You are amazing. Your history is more than interesting. Your volcano and glacier landscapes are crazy beautiful. I lived a lifetime in a few days on your island. My jet-lagged body got back to the States yesterday, but my heart is still in Iceland.

I could write a book about my time there. I lodged in guest quarters of a horse farm near the village of Arkanes. There the glacial valley forms a fjord. The mountains, so majestic. The ocean, so powerful. (The next day the ocean, so peaceful.)

My spirit is both sad, and at the same time, hopeful in the extreme for you, Iceland.

My thoughts were of Hallgrímur Pétursson. Iceland’s patron psalm writer. I meditated on words he had written 350 years ago about the Passion of Christ. The owner of the farm where I lodged spoke kindly — and proudly — of Iceland’s poet/preacher, and how both Christians and non-Christians alike should appreciate the passion of his writing.

Iceland, Return to Your Roots, in Christ

As I was meditating on the strong truths Péturssun had written about Christ, I thought of generations of Icelanders who have loved his Passion Psalms. The more I study him, the more I share in Iceland’s respect and tribute of the man and his work.

Jesus in Gethsemane

Bowed with mortal strife I see:

Conscience stings me, for I know

‘Twas my sin constrained Him so:

All that weight of agony

God’s Son underwent for me.

Iceland’s Preacher/Poet Hallgrímur Pétursson 1656

It was a great privilege for a preacher such as myself to speak with my landlord—an Icelander—about these powerful words regarding Christ’s suffering on the cross. Who would have thought I would be able talk so deeply about Jesus so quickly with an Icelandic horse farmer?

Dear Iceland, I have visited your national landmark for Hallgrímur Pétursson. in Reykjavik. I am not sure that Bro. Hallgrímur would approve of such an ostentatious edifice being built in his honor, but I am sure he would love to know his words of Christ are still read throughout Iceland.

I visited another church where he served as pastor from 1651-1659. Incredibly, the church was close to where I stayed and nestled in the same fjord. (Photo I took a few days ago, above.)

A call to all Evangelical Lutheran Pastors of Iceland

Pastors! Your churches cover the island. In villages large and small, I saw your pristine church buildings. The are lit up at night. They are beautifully visible. Here is your challenge: Believe Jesus. Believe that He rose physically from the dead. Preach the death, burial and resurrection of Christ! That is the pivotal truth the people of Iceland. Jesus really, bodily arose from the dead.

“Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”  

(Acts 17:3)

Bearing Witness of Christ in Iceland

I spoke with you, Iceland, about Christ. I spoke with workers from other countries; Lithuania, Spain, Poland, and others.

I ate lunch with a group of workers from Spain. I was seated next to them at a restaurant in Reykjavik. At first, I thought they were Icelandic. I tried to understand their strange speech. Then, it occurred to me I could understand them. They were speaking a different kind of Spanish. Having preached three times per week in Bolivia for years, I could easily understand Spanish from the Americas, but their Spanish from Spain was a little different.

I never expected to proclaim Christ in Spanish in Iceland, but I did. The group of Spaniards interchanged freely and easily about the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. That was my question to them: Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” 

 (Romans 10:9)

I traveled north along the coast. The creation of God was a holy distraction to me. It was tough for me to concentrate on the driving and not want to stop every five seconds to take another thousand pictures.

Stopping for a cup of coffee in what looked like the world’s smallest village, I thought for certain I would be doing business with locals. As it turned out, I was able to strike up a conversation with two individuals from Poland. They said religion in their country was a controversial subject.

I asked if it would be alright to get their opinion of what young thought of Christ. Wow! They not only wanted to talk about it, they were passionate about the subject. They, being young themselves, had lots to say. Mostly, they conveyed how any talk about Christ was wrought with suspicion and distrust of the clergy. The said that religion there, to them was always shrouded in darkness, sadness and distrust.

Christ is Joy and Peace

I spoke to these young people from Poland about the joy of Christ, the Good News of Christ. I said he gives joy and peace not darkness or despair. They listened, asked questions, and then said, “You should come to Poland and tell everyone about this kind of Jesus!” I said, “Okay…I will!”

“You should come to Poland. Tell everyone about this kind of Jesus!” I said, “Okay…I will!”

Bearing Witness of Christ Where Priests are Trained

I was privileged to meet with a professor involved in training Iceland’s priests. She was very kind to meet with me. She was deep at work on her computer on the third floor in the humanities department in the main building of the University. We dialoged and had a nice conversation about Iceland’s religious history.

Though the tenor of our conversation was lighthearted, I asked some very pointed questions about what the priests are taught about the actual, literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. I asked what they believe, and what they preach. I also asked the kind professor if she literally believed that Jesus had risen bodily from the dead. She answered in the affirmative.

I am a Baptist. I believe without wavering what the Bible says about Christ. It is hard for me to understand how someone could claim to be a Christian and not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ.

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”  

(1 Corinthians 15:17)

My Challenge to Iceland’s Clergy

Decide today. If you believe that Jesus has risen bodily from the grave, preach it with all your might. If are unsure, admit it. Why not consider deeply His great love for us all.

My Challenge to All Icelanders

Do you claim to be a Christian? Can you claim these words of your own Icelandic Poet/Preacher Hallgrímur Pétursson?

I KNOW that my Redeemer

Lives crowned upon the throne;
Lord over earth and heaven

He saves, and He alone;
He conquered death by dying

Upon the accursed tree,
And from His death sprang glorious

Eternal life for me.

Hallgrímur Pétursson

The appeal is not from me, it is from Jesus Christ Himself.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  

(John 3:16)

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