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IX. Zinzendorf’s Last Years
On his return trip to Europe, he encountered a very serious storm. The captain and the crew of the ship were afraid for their lives. Even and Zinzendorf’s cheerfulness and words of comfort did not allay their fears. He informed the captain that the storm would end in two hours. At the appointed time he asked the captain to go up on the deck. The storm subsided within minutes. The captain gave this account of what followed:
I went down into the cabin, and informed [the Count] that the storm was over, and that we were now out of danger. He then requested us to return thanks with him to God, who had delivered us, which we accordingly did.
Being very desirous of knowing how the Count could possibly determine the precise time when the storm would subside, I questioned him about it. He said, in reply, that he would plainly tell me how it was, being persuaded that I would not make any bad use of it.
“I have now for upwards of twenty years,” said he, “enjoyed intimate and heartfelt [fellowship] with my dear Saviour. Therefore, whenever I am placed in a dangerous and critical situation, the first thing I do, is, to examine whether I am myself to blame for it. If I find anything with which He is not satisfied, I immediately fall at His feet, and ask forgiveness. My gracious Saviour then gives me to feel, that He has forgiven me, and generally lets me know how the matter will terminate. But if it does not please Him to do this, I remain passive, and think it is better that I should not know it. But this time, He let me know that the storm would be over in two hours.”
It was something new and strange to me to hear that God our Saviour should thus condescend to man, and become so confidential with him; for in my lifetime, I had always heard more of a great, angry, and jealous God, than of his incomprehensible love to man, and His condescension to such poor creatures as we are. However, I believed what he told me, and had no doubt in my own mind of the truth of it: for I had seen and heard so much of him on this voyage with him, that it was clear to me, in my heart, that he was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. [1]
A. Stay in England
Zinzendorf lived in England from 1749 to 1755. There the brothers and sisters referred to him as “the disciple,” as he wanted to be called. At that time there were twenty thousand meeting together throughout England. After arriving, Zinzendorf visited the Fetter Lane Society in London. Wesley had been there several years earlier and gave this description of a meeting he attended:
I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. [2]
This stay in England, however, was not an easy time for Zinzendorf. Rather, he underwent many inward dealings. This time is often described as a sifting period. During this period the Moravians went to extremes in expressing their appreciation of the sufferings of Christ and their oneness with His sufferings.
B. Financial Difficulties
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Nothing was more gratifying to him than to do anyone a kindness.
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It was also a time when Zinzendorf had serious financial difficulties. Until this time Zinzendorf had given generously of his income without holding back, so that at times he did not have money for his own needs. This attitude toward money began early in his life:
Nothing was more gratifying to him than to do anyone a kindness. The money which was given him for the first time, in his sixth year, – perhaps by way of putting him to the test, – he gave to the first person who came in his way. This peculiar fondness of doing good to others continued with him all his life, and it pained him deeply if unable to help others in their necessities. Nothing was of value to him, when he thought another needed it more than himself; and when he did good to anyone, it was done in such a pleasing manner, as to render it still more welcome and agreeable…. Far from being expensive with reference to himself, he felt impelled to restrict himself, in order to give the more bountifully to others. In short, from his very childhood, his soul was full of love and compassion towards everyone, however mean…. [3]
Because of the needs of the brothers and sisters, the churches in Europe, and the work throughout the world, Zinzendorf had taken out loans in Holland and England. He had come to the verge of bankruptcy and was about to be put into debtor’s prison when some of the brothers stepped in and arranged in a proper way the financial matters of the church. From that time on, they felt a need to separate Zinzendorf’s possessions from the rest of the church. This proved to be a wise step, and it solved the problems at that time.
