Of His Sufferings

THE STORY

I first heard the story of John Leonard Dober (a potter) and David Nitschman (a carpenter) in a sermon given by Bro. Jeremy Fuller.

This potter and carpenter were so moved by their love for Christ and their passion for souls that they were willing to sell themselves into slavery to reach the slaves of the West Indies with the Gospel. On October 8, 1732 this Dutch potter and carpenter became the first two Moravian missionaries as their ship left the Copenhagen harbor with its bow set for the Danish West Indies. As the ship left port, these two skilled laborers lifted up a cry which would become the rallying point for all the Moravian missionaries who would run the trail they blazed.

“May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.”

Their cry echos back to the Garden, and Golgotha, and an agonizing, forsaken Jesus. It brings us to the first saints and martyrs who were convinced by the sight of the risen, nail-scarred Jesus. It reminds us of the early Christians whose blood became the very seed of the church.

As for me, it reminds me of my Grandpa Smith, who laid his life down for the souls he loved.

It can seem attractive, even strangely beautiful to make some great sacrifice for the Kingdom. It’s harder to desire or even recognize, to seek out and do the smaller, everyday sacrifices that Kingdom building is made of.

“Of His Sufferings” brings us full circle to the opening track “Beautiful Inheritance.” Both songs I finished writing on the same day in the year following Grandpa Smith’s homegoing.

Grandpa and Grandma Smith lived out the smaller, everyday sacrifices that Kingdom building is made of. So I rise early and walk and pray in the church that Grandpa and Grandma Smith planted, and I teach a classroom of kids in a one-rule school house that once served as Grandpa and Grandma’s home. These kids are the kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids of the people my parents and grandparents have worked with.

And we believe that these seeds, these precious seeds, will one day bear much fruit.

And may that Lamb that was slain receive the full reward of His sufferings.

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THE SONG

Seeds
Precious seeds
Borne with tears
Sown in sweat
Watered in blood
And the farmer
Who toils and sows
Gives all he has
For his seeds to grow

Life
Fragile life
Birthed in pain
Fed with milk
Nurtured in love
We ask the mother
“Is it worth it all?
You paid so much
For a life so small”

Souls
Never-dying souls
Without a clue
Of how to find
The God Who saves
Yet we question
If it’s worth our lives
To lead one soul
To know our Christ

Grandpa’s Prayer: “You don’t have much, but you got me. But you’ve got all of me. And your promises are just as real to me as there is anyone else. I come to claim them. I come to claim them. You said if I’d weep between the porch and the altar, you said if I’d bring seed… precious seed… that it would bear fruit. That seed means people...people.”

Lamb
Spotless Lamb
Son of God
Left His throne
Slain for the world
And we wonder
At the price He paid
Giving His life
So ours could be saved

May the Lamb
That was slain
Receive His full reward
May my life
Be to Him
A portion of His pay
If it means great pain
Or costs me much
My only prayer will be
May the Lamb
That was slain
Receive the full reward
Of His sufferings

Words & music by Merilee Barnard © 2017. Started April 23, 2017. Finished August 4, 2017.

So grateful that my cousin Ben Smith was able to capture Grandpa Smith praying at the Shelbyville Bible Holiness Church.

https://nickcady.org/2017/07/21/they-sold-themselves-into-slavery/

http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/count-zinzendorf-the-moravians-prayer-makes-history