Main
	Noble Birth
	A Community at Herrnhut
	Life Among the Moravians
	Into All the World
	His Last Years

F. Founding of the Renewed Moravian Church

In May of 1727, a constitution was adopted in Herrnhut. Following that, in the summer of the same year in a library in Zittau, Zinzendorf found a copy of the Moravian book, Ratio Disciplinae. Upon examination of this volume, he discovered that the constitution of the ancient Moravian church bore a striking similarity to that recently adopted in Herrnhut. In this the Count saw the hand of God. After Zinzendorf’s return to Herrnhut, a special meeting was called to take part in the Lord’s Table. At one point during this meeting, as everyone knelt, the Count prayed, openly confessing his sins before the Lord. Others were likewise prompted to pray. The Spirit as the holy anointing oil flowed. Lewis records several brothers’ descriptions of that day:

Of 13 August, Christian David wrote: “It is truly a miracle of God that out of so many kinds and sects as Catholics, Lutheran, Reformed, Separatist, Gichtelian and the like, we could have been melted together into one.” “From that time on,” said David Nitschmann, “Herrnhut became a living Congregation of Christ.” “Then were we baptized by the Holy Spirit Himself to one love,” said Spangenberg. 13 August, Zinzendorf concluded, “was a day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Congregation”; it was “its Pentecost.” [1]

G. Life in Herrnhut

1. Night Watch

Even at night, Herrnhut was becoming a visible tabernacle of God. Every man between the ages of sixteen and sixty was assigned a time to announce the night watches. No exception was made on account of rank. Zinzendorf wrote the following hymn for the watchmen to use in greeting the community during the night hours:

2. The bands or choirs

In his youth, Zinzendorf often had opened his heart to his grandmother. They prayed together concerning things that bothered his conscience. This fellowship left a deep impression throughout Zinzendorf’s life. Feeling the need for such a relationship among the Christians in Herrnhut, he grouped all the community together by sex, age, and marital status. They came together for meetings, for discipline, and for carrying on community occupations. Zinzendorf described them this way:

The societies called bands, consist of a few individuals met together in the name of Jesus, amongst whom Jesus is; who converse together in a particularly cordial and childlike manner, on the whole state of their hearts, and conceal nothing from each other, but who have wholly committed themselves to each other's care in the Lord. Cordiality, secrecy, and daily [fellowship] is of great service to such individuals, and ought never to be neglected; but whenever slothfulness creeps in, the individuals ought to feel ashamed of it and amend. [3]

In each of [these bands], a brother or a sister, according to their sex, was commissioned to take particular charge of the rest. When they met, they either read something of an edifying nature, sang, and prayed, or else conversed together…. [4]

Zinzendorf also looked upon these bands as a way of assisting the brothers and sisters in the exercise of the gifts, or abilities, that the Lord had given them.

Thus there was not a single individual to whom an opportunity was not afforded of usefully availing himself, both of the gifts and grace which the Lord had imparted to others, as also of being useful to others by the gift and grace vouchsafed to himself. [5]

Later, these groups became the seed for service, particularly as missionaries.

3. Meetings

The church in Herrnhut had various meetings. Zinzendorf prized a personal time with the Lord, but he was equally concerned for the coming together of the saints. He believed, according to the Scriptures, that each one should not be satisfied merely with his private praying, reading, singing, and speaking, but that his gift from God should be exercised to build up the church.

The whole congregation met at least three times daily. They began at four a.m. (five o’clock in the winter). They also met at eight in the morning and evening to pray and praise the Lamb and to read the Scriptures. Special meetings were held for children and for the aged and sick. The days ended as they began, with singing.

On the Lord’s Day, praises could be heard from five in the morning until nine at night, when the young men would end the day with singing as they marched around the settlement. They also met to have the Lord’s Table and occasionally practiced foot-washing.

As people began to hear of the songs, prayers, testimonies, and ministry in Herrnhut, they were attracted to visit. Zinzendorf set apart the Lord’s Day afternoon for visitors to meet with the community. Then those in Herrnhut could explain what the Lord had been doing in their midst. Many who were seeking the truth visited, not satisfied with others’ reports, and took the exhortation, “Come and see.”

The most important part of the church life was the singing:

Hymns and music were poured out and sung on every possible occasion, on land and sea, throughout the far stretches of the Moravian enterprise. No opportunity for singing was lost. Even the harvesters had their own hymns and the night watchmen sang on their rounds….

