Ordination of Torger Andreas Torgerson and Tobias Larsen

Norway Grove Lutheran Church, DeForest, Dane County, Wisconsin

July 23, 1865

"Take heed unto yourself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself and them that hear you." 1 Timothy 4:16.

YOU DESIRE A GOOD WORK

The apostle Paul says to Timothy "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work" (1Ti. 3:1). With these words Paul wants to strengthen this servant of Christ in proper love for the ministry and its serious work which he was called to carry out. And to you, dear brothers, who have first been examined in accordance with the apostle's command in 1 Timothy 3:10 and who have accepted calls from congregations of God, to you who now present yourselves here today in order to be ordained to this office of a bishop according to apostolic and ancient church custom through the Word and prayer during the laying on of hands, to you I say with the apostle, "You desire a good work." Because this office which you desire is not established by men but is instituted by the Lord God himself. Nor is it instituted for the preservation of order and peace on earth or for the gaining of temporal profit and earthly success, but in order to bring to people the peace which surpasses all understanding, peace with God and their own conscience in order to give them the eternal gifts: forgiveness of sins, righteousness, eternal life and salvation which Christ has earned for all the world with his blood and glory with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and with all the elect in the kingdom of heaven for all eternity.

O, what an important and glorious ministry whose work is to make lost but redeemed souls partakers in the salvation of Christ so that they can be saved for ever! Therefore it is not with earthly means either that the work of this ministry is to be done, not with carnal weapons that its battles are to be fought. Our ministry is a spiritual one. Therefore the weapons must be spiritual, that is, the Word of God which is the Sword of the Spirit. Thus the Confessions of our church also say:

To obtain such faith God instituted the office of the ministry, that is, provided the Gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as means, he gives the Holy Spirit, who works faith, when and where he pleases, in those who hear the Gospel. (Augsburg Confession, V.)

You are called to this "Holy Ministry of the Word"! You are being ordained to it today! What grace on his part who gave you a desire for so glorious a work, who made you capable of it and who led you to desire the office of a bishop! Him would we thank, both you men and we, for his great mercy, that he thinks of us in grace and frequently sends laborers into his great harvest among us.

O, dear friends, if we could rightly grasp the need in the congregations in which these brethren shall now be placed as pastors and overseers, if we could also see the great indifference which unfortunately has gripped the masses, also truly realize the feeling of want which is felt by the pious, the longing for a pastor who can gather the scattered people and feed the hungry with the bread of life, if we could gather up the sighs which rose to the Chief Shepherd from such starving souls in the course of years -- oh, yes, dear congregation, then you also would thank God, who for a number of years has allowed you to enjoy the blessing of the ministry of the Word. Then you would thank the Lord with us, who now also has heard those people's sighs and through these his messengers will come to them with good news to comfort the afflicted and to save the lost. Then with us you would ask the Lord in prayer to strengthen these his servants and to allow their work to prosper for the salvation of the congregations!

But if we are going to be able to hope that of God's grace, then we have to take the apostle's admonition to us in our text to heart and follow it, which we will consider more closely for our mutual edification.

Surely the higher a servant of the Word is placed, since the Lord has placed him as a shepherd and overseer to guard, feed and defend the flock entrusted to him, made him to be a servant of everyone, surely the more important his work and the greater his responsibility is for the souls entrusted to him, the more important it is that according to the apostle's admonition he take heed a) to himself, and b) to the doctrine, and c) continue in them.

A.

As servants of the Word we are to lead the impenitent to a thorough knowledge of sin through the Law, guide believers to an ever deeper and more earnest sorrow over sin and abhorrence of it, and to see all of the heart's deep and total corruption, as well as warn against all kinds of sins in thoughts, word and deed. If we are going to be able to do this with the proper earnestness and seriousness as well as with meekness, if we are to be faithful to the truth in love also in this, then it is important that we take heed to ourselves.

Daily must we examine the state of our own heart before the face of God, whether we are remaining in and are growing in a humble acknowledgement of our sins, in sincere sorrow over them and in hatred and abhorrence of them, whether we are watching ourselves for every kind of sin especially those to which we might be especially exposed because of our temperament, inclination and station in life.

