From the "Gracevine" newsletter article for Grace Lutheran Church, Thornville, Ohio, April, 2023
Revival
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. - Hosea 6:2 ESV
If you’ve been watching or reading the news over the last month or so, no doubt you’ve heard about an interesting phenomenon in the state of Kentucky, just a little southwest of us. Wilmore, Kentucky is the home of Asbury University, which has roots in the Methodist or Wesleyan tradition. Normally, the happenings at a small Christian college in Kentucky would hardly be newsworthy on a national level. But apparently enough people took notice of this, and the phenomenon even spread to other places in our country.
This became known as the “Asbury Revival.” According to reports, after the regular chapel worship service one day, many students refused to leave, desiring to remain and engage in continuous prayer. Around the clock for days in a row, people worshipped by singing and listening to edifying messages. This caught the attention of people around our country and even the world. People came from far and wide to witness this event.
Among some Christian traditions, revivals are seen as spontaneous outpourings of the Holy Spirit, where people have intense spiritual experiences. In emotional fervor, many people report feeling their faith renewed. One young woman reported such a feeling after many years of spiritual wandering: “It felt like God was telling me, ‘This is what you’ve been missing.’”
In a country that is becoming increasingly secular in focus, any report of Christian spiritual renewal can feel like a breath of fresh air. To be honest, I was surprised that national news outlets devoted time to reporting on the “Asbury Revival.” Perhaps it is a sign of the truth of St. Augustine’s words from the early fifth century. In his prayer to God, he remarked: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” In his mind, there is something in us that looks to things that are eternal, no matter how many things direct our attention elsewhere.
In many ways, our country is built on revivals. The growth and expansion of Christian denominations, especially Methodists and Baptists, is due to these revivals. A lot of hymns and spiritual songs even we as Lutherans enjoy today come from these revivals. Even many secular activities, such as political conventions, are modeled after the tradition of Christian revivalism.
In the early and formative years of our country, there were two major “waves” of revival that had lasting impact. In colonial America and into the time of the Revolutionary War, there was what historians call the “First Great Awakening.” In the days before Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services, people looked to preachers for entertainment (not a joke!). Large crowds would gather to hear people like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards as they expounded Bible stories in dramatic fashion and called people to repentance and faith. The perspective of the First Great Awakening was rooted in Calvinist Reformed theology, which focused on God’s initiative and providence. If revivals came, they were viewed as “heaven sent.” God was visiting His people and stirring them up.
A few decades later, however, there was another movement for revival, often called the “Second Great Awakening.” This movement was different in character than the First, as it was rooted in a different theological perspective. Whereas the First Great Awakening focused on God’s initiative, the Second focused on human initiative. The First focused on God’s choice in creating revival. The Second focused on human choice. Characteristic of the Second Great Awakening was emotional preaching followed by an “altar call,” where people “give their life to Jesus.” This kind of “conversion experience” was a sudden and spontaneous thing. The theology underneath First Great Awakening, however, understood “conversion experiences” to be more extended and drawn-out.
Lutherans have a complicated relationship with revivals. At different times in history, some Lutherans have engaged in revivals. But they tried their best to balance the subjective emotionalism of such revivals with the Lutheran focus on God’s objective promise. After all, our faith as Lutheran Christians is based on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. We cannot take credit for our salvation, for we confess that we are saved by God’s grace from beginning to end (Ephesians 2:8). On the other hand, when we have the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, it does impact us in the here and now. We do sometimes have moments of excitement and renewal.
Revivals are not necessarily bad. We might welcome them as a sign of spiritual renewal in our land. But we need to be careful with them as well. Having an emotional experience of faith at different times in life is only natural, but our faith is about more than momentary excitement. The Bible is filled with praise, but it is also filled with lament. And if we rely only on an emotional “high” to validate our faith, we might think that God is absent from us when those feelings dissipate.
We know this isn’t true. In this Easter time, we know from his death and his resurrection that Jesus is “Lord of both the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:9). “In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also” (Psalm 95:4). His presence is there for us and works for us in times of both high and low excitement. The promise of Jesus’ death and resurrection is given to us when we are baptized, and this pattern of dying and rising is a daily thing for us who are children of God by His grace. That promise is valid for us at all times, even in less exciting times and ways.