Verses were often composed on the spot to celebrate the return of a ‘pilgrim’ or the reception of a letter from the mission field. In particular, Zinzendorf loved the famous Singstunde or song-service which he himself had founded in Herrnhut. Many complete hymns were sung at such a service, and single stanzas were then chosen to continue a spontaneous theme as the evening advanced. Hymn-singing from memory was cultivated because only in this way, Zinzendorf argued, could the verses most effectively express the individual’s experience. [6]

The love feast, a practice of the early churches, was revived in Herrnhut. One Lord’s Day, while returning from Berthelsdorf after the Lord’s Table, the congregation spontaneously formed seven different groups. Upon reaching Herrnhut, Zinzendorf sent something from his kitchen to each group, so that they might continue in fellowship without disturbance. The love feasts were then repeated frequently. Their purpose was not merely eating and drinking. Rather, the brothers and sisters gratefully recalled what they had received from the Lord. Some renewed their consecration to the Lord.

A meeting that the Count particularly enjoyed was with a number of persons who professed their attachment to the Lord. He became thoroughly acquainted with these saints and with the state of their hearts before permitting them to attend. Zinzendorf’s intention was that they should all appear before God in oneness of heart and spirit with praise, thanksgiving, and prayer. When they would meet together in one mind, the Lord gave them to taste and see His goodness. Others were thereby encouraged to greater zeal and earnestness.

A memorable prayer meeting started on August 27, 1727. This prayer meeting went on continuously for 100 years. It was held twenty-four hours a day until 1827, the year of the beginnings of the Plymouth Brethren in England. At the start, twenty-four brothers and sisters bound themselves to continue in an unceasing chain of prayer, from one midnight to the next. Each devoted one hour in the day or night to fellowship with the Lord and to intercede for the church and the community. As the number of participants increased, their intercession included all the churches of the Brethren with their bands, individuals, missionaries, the land in which they dwelt, the magistrates and teachers, and the human race in general. Thus, silence was kept neither day nor night before the Lord.

They also had “prayer days” or “congregation days” when they gathered to hear correspondence from brothers and sisters throughout the world bearing news of the itinerant messengers and missionaries at home and abroad. There was no narrow parochialism at Herrnhut.

There was, of course, the occasional meeting when someone among them died. These, however, were not sad and mournful occasions. Instead, they joined together in hymns of triumph.

4. The Daily Watchword

Another part of their daily life was “the daily watchword.” Initially this was drawn up by Zinzendorf himself. There was one watchword for each day, beginning on May 3, 1728, where the verse read:

H. The Diaspora

The Diaspora, i.e., the dispersion of Moravian believers, was mainly composed of those who went out from Herrnhut, two by two, to travel throughout Europe seeking like-minded Christians, believers with a hunger for the Lord and a desire for the oneness of the Lord's people. They cultivated friendship among other children of God. Zinzendorf felt that wherever the Moravians went, they should come together for meetings open to all believers. These were to be informal gatherings having simplicity, warmth, and the open sharing of the joy and fellowship in the Lamb. The odium theologicum, a theology that produced animosity and hatred, was not to be allowed. Often this theology became a prime cause of division. “The people,” said Zinzendorf, “should only sing, pray and talk with one another. What goes beyond the discussion of Christian experience is offensive.” [8]

I. Zinzendorf as a Speaker

Zinzendorf had an extraordinary gift for speaking. Although he spoke with little preparation for any given message, it was his strong conviction that one who preaches must be exclusively occupied with the things of God. This results in a heart in a continual state of abundance from which the mouth may speak. Concerning his preaching Zinzendorf wrote:

…as soon as I begin to speak,…I feel the coals from the altar. I am sensitive to the varying moods of my hearers. They often shed tears, which is the case even with the soldiers among them. [9]

J. Zinzendorf as a Shepherd

Motivated by a consuming love for his Redeemer, Zinzendorf considered it his greatest privilege to serve the church bought with the blood of Christ. He gave particular care to those counted least in the eyes of the world – the weak, the simple, and those of little apparent gift.

He spent long days in conferences with the elders and other church officers. With these colleagues he reviewed the spiritual life of many individuals. Those who showed signs of weakness were paired off with others who appeared stronger. [10]

Zinzendorf was at the peak of his influence during the final years allotted to him. Always kindly, he was even more so. His genius with children grew, as did his genius for heart to heart talks with individuals. [11]

He also counseled those bothered by temptation. In his childhood, Zinzendorf had been severely attacked by temptations, which drove him to pray earnestly to God. He rejected the thoughts of temptation in disgust because of his love for the Savior. This experience became valuable in helping others with similar problems. The best defense against temptation, he advised, is to love the Lord Jesus with all one's heart, to trust in the Word of God, and to hide in Christ.

