Saturday, March 29, 2014
Commemoration
Hans Nielsen Hauge, Renewer of the Church, d. 1824
Reflection
While working outdoors, Hans Nielsen Hauge sang, “All that I
am and possess I surrender . . .” He wrote in his autobiography, “At this point
my mind became so exalted that I was not myself aware of, nor can I express,
what took place in my soul. For I was beside myself. . . . That my soul
experienced something supernatural, divine, and blessed; that there was a glory
that no tongue can utter . . . the love of God visited me so abundantly.” Inspired
by the conviction that God had called him, a layperson, Hauge launched a
preaching crusade throughout his native Norway, with the message of what he
called “the living faith,” the personal commitment to the Lord that transforms
the believer’s life. Unsanctioned itinerant preachers and religious gatherings
were illegal in Norway,
thus Hauge spent all together more than a dozen years in prison. Three of his
four children died young, as did his first wife. Hauge wrote some 30 books.
Because Hauge’s influence in Norway
peaked during the period of greatest Nowegian immigration to America, the
Haugean spirit was one of the main streams of Norwegian-American Lutheranism,
particularly regarding enriching the spiritual life of the laity.
Prayer
Gracious
God, Continue to raise up people from all walks of life to inspire your people
and to renew your Church. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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