 A GOLDEN SUMMER
by Dr. A. K. Curtis
ON MAY 12, 1727, Zinzendorf addressed the
community for three hours on the blessedness of
Christian unity. The people sorrowfully confessed
their past quarreling and promised to live in
love and simplicity. Herrnhut became a living
congregation of Christ. The entire summer of 1727
was a golden one at Herrnhut as the community
worked together in peace and love. There was
eager anticipation that more was to come.
A turning point
On August 5, Zinzendorf and fourteen of the
Brethren spent the entire night in conversation
and prayer. On August 10th, Pastor Rothe was so
overcome by God's nearness during an afternoon
service at Herrnhut, that he threw himself on the
ground during prayer and called to God with words
of repentance as he had never done before. The
congregation was moved to tears and continued
until midnight, praising God and singing.
The next morning, Pastor Rothe invited the
Herrnhut community to a joint communion with his
nearby congregation at Bethelsdorf on Wednesday
evening, August 13. Count Zinzendorf visited
every house in Herrnhut in preparation for this
Lord's Supper. The exiles, gathered at Herrnhut,
had come to a conviction of their own sinfulness,
need, and helplessness. During the service, they
made many painful prayers for themselves, for
fellow Christians still under persecution, and
for their continued unity. Count Zinzendorf made
a penitential confession in the name of the
congregation. The community united in fellowship.
Count Zinzendorf looked upon that August 13th as
"a day of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit
upon the congregation; it was its
Pentecost."
Yes, for 100
years!
Like the first Pentecost, men and women would
move forth with the gospel from Herrnhut to the
uttermost parts of the earth. Two weeks after the
revival, twenty-four men and twenty-four women of
the community covenanted together to spend one
hour each day, day and night, in prayer to God
for His blessing on the congregation and its
witness.
For over 100 years, members of the Moravian
church continued nonstop in this "Hourly
Intercession." All Moravian adventures were
begun, surrounded, and consummated in prayer.
They became known as "God's Happy
People." They launched a missionary society
in a time when Protestant missions were unknown.
The first missionaries, two young men, declared
their willingness to become slaves if necessary
to reach the slaves in the West Indies with the
Gospel. Within fifteen years of the revival, the
Moravians at Herrnhut had established missions in
the Virgin Islands, Greenland, Turkey, the Gold
Coast of Africa, South Africa, and North America.
They endured unspeakable hardships. Many died in
difficult circumstances. But as fast as they
died, others came forth to take their places.
An unquenchable
flame
The eighteenth-century revivals in America
and England were influenced by the Moravian
mission and prayer movements. Peter Boehler, a
Moravian missionary in England, counseled John
Wesley, later leader of the Revival in England,
leading to his conversion. Wesley wrote of
Boehler, "Oh what a work hath God begun
since his coming to England! Such a one as shall
never come to an end, till heaven and earth pass
away!" --but that's the subject of our next
issue.
This article is used
by permission of the author. It first appeared in
"Glimpses" from the Christian History
Institute.
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