The Vikings terrorized Europe for the better part of three centuries. When an exiled king came to the Corbie monastery in Northern France seeking missionary help, Anskar (801-865) volunteered. His fellow monks tried to dissuade him from going. And who could blame them? They were understandably fearful of their northern neighbors since Vikings had a well-deserved reputation for excessive violence in European raids. I doubt anyone had given serious thought to engaging these dreaded Vikings with the gospel. Anskar set off in AD 826 to Denmark with a single monk to accompany him. Not that they had an easy time of it. Vikings were reluctant to part with Norse mythology. In subsequent missionary travels to Sweden, the ship in which Anskar was traveling was raided by pirates and he encountered considerable resistance among the Swedes upon arrival. He established a monastery in Hamburg to serve as home base, but the Vikings raided it and forced him to flee. Despite thirty-five years as an “Apostle to the North,” Anskar’s impact was minimal. We have no record of any lasting conversions during his tenure or successful church plants in Viking territory. His complete devotion and unflinching courage became his enduring legacy. When Christianity came to Scandinavia in the tenth century, it was Anskar’s witness that inspired others to take up the cause. The only written record of his work that survives, The Life of Anskar, was compiled by bis traveling companion, Rimbert who became his eventual successor. Rimbert observed that Anskar’s followers were convinced he could work miracles. Anskar said in response, “Were I worthy of such a favor from God, I would ask that He would grant to me this one miracle, that by His grace He would make of me a good man.” Rimbert recorded that on the day Anskar died, he repeated several sentence prayers from Scripture. Jesus’ words on the cross became one of his go-to prayers, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23.46). This prayer isn’t original with Jesus; it was part of a much longer prayer from Psalm 31. What Jesus added was addressing God in such personal, familial terms as Father.
Today’s prayer, spoken by Jesus on the cross (and uttered by Christians like Martin Luther on their deathbeds), isn’t limited to end-of-life scenarios. It’s appropriate to pray in every life circumstance. Why not make it your prayer today? All day long and into the evening…