Times of revival can be exciting. I’ve had moments like that myself, and they were times of renewed interest and learning about God, from which I continue to benefit. But over time, the excitement fades away, and life returns to normal. What remains? Sometimes (most of the time, actually) living as a Christian takes more mundane but no less important forms: being a faithful employee, employer, friend, husband, wife, mother, father, child, student, or whatever else to which God might call us, and doing it all with prayer and trust in God. And even in more mundane times, God calls us to hear His Word, and he draws close to us when we do. We need to remember that our pattern of weekly worship, daily prayer, and constant discipleship is no less significant. God can work like thunder and lightning, but more often, God works like gentle drizzle.
The verse I shared at the beginning is from the obscure Old Testament book of the prophet Hosea, and it is a part of a reading often shared on Good Friday. The reference to being “raised up” after three days is meant to refer to Jesus being raised from the dead “on the third day.” But notice what it says before that: After two days he will revive us.
All humanity needs to be revived. Dead in sin, we need God to intervene and raise us up. The good news of Easter is that God does this. Jesus dies and rises. And the Bible says that “we have been raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1). We give thanks that God is the one doing the reviving. Wherever we might be emotionally, such revival is the work of God for us.
As a Lutheran, I believe it is most helpful to think of our relationship with God like a marriage. That’s how the Bible describes it. Jesus is the bridegroom, and the Church is the bride. Marriages are filled with ups and downs, moments of infatuation, especially at the beginning. But there is more than infatuation. There is a lasting and satisfying commitment. A marriage is about the “long-haul,” not just the exciting times. Beneath it all is the vow of faithfulness from God on which we rely.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has made a vow to us, and that vow is applied to us when we are baptized. Our faith can rely on God’s promise, for it comes from God and not ourselves. We live in that promise daily, dying to sin and rising to new life. If we have moments of renewal and excitement, that is wonderful, but let us never forget the deeper foundation, which will never fail us, even when the excitement fades and the infatuation of the revival is over.
Basking in the Easter afterglow,
Pr. Tom Jacobson
Revival
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. - Hosea 6:2 ESV
If you’ve been watching or reading the news over the last month or so, no doubt you’ve heard about an interesting phenomenon in the state of Kentucky, just a little southwest of us. Wilmore, Kentucky is the home of Asbury University, which has roots in the Methodist or Wesleyan tradition. Normally, the happenings at a small Christian college in Kentucky would hardly be newsworthy on a national level. But apparently enough people took notice of this, and the phenomenon even spread to other places in our country.
This became known as the “Asbury Revival.” According to reports, after the regular chapel worship service one day, many students refused to leave, desiring to remain and engage in continuous prayer. Around the clock for days in a row, people worshipped by singing and listening to edifying messages. This caught the attention of people around our country and even the world. People came from far and wide to witness this event.
Among some Christian traditions, revivals are seen as spontaneous outpourings of the Holy Spirit, where people have intense spiritual experiences. In emotional fervor, many people report feeling their faith renewed. One young woman reported such a feeling after many years of spiritual wandering: “It felt like God was telling me, ‘This is what you’ve been missing.’”
In a country that is becoming increasingly secular in focus, any report of Christian spiritual renewal can feel like a breath of fresh air. To be honest, I was surprised that national news outlets devoted time to reporting on the “Asbury Revival.” Perhaps it is a sign of the truth of St. Augustine’s words from the early fifth century. In his prayer to God, he remarked: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” In his mind, there is something in us that looks to things that are eternal, no matter how many things direct our attention elsewhere.
In many ways, our country is built on revivals. The growth and expansion of Christian denominations, especially Methodists and Baptists, is due to these revivals. A lot of hymns and spiritual songs even we as Lutherans enjoy today come from these revivals. Even many secular activities, such as political conventions, are modeled after the tradition of Christian revivalism.
