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Svedrup Memorial Booklet (1938), Page 11
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crossbearer, too, is beautiful. Kt is a source of inspiration and strength. But there is another side, shall I say, a more realistic side to the cross. It was so for Him who spilt His blood for the re- demption of the world on the cursed tree. It is so for him who would carry Christ’s cross...
Show morecrossbearer, too, is beautiful. Kt is a source of inspiration and strength. But there is another side, shall I say, a more realistic side to the cross. It was so for Him who spilt His blood for the re- demption of the world on the cursed tree. It is so for him who would carry Christ’s cross through the journey of life. And while the cross cannot mean to us what it meant to the Savior of the world, still it means loss, contempt, sorrow, and suffering. You may make other approaches to Christianity. You may say that to be a Christian is to be truly happy. And so it is, for the Christian has a joy that none can take away from him. You may say: To be a Christian is to have peace—and that is true— for as Christ said: Peace be with you; My peace I give unto you—not as the world giveth give I unto you—My peace I leave with you. You may say: To be a Christian is to be victorious. Again I say, that is so—for it is our faith that overcometh the world, and we shall more than conquer through Him that loved us. But whether you approach Christianity from these or other points, you will find the cross at the center. There it is, the burden that we must bear, but at the same time, the power that carries our burdens. This is one of the paradoxes which Chris- tianity so richly abounds in. A mystery to the human mind, but nevertheless a blessed experience to the children of God. When George Sverdrup fifty-eight years ago was brought to the baptismal font to be grafted as member upon Christ’s body, the sign of the Holy Cross was made upon his brow and upon his breast as a token that he should believe on the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and walk in the footprints of the Lamb of God. I do not know when it first became clear to him and when he became conscious of the fact that to be linked with Christ in life is first to be linked with Him in death and that to be a Chris- tian is to be a cross-bearer. But I do know that when the friends of Augsburg and the Lutheran Free Church a little better than thirty years ago were stricken with sorrow and sustained a loss similar to the one we suffer today, he willingly accepted the heavy burden placed upon his young shoulders. Reluctantly he PAGE SEVEN
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Svedrup Memorial Booklet (1938), Page 10
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Memorial Address T. O. BURNTVEDT T is with deep and conflicting emotions we are gathered here this afternoon at the bier which shelters the earthly remains of our dear Sverdrup. I must confess that I personally suffer under the strain of a strong emotion which makes this the hardest funeral I...
Show moreMemorial Address T. O. BURNTVEDT T is with deep and conflicting emotions we are gathered here this afternoon at the bier which shelters the earthly remains of our dear Sverdrup. I must confess that I personally suffer under the strain of a strong emotion which makes this the hardest funeral I have at- tended so far in life, for I am human and I am selfish. I fear I am selfish as I think of the family and their loss. I am afraid, too, I am selfish as I think of saying goodby to him who was closer to me in life and work than any other man. I am apt to be selfish when I think of the loss Augsburg and the Lutheran Free Church has sustained. But there is another emotion fully as strong which makes this occasion one of quiet joy, deep gratitude, and assurance of glori- ous victory. We sorrow not as they who have no hope. God be praised for the blessed hope of eternal glory we have in Christ Jesus. Somehow, I have been strangely bound in my mind to read the following two passages as a background for the words I am to speak: “And on him they laid the cross.” Luke 23:26. “TI will very gladly spend and be spent for you.” II Cor. 12:15. To be a Christian means to be a crossbearer. Christianity and the cross are inseparable. You cannot have the one with- out the other. Undeniably there is something beautiful about the cross when we behold it in the light of transfiguration. Strug- gling, hungering, seeking and longing souls are attracted to it. To brood on Calvary’s tragedy gives life and to agonize on its deeper meaning gives superhuman power. The life of a devoted PAGE SIX
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Svedrup Memorial Booklet (1938), Page 09
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My God! how wonderful Ghou art My God! how wonderful Thou art, Thy majesty how bright! How beautiful Thy mercy-seat In depths of burning light! How dread are Thine eternal years, O everlasting Lord, By prostrate spirits day and night Incessantly adored! How wonderful, how beautiful, The sight of...
Show moreMy God! how wonderful Ghou art My God! how wonderful Thou art, Thy majesty how bright! How beautiful Thy mercy-seat In depths of burning light! How dread are Thine eternal years, O everlasting Lord, By prostrate spirits day and night Incessantly adored! How wonderful, how beautiful, The sight of Thee must be, Thine endless wisdom, boundless pow’r, And awful purity! Oh how I fear Thee, living God! With deepest, tend’rest fears, And worship Thee with trembling hove, And penitential tears! Yet, I may love Thee too, O Lord! Almighty as Thou art, For Thou hast stoop’d to ask of me The love of my poor heart. No earthly father loves like Thee, No mother e’er so mild, Bears and forbears, as Thou hast done With me, Thy sinful child. My God, how wonderful Thou art, Thou everlasting Friend! On Thee I stay my trusting heart, Tul faith in vision end.
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Svedrup Memorial Booklet (1938), Page 25
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his way through. He humbly built his faith upon the assurance that his Redeemer liveth, and that one day in His presence all shall be revealed. Yet this attitude, of course, did not make Dr. Sverdrup indif- ferent to questions of theological or scientific import. On the contrary, he was on a...
Show morehis way through. He humbly built his faith upon the assurance that his Redeemer liveth, and that one day in His presence all shall be revealed. Yet this attitude, of course, did not make Dr. Sverdrup indif- ferent to questions of theological or scientific import. On the contrary, he was on a perpetual quest for truth in all its aspects. And he was willing to learn from all, from his theological op- ponents as well as from those who were in essential agreement with him, from scientists as well as from religionists, from modern novelists as well as from the ancient prophets and seers. He was in the true sense “‘a liberal.””’ He did not believe in com- pelling anyone to believe anything, even by moral force. He would rather see men wander into the far countries of unbelief and for a time waste their substance in riotous thinking than he would force them to remain at home in obedient orthodoxy. He believed in taking risks—because he believed in a God who took the supreme “risk” of creating a world of freedom. It need scarcely be said, however, that George Sverdrup was no theological “liberal’ in the common American sense of that word. He was a profound and humble believer in Christ the Divine Savior of sinners. To hear him lead in prayer, whether in a group of Church leaders gathered for important delibera- tions, or at the chapel services, or in informal devotional meet- ings of the students (which he often attended) was always an enriching and edifying experience. Once I had the privilege of hearing him conduct family devotions at the home of a country pastor, and I shall never forget it. God was to him the Great Reality, and by his humble beautiful words he was able to make Him real also to all who entered into his prayer. As was said of him at one of the memorial services after his passing: “It would be difficult to imagine a life which more attractively ex- emplified obedience to the ancient command to ‘do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God’.” From among the teachers under whom I have studied, two stand out in ever clearer prominence with the passing years: PAGE TWENTY-ONE
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