who becomes a part of our life together, promises to do and take upon himself all that has been said here. He promises to accept brotherly admonition and disciplines for himself at any time. He promises that he for his part will also make use of brotherly warning and discipline whenever it is called for.(6)
Our Children
For all these things, separation from the world is necessary. That applies in a particular way to the education of our children, which concerns us greatly because it is a most important matter. We must constantly endeavor to find the best ways of bringing up our children. Not only in the later teens but even from earliest childhood, what is corrupt in human nature begins to stir. From an early age it threatens to grow. We can compare it to iron that tends to rust, or soil which by its very nature encourages weeds to grow. Only with constant effort can they both be kept clean. It is a fact that from early childhood the children of men love all kinds of evil. They have within them a covetous will and a tendency to selfish desires. That makes itself felt most strongly if children are exposed daily to bad and corrupting examples. With their natural instinct to imitate they will follow these examples. Then the desire to keep on imitating what they see grows in them until we become helpless in the face of their evil doings. If we try to combat the evil, they will do what they want to do secretly as long as they are exposed to such bad influences.
Added to this is the fact that many parents are by nature soft with their own children. They have not the strength to fight seriously against what is wrong in them. Therefore there is double cause, indeed thousandfold cause, to seek Christian community for the sake of the children, so that they can be kept clearly separate from the world. The value of such separation is that children can be prevented from falling into godless ways and bringing shame to their parents, who are otherwise good and honest people. The burden of children's disgrace falls on the parents, for it is they who should have brought up their children properly. If children fall into evil ways, into pride and arrogance, drunkenness, loose living, or other wickedness, as long as these children live it will be said of the parents that they brought up their children to their own dishonor and shame. They neglected discipline. This bad reputation will follow father and mother to the grave. Long after they are gone, the wrong upbringing of their children will be on people's lips. God himself sees it in the same way. He let the whole house of Eli be destroyed because Eli, though blameless in his own life, had neglected to discipline his sons. The heaviest burden is the fate of the children who are going to ruin, for their life and blood are on our heads. The right education and upbringing of children, as we try to practice it in our households, proves to be absolutely necessary.
The guidance of young people is threatened by yet another danger, arising out of poverty. Many who know the good way and try to follow it give their own flesh and blood into the service of men who have no faith. It even happens that children are allowed to work in taverns and inns. Children are the highest and most precious treasure, the noblest and best of all that is entrusted to us. We must look after them with holy zeal. On the great Day of the Lord we will have to account for what has become of them.
That applies also to those who are ambitious for their children. They hand them over to the world so that they will get to know the things that are important in the world. As a result, many such children have turned away from the faith of their parents. The salvation of these young people is taken so lightly, so little value is set on it, that these defenseless young people are handed over to beasts of prey. They are practically pushed toward their ruin. They are delivered to the worst and most godless influences, which in the end must spell their ruin. Who can answer for that before God? The Holy Scriptures and the voice of our own consciences could and should protect us from this. Menno Simons challenges us in his book Foundation: parents who live with God should rather see their children burned at the stake or brought into outward misfortune of the worst kind than let them be educated in the pomp and show of the world. If they get drawn into it or marry into it, they may sink into far worse destruction than poverty, sickness, and death can bring. All the saints call us to separate ourselves from the world. Far be it from us to get involved in the world or mix ourselves up in it. Therefore we confess openly that this calamity must be avoided with utmost determination, let men ridicule and slander us as much as they will! What should be taken more seriously than man's salvation and his eternal life?
In the clear light of God's order it is a dirty stain, a serious fault, when marriage is permitted between a believer and an unbeliever. From such a marriage evil of all kinds arises, and sorrow, pain, confusion, disorder, and apostasy. Such a marriage is contrary to God's definite command. "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons." "If you marry among alien peoples, you will go to ruin." Ezra ordered all alien women and children, all alien sons and daughters, to be sent away.
In this as in all other questions we are all too ready to make empty, highflown excuses. Certainly a couple already married should not be separated if the partners are able to live together without harm to their faith. But the Apostle Paul never said that a believer and an unbeliever should take one another in marriage. Such mixed marriages never lead to happiness. God always hated them. Therefore, if elders of Christian circles permit them, theirs will not be a pure, unblemished Church. Christ did not even permit a man to go to bury his father or take leave of his former companions. How much less, then, would He have permitted a union that has such grave consequences. It is disorder! For instance, it may lead to inheritances being withheld from the poor on the death of the parents. Quarrels about such inheritances usually end up to the advantage of the unbelievers. That should not happen. No one should give away his father's inheritance.
This makes it obvious that when love is too weak it leads in a wrong direction; then there is no community, no order, and no true obedience anymore. Everyone does as he wants, particularly with his property. We are reminded of the saying: "If you slip on the top step, you will fall down the whole flight of stairs."
From the Holy Scriptures you have gained a clear conception of true baptism and the Lord's Supper, of the great gift of redemption given by our Lord Jesus Christ. We are of one mind in this as is clearly expressed in the book of the Five Articles.(7) The spreading of the Gospel is very close to our hearts. Before the war and the hard times it brought, we devoted much of our strength to the mission task. The command of Christ and the tireless way the apostles carried it out has urged us each year to send messengers out both near and far. They were to reach out to those who were full of glowing zeal and to gather for God all those who belong to Him. The Lord himself sent out His twelve apostles to spread the truth. He also sent out the seventy, always two by two. There is much work to do. The harvest is great. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out His laborers. It is His last command that His disciples should go out. "Go into the whole world and preach the joyful news to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." (Mark 16:15-16)
We have no doubt about the whole basis of our faith. It is in our conduct in daily life that we feel very imperfect. But also in these things we strive with all our strength to reach the goal. Our hearts and minds are fully assured about the foundation and the truth of God's light and our perception of it. In all humility we are certain that what we teach is the true content of the Scripture, nay, its very foundation, and Jesus Christ is its cornerstone. We know that no one can lay any other foundation. There is but one, and that is Jesus Christ. And no matter how many enemies rise up with great power and might, the Lamb shall overcome -- Babel will fall.
E N D
(1) It cannot be emphasized enough that this surrender is to Jesus only, and not to any man.
(2) Gelassenheit has no equivalent in one word in English. Its meaning includes the grateful acceptance of whatever God gives, even suffering and death, the forsaking of all self-will, all selfishness, and all concern for private property.
(3) Johann Arndt, 1555-1621, German Lutheran churchman, author of devotional books widely used in Mennonite circles of that time.
(4) Menno Simons, 1496-1561. "Foundation of Christian Doctrine" (1539), pp. 105-226, The Complete Writings of Menno Simons (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1956).
(5) The religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, also the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
(6) The present editors took the liberty of transposing to the end a brief section about mission that followed here in the orignal text.
(7) Peter Walpot, 1519-1578. Das Grosse Artikelbuch (1577), pp. 59-317, Quellen zur Geschichte der Täufer, XII; Glaubenszeugnisse oberdeutscher Taufgesinnter, II, ed. Robert Friedmann (Heidelberg: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1967).
[ Back ]
Placed online by the Neve family. We'd like to hear your comments : click here