And if we find something of the old Adam's nature here and there, then we must take heed to ourselves so that we do not look the other way and excuse our own errors and sins, but that we denounce them sharply and condemn them in ourselves so that we should not be condemned with the world. Surely the more we acknowledge our own sins and our own soul's need the more we shall be able to understand the imperfections and hurt of others and have compassion upon everyone. And the more sharply we judge ourselves, shall we not be able to chastise others with greater candor, but at the same time shall we not be able to show greater gentleness and patience toward the weak?

The chief work of the preaching ministry is to work faith through the proclamation of the sweet, saving Gospel to anxious sinners so that through it they can have comfort, peace and salvation. This is an art which the servant of the Word can only learn in the school of the Holy Ghost. Therefore we are able to take heed to ourselves whether we are in this school, whether we are in the faith and are making progress in it. We are to examine ourselves whether we seek our only comfort in our anguish and distress over sin in a full forgiveness of sins as we appropriate to ourselves through faith the grace which God gives us in his Word in Christ Jesus; whether we daily go for courage as well as strength for our work in looking only to him who has placed us in it and who has promised the faithful servant blessing and fruit from the work in his own time; whether we lift up our eyes confidently to him in sickness, poverty and want without whose will a sparrow does not fall to the ground, who "feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field" (Mt. 6:25ff.). And as he has said that "the laborer is worthy of his hire" (Lk. 10:7), but has also added: "having food and raiment, let us therewith be content" (1 Ti. 6:8), whether we patiently resign ourselves to our heavenly Father's will in scorn and derision and other crosses, convinced that the fact that he who has loved us unto death in Christ only intends to purify us as gold in the fire through such tribulation, and both will and can carry it all out gloriously -- if in such faith we confidently wait for the glorious end he will make and in the meantime rejoice in the blessed hope of life which he has given us, and through the grace and glory that we are found worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus.

Because the pastor who in that way, in all things, builds his faith on God's grace in Christ "shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season; and whatsoever he does shall prosper" (Ps. 1:3). His heart shall be like an open fountain of water from which streams of living water shall daily pour out for the sheltering and refreshing of the weary and thirsty in Israel.

Then he is going to be able to speak from experience when he directs poor, troubled sinners to Jesus Christ, and because he has tasted how good God is he can lure anxious and frightened souls to the fountain of comfort which the Father has opened and allowed to flow for us from the Son's bloody wounds, with the warmth and power of conviction. The sick, the fearful, the afflicted, the powerless, he can comfort and strengthen them all with the word of life since he says with the apostle, "I believe, therefore I speak." (2 Co. 4:13.)

A servant of the Lord is to be an example to the flock. His conduct is to guide, enlighten and strengthen the congregation. It is to be a testimony throughout of the power of the Word and of faith to comfort, to make alive and to sanctify a person who is in himself a weak and lost sinner. Therefore the apostle says, "Take heed unto yourself!"

Thus we should therefore examine our conduct carefully, the private in the home, the public in and outside the congregation. We should see to it that we "rule our own house well and have obedient children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man does not know how to rule his own house," says the apostle, "how shall he take care of the church of God?" (1 Ti. 3:4.5,) And again he says, "If any provide not for his own, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Ti. 5:8.) A servant of the Lord ought to see to it that he is temperate, moderate and hospitable, so that the person who is suffering distress and is in need knows that he never seeks counsel, comfort and help from his pastor in vain. He must see to it that his conduct throughout is honorable and blameless so that he can have a good testimony even of them who are without, so that he does not give the weak any offence, but even in such things where Christian liberty is given him he does not misuse it lest he should give offence to the weak. But above all, a servant of the Lord is to take heed daily to his being faithful in the work of his calling so that he is not negligent but dilgently preaches the Word and keeps on doing it in season and out of season, "reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine" (2 Ti. 4:2), because "cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully." (Je. 48:10.)

With similar faithfulness must he interest himself in all his congregation's members. He must be no respecter of persons. "I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality." (1 Ti. 5:21.) Yes of course the weaker a member is the more does love compel the faithful pastor to set such a person right, just as the shepherd leaves his ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness in order to seek after the one who is lost. He must visit the sick diligently and comfort the grieving. Those who have been led astray he has to convince with a spirit of meekness, and those who oppose him he must be able and ready to instruct in [order that] God would give them conversion to the acknowledging of the truth. Those who are of good will he is to encourage and strengthen. Those of ill will he is to chastise candidly and make them ashamed. And he is not timidly to get out of the way of the stubborn and defiant but boldly refute their arrogance in his Lord's name. He is also to take a loving and diligent interest in the lambs, the children in the congregation, so that nourished with the sincere milk of the Word they can grow soundly into the maturity of adults in the fulness of Christ.

