Practicing The Christian Life
Sermon
A SEASON OF SAINTS
Sermons For Festivals And Commemorations After Pentecost
September 4
Albert Schweitzer, Missionary to Africa, 1965
The commemorations in this series have covered the span of Christian history from the days when Christians still worshiped secretly in houses to the 20th century; from dusty North Africa to the palace of the Grand Duke of Russia; from the hospital bed to the concert hall. We've commemorated heroic sacrifices, dramatic conversions, brilliant ideas and great art. We've seen how some of the great saints of the church put their faith into practice in the way they lived their lives.
Our commemoration today ties all those elements together in the life of one man, and brings them into our own lifetimes. Many of us can remember Albert Schweitzer winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, and his death in 1965. But most are not aware that before he ever became a medical doctor or a missionary he was a great theologian, a renowned musician, a parish pastor and an important philosopher. If we can figure out how all those different pieces of his life fit together, we can begin to see what made him both a committed humanitarian and a challenging example of someone who followed Christ in the world.
Schweitzer was born in 1875, the son of a Lutheran pastor. At age 24 he received his doctorate in philosophy; at age 25 he received his doctorate in theology and was ordained a pastor. He first became famous for his book on Johann Sebastian Bach, which was published in 1905; even after he became a missionary in Africa, he remained in demand in Europe as a leading scholar and performer of Bach's organ music.
In 1906, Schweitzer published his greatest book: The Quest of the Historical Jesus. During the 19th century, European theologians had been obsessed with trying to figure out who Jesus really was and what Jesus really thought. Schweitzer's blockbuster book claimed that they had all missed the point. The important thing wasn't so much Jesus' teaching as it was his whole life and especially his death. The key to understanding Jesus, for Schweitzer, was that Jesus firmly believed the world had to end and give way to the kingdom of God, that he had to bring that about and that he had to do it by dying. Moreover, Schweitzer said, anyone who wants to be a follower of Jesus must also reject the world and live as if to do away with evil and usher in the kingdom of God. Since we have been baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, we must live our lives as though we have already died and gone to heaven; only God's will and Christ's sacrifice on the cross matter to a Christian.
Schweitzer's book stood the church on its ear. He was suddenly the most important theologian in Europe; his scholarly career seemed secure. But the young pastor continued to surprise the religious community. If being a Christian means that we reject all worldly values and live as if we're already in the kingdom of God, he announced, then no serious Christian can spend his life sitting in Germany, writing books, giving lectures and collecting honors. In fact, before his book was off the press he had already decided to become a missionary, to devote his life to alleviating human suffering in the most needy place he could find.
So Schweitzer resigned his university appointments and his pastorate, abandoned his promising career and started medical school. The doctor of philosophy and doctor of theology became a doctor of medicine, and at the age of 38 left with his wife for Africa, where they built their own hospital.
His friends and the other great scholars of Europe couldn't believe he would do something so stupid. They referred to him as "the late Doctor Schweitzer," who for all serious purposes was dead and buried in Africa. He had broken his promises and deserted the people who were counting on him. Of course, 20 years later they were singing his praises as the greatest practitioner of the Christian life, but in 1913 none of his peers could understand what motivated him to do something so spectacularly absurd.
That's a pattern we have seen repeatedly in the lives of the saints of the church. Basil and Gregory and Gregory, the Cappadocian Fathers, all abandoned promising academic careers and gave away their family fortunes to become monks and priests. Vladimir of Kiev abandoned a life of conquest and plunder and gave away his fortune. Florence Nightingale turned her back on high society to become a charity nurse. Augustine gave up fame and fortune as an orator, as well as the prospect of marriage, to become a monk, priest and bishop. Clara Maass intentionally exposed herself to a deadly disease to protect other people from it.
All these men and women discovered what Schweitzer discovered: the decision to follow Christ must be a decision to reject the world as it is and to make the world what God wants it to be. In Mark 8:34, Jesus tells his disciples that anyone who wants to follow him must also pick up the cross of suffering servanthood for the redemption of the world. If we confess that Jesus is the Christ and that we are his followers, we obligate ourselves to live cross-shaped lives. That's what we've seen in the lives of our many saints; that's what Albert Schweitzer reminded the world in his 1906 book; and that's what his colleagues couldn't comprehend.
Schweitzer captured the attention and the hearts of people all over the world, partly because of timing. In the 1920s, '30s and '40s the world desperately needed an Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer had only been in Africa a year when World War I broke out. It's hard for us to imagine what terrible things that war did to the morale of the entire world. It was the first truly global war; it was the first modern war, fought with chemical weapons, machine guns, airplanes and tanks; it was the bloodiest war in history at the time. Most important, it came at a time when people had been wildly optimistic about the progress of the human race. All the modern achievements of science and the human mind had led people to think that the world had become enlightened, that we advanced beyond barbarity, that the future was brilliant.
Then the war came, and slaughtered an entire generation of the best and brightest youths of Europe. All the optimism and hope of the world turned out to be lies. Several great historians predicted that civilization would end by 1920. The seeds of despair that led to Hitler and to the worldwide spread of Communism were sown in the ashes of that war.
