Martin Niemöller - "Human Weakness and Divine Strength" (February 24, 1963)

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	(organ music)	0:03
-	Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father	0:19
	and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.	0:27
	We listened to the text of the sermon taken from	0:35
	the 12th chapter in the second epistle of St. Paul	0:38
	to the Corinthians, verse nine.	0:43
	"And He said unto me,	0:49
	My grace is sufficient for thee,	0:54
	"for my strength	0:59
	is made perfect in weakness.	1:03
	"Most gladly, therefore, I will rather glory	1:08
	"in my infirmities	1:12
	that the power of Christ	1:16
	"may rest upon me."	1:19
	Certainly this word of Saint Paul	1:28
	we know it and we may have heard it many times.	1:34
	It is a very queer	1:40
	and most surprising statement.	1:44
	If it really stands as valid and true,	1:50
	we feel that those people who say that the days	1:57
	of Christianity are passing by quickly or may have	2:01
	passed by already, that these people might be right.	2:06
	That we in our generation	2:12
	have entered the prosperous era	2:17
	since our everyday thinking, our everyday living	2:23
	has become incompatible with this kind	2:30
	of attitude and claim.	2:34
	Ours is an era	2:40
	marked by the tremendous progress	2:43
	and success of science and knowledge	2:46
	of ability and efficiency.	2:52
	Human possibilities seem to us as being	2:58
	unlimited and boundless.	3:02
	We are very near, very close	3:07
	to conquer, to govern the universe.	3:14
	Our conception of nature and our relationship to nature	3:21
	has changed basically.	3:27
	We do no longer feel	3:30
	that there may be regions	3:34
	which will remain out of our reach,	3:38
	out of our dominion.	3:42
	Human power really is something,	3:46
	something in which we may trust.	3:49
	Our task of today and tomorrow	3:53
	is only to adapt	3:57
	our faculties in the right and in the best way	4:00
	to the challenges we just have.	4:05
	Strength, power, might,	4:11
	human strength, human power, human might,	4:17
	they are the things that matter.	4:23
	And to get rid of all inferiority complexes	4:28
	is an aim worthy to be striving for.	4:34
	The idea certainly is not to be weak,	4:41
	but to be strong.	4:45
	Human existence and these days and this hour	4:49
	is getting so complicated	4:52
	that only an austere and disciplined rigor	4:56
	will cope with it.	5:00
	Strength, power, might	5:03
	could depend on any help and assistance from outside	5:07
	to trust in somebody except yourself	5:13
	that is suspect of being afraid of weakness,	5:18
	a lack of needed self-confidence.	5:23
	At least this opinion and conviction is in keeping	5:29
	with the general spirit of our age,	5:34
	of our present age.	5:38
	Therefore, just therefore the religious element	5:42
	in human nature is losing ground.	5:47
	The consciousness of dependence, the very basis of religion	5:53
	is dwindling away.	5:58
	Today's atheism	6:02
	therefore is in no way surprising.	6:07
	It is just a logical by-product	6:11
	of modern evolution.	6:14
	We'll be able to explain everything	6:19
	and to dominate everything if not yet at present	6:24
	and today, then certainly	6:28
	tomorrow or in the near future.	6:32
	And we trust that we shall deal	6:36
	with all newly accomplished	6:41
	insight successfully	6:43
	when we consult only and rely upon only	6:47
	our own reason and judgment.	6:51
	Evolution means progress,	6:56
	this we do take for granted.	7:00
	This is why we are facing the present decline of religion	7:05
	among civilized nations, and especially the regress	7:09
	of Christianity in our formerly	7:14
	so-called Christian world.	7:17
	Today this retrogression	7:23
	is quite obvious and notorious,	7:26
	but it has developed already for a considerable time,	7:32
	for decades and maybe even for more than two centuries.	7:36
	It began when people began	7:43
	to omit or to pass over	7:47
	those parts of the Christian Gospel	7:51
	and its message	7:55
	which no longer were in accordance	7:57
	with their general feeling and their understanding	8:01
	of human nature and human life.	8:06
	When people began to become	8:10
	aware of their great talents	8:15
	then they began to achieve unprecedented progress	8:18
	in science and in techniques, they wanted,	8:23
	whether consciously or not, to forget everything	8:28
	which might reduce or even destroy their optimistic	8:35
	self-confidence.	8:40
	There was no room anymore for the message	8:44
	of sin and of redemption,	8:50
	for this craze of service	8:56
	and of weakness and the like.	8:59
	But still they clung to everything in the teachings	9:03
	of Jesus which seemed to	9:07
	call for a heroic and idealistic and active life.	9:11
	People clung to the Christian religion because they	9:18
	were still convinced that it had fervor	9:22
	and in the end	9:26
	had accomplished the abolition,	9:28
	for instance, of slavery. And	9:33
	Also the equal status of women	9:36
	in the world of men.	9:40
	That thereby Christianity have proved	9:43
	a genuine factor of human progress.	9:48
	It really was, it really has been,	9:53
	but with this curtailment and alteration	9:59
	of the Gospel message through which the continuation	10:03
	of Christianity became possible for this curtailment	10:08
	in those days and for a considerable time	10:11
	the Gospel lost	10:16
	its life center.	10:20
	Lost its Master and Lord.	10:24
