"The Word Is Near You..." and Vice Versa!
From June 19 to July 6, 1995, my wife, Cheryl, and I lived a dream we had planned for a long time. We flew to the land of our ancestral roots — Sweden. It was, indeed, a dream come true!
Two experiences of our vacation brought the title of this article to life. The first came to mind as I read the Summer 1995 issue of the Pietisten. In the article entitled "Pietism and the Modern Church," Paul Sonnack says, "that the decisive element in constituting the church, without which in fact there can be no church, is the presence of Christ as made known in Word and Sacrament."
Cheryl and I were staying with dear friends, Ulf and Liz Skogtjärn. They lived in Uppsala, but Liz and her two siblings had purchased her paternal grandparent's home in the province of Dalarna as a summer vacation residence. Liz had grown up in the little village of Söderäs, just outside of Rättvik, where we celebrated the wonders of the Midsommer's holiday.
As we arrived at Liz's summer home, we were ushered into a museum of pietistic heritage. Though there were additions of creature comforts — hot water, heat, and electricity — there were plenty of artifacts to remind us of bygone days. One sitting room into which we were invited was unblemished by modernism. The room was a true capsule, capturing a hundred years of history. We were told that the room is no longer used.
"Why?" we asked. The answer: "This was the room where the Mission Friends Church of Söderäs started." Liz's grandparents had hosted the conventicle where the Word and Sacrament were shared and the hymns of the faith sung. Liz's grandfather was the first lay preacher of this new fellowship. With a deep sense of gratitude, I stood on the holy place and sensed my connectedness with it. I felt the same grace and spirit as were there long before and I experienced "The Word is Near You..." and vice versa, as I gazed at the time worn Bible and Psalm books and felt by nearness to the word in them.
The second experience occurred in Sunday worship of the Mission Friends Church in Trollhätan. In that place, I sensed a deep connectedness with my pietist brothers and sisters of antiquity. I felt connected to the town itself. Trollhätan is the beautiful town where my father, 94 years old, grew up. Because I spent a summer there as a teenage boy, there were many familiar sights but the church building was just a little over one year old. It was built in the combining of two smaller congregations in the town.
I was asked to give a greeting from my father and the Covenant family of the West — in Swedish! To say I was nervous is an understatement, my Swedish is a bit limited. Yet, as I stood in the pulpit and looked out on the congregation, I was deeply moved. I saw faithful saints, childhood chums of my dad, and believers of all ages. I saw relatives and friends, men and women, all of whom make up the rich tapestry of Mission Friends.
Later we shared in the Sacrament of Communion. As I came to the front of the sanctuary to receive Christ's body and blood, I knew that the same Word who was near me at this moment was also with my father growing up in this fellowship nearly 100 years ago. I felt deeply connected to my heritage and, even more, to the faithfulness of God to all my fellow pietists and Mission Friends who have gone before and who are yet to come.
Through our experiences in Sweden, Cheryl and I came to appreciate our family heritage and also our spiritual heritage — the pietists, the early Mission Friends. Indeed, we sensed the reality that "God is a companion to all who fear Him."