In the early and formative years of our country, there were two major “waves” of revival that had lasting impact. In colonial America and into the time of the Revolutionary War, there was what historians call the “First Great Awakening.” In the days before Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services, people looked to preachers for entertainment (not a joke!). Large crowds would gather to hear people like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards as they expounded Bible stories in dramatic fashion and called people to repentance and faith. The perspective of the First Great Awakening was rooted in Calvinist Reformed theology, which focused on God’s initiative and providence. If revivals came, they were viewed as “heaven sent.” God was visiting His people and stirring them up.
A few decades later, however, there was another movement for revival, often called the “Second Great Awakening.” This movement was different in character than the First, as it was rooted in a different theological perspective. Whereas the First Great Awakening focused on God’s initiative, the Second focused on human initiative. The First focused on God’s choice in creating revival. The Second focused on human choice. Characteristic of the Second Great Awakening was emotional preaching followed by an “altar call,” where people “give their life to Jesus.” This kind of “conversion experience” was a sudden and spontaneous thing. The theology underneath First Great Awakening, however, understood “conversion experiences” to be more extended and drawn-out.
Lutherans have a complicated relationship with revivals. At different times in history, some Lutherans have engaged in revivals. But they tried their best to balance the subjective emotionalism of such revivals with the Lutheran focus on God’s objective promise. After all, our faith as Lutheran Christians is based on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. We cannot take credit for our salvation, for we confess that we are saved by God’s grace from beginning to end (Ephesians 2:8). On the other hand, when we have the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, it does impact us in the here and now. We do sometimes have moments of excitement and renewal.
Revivals are not necessarily bad. We might welcome them as a sign of spiritual renewal in our land. But we need to be careful with them as well. Having an emotional experience of faith at different times in life is only natural, but our faith is about more than momentary excitement. The Bible is filled with praise, but it is also filled with lament. And if we rely only on an emotional “high” to validate our faith, we might think that God is absent from us when those feelings dissipate.
We know this isn’t true. In this Easter time, we know from his death and his resurrection that Jesus is “Lord of both the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:9). “In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also” (Psalm 95:4). His presence is there for us and works for us in times of both high and low excitement. The promise of Jesus’ death and resurrection is given to us when we are baptized, and this pattern of dying and rising is a daily thing for us who are children of God by His grace. That promise is valid for us at all times, even in less exciting times and ways.
Times of revival can be exciting. I’ve had moments like that myself, and they were times of renewed interest and learning about God, from which I continue to benefit. But over time, the excitement fades away, and life returns to normal. What remains? Sometimes (most of the time, actually) living as a Christian takes more mundane but no less important forms: being a faithful employee, employer, friend, husband, wife, mother, father, child, student, or whatever else to which God might call us, and doing it all with prayer and trust in God. And even in more mundane times, God calls us to hear His Word, and he draws close to us when we do. We need to remember that our pattern of weekly worship, daily prayer, and constant discipleship is no less significant. God can work like thunder and lightning, but more often, God works like gentle drizzle.
The verse I shared at the beginning is from the obscure Old Testament book of the prophet Hosea, and it is a part of a reading often shared on Good Friday. The reference to being “raised up” after three days is meant to refer to Jesus being raised from the dead “on the third day.” But notice what it says before that: After two days he will revive us.
All humanity needs to be revived. Dead in sin, we need God to intervene and raise us up. The good news of Easter is that God does this. Jesus dies and rises. And the Bible says that “we have been raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1). We give thanks that God is the one doing the reviving. Wherever we might be emotionally, such revival is the work of God for us.
As a Lutheran, I believe it is most helpful to think of our relationship with God like a marriage. That’s how the Bible describes it. Jesus is the bridegroom, and the Church is the bride. Marriages are filled with ups and downs, moments of infatuation, especially at the beginning. But there is more than infatuation. There is a lasting and satisfying commitment. A marriage is about the “long-haul,” not just the exciting times. Beneath it all is the vow of faithfulness from God on which we rely.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has made a vow to us, and that vow is applied to us when we are baptized. Our faith can rely on God’s promise, for it comes from God and not ourselves. We live in that promise daily, dying to sin and rising to new life. If we have moments of renewal and excitement, that is wonderful, but let us never forget the deeper foundation, which will never fail us, even when the excitement fades and the infatuation of the revival is over.
Basking in the Easter afterglow,
Pr. Tom Jacobson