	He was no longer needed, displaced at the bottom	10:27
	and in the midst of the Christian message was filled	10:31
	instead with His teachings.	10:34
	They, the doctrines were regarded as a main truth	10:41
	based upon themselves, no longer connected with,	10:46
	no longer dependent on the Master's person.	10:51
	So the faith in Jesus Christ was replaced	10:59
	by the belief in this doctrine,	11:04
	its precepts, its rule.	11:07
	The personal relation was abandoned in exchange	11:11
	for a system of moral	11:17
	or social commandments.	11:19
	In some parts of the world,	11:24
	Christianity has become something very different	11:26
	from what the New Testament understands	11:32
	by Christian faith.	11:36
	There, in the New Testament Christian faith means	11:40
	that Christians are the Lord's disciples,	11:45
	the Lord's own, the Lord's followers subject	11:50
	to the authority and	11:55
	attached to him personally	12:00
	knowing his spirit, willing to obey his directives.	12:03
	People responsible to the living Lord who,	12:10
	according to his promise, is present as our counselor	12:15
	and guide.	12:20
	We may ask him, no friends, we must,	12:23
	what he wants us to do.	12:27
	Lord, what will thou have me to do?	12:32
	But when we deal only with his teaching, with his rules,	12:37
	his precepts we may derive from his commandments	12:43
	a number of principles, Christian principles,	12:48
	which then we take into consideration	12:54
	and into our judgment ourselves.	12:58
	Principles are subject heavily.	13:02
	They are subject to our own judgment,	13:08
	and we select from them by making our own choice,	13:12
	putting aside what is not convenient to us	13:16
	or not convincing for us.	13:21
	And by doing this	13:24
	we maintain our own authority,	13:27
	our own decisive authority.	13:31
	There are many Christians nowadays who call such	13:35
	a selection of principles their faith.	13:40
	They do believe in these principles	13:45
	as far as they agree.	13:48
	There are principles among them, certainly there are	13:52
	which they think to be too difficult and too exaggerated	13:57
	and which therefore they do not acknowledge everything	14:02
	only of the Sermon on the Mount or on a word like love	14:06
	your enemy, bless them that curse you.	14:11
	Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them	14:16
	which spitefully use you and persecute you.	14:20
	This simply does not belong	14:26
	to this kind of Christian faith.	14:29
	That why there are quite a number of directives	14:33
	among the worlds of Jesus	14:36
	which meet with similar bouts and objectives.	14:38
	And to be sure	14:44
	none of these Christians	14:47
	who believe in principles of their own decisive directions	14:50
	has ever agreed.	14:55
	None of them will ever agree with this confession	14:58
	of Saint Paul.	15:01
	"Most gladly	15:03
	will I rather glory in my infirmity	15:06
	"that the power of Christ may rest upon me."	15:10
	This whole kind of Christian religion which is based	15:16
	on a collection of principles, it wants strength,	15:21
	wants power, wants might, wants something with which	15:27
	to live, with which to work, with which to succeed.	15:32
	Those who adhere this type of Christianity cannot	15:39
	and will not take the risk of infirmities.	15:43
	What they have in mind is rather how to avoid	15:50
	all sorts of weakness or possibilities of defeat.	15:55
	For they may believe in progress.	16:01
	At least we want to and we long for accomplishing	16:06
	our justification on our own account.	16:11
	Everything else would violate and hurt	16:15
	our pride, our claim to mastery,	16:19
	our claim to sovereign independence.	16:25
	Here it becomes clear.	16:30
	Here it becomes evident that this Christianity	16:33
	is absolutely indifferent as to God.	16:37
	And also indifferent as to Jesus Christ,	16:44
	and indifferent and utterly revolting even	16:48
	against the Gospel,	16:52
	for the Gospel announces the kingdom of God.	16:55
	It is announced as being at hand in the reign	17:01
	of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.	17:05
	The human being in whom Jesus Christ meets with us,	17:08
	his children, in order to bring us back into his kingdom,	17:13
	in order to gain us over and to bring us whole again.	17:19
	The power of Christ, the power this Lord.	17:25
	What then is it?	17:28
	Nothing it seems.	17:32
	At least the power of his opponents proves to be stronger	17:35
	than all he can do.	17:39
	So he finished his commission in this world of ours	17:43
	as we know and remember in the days of Lent	17:49
	coming to us in the near future.	17:53
	We remember yes,	17:58
	the end of his commission and suffering	18:01
	in death in total defeat.	18:05
	And yet all power of human pride	18:11
	and self-concern of hatred	18:15
	and vindictiveness	18:20
	cannot, could not overcome Him.	18:24
	Cannot, could not make Him use the same means	18:29
	of power and violence, not even in self-defense.	18:32
	Cannot seduce Him to the spirit and attitude	18:38
	of retaliation.	18:42
	So just so	18:46
	he becomes and remains more than a conqueror,	18:48
	for in dying we know he prays	18:53
	forgiveness for his murderers,	18:58
	his hangmen, his guardsmen,	19:01
	his persecutors,	19:06
	his traitor, his enemies,	19:09
	his faithless friends.	19:13
	In praying he dies for them all.	19:19
	For all of us,	19:25
	more than a conqueror,	19:29
	the Savior.	19:32
