# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 08 03_S98
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

space of twenty years two electoral funerals had been held there.

After the procession had arrived at the Castle Church, Luther's mortal remains were placed to the right of the pulpit, which, after the mourning hymns had ended, Dr. Bugenhagen — called Pomeranus — ascended, and delivered a comforting sermon before several thousand hearers, on 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14. Right at the outset he said: "What and how shall I speak, when for weeping I can hardly form a word? And who shall comfort you, if I, your pastor and preacher, cannot speak? Where can I turn from you? Without doubt my speech will produce more wailing and mourning than comfort." Having then briefly and admirably described what a great teacher and God-sent reformer of the church Luther had been, of whom the world was not worthy, he said that we therefore had every reason to mourn the loss of such a man together with so many thousands in Christendom; for Luther was without doubt the angel of Revelation 14:6–8, who flies through heaven with the eternal gospel, in that he had brought back to light the three most essential things, namely, true repentance ("fear God"), the true gospel ("give him the glory"), and the true invocation of God ("worship him, etc."). Yet in the midst of our grief over Luther's death we should also thank God for having so gloriously fulfilled in him Hus's prophecy of the coming swan. The wish to die gently one day, without long death agonies, he had expressed particularly at the gentle death of his brother-in-law, M. Ambrosius of Wittenberg (who died three years before Luther, and was probably the husband of the aunt, Lehne, mentioned more often in Luther's letters) — at which point this very charming account of this blessed friend is inserted, if only thereby to check the general weeping of the hearers somewhat. Thereupon follows mention of Luther's own death, what he prayed at that time, and with which sayings he comforted himself. He closes with the wish that the spirit of this Elijah might rest doubly upon his successors, and with an exhortation to a serious amendment of life, to perseverance in the blessed, pure doctrine of faith, and finally to prayer for Christ's protection against all factions and tyrants, as well as against all the gates of hell, particularly also against the papacy. (Unfortunately most — indeed Bugenhagen himself — have not always been mindful of this exhortation; for just as Luther had foretold, that none of the Wittenberg professors would remain steadfast, so indeed it has come to pass!)

After this sermon, Melanchthon also delivered a Latin oration, which Cruciger — though with some changes — translated into German, and which, like the sermon mentioned above, is appended to most editions of Luther's works. In it he teaches how we as Christians ought to recognize the manner in which God rules his church and gives it upright teachers, among whom we should regard the foremost as our fathers, heads, and forerunners, follow them, and honor them fittingly.

98

Such a great teacher had Luther been, of whose office he wished to speak before all else. He had brought back to light the truly pure doctrine, which before had been obscured in many of the most important articles, and had explained it with diligence — such as the doctrine of repentance, of faith, of the distinction between Law and Gospel, of prayer, of good works, of the Christian estates, of ceremonies, etc.; and in order to propagate this doctrine also to posterity, he had translated the Bible into German and given many excellent expositions of it, to which the learned Erasmus gave preference above all others; but he had also, according to Nehemiah 4:17, wielded the sword while so building, and had defended the doctrine against enemies of every kind.

To the reproach that Luther's writing style had been somewhat too harsh and rough, Melanchthon replies with the words of Erasmus: "God, in this last age, in which great and grievous plagues and afflictions have gained the upper hand, has also given the world a hard, sharp physician." He says further: everyone must bear him witness that he was a very kind man, and among people, in all his speech, gracious, friendly, and amiable, and not at all impudent, blustering, self-willed, or quarrelsome, and yet there was withal an earnestness and courage in his words and bearing such as ought to be found in such a man. (This Melanchthon said as a friend of 28 years' standing, who had associated with Luther almost daily.) He testifies that it would take too much time to speak with due praise of his many virtues, although a splendid oration could indeed be given on them; he therefore wished to mention only a few — for example, his extraordinary zeal in prayer, his fearless courage amid so many dangers, his high and keen understanding in giving counsel in the most difficult cases, his attentiveness to all events in the world and in the church, his untiring diligence in study, his great skill in properly applying what he had learned, as well as his outstanding eloquence, etc. Therefore one ought rightly to mourn his departure, but also to thank God for the high gifts he has given us through him, and to rejoice with him in his ineffable joy in heaven, as he himself had preached concerning this on John 1:51 ("you shall henceforth see heaven opened, etc."). After a short but forceful prayer, Melanchthon reminds the hearers of the punishments which God often brings upon the ungrateful after the death of faithful teachers; therefore all should order their lives, morals, and studies in a Christian manner, and then be assured that as long as we keep the doctrine of the Gospel pure and faithful, so long shall we be God's dwelling and church, as God's Son said in John 14:23: "He who loves me, etc."

After Melanchthon had ended his oration, several teachers of the University appointed for the purpose carried the body before the pulpit and lowered it into the open, walled vault, and so Luther — who, like the high priest Jehoiada of old (2 Chronicles 25:16), had done good to the Israel of God, to God and his house — was likewise, as Jehoiada had been, buried among princes. And so (these are the closing words of the three authors of the report) "the precious instrument of the Holy Spirit, the body of the venerable Dr. Martin Luther, was laid in the earth there in the castle at Wittenberg, not far from the pulpit (where in his lifetime he had delivered many mighty Christian sermons before the electors and princes of Saxony and before the whole church), and, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:43: sown in weakness, that it may rise on that day in glory."

To such a Christian departure from this wretched life, and to that same eternal blessedness, may the eternal heavenly Father help us all — he who called the aforementioned Dr. Martin to his great work — and our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he faithfully preached and confessed, and the Holy Spirit, who through his divine power gave him, against the Pope and all the gates of hell, such singular joyfulness, great courage, and heart in many lofty struggles!

(Submitted.)
The Synod of Michigan and Its Heathen Mission.

In the south of Michigan there are several German settlements, founded for the most part by immigrants who were originally Lutheran. These were at first served with Word and Sacrament by the Reverend Pastor Schmidt of Ann Arbor, who later trained several young men for the ministry of the church and together with them formed what they called a mission synod. Its principal concern was directed toward mission work among the Indians of Michigan, and its name was that of a German Lutheran Synod of Michigan. Through a call to the Lutheran congregation of Monroe, which had previously also been served in part by Pastor Schmidt of Ann Arbor, Hattstädt — a student of the Lutheran Pastor Löhe of Franconia in Bavaria — came to be a full participating member of the said synod, in which he found an obligation to all the symbolical books of our Lutheran church of the pure confession, and — although there was ignorance of the Lutheran character of things — apparently good will nonetheless. This prompted him to draw the attention of the Lutheran friends of the old homeland to the said synod and to its beginning activity among the heathen of Michigan. The result was that correspondence was opened from Franconia, and that, upon the definite assurance that the mission would be conducted solely from a churchly Lutheran standpoint, and that all missionaries would be bound to all the symbols of our church, it was united into a joint activity, in such a manner