“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).
For several decades, Western Europe has been experiencing a clash of civilizations.
Case in point, a few weeks ago one of our Iranian parishioners contacted me and said he wanted to meet with me. I was in Wittenberg at the time and texted him that I would meet with him when I got back. Arriving at Hamburg’s central station the following day, I saw a crowd of Iranian demonstrators—many of them Christian, as one could see from the crosses around their neck. They were protesting their own government, which has been strangling their homeland for the past forty-seven years.
My parishioner “just so happened” to be in that crowd. He spotted me from across the street and waved. A Divine appointment to be sure… I crossed the street. He had attended a similar demonstration a few days earlier, he shared, joining “free” Iranians and friends of Israel protesting the Tehran regime. He had been holding an Israeli flag when their group was approached by a mob of about one hundred Islamists who began harassing them. At one point, one angry Islamist grabbed our parishioner’s flag and tried to set fire to it. The Islamists then started throwing punches, prompting all of the Iranians to flee, including my friend. He felt guilty for having fled, he confessed. I told him it was understandable that they had all ran away, but pointed out that he was actually quite brave to show up for today’s demonstration, because the Islamists might return. After I spoke to him, he felt better.
We are living in turbulent times, especially in Europe. But praise God that—regardless of our situation—in our Baptism our Lord has washed us with pure water and sprinkled us clean—even our conscience. (Image: yours truly with our parishioner, brandishing his best smile).
The Tiews in Germany 