In the midst of its horror, the world rediscovered Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer himself was imprisoned during the war, but upon his release he returned to Africa and reopened his hospital. While the world raged with fear and hate, he went back to healing the sick and teaching the love of Christ. And he wrote about his work, so the whole world could learn his vision of peacefulness and respect for all people. A civilization that considered itself Christian but was still capable of consuming its own children in war was shamed by the example of the devoted missionary, but also comforted by the thought that somebody still believed he could overcome hatred, pain and death. He prodded the conscience of the world and inspired generations of people to take up the tasks of world peace and service to developing nations.
In Schweitzer's own view, the solution to the problems of the world was what he called a "reverence for life." All life, he taught, is holy and precious: not just human life, and
especially not just one race, nationality, or class of human life. The idea that some kinds of life are expendable or that different levels of living things are more sacred than others, Schweitzer believed, is the source of the problems of modern civilization. God created all things with the same special care and continues to care for all things equally.
The world would be transformed today if people believed as Schweitzer did. No one who believed that every living thing in the world is holy to God would pollute rivers or oceans, or build parking lots over wildlife habitat. No one who believed that life must be preserved would participate in war; no government that held life absolutely sacred would spend more on weapon development than it does on medical research. No one who understood the value of human life would use or sell drugs or drive drunk. Terrorism, assassination and apartheid would be unknown in a world that revered life. Keeping food away from starving people for political reasons would be unthinkable.
Most critical problems in the world today share a root cause: we consider life cheap. We consider living things expendable if they stand between us and our worldly goals - especially things that live far away from us, or far down on the evolutionary scale. We need the vision of Albert Schweitzer as much today as the generation after World War I did.
How can we change the way the whole world thinks? Perhaps we can't: but we can change the way we think, and we can set an example by our own attitudes and actions. After all, Albert Schweitzer didn't set out to change the world: he only wanted to do the right thing with his own life. But his example captured the imaginations and inspired the hearts of millions of people. He showed the world what it means to confess that Jesus is the Christ, and to make that confession the guiding principle in one's own life.
Albert Schweitzer may be the most remarkable person we've commemorated in this series, and his commemoration is a fitting summary of our whole series of remembrances: his life combined a tradition of service to the church; the heritage of Bach's music; the theological brilliance of the Cappadocians; Augustine's belief in the goodness of all created things; Florence Nightingale's and Clara Maass' concern for the sick and needy; and the dramatic change of life that we have seen again and again. All these things that were part of Schweitzer's greatness grew out of his faith in Christ - the same faith that beckons you and me. Amen.
Albert Schweitzer, Missionary to Africa, 1965
The commemorations in this series have covered the span of Christian history from the days when Christians still worshiped secretly in houses to the 20th century; from dusty North Africa to the palace of the Grand Duke of Russia; from the hospital bed to the concert hall. We've commemorated heroic sacrifices, dramatic conversions, brilliant ideas and great art. We've seen how some of the great saints of the church put their faith into practice in the way they lived their lives.
Our commemoration today ties all those elements together in the life of one man, and brings them into our own lifetimes. Many of us can remember Albert Schweitzer winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, and his death in 1965. But most are not aware that before he ever became a medical doctor or a missionary he was a great theologian, a renowned musician, a parish pastor and an important philosopher. If we can figure out how all those different pieces of his life fit together, we can begin to see what made him both a committed humanitarian and a challenging example of someone who followed Christ in the world.
Schweitzer was born in 1875, the son of a Lutheran pastor. At age 24 he received his doctorate in philosophy; at age 25 he received his doctorate in theology and was ordained a pastor. He first became famous for his book on Johann Sebastian Bach, which was published in 1905; even after he became a missionary in Africa, he remained in demand in Europe as a leading scholar and performer of Bach's organ music.
In 1906, Schweitzer published his greatest book: The Quest of the Historical Jesus. During the 19th century, European theologians had been obsessed with trying to figure out who Jesus really was and what Jesus really thought. Schweitzer's blockbuster book claimed that they had all missed the point. The important thing wasn't so much Jesus' teaching as it was his whole life and especially his death. The key to understanding Jesus, for Schweitzer, was that Jesus firmly believed the world had to end and give way to the kingdom of God, that he had to bring that about and that he had to do it by dying. Moreover, Schweitzer said, anyone who wants to be a follower of Jesus must also reject the world and live as if to do away with evil and usher in the kingdom of God. Since we have been baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, we must live our lives as though we have already died and gone to heaven; only God's will and Christ's sacrifice on the cross matter to a Christian.
Schweitzer's book stood the church on its ear. He was suddenly the most important theologian in Europe; his scholarly career seemed secure. But the young pastor continued to surprise the religious community. If being a Christian means that we reject all worldly values and live as if we're already in the kingdom of God, he announced, then no serious Christian can spend his life sitting in Germany, writing books, giving lectures and collecting honors. In fact, before his book was off the press he had already decided to become a missionary, to devote his life to alleviating human suffering in the most needy place he could find.