But of course the more difficult and the more important all this work is, the more is a servant of the Word to take heed that he unceasingly applies all diligence and care so that day by day he can become more capable of doing it. Therefore the apostle also says, "Give attendance to reading." (1 Ti. 4:13.) And he must do that above all through the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the Book of books, the fountain of revelation, and next, from the Confessions of the church, from the good writings of the fathers and others through which he can be led into the treasure chambers of the Holy Scriptures, become familiar with its precious treasures and learn to draw from them old things and new for every situation which he faces. He is to study diligently and with earnest prayer prepare himself very carefully for every time he is to step forward and speak to the congregation in the name of God. Woe unto him if he takes his work lightly and thinks it a small matter for him to talk for an hour to a group of people who are but little enlightened, or if he cries: "Spirit, Spirit!" in the manner of the enthusiasts. He is to bear in mind that he is standing before the face of God, an ambassador in Christ's stead, to "preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at liberty them that are bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, to comfort all who mourn." (Lk. 4:18.19.) Cursed be he if he goes to such work indifferently, if he takes God's Word into his mouth thoughtlessly!

B.

The apostle says next in our text, "Take heed unto the doctrine." All our taking heed unto ourselves will be of no benefit if we do not take heed unto the doctrine, as we hear. All our ability, all our diligence, ardor and zeal, our earnestness and blamelessness, will all be in vain if the doctrine which we bring is not correct and is not properly applied. Because no ability or zeal, just as little as any holiness, can save people. But the Word of God "is the power unto salvation" (Ro. 1:16.) It is the "seed that gives life," the Word of God which wounds but which also heals. It humbles and exalts. It crushes to pieces and it binds together. It kills and makes alive.

Therefore, let us take heed unto the doctrine so that we hold fast to the sound doctrine according to the instruction so that we can be mighty both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers with sound doctrine. "Hold fast," the apostle says, "the form of sound words, which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Ti. 1:13.) Add nothing to, take nothing from and put nothing in place of the Word of God, so that you can say with Paul, "You know how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ac. 20: 20.21.) Therefore the same apostle also says in warning, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed!" (Ga. 1:8) and again, "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof come envy, strife, railings, evil surmising, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself!" (1 Ti. 6:3-5.)

And you are to preach not just individual portions of God's Word in their truth and purity, but all of God's Word, Law as well as Gospel; the Law in all its majesty and crushing power as the holy, almighty God has given it when he says, "Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of of the law to do them!" (De. 27:26; Ga. 3:10) and again, "whoever shall offend in one point, he is guilty of all," (Ja. 2:10.)

But you are also to proclaim the Gospel in its truth and purity, free and unconditioned, sweet and pleasant as God has given it to us. Woe to the blind guides who out of ignorance or from pride, since they rely upon their own works, set up all kinds of conditions and restrictions around the Gospel of God and build a fence around Golgotha just as there was around Sinai. They forbid other people access to the kingdom of heaven and do not want to enter it themselves. They make the Gospel into a Law and instead of luring the anxious and frightened sinner to faith, to the freedom and salvation of children of God in Christ Jesus by holding before him the undeserved and unending love of God in Christ Jesus which he has earned for everyone and which he wants to give everyone so that everyone can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, they place a new burden upon him which he can as little bear as the former. Therefore, let us above all apply ourselves so that we proclaim the pure and unabridged Gospel of Christ. It justifies. It gives life. It saves. It also makes holy and pious people, and nothing but the Gospel of Christ does such a thing.

But take heed to the doctrine also so that you parcel it out properly, that is, rightly dividing Law and Gospel! We are not to quench the smoking flax, not crush the broken reed, but neither are we to cast pearls before swine or the Lord's holiness before dogs. We are to preach the Law to the unrepentant so that hard hearts can be crushed, but the Gospel to grieving hearts so that they can come to saving faith and to life in God. We are to proclaim the Law to them only for the daily dying of the old Adam and as a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.

