QUOTE (Corrie ten Boom) – Feb 28

Corrie ten Boom, “The Hiding Place” (Photo credit: Corrie ten Boom Museum)

“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’  And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’  No, he did not remember me.  ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’  And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’  I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’

For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then.”

~ Corrie ten Boom, “I’m Still Learning to Forgive”

In honor of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian and Holocaust survivor, who on this day in 1944 was arrested by Nazi police for hiding Jews.

Resources:
This Day in History – February 28
Corrie ten Boom Story on Forgiving

Related articles

• A Holocaust Survivor’s Story of Forgiveness
• Forgiving Your Death Camp Guard (Corrie Ten Boom)
• Soul Survivors
• 68) Will You Forgive Me?
• Corrie ten Boom – Original Portrait
• Corrie Ten Boom – The Hiding Place – The Righteous Among the Nations

“AIN’T DUTCH, AIN’T MUCH” – July 18

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, …” Ephesians 2:19

NETHERLANDS HOLLAND (Photo credit: LachieB1)

I have never been around more Dutch people than in the Church of my youth.  It was generally know as the “Dutch Church” while there was actually only one family from the Netherlands.  The vast majority of the other members had been born and raised in the United States.  However, many could claim a Dutch ancestry but their motherland dead-ended in Minnesota.  They knew very little of the actual Netherlands much beyond windmills, tulips, and canals.

However, that did not prevent a very real ethnic identity within that Church.

Netherlands (Photo credit: Vicki Devine)

There was distinct passion and pride for all things Dutch.  Most members’ homes contained some knick-knack, trinket, or lawn ornament paying homage to Holland.  I remember one family friend who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with “If You Ain’t Dutch?, You Ain’t Much!”.   Many in this small community held that opinion and those outside felt its sting.

It was a bit ironic how fiercely loyal they could be to a heritage which was more American than Dutch.  Most had no idea of the providence in the Netherlands, from which their ancestors migrated; that there actually are providences; that there is no country called Holland; that the Kingdom of the Netherland extends to the Caribbean; that Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh were Dutch painters; that the war of the United States of Independence was significantly financed by the merchants of Holland.  They do not know anything of the politics, geography, or culture of their heritage but they sure were proud of it.

I don’t think that my experience was unique.  Every major city has ethnic neighborhoods.  There is little, Saigon, Pakistan, Italy, Moscow, Manila, and Poland, just to name a few.  There is Chinatown, Germantown, Koreatown, Japantown, and Frenchville.  All are areas with a very distinct ethnic identity; an identity for a place that is not the inhabitants’ current home.

I realize that there can be a lot of negatives associated with these communities.  However, there is one aspect that I like:

The zeal for a place that most in the community have never known.

The Apostle Paul writes that all who are in Christ are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Now, there is a reason for some zeal.  The Kingdom of God is better than any kingdom of this earth; being a child of God is better than being a member of any nationality.  Fierce loyalty is an appropriate response of someone who has been adopted as a fellow heir with Christ.

I should be zealous for this place that I have never been.

The good news is that this place of my hope and zeal is not exclusive.  My heritage is Dutch.  My son and daughter are Korean.  They can never be Dutch.  I can never be Korean.  Yet, the origins of our pasts do not prevent us from being fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.  The community of God does not have barriers of discrimination or superiority.  God’s kingdom is open to all who will come to him regardless of race, gender, or nationality.

That should get us passionate about who we have become in Christ.

How can any of us “ho-hum” this place of our hope?

How can any follower of Christ prefer the world more than the place of our new citizenship?

We should be fired up about who we are in Christ!

While it is silly to think that if you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much, it is true that if you ain’t got Christ, you ain’t got anything.  We should want others to be like us because it is better to have eternal life.

Our zeal for the Lord should fire us up to boldly proclaim our true citizenship and call the world to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, you have given me a heritage that is far better than anything this world has to offer.  Father, thank you for adopting me into your family.  Thank you for giving me an inheritance and a hope.  Thank you for saving me.  Lord, may my zeal for You be seen.  My hope in you be evident in all that I do.  Help me to boldly proclaim the free gift of citizenship that You are offering to all people.  May your name be praised and glorified.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ.   Amen.

Fun and Informative Video on the Netherlands:  Holland vs the Netherlands