(A daily dose of Doktor Dietrich. Translation mistakes all mine!)
Previously:
Es is doch nicht nur die Schuld der anderen, wenn sie unsere Predigt, die ja gewiß ganz allein Christuspredigt sein will, hart und schwer finden, weil sie belastet ist mit Formeln und Begriffen, die ihnen fremd sind.
But it is not just the fault of others, if they find our preaching (which certainly means to be a sermon for Christ alone) hard and difficult, because it is weighed down (burdened, strained) with formulas and concepts that are foreign to them.
Es ist doch nicht wahr, daß jedes Wort, das sich heute gegen unsere Predigt richtet, schon eine Absage an Christus, Antichristentum ist.
And it is not true, that each word directed against our preaching today, already (or yet?) a rejection of Christ, is anti-Christian.
Wollen wir wirklich die Gemeinshaft mit denen verleugnen, deren es heute eine große Zahl gibt, die zu unserer Predigt kommen, sie hören wollen und doch immer wieder betrübt bekennen müssen, daß wir ihnen den Zugang zu Jesus zu schwer machen?
Do we really want to deny community with those who — of which there are a large number — who come to our preaching, want to hear it and yet again and again must admit sorrowfully, that we make their access to Jesus too difficult?
Sie glauben daß es nicht das Wort Jesu selbst sei, dem sie sich entziehen wollten, aber daß zuviel Menschliches, Institutionelles, Doktrinäres zwischen sie und Jesus träte.
They feel that it is not the word of Jesus himself which they wish to escape, but [they feel] that too much [that is] human, institutional [and] doctrinaire stands (lit: treads) between them and Jesus.
(W: What kind of preaching will we prioritise in our ministry? Every week there is always someone who visits church and tries it out, wanting to hear the words of Christ. But have I made it too hard to access Jesus’s words? Do I dismiss them as lost or recognise that perhaps how I’m wording concepts and ideas needs improvement? How can I make His gospel the main thing, the clearest thing?)