Furthermore, take heed unto the doctrine so that everything which you preach is the Word of God, so that you speak nothing at all except the Word of God, the truth unto salvation. You are to keep yourself not merely from errors and clever fables, from the sophistry of human opinions, from all talk which scratches the ear which itches, but you are also to keep all worldly wisdom away from the pulpit however useful even it can be for this life. You are to preach the Word of God and it alone because only the Word of God can save souls, and that is why God has sent you, so that souls shall be saved through your preaching.

Take heed unto the doctrine so that you can use it to admonish as well as to comfort, to teach as well as to guide , to feed as well as to guard the flock entrusted to you.

Exactly what we should take out of God the Father's rich counsel chambers each time and in every instance has to depend upon the congregation as well as the individual's need, and of course the stronger the influence is which the spirit of the times has on the individual and the congregation on the whole, and the more must we take heed unto the doctrine so that with it we can judge, resist, and ward off the spirit of the times with all its false tendencies and ruinous, destructive effects.

C.

Thus, dear brethren, I have briefly sought to show how we should take heed unto ourselves and to the doctrine. But we should not merely do it once, but as the apostle says, continue in them. Day by day all the days of our lives we should take heed unto ourselves and to the doctrine. What good does it do us if we began in the Spirit but ended in the flesh! How sad, when the warmth of the first love dies down and is finally extinguished completely, when that which was warm becomes cold or lukewarm, he who was diligent becomes lazy and negligent, the zealous indifferent, the living dead! Therefore let us continue to take heed unto ourselves and to the doctrine!

Do you ask who is capable of this, dear brother? Certainly "not that we are sufficient for it ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God; who also has made us able ministers of the new testament." (2 Co. 3:5.6.) "His strength is made perfect in our weakness." (2 Co. 12:9.) And, "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." (Ph. 4:13.) Therefore it will never be profitable either that we boast of ourselves, except as Paul did, of our weaknesses.

And even if these trouble us constantly and threaten to deprive us of all our strength, yet we are however comforted daily through the full forgiveness of sins and we rise from the cleansing and refreshing bath with renewed strength just like young eagles. And if besides the inner anxiety, we must suffer hardship as soldiers of Christ, if we must reap scorn and mockery as the reward of our work, if we get to see little or no fruit from it, still the promise the Lord gives us in our text today is comforting, for in doing this you shall both save yourself and them who hear you, what a wonderful reward of grace, dear brother! What work, what toil, what struggle, what privation and what sacrifice is worth mentioning alongside of such a reward of grace!

Thus may God grant then, that this comforting promise of the Lord may give also you, dear brethren, comfort, courage and strength during our toil and tribulation in the Office of the Ministry to which you are being ordained today!

Yes, should you not gladly perform the hardest work, bear the heaviest toil, fight the most perilous battle, suffer the most bitter privation, should you not be willing to make the biggest sacrifices, to consume yourself in such a ministry where the Lord himself says that the fruit of your work is going to be that "you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you"? Yes, of course!

May he who places you as his under-shepherds over the flock of God to feed it in the beautiful, rich pastures of the Word, may he grant you grace always to take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine and to continue in them, because when you do this you shall both save yourself and them that hear you! Grant it, O God, for the sake of Jesus Christ! Amen.

Evangelisk luthersk Kirketidende, Jan. 1866; pages 2-10.  

