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The Amish Voice 5
It was a good thing that the Christmas
carolers has bundled up snuggly in their dark
-colored hats, bonnets, boots, and gloves as
the snow swished across the countryside.
David had been going with the young people
to bring goodies and cheer to shut-ins for a
few years. He had always loved to sing
Christmas hymns with his strong voice, but
tonight was different. It wasn’t that he didn’t
still experience the sheer joy of singing, but
this time he was not only pushing out words
by using his own vocal cords, but it seemed
that a voice was calling to him from deep
down inside as they sang.
“O come all ye faithful joyful and
triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to
Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the
King of Angels. O, come let us adore Him, O
come let us adore Him, O, come let us adore
Him, Christ the Lord.” The carolers kept
singing, “Sing choirs of angels, sing in
exultation; sing, all ye citizens of heaven
above. . . .
Strangely, David’s attention was shifting
from his own ability to sing, to the meaning
of the words.
“How could I go to Bethlehem?”
“What is this that I am feeling?”
“I feel like someone is calling me, but who,
to where, and for what?”
The questions all begged for answers and
seemed to be amplified with the next carol.
“Joy to the World, The Lord is come, Let
earth receive her King, Let every heart
prepare Him room. . . .”
David had heard the Christmas story many
times before, but to him it had been just time
and events in history. As the carolers
finished their presentation with, “We wish
you a merry Christmas and a happy new
year,” the evening turned into a blur of
emotion. Finally, the youth paired off and
headed for home. He was glad he hadn’t
asked to take a girl home. The words, the
call, and the drawing of David’s heart hardly
rendered him capable of the usual jovial
conversation.
When he got home and took care of the
horse, his dad was still up reading The
Budget. “How went the caroling?” he asked,
not glancing up.
“It was okay,” David answered.
“What happened, did you get turned down
for a date?”
“No, I didn’t ask anyone out.”
“You seem somber; did your voice give
out?”
“No, Dad. I don’t know what came over me
tonight. I’m going to bed.”
Christmas day was filled with family, extra
chores, and guests, but David’s heart wasn’t
in it. He couldn’t shake the words of the song
calling him, “O, come let us adore Him, O,
come let us adore Him. . . .” He wanted to
adore Jesus, but how?
Confused, David tried to pray from his heart
rather than repeat the memorized prayers
from the prayer book. As the new year
approached, his attention was drawn to his
New Testament on the dresser. With
inspiration, he picked up the Scripture in
hopes of learning how to pray correctly.
As he read, he noted the wise men who come
to worship the Christ child: “This is what the
Christmas carol was talking about, but why
do I feel like I need to be there?” David felt
Christ was speaking directly to him from
Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.” In John 14:6 he read Christ’s
words, “I am the way the truth and the life;
no man comes to the Father but by me.”
Reading through Ephesians, he realized that
only faith in God’s grace could save him—
and not his own works. The Scripture that
sealed the deal for David was Revelation
22:17: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. .
. .Whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely.”
So strong was the call that David fell to his
knees and prayed in faith, “Dear God, I do
believe that Jesus is the sinless Son of God
and that He died on the cross to cleanse me
from all my unrighteousness. I ask that you
will forgive me for trying to make it on my
own. I accept you as my Savior and I ask that
you will be my Lord. I thank you for being
my way into the kingdom of God. Amen!”
On his knees, he realized that faith had led
him to the fulfillment of the call and that this
was the beginning of his adoration of Christ
as Lord!
Lydia Chorpening
324 Boland Private Dr
Shell Lake WI 54871
(715) 731-0035
The Lingering Christmas
—Lydia Chorpening
We, Jakob Ammann, Isaac
Bachman,
and
Niklaus
Augsburger, confess that in this
controversial matter and in the
harsh ban which we have used
against you in Switzerland we have
grievously erred. For we were with
each other on the 7th day of
February 1700 and agreed among
each other to remove the ban from
you.
We confess that the ban also
applies to us, and for this reason
we do not stand apart from the
church without guilt, and we desire
to be reconciled with God and man as much as is possible. Thus, we
are asking you for forbearance, that you indeed would be willing to
show us forbearance and to pray from your hearts to the Lord on our
behalf that He might grant us all this through grace.
For because of our error it is a matter of heartfelt concern to us that
we atone for our sins while we are still living and healthy. And
therefore, we are asking you once again from our hearts for
forbearance, for this did not happen intentionally on our part. I hope
that you can believe us. Therefore, do have patience and grant us that
which you are able to grant, and pray indeed to our loving God for us
that He might indeed grant us all this through grace.
—
From a letter written to the church congregations in Switzerland
Questions about Excommunication and Shunning? To request a booklet,
write to: Amish Voice, PO Box 128, Savannah OH 44874, (419) 962-1515
Humility and Forgiveness
—Jakob Ammann