COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF (The Founder of The Moravian Community) (Part 10)

Guidance Through the Lot: A Historical Perspective

This is not a practice that I would recommend for today. God answered Zinzendorf and the Moravian brothers in their simple faith, but Romans 8:14 clearly tells us, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Today, in the body of Christ, we are guided by the eternal Word and by the Spirit of God, rather than by choosing pieces of paper from a wooden box. Even for the Moravians, what started out as a simple, honest way to hear from God became so legalistic that they couldn’t even marry without it. This is why they abolished the practice in the early 1800s. But for a time, God worked with Zinzendorf in this season of spiritual learning and growth.

Sending Dober and Nitschmann to St. Thomas

All citizens of Herrnhut prayed earnestly over the decision to send Dober and Leopold to St. Thomas, where uncertainty and death could await them. The large Protestant churches of Europe had not attempted such a missionary task. Was it the Lord’s will for the small community of Herrnhut to do so? After a year of prayer, Zinzendorf decided it was time to draw the lot. Christian Dober pulled a slip of paper from the wooden box and rejoiced as he read it aloud: “Let the lad go, for the Lord is with him.” But for Tobias Leopold, the lot was not favorable; it was not his time to go. David Nitschmann, the carpenter, was chosen to go with Dober instead. Leopold was given the opportunity to join the mission work in the West Indies just one year later.

The First Two Missionaries of the Modern Age

No one in Herrnhut, including Zinzendorf, had any idea how to launch a missionary movement! As the first missionaries to be sent out by a European Protestant church, Dober and Nitschmann were not even given enough money to travel outside of Saxony. Although Zinzendorf had the financial means to sponsor them, the Herrnhut community believed that the venture was to commence and sustain itself fully on faith. At 3:00 am on August 21, 1732, Ludwig escorted the young men in his carriage to a spot just twenty miles north of Herrnhut. At the crossroads, the new missionaries knelt beside the buggy, and Zinzendorf laid hands on them and prayed. His only instruction was one of faith: “In all things and in all ways, let the Spirit of Christ guide you.”

A New Era of Missionary Work

On that day, the Moravian missionary movement was born! These devout Moravian disciples had no example to follow, no society to financially provide for them, and no guidelines to help them steer their course; they simply moved by the direction of the Spirit of God.

To be continued…

Tale Tuesday 113

Date:  21st January , 2024
Title: :  COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF (The Founder of The Moravian Community) (Part 10)
Source:  God’s generals- The Missionaries
Author: Roberts Liardon