TORGER ANDREAS TORGERSON was born at Ness Jernverk in the Holt parish in the Kristiansand diocese in Norway, on January 26, 1838. He came to America in 1852. He graduated from the Missouri Synod's Concordia College in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1862, and was a Candidate of Theology from its Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1865. He was called in the same year to be pastor of the Silver Lake, Shell Rock and Lime Creek congregations in Iowa. At the time he lived farthest west of any Norwegian Synod pastor and had a large mission field. In 1903 seventeen (17) Synod pastors were working in the areas where he had worked for longer or shorter periods. For several years he was secretary of pastoral conferences, which the Synod's pastors held during the winter in Decorah, Iowa. He was secretary of the synod convention in Lisbon, Illinois in 1870, and served as secretary also at the synod's 25^th Jubilee convention in the Koshkonong church in Wisconsin in 1878. He was also secretary of the Iowa District from 1876 to 1889, when he was elected Vice President of the District, which position he held until 1894 when he succeeded to District President when U.V. Koren became Synod President after the death of H.A. Preus. He was reelected to this position in 1895 and 1901. In 1903 he was secretary of the Synod's Kirkeraad, its Council. In the 1881-1882 academic year he was visiting professor in Theology at the Synod's Luther Seminary in Madison, Wisconsin. He was buried in the Silver Lake Cemetery at Northwood on January 11, 1906. H.G. Stub preached on the words in 2 Timothy 4:5. I will include that sermon here since it is a rare example, if not the only example I have found, of our having now the sermons preached both at the ordination and burial of any of these pioneer Norwegian Synod pastors.

TOBIAS LARSEN was born in Kvinesdal in the Kristiansand diocese in Norway on December 23,1829. He studied for 2 years in Kristiania (Oslo), emigrated to America in 1851, and studied for one and a half years at the Platteville Academy in Grant County, Wisconsin. He was a Candidate of Theology from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1865. In that same year he became pastor of Greenfield (later called Harmony) church in Fillmore County, Minnesota. He also served for a time Richland, Union Prairie and Bloomfield congregations in the same county. In 1887 he became director of the Indian Mission in Wittenberg, Wisconsin. In 1893 he moved to the Parkland congregation in Pierce County, Washington, where he assisted Pastor Bjug A. Harstad both in the service of the congregation and with the work at Pacific Lutheran Academy. Tobias Larsen died on April 27, 1903.

Pastor Torger Andreas Torgerson Burial

Silver Lake Cemetery, Northwood, Iowa . January 11, 1906

Lord Jesus, to whom shall we go except to You? "You have the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." To You do we turn in this sad hour with the heartfelt prayer that with Your Word of eternal life You Yourself may meet the sorrowing family, the congregations, the entire synod, thus struck, sorrowing and bereaved, and that You may be seen in the light of Your Word and be borne and sanctified in the power of Your Word. Yes, grant that the underlying spirit in our hearts in the midst of sorrow might be thanksgiving, a deep-felt thanks for the great gift You gave the family, the congregations, the synod, in the long ministry of this godly, faithful servant, a deep-felt thanks because when the gift had served the purpose for which You gave it, You Yourself immediately took it to Yourself in Your heaven, as we so confidently hope. May there arise from the life and death of this man who now sleeps, in the light of the Word, a mighty drawing forward and upward! In Jesus' name! Amen.

I had only intended to attend this service to show my deep sympathy with those who are sorrowing, and my high regard for this dear man whom I had known for over thirty years and with whom I had shared not so little of our synod's work and strife, joys and sorrows, but when I was called upon to deliver the funeral sermon over him, and I paged through my Bible to find a word which could particularly lend itself as a text at his burial, I paused at these words of the apostle Paul in the Second Epistle to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 5: "But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." These words are perhaps most appropriate as a text for an ordination sermon. As in a mirror, they hold before the man who is about to enter the most difficult and the most responsible work how he ought to be and what he ought to do so that this work on earth can be crowned with blessing and he himself someday be crowned with the crown of life. Whether these words were the text of the ordination address for this dear man, I don't know, but I do know for sure that the same truths which this text contains were brought near his heart then.

Forty-one years have passed since his ordination day on the Call from these very same congregations in whose bosom he shall now be laid to rest in the grave and over whom a funeral address shall be delivered.

And consider then whether the same things which were held forth to him on the threshold of his life's work as the great model, now dare stand as his posthumous reputation through God's wonderful grace and fatherly guidance! Consider whether the various traits of a servant of God and Christ on earth which just these words reflect, are now to be found again in the dear departed, so that his funeral address truly dares point to his life and the carrying out of his life's work as a realization of the great model of his ordination address, albeit not perfect, yet however more perfect than in so many others of whom we however must believe that they lived and died as Christians.

"But you be watchful in all things!" The first trait mentioned here which ought to make its appearance in a servant of Christ is then: watchfulness in all things. That same thought, often in the same words, runs like a red thread through the speeches of Christ and the apostles. Let us just think of the words: "And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things." 1 Co. 9:26.