C. Opposition from Wesley and Whitefield
John Wesley eventually broke his ties with the brothers, calling them heretics and deceivers. It is difficult to realize how he could come to this point after appreciating and receiving help from them. How it must have torn Zinzendorf inwardly. Wesley had picked up some of the extreme statements that the Moravians had made, for which they later repented. Their words just indicated how much they loved the Lord and how much they wanted to be one with Him. Nevertheless, Wesley “called attention to their recent extravagant emphasis upon Christ’s side wound, and urged all who had been fooled into joining the Brethren to desert them.” [4]
Later, Whitefield also opposed the brothers. He had sought help from some of the Moravians to build an orphanage in America. They willingly came and assisted him, but later he turned away from them as Wesley had done.
Whitefield, who remained a longer time on terms of friendship [than Wesley did], and even requested the brethren to aid him in his Orphan-house in Georgia,…likewise gradually drew back from the brethren, and at last published a letter full of grievous charges against the Count, at a time when all were against them.
Lord Granville, the President of His Britannic Majesty’s Privy Council, sent word to the Count, who was then residing at Lindsey House, in the neighbourhood of London, “That he would do well to bring an action against Whitefield, who was punishable according to English laws.” But the Count, in a letter to Lord Granville, declared, “That he could not resolve upon doing so; for if he had been disposed to act thus with some of his opponents, who barefacedly publish to the world whatever comes into their mind, he might have ruined many. But he was a servant of Jesus Christ, who looked at the example of his Master; and hence had no wish to avert, by the aid of the magistracy [or courts of law], the sufferings which might be impending over him. Mr. Whitefield was a man who was still listened to with benefit by many; and, on this account, he would not even write anything that might destroy his reputation.” [5]
D. Organization by the Moravians
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Zinzendorf had been against such organizing, but by the time he arrived back from America, it was too late.
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While Zinzendorf was away, the Moravians officially adopted the name, the Unity of the Brethren. They also organized something separate from other religious groups. Zinzendorf had been against such organizing, but by the time he arrived back from America, it was too late. They had already made these changes in his absence.
E. Death of Zinzendorf’s Son
Another disappointment and trial to Zinzendorf was the death of his son in 1752. (Ten years earlier his four-year-old son David and his five-year-old daughter Salome had died.) Christian Renatus, as he was called, died at the age of twenty-four from tuberculosis. In his brief lifetime he had written several hymns. Two of these were entitled “My Redeemer, Overwhelmed with Anguish, Went to Olivet for Me” and “'Tis the Most Blest and Needful Part to Have in Christ a Share.” Zinzendorf had hoped that Christian would be his successor with the Moravians.
The count’s relationship with Christ, as we have seen consistently, was such as to enable him to accept death as wholeheartedly as life. A few weeks after his loss he told his colleagues of the covenant he had long since made with the Saviour concerning his children – “from the moment of their birth never to regard them as his own, but to resign them wholly to the Saviour as His property.” Yet his grief was profound. In a letter to the congregations he said: “I do not understand it…. He Himself will make it clear to all hearts.” Revealing are Spangenberg’s observations:
I cannot describe how his father felt, who was at Mile End, when the news was brought to him; but I can say this much, that when he afterward reflected what his son had been to him (and this was often the case), his eyes overflowed with grief and thankfulness: but his tears flowed still more freely, on looking over his son’s papers, when he found what he had noted down of his daily [fellowship] with the Saviour. He saw from this, how filially, fervently and tenderly, he had loved the Saviour, and how intimate had been the [fellowship] he maintained with Him. Innumerable tears were shed for the departed Christian Renatus, not only by his father, but by other members of the church; for he was generally much beloved. [6]
F. Banishment Revoked
The king had visited Herrnhut a few years earlier. At that time he withdrew some of the ban that had been placed on Zinzendorf and Herrnhut. Weinlick described it this way:
Vindication in Saxony came at last. Herrnhut’s thriving industry, fertile fields, and orderly community life – the fruits of a practical piety – were testimony too eloquent to be ignored. With other heads of state, notably Frederick of Prussia, wooing the Brethren, the authorities in Dresden began to reappraise the banished count. [7]
Finally the ban was revoked, and Zinzendorf was free to return home. This he did in 1755.
