Vom Amt der Prediger
The Voice of the Herald
The preacher identifies his vocation as a voice crying out in the wilderness, laboring with tears and intensity to deliver God's message.
Who are you?✦ I am the voice of one crying out, says John the Baptist. 1:23. So am I. By day, I am the voice of the God who calls. Through me, God calls—sometimes harshly, sometimes gently, sometimes sweetly, and sometimes bitterly.1 Now he draws and comforts; now he terrifies and threatens.2 I take great pains with this and cry out with all my strength.3 My tears cry out; after all, I have not stopped exhorting with tears.✦
The Burden of the Pulpit
The preacher laments the fruitlessness of his ministry while contrasting the indifference of the people with his own intercessory prayer for the Church.
My drops of sweat cry out; ah, if only the pulpit could speak! My drops of blood cry out; in your zeal, how often do you see the blood right before your eyes? Would to God that my voice might leave an echo after it, and that souls would call back as God calls out—but with most people, sad to say, it is Vox, praetereaque nihil: a voice and nothing more!4 The raven sits on the roof and croaks; what good does it do?5 It's a voice and nothing more. Raven and preacher both accomplish equally little—God have mercy!6 Ah, listen, because God is calling, and take it to heart—he may soon grow tired of calling. At night I am a voice of the calling Church, and in my prayer I bring the need of souls before God.
Crying from the Depths
The preacher pours out his heart in prayer, seeking God's mercy amidst the grief of a people who refuse to listen, yet finding refreshment when the Word takes root.
Whoever knows everything knows that. I cry out from the depths of my heart; my tears cry: Ah, Lord, help!✦7 The blood in my veins cries: Ah, Lord, when will you be merciful? Be merciful to your people, whom you, Lord, have redeemed! Often the voice returns with an unfriendly echo. God won't listen, because you won't listen; that is painful.✦ Often a sweet after-echo follows the voice: Ah, Lord, when will you be merciful? That is refreshing.8
The Dual Work of the Servant
The preacher concludes by defining the essence of his office as a twofold commitment to teaching and prayer.
Your work, you who are a servant of Christ, should be to teach and to pray.
Read the original Latin
Wer bist du?
Ich bin eine Stimme eines Rufers, spricht der Täufer Joh. 1, 23. Ich auch. Des Tags bin ich eine Stimme des rufenden Gottes. Gott ruft durch mich bald hart bald linde, bald süß bald saur. Bald lockt und tröstet, bald schreckt und dräut er. Ich laß mir's sauer genug werden und ruf aus allen Kräften. Meine Thränen rufen; hab ich doch nicht abgelassen mit Thränen zu ermahnen.
Meine Schweißtropfen rufen; ach könnte die Kanzel reden! Meine Blutstropfen rufen; wie oft siehst du im Eifer das Blut unter Augen? Wollte Gott daß meine Stimme ein Echo nach sich lassen möchte und die Seelen so nachriefen als Gott vorruft: aber bei den meisten heißt es leider: Vox, praetereaque nihil, eine Stimme und nichts mehr! Der Rabe sitzt auf'm Dache und ruft; was nust es? Eine Stimme ist's und nichts mehr. Kabe und Prediger richten beide gleich viel aus, daß Gott erbarm! Ach höre weil Gott ruft und nimms zu Herzen, er möchte des Rufens bald müde werden. Des Nachts bin ich eine Stimme der rufenden Kirche und trage Gott in meinem Gebet die Noth der Seelen vor.
Das weiß, der alles weiß. Ich ruse aus der Tiefe meines Herzens; meine Thränen rufen: ach HErr hilf! Das Blut in meinen Adern ruft: ach HErr wann willst du gnädig sein? Sei gnädig deinem Volk, das du HErr erlöset hast! Oft prallt die Stimme zurück mit einem unfreundlichen Widerhall. Gott will nicht hören, weil du nicht hören willst; das betrübet. Oft folgt der Stimme ein lieblicher Nachschall, ach HErr wann willst du gnädig sein? das erquickt.
Dein Werk soll sein, der du ein Diener Christi bist, daß du lehrest und betest.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.1.19 — And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
- ↩Acts.20.31 — Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to admonish each one of you with tears.
- ↩Ps.130.1 — A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
- ↩Zech.7.13;Prov.28.9 — And just as He called and they did not listen, so they will call and I will not hear, says the LORD of hosts. Prov.28.9 — Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the Torah, even his prayer is an abomination.
Notes
- 1 ↩Early modern bald… bald… rendered as now… now…; linde = mild/gentle; saur (sauer) = sour/bitter as the hard edge of preaching.
- 2 ↩dräut is an older form of droht, 'threatens'; lockt is lure/entice/draw, not merely 'invite'.
- 3 ↩sich's sauer werden lassen is idiomatic: to let the work cost sweat/hard labor, not merely 'become sour'.
- 4 ↩Latin tag kept as in the source (Vox, praetereaque nihil), with the author's German gloss rendered immediately after it.
- 5 ↩Normalized 'nust' as early-modern/dialectal 'nützt' ('what good is it / what use is it?').
- 6 ↩Source 'Kabe' read as 'Rabe' (raven), continuing the image from the previous sentence; Fraktur/OCR confusion of R/K is plausible.
- 7 ↩Source 'ruse' read as 'rufe' (I cry/call), standard early-modern orthography for rufen.
- 8 ↩'erquickt' is the book's key verb of spiritual refreshment; rendered 'refreshes' to keep that force rather than a flatter 'comforts' or 'cheers'.
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