# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1893_S14 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 14 The Lutheran Pioneer. | Why Weepest Thou? In our picture we see the risen Saviour meet- ing Mary Magdalene and revealing Himself to her. She had come to the sepulchre of Christ early on Easter morning to anoint the body of her Lord. She found the stone taken away. She thought Christ’s enemies had taken His body, and stood at the sepulchre weeping. When she turned herself back, she saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘‘Woman, why weepest thou??? And then He revealed Himself to her as her risen Lord and Saviour. Her tears were dried and with a joyful heart she came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken to her. “Why weepest thou?’? With these tender words the risen Saviour greeted the weeping Mary Magdalene in her great sorrow. And every Easter still brings to all sorrowing Chris- tian hearts the tender greeting: ‘‘ Why weepest thou?’ The glad Easter tidings of our Saviour’s resurrection should dry all our tears and drive away all our sorrow. “T know that my Redeemer liveth.’’ With these words Job comforted him- self when friends, and property, and health were all gone. Dr. Jerome Weller, a friend of Luther, had to pass through many sufferings and trials, so that his soul was often cast down and cried for comfort. One day he went to an old Christian in Wit- tenberg, in order to speak with him about God’s Word and thus drive away all sad thoughts. Upon entering the room of his Christian friend he saw a picture on the wall representing the resurrection of Christ and suddenly exclaimed: | ring through the silence of the tomb 4nd the There will be a joyful meet- being astonished at such greetings, asked him|ing of all the children of God. In glorious The doctor told him that he| bodies they shall stand before the throne of ‘Victory! Victory!’’ His old Christian friend, what he meant. It is a great sorrow that floods the soul of the Christian, when the hand of death snatches | away some one that is far dearer than life itself. | He returns from the graveyard to his desolate ; home, and the sight of the vacant chair makes ie sob and shudder. The sound of voices jgrates harshly upon his ear, and he wonders | that the sun shines, that people can talk and jlaugh on the streets, and that the hum of | business does not cease forever. But the glad | Easter tidings of a risen Saviour sheds a bright | light of comfort also into this darkness caused by death. ‘Why weepest thou?’’? The Lord lis risen, He is risen indeed! And the apostle Paul says, ‘‘Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.” Since Christ in His resurrection became the first fruits of them that slept, we know that the whole harvest will be gathered in. He says, ‘‘I live, and ye shall live also.’? The miracle of His own resurrection is the forerun- ner of that great miracle, when His shout shall dead shall rise. ./” }saw that sin and death and devil and hell were} resting-place, where his body rests from the had come to his house with a heart cast down| the Lamb and sing the song of the redeemed. with great sorrow, so that he could hardly|‘‘So shall we ever be with the Lord. Where- breathe; but when, on entering the room, he| fore comfort one another with these words.”’ isaw that picture of his risen Saviour, when he|The grave of the believer is but the quiet ,under the feet of Jesus, the great Conqueror, | strife and toil of earth until the morning of then all sad thoughts were gone and his heart] the great resurrection. At the graves of the ————————————_—_——_—_____—_—— again, and Jay out as usual. When found, he was asked why he did not travel by the com- pass. He said that he did not dare to. He wished to go north, and he tried hard to make the thing point north, but it was no use—it would shake, shake, shake right round and point south-east every time. oe A Quaint Church. On the outskirts of Wilmington, Delaware, stands the ‘‘Old Swedes’ Church,’’ with the figures ‘‘1698,’’ made of iron, fastened in the west gable. It was erected by Swedish Lutherans. It is, probably, the oldest church in America that stands to-day just about as it left the hands of its builders. It is surrounded by graves, and stands a mile West of the Delaware. The building is of gray stone, sixty feet long; thirty wide ; and twenty high. The walls are six feet thick at the base, and three at the windows. Inscriptions in iron letters are set into walls on all sides. Dutch Peter, the battle scarred veteran, once was sexton of the church, and hauled live coals from the ‘‘cannon- stove’’ upon the brick floor to warm it. The roof is of cedar; the pews of fir, and the quaint old pulpit has the old- fashioned sounding-board over it. When the building was ready for dedication, the occasion was made a day of great rejoicing. The sturdy Swedes could not forget that they had prayed and worked for years that they might have a church of their own faith, in which they might worship God in their own tongue, nor that they had been obliged to erect it under the shadow of the old fort, that they might have protection from enemies, savage and civilized. When, therefore, the structure was complete _ But because He lives, we also shall live through _ Him, as He Himself says: ‘I liye, and ye shall was filled with great joy. It is also well known that Dr. Luther, in| praise: his sore trials, often cheered himself with the words: ‘'He lives! Helives!’”? He would write them in large letters with chalk upon his table ; yea, upon all the doors and upon the wall of his room he would write: ‘‘He lives! He lives! He lives!”” When asked what he meant there- by, he answered, ‘‘Jesus lives! and if He did not liye, I would not wish to live’a single hour. Thus the faith of the child of ooks away from the darkness and finds] who, where the country was new, got lost in rt in the risen Saviour who lives and| the woods several times. as the Conqueror over all our} a pocket-compass, which he did, and a friend : ies explained to him its use. He soon got lost| most of the glory of Christ. it was a day of great rejoicing for all. A feast was proclaimed. All sorts of meat and drink were contributed — wheat, malt, bread, flour, hops, wine, butter, sugar, raisins, eggs, yeal, mutton, vénison, chickens, turkeys, tur- nips, etc. The congregation ate the dinner together, ‘‘rejoicing and praising God.’’ For years afterwards the anniversary was ob- served. Communions and baptismal services were long celebrated with the chalice and plate sent over by the copper workers of Sweden to Pastor Bjork, and the Bible long used was that given by Queen Anne, in 1712. . Young Lutheran. ———>~o- o o children of God we may sing the hymn of “Thou hast been here, Lord Jesus! But Thou art here no more; The terror and the darkness, The night of death, are o’er. Great Captain of salvation! Thy triumphs now we sing; O Grave, where is thy victory? O Death, where is thy sting?” i eo Traveling by the Compass. A story is told of an old hunter in Michigan, He was told to buy He that walks most with Christ will know | 9 ee SSSA