G. Visits to the Diaspora
In 1755 and the following years, he also had the burden to continue visiting the brothers and sisters who were scattered abroad. He considered these visits his chief work. Even before his journey to America, Zinzendorf made this public statement concerning his purpose:
I have been commissioned by the Lord God to spread the word of Jesus’ blood and death, without concern as to what happens to me as a result. This has been my calling even before I knew of the Moravian Brethren. I have been, and still am, associated with the Moravian Brethren, who have taken our gospel of Jesus Christ into their hearts and called me and other Brethren to serve their fellowship. [8]
Twenty years after the settlement at Herrnhut, due to his labors abroad, there were seven other similar settlements as well as various missions. Four of these settlements were in Germany, one in Holland, another in Denmark, and another in America. Russia was closed to the spread of the church life. In the Baltic region, however, those of the diaspora numbered 7,000 – about one third of all the Moravians at that time.
H. Death of Zinzendorf's Wife
In 1756 Zinzendorf’s wife died at the age of 56 years. Spangenberg gave this description of what happened:
On the 19th of June, the Count’s beloved consort, who had attended the first sessions of the synod, finished her praiseworthy course, and fell asleep, without any particular or painful illness. Not only the church in Herrnhut, but also all that were present, participated in this event so deeply, that there was scarcely an individual whose eyes were not filled with tears. But no one was so much affected as the Count himself; for he best knew what an helpmate she had been to him for the last thirty-four years: yet however deeply he felt her loss, he was obliged to comfort others. He could not object to the many tears which were shed from heartfelt affection, deserved esteem, and dutiful gratitude; since our Lord Jesus Christ had wept at the grave of Lazarus, and those who saw Him weep inferred from it, that He must have loved him much. He reminded them, however, that the Saviour, who certainly took into due consideration what was useful and necessary for His church, had Himself made this breach, and taken her to Himself. [9]
Zinzendorf shed many tears and felt some degree of remorse over her death.
The Count now reflected, how he might best profit by the cirumstances in which God had placed him by calling away his consort. He set apart a certain time to survey, in the presence of the Saviour, the thirty-four years which he had spent in the marriage-state. The Divine favor which he had experienced during this period caused him deep abasement. But he was still more grieved by the faults which he detected in himself: for although he felt conscious of having lived in the marriage-state with all fidelity, yet he was not, on that account, satisfied with himself, because he thought he had not attained to many things, which might reasonably be expected from one who conforms himself in this state of life to the mind of Christ. He lamented over this with many tears, in the presence of the Saviour, and requested His full forgiveness. [10]
I. Zinzendorf’s Death
Zinzendorf himself died in 1760, four years after his wife. He died at the age of 60. Due to the strain of constant travel, he was ill for many months before he finally died. Even while he was ill, however, he was always active. From his death-bed he spoke to those who were gathered around him.
“Could you have thought it,” said he to one of the company, “that the prayer of Christ, ‘that they all may be one,’ would be so blissfully fulfilled amongst us?” Whilst speaking on this subject, the greatest kindness and love shone in his countenance. [11]
He also reflected on what the Lord had done through the Moravians.
He turned to David Nitschmann and said: “Did you suppose, in the beginning, that the Saviour would do as much as we now really see, in the various Moravian settlements, amongst the children of God of other Denominations, and amongst the heathen? I only entreated of Him a few of the firstfruits of the latter, but there are now thousands of them. Nitschmann, what a formidable caravan from our Church already stands around the Lamb!” Very early on the morning of 9 May he whispered to John de Watteville: “Now, my dear son, I am going to the Saviour. I am ready. If He is no longer willing to use me here, I am quite ready to go to Him.” [12]
“No one departs before the Lord wills it, and when the loss can be endured. I shall also depart – and there will be improvement.…” [13]
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