The Hammer of God – Heaven on Earth

Periodically I will take a well worn paperback book off the bookshelf.  Over the years the binding has begun to crack and some of the pages are loose (I’m not too worried since I have a duplicate copy in the overflow box of books in the garage).  And what is this book?  “The Hammer of God” by Bo Giertz.

I discovered it about 9 years ago when I was boxing up my father’s office after he unexpectedly joined the church triumphant a few short days before Christmas.  During that time I found that it was the English translation of 3 novellas by the Swedish Lutheran bishop Bo Giertz.  Each novella focused on the spiritual growth of a pastor and the surrounding Swedish community.  I’ve heard that it’s required reading in seminary (at least it was for my dad back in 1975), but it’s still a good read for the layperson (check out the Amazon.com reviews).

The following excerpt from the first part of the novel is a good commentary on what is happening in the Divine Service.  As a brief background, Curate Henrik Savonius reluctantly relented to make a pastoral call to a dying man (Johannes) who needed some spiritual comfort.  Savonius’ florid words and philosophical education were not what Johannes needed.  Johannes needed the assurance of the forgiveness of sins which came through the body and blood of Christ.

He [Savonius] distributed the bread. . . Then he gave them the cup.  It was then that Johannes suddenly began to speak in a strangely distant voice.

“Listen!  Don’t you hear the organ tones?  I hear the rush of white wings.  I hear the sound of many waters.  Now Johannes is sitting in Ravelunda church, and never before has the organist played like this.  I hear them singing, ‘Holy holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.  Heaven and earth are full of His glory.’  On the altar the Lord’s chalice shines like fire.  But the wall is of crystal and the church without a roof, and the angels of heaven ascend and descend.  They bow before the chalice, they cover their faces.  They say, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’  Now an archangel takes the cup in his hand. It is like pure fire.  Now he comes toward me.  Sparks fly from his fingers, he will burn me to death!”

Johannes laid one of his hands over his eyes as if to shield them from too bright a light.  The other hand seemed to push something away.  But then both hands fell.  He became calm again, and his next words were whispered.

“You wanted only to cleanse me, Lord, to cleanse and redeem.  You wanted only to save, and now your angel says, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away.  Now you can behold the living God’”

“He is delirious,” whispered the wife. . .

“He is wiser than any of us,” Savonius answered somewhat abruptly.  “Let us give thanks and pray!” (pg 34-35, 1973 edition)

As Wilhelm Loehe wrote in his hymn “Wide Open Stand the Gates”,

The sacrament God gives us
Binds us in unity,
Joins earth with heav’n beyond us
Time with eternity. (LSB 639, st. 3)

As an organist it is a privelege and humbling experience to play for this heavenly host.  If there is any time to “pull out all the stops,” this is it.

Related posts:

1. The Hammer of God – The Pastoral Attitude
2. Heaven on Earth