Zinzendorf’s shepherding included care for the sick. When exercising this type of care, his first step was to inquire concerning the cause of the sickness. His intent was not merely to determine the physical source of the problem, but to discover the Lord’s intention in allowing the sickness. Zinzendorf knew the heavenly Father was watching over all of His children – the very hairs of their heads are numbered; none becomes ill unless He allows it. The Count believed that when the sick one discerned the reason for the Lord’s chastisement and heartily acknowledged it, he was on his way to recovery, unless he had sinned in such a way that the Lord would rather remove him than leave him on earth in his state. However, if the illness appeared to stem from natural causes alone, Zinzendorf felt that personal care for the individual was at least as important as medicine, and therefore encouraged the brothers and sisters to care for the believers in their sicknesses.

The effectiveness of Zinzendorf’s shepherding is illustrated in the following account given by Spangenberg:

Hans Münster,...in the confusion of his mind, was about to leave Herrnhut…. This man was one of the brethren who had come from Moravia to Herrnhut, where the Lord had showed him much favour, and he was esteemed and loved by the brethren. But in consequence of [harboring] hostility towards a brother, he lost his confidence in the Saviour, his love for the members of the church, and became gloomy and melancholy. In this state, he spent a considerable time, without attending the meetings, or unbosoming himself to anyone; until, at length, he resolved within himself, secretly to retire from Herrnhut, and return to Moravia. When the evening arrived in which he was to carry his resolution into effect, the Count was all at once inwardly reminded of this man in a particular manner. He immediately rose up, and went to him. On entering the door – it was about ten o’clock in the evening – Münster was just going out. The Count kindly inquired how matters went with him? The reply was, “Not well.” “I am sorry to hear that,” answered the Count; and then spoke in such a heartfelt manner to him, that he was deeply affected, and shed many tears; and thus the Count left him. The day following, Münster came, disclosed his whole state to him, and informed him, that the evening before, he was just on the point of setting out, at the very moment when the Count came to him. The latter then told him how he had borne him upon his heart for three-quarters of a year together, but did not feel at liberty to speak with him, until incited to it in a particular manner the day before. Münster was, at length, scarcely able to utter a word for tears, and the Count invited him to partake of the [Lord’s Table]. [12]

Zinzendorf forgave those who openly criticized him or the church in Herrnhut. Among those spreading such accusations were two men who, when the light shined on them and proved their suspicions to be only malicious lies, were filled with great anxiety in their consciences. One of these two wrote to the church in Herrnhut describing himself as a most wicked man and confessing the curse he felt upon himself because of maligning the Count. The other returned to Herrnhut to confess in person. However, the Count's kindest treatment of him and strongest assurances of forgiveness and love did not convince him that Zinzendorf actually forgave him. Nor could he forgive himself. Indeed, both men suffered for a long time because they were unable to expel the poison that they had injected into others. Their grief became a heavy affliction to Zinzendorf, who sincerely loved them.

K. Publications

Zinzendorf was also burdened for publishing. It would take several pages to insert only the titles of Zinzendorf’s publications, including tracts and periodical works for which he furnished the chief material although they do not bear his name. With the exception of a few smaller tracts in Latin, French, and English, the Count's published works were written in German. Some were elicited by controversies concerning the Moravian churches. However, the greater portion of Zinzendorf’s writings consists of sermons, essays, and hymns. In one of his tracts, entitled, “The Last Discourse of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ before His Death on the Cross,” Zinzendorf shared from John 14:14-17. In addition some catechisms were printed, and a weekly paper was published between 1725 and 1726.

It should not be assumed, though, that the writings of Zinzendorf became the standard of the Moravians. Spangenberg says, “The Brethren’s congregations do not take the writings of the Count, or of any man, as their standard of doctrine; the Bible alone is their standard of truth.” [13]

The Ebersdorf Bible was published with the object of providing to the poor – through the subsidies of Zinzendorf's grandmother - a Bible at a cheaper rate than had previously been available. It was essentially Luther’s translation and included marginal references, summaries of the chapters, and Luther’s prefaces to the Old and New Testaments and to the Epistle to the Romans. Informatorium biblicum, taken from the notes of Johann Arndt, was added to the Ebersdorf Bible as were Zinzendorf’s summaries to some of the books of the Old Testament and to all those of the New. These summaries were more copious than usual. In them the Count expressed the meaning of the text in a clear and living manner.

Also published was Arndt’s book, True Christianity. It had been banned in France, but Zinzendorf commissioned a translation into French. The Count had great esteem for that work and hoped it might do good in France. In this French edition, the objectionable passages which had caused it to be banned were omitted. Those were mainly references to the Roman Catholic Church. He considered it better to have an abridged version in French than to have none at all.