What does watchfulness in all things mean? Is it just temperance in food, in drink, in clothes, in managing a home, in the use of money? Certainly all that is an essential part of the watchfulness. But we have to go deeper.

To watchfulness in all things belongs moderation, one's manner in words, in speaking, in deeds, in one's attitude toward our fellowmen. To it belongs that one's words, one's speech is not boastful, not insolent, not arrogant, not disrespectful, but not an expression of despondency and despair either, and finally, that it is not foolish, to say nothing of indecent and filthy.

To it belongs that one's behavior over toward one's neighbor is borne by consideration over toward him so that a person does not want to hurt and offend him, does not want to overlook him or shove him aside, to say nothing of being harsh and unkind toward him.

To it belongs more than anything that in his thinking a person maintains the proper balance so that in his opinion of himself he is held within the proper bounds and in his emotions he maintains the proper balance so that he is not overwhelmed or carried away precipitously by any emotion.

This external and internal watchfulness again rests on the one hand in humility and on the other in a deep feeling of responsibility. It rests in humility because only the humble person truly will be able to maintain balance in his opinion of himself and his judgment of other people. Because he recognizes so deeply that everything he is and everything he has is an undeserved gift from God, he is then genuinely convinced that he has nothing to brag about and no reason to exalt himself at someone else's expense, but every call always to keep watch over his own ego.

It rests in a feeling of responsibility which simply makes the conscience tender. Because the thought of the responsibility, of the accountability for the gifts one has received, and for their use, as well as for his thoughts, his words, his behavior, cannot lead to anything else than watchfulness. Must not the thought that we are going to give account for every improper or unprofitable word we have spoken prompt us to watchfulness in word? Watchfulness in all things is to be found only in the truly humble, with the deep feeling of responsibility over toward God. And humility and a feeling of responsibility, again, are found only in the truly believing, in a child of God. But in everyone of whom we however may believe that they are children of God, watchfulness in all things is not equally strong, equally conspicuous. There are many degrees here.

When we ask now at this bier: Dare we not believe that the dear departed was a faithful Christian, a child of God? will not then everyone who knew him answer as with one voice: Of course we believe it! And that of course is the main thing: to live and to die as a Christian. And then we ask again: Did not this watchfulness in all things which again rests in humility and a feeling of responsibility appear in this man whom we so surely believe was a Christian, in a remarkable degree? I turn again to you who have known him through many years of living and working together in the home, in the congregation, with the question: Must you not give him the testimony in his grave that just this watchfulness in all things was a distinctive characteristic of him? One thing is for sure: No one who came in closer contact with him could escape the distinct impression that when he stood face to face with President Torgerson he was facing a man, and that, a man who had gained a great mastery over himself through self-discipline in the Spirit's school, a man who had learned to know his own limitations and therefore could be so watchful in his life, in his words and in his actions.

Who has heard reckless, unworthy, to say nothing of raw and obscene speech from President Torgerson's mouth? No, he always bore the mark of earnestness in his speaking and in his demeanor. There was a watchfulness about him which made it impossible for people in his presence to permit themselves anything unseemly.

This very watchfulness in all things was one of his strongest traits as a pastor and as a bishop. Just for that reason he was so eminently suited to be a president. Just for that reason people could look up to him with such confidence and trust him. It is surely a fact that many people wanted him as their father-confessor.

The admonition: "Be watchful in all things!" has been realized in President Torgerson's life and work in a remarkable degree.

"Endure afflictions!" That is a second trait which ought to appear in a servant of Jesus Christ, a servant of Christ is not to be dainty, not aspire to all kinds of comforts, not avoid exertion, fatigue, dangers, in brief, whatever is hard for flesh and blood. No, a servant of the Lord is to be ready to take temporal circumstances as they come, be willing to take and to bear with Christian patience whatever God might find useful to lay upon him. And to the general consequences of sin come now also some special ones for a servant of Christ, namely, that he is to be willing to suffer affliction for the truth's sake, for the Gospel's, for the sake of Christ. "Endure hardship as a good solider of Jesus Christ," Paul shouts to Timothy.

