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Latest in an occasional series of prayers by Christians of age past. Previous entry here; complete list of entries here.
My Lord, I have nothing to do in this world but to seek and serve thee. I have nothing to do with my heart and its affections but to breathe after thee. I have nothing to do with my tongue and pen but to speak to thee and for thee, and to publish thy glory and thy will. Amen.Richard Baxter (1615-91),
Puritan divine, Nonconformist
Richard Baxter is remembered as a godly pastor and a man of moderate church views in an age that tended to extremes. Among his many influential writings, three classics of Reformed literature stand out: The Saints’ Everlasting Rest (1650), The Reformed Pastor (1656), and A Call to the Unconverted (1658).
Born into a poor family in Rowton, Shropshire, Baxter had little formal education, but made use of opportunities for self-instruction and private study. In his early twenties, he read theology under nonconformist (see below for fuller explanation of this term) ministers, and in 1641 became pastor at Kidderminster, Worcestershire. He remained there for nineteen years, accomplishing a great work of reformation in that city. He was a gifted teacher and conscientious pastor, deeply concerned for the spiritual welfare of those in his flock. At that time, he also became interested in controversies over church reform and soon rejected episcopacy, becoming a moderate nonconformist. All forms of church government were, in his view, of much lesser importance than the true purposes of religion.
While Baxter was preaching in the West Midlands, English politics was heading toward crisis in London. Confrontation between Charles I and Parliament led to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. Baxter was generally sympathetic with the Parliamentarians, although he did not agree with all of Oliver Cromwell’s aims. Worcestershire was on the side of the king, so Baxter departed, becoming an itinerant chaplain in the Parliamentary Army. His chief motivation was to foster reconciliation between the Anglicans and the Puritans. At the end of the war, he returned to Kidderminster as parish vicar.
When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, Baxter was made chaplain to the king. However, after refusing to agree to the terms of the 1662 Act of Uniformity, he was ejected from the church pastorate. Between 1662 and 1687, he was subject to frequent persecution. He continued to preach and minister to people despite the penalties for preaching without a licence. A meeting house he had built for himself was closed after he had preached there only once. His goods and books were seized, and he was repeatedly dragged into court. In 1685, at the age of 70, Baxter was convicted and fined on the dubious charge of libelling the Church of England. Sentenced to prison because he couldn’t pay, he spent 18 months behind bars in appalling conditions. His health, which had never been strong, steadily deteriorated. Still, he continued to preach: "I preached as never sure to preach again," he wrote, "and as a dying man to dying men."
Yet it was during these years that Baxter’s writing became most prolific. His books and other writings flooded England. Despite official persecution, his reputation grew throughout his life. Befitting a man who deeply lamented the divisions of the church in his day, his funeral was attended by clergy from all denominations.
Nearly two hundred years after his death, a memorial statue was placed in his honour near the centre of Kidderminster. A photo of the memorial can be found near the bottom of this page.
More biographical information is located here and here. For a biography focusing specifically on the style and content of his writings, click here.
Source of prayer: Pocket Prayers, compiled by Christopher Herbert.
Note:
Nonconformism referred to the doctrine and practices of those who refused to submit to the 1662 Act of Uniformity, which required all to conform to the Church of England and the Book of Common Prayer. As a result, about 2000 Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist ministers were ejected from the Church of England. The Act was made practically inoperative by the 1689 Act of Toleration. Nonconformism was also used more loosely to refer to the belief that episcopacy is not the sole legitimate form of church government. Richard Baxter would qualify as a nonconformist in both senses.