	In the last year of my imprisonment in one of Hitler's	19:39
	ill-famed concentration camps at Dachau,	19:42
	at gallows, was transplanted,	19:47
	transferred from the general camp	19:51
	into the courtyard of the so-called bunker,	19:54
	the prison inside the prison,	20:00
	prison inside the camp.	20:03
	The upper part of this gallows	20:07
	looked into my solitary confinement cell	20:11
	through the window bars.	20:15
	How often as this gallows induced me	20:20
	to pray for my comrades	20:25
	who were hanged on it.	20:29
	How often every day I had to control myself	20:34
	when the idea arose, naturally it arose,	20:40
	if these people will pull me out	20:44
	of my place here to that gallows	20:47
	what should I do? Shall I howl at them?	20:53
	Oh yes, I should like to, to love to.	20:57
	You criminals, you murderers wait and see.	21:01
	There's a God in heaven and he will show you.	21:07
	Then afterwards the torturing question,	21:12
	what would have happened	21:17
	if Jesus, when they nailed him	21:21
	to his gallows, the cross,	21:26
	if he had spoken like this.	21:30
	Then he would have crossed his enemies.	21:33
	Nothing, nothing would have happened.	21:39
	Only there would be no Gospel.	21:44
	There would be no Christian church or there would be	21:48
	no Gospel, no message of great joy.	21:52
	There would be no forgiveness of sin,	21:56
	no redemption, no reconciliation,	21:59
	no salvation.	22:03
	Then he would have prayed against his enemies,	22:07
	not for them.	22:13
	Then he would have died against them and against us	22:16
	and not for them, not for us.	22:22
	Thank God he prayed and	22:27
	he died a different way.	22:31
	"Father, forgive them	22:34
	for they know not what they do.	22:37
	"There it was that he said unto me,	22:42
	my strength is made perfect in weakness."	22:47
	"Therefore my grace is sufficient for thee."	22:53
	This then is a crucial, a decisive question.	23:00
	Do we, do I	23:06
	really know that he prayed for me,	23:10
	that he died for me there on Calvary,	23:15
	there on his cross?	23:19
	You see, no Christian principles	23:23
	will never do.	23:28
	Paul the apostle is right.	23:32
	When he renounces every idea	23:35
	of being anything for himself.	23:38
	All that matters is he, Jesus,	23:42
	and all that really counts is his power	23:47
	of sacrificial, self-sacrificial love	23:52
	by which he makes me his brother	23:57
	and thereby his Father's child.	24:03
	My fellow brother, my fellow's brother at the same time.	24:08
	But I need Him,	24:14
	not just his word,	24:18
	not just his directives, but Him.	24:21
	Him, himself.	24:26
	I need his person,	24:28
	I need his personal love.	24:31
	I need Him.	24:36
	"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory	24:38
	"in my infirmities that the power,	24:43
	this power of Christ may rest upon me	24:47
	and that I may confess.	24:53
	"I live, yet not I,	24:56
	but Christ, lives in me,"	25:01
	amen.	25:06
	Let us pray, O Lord, make us see Jesus,	25:14
	our human brother.	25:19
	Make us recognize him, the Son in whom thou art	25:23
	well pleased.	25:28
	Help us by thy spirit that in looking to him	25:32
	we may become aware of his power which is thine.	25:38
	And which therefore being the power of thy grace,	25:45
	of thy love, will outweigh our self-reliance	25:49
	with all its seducing hopes and fears	25:55
	and which will replace it by confidence	25:59
	and trust in his Lordship and guidance that the power	26:05
	of Christ may rest upon us and remain with us, amen.	26:12
	Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,	26:23
	and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	26:29
	be and remain with us all.	26:36
	(choral singing)	26:46

Item Info

Title:

Martin Niemöller - "Human Weakness and Divine Strength" (February 24, 1963)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 01:28. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 25:10.
Divorcing the person of Jesus from Jesus' teaching and principles is what has brought about this post-Christian individuated and self-reliant "faith," which is radically different from Paul's utter dependence on Christ and his confession that he "would rather glory in his infirmities for Christ's power is made perfect through weakness. " In the age of individualism and self-reliance, Niemoller calls for us to worship and follow the person of Christ. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r40k26s5w

Date:

February 24, 1963

Speaker:

Niemöller, Martin, 1892-1984

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

2 Corinthians

Chapter and Verse:

2 Corinthians 12:9

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0217
ref5640_y0h
uachapelsermaud
duke:320584
dcrau001785
ark:/87924/r40k26s5w
1f3ab978-290b-427c-a1bf-25ab3dee13c7

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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In Copyright

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Martin Niemöller - "Human Weakness and Divine Strength" (February 24, 1963)

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1. Martin Niemöller - "Human Weakness and Divine Strength" (February 24, 1963)

Duke University Archives

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Martin Niemöller - "Human Weakness and Divine Strength" (February 24, 1963)

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Duke University Archives

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