Singing the Wondrous Story

Our Pastor gave me a hymn to sing for last Sunday's hymn of the day.  I was instantly taken by it.  It says everything a good sermon would need to say about the Gospel text of the day.  The text of the day was the parable of the Good Samaritan.  This story is far too often wielded as a moralistic club, where the Pastor beats you up for not being caring enough and showing enough compassion to random hurting strangers or enemies (as if we were capable of really doing enough good in such a needy world).

This hymn illustrates a good law/gospel exploration of the major themes of the story.  You can't sing these words and not be comforted by the reassurance of God's great compassion for us in sending Jesus.  This song is nothing other than good news.  LCMS Lutherans, let us be a church that is distinguished for our singing of songs that preach the Gospel!

The hymn text is written by a pastor in our district, Rev. John G. Fleischmann, and the title is "My Neighbor."  It is posted here with his permission.  Following is a bit more humorous take on the telling of this parable.

Unclean and battered, torn by sin

By things I do, my thoughts within,

I lie there bloodied on life's road

With death and sin my only load.

Across that road the world passed by

Turning a deaf ear to my cry,

No help they give, they could not save

And so they left me for my grave.

And, what of me, when I saw need?  

Did I my Savior's bidding heed?

Too often on the other side

I've walked away because of pride.

Sin bleeds from me and stops my breath, 

In Adam all I know is death;

My works are rage, my offerings vain,

From dust I came in dust remain.

But in my need my Savior died,

Not passing on the other side.

Rebreathed His Spirit in my dust,

Bound up my wounds, declared me just.

Now safe within His Church I'm free;

Blood, Water, Spirit plead for me,

The Ark of God, the Inn of Grace

Where I behold my Father's face.

May I in Christ my neighbor know

Binding his wounds serves Christ below.

Your love for him make plain through me,

That he may, too, your Glory see.

You loved me when I could not love,

For my sin barred me from above.

In Christ my love is now set free,

O praise and bless the Trinity.

THIS Song is Official!

Why do we sing the “Hymn of the Day?”

You may have noticed that one particular song in the worship service seems to be the “official” song of the service.  How is this one different from the other songs in the service?  The “Hymn of the Day” is a distinctly Lutheran addition to the ancient worship pattern of the church.  At the time of the reformation, the only hymns sung in worship were the parts of the liturgy.  But Luther, who was a compulsive catechizer, was searching for a way to use music to help instruct people in the faith so that through singing they might come to understand God better.  An explosion of hymn writing was set off, and many new songs were written specifically to address particular passages in the Gospels.  They began to match up songs with the lectionary readings they were based on in order that they might provide commentary and help focus the congregation’s thoughts on the themes of the day.  So the purpose of this hymn, specially selected for every week of the church year, is to help us interpret, understand, reflect on, and remember the content of the Gospel reading.  Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  So we see that our singing can be a way in which the Word of Christ dwells in us and teaches us His wisdom.  Ephesians 5:18b - 19 also says, “...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs…”  So when we sing, our music is not only for the purpose of praising God:  We also benefit one another if the music helps us root our hearts and minds in the Word of God.  The Hymn of the Day is written specifically to help us do that with the Gospel reading of the day.

From the Large Catechism  on the Third Commandment:  ...most especially, on this day of rest (since we get no other chance), we have the freedom and time to attend divine service.  We come together to hear and use God’s Word, and then to praise God, to sing and to pray.  ...Indeed, we Christians ought always to keep such a holy day and be occupied with nothing but holy things.  This means we should daily be engaged with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and upon our lips.  But since we do not always have free time, we must devote several hours a week for the sake of the young, or at least a day for the sake of the entire multitude, to being concerned about this alone.  ...Know, therefore, that you must be concerned not only about hearing, but also about learning and retaining God’s Word in memory.  Do not think that this is optional for you or of no great importance.  Think that it is God’s commandment, who will require an account from you about how you have heard, learned, and honored His Word.  

Reflections on an Easter Hymn

As the time of the Easter season draws to a close, I thought it appropriate to revisit a timeless Easter hymn. For those of you in our church at Mountain View, this is a song we used on Easter Sunday this year. It's title: This is the Threefold Truth.

This is the threefold truth
on which our faith depends;
and with this joyful cry
worship begins and ends:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

On this we fix our minds
as, kneeling side by side,
we take the bread and wine
from him the Crucified:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

By this we are upheld
when doubt and grief assails
our Christian fortitude,
and only grace avails:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

This is the threefold truth
which, if we hold it fast,
changes the world and us
and brings us home at last.
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

Let's reflect for a moment on the refrain of that song (in italics). How fully does this capture our hope and message? How central is it to who we are as a redeemed people? This line, though beautifully put to music, is not original to this song. In many churches this is spoken by the congregation as part of the liturgy known as the "gospel acclamation." How many evangelicals, if approached on the street and asked to define the gospel, would include these three essentials in their response? I'm afraid, as shown on the White Horse Inn, most would launch right in to a man-centered definition that revolves around their own personal experience of conversion.

What is the significance of this gospel acclamation? I find it interesting to note how the truth is threefold. So is trinitarian God whom it reveals. I find that it captures the Good News in a way that no other 10 words can. In the death of Christ we find our forgiveness of sins and peace with God (justification). In His resurrection and life we are given new life, strength for today, and the power to do what is right (sanctification). And by his future coming we are given hope for tomorrow and the life eternal, which is bound up in an intimate knowledge of our Creator, as we are caught up into his presence (glorification).

The gospel is an ever-present reality. Notice how the gospel acclamation covers all time: past, present, future... A theme which you can find being marketed and exploited all over modern culture from contemporary new age spirituality to your local jeweler. However, this concept of the redemption of all time has unique origins in the Christian story of redemption through Christ. Even as early as the third or fourth century, we have the ancient Christian prayer that captures this theme. We know it today as the Gloria Patri:

"Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, amen."

This prayer serves as a reminder to us that all time and existence is for the glory of God. It finds its most common use as a refrain to Christian singing of the Psalms, in order to bring a trinitarian focus to inspired poems written prior to the full revelation of the Messiah.

Two interesting notes on the Gloria Patri: First of all, the traditional language version ends the second phrase of the prayer this way: "...as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." World without end... a traditional English colloquialism found in the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The song sung at my wedding, "Grow Old Along With Me" by Mary Chapin Carpenter, uses this line to express the eternity of love. This is an example of the Christian tradition influencing culture. Mostly today we see the opposite.

The second item of note about this prayer is the way that it anticipates one of the crucial doctrines of the Protestant reformation: Soli Deo Gloria. Simply put, all things exist for the glory of God. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, as the Westminster catechism says. So in the Gloria Patri we see, as early as the fourth century, evidence of this timeless truth, which was rediscovered 1200 years later, being carried by the Christian tradition (it's highest aim, imo).

And indeed God is glorified through all time. He chooses to glorify Himself through even His enemies, sinners such as we were, as we get caught up in the life of the triune God through the threefold truth for all eternity. Let us not fall into a single dimensional understanding of grace that merely declares the good news of what Christ has done. It doesn't stop there: He is doing today, and he ever shall, world without end. To God be the glory, amen.