When we ask then at this bier: Has this dear man tried to comply with that? will not then everyone who knew him answer as with one voice: Yes, this man has suffered affliction and he was willing to suffer affliction. He came to these regions 41 years ago. He has experienced the harsh conditions of pioneer life. He has traveled day and night. He was not unfamiliar with hunger and thirst and frost. You old folks who are beginning to turn gray, you know all about that. You have lived through it together with him. Yes, you younger folks will know it too! If there was anything in his capacity of pastor and spiritual guide which Pastor Torgerson did not understand, then it was sparing himself, being careful of himself. And the pastors and congregations of the district will also give him the testimony: By virtue of his office he has endured afflictions more than once in later years. He has had sorrows of many kinds. And he has also endured affliction for his conviction's sake, for the Gospel's, for the sake of Christ. The history of our church in this country has not so little to tell about that.

The admonition: "Endure afflictions!" has also been realized in President Torgerson's life and work in a remarkable degree.

"Do the work of an evangelist!" This is a third trait of a servant of Jesus Christ, and the essential thing when someone asks about his work, his life's work. What is it then to be an evangelist? An evangelist of course is one who proclaims the Gospel. And the Gospel of course is the good, the glad tidings of God's merciful love in Christ Jesus. To do the work of an evangelist is therefore to have as his calling in life, as his primary task, yes, basically his only task, that of making as many of his fellowmen as possible to be good, glad, happy people for time and for eternity through the good, glad tidings of God's grace in Christ. Proclaiming the Law then, however necessary it is both for the unrepentant and for the believers, is not a servant of Christ's true and essential task, but precisely from the proclaiming of the Gospel therefore is also the work designated and is called the work of an evangelist.

When we ask at this bier: Has our dear friend tried to do the work of an evangelist? then again, everyone who knew him must say: Yes, he has done the work of an evangelist. As a poor, lost and condemned sinner he himself has found people for his heart in the Gospel, in the message of God's free, unmerited grace, and just because this was his life's greatest endeavor and experience, just for that reason it was his life's task to do the work of an evangelist. It was his delight, it was his life. It was the only thing which gave his life and his work content and worth. That is why he had to preach the Gospel. That is why the day was too short for him. That is why he had to steal from the night which is created for rest, in order to go on as long as he could, publicly and privately.

And not just in his own congregations. No, as a (district) president he has done the work of an evangelist, since through his guidance, through his speaking and his work among pastors and congregations he has strengthened and confirmed the old pure confession of grace. Among thousands upon thousands of people has he done the work of an evangelist. His heart burned for the Gospel. His heart burned for sinners. That's why everything else was only secondary to the one big thing of doing the work of an evangelist in the more narrow sphere and in the broader sphere. Surely the admonition: "Do the work of an evangelist!" is realized to a remarkable degree in President Torgerson's life and work.

"Fulfill your ministry!" This is the fourth trait of a servant of Christ. The ministry, the ministry of the Gospel, the ministry of Christ is to be carried out, to be fulfilled until God Himself dismisses from the ministry. Many men begin well, work very hard, but then give up the ministry without valid reasons. The dear departed had been in the ministry for 41 years until a few days before his death. Of him it can be said truly that he has fulfilled his ministry. He died in the ministry. He died in the saddle. Last New Year's Day he preached publicly to his congregation for the last time, then traveled 15 miles to a sick person whom he and others wanted to surprise with a gift of love. He spoke there -- no longer standing -- he wasn't able to --, but sitting. It was his last word as pastor to any gathering of people. It was his last work -- a work of love, of which his life had been so rich. He fulfilled his work until the body's machinery stopped, until his big warm heart failed. The words in our text are realized in President Torgerson's life. And when he had fulfilled his ministry on earth God took him immediately home to Himself, to rest. And who of us will not envy him that, the rest which exhorts the weary worker to hold out, and which beckons him home?

And what an incentive for us does not lie now in such a life, we who still have not fulfilled our ministry but who are in the midst of it, to hold out until the end! What an incentive for the members of the congregations to follow in the footsteps of the faithful shepherd so that someday there can be a blessed reunion? Yes, may the image of this faithful worker who had throughout his life the goal of being watchful in all things, including afflictions, doing the work of an evangelist, fulfilling his ministry, exhort, enlighten, admonish generation after generation! In Jesus' name! Amen.

Kirketidende, January 24, 1906, pages 85-95, esp. 89-95