So Schweitzer resigned his university appointments and his pastorate, abandoned his promising career and started medical school. The doctor of philosophy and doctor of theology became a doctor of medicine, and at the age of 38 left with his wife for Africa, where they built their own hospital.
His friends and the other great scholars of Europe couldn't believe he would do something so stupid. They referred to him as "the late Doctor Schweitzer," who for all serious purposes was dead and buried in Africa. He had broken his promises and deserted the people who were counting on him. Of course, 20 years later they were singing his praises as the greatest practitioner of the Christian life, but in 1913 none of his peers could understand what motivated him to do something so spectacularly absurd.
That's a pattern we have seen repeatedly in the lives of the saints of the church. Basil and Gregory and Gregory, the Cappadocian Fathers, all abandoned promising academic careers and gave away their family fortunes to become monks and priests. Vladimir of Kiev abandoned a life of conquest and plunder and gave away his fortune. Florence Nightingale turned her back on high society to become a charity nurse. Augustine gave up fame and fortune as an orator, as well as the prospect of marriage, to become a monk, priest and bishop. Clara Maass intentionally exposed herself to a deadly disease to protect other people from it.
All these men and women discovered what Schweitzer discovered: the decision to follow Christ must be a decision to reject the world as it is and to make the world what God wants it to be. In Mark 8:34, Jesus tells his disciples that anyone who wants to follow him must also pick up the cross of suffering servanthood for the redemption of the world. If we confess that Jesus is the Christ and that we are his followers, we obligate ourselves to live cross-shaped lives. That's what we've seen in the lives of our many saints; that's what Albert Schweitzer reminded the world in his 1906 book; and that's what his colleagues couldn't comprehend.
Schweitzer captured the attention and the hearts of people all over the world, partly because of timing. In the 1920s, '30s and '40s the world desperately needed an Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer had only been in Africa a year when World War I broke out. It's hard for us to imagine what terrible things that war did to the morale of the entire world. It was the first truly global war; it was the first modern war, fought with chemical weapons, machine guns, airplanes and tanks; it was the bloodiest war in history at the time. Most important, it came at a time when people had been wildly optimistic about the progress of the human race. All the modern achievements of science and the human mind had led people to think that the world had become enlightened, that we advanced beyond barbarity, that the future was brilliant.
Then the war came, and slaughtered an entire generation of the best and brightest youths of Europe. All the optimism and hope of the world turned out to be lies. Several great historians predicted that civilization would end by 1920. The seeds of despair that led to Hitler and to the worldwide spread of Communism were sown in the ashes of that war.
In the midst of its horror, the world rediscovered Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer himself was imprisoned during the war, but upon his release he returned to Africa and reopened his hospital. While the world raged with fear and hate, he went back to healing the sick and teaching the love of Christ. And he wrote about his work, so the whole world could learn his vision of peacefulness and respect for all people. A civilization that considered itself Christian but was still capable of consuming its own children in war was shamed by the example of the devoted missionary, but also comforted by the thought that somebody still believed he could overcome hatred, pain and death. He prodded the conscience of the world and inspired generations of people to take up the tasks of world peace and service to developing nations.
In Schweitzer's own view, the solution to the problems of the world was what he called a "reverence for life." All life, he taught, is holy and precious: not just human life, and
especially not just one race, nationality, or class of human life. The idea that some kinds of life are expendable or that different levels of living things are more sacred than others, Schweitzer believed, is the source of the problems of modern civilization. God created all things with the same special care and continues to care for all things equally.
The world would be transformed today if people believed as Schweitzer did. No one who believed that every living thing in the world is holy to God would pollute rivers or oceans, or build parking lots over wildlife habitat. No one who believed that life must be preserved would participate in war; no government that held life absolutely sacred would spend more on weapon development than it does on medical research. No one who understood the value of human life would use or sell drugs or drive drunk. Terrorism, assassination and apartheid would be unknown in a world that revered life. Keeping food away from starving people for political reasons would be unthinkable.
Most critical problems in the world today share a root cause: we consider life cheap. We consider living things expendable if they stand between us and our worldly goals - especially things that live far away from us, or far down on the evolutionary scale. We need the vision of Albert Schweitzer as much today as the generation after World War I did.
How can we change the way the whole world thinks? Perhaps we can't: but we can change the way we think, and we can set an example by our own attitudes and actions. After all, Albert Schweitzer didn't set out to change the world: he only wanted to do the right thing with his own life. But his example captured the imaginations and inspired the hearts of millions of people. He showed the world what it means to confess that Jesus is the Christ, and to make that confession the guiding principle in one's own life.
Albert Schweitzer may be the most remarkable person we've commemorated in this series, and his commemoration is a fitting summary of our whole series of remembrances: his life combined a tradition of service to the church; the heritage of Bach's music; the theological brilliance of the Cappadocians; Augustine's belief in the goodness of all created things; Florence Nightingale's and Clara Maass' concern for the sick and needy; and the dramatic change of life that we have seen again and again. All these things that were part of Schweitzer's greatness grew out of his faith in Christ - the same faith that beckons you and me. Amen.
