The Christian and His Power

Above the bickering and cavil of deceit-blinded mortals, rings true and clear the paean of that victory which overcomes the world and which still puts within the grasp of mortal men the greatest power which the world has ever known.

1924 Walter A. Maier Walther League Messenger

The following article by Walter A. Maier is taken from the May 1924 issue of the Walther League Messenger, Volume XXXII, Number 10.

For every effect, as science, history, and human experience assure us, there must be an active and impelling cause. The placid stream becomes a raging, swollen torrent that floods destructively over all restraints; but it is the increased flow of highland freshets and the melting glacier snow that works this startling transformation. The sputtering volcano smokes ominously above its gleaming crater; but deep within earth’s bowels there blaze mysterious flames amid the molten metals that cause these smoke clouds in the sky. It is the storm wind blowing unchecked across the watery wastes that whips the swelling billows into frenzied madness. It is the hidden voltage of the blackened firmament that sends the jagged thrusts of lightning on their unmarked courses. It is, in short, the power of nature’s crushing energies that causes the myriads of startling changes so miraculous and so mysterious to the human mind.

But what is the cause for the effects, more stupendous by far than those produced by nature’s elements, which shake the spiritual universe of men’s souls? What is that dynamic urge that has swept through centuries of hostility and ignorance and superstition and left behind it on its path innumerable and stupendous changes in the hearts and lives of men? What is that transcending energy that has enabled men, groveling in the sordid sins of selfishness, held and swayed by passions and prejudice, impaired and paralyzed by human infirmities and frailties, to rise up over their self-centered impulses, to bind and control their lusts and desires, to receive and exercise a super-human and majestic strength? What is it, indeed, if not the power of christian faith that has softened hard hearts, overcome violence with meekness, triumphed over organized wrong with unorganized right, and always given a rebirth that offers a new vision, a new purpose, and a new ideal in life, together with the ability to acquire and keep this newness of spirit.

Diplomats may smile indulgently at the preaching of this power that conquers the world through love; philosophers may ridicule this faith that is wiser than the wisdom of the world; self-enlightened minds may brand its eternal message as out of harmony with the times; but above the bickering and cavil of deceit-blinded mortals, rings true and clear the paean of that victory which overcomes the world and which still puts within the grasp of mortal men the greatest power which the world has ever known.

Not only when fair-haired maidens, kneeling in the sands of the arena, were strengthened to rejoicing when the blood-hungry lions pounced upon them; not only when faithful followers of the Savior, tormented to the very capacity of human endurance by the horrors of inquisition could remain steadfast and unwavering until the very end; not only when saints in all lands and ages have sacrificed all that men hold precious and desirable, and have gone into exile and poverty without murmur or complaint; today, too, in countless instances that are often unnoticed and unheralded, this faith is demonstrating its dynamic force and continuing uninterrupted in its unalterable march of triumph.

Yes, the transcending power of this faith is ours today — and ours to use determinedly and confidently. Three times the blessed Savior impresses us with this fact and shows us the sweeping range of this power. “All things,” He declares in the most unqualified manner, “whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive.” Again He asserts: “Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” And to add certainty to certainty, we read once more the divine assurance: “All things are possible to him that believeth.”

Surely, if the power of this all-conquering faith has been demonstrated so strikingly in our own lives when we have been brought into a heaven-born newness, we should not hesitate to use its resources when sin and sorrow beset us, and when we are apt to lose sight of the fact that we have been made the conquerors of the world. Again, if we recognize the limitless energies that radiate from this Gospel and understand that it is ours to preach and to spread, we will apply its dynamic force for the saving of the sin-bound souls that crowd this sin-torn world. We will work in growing confidence and unbounded assurance, since no task is impossible to us who can join the great hero-apostle in declaring: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

W. A. M.